Prospect Info: HFOil Top Prospects Rankings - #3

[Leon Draisaitl]

Congrats to Kailer Yamamoto on being the Oilers' #2 prospect!

Added Marody.

HFOil Top 20 Oilers Prospects 2018
1) Evan Bouchard - D - London Knights (OHL) - 75.0%
2) Kailer Yamamoto - RW - Spokane Chiefs (WHL) - 92.9%

Click to read more...

 

[Spawn]

Ugly list of prospects left on the board after our top 2.
Not sure what people see when they say our drafting has improved.

 

[t0nedeff]

or you're just real negative in general.

 

[Spawn]

or you're just real negative in general.

Do a single one of these prospects realistically project to top 4D or top 6F? I don't see it out of any of them.

 

[48g90a138pts]

Bear

I liked his play at the end of the year. Another year and he should improve nicely.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Do a single one of these prospects realistically project to top 4D or top 6F? I don't see it out of any of them.

You must not follow the oilers prospects at all

 

[ChokeOnOil]

Ugly list of prospects left on the board after our top 2.
Not sure what people see when they say our drafting has improved.

There are a few players there that have some good potential. A few long shots but could be much worse.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

Rooting for Maksimov and McLeod. Would be ecstatic if those two turn out

 

[ChokeOnOil]

Do a single one of these prospects realistically project to top 4D or top 6F? I don't see it out of any of them.

Ethan Bear absolutely projects that. Benson realistically projects as a top 9 guy if he can stay healthy. Maksimov could very well be a Top 6 guy though he is a longshot. After that, you have McLeod then it's a large drop-off.

 

[McMozesmadness]

Jones for me here.

 

[A91]

Bear for me. What he did in the WHL for Seattle and a rookie in the AHL last season was very impressive.
His NHL stint could've gone better but he is (like most D) a long term prospect

 

[nabob]

Bear for me. What he did in the WHL for Seattle and a rookie in the AHL last season was very impressive.
His NHL stint could've gone better but he is (like most D) a long term prospect

I thought from most reports that Bear struggled to start in the AHL, got hurt and then barely played much before being called up.

I honestly believe that a lot of the reasoning behind his call up was that the Oilers were out of it and it made for a good PR story.

I voted for him as well as I like his potential as a bottom pairing guy with lots of PP impact. He’s a better skater than a lot of the negative posters had said.

 

[MoneyGuy]

Jones

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Went marody. On account of the shiny.

Also auto corrected marody to "mad oxygen".

 

[McFlyingV]

I thought from most reports that Bear struggled to start in the AHL, got hurt and then barely played much before being called up.

I honestly believe that a lot of the reasoning behind his call up was that the Oilers were out of it and it made for a good PR story.

I voted for him as well as I like his potential as a bottom pairing guy with lots of PP impact. He’s a better skater than a lot of the negative posters had said.

I think it was the opposite. He had a great start with 5 points in 8 games before his concussion, and then took a while to get back up to speed once he returned, but was playing quite well when he was called up. I recall Fleming saying that he had been their best D down there for the last while when he got called up.

 

[780il]

Bear. He reminds me a lot of the Faulk and Barrie play style and has a lot of their charicteristics.

Decent skating
Bomb of a shot
Great pp qb
Great first pass
Overall very good in o-zone
Small but very physical for his size

But:
Defensive deficencies

We could have a nice #4 pp qb here.

 

[PaPaDee]

Bear for me. He’s got a lot of potential and has a few NHL games under his belt.

 

[joestevens29]

Ugly list of prospects left on the board after our top 2.
Not sure what people see when they say our drafting has improved.

I was thinking about this the other night. Who do we really have that can come in and make a surprise impact?

I go to 2014,15,16 and look at picks where we started the draft. There are quite a few guys that have already made the NHL. We really have nothing and I don't even know if we will have any more this year. While there is bound to be a lot more coming through the ranks this year from other teams from those years.

We really need those younger players on the current roster to step up and allow our list of prospects to mature properly and let the list grow as well.

 

[McFlyingV]

Do a single one of these prospects realistically project to top 4D or top 6F? I don't see it out of any of them.

Do most teams have prospects who realistically project as top 4D or top 6F's outside of their top 2 or 3 prospects? The answer is usually no. Some of these guys have that potential especially McLeod, potentially Bear, and even Maksimov who is essentially a Cliff Pu level talent (and many on here were calling him a 3rd round steal last year).

None of these guys are surefire top 6ers or top 4ers, but there is more upside than you're giving credit to. If they fill out depth on the team we shouldn't really have a major issue as long as Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, and Bouchard pan out as top 6 forwards and top 4 D.

 

[McFlyingV]

I was thinking about this the other night. Who do we really have that can come in and make a surprise impact?

I go to 2014,15,16 and look at picks where we started the draft. There are quite a few guys that have already made the NHL. We really have nothing and I don't even know if we will have any more this year. While there is bound to be a lot more coming through the ranks this year from other teams from those years.

We really need those younger players on the current roster to step up and allow our list of prospects to mature properly and let the list grow as well.

Well when people refer to improved drafting they mean 2015 onward. Of the picks on that list that we selected here is what players from the same round have done at the NHL level

2015:
Jones (4th round) - only player worth noting is Denis Malgin (98GP - 32P), few others have got a few games, but most of them were 2013 draft eligibles.
Bear (5th round) - only other player who has played more NHL games is Dominik Simon

2016:
Benson (2nd round) - Only Debrincat and Girard have played NHL games worth noting.

2017:
Skinner (3rd round) - none have seen the NHL
Safin (4th round) - none have seen the NHL
Maksimov (5th round) - only Sebastian Aho (NYI) has seen NHL time and he's a 2014 draft eligible.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

I like Bear, but I think McLeod is a better prospect at this point.

 

[McNuge]

Most teams don't have A level prospects outside of their top 2-3. Bear, Jones, Maksimov, McLoed, Benson, and Skinner are all B level prospects in my eyes.

Which is much better than pre 2015 where we would get an A level prospect in the top 5 and from the second round on it would be C - D level prospects.

 

[McFlyingV]

I like Bear, but I think McLeod is a better prospect at this point.

I also voted McLeod because his skating is phenomenal and he has size and skill to go along with it. If he puts it together his potential is a top 6 forward, and thats why he was ranked in the 1st round on a lot of lists.

I think last season Bear showed he will be able to be a puck-moving D and 2nd PP QB at the NHL level in the future so he's probably the safer bet right now. He has some areas he's going to need to improve on though if he wants to be more than a bottom pairing guy in that role. Mainly skating, strength, and defensive coverage.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

I also voted McLeod because his skating is phenomenal and he has size and skill to go along with it. If he puts it together his potential is a top 6 forward, and thats why he was ranked in the 1st round on a lot of lists.

I think last season Bear showed he will be able to be a puck-moving D and 2nd PP QB at the NHL level in the future so he's probably the safer bet right now. He has some areas he's going to need to improve on though if he wants to be more than a bottom pairing guy in that role. Mainly skating, strength, and defensive coverage.

Basically, Bear is likely closer but probably doesn't have as high of ceiling. Both could very likely be NHL players going forward.

 

[Aerchon]

Huge drop off in talent.

Had to pick Bear. He has exceeded expectations at every level. If he can keep developing the way he has through drive and determination who knows how good he will end up being.

Certainly seems to be talented enough, generally speaking, that, and with his drive... looks good.

This really gets interesting now.