Prospect Info: Capitals Top Prospects 2020 Post-Draft #3

Who is the Capitals Top Prospect 2020 Post-Draft #3?

  • Garin Bjorklund - G Medicine Hat Tigers / WHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kody Clark - RW Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tobias Geisser - LD Hershey Bears / AHL (EV Zug / NL Switzerland)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Shane Gersich - C/LW Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mitchell Gibson - G Harvard University / NCAA

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hugo Has - RD Guelph Storm / OHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Bear Hughes - C Spokane Chiefs / WHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lucas Johansen - LD Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Axel Jonsson-Fjallby - LW Hershey Bears / AHL (Västerviks IK / HockeyAllsvenskan)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Brett Leason - RW Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Benton Maass - RD University of New Hampshire / NCAA

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Oskar Magnusson - C/RW Malmo Redhawks / SHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Beck Malenstyn - LW Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Bobby Nardella - LD Djurgardens IF / SHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Garrett Pilon - C Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Brian Pinho - C Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Damien Riat - W/C Hershey Bears / AHL (Genève-Servette HC / NL Switzerland)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen - LW HC Dalen / HockeyEttan

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Joe Snively - LW Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Riley Sutter - RW Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Bogdan Trineyev - F MHK Dynamo Moskva / MHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Vitek Vanacek - G Hershey Bears / AHL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sebastian Walfridsson - LD Visby/Roma / HockeyEttan

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    64
  • Poll closed .
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tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
9,863
10,089
8481580.jpg


#1 Connor McMichael London Knights / OHL

C | 6' 0" | 183 lb | Age: 19
Draft: 2019 WSH, 1st rd, 25th pk (25th overall)
42 Votes - 73.7%
Prospect Info: - Capitals Top Prospects 2020 Post-Draft #1
2019 Ranking - #3


hendrix-lapierre-2020-1021.jpg


#2 Hendrix Lapierre Chicoutimi Sagueneens / QMJHL

C | 6' 0" | 179 lb | Age: 18
Draft: 2020 WSH, 1st rd, 22nd pk (22nd overall)
28 Votes - 54.9%
Prospect Info: - Capitals Top Prospects 2020 Post-Draft #2
2019 Ranking - N/A




Well here we go!

Vote for your your Caps prospects for the 2020 Post-Draft rankings.

Again, to be eligible for the poll, player must be 25 years or younger and has played no more than 25 NHL games.

If there is someone I missed in the poll or you think should be added, please post about it below.



Former Caps prospects dropping out the rankings - No longer part of the organization or no longer eligible or has graduated to the NHL

Tyler Lewington
Liam O'Brien
Colby Williams
Kristofers Bindulis
Connor Hobbs
Alex Kannok-Leipert
Eric Florchuk
Ilya Samsonov

Like in the previous pollings, I'll close the polls after 2 days.

Now VOTE 2020!
 

tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
9,863
10,089
Fever
AA
Protas


Big Gap


Who knows

I do hope that one of guys below the Big Gap really turns it on this year - kind of like how Aliaksei "the Viper" Protas started turning heads last year.

Not sure who that could be. Maybe all you need is a cool nickname.
 

Langway

In den Wolken
Jul 7, 2006
32,267
8,894
IMO there's a bigger gap between Alexeyev & Protas than Fehervary & Alexeyev. The question with Alexeyev is durability but he's got more offensive upside than Fehervary. He's got more shutdown/physical potential if he stays healthy and in time physically matures. What Fehervary mainly offers is more ready-made compactness/soundness and skating but it's something of a tortoise/hare situation. The longer it takes Fehervary to make the jump to NHL regular the more time Alexeyev has to close the gap mainly in terms of polish (and with more intriguing tools). While there is maybe some separation currently I don't know that they wouldn't roughly offer a pretty similar game in a third pair role next season. Fehervary might be more active and visible in terms of skating but would it lead to much? Or would he mostly be a sort of Jensen type? Both should start in Hershey, assuming there are games to be played, with an emphasis on eating minutes and being aggressive fourth wave attackers. It's the best way to have them max out their offensive potential and attain the sort of mentality Laviolette wants from defenders going forward. Barring either one coming in and lighting it up in all facets, that should be the plan. Having either come in and just mainly try to survive shouldn't be the objective when they have alternatives that can offer that (and arguably more in terms of PK role).

I don't think the rawness of AA & AP make them as similar. Maybe one could value the upside of Protas enough but then I think that sells AA's upside short.

After the top five I'd probably go Vanecek and then Trineyev. Mostly based on upside Nardella probably also deserves consideration. Pilon, Riat & AJF are probably the best of the Hershey bunch re: upside with Malenstyn & Pinho more limited but sound fourth-liners. It remains a pretty thin group but the next Hershey season is an important one. They really need some of those forwards to take another step offensively. For years they had no forwards developing. Now they may have too many. Some of them need to run with the opportunity and separate from the pack.
 

Capagonia

Registered User
Oct 20, 2009
223
160
VA
FWIW Corey Pronman of the Athletic has had Protas ahead of Alexeyev in both his pre draft and post draft rankings of the Caps system.
 
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tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
9,863
10,089
Well, I rest my case...

Its actually interesting if you think about it. Pronman must really really like Protas overall even though he likes to always emphasize speed and skating ability and rank them so highly.
 
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Rayquaza64

McMichael>McDavid
May 30, 2019
1,374
1,477
Virginia
I think AA>Protas but I think its really close, both have similar upside, like them both alot.
Then after them its Vanecek, and after them its debatable but i'll discuss that when we get there
 

Langway

In den Wolken
Jul 7, 2006
32,267
8,894
Its actually interesting if you think about it. Pronman must really really like Protas overall even though he likes to emphasize and rank speed and skating ability so highly.
It's a thankless job but Pronman evaluates defensemen like a simpleton. He also values offense and flash generally so it's not terribly surprising. Also, he tends to knock most everyone's skating even when they're 18 and not even close to being physically mature in most cases.
 

tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
9,863
10,089
It's a thankless job but Pronman evaluates defensemen like a simpleton. He also values offense and flash generally so it's not terribly surprising. Also, he tends to knock most everyone's skating even when they're 18 and not even close to being physically mature in most cases.

Ah. Makes sense lol.
 
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Hivemind

We're Touched
Oct 8, 2010
37,009
13,425
Philadelphia
IMO there's a bigger gap between Alexeyev & Protas than Fehervary & Alexeyev. The question with Alexeyev is durability but he's got more offensive upside than Fehervary. He's got more shutdown/physical potential if he stays healthy and in time physically matures. What Fehervary mainly offers is more ready-made compactness/soundness and skating but it's something of a tortoise/hare situation. The longer it takes Fehervary to make the jump to NHL regular the more time Alexeyev has to close the gap mainly in terms of polish (and with more intriguing tools). While there is maybe some separation currently I don't know that they wouldn't roughly offer a pretty similar game in a third pair role next season. Fehervary might be more active and visible in terms of skating but would it lead to much? Or would he mostly be a sort of Jensen type? Both should start in Hershey, assuming there are games to be played, with an emphasis on eating minutes and being aggressive fourth wave attackers. It's the best way to have them max out their offensive potential and attain the sort of mentality Laviolette wants from defenders going forward. Barring either one coming in and lighting it up in all facets, that should be the plan. Having either come in and just mainly try to survive shouldn't be the objective when they have alternatives that can offer that (and arguably more in terms of PK role).

I don't think the rawness of AA & AP make them as similar. Maybe one could value the upside of Protas enough but then I think that sells AA's upside short.

After the top five I'd probably go Vanecek and then Trineyev. Mostly based on upside Nardella probably also deserves consideration. Pilon, Riat & AJF are probably the best of the Hershey bunch re: upside with Malenstyn & Pinho more limited but sound fourth-liners. It remains a pretty thin group but the next Hershey season is an important one. They really need some of those forwards to take another step offensively. For years they had no forwards developing. Now they may have too many. Some of them need to run with the opportunity and separate from the pack.
I don’t think there’s much argument against AA having the best “tools” of any D prospect they’ve had in a while. Based purely on his collection of skill sets and size, he has great upside. But he didn’t immediately acclimate himself to the speed of the NA pro game like Fehervary did, and Fever jumped him not just in the prospect rankings but the organizational depth chart. From the little we’ve seen, AA has had a promising start to the year in the KHL so perhaps he can regain some standing, but I’d like to see more from him on NA rinks still. There have been lots of toolsy defenders over the years that haven’t been able to put it together at the NHL level and have ended up as either one dimensional role players or total busts.

It’s becoming pretty clear that I value three things more than many others on this board - age, injury history, and NHL readiness. I’m going to highly rate young guys that are close to NHL ready, and I’m going to devalue older guys that are still project players. I also have reservations about any player with serious injuries on their docket. If you look up early round busts from NHL history, you’ll find one common factor more than anything else, injuries. Nothing derails a players development like injuries do.

I can see arguments for VV at 6, but that’s more of a lack of alternatives than a true endorsement of Vanecek. Everyone after the top 5 is either a project player or a guy with limited NHL upside.
 
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tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
9,863
10,089
I don’t think there’s much argument against AA having the best “tools” of any D prospect they’ve had in a while. Based purely on his collection of skill sets and size, he has great upside. But he didn’t immediately acclimate himself to the speed of the NA pro game like Fehervary did, and Fever jumped him not just in the prospect rankings but the organizational depth chart. From the little we’ve seen, AA has had a promising start to the year in the KHL so perhaps he can regain some standing, but I’d like to see more from him on NA rinks still. There have been lots of toolsy defenders over the years that haven’t been able to put it together at the NHL level and have ended up as either one dimensional role players or total busts.

It’s becoming pretty clear that I value three things more than many others on this board - age, injury history, and NHL readiness. I’m going to highly rate young guys that are close to NHL ready, and I’m going to devalue older guys that are still project players. I also have reservations about any player with serious injuries on their docket. If you look up early round busts from NHL history, you’ll find one common factor more than anything else, injuries. Nothing derails a players development like injuries do.

I can see arguments for VV at 6, but that’s more of a lack of alternatives than a true endorsement of Vanecek. Everyone after the top 5 is either a project player or a guy with limited NHL upside.

Fever did get the benefit of playing with grown men in the SHL before coming over while AA made the choice to join the North American juniors (WHL) early on. I'm no CHL expert (I know nothing), but I think @Langway mentioned before in another thread that the WHL is generally a slower? type league (even if it is still NA rinks). I do think that AA playing in the KHL now with players that are now his size and bigger and him responding well in that league (so far) is a good sign though.
 
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Langway

In den Wolken
Jul 7, 2006
32,267
8,894
I don’t think there’s much argument against AA having the best “tools” of any D prospect they’ve had in a while. Based purely on his collection of skill sets and size, he has great upside. But he didn’t immediately acclimate himself to the speed of the NA pro game like Fehervary did, and Fever jumped him not just in the prospect rankings but the organizational depth chart.
All good reasons to have Fehervary above Alexeyev, although it's not like Alexeyev struggled. Offensively AA was the more productive of the two, as mentioned in the last thread, despite having a bigger hill to climb in adjustment. Coming from the WHL there were going to be some defensive pace concerns at times but mainly he needed to physically mature and become more fluid. He's getting there and it's mainly why I don't think the gap is too big since he was still one of Hershey's better defenders. Fehervary is more polished defensively against that talent level and more used to defending men but I don't know that he's altogether separated himself because of a few call-ups to that extent. There's a difference between being very possibly ready and abundantly ready. I don't think Fehervary showed he's abundantly NHL-ready from a tools standpoint so, as I said, both should return to Hershey unless they blow the doors off. We know the Caps like Fehervary's maturity and skating but refining it further rather than accelerating it in something of an awkward fit when it could be avoided is preferable. I'd keep my options open, of course, but I don't think he's no doubt earned a regular spot or anything. That's premature. Being higher on the depth chart doesn't mean much beyond that he's currently ahead. Time will tell. I do think the coaching change could help Fehervary more than anyone from a stylistic standpoint in getting the most out of him long-term but he may need time to adapt his game (and, again, time will tell if that fluidity translates into production). Can he become a higher-risk player without sacrificing defensive strength/focus? We'll see. That's the key IMO.

As far as older projects go I suspect you're preaching to the choir. I doubt Johansen, Pinho, Gersich or Snively go too high. Malenstyn due to readiness probably also shouldn't go super high since he's a fourth-line PKer and physical forechecker tops, even if he may be a relatively safer bet. It's why Trineyev's slight scoring-line potential with some fourth-line attributes deserves to jump fairly early on. I'm not entirely sold but it's an intriguing offensive and physical skill set at least. Overall maybe myself and others are guilty of overlooking some downsides in a weak system when it comes to riskier bets out of necessity. At least for me my criteria is less about making a bet per se than their value as assets. That's where I'd argue there isn't a great deal separating MF and AA compared to Protas. The pedigree of Alexeyev is remains pretty high, even if a bit raw and with some setbacks at times. I'm not sure he's all that far behind schedule since he was always going to need time to fill out and learn to fully use his frame.
 
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