Rank the top 4 picks of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

[Qvist]

Usually for these types of threads, projected ceiling is the highest level the players could reach (who will be best in their prime) given the skillsets that they have.

I suspected something like that. Which in my honest opinion is a woolly-headed and wholly useless criterion to discuss players on. We're supposed to rank players on the basis of how good each of us can imagine they could conceivably become in their primes? Blah, waste of time.

 

[rumrokh]

I suspected something like that. Which in my honest opinion is a woolly-headed and wholly useless criterion to discuss players on. We're supposed to rank players on the basis of how good each of us can imagine they could conceivably become in their primes? Blah, waste of time.

Yea, I kind of agree. Some players might be longer-term projects, so their prime will be briefer, yet it might be at a higher level. So how do you compare the lower and longer ceiling? That line of thought is just a weird road to go down. Especially because it usually involves some weird assumptions, like large but not mean and aggressive = potential to be mean and aggressive, which is probably the rarest development any player makes.

I much prefer likeliest projections. Or, even better, for most teams (or only non-playoff or only playoff, however you want to do it), which player would you trade straight up for any other?

 

[Bjindaho]

I suspected something like that. Which in my honest opinion is a woolly-headed and wholly useless criterion to discuss players on. We're supposed to rank players on the basis of how good each of us can imagine they could conceivably become in their primes? Blah, waste of time.

While I agree that there is virtually no chance of anyone being "right", it can be useful to pool opinions for someone who is in a keeper league that is trying to get a more educated opinion to back any decision they make.

That being said, you will generally need rationale for any of the lists to be useful, even for this purpose and threads of this nature generally get plenty of lists with little rationale (meaning that any differences come without any kind of reasoning, such as Couturier is big but plays soft so he is unlikely to become a nasty power forward, or Johansen`s game suggests he will be a defensive forward at the NHL level, so he may not ever play top 6).

 

[dbhislife]

I want to preface with the fact that I am doing this based on projections. If everyone reaches their likely potential (and not surpassing it by anything crazy)

1. Steven Stamkos (2008 #1)
2. Drew Doughty (2008 #2)
3. Matt Duchene (2009 #3)
4. Alex Pietrangelo (2008 #4)
5. Adam Larsson (2011)
6. John Tavares (2009 #1)
7. Taylor Hall (2010 #1)
8. Tyler Seguin (2010 #2)
9. Victor Hedman (2009 #2)
10. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011)
11. Sean Couturier (2011)
12. Zach Bogosian (2008 #3)
13. Erik Gudbranson (2010 #3)
14. Evander Kane (2009 #4)
15. Gabriel Landeskog (2011)
16. Ryan Johansen (2010 #4)

 

[Hooch314]

id go
Stamkos
Hall
Doughty
Tavares
Seguin
Duchene
Hedman
Landeskog
Larsson
Bogosian
Hopkins
Couturier
Kane
Gudbranson
Johansen
Pietrangelo

Haha I was wondering how long it would take for AP to be 16th on someone's list.

Didn't have to click to the second page.

 

[Wheatking]

All I've heard is that the big 4 this year aren't on the same level as the top end talent in other drafts. So if Larsson is the BPA, he should probably still be listed after Stamkos, Doughty, Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, Hall and Seguin.