Sure the penguins have drafted well, but most of their top players have fallen into their lap....
crosby duhhh, malkin duhhhh again. Jordan staal again..... Fleury....you get the theme all top 2 picks.
Whitney was top 5 or 6 I believe...
It's easy to look good when you are picking AT THE TOP, in drafts with loaded top end talent. Now they have picked up some good talent like Letang and guys like christensen and others but I'll judge the penguins drafting on how they do in the next 5 years, when they aren't getting GODLY players basically given to them.
Slam dunk picks or not, the Penguins have been drafting well throughout the decade so far. Of course the Crosbys and Malkins will get the press, but it's the Letangs (a second rounder who was ranked by Central Scouting in the mid 100s) and Talbots (eighth rounder) that speak volume about the Penguins scouting. Armstrong & Orpik, the last picks before the Penguins freefall to the bottom of the standings, are playing superb hockey as well, hardly the norm considering the Penguins drafting record throughout the 1990s and the players surrounded by them. The Penguins 24th rating is hardly a heartbreaker.
Mind you having players like Crosby, Malkin, Staal, etc. only help with the ratings so much, considering they graduate almost instantly.
The thing is...
BUT if you are going to say Calgary's Top 5 prospects are better than the Leafs' Top 5 prospects.. FINE but at least know who the Leafs' Top 5 Prospects are... where is Stralman? Why is Dahlberg there? If you can't even get the Leafs Top 5 Prospects down it brings doubt as to whether the actual rankings by team are correct. I think that is why Leaf fans are questioning the list. So Flames fans, calm the heck down
Stralman is pretty likely to make the team. Kulemin would be a lock if he comes over. The Leafs are trying to get him over, but he's likely staying in Russia 1 more year. Both are capable of stepping into the NHL this season.quick question, will stralman or kulemin make the leafs team next year?
i know boyd and taratukhin are almost locks
Why have you opted to tier the system? What makes it more important to pay their dues in the ECHL instead of the RSL?The discussion on ranking the top organizations has to go deeper than the top 5 prospects. A winning organization has to have depth and a system for integrating new players into their way of thinking and playing. A winning organization has to focus on acquiring players willing to pay their dues, even if it means spending time in the "E". Why? Because it's best for the team and not the particular career.
If I'm a team owner I want management types who focus as much energy on signing a minor league free agent as they would a first rounder. Why? Because those top 5 prospects (Whoever they are and regardless of talent level) are going to need a strong supporting cast and what better way to provide those players than through an effective, winning farm system.
The discussion on ranking the top organizations has to go deeper than the top 5 prospects. A winning organization has to have depth and a system for integrating new players into their way of thinking and playing. A winning organization has to focus on acquiring players willing to pay their dues, even if it means spending time in the "E". Why? Because it's best for the team and not the particular career.
Oops, this was an oversight -- the Dallas Top 20 list has been determined, but the article isn't quite ready. I meant to put the new top five here but forgot. I'll fix that.i'm a bit surprised James Neal is not listed in the Stars' top5
There's no way Stralman isn't in our top 5 and the fact he isn't even mentioned here while a guy like Dahlberg is (???) is stupid.
Why have you opted to tier the system? What makes it more important to pay their dues in the ECHL instead of the RSL?
The late pick is high risk? As a prospect, he's gotten some very warm remarks, which would make alot of difference.I wouldn't obsess about a relatively minor oversight (If it is an oversight). What difference would the correction make? I don't think it would make a big one. Stralman is high risk. He's also high reward if things work out for he and the Leafs. This doesn't effect the current rankings, however. I would hunch that a successful Stralman would go a long way towards improving next year's off season rankings.
I wouldn't obsess about a relatively minor oversight (If it is an oversight). What difference would the correction make? I don't think it would make a big one. Stralman is high risk. He's also high reward if things work out for he and the Leafs. This doesn't effect the current rankings, however. I would hunch that a successful Stralman would go a long way towards improving next year's off season rankings.
The late pick is high risk? As a prospect, he's gotten some very warm remarks, which would make alot of difference.
I'd love to know what else he has to do to be considered a good prospect. You are saying "be successful at an NHL level" is what he has to do but at that point, he'll go to the GRADUATED list. Don't you see a problem with that reasoning?
If you are agreeing with what is SAID in the rankings, you are agreeing that the best we can hope for is for Stralman to be a 5th or 6th defenseman. That's what they've said.
If he wasn't important, nobody would've shown up. He doesn't pan out, there are others behind him. There is very little risk at all with him since he was such a late pick. So what there was a press conference recently, there usually is for players who have shown what he has.I'm not the one who exposed a 7th round draft choice to a media scrum. That doesn't strike me as being the brightest move. The more hype this guy receives the higher the stakes.
lol, i'm a habs fan and i laugh at this list.
anton stralman is arguably the best swedish prospect in the world behind backstrom, and nikolai kulemin is the best russian prospect not in the nhl. then you have jiri tlusty, who's a very good prospect, and justin pogge who struggled in the ahl but he's still a blue chip prospect.
so basically 4 blue chip prospects, and the leafs are ranked behind calgary and atlanta?
some of you fans outside of toronto need to open up your eyes and pay attention to a forward who scores 37 goals in a season and is a huge reason why his club wins the championship.
kulemin (regular season+playoffs): 69 games, 37 goals, 13 assists, 50 points, +25
Thanks for the input. I don't even care about the RANKING. But come on, the best we can hope for is Stralman to be a 5th or 6th guy? Crazy talk. Fine, "no depth" yadda yadda. But you don't have to take away from what our top guys are doing.
When we look back at this article (and HF should do updates on past lists for fun) the Dallas Stars will probably end up getting more NHL players then 25/30 NHL teams listed.
Are you saying Stastny isn't an NHL player?
Vancouver deserves to be at 21, well they were better than last year when they were 26. Look at our forward prospects... It is something the Canucks really need to work on. Besides, Hansen, nobody is really ready for the NHL and Hansen, Grabner, and Raymond are the best 3 forwardsHow are the Canucks not high?
Bourdon is well documented but Edler is a stud and possibly better than Bourdon.
Schneider is one of the best goalie prospects in the league.
We also have Koltsov and Rahimi for good measure behind as our #3 and #4 defensive prospects.
The offensive pool isn't great but its getting better.. Grabner, Raymond (do not know why he was not mentioned in the article......), Simek and Hansen all have potential.
No. I'm saying why should Colorado be penalized in these rankings because a guy like Stastny graduates early because he's a good player and making an impact in the NHL.
Similar to Crosby, Malkin, Staal in Pittsburgh.
The guys that are in the NHL at a young age are usually the ones who have more impact. It's the less impact prospects that are in the system (i.e. AHL, NCAA) for a longer period of time.
An objective criteria would be ranking all players from the ages of 18-22 in the organization, be it in the NHL/AHL/NCAA/ECHL/CHL