Prospect Info: Annual Devils Prospect Rankings #2

[Burner Account]

I remember when people were this excited about Alexander Urbom. I'm not kidding.

 

[Zippy316]

My top ten will personally be:

1. Zacha
2. Santini
3. Matteau
4. Quenneville
5. Boucher
6. Blackwood
7. Jacobs
8. Blandisi
9. Hrabrenka
10. Coleman

 

[JimEIV]

I remember when people were this excited about Alexander Urbom. I'm not kidding.

He was promising, and his first year in Albany was very good.

I heard through the grapevine in 2012 the Devils were very disappointed in his development and kind of knew then it wasn't going to going to go well. He regressed each of next 2 years in Albany and it wasn't just points, it was overall play.

 

[JimEIV]

My top ten will personally be:

1. Zacha
2. Santini
3. Matteau
4. Quenneville
5. Boucher
6. Blackwood
7. Jacobs
8. Blandisi
9. Hrabrenka
10. Coleman

Curious why you have Matteau so high? Cause he is most probable of having and NHL career?

I'm always confused how to rank a player in those situations. If you have one player who is nearly certain to be a player and another with a way higher ceiling but much less likely to have a career how do you rank them?

If Tedenby and Matteau were drafted 1 a part in the same year would anyone have Matteau higher than Tedenby as a prospect?

Should a Jay Pandolfo ever be ranked above a Vadim Sharifijanov as prospect?

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

Putting JQ above Boucher is pretty laughable.

 

[Unknown Caller]

1. Zacha
2. Santini
3. Boucher
4. Blandisi
5. Matteau
6. Blackwood
7. Quenneville
8. Speers
9. Jacobs
10. Coleman

 

[OmNomNom]

why is jacobs>coleman in most lists?

 

[tr83]

I went with Boucher.

He's developed slowly, but if he has some teammates who can find him, he's Sakic dangerous with his shot. His release is quick, it's fast, and it's accurate. I hope they put him where Tootoo was last year on the PP; in the slot looking for teammates to feed him. I still remember he got a backhand off last year and it went just over the crossbar and out of play before I blinked.

Sure, he's Zajac fast, but he forechecked very well and his positioning was good.

Santini will be #3 then Q at #4

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

I went with Boucher.

He's developed slowly, but if he has some teammates who can find him, he's Sakic dangerous with his shot. His release is quick, it's fast, and it's accurate. I hope they put him where Tootoo was last year on the PP. In the slot looking for teammates to feed him. I still remember he got a backhand off last year and it went just over the crossbar and out of play before I blinked.

Sure, he's Zajac fast, but he forechecked very well and his positioning was good.

Santini will be #3 then Q at #4

This. Boucher scored 62 goals in his second OHL season and put up a 30 goal pace in his first pro season in Albany. He was snakebitten last year but still produced a lot of chances and shots.

He's my #2 as well.

 

[Unknown Caller]

why is jacobs>coleman in most lists?

I take upside into account along with likelihood to be an NHL player. I think their likelihood to be an NHL player is almost equivalent, but Jacobs has higher upside. I see Coleman as a bottom 6 guy, Jacobs could be a middle pairing defenseman like Fayne.

Going purely by upside, Blackwood and Speers would both move up my list.

 

[JimEIV]

This. Boucher scored 62 goals in his second OHL season and put up a 30 goal pace in his first pro season in Albany. He was snakebitten last year but still produced a lot of chances and shots.

He's my #2 as well.

Good arguments ...should've said that instead of JQ over Boucher is laughable.

 

[EnglishDevil]

Voted Quenneville, add Speers/White

 

[RSeen]

That's why I went Quenneville and not Santini...one finished strong the other really didn't.

Okay but lets forget the larger sample size being the regular season where he did not have a strong season?

Voted Santini.

 

[njdevils1982]

what?! no corrente option

 

[Bleedred]

I haven't seen any kind of a deadly snipe from Boucher at the NHL level yet, aside from a preseason game.

I think I remember one that hit the glass. Just saying, none of his 3 NHL goals have been great shots really. Two tips and one open net off the boards.

 

[JimEIV]

I haven't seen any kind of a deadly snipe from Boucher at the NHL level yet, aside from a preseason game.

I think I remember one that hit the glass. Just saying, none of his 3 NHL goals have been great shots really. Two tips and one open net off the boards.

He's hardly played. He has 384 NHL minutes in his entire career.

 

[Bleedred]

He's hardly played. He has 384 NHL minutes in his entire career.

Just saying. People keep talking about his shot, we just haven't seen it at the NHL level in his 20 some odd games.

 

[tr83]

He's played on a line mostly with Zubrus or Tootoo or Gionta. Of course he's not going to get any opportunities.

 

[Zippy316]

Curious why you have Matteau so high? Cause he is most probable of having and NHL career?

I'm always confused how to rank a player in those situations. If you have one player who is nearly certain to be a player and another with a way higher ceiling but much less likely to have a career how do you rank them?

If Tedenby and Matteau were drafted 1 a part in the same year would anyone have Matteau higher than Tedenby as a prospect?

Should a Jay Pandolfo ever be ranked above a Vadim Sharifijanov as prospect?

I personally like Matteau. I think there is some untapped upside in his game people don't give him enough credit for. I see a big winger who likes to get physical and has the potential to be moved around in the top nine and compliment a lot of different lines. Admittedly Matteau does get a bit of a bump for being more NHL ready. I personally like to rate on both the upside of the prospect and how NHL ready they are and also what kind of role they would play on an NHL team. I like the role I believe Matteau or Quenneville will play A LOT more than the one I see Boucher in.

Putting JQ above Boucher is pretty laughable.

I'm not a fan of Boucher personally. I can't put a finger on it, but I just don't think he's going to be able to transfer his skills to the NHL level. If he does, I feel he is going to be a very niche player. I just don't see it, I would love for him to prove me wrong. It's far from laughable; it's completely justifiable. It's just a very different opinion on the two players.

 

[njdevils1982]

Curious why you have Matteau so high? Cause he is most probable of having and NHL career?

I'm always confused how to rank a player in those situations. If you have one player who is nearly certain to be a player and another with a way higher ceiling but much less likely to have a career how do you rank them?

If Tedenby and Matteau were drafted 1 a part in the same year would anyone have Matteau higher than Tedenby as a prospect?

Should a Jay Pandolfo ever be ranked above a Vadim Sharifijanov as prospect?

this is pretty much how hockeysfuture (the site, not the forum) rates players on a number scale to compare


ill guess you already know this but ill post it for the ones that dont know yet as there are a few new people around.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/playerprojections/

how one ranks a list is up to the individual i guess


…..the devils section goes with this

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/teams/new_jersey_devils/

 

[AfroThunder396]

The issue is comparing guys across age, position, and league.

How on Earth do you compare an 18 year goalie in junior to a 22 year old AHL forward to a 20 year old NCAA defenseman?

 

[Zippy316]

The issue is comparing guys across age, position, and league.

How on Earth do you compare an 18 year goalie in junior to a 22 year old AHL forward to a 20 year old NCAA defenseman?

That's the fun of it in my opinion.

To me, like I said before, I combine a few things. How NHL-ready they are, their ceilings as NHL players, their realistic projections and within those realistic projections the role it is on an NHL team.

So I look at Matteau and I see a very NHL ready forward who has a role as a third line power forward if all else fails but also has the potential to be a 20-20 complimentary forward. His absolute ceiling -- which looks very unlikely at this point -- is turning into a Milan Lucic player.

I look at Quenneville and I see a guy that safely projects to being a second/third line center or wing who I feel is a lot like a Frolik type player. I see these guys as very valuable.

Boucher is close to NHL ready as well, but I see something lacking to his game. He has the high-end shot, but I just don't see him getting in position to use it at both the NHL/AHL level. Also, he fills a very niche role. Look at Ryder. When Ryder is playing with guys that can't create space for him and get him the puck, he's utterly useless. While Boucher showed he's a lot more useful physically and defensively as Ryder, you're not going to play him on a third line. You have to give him quality minutes. To me, that's a bit of a negative when I'm ranking a prospect. His high end potential looks to what Ryder did -- a consistent 20 goal scorer who could top out at 30 or 35 a couple years. However, if he's not a consistent twenty goal scorer, he's going to struggle to be an NHL player.

 

[njdevils1982]

The issue is comparing guys across age, position, and league.

How on Earth do you compare an 18 year goalie in junior to a 22 year old AHL forward to a 20 year old NCAA defenseman?

exactly.



you can ask "how far along is the development of a player in terms of expectations"


and that still makes it hard to compare.


reason a guy like blandisi is knocked as an overager. (rightly so as history has proven with the way teams draft)



EDIT…..was typing while zippy posted above and ya……thats what i was getting at

 

[Emperoreddy]

I'm all set for number 3. If Santini is 2 then JQ is 3 for me by a mile.

I think we have something good with this kid. I do believe he can be a 2C in the NHL.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Santini is easily number two in my opinion. I disagree eddy, I will have Blandisi #3