Prospect Info: Summer 2014 Prospect Poll: Final rankings

[Made Dan]

Agree with the top 9, but would put Nieves where Haggerty is. Still think Boo will put it together and have a strong year.

 

[kovazub94]

I'm most excited about Butch and Skjei. IMHO they are somewhat ahead of the close group that includes Miller, Fast, Lindberg, MCI, Allen and of course Duke. I also expect a continuation of solid development from Graves.

Buchnevich will be in NA next season. If his intentions were to stay in Russia he wouldn't spend his summer vacation coming here to train. He always refers to the fact that his contract with Severstal will be over after this season. Look for Severstal coaching staff to try playing Butch at C in the upcoming season. I think it will be a truly breakthrough season for him. As for a prediction - I think he won't spend any time in AHL.

 

[Mikos87]

Interesting rankings, I'm a little more biased towards the AHL guys since I see them play. Some others I have no idea about so I can't really rank them.

Guys I'm a little higher on than others are Bourque, Graves, Andersson and Hughes. Andersson I haven't seen much, but a Swedish hockey buddy of mine is high on him and he's been spot on with some Euroleague players for years with his claim to fame being Toby Enstrom who he said was going to be an all-star caliber player back in 2002. Thinks Andersson has a servicable pro career ahead of him although may only be in Europe.

I watched a bit of Duclair this past season after being tipped off on him back in Oct by someone very close to a more name organization in the Q and he wasn't wrong. He's high on Graves too, a very unique find for a defenseman in the Q since he plays that prototypical shutdown role in a league that isn't known for its defensive structure.

Out of the guys in the AHL, I'm really low on Kristo and the others are pretty much where they should be. Hrivik has a pro hockey career ahead of him in Europe if he can't crack the NHL this season. Too solid of a player and athlete not to make money as a hockey player.

I have pretty high opinions on Miller, McIlrath and Allen, but don't think the upside for any is a top line or top pair player, but plus versions of bottom 6 or bottom pair players. IE Very good in those roles.

Duclair and Buch are the only high end player imo, and they were outstanding picks.

I'm low on Nieves, who I think should spend a full 4 years in college before seeing if he should be signed or not.

Pretty low on Fogarty.

Much higher on Donnay.

Much higher on Skapski.

I don't know the new guys, but if any stick out I will follow. Very interested in seeing what Iverson can do in an elevated role.

 

[bobbop]

I don't spend much time on this but the one guy who strikes me as being really low is Nejezchleb. Heard some good stuff about him. Could have a more immediate impact because he is a little older.

 

[Trxjw]

I'll put up my own list when I get a chance, but as it is every year, I think people are getting too enamored with the new additions. There's a lot of "who have I heard about lately?" going on.

I will say this though: I think Ryan Graves is a getting seriously underrated by many. I'm really, really high on the kid.

 

[Raspewtin]

I will say this though: I think Ryan Graves is a getting seriously underrated by many. I'm really, really high on the kid.

This.

Everyone will know his name next year when he consistently plays on the top pair.

 

[nyrleetch]

1. LW Anthony Duclair
2. LW Pavel Buchnevich
3. D Brady Skjei
4. C J.T. Miller
5. D Dylan McIlrath
6. C Oscar Lindberg
7. LW Jesper Fast
8. D Conor Allen
9. G Brandon Halverson
10. D Ryan Graves
11. LW Ryan Haggerty
12. LW Marek Hrivik
13. RW Danny Kristo
14. LW Ryan Bourque
15. D Petr Zamorsky
16. D Mat Bodie
17. G Igor Shestyorkin
18. C Keegan Iverson
19. C Boo Nieves
20. G Mackenzie Skapski
21. C Adam Tambellini
22. C Michael St. Croix
23. D Tommy Hughes
24. RW Richard Nejezchleb
25. D Sam Noreau
26. D Ryan Mantha
27. LW Chris McCarthy
28. D Daniel Walcott
29. D Tyler Nanne
30. RW Michael Kantor
31. LW Andrew Yogan
32. Calle Andersson
33. D Troy Donnay
34. C Steven Fogarty
35. RW Josh Nicholls
36. G Jason Missasen

 

[darko]

JMO but I think Skapski should be little higher. 15 to 18 range maybe.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Looking at all these lists should make people realize why Brassard was locked up long term.

Tambellini should be higher. If you go by his Calgary season alone and his excellent postseason centering Virtanen (who was carried by Tambelini because he was sick), there's a very good chance Tambelini starts in Hartford.

I think Tambelini is ahead of Nieves in terms of the No. 2 offensive center in the system behind Miller.

1) Duclair - most dynamic off the rush
2) Skjei - don't get the Mcdonagh comparisons yet. See him as a top-4 but not Norris caliber or No. 1
3) Miller - NHL ready. 3rd line grinder with some offense.
4) McIlrath - 4-6 stay at home dman
5) Allen-4-6 stay at home dman
6) Buchenevich - high-end offense but poor decision maker. Needs to mature
7) Fast - very sound. NHL ready. 3rd line energy
8) Tambellini - solid playmaker makes linemates better. Shows leadership. 2nd line potential
9) Lindberg - NHL ready with limited offense. Solid checker.
10) Shestyorkin - Should start for 2015 Russia WJC. Should have gone higher.
11) Nieves - best 5-tool prospect in system (size, strength, speed, shot, playmaking). Needs to mature.
12) Haggerty - 2nd best pure scorer in system but not good converting off the rush. PP specialist. Best shot/release in system
13) Keegan Iverson - toughest to play against. Leadership qualities. See him being a McCarty/Lapointe type NHL player
14) Graves - stay-at-home bottom pairing ceiling but had career-best run after trade.
15) Halverson - hasn't faced any real competition yet. Late bloomer. No way I call him Henrik's heir apparent until he performs well internationally.


Overall, it's a poor farm system. Probably the worst it's been since the Dark Days. The only hope or salvation is the ability to find later-round talent. They have an excuse because they've been a winning team for 10 years. Not having a 1st/2nd in 2013 and no 1st in 2014 shows.

At some point, they need to stockpile assets. There is no top-3 center or puck-rushing dman in the system.

Crazy as it sounds, I think McIlrath will have the longest NHL career out of all of them.

 

[Beacon]

GWOW,

I think you're not taking league quality into account enough.

Miller, Fast score in the AHL and Butcher in the KHL, but get little credit. Tambellini scores in juniors and does get credit.

Miller and Butcher offensive numbers in their leagues are truly rare for their age. Tambellini's numbers are a dime a dozen. People think his stats are impressive because they don't realize how common they are, even among future minor leaguers.

 

[Charlie Conway]

Graves really caught my attention this past year. He elevated his level of play, no question. The question for me is whether that was an anomaly or if he can keep it up. I'd love for the latter, but I'm not going to launch him to the top just yet. Still, for what he's done, he's thus far a solid prospect.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

GWOW,

I think you're not taking league quality into account enough.

Miller, Fast score in the AHL and Butcher in the KHL, but get little credit. Tambellini scores in juniors and does get credit.

Miller and Butcher offensive numbers in their leagues are truly rare for their age. Tambellini's numbers are a dime a dozen. People think his stats are impressive because they don't realize how common they are, even among future minor leaguers.

How am I not taking league play into account when I ranked all three higher than Tambellini and said Fast and Miller were NHL ready?

Tambellini plays in the WHL, which is generally regarded as a tough league. I'm not basing my assessment off his stats. I'm basing my assessment off how by seasons end, he was carrying Calgary and his linemate who was a lottery pick.

You can't dismiss that Tambellini led all WHL rookies in PPG. I know he's an over-ager and MSC and McColgan put up gaudy stats in the WHL, but Tambellini is a different player from those two.

He's a 6-3 center. He'll fill out, and he should go to Hartford. I was really down on him at NoDak but he really turned his season around by the way he carried himself in Calgary.

 

[Raspewtin]

How am I not taking league play into account when I ranked all three higher than Tambellini and said Fast and Miller were NHL ready?

Tambellini plays in the WHL, which is generally regarded as a tough league. I'm not basing my assessment off his stats. I'm basing my assessment off how by seasons end, he was carrying Calgary and his linemate who was a lottery pick.

You can't dismiss that Tambellini led all WHL rookies in PPG. I know he's an over-ager and MSC and McColgan put up gaudy stats in the WHL, but Tambellini is a different player from those two.

He's a 6-3 center. He'll fill out, and he should go to Hartford. I was really down on him at NoDak but he really turned his season around by the way he carried himself in Calgary.

Tambellini wont be an overager until this year.

I'm getting really tired of the notion that we all blindly support players with good junior stats that Beacon can't stop mentioning. We support Adam Tambellini because he's a good prospect.

 

[Zil]

I wouldn't say the system is poor. We have a top defensive prospect in Skjei and several other likely NHLers in Allen and McIlrath. We have high end wing prospects in Buchnevich and Duclair and a ton of depth guys behind them.

We're just lacking a top center prospect. All of our prospects down the middle either have 2nd/3rd line tweener ceilings like Miller and Lindberg or they're high talent longshots like Tambellini and Nieves. A breakout season from Boo would go a long way toward solidifying our depth. I have to believe they'll focus on centers in the next draft though.

 

[Raspewtin]

I wouldn't say the system is poor. We have a top defensive prospect in Skjei and several other likely NHLers in Allen and McIlrath. We have high end wing prospects in Buchnevich and Duclair and a ton of depth guys behind them.

We're just lacking a top center prospect. All of our prospects down the middle either have 2nd/3rd line tweener ceilings like Miller and Lindberg or they're high talent longshots like Tambellini and Nieves. A breakout season from Boo would go a long way toward solidifying our depth. I have to believe they'll focus on centers in the next draft though.

I don't know about that. Center is absolutely a big organizational weakness, but which teams that aren't perennial bottom feeders have a top center prospect? Most teams who have a good center prospect have ceilings close to Miller's.

 

[Zil]

I don't know about that. Center is absolutely a big organizational weakness, but which teams that aren't perennial bottom feeders have a top center prospect? Most teams who have a good center prospect have ceilings close to Miller's.

Basically we don't have a Stepan-type prospect. A Stepan clone would secure a future of Cup contention.

 

[Raspewtin]

I'm not kidding when I say I'd be fine if EVERY pick we had next year was a center.

 

[nyr2k2]

It's worth mentioning that a majority of Tambellini's points came on the PP. I don't remember the exact percentage, but it was pretty big. Even strength, he was just okay. Obviously there's nothing wrong with a guy that racks up a ton of PP points (the Rangers could certainly benefit from that), but it's worth stating.

I only caught a couple of his games, but it didn't strike me that he was carrying play.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

We can argue semantics and opinions the live long day. The bottom line is that most people outside the organization and its fan base do not think highly of the Rangers farm system.

Between 2006-2011 the system was usually strong and deep, and ranked as such. The rankings were just, as the Rangers have been of the better EC teams the last three years.

The Rangers have graduated a lot of quality NHL players. No shame in having a weaker farm system because your previous farm system graduated to the big show.

Right now, it's lacking depth. If Stepan blows out his knee, who is replacing his 60 points? If Staal is traded this year, who is replacing his 22 minutes? If McDonagh misses three weeks, who is playing 26 minutes a night?

The best players in the Rangers system aren't NHL ready. The ones who are NHL ready are a ways away from being consistent top-6 or top-4.

There's a gap between NHL roster players and pre-AHL prospects. It'll close in a year or two. But it's there.

 

[Zil]

What teams can replace players the caliber of Stepan and McDonagh when injuries occur? Nobody has guys sitting in the minors who can just step in and pop 60 points or anchor a top pairing.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Gorton was asked about the youth on NHL radio and he mentioned three; Skjei, Halverson and Tambellini. He said they're very high on Tambellini.

 

[Beacon]

If ever there was a year for me not to do this poll post-draft and instead of it post-preseason, this was the year. I really wish I'd waited. Haggerty sure as hell wouldn't have been below Kristo, Hrivik wouldn't be below Tambellini, Noreau wouldn't have been #29. I suspect a bunch of rankings would be different.

In the future, I will do them post-WJC and then we'll wait to do them post-preseason. There will be no more summer polls, instead, we'll do early season poll and mid-season poll because that's when we wind up seeing the most of our top prospects.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

If ever there was a year for me not to do this poll post-draft and instead of it post-preseason, this was the year. I really wish I'd waited.

In the future, I will do them post-WJC and then we'll wait to do them post-preseason. There will be no more summer polls, instead, we'll do early season poll and mid-season poll because that's when we wind up seeing the most of our top prospects.

Right in time for a Buch and Skjei 1-2 polling next year.

 

[Beacon]

Right in time for a Buch and Skjei 1-2 polling next year.

I think The Duke may shoot the puck right in your mouth for forgetting to mention him here.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

I think The Duke may shoot the puck right in your mouth for forgetting to mention him here.

I think that the Duke will no longer be considered a prospect by the next poll.