Prospect Info: Habs top 10 prospects list post WJC

[Sterling Archer]

My order is:

Poehling
Romanov
Brook
Suzuki
Primeau
Fleury
Ylonen
Evans

 

[26Mats]

My order is:

Poehling
Romanov
Brook
Suzuki
Primeau
Fleury
Ylonen
Evans

Im not that high on Primeau. I mean he could turn out to be an NHL number 1. But i beed to see more. I have him 8 behind Flesry and Ikonen, who i think would have impressed at the world Juniors. Plus, I think Olofsson could jump head after next year's tournament.

 

[Mrb1p]

Before the world juniors, your assessment and projection of Romanov was based on what?

League play like every other prospect?

 

[Saundies]

I'd say my order is, based off of limited knowledge and dumb gut feelings:

Poehling
Brook
Suzuki
Romanov
Fleury
Primeau
Ylonen

 

[26Mats]

League play like every other prospect?

So when you extensively watched Romanov play, as an 18 year old, in the KHL, what made you think his world junior performance wasn't a real account of his abilities?

Or when you say league play, do you mean reading his stat line as an 18 year old in the KHL.

 

[MD thaivuN]

1. Suzuki
2. Poehling
3. Romanov
4. Brook

The top 4 is pretty interchangeable.

5. Primeau
6. Ylonen

7. Evans
8. Fleury


9. Harris
10. Olofsson

 

[CHarlie]

Awesome list of prospects and when you add kotkaniemi at the top of that list we are looking good!

 

[Braun]

Awesome list of prospects and when you add kotkaniemi at the top of that list we are looking good!

I agree, KK, on a good team would still be a prospect.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Brook should be over romanov.
In the wjc, he was great defensively and would have been much more involved offensively had team CA coach not told him to mostly focus on defense.

He is also dominating junior hockey with 38 pts in 28 games

 

[26Mats]

1. Suzuki
2. Poehling
3. Romanov
4. Brook

The top 4 is pretty interchangeable.

5. Primeau
6. Ylonen

7. Evans
8. Fleury


9. Harris
10. Olofsson

Too bad Ikonen wasnt there. I think he would have impressed enough to be on this list.

 

[Mrb1p]

So when you extensively watched Romanov play, as an 18 year old, in the KHL, what made you think his world junior performance wasn't a real account of his abilities?

Or when you say league play, do you mean reading his stat line as an 18 year old in the KHL.

Nothing. Thats not what I said. The knee jerk is placing prospects whove shown more for a longer time ahead of another that did not. Simple.

 

[26Mats]

Nothing. Thats not what I said. The knee jerk is placing prospects whove shown more for a longer time ahead of another that did not. Simple.

How do you know he hasn't shown more for a long time?

 

[danyhabsfan]

Poehling is getting overrated and Suzuki underrated.

 

[Mrb1p]

How do you know he hasn't shown more for a long time?

Because Ive watched them play more than five games?

 

[26Mats]

Because Ive watched them play more than five games?

And, what did you see lacking in Romanov's games? How many games did you see him play?

 

[Mrb1p]

And, what did you see lacking in Romanov's games? How many games did you see him play?

Its not about what is lacking in Romanovs kit, but the quality of prospect that Josh Brook and Ryan Poehling have proven to be.

 

[Runner77]

Prospects writer for Habs EOTP , David St-Louis, was asked who is the best Habs prospect that no one is talking about.

He answered this:

Jordan Harris plays on the first pair of the Northeastern Huskies and has looked relatively solid in the role after coming in from High School Hockey. It's impressive for such a young player to be trusted by his coach to face the best players of other teams. It rarely happens in the NCAA.
Harris is a great skater who can use his edges to escape pressure and come out with the puck in the defensive zone. There is potential to see him emerge as a good puck-mover in a few years.

 

[Legend123]

Prospects writer for Habs EOTP , David St-Louis, was asked who is the best Habs prospect that no one is talking about.

He answered this:

Jordan Harris plays on the first pair of the Northeastern Huskies and has looked relatively solid in the role after coming in from High School Hockey. It's impressive for such a young player to be trusted by his coach to face the best players of other teams. It rarely happens in the NCAA.
Harris is a great skater who can use his edges to escape pressure and come out with the puck in the defensive zone. There is potential to see him emerge as a good puck-mover in a few years.

Everytime Ive watched him, ive been really impressed with his overall game, and especially his fluid skating ability intight, being able to just skate away from trouble was a treat to watch

 

[26Mats]

Prospects writer for Habs EOTP , David St-Louis, was asked who is the best Habs prospect that no one is talking about.

He answered this:

Jordan Harris plays on the first pair of the Northeastern Huskies and has looked relatively solid in the role after coming in from High School Hockey. It's impressive for such a young player to be trusted by his coach to face the best players of other teams. It rarely happens in the NCAA.
Harris is a great skater who can use his edges to escape pressure and come out with the puck in the defensive zone. There is potential to see him emerge as a good puck-mover in a few years.

Probably our biggest wild card prospect.

 

[Legend123]

Y'all sleeping heavily on Ikonen. He had a good U20s for a very bad Finnish team and, yes his numbers in the Liiga aint good, but he has some serious skills. His skating issues are way overblown just like they were for Suzuki.
He scored 9 points in all U20 games (15) last season. Before that 23 points in 21 U18 games.
Some of his plays vs his own age group:
Hat trick vs Sweden in U20
Pointless game vs Russia but was clearly the best forward (skip to 5:36)

You can find more but those are my most interesting plays from him. He's got a great shot, good release, works hard on both sides of the ice, among other strengths.

Dont sleep on him after one disappointing season vs much older players. I look forward to watching him this season!

 

[Goldenhands]

1. Ryan Poehling
2. Nick Suzuki
3. Josh Brook
4. Jesse Ylonen
5. Cayden Primeau
6. Cale Fleury
7. Alex Romanov
8. Jacob Olofsson

The fact that the top 3 are performing exceptionally well in their respective leagues and progressing year-on-year are the biggest factors for me. The fact that the majority of our prospects performed well at the WJC is just icing on the cake.

Both Suzuki and Brook are at the last year of their junior stage, playing against kids averaging 18 yrs old while Ylonen Fleury Romanov Olofsson are all playing in top men leagues, so your argument doesnt make sense at all, Ylonen Romanov Poehling would kill the CHL as well lol...

 

[canadiensnation]

My top 15 without Kotkaniemi and Juulsen.

1. Suzuki
2. Poehling
3. Brook
4. Ylönen
5. Primeau
6. Romanov
7. Ikonen
8. Fleury
9. Olofsson
10. Evans
11. Hillis
12. Fonstad
13. McShane
14. Tyszka
15. Harris

 

[JohnLennon]

Both Suzuki and Brook are at the last year of their junior stage, playing against kids averaging 18 yrs old while Ylonen Fleury Romanov Olofsson are all playing in top men leagues, so your argument doesnt make sense at all, Ylonen Romanov Poehling would kill the CHL as well lol...

That's not how it works. Playing bottom minutes in men's leagues does not always translate to high-end productivity in junior leagues. Suzuki and Brook are having remarkable seasons, even taking into account the quality of competition they're up against. Romanov, Ylonen, Olofsson, etc are performing okay in men's leagues, but their minutes/roles are much lower on their respective teams, and as a result (or not), so is their production - it's hard to extrapolate that into juniors. Alex Romanov, for example, has 0 points in 28 games in the KHL - you saying he would "kill it" in juniors is based on what? Because he plays vs. men? Because you saw a 7-game sample size at the WJHC? Neither of those facts necessarily indicate he will perform as well as Suzuki/Brook are over a full 60+ game season in the CHL.

As of right now, my top 3 of Poehling, Suzuki, and Brook is justified based off their progression throughout the years in terms of role, production, and developing their overall game. They are more mature prospects and playing against the top competition in their respective leagues, with top minutes and more bigger roles. Players the likes of Ylonen, Romanov, Olofsson are still pretty raw, and in no way deserve to be above my top 3 at this point of their young careers. I'm excited about them, but at this point in their development it is important to tamper expectations, especially barely 30 games after the kids were drafted...

Even after the great WJHC, I can't envision a single reputable analyst that would realistically be putting both Primeau and Ylonen above all of Poehling, Suzuki, and Brook as you have.

 

[Tyson]

Love the description, but im my book Romanov stole the list

1. Romanov
2. Poehling
3. Primeau
4. Suzuki
5. Brook/Ylonen


the top 4 is something to be proud of.

Romanov showed he should at least be considered serioulsy as the top prospect. He outplayed every other D

 

[Goldenhands]

That's not how it works. Playing bottom minutes in men's leagues does not always translate to high-end productivity in junior leagues. Suzuki and Brook are having remarkable seasons, even taking into account the quality of competition they're up against. Romanov, Ylonen, Olofsson, etc are performing okay in men's leagues, but their minutes/roles are much lower on their respective teams, and as a result (or not), so is their production - it's hard to extrapolate that into juniors. Alex Romanov, for example, has 0 points in 28 games in the KHL - you saying he would "kill it" in juniors is based on what? Because he plays vs. men? Because you saw a 7-game sample size at the WJHC? Neither of those facts necessarily indicate he will perform as well as Suzuki/Brook are over a full 60+ game season in the CHL.

As of right now, my top 3 of Poehling, Suzuki, and Brook is justified based off their progression throughout the years in terms of role, production, and developing their overall game. They are more mature prospects and playing against the top competition in their respective leagues, with top minutes and more bigger roles. Players the likes of Ylonen, Romanov, Olofsson are still pretty raw, and in no way deserve to be above my top 3 at this point of their young careers. I'm excited about them, but at this point in their development it is important to tamper expectations, especially barely 30 games after the kids were drafted...

Even after the great WJHC, I can't envision a single reputable analyst that would realistically be putting both Primeau and Ylonen above all of Poehling, Suzuki, and Brook as you have.

The CHL remains a junior league, the best junior league in the world for sure, but still a junior one, racking up points in the CHL at 19 is nothing to write about, any good prospects will do this and there is a ton a examples of young players that arent even drafted ending up putting sick numbers and then struggling badly at the AHL level for different reasons, it might be a skating issue, a poor hockey IQ, poor 2-way game ect that they could get away in junior, but not in top men leagues... Do you seriously think Brook would be putting such numbers in the KHL? Are you even sure Brook would be good enough to crack one of the top KHL teams at 19? If so, what his playing time and role would look like? Same for Suzuki, how do you know he wouldnt be struggling to rack up points in the Liga tell me? As far as I know, Suzuki needs work on his skating and needs to get stronger while the Liga is a very fast paced league and a men one, how do you come to the conclusion that a kid like Suzuki is much more mature than a kid like Ylonen or less raw? Did you miss the last WJC? Thats rather the opposite... Suzuki still plays too much like a junior while Ylonen already plays like a pro... Why didnt team Canada destroy that competition with all their "superstars" CHLers while the top junior euro countries are mainly composed of "raw" kids barely producing in top men leagues? You are obviously being deeply immersed in total ignorance when it comes to Euro prospects... The WJC remains a very good barometer to see how those kids handle themself against top junior aged players in the world, outside a professional training camp, thats the highest level of competition and adversity any young Canadian players ever faced.