Andersson is #1 for me, but there's maybe five guys who a legit case could be made for
OKG I'm curious, would you rather have Jankowski on wing or Bennett?
With the way Hamonic skates, I had a friend tell me he was like a physical Bouwmeester after I said he was a faster Regehr
It's better to wait until after development camp IMOI smell a poll coming...
Other than Valimaki, Jankowski is the only prospect that doesn't have the red flags of Gillies (technical ability exposed on-ice after turning pro), Fox (bad defense/size), Kylington (high event playstyle), Parsons (long runway due to position) , Andersson (off-ice work ethic and struggled with puck possession), or Rittich (sample size). Personally I don't buy that Valimaki has a higher ceiling than Jankowski, Parsons, or Kylington.
my top six goes
Jankowski
Parsons
Kylington
Valimaki
Rittich
Andersson
I can understand 2-6 being interchangeable due to the aformentioned red flags and I can fully understand someone wanting to squeeze Fox or Gillies in there out irrational hope. But Jankowski is our best prospect bar none. We're talking about a kid that could have a Mark Stone-esque rookie season next season (although if he plays center may not get the raw ice time for it due to team depth), a kid who is at his most productive in close, important games rather than blowouts, and a kid who has helped his team win pretty big.
Valimaki is known to be the type of prospect that has a very safe floor but his ceiling isn't amazing, but he can still be an Ekholm type player in his ceiling with a little more offense. Even in a very deep 2018 draft, Valimaki would have probably went 16th overall. Many guys that were chosen in front of him this year didn't deserve it. In 2018 if he was drafted where he deserved, he'd still be 16th overall or so.
Ekholm with more offence is called a #1D across the league.
Neither. Both need to play center and develop and develop at the position, which is their best fit for a cup contender. I'd almost rather turn Backlund into a Hossa/Steen/Zetterberg type winger than sacrifice the development of these two kids.
If you really need an answer though, it would depend which top 6 side has an injury. RW (Ferland/Frolik), Jankowski. LW (Gaudreau/Tkachuk), then Bennett. My ideal top nine would be:
Tkachuk-Backlund-Ferland
Gaudreau-Jankowski-Monahan
Frolik-Bennett-Versteeg
allowing our three best centers to play center, and every line to be a speedy scoring threat. Monahan could score 45 goals with those two linemates, and Bennett could hit 25 with those two linemates.