Prospect Info: Devils Prospect Rankings, 2019

StevenToddIves

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May 18, 2013
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1 C Jack Hughes not just the best prospect on the Devils, but the best prospect on the planet Earth.
2 LD Ty Smith dominated the WHL, absolutely a potential two-way #1D at the NHL level
3 LW/C Jesper Boqvist speed and skill for days, followed up a rough draft+1 year with a dominant 2018-2019 in the Swedish men's league to rocket up the rankings
4 C/LW Aarne Talvitie great two-way game, unbelievable character/intelligence/compete level and 30+ goal upside to boot
5 RW Joey Anderson a young Ryan Callahan, future fixture as a middle 6 RW in NJ
6 LD Daniil Misyul physical and ferocious and defensively impenetrable with good skates and puck skills
7 RD Case McCarthy impossible to beat one-on-one RD has the physicality/smarts/skates to fill a Pesce/Slavin role as a future shut-down stud
8 C Mikey McLeod has slipped a bit but has speed for days and plays a strong, two-way game... can his scoring develop?
9 RD Reilly Walsh offensive minded D will ease the loss of Jeremy Davies, likely signed out of Harvard after next season
10 RW Marian Studenic high-energy winger plays two-way game and can score his way into middle-6 role
11 RW Nathan Bastian future bottom-6 wrecking ball also has the upside to notch 15-20 goals
12 RW Patrick Moynihan plays with ferocity and physicality and can also score, will he be a bottom 6 staple or develop his scoring/skating to be a middle-6 guy?
13a LD Michael Vukojevic physical shut-down beast will make his goalies sleep well at night
13b LD Nikita Okhotyuk physical shut-down beast will make his goalies sleep well at night
14 RW Nikita Popugayev if he figures it out, this 6'5 sharpshooter can rocket up the rankings, but the clock is ticking
15 RW Graeme Clarke insane shooting ability will make him a PP force if he can round out the rest of his game
16 LW Arsemi Gritsyuk high-end skating and shooting give him high-end upside
17 RW Fabian Zetterlund injury-riddled post-draft years have obscured the upside of this goal-scoring pest
18 LW Eetu Pakkila impressive draft+one season for this elusive offensive Finn
19 LW Nikola Pasic high-end skating and non-stop motor; might prove to be another 7th-round sleeper
20 LW/C Mikhail Maltsev big, rangy Russian plays complete game and can contribute offensively
 

StevenToddIves

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where would you say our prospect pool would stack up against the rest of the league?

top 10?

I will say that the Devils depth is impressive right now -- but many of the prospects are likely bottom-6 wingers or bottom-4 D. The Devils rate extremely highly at LD and LW and have nice depth at RW, but they still rank rather low at RD (only two legit prospects) and C (Boqvist is more likely to be an NHL LW, leaving just Talvitie and McLeod).
 

Cheddabombs

Status Quo
Mar 13, 2012
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Love the Misyul ranking, I think he'll be our best defenseman prospect after Smith graduates too. I'm a little higher on Zetterlund than most, so I'd personally have him higher but can totally understand why he fell.
 

Peter Sidorkiewicz

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Oct 22, 2002
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I would flip McLeod and Talvite rankings.

Way too harsh on McLeod. He started slow but the more games he played in AHL, the better he got. That is what you want from a prospect, continued improvement.

He is still a top 5 ranked prospect in our organization.

Also where is Seney om this list? Is he no longer a prospect
 
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Blackjack

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Feb 13, 2003
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I would flip McLeod and Talvite rankings.

Way too harsh on McLeod. He started slow but the more games he played in AHL, the better he got. That is what you want from a prospect, continued improvement.

He is still a top 5 ranked prospect in our organization.

Also where is Seney om this list? Is he no longer a prospect

Talvitie's development has been eye popping, I think he belongs at 4.
 

Davegarri

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Jan 8, 2014
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Are we not considering Gignac as a prospect anymore? Or did he fall out of the top 20? Hes gotta at least be better than Maltsev at this point
 

Classic Devil

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???


Gignac is closer to the NHL for sure (heck, he already played a game for us) but I think Maltsev is a much more exciting prospect. 6'3 hound dog with skill.

I don't think Gignac is closer to the NHL. Maltsev has played regularly in a professional league overseas of higher average quality than the AHL, and his skillset and size make him more likely to see regular NHL time next season. I actually have Maltsev penciled in as 4th line LW and will keep him there until proven otherwise, or until the Devils make additional acquisitions.
 
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glenwo2

LINDY RUFF NEEDS VIAGRA!!
Oct 18, 2008
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1 C Jack Hughes not just the best prospect on the Devils, but the best prospect on the planet Earth.

Excuse the out-of-nowhere WWE talk but....



I think Jack Hughes is like EC3 : In the Top 1%



(this should be his theme, imo. lol )




Words cannot describe just how good Hughes is and will be.

I can't wait to see him electrify the crowd, Steven. :) :) :) :)



EDIT : However, I disagree with you on McLeod. You said he has speed for days yet when we saw him on the Ice, that speed was nowhere to be found. :(
 
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StevenToddIves

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May 18, 2013
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Love the Misyul ranking, I think he'll be our best defenseman prospect after Smith graduates too. I'm a little higher on Zetterlund than most, so I'd personally have him higher but can totally understand why he fell.

These rankings are fluid. Zetterlund was often injured in the past couple of seasons, which hurt his ranking. A healthy and productive 2019-20 can certainly vault him into the top 10 -- and I think his game is perfectly suited to the NHL ice. Similarly, I can see Misyul vaulting to the top of this list with a big season in the KHL, especially with three guys ahead of him set to graduate (Hughes, Smith, Anderson).
 

StevenToddIves

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May 18, 2013
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Brooklyn, NY
I would flip McLeod and Talvite rankings.

Way too harsh on McLeod. He started slow but the more games he played in AHL, the better he got. That is what you want from a prospect, continued improvement.

He is still a top 5 ranked prospect in our organization.

Also where is Seney om this list? Is he no longer a prospect

You're correct on Seney -- I put the cut-off at 40 NHL games.

And, no -- I'm not down on McLeod. I'm just extremely high on the guys I have ahead of him. I think Talvitie is an absolute stud -- to me, he projects as a second line, 30+ goal LW who plays a complete game with an extraordinary compete level. The way the Devils depth chart shoes out now, McLeod is the future third-line center behind Hughes and Hischier -- a role which I strongly still believe he is capable of excelling in.
 
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StevenToddIves

Registered User
May 18, 2013
10,335
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Brooklyn, NY
Are we not considering Gignac as a prospect anymore? Or did he fall out of the top 20? Hes gotta at least be better than Maltsev at this point

I think Maltsev will surprise you this year. He's big, smart and has good offensive upside. But again, these rankings are fluid and I hope Gignac takes a big jump this year.
 
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