Butch's Top 130 Prospects

[Butch26]

Hey guys ! Finally posting it after receiving couple of PM . Here my annual top prospect list . Few thing to know before reading it :
- No goalie because i have 0 knowledge of the position
- I'm a skills coach/scout in the Q so no player from the Q included for no bia . Lot of player could en up here
- I'm a french canadian with , so my first language is french that why my bad english . I'm open to question/comment and i will respond



Few take on the list :
- Bowen Byram is my less good player who went first overall . It's the first time that i'm not call a futur star with the first player like the last list with Kaako,Hughes,Hughes,Makar,Connor etc . I fall in love with him at the last draft but this year my hype was not kept . But i'm a scout that his list doesn't change that much so i give him the benefit of doubt . I think he will end up like a Ryan Suter style , capable of playing 30 min a night in playoff but not put that much points . Very mobile and mature but he don't have the special savor of Maker or Hughes .
- Kaprizov going third because is the only one in the list that i can call that he will make +70 its a year and very soon . So dynamic and dangerous on the rush
- Zegras is 4 not because of the WJC . He was 4 on my list last year . IQ is special and his skillset is pretty good .
- Caufield will score lot of goal in the NHL . I'm a skills and what i like more to teach it is how to score goal . Caufield do all what i teach . Always playing on his opposite leg to play chess game with the goalie . His shoot his special , and his IQ Shooting much more.
- Batherson is the next Mark Stone . Will put 30+30 a year with great defensive capacities
- Couple player that they don't had good year is still high , i know . I don't change my ranking because of their point or <<result>> I change my ranking only if i think the player don't progress well or if i was wrong at the time . Give time to these player to develop , 1/2 year it's not enough to abandon on player.
Last List :
Butch's top 150 Prospect List
Butch List 115
Butch's List of the top 175 Drafted Prospects

1. Bowen Byram
2. Erik Branstrom
3. Kirill Kaprizov
4. Trevor Zegras
5. Dylan Cozens
6. Kirby Dach
7. Adam Boqvist
8. Cole Caufield
9. Rasmus Sandin
10. Alex Turcotte
11. Barrett Hayton
12. Ville Heinola
13. Vitali Kravstov
14. Filip Zadina
15. Evan Bouchard
16. Moritz Seider
17. Drake Batherson
18. Ryan Poehling
19. Joel Farabe
20. Joseph Veleno
21. Vasili Podkolzin
22. Ty Smith
23. Timothy Liljegren
24. Noah Dobson
25. Alexander Romanov
26. Tyler Madden
27. Phillip Broberg
28. Max Comtois
29. Morgan Frost
30. Grigori Denisenko
31. Thomas Harley
32. Conor Timmins
33. Dmitri Voronkov
34. Victor Sodestrom
35. Casey Mittelstadt
36. Nils Hoglander
37. Jonatan Berggren
38. Oliver Wahlstrom
39. Eeli Tolvanen
40. Jason Robertson
41. Kristian Vesalainen
42. Cam York
43. Alex Newhook
44. Samuel Fagemo
45. Logan Brown
46. Mattias Norlinder
47. Dominic Bokk
48. Ryan Merkley
49. Rasmus Kupari
50. Aleksi Heponiemi
51. Pavel Dorofeyev
52. Josh Norris
53. Owen Tippet
54. Shane Bowers
55. Matthews Boldy
56. Nils Lunkvist
57. Kale Clague
58. Jordan Kyrou
59. Arthur Kaliyev
60. Tobias Bjornfot
61. K'Andre Miller
62. Nolan Foote
63. Jordan Harris
64. Urho Vaakanainen
65. Peyton Krebs
66. Connor McNichael
67. Lassi Thomson
68. Callan Foote
69. Phillip Tomasino
70. Michael Rasmussen
71. Kailer Yamamoto
72. Klim Kostin
73. Janne Kuokkanen
74. Alex Barre-Boulet
75. Martin Kaut
76. Nicholas Robertson
77. Ian Mitchell
78. Josh Mahura
79. Scott Perunovich
80. Evan Barratt
81. Jeremy Bracco
82. Caleb Jones
83. Jaret Anderson-Dolan
84. Gabriel Vilardi
85. Alex Formenton
86. Josh Brook
87. Bode Wilde
88. Bobby Brink
89. Brayden Tracey
90. Jet Woo
91. Calen Addison
92. Alex Vlasic
93. Jan Jenik
94. Tyler Benson
95. Matias Maccelli
96. Dmitri Samorukov
97. Jack Studnicka
98. Shane Pinto
99. Akil Thomas
100. Ty Dellandrea
101. Dylan Samberg
102. John Beecher
103. Yegor Rykov
104. Filip Hallander
105. Anttoni Honka
106. Jesse Ylonen
107. Jayden Struble
108. Jansen Harkins
109. Dillon Dube
110. Rudolf Balcers
111. Alexander Volkov
112. Jack Dugan
113. Nic Beaudin
114. Patrik Puistola
115. Serron Noel
116. Mikko Kokkonen
117. Jake Bean
118. Otto Koivula
119. Sasha Chmelevski
120. Yegor Zamula
121. Tyler Raddysh
122. Mitchell Stephens
123. Liam Foudy
124. Lawrence Pilut
125. Jacob Bernard-Docker
126. Ryan Johnson
127. Martin Fehérváry
128. Rasmus Asplund
129. Lucas Elvenes
130. Kole Lind

Top 10 NEXT DRAFT

1. Tim Stuztle
2. Jamie Drysdale
3. Lucas Raymond
4. Quinton Byfield
5. Cole Perfetti
6. Marco Rossi
7. Anton Lundell
8. Alexander Holtz
9. Antonio Stranges
10. Noel Gunler

Top 10 advance with a franchise (u23)

1. Connor McDavid
2. Auston Matthews
3. Cale Makar
4. Thomas Chabot
5. Quinn Hughes
6. Rasmus Dahlin
7. Elias Pettersson
8. Miro Heiskanen
9. Mitchell Marner
10. Matthew Barzal
11. Jack Hughes
12. Evgeni Svechnikov
13. Sebastian Aho
14. Kaapo Kakko
15. Matthew Tkachuk
16. Zach Werenski
17. Adam Fox
18. Ivan Provorov
19. Brock Boeser
20. P-L Dubois
21. Bowen Byram
22. Erik Branstrom
23. Alex DeBrincat
24. Clayton Keller
25. Dylan Strome

Click to read more...

 

[UnimatrixZero]

List appreciated , I know not easy making these lists as to players can move up or down drastically depends on which metric one uses, would have liked to see Q players included to heck with if anyone thinks there's bias or not, everyone shouldn't be so serious - cheers!

 

[Butch26]

List appreciated , I know not easy making these lists as to players can move up or down drastically depends on which metric one uses, would have liked to see Q players included to heck with if anyone thinks there's bias or not, everyone shouldn't be so serious - cheers!

thanks buddy

For Q player , is because 4-5 player on my team could end up ranked here, and the other player is direct competitor so. I don’t put them to be okay with everybody if they see the list

 

[57special]

Not a Beckman fan? Also, you seem light on NCAA Players

 

[Butch26]

Hard for me to follow honestly. An overager who’s not playing on international stage , it’s take 2 year to see him enough to put him at the good place.
So yeah a guy drafted in 5-6-7 round, never play team usa, no jrn A , no NHL pre season, no rookie game...It will take time to appreciate the player. Except if he play at 2-4 university that i see more

 

[Lays]

Everyone has different opinions but I’m not a big fan of this list. Just one example, what’s the reasoning for Bowers, Norlinder, Berggren above Nils Lundkvist? Lundkvist is setting records in the SHL and leads his team in points as a defenseman whose been known for his defensive game

 

[WILDTATE10]

Not a Beckman fan? Also, you seem light on NCAA Players

No Khovanov as well. Unless I’ve missed him the few times I scrolled through the list

 

[57special]

No players from the Q as he stated in his OP.

 

[Llamamoto]

Do you have Lafreniere in your top-10 for the 2020 draft?

 

[bearcountry17]

Studnicka 79 spots lower than Poehling is a head scratcher. He's a better prospect IMO.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Man are you ever high on Erik Brannstrom. Nice player but way too highly ranked imo.

 

[57special]

I was a bit puzzled with the Brannstrom love, also.
Oh, and Beckman is not an overager. He was picked in his first eligible draft year.

 

[Butch26]

Do you have Lafreniere in your top-10 for the 2020 draft?

Obviously , yess....

 

[Gargyn]

Hey guys ! Finally posting it after receiving couple of PM . Here my annual top prospect list . Few thing to know before reading it :
- No goalie because i have 0 knowledge of the position
- I'm a skills coach/scout in the Q so no player from the Q included for no bia . Lot of player could en up here
- I'm a french canadian with , so my first language is french that why my bad english . I'm open to question/comment and i will respond



Few take on the list :
- Bowen Byram is my less good player who went first overall . It's the first time that i'm not call a futur star with the first player like the last list with Kaako,Hughes,Hughes,Makar,Connor etc . I fall in love with him at the last draft but this year my hype was not kept . But i'm a scout that his list doesn't change that much so i give him the benefit of doubt . I think he will end up like a Ryan Suter style , capable of playing 30 min a night in playoff but not put that much points . Very mobile and mature but he don't have the special savor of Maker or Hughes .
- Kaprizov going third because is the only one in the list that i can call that he will make +70 its a year and very soon . So dynamic and dangerous on the rush
- Zegras is 4 not because of the WJC . He was 4 on my list last year . IQ is special and his skillset is pretty good .
- Caufield will score lot of goal in the NHL . I'm a skills and what i like more to teach it is how to score goal . Caufield do all what i teach . Always playing on his opposite leg to play chess game with the goalie . His shoot his special , and his IQ Shooting much more.
- Batherson is the next Mark Stone . Will put 30+30 a year with great defensive capacities
- Couple player that they don't had good year is still high , i know . I don't change my ranking because of their point or <<result>> I change my ranking only if i think the player don't progress well or if i was wrong at the time . Give time to these player to develop , 1/2 year it's not enough to abandon on player.
Last List :
Butch's top 150 Prospect List
Butch List 115
Butch's List of the top 175 Drafted Prospects

1. Bowen Byram
2. Erik Branstrom
3. Kirill Kaprizov
4. Trevor Zegras
5. Dylan Cozens
6. Kirby Dach
7. Adam Boqvist
8. Cole Caufield
9. Rasmus Sandin
10. Alex Turcotte
11. Barrett Hayton
12. Ville Heinola
13. Vitali Kravstov
14. Filip Zadina
15. Evan Bouchard
16. Moritz Seider
17. Drake Batherson
18. Ryan Poehling
19. Joel Farabe
20. Joseph Veleno
21. Vasili Podkolzin
22. Ty Smith
23. Timothy Liljegren
24. Noah Dobson
25. Alexander Romanov
26. Tyler Madden
27. Phillip Broberg
28. Max Comtois
29. Morgan Frost
30. Grigori Denisenko
31. Thomas Harley
32. Conor Timmins
33. Dmitri Voronkov
34. Victor Sodestrom
35. Casey Mittelstadt
36. Nils Hoglander
37. Jonatan Berggren
38. Oliver Wahlstrom
39. Eeli Tolvanen
40. Jason Robertson
41. Kristian Vesalainen
42. Cam York
43. Alex Newhook
44. Samuel Fagemo
45. Logan Brown
46. Mattias Norlinder
47. Dominic Bokk
48. Ryan Merkley
49. Rasmus Kupari
50. Aleksi Heponiemi
51. Pavel Dorofeyev
52. Josh Norris
53. Owen Tippet
54. Shane Bowers
55. Matthews Boldy
56. Nils Lunkvist
57. Kale Clague
58. Jordan Kyrou
59. Arthur Kaliyev
60. Tobias Bjornfot
61. K'Andre Miller
62. Nolan Foote
63. Jordan Harris
64. Urho Vaakanainen
65. Peyton Krebs
66. Connor McNichael
67. Lassi Thomson
68. Callan Foote
69. Phillip Tomasino
70. Michael Rasmussen
71. Kailer Yamamoto
72. Klim Kostin
73. Janne Kuokkanen
74. Alex Barre-Boulet
75. Martin Kaut
76. Nicholas Robertson
77. Ian Mitchell
78. Josh Mahura
79. Scott Perunovich
80. Evan Barratt
81. Jeremy Bracco
82. Caleb Jones
83. Jaret Anderson-Dolan
84. Gabriel Vilardi
85. Alex Formenton
86. Josh Brook
87. Bode Wilde
88. Bobby Brink
89. Brayden Tracey
90. Jet Woo
91. Calen Addison
92. Alex Vlasic
93. Jan Jenik
94. Tyler Benson
95. Matias Maccelli
96. Dmitri Samorukov
97. Jack Studnicka
98. Shane Pinto
99. Akil Thomas
100. Ty Dellandrea
101. Dylan Samberg
102. John Beecher
103. Yegor Rykov
104. Filip Hallander
105. Anttoni Honka
106. Jesse Ylonen
107. Jayden Struble
108. Jansen Harkins
109. Dillon Dube
110. Rudolf Balcers
111. Alexander Volkov
112. Jack Dugan
113. Nic Beaudin
114. Patrik Puistola
115. Serron Noel
116. Mikko Kokkonen
117. Jake Bean
118. Otto Koivula
119. Sasha Chmelevski
120. Yegor Zamula
121. Tyler Raddysh
122. Mitchell Stephens
123. Liam Foudy
124. Lawrence Pilut
125. Jacob Bernard-Docker
126. Ryan Johnson
127. Martin Fehérváry
128. Rasmus Asplund
129. Lucas Elvenes
130. Kole Lind

Top 10 NEXT DRAFT

1. Tim Stuztle
2. Jamie Drysdale
3. Lucas Raymond
4. Quinton Byfield
5. Cole Perfetti
6. Marco Rossi
7. Anton Lundell
8. Alexander Holtz
9. Antonio Stranges
10. Noel Gunler

Top 10 advance with a franchise (u23)

1. Connor McDavid
2. Auston Matthews
3. Cale Makar
4. Thomas Chabot
5. Quinn Hughes
6. Rasmus Dahlin
7. Elias Pettersson
8. Miro Heiskanen
9. Mitchell Marner
10. Matthew Barzal
11. Jack Hughes
12. Evgeni Svechnikov
13. Sebastian Aho
14. Kaapo Kakko
15. Matthew Tkachuk
16. Zach Werenski
17. Adam Fox
18. Ivan Provorov
19. Brock Boeser
20. P-L Dubois
21. Bowen Byram
22. Erik Branstrom
23. Alex DeBrincat
24. Clayton Keller
25. Dylan Strome

Where is Lafreniere?

 

[Pia8988]

Where is Lafreniere?

Try reading the opening segment.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Amazing how many people have a truly putrid ability to actually read....


Anyway, always respect a list this size. Especially respect the list for attempting to remove any bias by not rankings players from the league you scout.


Like with any list, there's certainly some aspects of it I disagree with. As an Avs fan I think Newhook is significantly lower than he should be but you also kind of explained a reason for that already by not getting to see him play as much as others being that he's an NCAA guy.


That said.... Of the Avs prospects you have ranked, you have them in the following order:


Byram
Timmins
Newhook
Bowers
Kaut


This is almost the exact order I personally would have them ranked as well with the only exception being I'd have Kovalenko ranked above Kaut.

 

[Lemonlimey]

Is Rantanen eligible for the u23 list?

 

[Butch26]

Everyone has different opinions but I’m not a big fan of this list. Just one example, what’s the reasoning for Bowers, Norlinder, Berggren above Nils Lundkvist? Lundkvist is setting records in the SHL and leads his team in points as a defenseman whose been known for his defensive game

I have a lot of comment like that in my last ranking . My ranking is not about stats or record or whatever...

Scouting is a inexact science. Player will play 3 wow game , 10 very good game , 30 game ok and 5 disaster game . If i see him 5 time , and i see his 5 disaster game...Yeah i will have the player very low if we compare with another scout who see is 3 wow game . My ranking IS not about stats .

But i'm skills coach , so i have (i think) specific knowledge about skating, shooting,stickhandling and what i call SKILLS IQ. I see the game very differently than other scout for sur.


Bowers for me is a top speed player , NHL Locker . The ceiling is not that high but is high pace is very rare and a NHL lock as a value in the ranking

Norlinder is the pure skills , one of the best edging skills in this list . Is skater ability and his Skills IQ is awesome . His ceiling is very very very vey high for me . If i rank player about their ceiling , he go top 3-5

Berggren was top 10 in my draft ranking . I give him 1 year to be good as he was a 17 year old. Always head up in the corner , make play , shifty .

I compare Lunkvist with Markov . Not that fast , but very mobile and high IQ on the BO/Regroupe . He don't have the fire power of Norlinder if we compare the two player . Norlinder is more a running back and Lundkvist a QB . I think Lunkvist will play in the NHL but i don't except match than i see now . But again , is my scouting view and we can put 10 very good scout in a room and nobody will have the same list . Maybe i'm wrong , never say that i had a super power to evaluate prospect .

 

[Butch26]

Amazing how many people have a truly putrid ability to actually read....


Anyway, always respect a list this size. Especially respect the list for attempting to remove any bias by not rankings players from the league you scout.


Like with any list, there's certainly some aspects of it I disagree with. As an Avs fan I think Newhook is significantly lower than he should be but you also kind of explained a reason for that already by not getting to see him play as much as others being that he's an NCAA guy.


That said.... Of the Avs prospects you have ranked, you have them in the following order:


Byram
Timmins
Newhook
Bowers
Kaut


This is almost the exact order I personally would have them ranked as well with the only exception being I'd have Kovalenko ranked above Kaut.

Thanks for the feedback . Nice to see that i have the same ranking as you , knowing that you will follow more than me COL prospect

 

[Butch26]

Where is Lafreniere?

I don't put Q guy , because i coach in the Q. Read it

 

[Butch26]

Man are you ever high on Erik Brannstrom. Nice player but way too highly ranked imo.

I think is the less good 1 to 10 core in the last 4 year. Byram to Romanov is close for me and in the previous is was different with player like Chabot or Hughes definitely in front of the other player . Why i keep Branstrom so high it's his comprehension of how beat pressure , aside with his mobility.

But like Byram , i can said that he will be a super star . His top speed is okay but no exceptional here , samething about all of his tools .

 

[Butch26]

Studnicka 79 spots lower than Poehling is a head scratcher. He's a better prospect IMO.

Maybe. Poehling is on my radar for awhile and my projection of him don't change. I will not change my ranking because the production of Stud is far better.

 

[Llamamoto]

Obviously , yess....

Skimmed over it. My bad. Thanks for the list btw. I like how you have Stutzle quite high. Also, what's your opinion on Byfield and Rossi?

 

[Lays]

I have a lot of comment like that in my last ranking . My ranking is not about stats or record or whatever...

Scouting is a inexact science. Player will play 3 wow game , 10 very good game , 30 game ok and 5 disaster game . If i see him 5 time , and i see his 5 disaster game...Yeah i will have the player very low if we compare with another scout who see is 3 wow game . My ranking IS not about stats .

But i'm skills coach , so i have (i think) specific knowledge about skating, shooting,stickhandling and what i call SKILLS IQ. I see the game very differently than other scout for sur.


Bowers for me is a top speed player , NHL Locker . The ceiling is not that high but is high pace is very rare and a NHL lock as a value in the ranking

Norlinder is the pure skills , one of the best edging skills in this list . Is skater ability and his Skills IQ is awesome . His ceiling is very very very vey high for me . If i rank player about their ceiling , he go top 3-5

Berggren was top 10 in my draft ranking . I give him 1 year to be good as he was a 17 year old. Always head up in the corner , make play , shifty .

I compare Lunkvist with Markov . Not that fast , but very mobile and high IQ on the BO/Regroupe . He don't have the fire power of Norlinder if we compare the two player . Norlinder is more a running back and Lundkvist a QB . I think Lunkvist will play in the NHL but i don't except match than i see now . But again , is my scouting view and we can put 10 very good scout in a room and nobody will have the same list . Maybe i'm wrong , never say that i had a super power to evaluate prospect .

The Bowers argument doesn’t make much sense. I’d think that Lundkvist is actually the safer prospect than Bowers, and was always considered a low ceiling/high floor defenseman up until this season where he absolutely exploded offensively. I think that Markov comp is way off as well, I’d compare him to Anton Stralman. Nils Lundkvist is actually younger than Norlinder as well and is producing at a better pace ( 22 points in 29 games) and leads his SHL team in scoring. Norlinder is 12th in scoring on his Allsvenskan team with 15 in 32. And Norlinder is considered to be much weaker defensively than Lundkvist, I really can’t see anyone taking Norlinder over Lundkvist. Not going to argue your own opinion though, everyone does have completely different lists and I respect that

 

[zcaptain]

Ahhhh, A great list, Thank you!

It is always interesting to read how others see certain players. I appreciate your insight.

I have a question about a player not on your list...…..maybe you can help me?

Could you comment on Jack Rathbone of Harvard

In particular, I would really like to here how he compares to, two recent graduates

Please, how does he compare to Adan Fox (NYR) and John Marino (Pitts)

I realize he is not as strong as Fox, but want to get a handle on if he will be a candidate for our Canucks

Thanks