HF Habs: Your Pre & Post 2022 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings

[26Mats]

1. Kaiden Guhle
2. Justin Barron
3. Jordan Harris
4. Sean Farrell
5. Jakub Dobes
6. Cayden Primeau
7. Joshua Roy
8. Logan Mailloux
9. Jan Mysak
10. Arber Xhekaj
11. Emil Heineman
12. Riley Kidney
13. Rafael Harvey-Pinard
14. Mattias Norlinder
15. Jesse Ylonen

Ranked by their likely contribution to the Habs e.g. being able to make it to the NHL and hold on a roster spot, even if it's as bottom 4D or mid6 forward.

Yes your list does look like more based on probability of being an NHler as opposed to high upside (Mailloux, Roy, Kidney)...

But looking at the list, it does look more like a list with a lot of solid supporting cast players than a list of potential stars. Hopefully we get some stars with the lottery picks we have in the upcoming drafts.,

 

[SlafySZN]

Barron
Guhle

Harris
Primeau
Xhekaj

Farrell
Mailloux
Struble
RHP

Ylonen
J.Roy
Dobes/Dichow/Vrbetic

Mysak
Kidney
Condotta
Simoneau
Trudeau

Heineman
Tuch
Norlinder
Kapanen
Teasdale
Vejdemo
Henriksson
The rest

Wright will go up top, 26th ov before Harris

Mysak, kidney, condotta, simoneau and trudeau before heineman? Damn

Like @KevSkillz4 said heineman is really underrated in most of the habs fanbase it seems like. I guess most will be surprised when they’ll see him.

 

[SlafySZN]

My top 10 without thinking about it too much would look like

1. Guhle
2. Farrell
3. Barron
4. Harris
5. Heineman
6. Roy
7. Kidney
8. Xhekaj
9. Mysak
10. Dichow/Dobes

Excluded the guys already with the Rocket and Mailloux because we don’t know what’s gonna happen with him but if he stays he’s 100% really high.

 

[McGees]

Top 10:

1. Kaiden Guhle
2. Justin Barron
3. Joshua Roy
4. Jordan Harris
5. Sean Farrell
6. Jesse Ylonen
7. Riley Kidney
8. Emil Heineman
9. Logan Mailloux
10. Cayden Primeau

 

[JianYang]

I started doing a top 10, but after the top guys, it just got really hard to place players, and 10 just seemed like a bad cut-off.

 

[WeThreeKings]

How does he compare to Primeau in the NCAA who was also solid?

Primeau was incredible but played behind a much better team.

Dobes has more tools to work with. He's more explosive. He's bigger. He tracks the puck better. He handles the puck better.

If Dobes continues to develop at this pace he does have the profile to be a true NHL 1. Needs to improve his rebound control and tone down his aggressiveness at times.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Weaknesses in the prospect pool:
Center prospects (both offensive and two-way)
Goal scoring wingers
Puck possession wingers
Complimentary wingers with size/meanness
Offensive defenseman
Another goalie prospect.
Right handed defenseman.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'm not a fan of ranking one after another. Rather go waives of talent as we see it today. Going to change as time moves forward but all we can do is list our list from the evidence we see today.

Grade A: A very good chance at top 4D, Starting Goalie, or top 6F.
* Guhle

Grade B+: On the cusp of reaching grade A if they continue on their development path. Could move to grade A or remain B+ in the next 12 months.
* Barron
* Roy
* Harris
* Farrell
* Dobes
* Kidney

Grade B: Requires more maturity years and could either move to grade B+ or be a depth/middle of the lineup type player in the NHL down the road. Decent chance they become NHL players but might take time. Some of them are difficult to rate from what we know today. Especially Mailloux.
* Heineman
* Primeau
* Ylonen
* Mailloux
* Mysak
* Norlinder
* RHP

Grade B-: Development is so so but we need to see more to know more. Still a chance they become depth NHL players or middle of the line-up types.
* Struble
* Tuch
* Xhekaj
* Kapanen
* Dichow

Grade C+: Close to B- but on the outside looking in. Need good seasons from them moving forward if they want to remain in the picture.
* Fairbrother
* Trudeau
* Teasdale
* Brook
* Smilanic
* Vejdemo

Grade C: Very low chance they make the NHL
All others

 

[Treb]

Weaknesses in the prospect pool:
Center prospects (both offensive and two-way)
Goal scoring wingers
Puck possession wingers
Complimentary wingers with size/meanness
Offensive defenseman
Another goalie prospect.
Right handed defenseman.

Draft Simulator

NHL draft simulator.

draftprospectshockey.com

1. Wright
26. Howard
33. Firkus
61. Trikozov
66. Grudinin
74. Lutz
91. Kaplan
97. Schaefer
126. Fisher
127. Elias
129. Barbashev
161. Warren
193. Delic
215. Frylen

Fixed the prospect pool.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Primeau was incredible but played behind a much better team.

Dobes has more tools to work with. He's more explosive. He's bigger. He tracks the puck better. He handles the puck better.

If Dobes continues to develop at this pace he does have the profile to be a true NHL 1. Needs to improve his rebound control and tone down his aggressiveness at times.

I was going to ask the same question with Dobes vs Primeau who also had great NCAA stats.

Primeau seems to be struggling with NHL shots and quality of play IMO. Great NCAA and AHL numbers but in the NHL with the Habs team D, he gets exposed. Still like him but he has more maturity to go through yet. At this stage, I think Primeau's ceiling is back-up caliber in the NHL.

With Dobes, there is lots to like. I'm glad you are high on him and hope you are right. For now, I'm going to wait to see how he looks after he turns pro. He's behind Primeau in maturity years so it will be interesting to see how fast he can catch him with AHL experience and performance. It's very early but he has starter potential. It will remain that way until we get to see him in the AHL/NHL

I'll change my rating on Dobes pretty quickly after I get to see he face more NHL quality shots. Similar to what we have seen with Primeau over the last few seasons.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

I'll only rank those who are relevant, by tiers:

1. Guhle
(Has everything to become a legit 2D)
--
2. Farrell
3. Roy
4. Barron
5. Harris
--
6. Ylonen
7. Mailloux
8. Kidney
9. Dobes
--
10. Heineman
11. Primeau
12. Mysak
13. RHP
14. Xhekaj
15. Kapanen

Observations:
- Deep pool but lacks star power (duh)
- On skill/projection alone Mailloux would be 1st or 2nd but too much uncertainty
- I think we see one of Farrell/Roy becoming a top-6 forward. Farrell is more well-rounded, hence ranked higher.
- Goalies are too volatile to rank high, remember Primeau 2 years ago.

Realistically, after the draft: new #1 + 2 players in that 2nd tier with our first 3 picks. However, I'd rather move up and add a new #3 in that 1st tier.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Mysak, kidney, condotta, simoneau and trudeau before heineman? Damn

Like @KevSkillz4 said heineman is really underrated in most of the habs fanbase it seems like. I guess most will be surprised when they’ll see him.

I do tend to agree. Trying to stay conservative on the forecast but I do think we are underrating Heineman to some degree. Guys like this with his skating, size, shot power, and worth ethic go a long way. He's the type like Lehkonen and Danault to show up each and every shift and he has the size/skating to take him to where he wants to go.

He's only lacking maturity IMO. I think he will be a solid middle of the line-up NHL player. He won't be a points producer but he's going to be a type of winger who makes things easier for his center. Causes turnovers and is physically strong.

I'll only rank those who are relevant, by tiers:

1. Guhle
(Has everything to become a legit 2D)
--
2. Farrell
3. Roy
4. Barron
5. Harris
--
6. Ylonen
7. Mailloux
8. Kidney
9. Dobes
--
10. Heineman
11. Primeau
12. Mysak
13. RHP
14. Xhekaj
15. Kapanen

Observations:
- Deep pool but lacks star power (duh)
- On skill/projection alone Mailloux would be 1st or 2nd but too much uncertainty
- I think we see one of Farrell/Roy becoming a top-6 forward. Farrell is more well-rounded, hence ranked higher.
- Goalies are too volatile to rank high, remember Primeau 2 years ago.

Realistically, after the draft: new #1 + 2 players in that 2nd tier with our first 3 picks. However, I'd rather move up and add a new #3 in that 1st tier.

Kind of my approach as well. Waives or tiers is the way to go.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I did this thread last year (so I think we can lock that one and keep this for the 2022-2023 season) and thought it was a lot of fun.

Post your personal Habs prospect rankings prior to the 2022 NHL Draft, then after round 7, post your new Habs prospect rankings. Update them throughout the year as we see progression.

I'll start -

1. Kaiden Guhle
2. Sean Farrell
3. Joshua Roy
4. Justin Barron
5. Jakub Dobes
6. Riley Kidney
7. Mattias Norlinder
8. Logan Mailloux
9. Jordan Harris
10. Jesse Ylonen
11. Cayden Primeau
12. Jan Mysak
13. Emil Heineman
14. Frederik Dichow
15. Jayden Struble
16. Luke Tuch
17. Rafael Harvey-Pinard
18. Blake Biondi
19. Gianni Fairbrother
20. Oliver Kapanen
21. Arber Xhekaj
22. Ty Smilanic
23. Dmitri Kostenko
24. Xavier Simoneau
25. Joe Vrbetic
26. William Trudeau
27. Joel Teasdale
28. Josh Brook
29. Lukas Vejdemo
30. Rhett Pitlick
31. Cam Hillis
32. Lucas Condotta
33. Brett Stapley (should relinquish rights soon)
34. Alexander Gordin
35. Daniil Sobolev
36. Jack Smith
37. Jack Gorniak
38. Arvid Henriksson

You don’t have more love for Simoneau? He might’ve won the scoring title if he’d stayed healthy.

 

[WeThreeKings]

You don’t have more love for Simoneau? He might’ve won the scoring title if he’d stayed healthy.

He's still an undersized overager so I'm pretty cautious on those guys even with RHP who had the same profile and has at least made it visible that he could play NHL games on the 4th line going forward.

He has a chance to steadily climb depending on how transitions to the pro ranks.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He's still an undersized overager so I'm pretty cautious on those guys even with RHP who had the same profile and has at least made it visible that he could play NHL games on the 4th line going forward.

He has a chance to steadily climb depending on how transitions to the pro ranks.

MSL type of guy…

 

[sandviper]

I'll post a short list as I want to comment on each:

1. Guhle - Easily our #1 prospect and a future anchor in our top-4. I really don't see more than 20-25 points a year from him at his peak, but he'll bring the pain to opponents and leadership for us.
2. Roy - His current junior numbers plus our overhaul in the front office and development make me hopeful.
3. Barron - I was super high back in his D-1 year, and I'm stoked he's with us now.
4. Farrell - I was a little torn between him and Roy for my favorite forward prospect, but I think he's going to be a solid middle-6 center for us.
5. Harris - Liked what I saw in his brief stint.
6. Kidney - I think he still needs some work on his skating but a solid prospect in our system.
7. Dobes - He's our top goalie prospect IMO.
8. Ylonen - I know he's been quiet lately, but I think he's one of those cases where he'll be better in the NHL than the AHL.
9. Mailloux - Great tools, but still needs a lot of development.
10. Mysak - I think he's another nice piece who can slot into our bottom-6. Smart, but I think his offense is lacking.

I do like players like Norlinder and Primeau as well as others, but those two specifically fell out of my top-10 from last year. I'm still hopeful for both, but in the case of Norlinder, it's just a gut feeling to me that he's not going to make it as a legit NHLer. I hope I'm wrong, and having MSL instead of DD behind the bench changes things for him.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'll post a short list as I want to comment on each:

1. Guhle - Easily our #1 prospect and a future anchor in our top-4. I really don't see more than 20-25 points a year from him at his peak, but he'll bring the pain to opponents and leadership for us.
2. Roy - His current junior numbers plus our overhaul in the front office and development make me hopeful.
3. Barron - I was super high back in his D-1 year, and I'm stoked he's with us now.
4. Farrell - I was a little torn between him and Roy for my favorite forward prospect, but I think he's going to be a solid middle-6 center for us.
5. Harris - Liked what I saw in his brief stint.
6. Kidney - I think he still needs some work on his skating but a solid prospect in our system.
7. Dobes - He's our top goalie prospect IMO.
8. Ylonen - I know he's been quiet lately, but I think he's one of those cases where he'll be better in the NHL than the AHL.
9. Mailloux - Great tools, but still needs a lot of development.
10. Mysak - I think he's another nice piece who can slot into our bottom-6. Smart, but I think his offense is lacking.

I do like players like Norlinder and Primeau as well as others, but those two specifically fell out of my top-10 from last year. I'm still hopeful for both, but in the case of Norlinder, it's just a gut feeling to me that he's not going to make it as a legit NHLer. I hope I'm wrong, and having MSL instead of DD behind the bench changes things for him.

Remember when so many had Norlinder ranked ahead of Harris last year? There are going to be more movement to come with others like this. The good news? For every 3 that fall, 1 rises. We have probability working in our favor due to quantity. That's what draft power does.

Said this before and will say it again...
* Tampa drafted Namestnikov ahead of Kucherov.
* Tampa drafted Keokkeok ahead of Vasilevskiy
* Tampa drafted Masin, Macleod ahead of Point.
* Tampa drafted Stepphens, Spencer, Yan ahead of Cirelli

Yeah, they had Stamkos and Hedman and traded Drouin for Sergachev but they also drafted Drouin ahead of Jones.

Draft power over a span of years is the secrete. Nobody is that good at drafting. Accumulate as many darts as you can and that's what the Habs have done in recent drafts as well as the drafts to come. We are going to give ourselves the best shot to hit with our many darts and maybe guys like Roy, Farrell, Kidney, Harris, Mailloux, Dobes become our 2nd round + hits. Combine that with adding Barron and Heineman in trades.

 

[HomaridII]

I don't want to quote your long post but very very good post Habs Halifax.

 

[Habs Halifax]

You don’t have more love for Simoneau? He might’ve won the scoring title if he’d stayed healthy.

Similar hope to Xhekaj who both played their age 20 seasons. I don't dislike them but they are very matured assets in the CHL and you would expect dominate seasons.

We rather see this kind of development than not see it but we have to wait to see them after they turn pro and how they handle playing against players are are probably physically stronger and faster than them. Less time and space is a huge factor.

 

[xX SEYF Xx]

optimistic projection
1- Kaiden Guhle #2D
2- Joshua Roy Top6
3- Sean Farrell Top6
4- Justin Barron #3D 2ndPP
5- Riley Kidney Top9
6- Jordan Harris #5D
7- Jakub Dobes #1/2 G
8- Cayden Primeau #2G
9- Logan Mailloux ???
10- Arber Xhekaj #6D
11- Emil Heineman Mid6
12- Rafael Harvey-Pinard Bottom6
13- Jesse Ylonen Bottom6

insert a drop here

14- Jan Mysak
15- Mattias Norlinder
16- William Trudeau
17- Frederik Dichow
18- Xavier Simoneau
19- Jayden Struble
20- Blake Biondi
21- Ty Smilanic
22- Joe Vrbetic
23- Luke Tuch
24- Oliver Kapanen

 

[Mrb1p]

1. Sean Farrell
2. Justin Barron
3. Joshua Roy
4. Cayden Primeau
5. Jordan Harris
6. Kaiden Guhle
7. Jacob Dobes
8. Jesse Ylonen
9. RHP
10. Logan Mailloux
11. Riley Kidney
12. Matias Norlinder
13. Gianni Fairbrother
14. Emil Heineman
15. Jayden Truble
16 Jan Mysak
17. Blake Biondi
18. Luke Tuch
19. Oliver Kapanen
20. Frederik Dichow


Anything beyond that, and even anything beyond 10 is probably not gonna play more than 10 games in the NHL. The rest are probably going to be role players. Farrel and Barron have a good shot at being top 6/top 4,

 

[KevSkillz4]

My top 10 (I don't put Mailloux because he need to continue his progress off-ice, but the talent is there... top 3-5 talent in that prospect pool, for sure).

1 - Kaiden Guhle, easy choice there. Potential to be a top pairing defenseman.
2 - Justin Barron, we already see his great potential in 5 games with Habs, yeah it's just 5 games... but he show great skillset... he is going to be a solid top 4 defenseman. In the mold of Jeff Petry.
3 - Sean Farrell, high hockey IQ, great passing ability, great hands, he have all tools to become a top 6 player in NHL.
4 - Joshua Roy, like Farrell, high hockey IQ, both looks like big steal at draft. They can be both great forward at NHL level. High potential, he can easily become a top 6 player at NHL, with upside to become a 1st line winger. He need to work on his skating (speed), but like Nick Suzuki... he don't need to be a explosive skater with his hockey IQ. He have all tools to be a good one IMO.
5 - Emil Heineman, potential top be at least a top 9 winger. Even more, great skating ability, great shot, good hockey IQ, play a very simple game, he is going to translate his game easily at NHL level. Hughes got a pretty good prospect in Toffoli trade.
6 - Jordan Harris, great skating ability, great hockey IQ, he can be a very good two-way defenseman one day, he show good flashs in 10 games. He can easily become a pretty good 3rd pair defenseman, but with top 3-4 potential, for sure. I really like him.
7 - Riley Kidney, top 9 C potential, for sure. If he continue to progress in offense zone, this guy can be a top 6 C in NHL, play a similar game to Nick Suzuki. I'm a big fan of him.
8 - Jesse Ylonen, I really like his skillset. He show already that he can play at NHL level, great shot, he can easily play on 3rd line.... with potential to be more.
9 - Jakub Dobes, I think he have more potential than Cayden Primeau... both have good potential. I'd prefer Dobes, outstanding season in Big-10 league. 6"5 too, it's pretty good.
10 - Jan Mysak, potential top become at least a top 9 player at NHL level, if he continue to work on his offensive game, he can be a top 6 player. Smart player, great hands, good shot, great two-way ability. Very good prospect.

 

[Habs Halifax]

1. Sean Farrell
2. Justin Barron
3. Joshua Roy
4. Cayden Primeau
5. Jordan Harris
6. Kaiden Guhle
7. Jacob Dobes
8. Jesse Ylonen
9. RHP
10. Logan Mailloux
11. Riley Kidney
12. Matias Norlinder
13. Gianni Fairbrother
14. Emil Heineman
15. Jayden Truble
16 Jan Mysak
17. Blake Biondi
18. Luke Tuch
19. Oliver Kapanen
20. Frederik Dichow


Anything beyond that, and even anything beyond 10 is probably not gonna play more than 10 games in the NHL. The rest are probably going to be role players. Farrel and Barron have a good shot at being top 6/top 4,

Guhle 6th? That's bold

 

[NeptunesTrident]

1. Guhle - needs some AHL time but he looks really good
2. Harris - if they deal Petry I'd love to see him get time with Mr.Ed
3. Barron - if he can get by his injury bugs he looks like a nice Top 4
4. Roy - looking forward to watching his development
5. Farrell - he/Evans will compete for 3C once Dvorak is dealt. If they take Slaf, 2C is in play for him
6. Kidney - I may be too low on him. If he works on his skating he could be the #1 prospect
7. Heineman - very serviceable middle 6 player. Lehkky replacement
8. Vrbetic - athletic. NHL size. Like to see him in the AHL for seasoning. Underrated
9. Ylonen - middle 6 winger with speed to burn.
10. Mailloux -biggest wildcard in my prospect list. Could be the next best thing but he needs so much development. Hunter boys please work your magic

After this draft I'm hoping at least 3 of this top 5 are knocked down. We need offensive talent

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

1 - Guhle
2 - Roy
3 - Barron
4- Harris
5 - Farrell
6 - Dobes
7 - Mailloux
8 - Ylonen
9 - Heinemen
10 - Kidney