HF Habs: Post-draft Top 20 prospects.

[EXPOS123]

You are definitely a pessimist but you aren't a realist.

We'll see. At one point, i was told how very good Lindgren, De la Rose and Andrighetto were supposed to be. Or how Walford and Bitten were steals of the draft.

 

[Kotkaniemi15]

We'll see. At one point, i was told how very good Lindgren, De la Rose and Andrighetto were supposed to be. Or how Walford and Bitten were steals of the draft.

The Habs current U21 group of players is the best I’ve ever seen. Kotkaniemi, Poehling, Caufield, Suzuki, Romanov, Brook, Primeau, Ylönen, Struble, Fleury... These are all great prospects. Trust me when I say this, the Habs future is very bright.

 

[DangerDave]

It's probably not the right thread, but anyways, i'll vent here.

I know it's become the soup du jour to say how great our prospect pool is, but i still maintain it is not as good as most people think.

Is it better than years past - of course, but that's really not saying much given the garbage we've had.

We still don't know what kind of offensive potential Poehling really has (sorry, using numbers he put up at a 10 day tournament over his normal production to somehow predict he will put up 70 points does not make sense).

To me, he's Eller 2.0

Suzuki - honestly, I really don't know what to make of him. Many pundits are still not sold on him while others are. I fall in the former - he was an overager in the Ohl - he should have utterly dominated, but he didn't. For me, he is the perfect trade chip to sell high on.

I'm not sold on Caufield. Yeah, yeah..i get the speed and scoring stats..but Corey Locke (who was almost the same size) scored 114 goals in two years with the Ottawa 67's and he was a complete bust.

I know, I know, it's way too early to write him off, but jeez, some people are already penciling him in the starting NHL lineup.

As for Romanov let's calm down a little here. He was barely on any scouts lists before he was drafted and literally came out of nowhere with his performance last year...i'll reserve judgement after i see what he does this year.

As for Brook, I like him, however where does all this sudden love for Harris come from? Because he's a good couple of days at development camp? His numbers were just o.k. last year.

Ylonen, Ikonen, Olofson all had down years last year and none of them scream anything exciting.

Fleury looks like a 5 or 6 dman.

Yes, i know, i'm a pessimist, but i also like to be realistic.

Suzuki absolutely dominated this year... And no, he wasn't an overager

 

[Loner]

1 - Poehling
2 - Caufield
3 - Romanov
4 - Primeau
5 - Brook
6 - Suzuki
7 - Juulsen
8 - Harris
9 - Struble
10 - Ylonen
11 - Pitlick
12 - Norlinder
13 - Fleury
14 - Ikonen
15 - Teasdale
16 - Olofsson
17 - Hillis
18 - Fairbrother
19 - Dichow
20 - Evans

 

[Darz]

I was looking at the prospect pool about a week ago and thought about how deep it was.

1. Caufield
2, Poehling
3. Suzuki
4. Romanov
5. Brook
6. Primeau
7. Ylonen
8, Harris
9. Fleury
10. Struble
11. Olofsson
12. Ikonen
13. Norlinder
14. Evans
15, Teasdale
16. Stapley
17. Fonstad
18. McShane
19. McNiven
20. Pitlick

 

[1909]

I was looking at the prospect pool about a week ago and thought about how deep it was.

1. Caufield
2, Poehling
3. Suzuki
4. Romanov
5. Brook
6. Primeau
7. Ylonen
8, Harris
9. Fleury
10. Struble
11. Olofsson
12. Ikonen
13. Norlinder
14. Evans
15, Teasdale
16. Stapley
17. Fonstad
18. McShane
19. McNiven
20. Pitlick

Your first top 10 has a fair chance to play at NHL level. The bottom-10, not so much.

 

[Mrb1p]

Any list that doesnt have Brook at the top ...


Also no rispeck for Fonzie

 

[26Mats]

Your first top 10 has a fair chance to play at NHL level. The bottom-10, not so much.

I like Ikonen and Pitlick. I look forward to seeing what they can do over the next few years. Would have been nice to see how Teasdale did over the last 3 days. I think Ikonen would have done really well.

 

[Legend123]

Your first top 10 has a fair chance to play at NHL level. The bottom-10, not so much.

Norlinder has all the tools to play in the NHL. Smart, good skating with a good first pass. He can be a very good #4. I have high hopes for smart puck moving Ds who skate well.

 

[Mandala]

I might be blind but I think Caufield has star potential. I would love to try him in Laval this year. I think he could surprise us like Kotkaniemi.

 

[Redux91]

I mean, im surprised

There's absolutely no way Suzuki should be ranked ahead of Poehling in any list. And I like Suzuki a lot.

 

[Treb]

I mean, im surprised

There's absolutely no way Suzuki should be ranked ahead of Poehling in any list. And I like Suzuki a lot.

Floor vs ceiling debate.

 

[WeThreeKings]

1. Cole Caufield
2. Josh Brook
3. Nick Suzuki
4. Alexander Romanov
5. Ryan Poehling
6. Cayden Primeau
7. Jesse Ylonen
8. Noah Juulsen
9. Jayden Struble
10. Jordan Harris
11. Jake Evans
12. Joni Ikonen
13. Cam Hillis
14. Jacob Olofsson
15. Cale Fleury
16. Mattias Norlinder
17. Cole Fonstad
18. Allan McShane
19. Lukas Vejdemo
20. Otto Leskinen

HM: Pitlick, Stapley, Fairbrother, McNiven

 

[417]

I gather I like Evans more then most given these lists.

Not that I'm an authority or anything

 

[Paddyjack]

We'll see. At one point, i was told how very good Lindgren, De la Rose and Andrighetto were supposed to be. Or how Walford and Bitten were steals of the draft.

I hear you brother, and I understand. But let me tell you something: in the past few years I was looking at this development camp and I was bored. I remember Sergachev being on top of everyone one year, which was exciting, but the rest were just.... bland. But this year.... wow! So, yeah, we saw a lot of overexpectations in the past, but I really feel that this group is the real deal.

 

[L4br3cqu3]

1- Brook
2- Suzuki
3- Poehling
4- Caufield
5- Romanov
6- Primeau
7- Juulsen
8- Ylonen
9- Fleury
10- Struble
11- Harris
12- Ikonen
13- Norlinder
14- Leskinen
15- McNiven
16- Teasdale
17- McShane
18- Olofsson
19- Evans
20- Fonstad

Yeah, I'm that high on Brook.

 

[Paddyjack]

My humble opinion:

1. Poehling
2. Romanov
3. Brook
4. Primeau
5. Suzuki
6. Caufield
7. Ylonen
8. Harris
9. Ikonen
10. Fleury
11. Teasdale
12. Olofsson
13. Struble
14. Evans
15. Pitlick
16. Hillis
17. Stapley
18. McShane
19. Norlinder
20. Fairbrother

 

[Skip Bayless]

1.Lil UZI Poehlsss
2.Cole Caufield
3.Josh Brook
4.Alex Romanov
5.Keith Primeau
6.Noah Juulsen
7.Jesse Ylonen
8.Cale Fleury
9.Joel Teasdale
10.Nick Suzuki
11.Jake Evans
12.Jordan Harris
13.Jayden Strudle
14.Otto Leskinen
15.Lukas Vejdemo
16.Mattias Norlinder
17.Joni Ikonen
18. Cole Fonstad
19.Allan McShane
20.Michael McNiven

 

[Adam Michaels]

I can't do Top-20 in order. So I will give my Top-20 by draft year and then anyone who went undrafted. Also note that the 2019 class, I'm going by what I saw at development camp and the few video packages I saw. Once I follow them closely this upcoming season, my Top-20 can change.

2014
- Jake Evans

2015
- Noah Juulsen
- Lukas Vejdemo

2016
- Victor Mete

2017
- Ryan Poehling
- Josh Brook
- Joni Ikonen
- Cale Fleury
- Cayden Primeau
- Nick Suzuki (drafted by VGK)

2018
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
- Jesse Ylönen
- Alexander Romanov
- Jordan Harris

2019
- Cole Caufield
- Jayden Struble
- Rhett Pitlick

Undrafted
- Otto Leskinen
- Joël Teasdale


In the end, I only named 19. But there are a lot of prospects that I like, but wouldn't place them in the Top-20 yet.

Honorable Mentions
Hillis, McShane, Fonstad, Stapley, and Gorniak (all 2018 picks). Verbeek and Alain I like, as well. Both undrafted.

2019 Picks I can't wait to follow
Norlinder, Fairbrother, Khisamudtinov, and Harvey-Pinard.

 

[Canadienna]

Man that top 5/6 is tough to nail down.

1. Poehling (I think he's got #1C potential. Which makes it hard to not have him first)
2. Romanov (I just love his game and think he's going to continue his offensive play he had at the end of last year)
3. Brook (I probably should have been higher on Brook than I have been, looks like he could be a boon for our PP)
4. Suzuki (I want to see him against grown men, and with a little less space before he's on Poehling's level)
5. Primeau (What a great year, the sooner he can come up and learn from a young-ish Price the better)
6. Caufield (Has hands to shoot and deke, and will likely earn a higher spot after he shows it a bit in college)

7. Ylonen
8. Juulsen
9. Ikonen
10. Fleury
11. Evans
12. Struble
13. Fairbrother

14. Harris
15. Teasdale
16. Norlinder
17. Pitlick
18. McShane
19. Stapley
20. Fonstad

Full disclosure I don't really know a ton about the last group of guys.

 

[Garbageyuk]

You are definitely a pessimist but you aren't a realist.

Uh oh, did someone say something you didn't like about the shiny new toy? People should be able to express their opinions without being attacked. The fanboyism on here is so annoying sometimes.

 

[L4br3cqu3]

We'll see. At one point, i was told how very good Lindgren, De la Rose and Andrighetto were supposed to be. Or how Walford and Bitten were steals of the draft.

A case could be made for Bitten.

Otherwise, no one said those things.

 

[HabsMD97]

3 tiers of prospects

1st Tier: Potential top 6 Fwd, top 3 D and average starter/very good back-up

1. Cole Caufield
2. Josh Brook
3. Alexander Romanov
4. Ryan Suzuki
5. Ryan Poehling
6. Cayden Primeau

2nd Tier: 3rd line Fwd and #4-5 D

7. Jesse Ylonen
8. Cale Fleury
9. Noah Juulsen
10. Jayden Struble
11. Mattias Norlinder

3rd Tier: 4th line Fwd and bottom pair/7th D, journeymen

12. Jordan Harris
13. Jake Evans
14. Otto Leskinen
15. Joel Teasdale
16. Jacob Olofsson
17. Rhett Pitlick
18. Joni Ikonen
19. Allan McShane
20. Cam Hillis
21. Lucas Vejdemo

 

[Canadienna]

Seems like most agree Brook is a better prospect than Juulsen, does anyone think he's good enough to take Juulsen's spot this year on our bottom pair?

 

[Treb]

Seems like most agree Brook is a better prospect than Juulsen, does anyone think he's good enough to take Juulsen's spot this year on our bottom pair?

I think Brook would be best served playing in the AHL, he didn't dominate in the 7 games he played there last year.