Here's my top ten American prospects (by position) not in the NHL (in no particular order) :
Forward
1) Bobby Ryan
2) Rob Schremp
3) T.J. Oshie
4) Patrick Kane
5) Kyle Okposo
6) Peter Mueller
7) Jack Skille
8) T.J. Hensick
9) Blake Wheeler
10) Brandon Dubinsky
Defensemen
1) Erik Johnson
2) Taylor Chorney
3) Bobby Sanguinetti
4) Matt Niskanen
5) Matt Lashoff
6) Brian Lee
7) Alex Goligoski
8) Matt Smaby
9) Noah Welch
10) Mike Sauer
Goaltenders
1) Al Montoya
2) Cory Schneider
3) Jimmy Howard
4) Ben Bishop
5) Bobby Goepfert
6) Jon Quick
7) Thomas McCollum
8) Brad Phillips
9) Jeremy Smith
10) Jeff Zatkoff
definitely a great list of young American prospects. I think we are finally seeing quality depth at every position for the Yanks...and it has taken a decade to do it. The mid 90's to the early early 00's were pretty bad for US hockey with way too many guys turning into busts or never living up to their full potential i.e. Mara, Tanabe, Connolly, Legwand, Taffe, Nystrom, Jillson, Leopold, Rasmussen, Rupp, Hainsey, Ty Jones, Brad Defauw, Eric Chouinard, etc.. Most of these guys were first round picks who we thought were the second comings, but most turned out to be nothing more then toilet paper. Legwand and Connolly still could turn out to be top flight players, but I think Mara, Tanabe, Taffe, Hainsey, and Leopold have levelled off, and the rest just aren't worth mentioning.
But I am proud of this new crop, and within 2 years, I think the NHL will be loaded with young Americans, kind of the way it was back in the late 80's to early 90's.
Here are some of my fav Yanks. not really in any order, but the first 10 might be my top 10 overall Americans.
#1. E Johnson
#2. P Kane
#3. T.J Oshie
#4. B Ryan
#5. B Sanguinetti
#6. R Schremp
#7. J Skille
#8. N Davis
#9. M. Sauer
#10. K Okposo
#11. P Mueller
#12. T Chorney
#13. B Lee
#14. A Montoya
#15. C. Schneider
#16. J Howard
#17. T.J Hensick
#18. J Van Riemsdyk
#19. J. Hennessy
#20. M. Niskanen