Prospect Info: 2024 Ducks Prospect Rankings #10

[MMC]

Each poll will run for 48 hours except in the case of a clear landslide. I will go to the top 25 and include a final poll where you can pick 5 honorable mentions. In the tenth poll I am voting for Nathan Gaucher.

As always the list will define prospects as hockeysfuture does: NHL Prospect Criteria - Hockey's Future.

2024 Ducks Prospect Rankings:

1. LW - Cutter Gauthier (2024 acquired)
2. RW - Beckett Sennecke (2024 draftee)
3. D - Olen Zellweger (no change)
4. D - Tristan Luneau (+1)
5. D - Stian Solberg (2024 draftee)
6. G - Damian Clara (+16)
7. RW - Sam Colangelo (+18)
8. C - Lucas Pettersson (2024 draftee)
9. D - Rodwin Dionicio (2023 HM)

Our graduates and departures are:

Leo Carlsson
Pavel Mintyukov
Lukas Dostal
Jackson LaCombe
Connor Hvidston
Jacob Perreault
Pavol Regenda
Benoit-Olivier Groulx
Brayden Tracey
Blake McLaughlin
Gage Alexander
Ben King
Jack Perbix
Artyom Galimov
Albin Sundsvik​

Click to read more...

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Hinds

 

[Arthuros]

Well, I've changed my mind multiple times on this, but...we'll go with Nesty.

 

[forever1922]

I'm with Suchanek on this one, he is a very highly thought of goalie prospect around the league. Honestly I'm still wondering why he decided to stay with the Ducks. I guess a very loyal guy, grateful for the opportunity?

 

[tomd]

Gaucher again (holding nose to do it).

 

[Ducks]

Suchanek for reasons I've already explained the past two polls.

 

[HanSolo]

Suchanek.

 

[MMC]

I'm with Suchanek on this one, he is a very highly thought of goalie prospect around the league. Honestly I'm still wondering why he decided to stay with the Ducks. I guess a very loyal guy, grateful for the opportunity?

Why not? We have a pretty good track record of developing goalies, I’m sure he sees that and is confident he can thrive here

 

[McDonald19]

Gaucher, he has middle 6 impact upside.

Suchanek is interesting too.

 

[JAHV]

I've voted Gaucher the last few rounds. I know his ceiling is pretty low, but he's got a skillset the Ducks desperately need if it can get to a high enough level to play in the NHL. I would really like Gaucher to be the version of Lundestrom that we thought we were getting.

If he is a leader for the Gulls and looks like one of their best players this season, I like his chances. If he doesn't take that step, he'll probably drop off my list as a prospect.

 

[ZegrassyKnoll]

Why not? We have a pretty good track record of developing goalies, I’m sure he sees that and is confident he can thrive here

Plus, should he ever make it to the big leagues, it would be pretty cool to have him and Dostal play together!

 

[Kalv]

You guys convinced me to go for Suchanek here. His stats in the AHL was so much better than our other goalies, it wasn't really close. Before that, he led Czechia to a WJC silver - he had the best save % and GAA in the tournament. And yeah, he's still only 21 years old.

Otherwise, next for me is Gaucher and Hinds. Hinds I have historically been super high on, while I have been sceptical about Gaucher, but currently they'll be a split decision for me. Both got a C grade from Defend The Nest (that I suggest you guys to check on frequently). But both had things to be excited about (Hinds on his aggressive forecheck (!) and denying zone entries, and Gaucher as someone who created a great duo with Caulfield at the end of the year).

 

[Gliff]

Gaucher. I'm hoping he has a healthy year and takes big steps.

 

[Static]

Ian Moore. Big, mobile RD who has learned to play defense at Harvard. Expecting a huge role for him this season.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Suchanek for me here, and then... I honestly have no idea. Ordinarily, I'd be leaning heavily towards the pro guys, but San Diego has been such a disaster for the better part of 3 years that I have no idea whose development curve is trending upward (Nesterenko, I assume, though it's reassuring to be hearing good things about Hinds in these threads). Hopefully, McIlvane and the staff down there is reversing the trend.

 

[tomd]

Ian Moore. Big, mobile RD who has learned to play defense at Harvard. Expecting a huge role for him this season.

I totally agree and had him in my top ten last year. That said, he didn't have a good season although injuries certainly played a role. He needs a bounce back season and then he needs to sign with the team. The uncertainty of both of those things are keeping him outside the top 10 for me.

 

[Trojans86]

I've voted Gaucher the last few rounds. I know his ceiling is pretty low, but he's got a skillset the Ducks desperately need if it can get to a high enough level to play in the NHL. I would really like Gaucher to be the version of Lundestrom that we thought we were getting.

If he is a leader for the Gulls and looks like one of their best players this season, I like his chances. If he doesn't take that step, he'll probably drop off my list as a prospect.

How good was he last season

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Ian Moore. Big, mobile RD who has learned to play defense at Harvard. Expecting a huge role for him this season.

I've got Hinds myself but Moore is slept on in this system

 

[AngelDuck]

Terrance. Breakout year is coming for him

Nesterenko
Moore

Are next

 

[JAHV]

How good was he last season

From what I've read, he was fine. He looked better near the end of the season, which is encouraging, but he certainly didn't light the world on fire. He's never going to be a guy who racks up high scoring totals, but hopefully he can drive play through excellent defense and forechecking.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Ian Moore. Big, mobile RD who has learned to play defense at Harvard. Expecting a huge role for him this season.

I don't know if we'll ever get to see all what Moore can give because Harvard has been dead set on his role being a shutdown D-man and not develop his offense, which is what Verbeek shared with the media. Moore has been having praise since Murray was GM. Last year's dev camp, Moore displayed his skating speed in the skate to failure testing. We may not see Moore's upper potential until he makes it into the pros.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I've got Hinds myself but Moore is slept on in this system

I think people are maybe baking in the Harvard/UFA factor.

Terrance. Breakout year is coming for him

Nesterenko
Moore

Are next

Terrance is one of my faves along with Pitre and Colangelo. Hoping he really does break out.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I'm still high on Nesterenko. Top-5 Gulls scorer and 2nd best +/- rating in his rookie season in the AHL. Sure he's older than Gaucher, but Nesterenko has proven he has improved from a player that was a 6th round pick in 2019 to being one of our best players in San Diego. We need two-way forwards who can defend with speed on our NHL club sooner than later, especially with Rico and Silf gone.

 

[forever1922]

Why not? We have a pretty good track record of developing goalies, I’m sure he sees that and is confident he can thrive here

Simply because he must have been coveted by other teams because of the season he had. Some teams also would have given him a shot in the NHL much sooner.

 

[MMC]

Some teams also would have given him a shot in the NHL much sooner.

Idk about that, he's a 2021 draft eligible, the only goalie from the 2021 draft to play in the NHL so far is Wallstedt for 3 games