Prospect Info: HFCBJ 2023 Summer Prospect Rankings - Final Top 20

[Viqsi]

As voted on by the board, here is our top-20 list of prospects for 2023:

1) Adam Fantilli (C)
2) David Jiricek (RD)
3) Denton Mateychuk (LD)
4) Dmitri Voronkov (C)
5) Stanislav Svozil (LD)
6) Gavin Brindley (C)
7) Jordan Dumais (RW)
8) Corson Ceulemans (D)
9) Daniil Tarasov (G)
10) Luca Del Bel Belluz (C)
11) Hunter McKown (C)
12) James Malatesta (LW)
13) William Whitelaw (RW)
14) Sergei Ivanov (G)
15) Kirill Dolzhenkov (RW)
16) Nikolai Makarov (D)
17) Mikael Pyythia (LW/C)
18) Martin Rysavy (RW)
19) Jacob Christiansen (D)
20) Luca Pinelli (C)

Honorable Metions (in final vote order): Samuel Knazko (LD), James Fisher (RW/MOD), Guillaume Richard (LD), Andrew Strathmann (LD)

Others Receiving Add Votes (in cumulative vote order): Trey Fix-Wolansky (RW) (20), Jet Greaves (G) (14), Tyler Peddle (LW/C) (4), Robbie Stucker (RD) (1), Aidan Hreschuk (LD) (1), Nolan Lalonde (G) (1)

Unappreciated, Unacknowledged, Alone: Tyler Angle (C), Ole Julian Bjørgvik Holm (LD), Ben Boyd (C), Cameron Butler (RW), Joshua Dunne (C), Oiva Keskinen (C), Melvin Strahl (G)


Past years (with discussions of same where available):

Spoiler: 2022

Prospect Info: - HFCBJ 2022 Summer Prospect Rankings - Final Top 20

Here is the final list of our top-20 prospects for 2022, as voted on by this board: 1. Kent Johnson (LW/C) 2. David Jiricek (D) 3. Kirill Marchenko (LW/RW) 4. Denton Mateychuk (D) 5. Corson Ceulemans (D) 6. Daniil Tarasov (G) 7. Nick Blankenburg (D) 8. Luca Del Bel Belluz (C) 9. Stanislav...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Kent Johnson (LW/C)
2. David Jiricek (D)
3. Kirill Marchenko (LW/RW)
4. Denton Mateychuk (D)
5. Corson Ceulemans (D)
6. Daniil Tarasov (G)
7. Nick Blankenburg (D)
8. Luca Del Bel Belluz (C)
9. Stanislav Svozil (D)
10. Liam Foudy (C/LW)
11. Dmitri Voronkov (LW)
12. Guillaume Richard (D)
13. Mikael Pyyhtia (C)
14. Jordan Dumais (RW)
15. Samuel Knazko (D)
16. Kirill Dolzhenkov (RW)
17. Aidan Hreschuk (D)
18. Jacob Christiansen (D)
19. Sergei Ivanov (G)
20. Nikolai Makarov (D)

Spoiler: 2021

Prospect Info: - HFCBJ Voted Top 20 Prospects: Summer 2021

Here are the Top 20 CBJ prospects as voted by us: 1. Kent Johnson (C/LW) 2. Cole Sillinger (C/LW) 3. Kirill Marchenko (LW) 4. Yegor Chinakov (RW) 5. Dmitri Voronkov (LW/C) 6. Liam Foudy (C/LW) 7. Daniil Tarasov (G) 8. Andrew Peeke (D) 9. Corson Ceulemans (D) 10. Stanislav Svozil (D) 11. Samuel...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Kent Johnson (C/LW)
2. Cole Sillinger (C/LW)
3. Kirill Marchenko (LW)
4. Yegor Chinakov (RW)
5. Dmitri Voronkov (LW/C)
6. Liam Foudy (C/LW)
7. Daniil Tarasov (G)
8. Andrew Peeke (D)
9. Corson Ceulemans (D)
10. Stanislav Svozil (D)
11. Samuel Knazko (D)
12. Tyler Angle (C)
13. Trey Fix-Wolansky (RW)
14. Josh Dunne (C)
15. Ole-Julian Bjorgvik-Holm (D)
16. Tim Berni (D)
17. Nikolai Makarov (D)
18. James Malatesta (C)
19. Jacob Christiansen (D)
20. Guillaume Richard (D)

Spoiler: 2020

Prospect Info: - Final CBJ Board 2020 Prospect Rankings

Final top-20 - with two tiebreakers that had to be run. :scared: Liam Foudy (LW/C) Kirill Marchenko (LW) Yegor Chinakhov (RW) Andrew Peeke (D) Dmitri Voronkov (LW) Daniil Tarasov (G) Veini Vehviläinen (G) Kevin Stenlund (C) Trey Fix-Wolansky (RW) Tim Berni (D) Samuel Knazko (D) Mikael Pyyhtia...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Liam Foudy (LW/C)
2. Kirill Marchenko (LW)
3. Yegor Chinakhov (RW)
4. Andrew Peeke (D)
5. Dmitri Voronkov (LW)
6. Daniil Tarasov (G)
7. Veini Vehviläinen (G)
8. Kevin Stenlund (C)
9. Trey Fix-Wolansky (RW)
10. Tim Berni (D)
11. Samuel Knazko (D)
12. Mikael Pyyhtia (C)
13. Eric Hjorth (D)
14. Gabriel Carlsson (D)
15. Matiss Kivlenieks (G)
16. Jacob Christiansen (D)
17. Ryan MacInnis (C)
18. Samuel Johannesson (D)
19. Ole Julian Bjorgvik Holm (D)
20. Kole Sherwood (RW)

Spoiler: 2019

CBJ Board 2019 Prospect Rankings

Here it is, your CBJ HF Boards top 20 prospect list. 1. Alexandre Texier (LW/C) 2. Vladislav Gavrikov (D) 3. Emil Bemstrom (LW/C) 4. Liam Foudy (C) 5. Daniil Tarasov (G) 6. Andrew Peeke (D) 7. Veini Vehviläinen (G) 8. Trey Fix-Wolansky (RW) 9. Kirill Marchenko (RW/LW) 10. Kevin Stenlund (C) 11...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Alexandre Texier (LW/C)
2. Vladislav Gavrikov (LD)
3. Emil Bemström (RW/C)
4. Liam Foudy (C)
5. Daniil Tarasov (G)
6. Andrew Peeke (RD)
7. Veini Vehvilainen (G)
8. Trey Fix-Wolansky (RW)
9. Kirill Marchenko (C/W)
10. Kevin Stenlund (C/RW)
11. Gabriel Carlsson (LD)
12. Eric Robinson (LW)
13. Eric Hjorth (RD)
14. Marcus Karlberg (LW/RW)
15. Kole Sherwood (RW/C)
16. Paul Bittner (LW)
17. Dmitri Voronkov (LW/C)
18. Tim Berni (LD)
19. Calvin Thürkauf (C/LW)
20. Carson Meyer (RW)

Spoiler: 2018

CBJ Board Summer 2018 Prospect Rankings - Top 20

1. Vitaly Abramov| RW 2. Liam Foudy|C 3. Vladislav Gavrikov|D 4. Elvis Merzlikins|G 5. Alexandre Texier|C 6. Jonathan Davidsson|RW 7. Kirill Marchenko|RW 8. Andrew Peeke|D 9. Gabriel Carlsson|D 10. Kevin Stenlund|C 11. Daniil Tarasov|G 12. Veini Vehvilainen|G 13. Calvin Thurkauf|C 14. Emil...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Vitaly Abramov (RW)
2. Liam Foudy (C)
3. Vladislav Gavrikov (D)
4. Elvis Merzlikins (G)
5. Alexandre Texier (C)
6. Jonathan Davidsson (RW)
7. Kirill Marchenko (RW/LW)
8. Andrew Peeke (D)
9. Gabriel Carlsson (D)
10. Kevin Stenlund (C)
11. Daniil Tarasov (G)
12. Veini Vehviläinen (G)
13. Calvin Thürkauf (C/LW)
14. Emil Bemström (C)
15. Marcus Karlberg (LW/RW)
16. Maxime Fortier (RW)
17. Eric Robinson (LW)
18. Sam Vigneault (C)
19. Kole Sherwood (RW)
20. Tim Berni (D)

Spoiler: 2017

1. Pierre-Luc Dubois
2. Oliver Bjorkstrand
3. Gabriel Carlsson
4. Vitaly Abramov
5. Vladislav Gavrikov
6. Sonny Milano
7. Kevin Stenlund
8. Alexandre Texier
9. Elvis Merzlikins
10. Tyler Motte
11. Andrew Peeke
12. Daniil Tarasov
13. Calvin Thurkauf
14. Markus Hannikainen
15. Kole Sherwood
16. Matiss Kivlenieks
17. Jonathan Davidsson
18. Sam Vigneault
19. Emil Bemstrom
20. Carson Meyer

Spoiler: 2016

Prospect Info: - CBJ HF-voted Top 20 Prospects 2016

Just to put a ribbon on this, and for the sake of comparison when HF's own list comes out, here is the final ranking of the voted top 20 for this summer. Those of you who have your own lists, beefs with this one or just comments about the CBJ prospect pool in general, this is probably a good...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Zachary Werenski
2. Pierre-Luc Dubois
3. Oliver Bjorkstrand
4. Joonas Korpisalo
5. Sonny Milano
6. Josh Anderson
7. Gabriel Carlsson
8. Anton Forsberg
9. Vitaly Abramov
10. Paul Bittner
11. Keegan Kolesar
12. Daniel Zaar
13. Dean Kukan
14. Markus Nutivaara
15. Vladislav Gavrikov
16. Elvis Merzlikins
17. Dillon Heatherington
18. Andrew Peeke
19. Veeti Vainio
20. Markus Hannikainen

Spoiler: 2015

Prospect Info: - CBJ HF voted Top 20 Prospects

Just to put a ribbon on this, and since we've seen a few partner lists (Sore Loser and others), here is the final ranking of the voted top 20 for this summer. 2015 Rank|Player|Position #1|Zachary Werenski|D #2|Sonny Milano|LW #3|Oliver Bjorkstrand|RW #4|Kerby Rychel|LW #5|Dillon Heatherington|D...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Zach Werenski
2. Sonny Milano
3. Oliver Bjorkstrand
4. Kerby Rychel
5. Dillon Heatherington
6. Gabriel Carlsson
7. Anton Forsberg
8. Michael Paliotta
9. Paul Bittner
10. William Karlsson
11. Josh Anderson
12. Austin Madaisky
13. Kevin Stenlund
14. Ryan Collins
15. TJ Tynan
16. Joonas Korpisalo
17. Daniel Zaar
18. Blake Siebenaler
19. Oliver Leblanc
20. Elvis Merzlikins

Spoiler: 2014

Prospect Info: - HF CBJ forum top 20 prospects 2014

Finished voting about a week ago, and since have had a couple links to other opinions, so I thought it would be interesting to post our results and sort of 'clearinghouse' some comparisons. HF posters 2014 Rank|Player|Position #1|Alexander Wennberg|C #2|Kerby Rychel|LW #3|Sonny Milano|LW...

forums.hfboards.com

1. Alexander Wennberg (C)
2. Kerby Rychel (LW)
3. Sonny Milano (LW)
4. Tim Erixon (D)
5. Oliver Bjorkstrand (RW)
6. Mike Reilly (D)
7. Marko Dano (C)
8. Anton Forsberg (G)
9. Dillon Heatherington (D)
10. Oscar Dansk (G)
11. Simon Hjalmarsson (RW)
12. Daniel Zaar (RW)
13. Michael Chaput (C)
14. Ryan Collins (D)
15. Josh Anderson (RW)
16. Jerry D'Amigo (RW)
17. Markus Soberg (RW)
18. TJ Tynan (C)
19. Elvis Merzlikins (G)
20. Blake Siebenaler (D)

Spoiler: 2013

T1. Ryan Murray
T1. Cam Atkinson
3. Alex Wennberg
4. Boone Jenner
5. Tim Erixon
6. Kerby Rychel
7. Dalton Prout
8. Marko Dano
9. Oscar Dansk
10. Cody Goloubef
11. Anton Forsberg
12. Dillon Heatherington
13. David Savard
14. Oliver Bjorkstrand
15. Mike Rielly
16. Michael Chaput
17. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault
18. Daniel Zaar
19. Joonas Korpisalo
20. Nick Moutrey

Spoiler: 2012

1. Ryan Murray
2. Cam Atkinson
3. Tim Erixon
4. David Savard
5. Boone Jenner
6. Oscar Dansk
7. Matt Calvert
8. Michael Chaput
9. Tomas Kubalik
T10. Cody Goloubef
T10. Anton Forsberg
12. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault
13. TJ Tynan
14. Mike Rielly
15. Allen York
16. Will Weber
17. Joonas Korpisalo
18. Dalton Prout
19. Daniel Zaar
20. Lukas Sedlak

Spoiler: 2011

1. Ryan Johansen
2. Matt Calvert
3. David Savard
4. John Moore
5. Tomas Kubalik
6. Cam Atkinson
7. Maksim Mayorov
8. Boone Jenner
9. Cody Goloubef
10. Allen York
11. Petr Straka
12. Michael Chaput
13. Will Weberg
14. Teddy Ruth
15. TJ Tynan
16. Anton Blomqvist
17. Oliver Gabriel
18. Seth Ambroz
19. Dalton Smith
20. Thomas Larkin

Spoiler: 2010

1. Nikita Filatov
2. John Moore
3. Ryan Johansen
4. Matt Calvert
5. David Savard
6. Cody Goloubef
7. Maksim Mayorov
8. Petr Straka
9. Gustav Wesslau
10. Grant Clitsome
11. Cam Atkinson
12. Will Weber
13. Anton Blomqvist
14. Tomas Kubalik
15. Tomas Kana
16. Teddy Ruth
17. Kevin Lynch
18. Dalton Smith
19. Brent Regner
20. Matt Rust

Spoiler: 2009

1. Derick Brassard
2. Nikita Filatov
3. John Moore
4. Cody Goloubef
5. Maksim Mayorov
6. Teddy Ruth
7. Derek Dorsett
8. Kevin Lalande
9. Brent Regner
10. Jonathan Sigalet
11. Kevin Lynch
12. Will Weberg
13. Matt Calvert
14. Dan LaCosta
15. Alexandre Picard
16. Grant Clitsome
17. Tom Sestito
18. Mike Blunden
19. Stefan Legein
20. Nick Holden

Click to read more...

 

[Viqsi]

I keep my own lists of prospects for this exercise for the years I've particpated in, and I post them as well in these threads for amusement purposes. Doing so is how I was able to get some of the older historic lists, so it's actually been helpful.

This year's is here: 2023
I had a secondary "honorable mentions" category in my own lists for guys who I kept going back and forth on w/r/t HMing them. We have a deep system this year, y'all.

Past years:
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
(2014 was infamously skipped in protest)
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009

(And for the record, Fisher being listed as "(RW/MOD)" is my fault. When discussing the initial list of eligibles with DSL and CBJW, I snuck that in as a silly joke. Then my list was copied verbatim and, well, at that point we just had to run with it. )

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

(2014 was infamously skipped in protest)

Ok I'll bite, in protest of what?

That 2016 top-4...

1. Zachary Werenski
2. Pierre-Luc Dubois
3. Oliver Bjorkstrand
4. Joonas Korpisalo

Fun exercise, thanks for organizing folks!

 

[DarkandStormy]

I am hopeful this year's list rivals 2015/2016 in terms of depth.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Ok I'll bite, in protest of what?

Honestly don't recall for certain but I note that 2013's voted list does not include TJ Tynan.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

(And for the record, Fisher being listed as "(RW/MOD)" is my fault. When discussing the initial list of eligibles with DSL and CBJW, I snuck that in as a silly joke. Then my list was copied verbatim and, well, at that point we just had to run with it. )

I liked the little joke (of course), so I left it in when posting the original list of eligibles for anyone who might have noticed and understood it.

 

[Viqsi]

Ok I'll bite, in protest of what?

This:

Honestly don't recall for certain but I note that 2013's voted list does not include TJ Tynan.

10. T.J. Tynan [NOT ON LIST! down 15! WTf***INGf***]

I had him in my top-10 (see my 2013 list) and he was never added, so I just never bothered with the 2014 vote. When I saw he made it onto the 2014 list, I reconsidered.

 

[DarkandStormy]

This:


I had him in my top-10 (see my 2013 list) and he was never added, so I just never bothered with the 2014 vote. When I saw he made it onto the 2014 list, I reconsidered.

He just put up 11 points in 10 games at Worlds.

Does look like the 2013 list had quite a few guys who have gone on to play more NHL games, though.

 

[Viqsi]

He just put up 11 points in 10 games at Worlds.

Does look like the 2013 list had quite a few guys who have gone on to play more NHL games, though.

Yeah; for being as vehement as I was about him, he pretty much hasn't panned out. I was just annoyed because I felt like folks were dismissing him because he was who we got back for Filatov and folks were seemingly bound and determined to insist that that trade was a horrible loss no matter what.

Of course, all these years later, we now know the horrible loss wasn't the trade, but the draft pick. But that's a different story.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

really strong at the top, lots of depth, too. my biggest gripes are:

• voronkov over svozil, brindley and dumais
• mckown over whitelaw
• christiansen over knazko
• pyyhtia over pinelli
• rysavy over peddle + butler
• makarov over strathmann

voronkov has a shorter path to get to the NHL (pretty much pro-ready now) but imo is a bottom-six guy all the way, albeit a solid one. he has size and grit, but the skill/skating/hockey iq aren't even in the same stratosphere as the next three guys on the list, who i project to be top-half-of-the-lineup players.

i get why people would value the higher certainty – i just tend to prioritize NHL upside. same story with mckown over whitelaw – i like mckown, but can't justify ranking a (good) recent UDFA over a guy who has first-round quality tools (hands/skating/shot) in whitelaw.

the ones i can't wrap my head around are christiansen/pyyhtia over knazko/pinelli. the latter two have far higher ceilings (knazko as a 5/6 defenseman, pinelli as a middle-six wing). there's not a ton of certainty there, but i don't think that really matters when you're measuring them against two likely career AHLers.

the last two are nitpicky on my end, but rysavy's not getting an ELC (they gave one to butler + traded back into the draft for peddle) and makarov is a total black box to me – i don't think we even have accurate height/weight measurements for him?

final thought: strathmann is absurdly underrated by this board, too – has tools that translate on both sides of the ice and a good hockey IQ. his main issue (consistency) is fixed by coaching/experience. the talent is there, and the results (in the USHL, at least) have been quite good.

 

[Monstershockey]

I really like Tynan also. He is a good, smart player. Just not NHL good, smart. He has been very good in the AHL though. Since he left Columbus/Cleveland, he has been better than a point per game. I am amazed at how some players just fizzle when they jump up one league.

 

[majormajor]

I am hopeful this year's list rivals 2015/2016 in terms of depth.

Yeah the crazy thing about that list is that it is half NHLers all the way down. We'd be lucky to do that again.

 

[majormajor]

really strong at the top, lots of depth, too. my biggest gripes are:

• voronkov over svozil, brindley and dumais
• mckown over whitelaw
• christiansen over knazko
• pyyhtia over pinelli
• rysavy over peddle + butler
• makarov over strathmann

voronkov has a shorter path to get to the NHL (pretty much pro-ready now) but imo is a bottom-six guy all the way, albeit a solid one. he has size and grit, but the skill/skating/hockey iq aren't even in the same stratosphere as the next three guys on the list, who i project to be top-half-of-the-lineup players.

i get why people would value the higher certainty – i just tend to prioritize NHL upside. same story with mckown over whitelaw – i like mckown, but can't justify ranking a (good) recent UDFA over a guy who has first-round quality tools (hands/skating/shot) in whitelaw.

the ones i can't wrap my head around are christiansen/pyyhtia over knazko/pinelli. the latter two have far higher ceilings (knazko as a 5/6 defenseman, pinelli as a middle-six wing). there's not a ton of certainty there, but i don't think that really matters when you're measuring them against two likely career AHLers.

the last two are nitpicky on my end, but rysavy's not getting an ELC (they gave one to butler + traded back into the draft for peddle) and makarov is a total black box to me – i don't think we even have accurate height/weight measurements for him?

final thought: strathmann is absurdly underrated by this board, too – has tools that translate on both sides of the ice and a good hockey IQ. his main issue (consistency) is fixed by coaching/experience. the talent is there, and the results (in the USHL, at least) have been quite good.

Pronman made a good argument recently that in the public prospects discussions we have in hockey, we often think about upside and size backwards. In football / basketball / baseball, you have a 6'6 kid that looks awkward at age 18, they'll say "he's got upside but looks like crap", in hockey we say he'll be a safe pick bottom sixer. And we say the 5'8 junior dangleboi is boom / bust, whereas in other sports they'd say he can contribute a bit but doesn't have huge upside. I think he's largely correct in this point, though i think hockey should be somewhat in between. But still there's plenty of examples to prove his point.

Here's Leon Draisaitl at age 18, who was going to be good but had limited upside because of his extremely poor skating:



Look at it, it's shit. But we should have known he had huge upside partly because of how big and strong his frame was, and how well he can protect the puck despite not having classic finesse.

So I wouldn't be so sure that Rysavy and Voronkov are lower upside than Dumais, Pinelli, Whitelaw, etc.... I personally don't value a certain 4th liner very highly, it's the strong man upside of Rysavy and Voronkov that makes me like them.

Rysavy, by the way, was drafted out of the Czech league so he doesn't need to sign his ELC for another couple years.

Butler is a real prospect in my opinion, great frame, but he's a year older and not quite as good currently as Rysavy. Peddle is young but a lot worse than both right now.

Makarov has been consistently listed at 6'1 ~200 lately. That makes sense. I remember when he was first listed at like 6'4 or something and I couldn't find the tall guy on the ice. I would buy that Strathmann should go higher but not necessarily over Makarov who is playing multiple levels up from him.

Knazko if he keeps developing for a couple years might be about as good as Christiansen is right now, who is basically in my mind already a capable 6/7 guy. The one knock on Christiansen is that we might be running him through waivers pretty soon, so how much is that worth as a prospect?

 

[koteka]

The koteka prospect voting awards:

Overrated - Dumais

Underrated - Ceulemans

Most Surprising Result - Fix-Wolansky

Guy I might be too low on after reading various comments - Ivanov

Interesting fact - the board and I agree on who the top 12 prospects are, just not their order

 

[VT]

I've been watching Voronkov, I know him very well, so I'm quite surprised how you underrated him.

Kňažko has a good first pass, ice vision, skill, but he had problems with physical play, he couldn't always show his game under pressure in the last.

Next underrated player is Makarov. But he played very good in the PO. Also, a bad player never wants to play under Sergei Fedorov.

P.S. I would like to see Prokhor Potapov here.

 

[DarkandStormy]

My personal 20 would have gone.

1) Fantilli
2) Jiricek
3) Mateychuk
4) Svozil
5) Dumais
6) Brindley
7) Voronkov
8) Ceulemans
9) Del Bel Belluz
10) Malatesta
11) McKown
12) Tarasov
13) Whitelaw
14) Ivanov
15) Knazko
16) Makarov
17) Dolzhenkov
18) Rysavy
19) Fix-Wolansky
20) Christansen

 

[Xoggz22]

The koteka prospect voting awards:

Overrated - Dumais

Underrated - Ceulemans

Most Surprising Result - Fix-Wolansky

Guy I might be too low on after reading various comments - Ivanov

Interesting fact - the board and I agree on who the top 12 prospects are, just not their order

Love this format. So....I'm going to follow suit:

Overrated - Tarasov
Underrated - Dolzhenkov
Not Rated But Should Be - Richard/Knazko
Most Surprising Result - Voronkov (Just that he was higher than Svozil and even Brindley, but I love him)
Guy I Might Be Too Low On - Whitelaw

Again, I think this is a great list. My top 20 would not include Rysavy or Christiansen as I think their upside is very limited and will only be potential spot NHL players (which is OK). I think guys like Pinelli, Richard, Knazko and Strathman offer higher potential (likely see that due to their age). But it's easy to pick nits... Just hoping this group has the time and development we all are dreaming of. Big year for some of these guys.