1. Hughes (star in the making)
5. Joulevi (despite failing to live up to his draft position, Juolevi is still a good prospect.)
7. Woo (legitimate top 4 NHL upside)
3. Madden (great development year. Needs to continue his development trajectory)
4. DePietro (still concerned about size for NHL. Can't argue his compete and his play at current level).
6. McEwen (Has he topped out or can he give more? If the latter then he has a place in the NHL).
9. Rathbone (Will he be a legitimate offensive D-man in the NHL or just a good AHLer? Time will tell.)
8. Lockwood (tweener. Upside is bottom 6 NHL energy winger)
16. Lind (NHL potential but real possibility he could completely bust within the next two years).
11. Rafferty (NHL potential. Needs a year in the AHL to make upside clearer).
10. Brisebois (depth call-up)
12. Sautner (depth call-up)
13. Eliot
14. Teves
15. Kiely
17. Karlsson
18. Thiessen
19. Utenen
20. Gadjovich
21. Jasek
22. Chatfield
23. Palmu
2. Tryamkin (probably best described as an asset rather than a prospect)
That would be closer to my rankings.
I weigh in top end potential and how the prospect is currently trending towards reaching their ceiling as well as positional importance.
1 Hughes-showing the right signs of becoming one of the top offensive defencemen in the league.
2 Woo - could be the ying to Hughes's yang (or vice versa).Has the skill set to pair up with a high end offensive guy like Hughes or (potentially) Rathbone or could also play on a top shutdown/PK pairing as well.Either way he projects to be a top four guy logging big minutes.
3 Madden- amazing progression this year with more than enough skill,speed,and smarts to be a two way top 6 fixture when he's ready.
4 Rathbone - has a ton of potential and a high ceiling and put up respectable numbers playing against real competition this year.Kind of a sleeper with some catching up to do but could be a good one.
5 Joulevi - was starting to live up to some of his draft hype with a hot start and putting up some impressive numbers in the AHL before injuries shut him down again.Still have some hope that he can stay healthy and fix his defensive issues and reach his potential but he still has a ways to go yet and needs to show some real progression next year or he'll drop further down the chart.
6 Brisbois - he's trending in the right direction and didn't look out of place in limited minutes in the NHL.I'd say there's still plenty of room to grow his game and become an NHL regular in the not too distant future.I was almost going to put him ahead of Joulevi but I'll give OJ the nod for now due to his higher ceiling.
7 Lind - clearly not ready for the AHL at the start of the year but probably too good to go back for another year of Jr's so maybe playing him in spot duty in the AHL with some gym time will work out for him in the long run.Seemed to be coming around towards the end of the season and a good off season to get stronger and faster could make a world of difference next year.He still has high end offensive potential and is our second best forward prospect although that's not saying much.
8 Sautner NHL bottom pairing depth defender who could play higher in a pinch with more development.Definitely worth keeping in the system.
9 Rafferty - didn't look overwhelmed in his NHL debut against a couple of contending teams and probably our second best RHD prospect at the moment.
10 Lockwood - has plenty of speed and enough skill and tenacity to carve out a spot in a modern day bottom 6.Interesting to see if he intends to sign or not next year.
11 DiPietro - has been hot and cold since the trade to Ottawa and size is still a valid concern.Still has NHL potential but far from a sure thing.
12 MacEwan - kind of a tweener in being a decent AHL top 6 player but not having enough finesse to pull that off at the NHL level.Might find a fit on an offensive third line somewhere down the road but not suited for any kind of checking/PK role which limits his value to a team.Probably a career AHL player who can be a decent call up option.
13 Teves - too limited of a sample size to project and stuck behind a number of other LHD prospects.AHL depth guy for now.
14 Karlsson - hard to gauge while playing overseas and his numbers this year don't exactly pop.Maybe a bit of an off year due to circumstances and can show more next season.Likely a bottom 6 type if he makes it to NA pro.
15 Jasek - not a great year but it was his first AHL season after limited minutes in the Czech league for the past few seasons so he's well behind in his development curve compared to most NA guys.Give him time and see what happens.
16 Kiely - good NCAA numbers and decent size.I'm guessing he'll compete for an AHL spot next season and see what he can do in the pros.
17 Eliot - decent point totals in the CHL for D-man in his OA season.Worth a look to see if he can carve out a spot in the AHL next season and bump down guys like Chatfield.
18 Gadjovich - needs to work on his skating and puck skills to even make an impression at the AHL level.Big project but fills a real need in the system if he can improve.
19 Utenen - showing progression while playing against men in Europe.Smaller with limited upside but an efficient,low event guy who could carve out an AHL spot in a few years.
20 Thiessen - didn't have a great year in the USHL but has good size and plenty of time to develop in the NCAA.
Making that list really shows how shallow our prospect pool is at the forward and RHD positions.LHD has good depth and G still looks OK even with Demko graduating but another prospect there would be good.Maybe spend one of our extra 6th rounders there.We definitely need to focus on forwards and RHD with our higher picks.