Teams with the best prospect pools

[HockeySauce]

A 1st overall pick is a pretty significant leapfrog.

What matters is what players do after they're drafted.

I'd take LA's pool over Chicago's pretty handily. Better top end and depth.

Not really, not when that player has accomplished nothing since being drafted. That's what matters.

Chicago's top end talent is just as good as LA's and their depth is most certainly better.

 

[boredmale]

You don't think Jaden Schwartz has a good chance to develop into one of those types?

He could, but I don't see him on par with other high end guys say like Schenn or Johansen. There is maybe ~20 guys I would consider "high end" prospects

RNH
Huberdeau
Landeskog
Larrson
Stome
Couturier
Hamilton
Murphy
Zibanejad
Gudbranson
Schenn
Johansen
Rundblad
Tarasenko
Niederreiter
Granlund
Connolly
Kuznetsov
Bernier
Markstrom
Gormley

everyone else would be a step below, even with the guys I listed I would probably split them into 2-3 different tiers

 

[CupofOil]

Chicago's prospect pool is better than LA's. You have the Oilers at third and the only thing that seperates the Oilers and Hawks is RNH, without RNH the Hawks would have a better prospect pool than the Oilers.

Well, the Oilers still have RNH so does it really matter if they hypothetically didn't have him?
Also, if you take away RNH and the Hawks best prospect, the Oilers still probably have a better prospect pool. They are extremely deep even beyond RNH.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Not really, not when that player has accomplished nothing since being drafted. That's what matters.

There haven't been any games played. I assumed that would be understood, but I'll line things up for you step-by-step from now on.

Chicago's top end talent is just as good as LA's and their depth is most certainly better.

Sorry, not buying it. Loktionov and Voynov have shown more at the pro level than any Hawk prospect (Leddy saw NHL action, but only by virtue of Chicago's garbage bottom pairing - not the case in LA).

As for depth, the Kings' pool has the CHL's leading scorer from last year - a gritty two-way player to boot - as their #14 prospect.

 

[Tarpit*]

Well, the Oilers still have RNH so does it really matter if they hypothetically didn't have him?
Also, if you take away RNH and the Hawks best prospect, the Oilers still probably have a better prospect pool. They are extremely deep even beyond RNH.

Their depth is in the defence, their not that deep in the forwards, especially RHW, and RHC . Give them a year and the cupboard will be stocked.

 

[Generic User]

I can't believe that some people who follow hockey are trying to argue Florida or Edmonton not being in the top 5. Denial.

 

[CupofOil]

Their depth is in the defence, their not that deep in the forwards, especially RHW, and RHC . Give them a year and the cupboard will be stocked.

You're talking about the Oilers? RNH, Lander, Pitlick, Hartikainen, Hamilton, Martindale is a pretty deep set of forwards.
Pitlick is a RHC or a RHW if need be.

 

[Paranoid Android]

Personally I don't see why Chicago should be top 5..

1. Florida
2. NY Islanders
3. Edmonton
4. Ottawa
5. Los Angees

Funny, I feel the same way about Edmonton's

 

[Joey Moss]

Chicago's prospect pool is better than LA's. You have the Oilers at third and the only thing that seperates the Oilers and Hawks is RNH, without RNH the Hawks would have a better prospect pool than the Oilers.

Said it countless times, Chicago's prospect pool is extremely underrated on this board. The Hawks have had 9 first/second round picks the past 2 drafts. The Hawks could probably have a top 10 prospect pool just with the kids they've taken the past two years... and then when you add guys like Jeremy Morin, Dylan Olsen, Marcus Kruger, Brandon Pirri, Kyle Beach etc, to that mix and Chicago is without question a top 5 prospect pool in the NHL.

That's a ridiculous thing to say.. of course Edmonton's prospect pool wouldn't be top 5 or better than Chicago's without RNH.. but he's still an Oiler.

Funny, I feel the same way about Edmonton's

What's your reasoning?

 

[HighSynergy]

florida's crop of prospects is NASTY

hoooly

 

[Paranoid Android]

That's a ridiculous thing to say.. of course Edmonton's prospect pool wouldn't be top 5 or better than Chicago's without RNH.. but he's still an Oiler.


What's your reasoning?

Because I don't think a single player should have that much weight on an organizational ranking. I value depth a little more than most on here. I mean I could see 5th-7th best, but not top 3.

 

[HockeySauce]

There haven't been any games played. I assumed that would be understood, but I'll line things up for you step-by-step from now on.

You can't say what matters most is what a player does after their draft, then rave about how good Nugent-Hopkins is, or Huberdeau, or Landeskog. By your logic, Mark McNeill is on the same level as RNH simply because they've both done nothing since being drafted. Whether games have been played or not is not the point. If what you've done after being drafted is what matters, then every player post-draft must be considered equal and obviously, that's not correct.

Sorry, not buying it. Loktionov and Voynov have shown more at the pro level than any Hawk prospect (Leddy saw NHL action, but only by virtue of Chicago's garbage bottom pairing - not the case in LA).

As for depth, the Kings' pool has the CHL's leading scorer from last year - a gritty two-way player to boot - as their #14 prospect.

So what's your point? Brian Connelly had 50+ points on a bad Rockford team and he's our #15 prospect. Ben Smith won the Frozen Four MVP a year ago and he isn't even listed in our top 20. Alexander Salak was one of the best goalies in Europe this year and is ranked 12th on the Hawks depth chart.

I'm failing to see why Voynov and Loktionov accomplishing anything in the AHL seperates them from the Hawks top prospects. Voynov has been a pro since 08-09, he better have accomplished something by now, and Lokitonov turned pro in 09-10, again, that's multiple years for both propsects. Most of the Hawks top prospects are only now starting to turn pro, how are they expected to prove more?

 

[LaLaLand]

Kings are top 5. . . .

Chicago fans arguing you have a better or deeper prospect pool should stick to arguing about Toews intangible's. it's not even close in reality

 

[HockeySauce]

Kings are top 5. . . .

Chicago fans arguing you have a better or deeper prospect pool should stick to arguing about Toews intangible's. it's not even close in reality

In which reality do you reside? Can't be this one.

 

[Joey Moss]

Because I don't think a single player should have that much weight on an organizational ranking. I value depth a little more than most on here. I mean I could see 5th-7th best, but not top 3.

If you value depth more than a single player than you should still have the Oilers top 5. Our prospect poll voting was incredibly close from poll's 3-9.. I mean people were voting Tyler Pitlick, who ended up our #8 prospect at #3. I see no reason for anyone to have Edmonton outside of the top 5 other than the fact Edmonton is disliked on HFBoards, which is likely the reason why some people have us outside of the top 5.

 

[R S]

I'm failing to see why Voynov and Loktionov accomplishing anything in the AHL seperates them from the Hawks top prospects. Voynov has been a pro since 08-09, he better have accomplished something by now, and Lokitonov turned pro in 09-10, again, that's multiple years for both propsects. Most of the Hawks top prospects are only now starting to turn pro, how are they expected to prove more?

They are simply better. There, I solved it.

 

[ThirdManIn]

Isn't every team "disliked on HF Boards"? Trolls exist, sure, but the idea that there is some underlying hatred of Edmonton or Vancouver or Toronto or Montreal or _______ is getting ridiculous. Differing opinions do not equal hatred.

Blum
Josi
Ekholm
Ellis
Beck
Latta
Budish
Geoffrion
Watson
Halischuk
Bourque

Not top 5, but I like it

 

[drugold]

I would just like to take this opportunity to say I hate most of the teams listed to an extent where I would lie about their prospect pool just to get under their skin.

Also, in all honesty those people who believe Edmonton have a top 5 prospect pool may have a brain full of maggots. After RNH the quality takes a huge drop into probable bust territory

Isn't every team "disliked on HF Boards"? Trolls exist, sure, but the idea that there is some underlying hatred of Edmonton or Vancouver or Toronto or Montreal or _______ is getting ridiculous. Differing opinions do not equal hatred.

Blum
Josi
Ekholm
Ellis
Beck
Latta
Budish
Geoffrion
Watson
Halischuk
Bourque

Not top 5, but I like it

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

You can't say what matters most is what a player does after their draft, then rave about how good Nugent-Hopkins is, or Huberdeau, or Landeskog. By your logic, Mark McNeill is on the same level as RNH simply because they've both done nothing since being drafted. Whether games have been played or not is not the point. If what you've done after being drafted is what matters, then every player post-draft must be considered equal and obviously, that's not correct.

Again, I'll line it all up step-by-step for you, since even the simplest assumptions cannot be made:

They just got drafted. No extra assessments can be done.

So what's your point? Brian Connelly had 50+ points on a bad Rockford team and he's our #15 prospect. Ben Smith won the Frozen Four MVP a year ago and he isn't even listed in our top 20. Alexander Salak was one of the best goalies in Europe this year and is ranked 12th on the Hawks depth chart.

Mediocre accomplishments for older players. As a Pens fan, I don't go around pimping Brad Thiessen because he won AHL goalie of the year.

I'm failing to see why Voynov and Loktionov accomplishing anything in the AHL seperates them from the Hawks top prospects. Voynov has been a pro since 08-09, he better have accomplished something by now, and Lokitonov turned pro in 09-10, again, that's multiple years for both propsects. Most of the Hawks top prospects are only now starting to turn pro, how are they expected to prove more?

I'm failing to see why the Hawks' less accomplished prospects deserve to be on par with them. Because you give them the benefit of the doubt?

 

[hallhopkinseberle]

I would just like to take this opportunity to say I hate most of the teams listed to an extent where I would lie about their prospect pool just to get under their skin.

Also, in all honesty those people who don't believe Edmonton have a top 5 prospect pool may have a brain full of maggots. After RNH the quality takes a huge drop into probable bust territory

i think i Fixed that up for you

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

If we're completely ignoring players who have already graduated, then Edmonton is no longer top 5. It's still top 10, and probably 6-7, but it's not nearly as strong as last year due to the graduations.

 

[hallhopkinseberle]

If we're completely ignoring players who have already graduated, then Edmonton is no longer top 5. It's still top 10, and probably 6-7, but it's not nearly as strong as last year due to the graduations.

have you ever looked at the edmonton prospect pool before.

Team Strengths:
1 Size and depth on the blueline
2 Wingers with a wide range of skills
3 Size and depth up the middle

i think they have good depth there


they have pitlick,hamiltion,omark,lander,harty,martindale who all have top six pot.

then on defence they have klefbom,perty,musil,marincin who all can be solid top four

then for goalies they have roy,bunz,perhonen. all three can be borderline #1goalies.

 

[Tarpit*]

You're talking about the Oilers? RNH, Lander, Pitlick, Hartikainen, Hamilton, Martindale is a pretty deep set of forwards.
Pitlick is a RHC or a RHW if need be.

The Oilers have 2 natural LW's playing RW in Jones and Omark, besides Pitlick and House the cupboard is bare in the minors. If Hemsky leaves or is trade the Oilers will have only have one RHW in Eberle, unless they move Gagner to RW. They are deep with LH players, maybe too deep. If Pitlick doesn't make it, who is there to fill that hole they have in their system.

 

[HockeySauce]

I'm failing to see why the Hawks' less accomplished prospects deserve to be on par with them. Because you give them the benefit of the doubt?

Refresh my memory, I don't recall you making mention of anything, but in case you did, what exactly have LA's highly regarded prospects accomplished again?

 

[Valic]

I think some people just underestimate Edmonton's prospect pool because everyone outside of Hall, Eberle, and Paajarvi were simply afterthoughts to the rest of the league. Noone heard much about their other prospects because when people talked about their prospects around the league most people simply listed those three.


There are alot of good players in the Oilers pipeline still. Curtis Hamilton for one, was injured his draft year and was taken in the 2nd two years ago. Look how that gamble payed off. The kid is legit. Martin Marincin as well, he did everything you could hope for and more from a big lanky European defencemen in his first year in the CHL.

Alot of the later round picks of late have been on better development paths than you would hope. Jeremy Blain for example is a player al ot of people wouldn't have heard about, but he has been very very good.