HF Habs: 2022 HF Habs Prospect Rankings #39
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Harry Kakalovich
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I can get the other ones, but why Condotta over Hillis?
He turns 25 in November and hasn't shown much more than Hillis apart from being bigger.
Harry Kakalovich
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He seems like he has some bottom-6 potential, and he was just signed by the new management team. Being a big and defensively responsible center that management believes in seems more promising than Hillis at this point.
I was a fan of Hillis in the OHL, but since turning pro he has failed to win a job in the AHL and he's turning 23, and i don't get the sense management believes in him, so I really don't see a future for him with the Habs short of torching the AHL. But will Hillis even make the AHL? He didn't last year, which for a forward signed to an NHL contract is pretty much a death knell.
WeThreeKings
Demidov is a HAB
Estimated_Prophet
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- Mar 28, 2003
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May as well add Donald Duck and Buzz Lightyear at this point as I don't think anyone left in this poll has a chance
Condotta didn't get it done offensively in the AHL last year as a 24 years old. Condotta is also mostly a winger, not a C.
Furthermore, it's not like Hillis is a slouch defensively. The only thing Condotta has over him is size. I don't see a NHL future at all. He was just better at filling a need than Brett Stapley (the Rocket needed size badly) with a shorter commitment. That's why he got signed IMO, not for actual NHL potential.
Harry Kakalovich
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They signed him to an NHL deal so they must see potential. And for Hillis, he was demoted twice to the ECHL so they must not like him.
We did not add anyone in this poll nor do we have anyone to ad for the next one.
I still have 3 guys as long shots (Pitlick/Sobolev/Hillis).
Still, I like ranking everyone instead of stopping at 25 or 30 so that some surprise riser can appear year to year.
Jake Evans was ranked 34th in his first year.
Pezzetta was # 28 in 2016, unranked/U30 in 2017, #35 in 2018, #34 in 2019, #36 in 2020 and #35 in 2021.
Obviously doesn't happen often, but with the onslaught of prospects we'll have in the next few years it could happen a lot more. Quite a few guys could have meteoric rise or fall by the next poll. It already occurred in this poll with a +15 Roy/+12 Dichow/ +9 for Dobes and a -17 for Teasdale/-15 Norlinder/-14 Struble/-13 Kostenko. I don't remember this amount of movement in prospect rankings.
The more data we have, the more interesting it gets. Might just be my scientific brain loving analyzing data.
For example, Croteau's size and stats are not that different than what Dobes were when he was drafted (as a 2nd year eligible). If he follow a similar development, he would shoot up quickly in the ranking.
He's a one year deal, they had space (which won't be the case in 2023 hence the no Stapley) and they needed size for the PO run (since Pezzetta was waiver eligible and Baddock traded away). As I said, I think they signed him because he's a better placeholder than Stapley. They might not have been able to get him on a ATO last year without promising an ELC for this year. I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone after this year unless he takes a pretty good step forward.
Hillis was demoted for playing time. He played so little in 2020-2021 (18 games with very limited minutes). He pretty much got the rookie moving to NA KHL player treatment (which is one of my only gripe against Bouchard). He did show some (although inconsistent) offensive potential last year. I think he does take another a step forward this year.
Harry Kakalovich
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Well I don't share either of your opinions. I think the Habs signed Condotta because they see potential in him, and I think the Habs demoted Hillis twice (and didn't play him much the year before) because they were not happy with him. Which I think is the more logical explanation in both cases.
