TOP PROSPECTS
1. G Igor Shesterkin - killing it in the KHL for years; at worst, he's still an NHL goalie.
2. C Filip Chytil - really strong in the AHL. Better than Lias in all 3 zones despite being almost a full year younger.
3. C Lias Andersson - safe, all-around player. Will be somewhere between a good 2nd liner and a good 3rd liner.
SECOND TIER
4. D Anthony DeAngelo - good tools, but keeps moving too much; some risk
5. RW Vinni Lettieri - will be an NHLer; hardworking spark plug player with a good shot and solid skating
6. D Ryan Graves - a ton of tools and his toolset is getting better too, but still inconsistent; no longer great-terrible game to game, he's now great-or-average in the AHL, but still not consistent enough for the NHL this year; nonetheless great shot, huge size, boomer of a shot, good at making a breakout pass from his zone, but not much stickhandling.
7. RW Ty Ronning - on pace for 65 WHL goals; ranked so high because he has a lot of potential; spark plug player with a lot of Callahan to his game.
8. C/LW Boo Nieves - almost certainly an NHLer next season, but very little upside because he's lost in the offensive zone.
9. D Neal Pionk - excellent at doing small things every shift that are crucial to the game, but don't create highlights; tries to be flashy at times and it kills him; if he learns what's his bread and butter, he'll be a good long-term NHLer, and I think he'll be there; I see him as a future NHLer.
10. G Alexandar Georgiev - our best goalie prospect not nicknamed the Czar; dominated the Finnish league last year at the age of 20 as arguably the best goalie there; terrible AHL start, but he's been on a huge role in Hartford; technically sound, decent reflexes, and amazing puckhandling ability.
11. D Brandon Crawley - found himself on the first Hartford pair as a 20 yr old rookie, but a little too overwhelmed there; still impressed that coaches trust him so much so early; mobile and at times flashes good things, but makes rookie mistakes too.
12. C Morgan Barron - by all reports, he's having a good NCAA season.
13. G Adam Huska - dominated the BCHL and then had a strong freshman season, but not too much improvement this year; goalies need to be one of the top 10-12 best or else they have very little value, but in this case I see Huska more as a future backup, just don't see how he becomes good enough to be a starter on a Cup winner.
14. C Gabriel Fontaine - hardworking player who does little things well; never was a big scorer, not even in the Juniors, certainly not in Hartford now, so I don't see much offense to his game, but could realistically turn into a cheap young 4th liner.
PROJECTS
15. D Alexei Bereglazov - in Russia and who knows if he returns; I'll rank him higher if he is back
16. C Dominik Lakatos - solid in the Czech league.
17. C Patrik Virta - see above.
18. D Sean Day - he can skate, but so can Gilmour, so what. Never liked what I saw in Traverse because having a good hockey sense is crucial to making the NHL and his hockey IQ is awful.
19. D Sergey Zborovskiy - would be really good defensively if he were faster, but he just doesn't skate well enough; good defensive plays with his stick, good size, willing to get dirty, but again, speed.
20. LW Ryan Gropp - rode Barzal's tails, but now he's exposed as a career minor leaguer; has some upside, but I doubt it.
21. LW Dawson Leedahl - decent stats in the Juniors, great in the ECHL and got called up to the AHL; maybe a 2-way 4th liner some day who can occasionally chip in a goal, but not a ton of upside.
SUSPECTS
22. C Adam Tambellini - great shot, but his overall game was awful as a rookie; got better all-around, but I don't see an NHLer here. Maybe he'll improve, still only 23 yrs old.
23. LW Tim Gettinger - a big guy who gets a point per game in the Juniors always gets people excited, but watch him trek to Greenville next season; another Bruce Graham.
24. D Calle Sjalin - can't even stick in Allsvenskan, has to go back and fourth to the Swedish J20.
25. D John Gilmour - amazing straight away skater, so should've probably stuck to Olympic speed skating; turnover machine; useless defensively; if he ever makes the NHL, he'll be hated by the fans because he can't stop turning over the puck every shift.
26. G Tyler Wall - great season last year, but terrible this year.
27. D Vince Pedrie - third pair AHL defenseman at the age of 24, so even though he's a rookie, not much hope here.
28. C Steven Fogarty - 4th line AHLer in his second AHL year and will be 25 this Spring. Not much to write about.
ALSO-RUNS
29. G Chris Nell - terrible in the AHL as a rookie, and up and down in the ECHL.
30. RW Nicklas Jensen - he's not coming back from the KHL.
31. D Tarmo Reunanen - couldn't make one Liiga team, then became a 7D on another Liiga team; I have no hope that he'll ever even come to North America.
32. G Brandon Halverson - awful in the AHL and bad in the ECHL, only had one good season, but that's because his Junior team was stacked and winning everything, while his SV% was pretty mediocre.
33. RW Tyler Nanne - too many injuries for a guy who was drafted in the 5th round; no ways he's making the NHL.
34. RW Daniel Bernhardt - needs to quit hockey, even low level hockey is not for him; how about web development or nursing as a major?
