My rankings look like this:
1)Boeser
2)Juolevi
3)Demko
4)Pettersson
5)Dahlén
6)Goldobin
7)Gaudette
8)Virtanen
9)Gadjovich
10)Lind
11)Lockwood
12)Holm
13)DiPietro
14)Subban
15)McEneny
16)Molino
17)Chatfield
18)Brisebois
19)Labate
20)Rathbone
Holm doesn't get enough love. +24 on the Vaxjo Lakers of the SHL last year as a 24 year old dman. Was very good at the World Championships too. Didn't look out of place.
My list after all these polls (and changing my mind a bit) is quite a bit different. Well mostly just a few players being higher/lower.
1) Boeser - think he'll start the year on the 3rd line, that gives him a tiebreak over Pettersson for me
2) Pettersson - think his upside, like Boeser, is as high as a 1st liner... others might have the same potential or possible upside but a lot less likely to reach it then these 2
3) Dahlen - next best forward prospect hands down
4) Juolevi - best D prospect
5) Demko - best goalie prospect and should be ready in hopefully 2 seasons
6) Goldobin - next best offensive prospect tho after the prospect game, i pretty much had him tied with Gaudatte... tiebreaker being he has a contract already and Gaudatte isn't signed yet
7) Gaudatte - had him below Goldobin before the prospect game, tied after and he's probably trending up... hopefully we sign him after his NCAA season and he plays a few games this year
8) Lind - surprised he dropped, probably the biggest raisers in terms of top 100 draft rankings, top 6 upside and a complete forward... should be in the AHL next year
9) Gadjovich - honestly i'm debating switching him and Lind due to his performance in World Jr showcase... but since these draft started before that and the vote for top 10 also happened before that... tho right now i would have him as 8
10) Lockwood - Same tier as Lind/Gadjovich but those 2 are the shinny new toys... so they went higher
11) Brisebois - top 4 D potential... also since i pretty much listed every forward with realistic top 6 potential (as in non-long shots) its time to for some Ds
12) Subban - Probably our most talented offensive D (and that includes Juolevi) but still very weak in his own end (as in AHL liability, forget NHL). I'm less concern about his size but being realistic, i don't see 3 RHD including more than 2 of Stecher/Tanev/Subban so Subban's only future with us is likely a) learning the left side or b) Tanev gets traded (more likely)... if we somehow sign Butcher, i'll drop him much lower on the list because his role will drop but otherwise i expect he'll likely replace Biega next season and be the #10 D to start camp
13) DiPietro - originally i think i voted for Molino before Dipietro but that's mostly due to not watching him play or not caring (since i didn't think we would be drafting him)... World Jr showcase has me a bit higher on DiPietro tho the biggest issue is i can't think of any #1 or even good/elite #2 goalies in the NHL right now shorter than 6'1 (and no i don't think Enroth is any good, Greiss is the closest but listed at 6'1... most other 1B goalies are 6'2 - 6'7... at least that i can think of). The NHL might be going smaller/skilled in other positions but they seem to be trending to bigger goalies not smaller/shorter.
14) Molino - I said this many times but i think i rate him higher than most. I see his potential being middle 6/3rd line speedy 2 way winger and likely seeing NHL time again next season (tho as injury replacement). No idea why many have him much lower... am i seeing things differently on him or did majority of fans just stop watching/caring when he played last year? He didn't scored but didn't look out of place
15) Virtanen - Never voted for him since he was long gone before i even considered him. This is mostly a reflection of his play last year... he was basically a AHL 3rd liner... Green played him mostly on the 3rd line and since Green is the coach for us, it basically means Virtanen didn't make a great first impression. Its make or break time for Virtanen... at least in terms of being a "top prospect" vs "bottom 6" prospect since he needs to clear waivers after next season. It'll mean he'll be on the team come opening day 2018... but the question is will he be competing for a 3rd line spot or slotted on the 4th line so we don't lose him on waivers... U would have him slotted in a top 6 role in Utica just because of his draft status but being realistic and he's really placed here also due to his draft position (i.e. based on production, his was the same as Carcone last season and Carcone finished the year stronger... so if it wasn't due to being a top 6 pick, Virtanen is probably closer to 20 for me). He's starting to remain me of David Booth... all the tools but no idea how to use them.
16) Holm - The more i research him, the more impressed i am... i think he's our 9th D to start the year but given his status (waiver exempt/VE AHL status) he'll likely start the season in Utica. That said, i wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being #7/Stecher spot (last year)... that is if there's any long term injury, he might be called up and not to sit but rather play (Biega/Wiercioch sitting instead). This allows him to stay sharp/develop in Utica on top of the fact that the other 2 are considered "vets" (and Holm is 1 of 2 that qualify as VE, other being Boucher). Side note, that matters because AHL teams are only allowed to dress 5 vet + 1 VE (and you can easily count 4 + Megna/Chaput already so one of them will always be sitting, add another and 2 will always be sitting).
17) McEneny - He's younger than Holm but i think his potential might be lower... at least after looking/reading a lot more about Holm. Even if its the same (say bottom pairing D/replacement D), the key difference is Holm is closer to being ready and also a lower floor (at this point). Would be interested to see if Utica decides to a) go with Holm/Subban as a top pairing or continue with McEneny/Subban this season
18) Palmu - His reviews from TPS seems to suggest he might be the best player so far on TPS... also 4 points in 4 games + a match deciding goal statistically supports this. Given not much else going on... this influences his position quite a bit....
19) MacEwen - Big forward but i'm not as high as him as others. He does have a lot of upside but is also a project. He seems to dominate vs smaller/weaker players but not sure if that'll hold in the AHL. Also holes defensively doesn't help him. The work ethic is there tho so that at least gives him an edge over another "power forward" that just left the organization (Grenier).
20) Rathbone - high upside but also likely 5 years away so that results in a very low floor too. A lot can happen in 5 years and he's basically playing meaningless hockey next year (HS) then as a freshman, he probably won't get meaningful minutes so it might be 2 years till its reasonable to start judging him... hard to get hyped up about a prospect who's "2 years away from being 2 years away" (or actually 3).
That said, i do think his potential is higher than everyone else left and even higher than some a few spots ahead of him... just too far in the future and low floor.
21) Gunnarson - Based on scouting reports, hard hitting solid defensive D who's also a good skater. Basically sounds like a good 3rd pairing/shut down D going forward and since we generally have more luck with SHL prospects than any other league... heck we probably have more former SHL players on our team/prospect list than any other organization
22) Chatfield - I think he'll make Utica next year but guess i'm not as high on him as others. Don't notice any holes in his game, which is good but he has a lot less offensive upside (i.e. close to none) when compared to some of the other prospects (except Gunnarson who's also suppose to have no offensive upside). Pretty much ranked the same as Gunnarson with the tiebreaker being SHL connection (again more luck there than elsewhere). Also a similar scouting report and similar height (tho Gunnarson is listed as 205 vs 185 so he's probably more bulky)...
23) Carcone - Finished the year strong on Utica/when he was off the 4th line. I think he'll start the year on the 3rd line in Utica and could progress to the 2nd year once we start calling up injury replacements. Still think he has some NHL potential tho would've liked a more productive rookie year (and him getting more playing time...).
24) Zhukenov - Don't think we'll sign him tho we have his rights for 2 more seasons. Pure skill wise, he is probably more skilled than everyone left and is great for highlight reels...
25) Labate - Mostly dropped due to age (24 when most of the prospects are younger... basically all except Holm). He does bring physically and i think he could score a bit more given his speed/size/shot in the AHL. He's also a big player that plays big unlike Grenier. Could be an injury replacement again this year tho its less likely since we are a deeper team. I see him likely starting the season on the 3rd line. Wonder if he'll end up playing with Cassels and if that helps or hurts both of them...
26) Cassels - The rest of the prospects are long shots and/or i don't think we'll sign them. He needs a breakout year to have much value since he is a blackhole offensively. That said, he's a solid player in his own end so if he ever starts scoring (like in Jr), he could really shoot up these polls.
Still a long shot at this point but who knows, maybe a new coach will help with his development? Most important tho he'll probably need to improve his skating to contribute much of anything...
27) Sautner - Don't expect him to be a regular to start the season but he'll likely be the 8th D on Utica and who knows maybe he'll slot in some games when we want Sifers out (to dress 5 vet forwards). Plus as we know we'll always have injuries so he'll play 40+ games again and who knows, he could have a McEneny like year when given another chance (ok not likely).
Plus i think he's the last prospect...
The rest?
I don't think we'll sign Cadella or Stukel. We might sign McKenzie but the fact he got cut before the end of Utica's season (and never played despite multiple 3x3) doesn't help his chances. He'll probably need a 80+ pt season before we'll even consider signing him (since its his overage season) or a great playoff run. The fact he got cut probably means Green wasn't too impressed with him in practice (last year). Also doesn't help that we have Laplante's contract for another season after this. Of course McKenzie does have an advantage of being a 3 zone player while some of the others are only good offensive or defensively (Cassels). Still the fact he isn't signed yet isn't a good sign. Pedan at this point is basically organization depth who would've been on the list if we didn't sign Sifers. Being a 7th D (maybe 8th, depending on Sautner) in Utica @ 24 pretty much means he isn't really a prospect at this point. He was probably on par with Sautner based on last year's performance and of course Sautner is younger. Although it is interesting that his contract has 300k guaranteed in the AHL when he played mostly on the 3rd pairing last year. 300k probably makes him the highest paid D in Utica (since the others are on ELC/sub 100k except for Sifers who's on a AHL contract... generally undisclosed). I guess Pedan could be 28th and could even see the odd game this year because it makes more sense for him to sit in the pressbox (in the NHL) than some of the other prospects.
Side note, for the top, i didn't space some of them because i pretty much group'd them together so it was really a tiebreaker breaking them. The later i split up since i explained them in a bit more detail.
