I love the thread- great info here crew.
I’m going to take a bit of a different approach just for fun and because it is August. I tend to think of our guys in groups, as opposed to 1 through 20. It is hard to say that an 18 year old goalie that played in a crappy junior league is a better prospect than a d who play in Switzerland, or a forward who played in the AHL.
I group my guys in 5 tiers and I’m not touching goalies with a 10 foot pole.
Tier 1- These are the guys that would need to stop progresseing or even regress to not have a decent NHL career. They make this list if I see them as guys who will easily hit the 200 NHL games played plateau while playing somewhat valuable minutes. Typically for us this is a short list (first time I have ever had 7 on it), but not this year. Part of why is because of patience of not rushing prospects anymore, another part is that we are actually keeping our picks and also the recent great drafts have helped as well. I have a pretty good record with this category historically (been wrong 3 times- MAB, Marshall, Ryan Parent- but 2 of those were due to injury)
I won’t go into details with these guys because they have been talked about enough.
Provorov, Sanheim, Morin, Ghost, Laughton, Koneckny, Hagg
Tier 2- These are the sort of the “somewhat likely†group. I feel they have the next best chance at making it. They aren’t locks, but they are a reach either.
NAK- His junior arc has him trending to be a middle 6 forwards and he seems to have to have the tools to do so.
Lindblom- our only real power forward guy in the system and can already handle himself against men in a good league
Cousins- Last year was a good step and he is as close as any forward to being NHL ready albeit in a bottom 6 role most likely.
Leier- He seems to have fallen in most peoples eyes, but for most guys their first year of pro is rough. I still see him as a decent bottom 6 guy in 3 or so years.
Tier 3- These are the guys that we just don’t quite know enough about yet, but boy are there things to be excited about. They all need something to make it, but have high ceilings if they can persevere
Friedman- Everything that I read about him I like. Held his own as a freshman. “Better than Ghost away from the puck,†sure sounds nice to me. I’m planning on trying to watch a few of his games this year if I can get some decent streams, but we may have struck gold with this guy
Martel- He might be Tyler Johnson and he might be Mike Maneluk. I thought he fit right in very quickly last year (saw all of his Phantom games that had streams)
Kase- Tiny but skilled. Super fast and small has a place now but will he have the strength to keep the puck? We need a few years to see what he can do.
Vorobov- Should have been a much higher pick (as was Kase), but the Russian factor scares me. I think he will be good enough for the NHL at some point in his career but whether or not he pursues it is a real concern for me.
Tier 4- Of the guys left, this is the group that I think has the best chance to play in the NHL. I don’t want to call them tweeners, but it might describe them the best. Often I have guys in this group with a much better chance of making it than the group above, but their ceilings are low.
Ghoul- He does play a 4th line style of game and seems to be staying out of the box. He is also totally ripped
Alt- tweener Dman in my eyes
Marti- I think this was a good signing actually, but I can’t see him being a mainstay if he does make it. Kukkonen 2.0
Willcox- I seem to be his lone cheerleader on here but I see him in a 6th to 7th slot a year or two after he graduates. He is very smart, just don’t give him any drills where he needs to step on a puck.
Fazleev- I would really like to have put him with my tier 2 guys but he just isn’t there yet. They say he is the ultimate student of the game, can play all 3 forward postions and is very defensively responsible. For whatever reason I really find myself cheering for him. When I watch the Hitmen (only maybe 4 games or so last year) I like what I see from a hockey smarts perspective
Tier 5- This is the “I highly doubt it†group and the “waaaaay to early to judge†group
VV- Shown zero interest in coming over
Straka- I don’t buy what others on here sell about him. He might be in the tweener group I guess but I just don’t see where he has the desire to be an NHL player. He has the skill though.
Petterson- Bulldog, but I think he will stay in the A, and be a good AHL player until he decides to go back to Europe.
Parks- If they haven’t given him a contract by now he isn’t getting one. I have liked him every single time that watched him, and I have seen him plenty (CR, college and camps), but Hakstol knows him extremely well and must not believe in him.
Mathers- please
Marody- too early to write him off or pump him up for me. He hasn’t had as much “exposure†as guys like Kase so I know little about him
Bardreau- career minor leaguer
Amorosa- prep schooler with lots of years to decide but I don’t see where his skill set has developed into an NHL prospect.
Dove-McFalls- too early to tell. I’d like to see him get some decent minutes this year and some added responsibility like hat happened with Leier a few years back.
Lukko- nope
Alderson- Testwuide
