Your Team's Prospects This Year - Good, Bad, & the Ugly

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Levitate

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Jul 29, 2004
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eh how about another rangers one


The good: Henrik Lundqvist (cmon, this one is easy, he's dominating in the playoffs as well, the guys is amazing)
The bad: Al Montoya (I say this more based on stats...he still had a ton of wins, finished the year strong, and had a great CCHA tournament. If he keeps it up through the NCAA tournament I think he'll overall have had a good development year)
The ugly: Hugh Jessiman (Based on his injury...this was to be a real kind of defining year for him...worked out like crazy over the summer to prepare and then got hurt in the 4th game of the season and missed almost an entire year of development)

Additional categories:
The surprising: Jakub Petruzalek (Tiny, 9th round pick, comes in and averages over a point per game as a rookie euro import in the OHL, out performing 1st rounder lukas kaspar)
The mistreated: Petr Prucha (Burried back on the 4th line because of NHLers after a breakout year for him last year. Getting more icetime now in the playoffs and making things happen)
The misunderstood: Jozef Balej (Struggled some in scoring this year but is playing a better all around, gritty game than people will give him credit for)
The underwhelming: Garth Murray (I swear this kid has got more game in him than it seems just by looking at his stats...the coaches need to do something to draw it out)
The overdiscussed: Al Montoya (Is he a bust? Was it a waste to take him at #6? etc etc etc...too much crap speculation too early in his development)

could put a lot of different guys in some of the categories but just went with one for each

Comments on other peoples selections:

The surprising: Jarkko Immonen - Solid year for JYP.

I'm not sure why this is surprising...he had a solid year last year and led his team too.

The underwhelming: Fedor Tyutin - So-so in Hartford till he bolted back to Russia.

The Rangers sent him back to Russia, he didn't bolt.
 

jb**

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BlueBleeder said:
The good: Jay McClement. Starting to show a scoring touch along with his defensive skill.
The bad: Trevor Byrne. Disappointing season.
The ugly: Konstatin Barulin. Does he even exist?


The surprising: Denis Wideman. Nobody expected the offense from him this year.
The mistreated: Konstatin Zakharov. Shouldn't have been in the AHL, needed another a season in the Q.
The misunderstood: Peter Sejna.
The underwhelming: Carl Soderberg. Hoped for a little more scoring from him.
The overdiscussed: Marek Schwarz and his average season in WHL.
FLYERS
bad: Rosario Ruggeri supposed to make Phantoms, impact player, toiling in ECHL
good: seems the 2003 draft class as a whole
ugly: lack of quality Dman prospects
surprising: Dov Grumet Morris excellent career and year at Harvard, Ryan Potulny as well
Mistreated: Ben Eager, started out playing on 4th line with 2 stiffs, now on top line and seems to be producing
underwhelming: Alexander Drozdetsky all hype nothing to show for it
overdiscussed: see above
 

BronxBruin

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The good Hannu Toivonen - has been exceptional as the #1 goalie in Providence and is looking like he could be a star in the NHL.
The bad Sergei Zinovjev - He had another solid season in the RSL finishing 12th in scoring. The bad part was off the ice. He was involved in a scandal where he was left off the national team for alleged marijuana use. This coupled with his reluctance to leave Mother Russia and it's looking less and less likely we'll be seeing him in the NHL anytime soon.
The ugly Ivan Huml - Once thought to have second line potential, he left North America for the Czech Republic hasn't been heard from since.

The surprising Ben Walter - He was a 5th round pick in 2004 and was one of the leading goal scorers in the NCAA this year.
The mistreated Vladislav Evseev - With the addition of NHL'ers, he couldn't find playing time on Dynamo Moscow. He was eventually sent to the less-talented Ufa Salavat Yulayev but wasn't given time there either. He is said to have the size and skill but he just needs playing time to develop.
The misunderstood Lars Jonsson - Many people have already written him off as a bust because he hasn't put up the numbers in the SEL. He has improved every year over there and has world-class tools that should translate well in North America.
The underwhelming Martin Samuelsson - After a great rookie year followed by a horrible sophomore year in the AHL, people were expecting him to bounce back. While he has been better, he is looking more and more like a fourth line grinder.
 

EroCaps

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Aug 24, 2003
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My stab at the Caps:


The good:
Ovechkin- WJC's top forward, well ahead of last year's pace in the RSL
Semin- 19 goals in the RSL playing for defensive Lada
Fehr- won Bobby Clarke award for WHL's leading scorer, led w/59 goals.
Mike Green- led WHL w/d-man scoring and +/-

The bad:
Sutherby- Young Stars MVP of a couple years back looks average in AHL. Was touted as potential captain. Did I miss something?
Shultz- saw this one coming.

The ugly:
Tim Army- Pirates underachieve a/superior talent
Jonas Johansson- bye team captain Konowalchuck, hello ECHL'er. Nice.


The surprising:
Bourque- "Beanpot" hero, college All-Star, good showing at WJC

The mistreated:
Ovechkin- between Malkin and Crosby, somewhere the guy whose shown more against future competition is lost.

The misunderstood:
Sami Lepisto

The underwhelming:
Tomas Fleischmann

The overdiscussed:
Chris Bourque
 

chaachie12

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Mar 13, 2002
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The Wild:

The good: Mikko Koivu
The bad:A.J. Thelen
The ugly: Kyle Wanvig

Additional categories:
The surprising: Clayton Stoner
The mistreated: Danny Irmen, #10 prospect for the Wild?
The misunderstood: Mikko Koivu, for all the years people thought he was a bust.
The underwhelming: A.J. Thelen (all things bad go to AJ)
The overdiscussed: O'Sullivan, some of it warranted, some of it may not be.
 

triggrman

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May 8, 2002
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nomorekids said:
The good: Alexander Radulov, Ryan Suter
no explanation needed here. Radulov had an outstanding rookie year in the Q, Suter exceeded expectations in the AHL in a defensive role.
The bad: Vaclav Meidl
Most thought last year was a fluke, and he'd rebound this year. Wrong. He's big..and that's about it. Waste of a high pick.
The ugly: Nick Fugere
why?

Additional categories:
The surprising: Mike Santorelli, Denis Kulyash
Santorelli has been raved about by everyone who has seen him, and had a terrific freshman campaign. Kulyash, an overage Russian, has come out of nowhere to be near the top in defensive points in the RSL.
The mistreated: Brandon Segal
fell out of favor in Milwaukee for some reason, and barring an injury to the Admirals, he'll spend the rest of the year with the Rockford IceHogs
The misunderstood: Kevin Klein, Brian Finley
Klein went from a well-respected, well-liked OHL prospect to a forgotten AHL prospect because of a rocky start. He's since straightened himself out and Milwaukee fans say he's by far the most improved Admiral from the start of the year. Finley was a highly touted guy, but has earned the Dangerfield mantle. No one seems to realize that he's near the top of the league in every category, despite this being his first year as the lone starter. Most feel he's been better than Flaherty ever was in Milwaukee.
The underwhelming: Timofei Shishkanov
Granted, he's had an OKAY year, but after a terrific rookie season, we expect more out of him. needs to shoot more.
The overdiscussed: Ryan Suter
simply in the "Suter\Phaneuf" chronicle sort of way.
I'd add Shea Weber to the good.
 

Onion Boy

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Levitate said:
I'm not sure why this is surprising...he had a solid year last year and led his team too.

The Rangers sent him back to Russia, he didn't bolt.

1) I know. I checked his stats before I posted and I knew it wouldn't take long for the first wiseguy to chime in. My point is last fall how many Rangers knew or cared that much about Jarkko compared to now.

2) Fedor wanted to go back to Russia and the Rangers gave him their blessing. The Rangers didn't send him anywhere and would've preferred both him and Kondratiev to stay in Hartford.
 

Frenzy31

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May 21, 2003
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The good: Jay McClement. One of the most consistent players all year. Added scoring to his D play.

The bad: Trevor Byrne. He played well last season for the 'cats, but stunk up the ice and is now in the ECHL. Had high hopes for him - not planning out.

The ugly: Alexi Skhotov - Returned to Russia to play in Dec. No real reason as to why.


The surprising: Denis Wideman. Buffalo is pretty upset that he was just let go.

The mistreated: N. Nitikin - Was invited to try out for the Russian WJC, but OMSK wouldn't let him go. Spent most of the year in the RSL, but saw very limited ice time, just 15 games...

The misunderstood: Peter Sejna. Has become a very good Penalty killer.

The underwhelming: Zakharov. Hoped for a little more scoring from him, was not really for the AHL.

The overdiscussed: I didn't realize that Blues players were allowed to be discussed here at HF. [/QUOTE]
 

PanthersRule96

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The Good: Rostislav Olesz, Dany Roussin, Vince Bellissimo, Stefan Meyer
The Bad: Victor Uchevatov, Petr Taticek, David Shantz, Josh Olson
The Ugly: Jay Bouwmeester, Stephen Weiss, Juraj Kolnik
 

X-SHARKIE

Registered User
Good Matt Carle..2003 Second round surprise is starting to look like our bes tpick of the draft, an offensive dominating NCAA defenseman who looks like a #2 defenseman some day. Defense and physical play is blooming.

Steve Bernier...All around play is coming around, True Powerforward gamebreaker in the making

Marcel Goc..Pushing 50 points, one of the smartest players in any league.

Honorable mention: Christian Ehrhoff.


Bad Lukas Kaspar...Dissapointing inconsistant season, but has shown skill.

Ugly Milan Michalek...Missin 2nd straite season because of ACL injurey.

Misunderstood Steve Bernier...Not fat, not slow. Big, strong, powerforward with excellent skill set. Gamebreaking powerforward.

The surprising Ryan Clowe
50 points in season already with injuries. Barons top scorer, looks to be 3rd line poweforward in the NHL.

The underwhelming
Jason Churchill. Numbers are beginning to dip after impressive start to the season.
 

Patty Ice

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Feb 27, 2002
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San Jose Sharks

The good: Marcel Goc; prototypical Shark

The bad: Milan Michalek; bad as in news that I haven't got to watch him play in a long time...my favorite prospect in the NHL

The ugly: Lukas Kaspar; lazy play almost as ugly as his hair

The surprising: Matt Carle; showed more offense than I thought he was capable of

The mistreated: Tero Maatta; why don't just come over one more time to show us what ya really got

The misunderstood: tie Steve Bernier and Mike Morris; the former can't seem to shake the label of being a fat lard and the latter of being a reach in the '02 draft. Neither get credit for the their talents

The underwhelming: Chrisitian Ehrhoff; I want to see him taking s**t over but he just hasn't

The overdiscussed: A Sharks prospect overdiscussed? The hell you say!
 

saskhab

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May 12, 2004
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The Good
Yann Danis. Huge pickup for the Habs. Great positioning, good glove. Decent lateral movement, but could use improvement. Wish he was a little bigger, but as they say, you can't teach size. Others were good, but Danis was the best.

The Bad
Kyle Chipchura. Achilles tendon injuries suck. No one around here is thinking he'll be back for Round 1 against the Blades... so a 30 game season is all it looks like he'll get.

The Ugly
Cory Urquhart. Second round pick that is playing in the ECHL as a support player. Pardon me if I'm not too excited about his future.

The Surprising
Mikhail Grabovsky. Big year for an overager that no one had heard of before the 2004 draft.

The Mistreated
Alex Perezhogin. The suspension was still excessive, though for his development it doesn't appear to have had any effect on.

The Misunderstood
Ron Hainsey. He was terrible in the first half, but he picked it up in the second half and no one acknowledged it until the past two weeks. The expectations for him have lowered over the years (were unrealistic to begin with), but he hasn't hit bust territory.

The Underwhelming
Duncan Milroy. Yeah, his point totals have improved, but I just don't see anything that is NHL quality in his game.

The Overdiscussed
Uh, this is Montreal we're talking about. Everyone is overdiscussed. :lol:
 

rival

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Feb 15, 2004
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Canucks:

The good: Ryan Kesler. Has a shot at 30 goals in his second professional season and is one of the best checkers in the AHL. Has put on a lot of muscle already and looks like he can still carry more.

The bad: F-P Guenette. Took a huge step back production wise in his overage season. Not physical, not a great skater, not much interest from me anymore.

The ugly: The wall that so many Canucks prospects hit at the end of the season after surprisingly strong years (Ellis, Skinner, Edler, Auld).

Additional categories:

The surprising:
Kevin Bieksa. Has jumped to the top of the Moose defense and looks like he'll be an NHL player. Tough and smart.
The mistreated: Kirill Koltsov and he did it to himself. I still believe Tim Smith could have had a bigger impact in the AHL if used properly.
The misunderstood: Jason King. Has made huge strides in his all around game to give himself a shot at the NHL as more than a scorer. That said, is he going to develop consistency and be a 25 goal scorer in the NHL, is he going to develop into a decent checker who can provide sporadic offense, or is he going to fail at both and bounce between the AHL and NHL?
The underwhelming: Nicklas Danielsson. Failed to get ice time once again in his 3rd shot at the SEL. Tore up the Swedish junior league as a 20 year old at the end of the season. Seems like a player who could have benefited from playing in the CHL.
The overdiscussed: Ryan Kesler. Call him a 3rd line center based on production all you want but he's going to be playing 20 minutes a game and having a bigger impact than many higher scorers.
 

Pwnasaurus

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Feb 21, 2003
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mach 1 said:
i don't think gino was drafted to put up points i think it was more like PIMS

Glad someone beat me to this. No pun intended. I believe Gino was the top enforcer/with some skill type of player in last year's draft.
 

Le Golie

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Jul 4, 2002
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New York Islanders

The good: Petteri Nokelainen. For a prospect know mostly for his 'complete package' he sure put up some good offensive numbers in the top Finnish league. He scored 15 goals and was 4th on his team in points. He was Finland's best player by a large margin at the WJHC and according to The Hockey News Top 100 he'd be a top 10 pick if the 04 draft were held this year.

The bad: Robert Nilsson. A poor WJHC and another season of bouncing around from team to team didn't do much for Nilsson's progress. At the end of the SEL's regular season he made it to his team's top line and caught fire for a few games, giving everyone a glimmer of hope for his future.

The ugly: Ryan Caldwell. After leading Denver to the Frozen Four championships last season, Caldwell was seen as a legitimate prospect and potential 4-5 defenceman. His jump to the AHL was rather unsuccessful and despite not being a write-off just yet he has a long way to go.

Additional categories:

The surprising:
Wes Oniell. Looks like a 4th round steal after a tremendous season with Notre Dame. Huge, improved skating and decision making.
The mistreated: Jeremy Colliton was mistreated by the hockey Gods. After being pencilled in on the Crosby-Bergeron line for the WJHC's, he was injured just before the tournament and missed most of the rest of the season. Could have had a huge run.
 

Levitate

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Jul 29, 2004
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The surprising: Wes Oniell. Looks like a 4th round steal after a tremendous season with Notre Dame. Huge, improved skating and decision making.

I wasn't ever terribly impressed with O'Neill when i saw him play...I could see where people got their knocks on him. he could get beat fairly often, like guys taking him wide, and would make some truly crap passes at bad times.

maybe he got better towards the end of the season though, didn't see a lot of him then
 

Kirk- NEHJ

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BronxBruin said:
The good Hannu Toivonen - has been exceptional as the #1 goalie in Providence and is looking like he could be a star in the NHL.
The bad Sergei Zinovjev - He had another solid season in the RSL finishing 12th in scoring. The bad part was off the ice. He was involved in a scandal where he was left off the national team for alleged marijuana use. This coupled with his reluctance to leave Mother Russia and it's looking less and less likely we'll be seeing him in the NHL anytime soon.
The ugly Ivan Huml - Once thought to have second line potential, he left North America for the Czech Republic hasn't been heard from since.

The surprising Ben Walter - He was a 5th round pick in 2004 and was one of the leading goal scorers in the NCAA this year.
The mistreated Vladislav Evseev - With the addition of NHL'ers, he couldn't find playing time on Dynamo Moscow. He was eventually sent to the less-talented Ufa Salavat Yulayev but wasn't given time there either. He is said to have the size and skill but he just needs playing time to develop.
The misunderstood Lars Jonsson - Many people have already written him off as a bust because he hasn't put up the numbers in the SEL. He has improved every year over there and has world-class tools that should translate well in North America.
The underwhelming Martin Samuelsson - After a great rookie year followed by a horrible sophomore year in the AHL, people were expecting him to bounce back. While he has been better, he is looking more and more like a fourth line grinder.

Two thumbs up...nice assessment.
 

dBoon

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Sep 28, 2004
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WILD

More or less agree with Chaachie on the big picture

Good: Koivu, Burns, O'Sullivan

Bad: Wanvig, Foy

Ugly: Thelen

Surprises: Khodubin, Stoner, Irmen
 

MrMastodonFarm*

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Jul 5, 2004
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Calgary Flames

The Good
Dion Phaneuf, Dustin Boyd, Eric Nystrom, Curtis McElhinney, Yuri Trubachev

The Bad
Cam Cunning, Ryan Donnelly, Adam Cracknell

The Ugly
Andrei Medvedev
 

Oiltalk

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The good: Pouliot-Should have been a rough year after his surgery on that shoulder of his. He's managed to stay healthy and remain one of the top players in his league. Schremp-Has improved defensively and has looked sharper in most areas of his game.

The bad: Mikhnov-A given

The ugly: Niniimaki-Frankly hasn't shown much.

Additional categories:

The surprising: Dragon Umicevic/Winchester-both outstanding years with Jaques not far behind.

The mistreated: JDD-Too much pressure on him to perform on a rather weak AHL team. Give him a lot of time in Greenville, and build his confidence.

The misunderstood: Jani Rita

The underwhelming: Doug Lynch

The overdiscussed: Schremp
 

CREW99AW

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Mar 12, 2002
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Le Golie said:
New York Islanders

The good: Petteri Nokelainen. For a prospect know mostly for his 'complete package' he sure put up some good offensive numbers in the top Finnish league. He scored 15 goals and was 4th on his team in points. He was Finland's best player by a large margin at the WJHC and according to The Hockey News Top 100 he'd be a top 10 pick if the 04 draft were held this year.

The bad: Robert Nilsson. A poor WJHC and another season of bouncing around from team to team didn't do much for Nilsson's progress. At the end of the SEL's regular season he made it to his team's top line and caught fire for a few games, giving everyone a glimmer of hope for his future.


Additional categories:

The surprising:
Wes Oniell. Looks like a 4th round steal after a tremendous season with Notre Dame. Huge, improved skating and decision making.
.


good-Nokelainan's regular season and WJC performance, take some of the sting out of bypassing Shremp.

bad-Nilsson.An SEL fan says Nilsson played well in his 1st playoff game,setting up 2 good scoring chances with beautiful passes.So why has he been buried on Djurgaden's bench since then?I could see if the coach prefers vets in big games,but he's barely played :dunno:

surprising-I'd have said defenseman Chris Campoli(Bridgeport) or even Cody Blanshan(Medicine Hat).
 

Le Golie

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Jul 4, 2002
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CREW99AW said:
good-Nokelainan's regular season and WJC performance, take some of the sting out of bypassing Shremp.

That stung you? God, I was and still am extremely happy I didn't hear Schremp's name. Nokie's great season is just gravy.
 
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