- Aug 21, 2016
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After watching and re-watching some games of the last WJC, here is my new Habs top 10 list, feel free to post yours...
1- Cayden Primeau
Ive been a huge Primeau fan for a while since his mix of size, skills and competitiveness makes him easily the best and most intriguing goaltending prospect we had in the system since Carey Price... After an outstanding rookie season in the NCAA, Primeau was headed to the WJC as the favorite to defend team USA's net, after a luckily first game against the Kazachs where he barely faced 15 shots and allowed 2 goals, he rebounded admirably well against the Finns in the preliminary round to just never quit the net again showing a calm and reassuring presence in net for team USA, as well as a high compete level, great rebounds control and great poise overall... He did extremely well in the quarter against the big Russian machine allowing only 1 goal on 33 shots, 14 of them came in the third when the game was on the line and the kid showed his legendary cold blood stopping all of them... The gold medal game was against the Finns and their big skilled goalkeeper, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, a 6'5 monster drafted late second round by Buffalo, easily along with Primeau, a top 5 goaltender prospect in the world for the NHL, a duel that didnt disappoint since both goaltenders had their moments in the game showing great poise and promise... First goal Primeau allowed was on a perfect quick one timer directed by Habs highly touted prospect Jessi Ylonen, a major league shot on which he just had no chance, second goal was a screened one, about 3-4 guys in the shooting lane, a puck that had eyes and ended up in the net, there is very little he could do on the winning game goal as well since there was alot of traffic in front... Overall, the best team that night won and Primeau can certainly leave that competition head up toward a very bright future... I know alot of people will disagree with me with Primeau at 1st considering the high quality of prospects following in that ranking, but thats mine nevertheless...
2- Jesse Ylonen
Here again, some people will disagree with Ylonen at 2, but after watching him pretty closely at the WJC, carrying a whole line by his own and outproducing some top prospects like Tolvainen, Heponiemi despite limited powerplay time and third line duties, I can safely say that Ylonen is one of the most skilled and top prospects not only in the Habs system, but in the world, in 2-3 years from now when people make that draft review, I can confidently say that most people will have this kid easily in their top 10-15 of that draft... Coming to this tournament, I was looking at a skilled player with some flaws such as questionnable decision making, defensive play and puck battles issues, well, I was wrong, not only this kid was taking good decisions under pressure, competing hard for the puck all the times and taking his defensive duties seriously, but his offensive skills are even higher as I was personally expecting, that kid has elite skating both in term of speed and agility, can reach top gear and changes directions with baffling ease and make plays at top speed since he has very good stickhhandling skills and eye hand coordination, his skating allows him to get in position quickly and always close to the puck offering his linemates a passing option basically in all times... That kid can also shoot the puck, he has a very quick release, good accuracy and good velocity, it can only gets better as he gets stronger... I have him as high as 2nd on our prospects pool since he probably has the highest upside among our skaters (with Suzuki, if he can improve his skating and pace further along with his strength) and his game is surprisingly well rounded at this point... Ylonen's game should translate well to the next level since his game is all about speed and pace, exactly where the NHL is trending these days, he distributes the puck with accuracy, he is also listed at 6'1 185 lbs, will probably add around 10 -15 pounds, what is more than fine for the NHL... He has top 6 upside for sure and could even ends up as a solid first line winger...
3- Ryan Poehling
That kid cant score right? Ended up the tournament tied with Kurashev in goals total with 6 and finished tied with 3 other players as best scorer in the tournament... While its unlikely Poehling ends up as a scoring threat in the NHL, he still proved he could score against the best kids in the world and that he could be productive while playing his pretty solid 200 ft game... Poehling was responsible of team USA resurgence when his team was looking dead and hopeless against a solid, fast paced and experienced Sweden team, trailing by 3 goals in the third, Poehling took charge and almost won that game by his own showing incredible determination and being involved in all 3 goals that led to the OT, maybe his team lost that game, but it certainly was a weakup call for the rest of the tournament... USA ended up losing the gold medal game and Im sure Poehling wished he could have done a little more in order to win that game, probably the reason why he was so devasted after the game, but overall, if you look at the whole tournament, Poehling certainly didnt disappoint and was so close from the ultimate goal... While Poehling's celling and projections are still unclear, I think its pretty safe at this point to say he is going to be a very solid and clutch NHLer having some natural leadership skills in himself... Weither if its as a good\decent second line center or a great third line one, he is a keeper!
4- Nick Suzuki
What this kid can do with the puck on his stick is rather incredible, his offensive creativity, vision, passing, stickhandling and overall offensive awereness are top notch, he was easily one of the most purely gifted fowards on that team Canada roster and possibly one of the most offensively gifted players in the whole tournament... That being said, this kid has to improve his speed, pace, strength and compete level furthermore in order to become a dominant player in the NHL, Is it that bad? No, I dont think so, I think the AHL will be a very good experience for him next year to develop his game and after spending some time there, I expect this kid to become a very good top 6 winger for us and a powerplay beast...
5- Alexander Romanov
What can I say that hasnt already been said? That kid is a very dynamic player who does everything on the ice, his skating is so fluid and smooth, he can move the puck very well, can hit like a truck, can defend like few players his age can, has pretty decent offensive awareness too, he does it all, except maybe quarterbacking a first PP unit since I dont see those game breaking abilities personally, overall, another big time riser in a re-draft, big big fan of his game...
6- Josh Brook
3 to 7 is very very close in my book, I could have Brook easily at 3, but since we have to rank them, I will put him here for now since I think he was a bit of a disappointment in this tournament... I know he was playing on his off side and wasnt given the opportunity to shine on the PP, but I dont feel he forced his coach's hand to get increased responsabilities much, was fine on the first PK unit and was possibly the most steady Canadian defenseman in his own zone, but I thought he was a bit too inconsistent through this tournament... Still has high potential and Im still a big fan, just think I have to rank him at this spot for now...
7- Cale Fleury
That kid, as I mentionned in another thread, reminds me alot of a young Francois Beauchemin since a bit like Romanov, he can do everything on the ice, can move the puck, can defend well, can be a physical beast out there and a danger for the other teams fowards at gaining the offensive zone head low, Fleury, as Beauchemin used to, loves to throw open ice hits and most of the times, those hits are very well timed, can join the rush and generate some offense, another kid that looks like a stud going foward!
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8- Jacob Olofsson
9- Joni Ikonen
10- Cameron Hillis\Jordan Harris
1- Cayden Primeau
Ive been a huge Primeau fan for a while since his mix of size, skills and competitiveness makes him easily the best and most intriguing goaltending prospect we had in the system since Carey Price... After an outstanding rookie season in the NCAA, Primeau was headed to the WJC as the favorite to defend team USA's net, after a luckily first game against the Kazachs where he barely faced 15 shots and allowed 2 goals, he rebounded admirably well against the Finns in the preliminary round to just never quit the net again showing a calm and reassuring presence in net for team USA, as well as a high compete level, great rebounds control and great poise overall... He did extremely well in the quarter against the big Russian machine allowing only 1 goal on 33 shots, 14 of them came in the third when the game was on the line and the kid showed his legendary cold blood stopping all of them... The gold medal game was against the Finns and their big skilled goalkeeper, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, a 6'5 monster drafted late second round by Buffalo, easily along with Primeau, a top 5 goaltender prospect in the world for the NHL, a duel that didnt disappoint since both goaltenders had their moments in the game showing great poise and promise... First goal Primeau allowed was on a perfect quick one timer directed by Habs highly touted prospect Jessi Ylonen, a major league shot on which he just had no chance, second goal was a screened one, about 3-4 guys in the shooting lane, a puck that had eyes and ended up in the net, there is very little he could do on the winning game goal as well since there was alot of traffic in front... Overall, the best team that night won and Primeau can certainly leave that competition head up toward a very bright future... I know alot of people will disagree with me with Primeau at 1st considering the high quality of prospects following in that ranking, but thats mine nevertheless...
2- Jesse Ylonen
Here again, some people will disagree with Ylonen at 2, but after watching him pretty closely at the WJC, carrying a whole line by his own and outproducing some top prospects like Tolvainen, Heponiemi despite limited powerplay time and third line duties, I can safely say that Ylonen is one of the most skilled and top prospects not only in the Habs system, but in the world, in 2-3 years from now when people make that draft review, I can confidently say that most people will have this kid easily in their top 10-15 of that draft... Coming to this tournament, I was looking at a skilled player with some flaws such as questionnable decision making, defensive play and puck battles issues, well, I was wrong, not only this kid was taking good decisions under pressure, competing hard for the puck all the times and taking his defensive duties seriously, but his offensive skills are even higher as I was personally expecting, that kid has elite skating both in term of speed and agility, can reach top gear and changes directions with baffling ease and make plays at top speed since he has very good stickhhandling skills and eye hand coordination, his skating allows him to get in position quickly and always close to the puck offering his linemates a passing option basically in all times... That kid can also shoot the puck, he has a very quick release, good accuracy and good velocity, it can only gets better as he gets stronger... I have him as high as 2nd on our prospects pool since he probably has the highest upside among our skaters (with Suzuki, if he can improve his skating and pace further along with his strength) and his game is surprisingly well rounded at this point... Ylonen's game should translate well to the next level since his game is all about speed and pace, exactly where the NHL is trending these days, he distributes the puck with accuracy, he is also listed at 6'1 185 lbs, will probably add around 10 -15 pounds, what is more than fine for the NHL... He has top 6 upside for sure and could even ends up as a solid first line winger...
3- Ryan Poehling
That kid cant score right? Ended up the tournament tied with Kurashev in goals total with 6 and finished tied with 3 other players as best scorer in the tournament... While its unlikely Poehling ends up as a scoring threat in the NHL, he still proved he could score against the best kids in the world and that he could be productive while playing his pretty solid 200 ft game... Poehling was responsible of team USA resurgence when his team was looking dead and hopeless against a solid, fast paced and experienced Sweden team, trailing by 3 goals in the third, Poehling took charge and almost won that game by his own showing incredible determination and being involved in all 3 goals that led to the OT, maybe his team lost that game, but it certainly was a weakup call for the rest of the tournament... USA ended up losing the gold medal game and Im sure Poehling wished he could have done a little more in order to win that game, probably the reason why he was so devasted after the game, but overall, if you look at the whole tournament, Poehling certainly didnt disappoint and was so close from the ultimate goal... While Poehling's celling and projections are still unclear, I think its pretty safe at this point to say he is going to be a very solid and clutch NHLer having some natural leadership skills in himself... Weither if its as a good\decent second line center or a great third line one, he is a keeper!
4- Nick Suzuki
What this kid can do with the puck on his stick is rather incredible, his offensive creativity, vision, passing, stickhandling and overall offensive awereness are top notch, he was easily one of the most purely gifted fowards on that team Canada roster and possibly one of the most offensively gifted players in the whole tournament... That being said, this kid has to improve his speed, pace, strength and compete level furthermore in order to become a dominant player in the NHL, Is it that bad? No, I dont think so, I think the AHL will be a very good experience for him next year to develop his game and after spending some time there, I expect this kid to become a very good top 6 winger for us and a powerplay beast...
5- Alexander Romanov
What can I say that hasnt already been said? That kid is a very dynamic player who does everything on the ice, his skating is so fluid and smooth, he can move the puck very well, can hit like a truck, can defend like few players his age can, has pretty decent offensive awareness too, he does it all, except maybe quarterbacking a first PP unit since I dont see those game breaking abilities personally, overall, another big time riser in a re-draft, big big fan of his game...
6- Josh Brook
3 to 7 is very very close in my book, I could have Brook easily at 3, but since we have to rank them, I will put him here for now since I think he was a bit of a disappointment in this tournament... I know he was playing on his off side and wasnt given the opportunity to shine on the PP, but I dont feel he forced his coach's hand to get increased responsabilities much, was fine on the first PK unit and was possibly the most steady Canadian defenseman in his own zone, but I thought he was a bit too inconsistent through this tournament... Still has high potential and Im still a big fan, just think I have to rank him at this spot for now...
7- Cale Fleury
That kid, as I mentionned in another thread, reminds me alot of a young Francois Beauchemin since a bit like Romanov, he can do everything on the ice, can move the puck, can defend well, can be a physical beast out there and a danger for the other teams fowards at gaining the offensive zone head low, Fleury, as Beauchemin used to, loves to throw open ice hits and most of the times, those hits are very well timed, can join the rush and generate some offense, another kid that looks like a stud going foward!
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8- Jacob Olofsson
9- Joni Ikonen
10- Cameron Hillis\Jordan Harris
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