Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranks his top U-23 players

[Clint Eastwood]

Trevor f***ing Zegras above McAvoy?

 

[wetcoast]

Corey Pronman of the Athletic ranks his top U-23 players.

This is a projection on who he believes will have the best careers. It’s actually 155 players in total, but I’ll just post the top-25 here to discuss.

1. Auston Matthews
2. Rasmus Dahlin
3. Elias Pettersson
4. Alexis Lafreniere
5. Matthew Tkachuk
6. Andrei Svechnikov
7. Patrick Laine
8. Jack Hughes
9. Kaapo Kakko
10. Quinton Byfield
11. Quinn Hughes
12. Brady Tkachuk
13. Cale Makar
14. Miro Heiskanen
15. Tim Stutzle
16. Kirby Dach
17. Lucas Raymond
18. Pierre Luc-Dubois
19. Cole Perfetti
20. Robert Thomas
21. Nico Hischier
22. Milhail Sergachev
23. Trevor Zegras
24. Charlie McAvoy
25. Barrett Hayton

Better list than I expected but Charlie at 24 is a maybe with injury concerns I guess but he is a stud.

Also Laine at #7 is dubious even with his early goal scoring exploits.

 

[wetcoast]

Matthews is this gens Stamkos/Seguin a no show in the playoffs you can't win with. I wouldn't take him first thats for sure

You need to take another look at his playoff resume, it's not nearly as bad as you are making out here.

 

[CanadienShark]

What a bizarre list.

Seems to be based on draft position more than anything.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Trevor f***ing Zegras above McAvoy?

he seems to heavily favor forwards over defensemen

 

[Zobitembois]

This list is whack

 

[JackSlater]

He seems pretty low on defencemen. I figured that Makar and Quinn Hughes would be higher than several of the forwards listed above them.

 

[The S5]

Can we put Pronman's opinions to bed once and for all?

 

[Petrus]

1.U23
2.Mattews on list.

Pick one.

Good point.

Why is matthews (23 y.o.) on this list but not other players the same age?

He used September 15th, 2020 as the cutoff. Matthews made it by two days.

Yeah and as an add on, September 15 is the cut off for the NHL draft, so he didn't just make it up.

 

[Flukeshot]

I didn't think the list made alot of sense. I get it's looking long term but there were so many instances of established young NHL players being jumped.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Matthews is this gens Stamkos/Seguin a no show in the playoffs you can't win with. I wouldn't take him first thats for sure

What a terrible post. Stamkos literally just won a cup and Matthews has been real good the last few series he's played in LMAO

 

[Maplebeasts]

Dahlin is going to be easy top 3 on this list for next season. He is woefully underrated

 

[KingsFan7824]

What a terrible post. Stamkos literally just won a cup and Matthews has been real good the last few series he's played in LMAO

Stamkos played 1 game. Not even a full game. Barely a couple shifts.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Stamkos played 1 game. Not even a full game. Barely a couple shifts.

And you think the Lightning don't with him playing? Stamkos out was bad for them, not helpful

 

[KingsFan7824]

This is a projection on who he believes will have the best careers.

People are getting very upset about career projections. Don't get so caught in the moment for a career projection. For all anyone knows, Heiskanen will never again play as well as he did in the playoffs. He's still in the elite part of the list. What's the difference between 14 and 10? Who knows.

 

[WillTheThrill]

Well at least he got #1 right

 

[KingsFan7824]

And you think the Lightning don't with him playing? Stamkos out was bad for them, not helpful

Doesn't really matter. They probably do, but you said Stamkos literally just won a Cup, and he did, he gets his name on it, but he himself didn't really win one.

 

[Evergreen]

The official list of "what have you done for me lately?"

If it were, Heiskanen would be much higher.

 

[BAM]

It's just my opinion. Pettersson and Heiskanen stand in a tier ahead of Matthews for me.

Matthews goalscoring is so groundbreaking, that he is a lock for top 5 though.

If EP stands a tier higher than Matthews than why has Matthews owned him at every comparative level? Settle down with the Swedish bias.

 

[Sparksrus3]

Corey Pronman of the Athletic ranks his top U-23 players.

This is a projection on who he believes will have the best careers. It’s actually 155 players in total, but I’ll just post the top-25 here to discuss.

1. Auston Matthews
2. Rasmus Dahlin
3. Elias Pettersson
4. Alexis Lafreniere
5. Matthew Tkachuk
6. Andrei Svechnikov
7. Patrick Laine
8. Jack Hughes
9. Kaapo Kakko
10. Quinton Byfield
11. Quinn Hughes
12. Brady Tkachuk
13. Cale Makar
14. Miro Heiskanen
15. Tim Stutzle
16. Kirby Dach
17. Lucas Raymond
18. Pierre Luc-Dubois
19. Cole Perfetti
20. Robert Thomas
21. Nico Hischier
22. Milhail Sergachev
23. Trevor Zegras
24. Charlie McAvoy
25. Barrett Hayton

Mat Barzal ?
Stupid list

 

[Maplebeasts]

Mat Barzal ?
Stupid list

Why would Matt Barzal be on a U-23 list?

 

[Legion34]

Good point.

Why is matthews (23 y.o.) on this list but not other players the same age?

it was clearly explained.

It’s a 2016 and under draft eligible list. ranks the best players from the last 5 draft classes.


Matthews was a late birthday. Like players like Tavares/eichel/Mario.

Heck 5 years from now laf will be on the 23 and under list at 23

 

[The Podium]

Actually no he doesn't. He states his tier as "Generational/Special Player bubble". So, somewhere below full generational, but sets himself apart from the next tier. Okay, that's not a bad description. He's a solid 2 way player, could end up as the best goal scorer of his next generation, and can playmake at an elite level too. But nobody is confusing him with McDavid. So, that all sounds okay to me.



Well, as shown, put him on a line with a solid goal scorer, and he'd be close to a 40 to 50 assist guy, based on TOI with Nylander. I don't care if you don't think that's a great playmaker, or however you want to rank that, it certainly isn't a weakness, that much is clear.

As far as driving goals, he does though. the Leafs scored goals at the fastest rate with him on the ice. He was clearly driving more goals than anybody else on the team. Interestingly enough, goals for skyrocket with him on the ice, but goals against also dropped like a brick. You can't even say that about guys like McDavid, who goals for skyrocket for the oilers when he is on the ice (moreso than even Matthews), but so does goals against. the Oilers score in droves with him on the ice, but they also bleed goals in droves. Intersting, don't you think?

This is Matthews best argument towards being “Generational”

I don’t think he is quite there, but definitely think he can be this generations Ovi or Malkin as a clear #2 by the time their careers are over.

In addition to his versatile offense, his two-way play and possession are well above other top offensive players. The only other guy of this generation nipping at his heels as one of the best offensive and defensive threats in the league would be EP.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

Seems like people are having a really hard time understanding the concept of his list.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Does he explain his methodology? Looking at this list it seems all over the place. It seems to favor offensive production/potential but there are some outliers. The one ranking that really stands out in a bad way is McAvoy. He should be much higher on the list even if he's been banged up a bit. I mean, how on earth is he behind a guy like Sergachev? McAvoy is a much better defenseman who puts up comparable numbers.