Young blood enters New Jersey Devils top 20 prospects list

[dougiebrown]

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articl...nters-new-jersey-devils-top-20-prospects-list

Click to read more...

 

[KovalSNIPE]

I felt like this list was very inconsistent. You believe Hrabarenka is the better defenseman, yet you had Helgeson way above him. Also, how is a player like Pietela (who I'm a big fan of and believe he can be the next Darren Helm) ahead the likes of Boucher, Matteau, and Wood?

 

[Devilsfan992]

Sorry John, this list is piss poor. Matteau at 17?? There's about 10 guys ahead of him who may not even play 50 games in the NHL. Boucher had a poor year, but what has he done to be listed below Black, Kuja, Scarlett etc. Helgeson at #5???

Edit: Wood at 19? The hell?

 

[Blender]

Sorry, but this is pretty terrible in my opinion. The list is fairly inconsistent, and the evaluations are fairly weak in general.

 

[MartyOwns]

I appreciate having something new to read, because this is boring as ****, but yeah I disagree with most of it.

 

[ghoti]

I think this list is way more accurate than the one this board came up with.

 

[John Iadevaia]

My apologies to everyone.

There was a mistake on my part in terms of the ratings. Because of this, the list's order was scrambled, moving certain players to higher and lower, not where they were originally placed when I put the article together.

The article is currently being edited and will be updated soon

 

[Rhodes 81]

lol call off the hounds everybody.

 

[Lou is God]

I haven't peeked at the team rankings in a while and I see we're in last place, which is an absolute joke, even if we are weak at forwards or defensive prospects ALONE should keep us off the #30 slot. Holy hell you guys are terrible at this, no offense John.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

I like several prospects, not love. Kids like Black and Bandish who were ill come back strong. Shows good character and that's a good thing. Also like Coleman and Quennville who should be higher. I hope he makes team Canada for the WJC, it will give him a boost of confidence. Love are defense and altought in my mind Severson shouldn't be considered a prospect. He showed he's a NHL caliber defenseman. Oh, Matteau should a little higher.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

I haven't peeked at the team rankings in a while and I see we're in last place, which is an absolute joke, even if we are weak at forwards or defensive prospects ALONE should keep us off the #30 slot. Holy hell you guys are terrible at this, no offense John.

Really, last? I'm with you. I hope we have all these talent evaluator eat their words. Although, I blame Lou and Conte for drafting the two Swedes that busted as first rounders and giving up top players to UFA with no return. Lou seems to have found religion in Toronto, that's nice for him and the Leafs. However, a little late for the Devils.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Youngblood?

 

[Devils Dominion]

Really, last? I'm with you. I hope we have all these talent evaluator eat their words. Although, I blame Lou and Conte for drafting the two Swedes that busted as first rounders and giving up top players to UFA with no return. Lou seems to have found religion in Toronto, that's nice for him and the Leafs. However, a little late for the Devils.

Don't forget about Corrente and these other 1st, 2nd & 3rd round flops.

Ahonen, Damphousse, Hoeffel, Frazee, Foster, Tulupov, Nick Palmieri, Corbin McPherson, Urbom, Kadeykin, Tallackson, Lance frickin Ward, etc....

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Can't possibly imagine how anyone might question the Devils being at 30th overall in prospect rankings. HockeyProspectus had us at 30 as well, and Pronman had us at 26th, I believe.

And looking at this ranking, even though the order was apparently not what John intended, I don't think it looks terrible... The only thing that looks questionable to me is Pietila being so high, and I think that's defensible anyway since he's got the kind of skillset that most coaches and GMs still love on their 4th line. Sure I like Miles Wood, but I have to recognize that part of the reason is that there aren't many better options. I can't fault anyone for not being high on a kid that hasn't even played a single college game, and whose only scoresheet contribution on a lackluster US WJC team were a couple lazy stick penalties.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Don't forget about Corrente and these other 1st, 2nd & 3rd round flops.

Ahonen, Damphousse, Hoeffel, Frazee, Foster, Tulupov, Nick Palmieri, Corbin McPherson, Urbom, Kadeykin, Tallackson, Lance frickin Ward, etc....

Oh, don't remind me. John Gotti-Corrente, my goodness.

 

[Eric Sachs]

Can't possibly imagine how anyone might question the Devils being at 30th overall in prospect rankings. HockeyProspectus had us at 30 as well, and Pronman had us at 26th, I believe.

And looking at this ranking, even though the order was apparently not what John intended, I don't think it looks terrible... The only thing that looks questionable to me is Pietila being so high, and I think that's defensible anyway since he's got the kind of skillset that most coaches and GMs still love on their 4th line. Sure I like Miles Wood, but I have to recognize that part of the reason is that there aren't many better options. I can't fault anyone for not being high on a kid that hasn't even played a single college game, and whose only scoresheet contribution on a lackluster US WJC team were a couple lazy stick penalties.

I think many of these team rankings either purposely or subconsciously take into account team development, especially recent history of turning prospects into professionals.

I don't doubt we should be in the mid-late 20s but 30th is a stretch. Off the top of my head, neither the Rangers (for good reason) nor the Penguins (for less good reason) should be ranked above us.

Zacha is a better forward prospect than Buchnevich (Rangers best forward prospect) and Sprong (Penguins best forward prospect).

Severson is a better defensive prospect than Skjei and Pouliot.

I think the depth is at worst similar with the Rangers having alot of potential for bottom 6 contributors and the Penguins similarly having some good defensive prospects. Still, we probably edge both teams out in those categories. All 3 teams have decent top-end goaltending prospects.

There's really no reason we shouldn't be at least ahead of both those teams.. and probably a few others based on quality of prospects alone. Take into account our recent struggles in developing prospects and I agree on the 30th ranking. So if that's the goal of the ranking, I'm fine with it but it is obviously influenced by how well teams have been in development in recent history.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

There's really no reason we shouldn't be at least ahead of both those teams.. and probably a few others based on quality of prospects alone. Take into account our recent struggles in developing prospects and I agree on the 30th ranking. So if that's the goal of the ranking, I'm fine with it but it is obviously influenced by how well teams have been in development in recent history.

Of course there are reasons, it just depends who you're talking to and how they personally weigh all the different factors. Also, most rankings aren't including Severson, as he's already played over 50 NHL games. If he was included, I'd easily put the Devils ahead of a number of teams.

But without him, a lot of the difference will stem purely from personal preference, even if someone is trying to rank objectively. I won't complain if someone likes Skjei and Buchnevich over Zacha and Santini. Some people REALLY like Pouliot. I think HF's own ranking currently has him as the 7th best drafted prospect overall.

 

[GhostofKenKlee]

Don't forget about Corrente and these other 1st, 2nd & 3rd round flops.

Ahonen, Damphousse, Hoeffel, Frazee, Foster, Tulupov, Nick Palmieri, Corbin McPherson, Urbom, Kadeykin, Tallackson, Lance frickin Ward, etc....

In the lance ward draft, they also nabbed Mitchell and White as defenders. Sometimes these picks don't pan out every team has evidence of that.

In the Damphoussee draft, they got Clemmensen.

Are we really gonna be upset that Urbom the 3rd. rounder didn't pan out.

Nick Palmieri was flipped as was McPherson.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

McPherson was just released, not traded. And don't forget Joe Sova! He was a top-5 prospect in the Devils system at one point (I think), Lou traded him for Ponikarovsky, and now he's a top-pairing defenseman! In the ECHL!