Prospect Info: Blues Prospect Rankings #1

[Daley Tarasenkshow]

Time to vote for the blues top 25 prospects now that the draft is over and there isn't much going on.

Remember- Frank and Schwartz are still prospects by HF terms.

I will make a new one every week or less.

Here are the results from the fall:

#1 Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, 6'0, 191, 12/13/1991 (92.16%)
#2 Jaden Schwartz, LW, 5'9, 179, 6/25/1992 (92.50%)
#3 Ty Rattie, RW, 6'0, 167, 2/5/1993 (57.38%)
#4 Ian Cole, D, 6'1, 225, 2/21/1989 (75.61%)
#5 Jake Allen, G, 6'2, 195, 8/7/1990 (73.33%)
#6 Jordan Schmaltz, D, 6'2, 170, 10/8/1993 (38.1%)
#7 Jani Hakanpaa, D, 6'5, 218, 3/31/1992 (64.71%)
#8 Cade Fairchild, D, 5'11, 175, 1/15/1989 (61.7%)
#9 Philip McRae, C, 6'2, 200, 3/15/1990 (57.89%)
#10 Sebastian Wannstrom, RW, 6'1, 183, 3/3/1991 (30.95%)
#11 Evgeny Grachev, C/LW, 6'4, 225, 2/21/1990 (38.10%)
(tie) #12 Sam Kurker, RW, 6'2, 198, 4/8/94 (30.00%)
(tie) #12 Jori Lehtera, C, 6'1, 201, 12/23/87 (30.00%)
#14 Joel Edmundson, D, 6'4, 192, 6/28/93 (51.85%)
#15 Dmitrij Jaskin, RW, 6'2, 198, 3/23/93 (40.54%)
#16 Brett Ponich, D, 6'7, 220, 2/22/91 (42.11%)
#17 Yannick Veilleux, LW, 6'2, 190, 2/22/93 (48.48%)
#18 MacKenzie MacEachern, LW, 6'2, 174, 3/9/94 (35.39%)
#19 Ryan Tesink, C/LW, 6'0, 165, 5/21/93 (44.83%)
#20 Teemu Eronen, D, 5'10, 181, 11/22/91 (50.00%)
#21 Sergei Andronov, RW, 6'0, 183, 7/19/89 (44.00%)
#22 Colton Parayko, D, 6'5, 191, 5/12/93 (40.00%)
#23 Jordan Binnington, G, 6'1, 154, 7/11/93 (59.38%)
#24 Cody Beach, RW, 6'5, 184, 8/8/1992 (38.46%)
#25 Anthony Peluso, RW, 6'3, 235, 4/18/89 (25.00%)

Click to read more...

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I said it last year and I still think it: the Schwartz may be the better NHL player than Tarasenko when its all said and done. People dismissed any possible meaning to the fact that the Blues selected him before they picked Vlad....and assumed it was entirely due to the chance Tarasenko may choose to stay in the KHL.

That may be true, but I also think its not a given that there were no other factors. And after last season's performances, I think I'm ready to select Schwartz ahead of Tarasenko. (I have extremely high hopes for Vlad, though.) But if you made me place a bet, I think Schwartz has a bigger impact on the Blues this year.

(I'm glad we're finally starting this poll.)

 

[Lord Helix]

Still Vlad for me...It's just a lot closer than before, and it was already pretty close. I think Schwartz could end up being the better player, but he has a lot of holes in his game as well. Namely, scoring.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

So does this poll change the scrolling names at the top?

 

[nicholas89alex]

Schwartz=better all around player, great at picking pucks out the corner and while not big enough to be a physical presence could be almost as good as dastyuk defensively when all is said and done. I feel he has the potential to reach 60 points at the NHL level.
Tarasenko= much better offensive prospect. could become a point per game player. and he puts the effort in defensively but I doubt he ever becomes much more than average.

overall I say goals win games and tarasenko will get more points and more goals
but its more of a 1a/1b type thing this year

 

[Alklha]

Schwartz is clearly going to be a great all round player, who could easily find himself on the top line, but Tarasenko still has the higher ceiling.

 

[Colt 55]

Whatever happened to Wannstrom? I rarely hear his name anymore.

 

[Alklha]

Whatever happened to Wannstrom? I rarely hear his name anymore.

Started the season in Peoria and sucked, went to Evansville, got food poisoning and hardly played better. He spoke with the Blues and it was decided it best for him to go back to Sweden. Finished the season with Brynäs in the Elitserien/SHL.

 

[SirPaste]

I dont consider Vlad or Schwartz prospects anymore

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I dont consider Vlad or Schwartz prospects anymore

Fortunately, we don't have to use everyone's personal definition, since HF has a specific definition used for purposes of this poll. You can disagree with it, but at least its consistent and clearly defined.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Fortunately, we don't have to use everyone's personal definition, since HF has a specific definition used for purposes of this poll. You can disagree with it, but at least its consistent and clearly defined.

Only reason they are still "prospects" is because of the lockout.

 

[nicholas89alex]

so 3 weeks into the season or 3rd prospect will end up as our first prospect when vlad and Schwartz graduate right?

 

[2 Minute Minor]

Only reason they are still "prospects" is because of the lockout.

Yes, but its still a fact that the number of NHL games they've played is limited. We have to use some basis of minimum experience before we consider a player to have moved on. This last year's crop of rookies got screwed pretty well....no training camp, short tight season. I think Schwartz and moreso Tarasenko could have had a lot better performance with a regular routine. Vlad really got the short straw with how things wound up.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

so 3 weeks into the season or 3rd prospect will end up as our first prospect when vlad and Schwartz graduate right?

This is an annual off-season poll. Its a snapshot in time.

Vlad/Jaden have no impact on how the rest of the rankings turn out, so I don't really see how including them or not makes any difference in the type of discussion we can have.

Would it be better if we make some arbitrary definition of prospect that we can argue about and have differences of opinion on? I want to talk about the actual players, not have a debate society meeting about what a prospect is. HF has a tidy definition...and its been in place for years. Seems fairly objective to me.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/whatmakesaprospect/
Here's the definition I'm referring to.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/playerprojections/
And here is an anchor for how the HF scoring is defined.

 

[nicholas89alex]

This is an annual off-season poll. Its a snapshot in time.

Vlad/Jaden have no impact on how the rest of the rankings turn out, so I don't really see how including them or not makes any difference in the type of discussion we can have.

Would it be better if we make some arbitrary definition of prospect that we can argue about and have differences of opinion on? I want to talk about the actual players, not have a debate society meeting about what a prospect is. HF has a tidy definition...and its been in place for years. Seems fairly objective to me.

I agree. I would rather have vlad and Schwartz on the poll even though they graduate soon than have a bunch of arguing about what makes a prospect.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

On topic:
I seem to be in the minority in thinking Schwartz is the more valuable asset than Tarasenko. I think he'll help the team more this coming season, and I think he'll arguably have the better career. (And I'm not down on Tarasenko at all...just think Jaden's ceiling is higher than previously thought.)

Can someone give me their expectations for Tarasenko for this coming season. By my projections, he slots into the 3rd line with Berglund and MPS (while Schwartz is probably on the Backes line). Why did Vlad hit the wall? His production completely dried up. Yeah, it was a long season. Yeah, he probably had a concussion. Yeah, he may have put too much muscle....or maybe he just had a poor fitness level. (Did he have Stewart's same issue from the year prior?)

Anyone with concerns that Tarasenko may not have learned how to prepare for an NHL season? He's off in Russia training quietly. I hope he's doing the right things. Does anyone have concerns that he may show up in camp not really ready to go?

I'm not limiting the value here to points production, but I think Schwartz may well eclipse Tarasenko in points this coming season (but not in a couple years).

 

[bleedblue1223]

If Schwartz starts producing, which I believe he will, he'll easily have a bigger impact.

 

[izzy]

Still Tarasenko.

 

[Stealth JD]

Can we skip #2 and just assume that Schwartz will take that if Tarasenko wins #1?

 

[Hooliganx3]

Can we skip #2 and just assume that Schwartz will take that if Tarasenko wins #1?

I agree i think Rattie and Jaskin should be really close and if Allen it in there he's a possibility as well.

 

[Alklha]

On topic:
I seem to be in the minority in thinking Schwartz is the more valuable asset than Tarasenko. I think he'll help the team more this coming season, and I think he'll arguably have the better career. (And I'm not down on Tarasenko at all...just think Jaden's ceiling is higher than previously thought.)

Can someone give me their expectations for Tarasenko for this coming season. By my projections, he slots into the 3rd line with Berglund and MPS (while Schwartz is probably on the Backes line). Why did Vlad hit the wall? His production completely dried up. Yeah, it was a long season. Yeah, he probably had a concussion. Yeah, he may have put too much muscle....or maybe he just had a poor fitness level. (Did he have Stewart's same issue from the year prior?)

Anyone with concerns that Tarasenko may not have learned how to prepare for an NHL season? He's off in Russia training quietly. I hope he's doing the right things. Does anyone have concerns that he may show up in camp not really ready to go?

I'm not limiting the value here to points production, but I think Schwartz may well eclipse Tarasenko in points this coming season (but not in a couple years).

Expectations for Tarasenko? 30-30.

Various things hurt him last season. The most games he had played in a season prior to last season was 45, and that went up to 70. The second half of those were NHL games, which are more intense and were coming at a faster pace than normal. The concusion he picked up against the Avs also played a part. He'll have to make physical adjustments, he's been told what they are, and the team are happy with the progress he's making. He was planning to be back in St. Louis in the second week of August, not sure if that has changed.

I expect that he'll be on the MPS-Berglund line, but these things might change. He'll be on the top PP unit to start the season, so he'll be getting plenty of opportunities.

 

[letmesleep]

I'm expecting a few players to make big jumps up in the rankings this year compared to last year, namely Jaskin, Lundstrom and Binnington. They'll be just behind the usual suspects of Schwartz, Tarasenko, Rattie, and Allen. A guy like Carrier might be up there too, I've got a really good feeling about him. Then we'll have a whole pile of boom/bust D projects and supporting cast type forwards.

 

[EastonBlues22]

So does this poll change the scrolling names at the top?

No, those are the product of either a HF writer (or occasionally a beat writer for the Blues). Either way, I routinely think the consensus ranking here is a better result than they one they put on the scrolling header.

 

[izzy]

I'm expecting a few players to make big jumps up in the rankings this year compared to last year, namely Jaskin, Lundstrom and Binnington. They'll be just behind the usual suspects of Schwartz, Tarasenko, Rattie, and Allen. A guy like Carrier might be up there too, I've got a really good feeling about him. Then we'll have a whole pile of boom/bust D projects and supporting cast type forwards.

I think Binnington will make a big jump.