2023 Prospect Poll #1

[SundherDome]

Levi, add Huglen

 

[nanook17]

Savoie, add Neuchev

 

[Sabre the Win]

Poor Levi. People are going to turn on this kid fast when their expectations meet reality of a rookie with no pro experience being thrown into the deep end and sinking.

You‘re expectations are way too high if you‘ve convinced yourself that he’s like…definitely going to be one of the top 3 goalies in the league. Man…

I get the the Adams tenure has starved everyone for even average goaltending. But you have to walk back these expectations before the season starts or you’re going to jump off a ledge.

And that’s with ignoring that goalies are voodoo.

It’s easily Benson and it’s not particularly close

No one said definitely top 3, if we are basing these polls on potential and he has top 3 potential. He adds way more then Benson could ever add to this team.

We already have scoring, unless it dries up and we can't even come close to what we had last year, Benson could help but right now I view Defensemen and a Goalie more valuable to this team in the short and long term then more of what we already have in Benson.

 

[Dahlicious]

Surprised Benson is so overwhelmingly over Savoie here. I think it’s a bit of a recency bias because I think it’s basically a coin toss / stylistic preference.

 

[TageGod]

Poor Levi. People are going to turn on this kid fast when their expectations meet reality of a rookie with no pro experience being thrown into the deep end and sinking.

You‘re expectations are way too high if you‘ve convinced yourself that he’s like…definitely going to be one of the top 3 goalies in the league. Man…

I get the the Adams tenure has starved everyone for even average goaltending. But you have to walk back these expectations before the season starts or you’re going to jump off a ledge.

And that’s with ignoring that goalies are voodoo.

It’s easily Benson and it’s not particularly close

Numbers are numbers. No one said he would be top 3 THIS YEAR. Why is it Benson though? I think Savoie has higher upside potential than Benson. Faster and more goal scoring ability.

Surprised Benson is so overwhelmingly over Savoie here. I think it’s a bit of a recency bias because I think it’s basically a coin toss / stylistic preference.

This. Feels like everyone soured on Savoie after his slow start last season, or write him off for being small....Benson is 1 inch taller.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Poor Levi. People are going to turn on this kid fast when their expectations meet reality of a rookie with no pro experience being thrown into the deep end and sinking.

You‘re expectations are way too high if you‘ve convinced yourself that he’s like…definitely going to be one of the top 3 goalies in the league. Man…

I get the the Adams tenure has starved everyone for even average goaltending. But you have to walk back these expectations before the season starts or you’re going to jump off a ledge.

And that’s with ignoring that goalies are voodoo.

It’s easily Benson and it’s not particularly close

That you wrote "goalies are voodoo" tells me that you don't really know what you're looking at with goalies, much less how to evaluate them.

I had the vote as very tight between Savoie, Kulich, Benson, and Levi. It is close. You can compare draft seasons and all, but at the end of the day, Devon Levi has won games at the NHL level. Kulich has scored and played extremely well in the AHL. Benson and Savoie have not played at either level, and there are no guarantees that they do, much less find success.

I went with Levi over Kulich, add Novikov.

 

[Dingo44]

Poor Levi. People are going to turn on this kid fast when their expectations meet reality of a rookie with no pro experience being thrown into the deep end and sinking.

You‘re expectations are way too high if you‘ve convinced yourself that he’s like…definitely going to be one of the top 3 goalies in the league. Man…

I get the the Adams tenure has starved everyone for even average goaltending. But you have to walk back these expectations before the season starts or you’re going to jump off a ledge.

And that’s with ignoring that goalies are voodoo.

It’s easily Benson and it’s not particularly close

I can't tell if it's a skill or an art to wedge in another rant about how bad you think Adams is in the first prospect poll thread.

 

[Fjordsen]

That you wrote "goalies are voodoo" tells me that you don't really know what you're looking at with goalies, much less how to evaluate them.

I had the vote as very tight between Savoie, Kulich, Benson, and Levi. It is close. You can compare draft seasons and all, but at the end of the day, Devon Levi has won games at the NHL level. Kulich has scored and played extremely well in the AHL. Benson and Savoie have not played at either level, and there are no guarantees that they do, much less find success.

I went with Levi over Kulich, add Novikov.

It's not an indicator for me, AHL games or multiple NHL games. I thought we were voting for potential here, basically. Bedard hasn't played in the NHL yet either, but...

 

[TageGod]

That you wrote "goalies are voodoo" tells me that you don't really know what you're looking at with goalies, much less how to evaluate them.

I had the vote as very tight between Savoie, Kulich, Benson, and Levi. It is close. You can compare draft seasons and all, but at the end of the day, Devon Levi has won games at the NHL level. Kulich has scored and played extremely well in the AHL. Benson and Savoie have not played at either level, and there are no guarantees that they do, much less find success.

I went with Levi over Kulich, add Novikov.

Kulich reads as a more rounded VO. Anyone voting him in our top 3 is sipping some serious Kul-aid. Levi Savoie and Benson are the obvious top 3 here.

 

[Dahlicious]

That you wrote "goalies are voodoo" tells me that you don't really know what you're looking at with goalies, much less how to evaluate them.

I had the vote as very tight between Savoie, Kulich, Benson, and Levi. It is close. You can compare draft seasons and all, but at the end of the day, Devon Levi has won games at the NHL level. Kulich has scored and played extremely well in the AHL. Benson and Savoie have not played at either level, and there are no guarantees that they do, much less find success.

I went with Levi over Kulich, add Novikov.

So Lukas Rousek should also be ranked above Savoie and Benson, then, right?

 

[TageGod]

So Lukas Rousek should also be ranked above Savoie and Benson, then, right?

I think it means Levi has already shown his upside immediately. Rousek has shown he can play in the NHL, not exactly flashing star potential.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Kulich reads as a more rounded VO. Anyone voting him in our top 3 is sipping some serious Kul-aid. Levi Savoie and Benson are the obvious top 3 here.

A more rounded VO would be a damn good hockey player. As is, Olofsson can sleepwalk his way to 25-30 goals. If he could do almost anything else at even an NHL average level, we'd all love him.

 

[TageGod]

A more rounded VO would be a damn good hockey player. As is, Olofsson can sleepwalk his way to 25-30 goals. If he could do almost anything else at even an NHL average level, we'd all love him.

I wont argue that is a great hockey player. Just not Elite potential

 

[Bendium]

I had the vote as very tight between Savoie, Kulich, Benson, and Levi. It is close. You can compare draft seasons and all, but at the end of the day, Devon Levi has won games at the NHL level. Kulich has scored and played extremely well in the AHL. Benson and Savoie have not played at either level, and there are no guarantees that they do, much less find success.

I went with Levi over Kulich, add Novikov.

Im 100% with you here. Benson was just drafted and like Savoie last year, is the shinny new thing. The ceiling is as high as anyone wants it to be because he hasn't done anything outside of junior leagues yet. Levi won the Richter award twice, pushed college records for goaltenders, and then made the jump directly to the NHL where he was as solid as could be expected. His actual performance matches the top line trajectory toward his potential. Kulich's actual performance is also tracking the top trajectory (or above) toward his potential. That makes the expected potential on both players more REAL than the theoretical on prospects that haven't done it yet.

Levi over Kulich by a bit because he has more years proving the trajectory.

Add Kozak.

 

[jc17]

Add novikov

 

[Zman5778]

Benson, add Novikov

 

[Butt Ox]

Benson add Novikov

Relentless dogged puck pursuit. I like that motor.

 

[Zman5778]

So Lukas Rousek should also be ranked above Savoie and Benson, then, right?

Remember that everyone rates prospects differently. Some do take into account the level of play and what they've shown.

There is no right way to rank a prospect and no wrong way. Just different ways.


Personally, for me it's all about ceiling and then likelihood to reach said ceiling. The level of play they're at currently is only a tiebreaker for me.

 

[Chainshot]

Surprised Benson is so overwhelmingly over Savoie here. I think it’s a bit of a recency bias because I think it’s basically a coin toss / stylistic preference.

Having watched the two of them about 60 times over two years... it's Benson.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

Man I can see all these guys in the NHL. Embarrassment of riches indeed

 

[Bendium]

Man I can see all these guys in the NHL. Embarrassment of riches indeed

As soon as the NHL expands rosters to 6 forwards lines.

 

[dire wolf]

Benson. Add Novikov.

Benson edges out Levi for me because I think his floor is higher. Goalies are a bit of witchcraft, and I do still have some level of concern about dropping him directly into the NHL.

 

[dire wolf]

Surprised Benson is so overwhelmingly over Savoie here. I think it’s a bit of a recency bias because I think it’s basically a coin toss / stylistic preference.

Not really. If you read posts of people who watched a ton of WPG Ice games, the consensus is that Benson is materially ahead of Savoie for the last 2 years. That's not a knock on Savoie, but Benson has outperformed Savoie offensively while being more than a year younger and is also rated better defensively. Many think Benson was also more of a play driver than Savoie and that Benson without Savoie was just as good, while Savoie without Benson was not. Admittedly, I've mostly only watched highlights and clips of both.

 

[Der Jaeger]

It's not an indicator for me, AHL games or multiple NHL games. I thought we were voting for potential here, basically. Bedard hasn't played in the NHL yet either, but...

There's a combination of potential and actual performance at increased levels which has to be balanced. It's not black and white.

Kulich reads as a more rounded VO. Anyone voting him in our top 3 is sipping some serious Kul-aid. Levi Savoie and Benson are the obvious top 3 here.

Kulich could've went 16th overall in the draft, performed really well at the WJCs, and then at the AHL level. That's a shade more than just a rounded out Olofsson.

So Lukas Rousek should also be ranked above Savoie and Benson, then, right?

You know it's more nuanced than that. A kid like Levi went from a 7th rounder to the best goalie in the NCAA. There's post draft progression that has to be evaulated. There's also potential growth. No one is going to confuse the potential of Benson with Rousek. But when the draft grades are closer, with players like Kulich, Benson, Savoie, and Ostlund, all recent 1sts, there's more than just sheer potential which needs to be considered.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Levi! Kid had an amazing collegiate career. He carried that team so far, and his mental toughness seems beyond his years. The fact I'm even entertaining the idea of him starting in the NHL next year is crazy because I'm normally 110% against it, but he may have that 'it' factor. He reminds me a lot of Quick, and he has about as high potential as any prospect in our system.