Prospect Info: Prospect Thread (Overseas, College, Junior, etc)

[AintLifeGrand]

Good. He needs to be on one of the elite teams. Wonder if Fink will make a move?

fink seems pretty content at Penn State and I think they are in a higher category than UConn mainly due to being in a better conference

would love to see Wood on Denver , Nodak, or Michigan

 

[wmupreds]

He should go to WMU for no particular reason other than it would be cool

 

[101st_fan]

Graf from Quinnipiac is eliminated. He was a Preds rookie camp invitee ... can we lure him this spring as a FA?

 

[Legionnaire11]

My source told me on the 11th that Wood was going to transfer, I just didn't post it here because it was obviously nothing but a rumor at that point. Now that it's official, I feel a little better saying that the same source is telling me that it's most likely to a B1G team.

 

[wmupreds]

I think it's Minnesota

 

[AintLifeGrand]

I think it's Minnesota

gross

Fightin Sioux would be rad

 

[herzausstein]

Graf from Quinnipiac is eliminated. He was a Preds rookie camp invitee ... can we lure him this spring as a FA?

Itd be nice if we could grab him. I believe he attended the florida camp the year prior as well but he will be getting alot of attention.

My source told me on the 11th that Wood was going to transfer, I just didn't post it here because it was obviously nothing but a rumor at that point. Now that it's official, I feel a little better saying that the same source is telling me that it's most likely to a B1G team.

Pretty happy to see him going somewhere else. Hopefully it will be somewhere that can help develop him more and it will be show more in his individual counting stats.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Disappointing year for Knak

https://x.com/OnTheFuturePBR/status/1774432438350958817?s=20

 

[Bonin21]

Wood will get TONS of playing time if he goes to Minnesota, and a second year Oliver Moore as a center is a solid option. Maybe even two years of that.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Wood will get TONS of playing time if he goes to Minnesota, and a second year Oliver Moore as a center is a solid option. Maybe even two years of that.

I think he could be in for a big year if he lands on a line with a strong facilitator. He isn't a play driver, he is a finisher, and that is why we drafted him.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Sounds like we'll find out about Collin Graf today. I'm fine with giving him games down the stretch to burn an ELC year, if that's what it takes.

 

[herzausstein]

Adam Ingram had a good sophmore season.
Freshman -
0.20 G/game
0.37 A/game
0.56 P/game
8G 15A 23P in 41 games

Sophmore -
0.26 G/game
0.47 A/game
0.74 P/game
10G 18A 28P in 38 games

4th on his team in points
Tied 3rd on his team for goals

A couple 6th round picks and another 2nd round pick player on the team with him

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Doesn't look like anyone mentioned that it's been confirmed that Wood has indeed transferred to Minnesota.

 

[herzausstein]

Doesn't look like anyone mentioned that it's been confirmed that Wood has indeed transferred to Minnesota.

Gophers men's hockey lands top transfer Matthew Wood

The winger, a 2023 first-round draft pick of the Nashville Predators, played the past two seasons at Connecticut.

www.startribune.com

Hopefully we will see some more improvement. Gopher's had 135 goals this season compared to Wood old team's 86. 2 of the Gopher's leading scorers are Grad students (Brodzinski and Nelson). Nelson signed a contract with the Bruins already. I think all the other key contributors are coming back as of right now. So wood should basically be a direct replacement for 1 of them in terms of offense. So should be a pretty strong team with some growth from players like Moore and Wood.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I see Gunnarwolfe Fontaine is transferring for a 5th NCAA season at Ohio State? I guess that makes sense... we wouldn't have a contract for him, and maybe with OSU he gets another kick at the can in a prominent role on a weaker/rebuilding NCAA team? Maybe if he has a big enough year he can still find somebody who will offer him a contract next year?

Whereas Campbell seems to be doing pretty well, both he and Haider are in Milwaukee, so they may be the keepers amongst the group of NCAA guys whose rights were set to expire on August 15. (Chase McLane and Luke Reid are the other two, presumably also not going to be signed).

 

[herzausstein]

Making them earn some 2-way contracts i guess.

McLane didnt really do much in college.

Our goaltending depths are pretty weak especially if we trade Saros or Askarov moves up to NHL backup so Haider in Milwaukee or Grigals next season makes alot of sense (personally). But i reckon we can always just bring in some vet goalies.

Campbell's got a pair of goals and a shootout goal. Not a bad start.

Reid doubled his offensive output in his senior year. We already got Matier, Prokop, Livingstone, and Ufko under contract next season for the AHL/ECHL level and Fabbro, Schenn at RHD at the NHL level. Will be interesting how things shake out. Alot of possibilities, carrier might get extended. Fabbro might get traded. Mcd-josi might be stapled together. Stastney might be put offhand. Livingstone might get brought up. Keeping Reid could make some sense. But we will be drafting some players this year so the point might be moot.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Prospects are almost all done playing for this season... I know Willis and Molendyk are still going in their league semi-finals... not sure if anybody else is still playing, aside from the guys who joined on with the Ads...

PLAYER	TEAM	LEAGUE	ACQ	YOB	GP	G	A	TP/W	PIM/L	+/- OTL
Matthew Wood (RW/C)	U.Connecticut	H-East	15/2023	2005	35	16	12	28	43	-1
	Canada WJC-20				5	2	2	4	0	3
Tanner Molendyk (LD)	Saskatoon	WHL	24/2023	2005	50	10	46	56	18	40
	playoffs*				11	2	6	8	6	12
Felix Nilsson (LW)	Rogle BK	SWE-JR	43/2023	2005	22	8	15	23	10	19
	playoffs				3	2	2	4	0	0
	Rogle BK Angelholm	SWE			41	1	2	3	2	-5
	playoffs				1	0	0	0	0	0
Kalan Lind (LW/C)	Red Deer	WHL	46/2023	2005	46	16	29	45	73	-11
	playoffs				9	4	4	8	8	-4
Jesse Kiiskinen (RW)	Pelicans	SM-Liiga	68/2023	2005	38	4	6	10	8	-1
	playoffs				6	0	0	0	0	-1
	Pelicans U20	SM-Sarja			8	14	7	21	6	13
	playoffs				3	0	3	3	0	1
Dylan MacKinnon (RD)	Halifax	QMJHL	83/2023	2005	64	3	13	16	48	1
	playoffs				4	0	2	2	5	-3
Joey Willis (C)	Saginaw	OHL	111/2023	2005	66	14	36	50	15	25
	playoffs*				13	3	5	8	0	4
Juha Jatkola (G)	KalPa	SM-Liiga	121/2023	2002	34	2.69	.875	12	16	5
Sutter Muzzatti (LW)	R.P.I.	ECAC	143/2023	2003	33	10	15	25	79	-15
Austin Roest (C)	Everett	WHL	175/2023	2004	61	38	33	71	53	20
	playoffs				5	3	4	7	0	2
Aiden Fink (RW)	Penn St. U	Big-10	218/2023	2004	34	15	19	34	27	-3
Adam Ingram (C)	St. Cloud State	NCHC	82/2022	2003	38	10	18	28	18	9
Kasper Kulonummi (RD)	Tappara Tampere	SM-Liiga	84/2022	2004	40	0	4	4	4	4
	playoffs				1	0	0	0	0	0
	Tappara U-20	SM-Sarja			5	0	3	3	8	3
	Finland WJC-20				7	0	4	4	4	-1
Cole O'Hara (RW)	UMass-Amherst	H-East	114/2022	2002	37	7	11	18	18	-1
Ben Strinden (RW)	U. North Dakota	NCHC	210/2022	2002	39	6	6	12	18	6
Anton Olsson (LD)	Skelleftea AIK	SweHL	72/2021	2003	18	0	1	1	0	-4
	playoffs				13	0	1	1	4	-2
	Jukurit	SM-Liiga			7	2	1	3	29	1
	AIK	Allsven.			7	0	0	0	0	-1
	playoffs				3	0	0	0	4	-1
Ryan Ufko (RD)	UMass-Amherst	H-East	115/2021	2003	37	10	16	26	14	4
	Milwaukee*	AHL			9	1	5	6	4	-2
Simon Knak (LW)	Davos HC	Swiss-A	179/2021	2002	32	5	7	12	8	6
**Luke Reid (RD)	U. New Hampshire	H-East	166/2020	2001	36	1	15	16	18	5
**Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (LW)	Northeastern U.	H-East	202/2020	2000	36	8	19	27	6	-2
**Chase McLane (C)	Penn State U.	Big-10	209/2020	2000	17	3	3	6	11	-11
**Alexander Campbell (LW)	Northeastern U.	H-East	65/2019	2001	36	22	20	42	6	13
	Milwaukee*	AHL			9	3	0	3	0	-1
Semyon Chistyakov (LD)	Avangard Omsk	KHL	117/2019	2001	59	4	20	24	16	15
	playoffs				12	3	4	7	2	3
**Ethan Haider (G)	U.Connecticut	H-East	148/2019	2001	21	2.91	.906	7	11	2
	Milwaukee*	AHL			0	0	0	0	0	0
Isak Walther (RW)	U. Vermont	H-East	179/2019	2001	24	5	7	12	6	10
Vladislav Yeryomenko (RD)	Magnitogorsk	KHL	151/2018	1999	31	3	5	8	2	11
	playoffs***				21	0	3	3	0	5
Konstantin Volkov (G)	Dynamo Moskva	KHL	168/2016	1997	10	3.60	.889	5	2	0
Jeremy Hanzel	Seattle	WHL	187/2023	2003	66	17	43	60	40	-8
	Milwaukee*	AHL			5	0	2	2	2	0

* = still active
** = rights expire August 15
*** = playoff championship

Notes:
Matthew Wood transferring to U.Minnesota
G.Fontaine transferring to Ohio State
Chase McLane transferring to Colorado College

 

[herzausstein]

I looked at Molendyks numbers and thought "those arent that impressive" then you look has his progression

18P in 55 games in 21-22
37P in 67 games in 22-23
56P in 50 games in 23-24

And he was 4th in the WHL for dmen in points/game at age 18. Pretty dang nice.

Ufko is also already making a nice impact in the AHL.

It is too bad these guys are all sub 6 foot. I know to some extent size of over stated but we we do need some players capable of crease clearing. But these two will be excellent at moving the puck up and down ice and breaking up the rush. Theyre both very intelligent and see the play developing.

 

[PredsV82]

I looked at Molendyks numbers and thought "those arent that impressive" then you look has his progression

18P in 55 games in 21-22
37P in 67 games in 22-23
56P in 50 games in 23-24

And he was 4th in the WHL for dmen in points/game at age 18. Pretty dang nice.

Ufko is also already making a nice impact in the AHL.

It is too bad these guys are all sub 6 foot. I know to some extent size of over stated but we we do need some players capable of crease clearing. But these two will be excellent at moving the puck up and down ice and breaking up the rush. Theyre both very intelligent and see the play developing.

Wasn't Molendyk originally considered a more defensive defenseman? I know one of his claims to fame was Bedard never scored on him

 

[Scoresberg]

I looked at Molendyks numbers and thought "those arent that impressive" then you look has his progression

18P in 55 games in 21-22
37P in 67 games in 22-23
56P in 50 games in 23-24

And he was 4th in the WHL for dmen in points/game at age 18. Pretty dang nice.

Ufko is also already making a nice impact in the AHL.

It is too bad these guys are all sub 6 foot. I know to some extent size of over stated but we we do need some players capable of crease clearing. But these two will be excellent at moving the puck up and down ice and breaking up the rush. Theyre both very intelligent and see the play developing.

Molendyk is listed as 6-foot but the future of the NHL is built for guys like him.

Ufko's a different case as he's not nearly as good of a skater as Molendyk. Sometimes those guys push through, but I want to see it.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I looked at Molendyks numbers and thought "those arent that impressive" then you look has his progression

18P in 55 games in 21-22
37P in 67 games in 22-23
56P in 50 games in 23-24

And he was 4th in the WHL for dmen in points/game at age 18. Pretty dang nice.

Ufko is also already making a nice impact in the AHL.

It is too bad these guys are all sub 6 foot. I know to some extent size of over stated but we we do need some players capable of crease clearing. But these two will be excellent at moving the puck up and down ice and breaking up the rush. Theyre both very intelligent and see the play developing.

I think Moldenyk and hopefully at least one of Stastney/Del Gaizo/Ufko will become long-term top-4 D for us. But the catch with that is, given we'll also have Josi around for at least 4 more years, there should be a limited amount of room for additional smaller/softer types of D. (e.g. Fabbro/Carrier)

Molendyk is listed as 6-foot but the future of the NHL is built for guys like him.

I dunno, they keep saying that. But then the NHL playoffs roll around, the rulebook is thrown away, and it's not entirely clear that's ever going to be the case.

You can have a certain number of smaller/softer fast D... if they're skilled enough. Like Josi is. Like Molendyk seems destined to be. But there's still a limit. I'm not sure if or when that ever changes, tbh.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Wasn't Molendyk originally considered a more defensive defenseman? I know one of his claims to fame was Bedard never scored on him

No, I think that was just a scouting blurb "excuse" for the fact that his offensive numbers weren't as flashy as some of the other D around. But the real reason for that is that he was just a younger guy on a team that wasn't very talented and he didn't get quite as much offensive responsibility. The Bedard thing is just a coincidental/fun sideline between them. Molendyk is a great skater, but his forte is rushing the puck and jumping in on offense, for sure.

 

[herzausstein]

I think Moldenyk and hopefully at least one of Stastney/Del Gaizo/Ufko will become long-term top-4 D for us. But the catch with that is, given we'll also have Josi around for at least 4 more years, there should be a limited amount of room for additional smaller/softer types of D.

Even then... our toughest guys Lauzon/Schenn can hit but they arent overly useful for clearing creases or anything much else. Schenn being slightly more useful around the crease than Lauzon and Lauzon being slightly more useful around the rest of the ice.

I dont think any of our bigger d prospects Matier, Prokop, Livingstone, or MacKinnon are overly strong/physical types though Prokop is built like he might be.

So as far as our current pipeline goes, unless we are getting some fresh blood in here (which given Bruno doesnt seem to like Fabbro, Schenn is old, and Carrier is probably testing free agency the RHD is pretty wide open) we have limited options for the bruisers weightclass

 

[Scoresberg]

I think Moldenyk and hopefully at least one of Stastney/Del Gaizo/Ufko will become long-term top-4 D for us. But the catch with that is, given we'll also have Josi around for at least 4 more years, there should be a limited amount of room for additional smaller/softer types of D. (e.g. Fabbro/Carrier)


I dunno, they keep saying that. But then the NHL playoffs roll around, the rulebook is thrown away, and it's not entirely clear that's ever going to be the case.

You can have a certain number of smaller/softer fast D... if they're skilled enough. Like Josi is. Like Molendyk seems destined to be. But there's still a limit. I'm not sure if or when that ever changes, tbh.

Yeah, I think I might've been a bit unclear. Obviously, you can't have more than two smaller defensemen in the lineup once the playoffs hit.

But Molendyk is the type of talent to warrant one of those spots. I don't believe Ufko is.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Even then... our toughest guys Lauzon/Schenn can hit but they arent overly useful for clearing creases or anything much else. Schenn being slightly more useful around the crease than Lauzon and Lauzon being slightly more useful around the rest of the ice.

I dont think any of our bigger d prospects Matier, Prokop, Livingstone, or MacKinnon are overly strong/physical types though Prokop is built like he might be.

So as far as our current pipeline goes, unless we are getting some fresh blood in here (which given Bruno doesnt seem to like Fabbro, Schenn is old, and Carrier is probably testing free agency the RHD is pretty wide open) we have limited options for the bruisers weightclass

Oh I agree, I don't see any of our bigger D prospects as being at all likely to make the NHL, not even to be as good as Lauzon/Schenn. Certainly not next season, probably not ever.

So this is indeed a problem.

I think we can only really address this on the UFA market. Which will seem a little painful. Because who is there - Pesce coming off a bad year, the guys we're playing against now Zadorov/Myers, and not a whole lot else? So you'd pay some crazy money to get one, because lots of teams still want this prototype too. And they won't look great for that money most of the time. But I guess we do at least have a fairly rosy Cap situation from which to endure some of that pain.