The Athletic - 2018/19 NHL Farm system rankings

[TwoPiece]

Florida at 9

Habs in the top 8, this will make so many people mad lol

I'm not mad; I just disagree.

They have some good/great prospects. I just don't think that their pool is Top-10.

 

[JohnLennon]

Let's not make this about the Habs. Let's talk about the actual content for today.

Florida has made a massive jump from 22 last year to 9 this year. Corey explains that they are among the thinnest pools in the entire league, but their top 3 players carried them into the top 9. Henrik Borgstrom is the first elite player to be listed on this year's edition of the farm rankings.

Borgstrom is interesting to read about on HF, it's like he went from overrated to underrated IMO. Really excited to see him play the full season in the NHL - Corey seems to believe his biggest drawback is his defensive play, but he has all the tools to be a top scorer in this league.

The top 3 is rounded out by Tippett and Denisenko. Really interesting about Denisenko - looks like Pronman is higher on him than most. I really thought Heponiemi would be a high-end NHL prospect, but his smaller stature paired with a lack of speed that you'd look for to make up for that isn't there.

One thing is clear - Florida is absolutely LOADED with centers. Barkov, Trocheck, Bjugstad, Borgstrom, Malgin, Heponiemi, McCann, McKenzie... absolutely loaded all around. They can definitely leverage this in the future to fill any potential holes, which I think will end up on the back end and in nets. I'm really envious of that center depth.

 

[Deficient Mode]

First time a lack of depth really hurt a team's ranking in this. I still sort of think I'd put them higher if you rate their top 3 as highly as Pronman does despite that depth.

Detroit, Montreal, then Vegas next imo.

 

[newfy]

Let's not make this about the Habs. Let's talk about the actual content for today.

Florida has made a massive jump from 22 last year to 9 this year. Corey explains that they are among the thinnest pools in the entire league, but their top 3 players carried them into the top 9. Henrik Borgstrom is the first elite player to be listed on this year's edition of the farm rankings.

Borgstrom is interesting to read about on HF, it's like he went from overrated to underrated IMO. Really excited to see him play the full season in the NHL - Corey seems to believe his biggest drawback is his defensive play, but he has all the tools to be a top scorer in this league.

The top 3 is rounded out by Tippett and Denisenko. Really interesting about Denisenko - looks like Pronman is higher on him than most. I really thought Heponiemi would be a high-end NHL prospect, but his smaller stature paired with a lack of speed that you'd look for to make up for that isn't there.

One thing is clear - Florida is absolutely LOADED with centers. Barkov, Trocheck, Bjugstad, Borgstrom, Malgin, Heponiemi, McCann, McKenzie... absolutely loaded all around. They can definitely leverage this in the future to fill any potential holes, which I think will end up on the back end and in nets. I'm really envious of that center depth.

Loaded with centers and Bjugstad is the oldest one at 26 years old. The first 2 are first line centers imo and Bjugstad is a decent second line center. Secretly some of the best center depth in the league if Barkov stays healthy

 

[JohnLennon]

Loaded with centers and Bjugstad is the oldest one at 26 years old. The first 2 are first line centers imo and Bjugstad is a decent second line center. Secretly some of the best center depth in the league if Barkov stays healthy

Exactly. And you'd have to think eventually they try to make room for their young guys like Borgstrom, Malgin, and Heponiemi to play C, so Bjugstad is the most logical candidate to get moved one day. No rush for them though, as they are loaded from top to bottom. The question for this team really lies in net, what with an older Luongo and an iffy Reimer who still hasn't proven he can take that 1A spot.

 

[Mrb1p]

Exactly. And you'd have to think eventually they try to make room for their young guys like Borgstrom, Malgin, and Heponiemi to play C, so Bjugstad is the most logical candidate to get moved one day. No rush for them though, as they are loaded from top to bottom. The question for this team really lies in net, what with an older Luongo and an iffy Reimer who still hasn't proven he can take that 1A spot.

They should try and move Borgstrom for a D or a D and G combo.

MTL is on the line with Price and Weber

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Let's not make this about the Habs. Let's talk about the actual content for today.

Florida has made a massive jump from 22 last year to 9 this year. Corey explains that they are among the thinnest pools in the entire league, but their top 3 players carried them into the top 9. Henrik Borgstrom is the first elite player to be listed on this year's edition of the farm rankings.

Borgstrom is interesting to read about on HF, it's like he went from overrated to underrated IMO. Really excited to see him play the full season in the NHL - Corey seems to believe his biggest drawback is his defensive play, but he has all the tools to be a top scorer in this league.

The top 3 is rounded out by Tippett and Denisenko. Really interesting about Denisenko - looks like Pronman is higher on him than most. I really thought Heponiemi would be a high-end NHL prospect, but his smaller stature paired with a lack of speed that you'd look for to make up for that isn't there.

One thing is clear - Florida is absolutely LOADED with centers. Barkov, Trocheck, Bjugstad, Borgstrom, Malgin, Heponiemi, McCann, McKenzie... absolutely loaded all around. They can definitely leverage this in the future to fill any potential holes, which I think will end up on the back end and in nets. I'm really envious of that center depth.

Malgin has been (successfully) transitioning to wing and the same probably happens to Hepo (IIRC he already played wing all season in the WHL). Also MacKenzie is pretty much done and should be gone after this season - he could be replaced with Repo or Lammikko or possibly someone from the outside.
Still great depth though with Barkov, Tro, Bjugstad (also currently transitioning to wing but can play C), Borgstrom and McCann.


On a different topic - are there any notable prospects on Pronman's list from before the 2016 draft except maybe Montembeault? Just curious...

 

[Henkka]

One thing is clear - Florida is absolutely LOADED with centers. Barkov, Trocheck, Bjugstad, Borgstrom, Malgin, Heponiemi, McCann, McKenzie... absolutely loaded all around. They can definitely leverage this in the future to fill any potential holes, which I think will end up on the back end and in nets. I'm really envious of that center depth.

Except Bjugstad is playing wing, Malgin is playing wing, Heponiemi is playing wing.

It's more of:

Barkov
Trocheck
McCann
Borgström/MacKenzie

 

[JohnLennon]

Malgin has been (successfully) transitioning to wing and the same probably happens to Hepo (IIRC he already played wing all season in the WHL). Also MacKenzie is pretty much done and should be gone after this season - he could be replaced with Repo or Lammikko or possibly someone from the outside.
Still great depth though with Barkov, Tro, Bjugstad (also currently transitioning to wing but can play C), Borgstrom and McCann.

Except Bjugstad is playing wing, Malgin is playing wing, Heponiemi is playing wing.

It's more of:

Barkov
Trocheck
McCann
Borgström/MacKenzie

Interesting. I didn't follow the Cats much this year, but two years ago I remember both Malgin and Bjugstad playing center, albeit rotating mostly due to injuries. Didn't know they've fully transitioned to wing. Is it a case of necessity putting them on the wing, or are the players simply not effective enough at center? I seem to recall Bjugstad performing as a more-than-capable 3C.

Without Bjugstad, Malgin and Hepo at center, the depth at C isn't as beastly as I thought. Still pretty damn good though, with two 1Cs in Barkov/Trocheck, Borgstrom who looks poised to be a top 6 C, McCann looking like he could be a solid 3C.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Interesting. I didn't follow the Cats much this year, but two years ago I remember both Malgin and Bjugstad playing center, albeit rotating mostly due to injuries. Didn't know they've fully transitioned to wing. Is it a case of necessity putting them on the wing, or are the players simply not effective enough at center? I seem to recall Bjugstad performing as a more-than-capable 3C.

Without Bjugstad, Malgin and Hepo at center, the depth at C isn't as beastly as I thought. Still pretty damn good though, with two 1Cs in Barkov/Trocheck, Borgstrom who looks poised to be a top 6 C, McCann looking like he could be a solid 3C.

A bit of both I guess? It was about balancing the lineup in the most effective ways and we only had two natural top6 wingers (Dadonov and Huberdeau).

IMO Malgin was too inexperienced this year to center his own line, especially when you consider his potential linemates ("stars" like Connor Brickley or washed-up Vrbata come to mind). McCann seems like a natural centre and claimed the 3C spot pretty early in the season.

Things with Bjugstad have been complicated the past three years. He had lots of injuries and lost the 2C spot to Trocheck; he was dreadful last year (more injuries) and lost confidence. We've already experimented with Bjugstad at RW last year and the idea was to allow him to focus on his offensive play without worrying about his defence. So he was pushed to wing centering McCann, and then he got bumped up to play with Dadonov and Barkov which was instant success, so he stayed there.

By splitting the Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov line, we got a great second line with Huberdeau and Trocheck, and it turned out that Malgin played very well with them, so he got to stay for most of the second half of the season, competing with Vatrano for the 2RW once we acquired him.

I don't see either of Bjugstad/Malgin returning to center while with the Panthers, at least not unless there are serious injuries and they're just filling in. They might play the position if they move to a different team though.

 

[JohnLennon]

A bit of both I guess? It was about balancing the lineup in the most effective ways and we only had two natural top6 wingers (Dadonov and Huberdeau).

IMO Malgin was too inexperienced this year to center his own line, especially when you consider his potential linemates ("stars" like Connor Brickley or washed-up Vrbata come to mind). McCann seems like a natural centre and claimed the 3C spot pretty early in the season.

Things with Bjugstad have been complicated the past three years. He had lots of injuries and lost the 2C spot to Trocheck; he was dreadful last year (more injuries) and lost confidence. We've already experimented with Bjugstad at RW last year and the idea was to allow him to focus on his offensive play without worrying about his defence. So he was pushed to wing centering McCann, and then he got bumped up to play with Dadonov and Barkov which was instant success, so he stayed there.

By splitting the Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov line, we got a great second line with Huberdeau and Trocheck, and it turned out that Malgin played very well with them, so he got to stay for most of the second half of the season, competing with Vatrano for the 2RW once we acquired him.

I don't see either of Bjugstad/Malgin returning to center while with the Panthers, at least not unless there are serious injuries and they're just filling in. They might play the position if they move to a different team though.

Thank you for educating me. Going to be interesting to see how things shape up for that top 9 this season.

 

[Breakers]

I knew Borgstrom was going to be considered elite.

 

[The Great Weal]

Panthers could have been near top 5 for me if they took Smith instead of Denisenko.

 

[Legend123]

Detroit and NYI up next

 

[MasterMatt25]

Detroit and NYI up next

Before Montreal? No way

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Before Montreal? No way

Shouldn't be, but Pronman seemingly has a man crush on Kotkaniemi.

 

[Legend123]

Before Montreal? No way

I expected MTL to show up before but they still haven't. So I gave up on predicting mtl and going to the next 2.
And det's pool is very similar to MTL's. But I do agree NYI have a superior one

 

[Martinez]

Forgot they had Hutsko. Florida’s going to be so fun to watch

 

[firstemperor]

Panthers could have been near top 5 for me if they took Smith instead of Denisenko.

Panthers can be argued in the top 5 regardless, but would firmly be in it, for me- if they took Vilardi instead of Tippett.

 

[Mrb1p]

Id say MTL or Detroit is next.

Detroit
Next

This is Hnnng tho.

1. Aleksander Barkov, C
2. Aaron Ekblad, D
3. Henrik Borgstrom, C
4. Owen Tippett, RW
5. Grigori Denisenko, LW
6. Denis Malgin, C
7. Aleksi Heponiemi, C
8. Jared McCann, C
9. Serron Noel, RW
10. Logan Hutsko, RW

 

[The Great Weal]

Panthers can be argued in the top 5 regardless, but would firmly be in it, for me- if they took Vilardi instead of Tippett.

Borgstrom, Vilardi, Smith, Heponiemi is damn good

 

[Mrb1p]

Panthers can be argued in the top 5 regardless, but would firmly be in it, for me- if they took Vilardi instead of Tippett.

Obviously they would be. But a lot of that can happen over the drafts...

Imagine NYR with Mittlestatd instead of Andersson
MTL with Tolvanen instead of Poehling
Detroit with Necas or Vilardi
Vegas with Thomas/Chytil/Vesalainen instead of Brannstrom and Suzuki

And it goes on and on.

 

[Legend123]

Obviously they would be. But a lot of that can happen over the drafts...

Imagine NYR with Mittlestatd instead of Andersson
MTL with Tolvanen instead of Poehling
Detroit with Necas or Vilardi
Vegas with Thomas/Chytil/Vesalainen instead of Brannstrom and Suzuki

And it goes on and on.

Kotka, tolvanen, ylonen, ikonen. That's too many fins to be true

 

[firstemperor]

Obviously they would be. But a lot of that can happen over the drafts...

Imagine NYR with Mittlestatd instead of Andersson
MTL with Tolvanen instead of Poehling
Detroit with Necas or Vilardi
Vegas with Thomas/Chytil/Vesalainen instead of Brannstrom and Suzuki

And it goes on and on.

Definitely but should say that I am a lot higher on Necas, Vilardi than any of the aforementioned. I personally am not that high on Tolvanen, Vesalainen. Everyone has their own take on things but had Florida taken Vilardi/Borgstrom, those would be two top-tier prospects for me (not elite) but certainly a tier or two down from that.

 

[ChadS]

Vegas is #8