Prospect Info: 2023 Ducks Prospect Rankings #5

[MMC]

It's time for our annual Ducks prospect rankings. Each poll will run for 48 hours except in the case of a clear landslide. I will go to the top 25 and include a final poll where you can pick 5 honorable mentions. Please tell me who you want me to add in the replies. In the fifth poll, I am voting for Tristan Luneau.

As always the list will define prospects as hockeysfuture does: NHL Prospect Criteria - Hockey's Future.

2023 Ducks Prospect Rankings:

1. C - Leo Carlsson (2023 draftee)
2. D - Pavel Mintyukov (no change)
3. D - Olen Zellweger (no change)
4. G - Lukas Dostal (no change)

Our graduates and departures are:

Mason McTavish
Urho Vaakanainen
Henry Thrun
Simon Benoit
Axel Andersson
Sean Tschigerl
Hunter Drew
Thimo Nickl
Olle Eriksson Ek
Bryce Kindopp
Max Golod
Ethan Bowen​

Click to read more...

 

[MMC]

Top 4 is the same as last year just with Carlsson instead of McTavish

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Got a feeling that this one will be quick given the results of the last poll. After the top 5 is where I could see things start to get interesting.

 

[MMC]

Got a feeling that this one will be quick given the results of the last poll. After the top 5 is where I could see things start to get interesting.

I really didn't have to think about who I voted for in any of the first 5 but I still have no clue who I'll vote for 6. Will probably change my mind like 10 times before Saturday

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Luneau here at #5. Then Hinds at #6.
Feel like Hinds could become the teams new Beauchemin that plays in the top4 for many years and seems like he's got a good chance of doing that.

 

[Dryish]

I think all of you are seriously sleeping on LaCombe. Luneau may have better ceiling potential than he does, but he's no slouch and is going to be a good D-man.

 

[Arthuros]

I don't view our actually drafted forward prospects too highly. I feel biased towards guys like Regenda or Nesterenko because they're something new and still haven't shown their limits.

 

[Goose of Reason]

Going Luneau here and then it'll be close between LaCombe and Hinds next.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Probably good arguments to be made for at least a couple different guys. Lacombe has a combination of ceiling and readiness that wins out for me

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I think all of you are seriously sleeping on LaCombe. Luneau may have better ceiling potential than he does, but he's no slouch and is going to be a good D-man.

It's difficult to compare NCAA players with CHL players due to age difference, schedule, and play styles. Getting over 60 points is a rarity in the NCAA, but it's more easily achievable in the CHL. It's easier to fall in love with CHL productions, but even easier when they win d-man of the year in their respective leagues. Teaching an OFD how to improve defense is more achievable than teaching an DFD to improve offense. LaCombe was an OFD and went to college to learn to play defense. Moore has taken the same path as both defensemen were drafted as high school products.

• CHL Defense
  • Minty: 88 points in 69 games (1.28 ppg) OHL d-man of the year
  • Zell: 80 points in 55 games (1.45 ppg) 2x WHL DotY
  • Luneau: 83 points in 65 games (1.28 ppg) QMJHL DotY
  • Hinds: 54 points in 56 games (0.96 ppg) QMJHL defensive DotY

• NCAA Defense (highest d-man points = 48 pts)
  • LaCombe: 35 points in 37 games (0.95 ppg) 4th overall in the NCAA pts for defensemen
  • Thrun: 31 points in 33 games (0.94 ppg) 12th in NCAA pts for d-men
  • Moore: 19 points in 34 games (0.56 ppg) ... sophomore season

I think many don't want to accept LaCombe possibly on the same level with Zellweger, Minty, Luneau, and Drysdale. I recall last year's dev camp and citing just how smooth and fast LaCombe was at skating; and it looked slightly better than Zellweger. Our own GM said LaCombe outskates everyone at the NCAA level. LaCombe has 2 NHL games, didn't look out of place, blocked the most shots on the team, and played top-4 minutes. That doesn't get much love as some rank Helleson (got bottom pairing minutes) above LaCombe or they say it's a small sample, but neither Minty nor Zell have played a single NHL game.

Drysdale is a CHL product who has been praised for his defense in the CHL before the draft. Zell, Minty, and Luneau aren't on the same level as Drysdale's defense today. Our own GM has been cited that Zell and Minty need to improve their defensive structure.

We really don't know what LaCombe's ceiling is, but I really like he went the NCAA route to learn how to play defense. He's often in the top-3 in blocked shots on his NCAA team for the past three seasons. He plays on both special teams. We witnessed him pull a Johnny Cash to "walked the line" with the puck without ever looking down onto the ice at the NHL level in-game. Anaheim's getting a very polished, two-way defenseman who stands at 6'2, weighs 200 lbs, skates like the wind, and can play both sides.

I think we're probably sleeping on Hinds too, whose forte is defense, but his offense has been surging since the second half of his draft year.

 

[Gliff]

Luneau. Here is where it gets interesting. I think there are like 6-7 players in the next group that can go in any order.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I think all of you are seriously sleeping on LaCombe. Luneau may have better ceiling potential than he does, but he's no slouch and is going to be a good D-man.

I think we're sleeping on Luneau, tbh. This year he proved he isn't afraid to skate hard on his knees. He still might be able to find that explosiveness in his first steps yet and that could boost him into a different level.

 

[cheesymc]

I think we're sleeping on Luneau, tbh. This year he proved he isn't afraid to skate hard on his knees. He still might be able to find that explosiveness in his first steps yet and that could boost him into a different level.

Probably due the fear of knee injuries after seeing how Mitera and Larsson turned out...

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Luneau. Here is where it gets interesting. I think there are like 6-7 players in the next group that can go in any order.

I can see LaCombe and Hinds be top-4 defensemen. They're the next ones, imo.

Gaucher is a staunch 3C. I think I would put Hvidston above Gaucher because his offense took a meteoric jump this year as a shutdown forward. And since he's a Sept birth, he has a more development growth despite being selected in the same Draft with Gaucher. But Gaucher's playoff performance was great. Hmmm... I think Hvidston could become one of those "elite support players" Madden was talking about like Myatovic.

Gauch	and	Hvid
Player	Season	League	Games	G	A	Pts	PPG		Plus/Minus
Gaucher	D+0	QMJHL	66​	31​	26​	57​	0.86​		30​
	D+1	QMJHL	44​	22​	24​	46​	1.05​		35​
Hvidston	D+0	WHL	58​	13​	19​	32​	0.55​		-5​
	D+1	WHL	59​	21​	44​	65​	1.10​		15​

Myatovic

D-1: 67 games, 4g + 24a = 28 pts (0.42 ppg)​

D+0: 68 games, 30g + 30a = 60 pts (0.88 ppg) found a goal scoring touch and can skate!​

Pastujov when ham after he was traded in the OHL.

Guelph: 14 games, 11g + 8a = 19 pts (1.36 ppg)​

Sting: 46 games, 30g + 49a = 79 pts (1.72 ppg)​

Kukkonen (NCAA)

Mich Tech: 39 games, 18g + 9a = 27 pts. tied-5th in goal scoring for freshman in NCAA​

There's also RD Moore, who skates like the wind. He's going to be the top defenseman for Harvard next year.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Really really close between Luneau and Lacombe but went with TL probably because of his higher perceived offensive upside. Tough because I really think Lacombe is gonna be a decent to good everyday NHLer

 

[AngelDuck]

went with Hinds again

Coulson Pitre is a name that’s going to go shooting up this list in coming seasons IMO. I’d add him to the poll list soon

 

[Hey234]

My personal list is broken up into tiers. Teir 1: Carlsson and Mintyukov. Tier 2: Dostal, Zellweger and Luneau. Tier 3: Gaucher, LaCombe, Pastujov, Hinds, and Myatovic. I think there is an argument for the next 5 in any order.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Luneau here… love his potential.

I don’t think anyone else really in the tier with him at this stage of voting