#1 - Dion Phaneuf: The surest bet to be an NHL star outside of Kari Lehtonen & Alexander Ovechkin among prospects. Top pairing potential.
#2 - Ryan Suter: A close second. While he is not the 'sure thing' Phaneuf is, you could argue that Suter's potential to be a better player is perhaps better. Still, until Suter shows his offensive game is not in statis, he's #2. Top pairing potential.
#3 - Fedor Tyutin: He's pretty well already an NHL player, and his overall skill level is very high. Big guy who does just about everything right. Could be a top 3 man someday.
#4 - Cam Barker: A great prospect, but I want to see more. Some nights you go see Barker and you're just really dissapointed. That happened for me last year. Had a 'meh' Memorial Cup until the final game where he was just crazy-good. Kid has a lot of potential, but still a ways from the NHL so that's why he's not #3. Top 3 potential.
#5 - Ladislav Smid: Excellent two-way player who might be like fellow Czech Roman Hamrlik. Has to work on his aggressiveness, but overall is a very, very smart kid who has size and skill to work with. Top 3 potential.
#6 - Carlo Colaiacovo: Does everything on the ice pretty darn well, nothing wrong with this kid in the least. Has the potential to dominate games, but has to be more consistant. Top 4 potential for sure.
#7 - Denis Grebeshkov: I personally really like this Russian, I know some don't but he really does it for me. I like his hustle, I think he works so hard that there's no way he'll fail. Top 4 potential.
#8 - Christian Ehrhoff: Boom or bust, but the boom is so high on this young man. He could be a HELL of a defenseman, or he won't play much at all. Maybe the fastest defenseman the NHL has every seen, or at least the quickest, and very skilled with the puck. I am a big fan, and he could be a top 3 man. And considering the Sharks great track record with working with young prospects, I'd say the boom is fairly atainable for him.
#9 - Anton Babchuck: Not sure if he's still a prospect by HF standards, but I really like this kid. Top 4 potential.
#10 - Braydon Coburn: Not a lot of skill, but doesn't embarass himself either. Had a stretch for a month or so where he looked all-world, but came down again. Probobly shouldn't have been drafted as high as he was, but he WILL make the NHL, but at what capacity, who knows. Probobly a top 4 man though.
Notable Ommissios: Meszaros, Lynch, Stuart, Koltsov, Whitney, Woywitka - all very good, but not quite good enough to make my list.