MrB1P's top 50 affiliated prospects. 5th edition.

[Mrb1p]

Welcome buddies.

I ranked the 50 best under-23 (Non-inclusive.), under 25 games affiliated prospects for another year.

As usual, I do no goaltenders because it is just too much work to analyze goaltenders, especially because they play a lot, there's a lot of them and they're often hidden in random leagues. I'd be happy to provide a list for anyone who cares but yeah, thats it.

Here's a post I made in 2019 that still describes my views on prospects:

Mostly a complete offense and a willingness to be the man on the offense. I'm also a fan of physicality and aggressiveness in a player. NHL readiness isn't really something I value too highly, but it is certainly a factor in this ranking as the first five should all be in the NHL this year. Another thing I value highly is intelligence. If a player showcases a good level of on-ice IQ, he's most likely a favorite of mine. I tend to overlook defensive problems as these usually are either overblown or they sort themselves out.

What could bring a player down ?
Perimeter play. This is the biggest culprit.
Lack of a shot.
Lack of speed, or a tendency to float.

This is my list, and my list only, it has not been influenced by any other media list around, which is why it might look a bit different than most.

Name	Team	Draft	2022 Rank
Connor Bedard	Chicago	2023	ND
Matvei Michkov	Philadelphia	2023	ND
Adam Fantilli	Columbus	2023	ND
Leo Carlsson	Anaheim	2023	ND
David Jiricek	Columbus	2022	5
Simon Nemec	New Jersey	2022	4
Logan Cooley	Arizona	2022	10
David Reinbacher	Montréal	2023	ND
Zach Benson	Buffalo	2023	ND
Pavel Mintyukov	Anaheim	2023	21
Matthew Wood	Nashville	2023	ND
Will Smith	San Jose	2023	ND
Simon Edvinsson	Detroit	2022	9
Cutter Gauthier	Philadelphia	2022	NR
Luke Hughes	New Jersey	2022	14
Jiri Kulich	Buffalo	2022	NR
Ryan Leonard	Washington	2023	ND
Matthew Savoie	Buffalo	2022	23
Jagger Firkus	Seattle	2022	23
Joakim Kemmel	Nashville	2022	30
Brandt Clarke	Los Angeles	2021	25
Alexander Nikishin	Carolina	2020	NR
Marco Kasper	Detroit	2022	HM
Andrew Cristall	Washington	2023	ND
Dalibor Dvorsky	St. Louis	2023	ND
Frank Nazar III	Chicago	2022	9
Braden Yager	Pittsburgh	2023	ND
Colby Barlow	Winnipeg	2023	ND
Shane Wright	Seattle	2022	2
Jonathan Lekkerimaki	Vancouver	2022	22
Nate Danielson	Detroit	2023	ND
Lane Hutson	Montreal	2022	NR
William Eklund	San Jose	2021	36
Denton Mateychuk	Columbus	2022	31
Luke Evangelista	Nasville	2020	32
Mavrik Bourque	Dallas	2020	26
Logan Stankoven	Dallas	2021	HM
Olen Zellwegger	Anaheim	2021	NR
Matthew Knies	Toronto	2021	NR
Aatu Raty	Vancouver	2021	50
Quentin Musty	San Jose	2023	ND
Brad Lambert	Winnipeg	2022	HM
Joshua Roy	Montreal	2021	45
Tristan Luneau	Anaheim	2022	NR
Ivan Miroshnichenko	Washington	2022
Pavel Dorofeyev	Vegas	2019	39
Mackie Samokevich	Florida	2021	NR
William Wallinder	Detroit	2020	NR
Kevin Korchinski	Chicago	2022	NR
Gleb Trikozov	Carolina	2022	47

Previous lists: I skipped 2021 for... REASONS.
2022
MrB1Ps top 50 drafted prospects
2020
MrB1Ps annual affiliated prospect list 2020 Covid edition
2019
https://forums.hfboards.com/threads/mrb1ps-top-50-affiliated-prospects-edition-2019-2020.2669037/
2018
MrB1P's top 50 NHL affiliated prospects

Click to read more...

 

[Favster]

Kudos for putting yourself out there, I respect it but you're gonna get roasted with Will Smith being so low LOL. I think it's a solid list overall.

 

[gifted88]

I've enjoyed your rankings and look forward to this every year. It takes balls to put out a list like this publicly.

 

[Random Comment]

What’s the knock on Nikishin? Kid seems to have it all to be a franchise D in the NHL. Size, Shot, Skating, good puck distributor, and wanting to be the guy. I don’t have him different than Jiricek/Nemec tier. I’d bet that will be a big blunder on the list in a couple of years.

Also curious on your Will Smith take. What do you see in guys like Wood and Benson to be above Smith.

Thanks!

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Kudos for putting yourself out there, I respect it but you're gonna get roasted with Will Smith being so low LOL. I think it's a solid list overall.

Is he really that low? Maybe 2-3 spots too low but not absurd amount.

Not really too much to argue/disagree with… seems like close enough realistic takes. Tho based on why he’d bring a player down, I’d imagine zellweger would be higher up.

 

[Favster]

Is he really that low? Maybe 2-3 spots too low but not absurd amount.

Not really too much to argue/disagree with… seems like close enough realistic takes. Tho based on why he’d bring a player down, I’d imagine zellweger would be higher up.

Personally I don't think he's that low but placing Benson and Wood ahead of him might trigger some people on here. I'm fine with the list tbh.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Personally I don't think he's that low but placing Benson and Wood ahead of him might trigger some people on here. I'm fine with the list tbh.

I’d personally have him ahead of benson and wood… benson is prob pretty damn close to him tho.

Wood prob not as close

 

[stl76]

Disagree with quite a few rankings, but appreciate you taking the time to put out this list.

 

[CBJx614]

Columbus* and Mateychuk is a Columbus prospect.

 

[Xirik]

Hughes envy.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Thanks, OP. Good list. Far too easy to criticize, of course, but ...

Luke Hughes is probably too low, especially when you ignore defensive flaws.

 

[Siludin]

Welcome buddies.

I ranked the 50 best under-23 (Non-inclusive.), under 25 games affiliated prospects for another year.

As usual, I do no goaltenders because it is just too much work to analyze goaltenders, especially because they play a lot, there's a lot of them and they're often hidden in random leagues. I'd be happy to provide a list for anyone who cares but yeah, thats it.

Here's a post I made in 2019 that still describes my views on prospects:

Name	Team	Draft	2022 Rank
Connor Bedard	Chicago	2023	ND
Matvei Michkov	Philadelphia	2023	ND
Adam Fantilli	Colombus	2023	ND
Leo Carlsson	Anaheim	2023	ND
David Jiricek	Colombus	2022	5
Simon Nemec	New Jersey	2022	4
Logan Cooley	Arizona	2022	10
David Reinbacher	Montréal	2023	ND
Zach Benson	Buffalo	2023	ND
Pavel Mintyukov	Anaheim	2023	21
Matthew Wood	Nashville	2023	ND
Will Smith	San Jose	2023	ND
Simon Edvinsson	Detroit	2022	9
Cutter Gauthier	Philadelphia	2022	NR
Luke Hughes	New Jersey	2022	14
Jiri Kulich	Buffalo	2022	NR
Ryan Leonard	Washington	2023	ND
Matthew Savoie	Buffalo	2022	23
Jagger Firkus	Seattle	2022	23
Joakim Kemmel	Nashville	2022	30
Brandt Clarke	Los Angeles	2021	25
Alexander Nikishin	Carolina	2020	NR
Marco Kasper	Detroit	2022	HM
Andrew Cristall	Washington	2023	ND
Dalibor Dvorsky	St. Louis	2023	ND
Frank Nazar III	Chicago	2022	9
Braden Yager	Pittsburgh	2023	ND
Colby Barlow	Winnipeg	2023	ND
Shane Wright	Seattle	2022	2
Jonathan Lekkerimaki	Vancouver	2022	22
Nate Danielson	Detroit	2023	ND
Lane Hutson	Montreal	2022	NR
William Eklund	San Jose	2021	36
Denton Mateychuk		2022	31
Luke Evangelista	Nasville	2020	32
Mavrik Bourque	Dallas	2020	26
Logan Stankoven	Dallas	2021	HM
Olen Zellwegger	Anaheim	2021	NR
Matthew Knies	Toronto	2021	NR
Aatu Raty	Vancouver	2021	50
Quentin Musty	San Jose	2023	ND
Brad Lambert	Winnipeg	2022	HM
Joshua Roy	Montreal	2021	45
Tristan Luneau	Anaheim	2022	NR
Ivan Miroshnichenko	Washington	2022
Pavel Dorofeyev	Vegas	2019	39
Mackie Samokevich		2021	NR
William Wallinder	Detroit	2020	NR
Kevin Korchinski	Chicago	2022	NR
Gleb Trikozov	Carolina	2022	47

Previous lists: I skipped 2021 for... REASONS.
2022
MrB1Ps top 50 drafted prospects
2020
MrB1Ps annual affiliated prospect list 2020 Covid edition
2019
https://forums.hfboards.com/threads/mrb1ps-top-50-affiliated-prospects-edition-2019-2020.2669037/
2018
MrB1P's top 50 NHL affiliated prospects

Switch Benson and L. Hughes imo

You're one of the few with Lekkerimaki that high, but as a Vancouver fan I'm not complaining.

Also on that topic, I think you conflated Willander and Detroit's Sandin-Pellika, as Willander is the Vancouver prospect.

edit: also, I'm probably switching Clarke and Mintyukov.

 

[Mrb1p]

Kudos for putting yourself out there, I respect it but you're gonna get roasted with Will Smith being so low LOL. I think it's a solid list overall.

I had Smith 8th overall in 2023. Hes still pretty high if you ask me.

I've enjoyed your rankings and look forward to this every year. It takes balls to put out a list like this publicly.

Thanks for the support, I enjoy doing them and getting publicly lynched.

What’s the knock on Nikishin? Kid seems to have it all to be a franchise D in the NHL. Size, Shot, Skating, good puck distributor, and wanting to be the guy. I don’t have him different than Jiricek/Nemec tier. I’d bet that will be a big blunder on the list in a couple of years.

Also curious on your Will Smith take. What do you see in guys like Wood and Benson to be above Smith.

Thanks!

The knock ? What do you mean by knock ? He's a top 25 prospect in the NHL, there's no knock on him. He's right behind Clarke, Edvinsson and Hughes, I don't think it's too far fetched to say he's around where he should be. He's a guy I absolutely love, probably unconditionally. He's the epitome of what I want on my team. Big, rugger, fights, goes all out, skilled.

With that said, he is not as skilled as Clarke, as Hughes, as Reinbacher, as Mintyukov and certainly not as skilled as Nemec and Jiricek. He will produce on account of his booming shot and simple ability to connect passes, but I don't see him as a surefire 1D like I see from these guys. (Clarke being the other one Im not sure has 1D upside.) I see him closer to a very good #3 that you want out there 25 minutes a game. He does not have the creativity nor the in-tight game for an offense to go through him, at least not as of now.

Is he really that low? Maybe 2-3 spots too low but not absurd amount.

Not really too much to argue/disagree with… seems like close enough realistic takes. Tho based on why he’d bring a player down, I’d imagine zellweger would be higher up.

Size and transferability is a big factor. Also I like progress, I feel Zellwegger is hitting or has hit a plateau.

Also, theres just a lot of great prospects out there.

Disagree with quite a few rankings, but appreciate you taking the time to put out this list.

Grazie

Columbus* and Mateychuk is a Columbus prospect.

Oopsie

Hughes envy.

New Jersey devils fan envy

Thanks, OP. Good list. Far too easy to criticize, of course, but ...

Luke Hughes is probably too low, especially when you ignore defensive flaws.

Thats a fair one. Luke Hughes is a high octane offensive player, but to me, he's not an easy player to evaluate. He leaves me wanting more and makes my shake my head more often than I would like to admit for a mostly strictly offensive Dman. Its not something that Ive related to with the other defensemen above him on the list.

Im also not sure that even he can claim to have a better skillset than any of the others above, theyre just great freaking prospects. Cutter Gauthier is not someone I would usually rank above a guy like Hughes, but CGs showed a willingness to be a pro player that Hughes has not, a willignness that makes me think hes one of the guys that gets "it".

Im still seeing Hughes as a top 3 D with 50-60 points ability if Im honest.

Switch Benson and L. Hughes imo

You're one of the few with Lekkerimaki that high, but as a Vancouver fan I'm not complaining.

Also on that topic, I think you conflated Willander and Detroit's Sandin-Pellika, as Willander is the Vancouver prospect.

edit: also, I'm probably switching Clarke and Mintyukov.

No, it's William Wallinder, Willander is a very good prospect and likely makes the top 50 next year but not this year.

 

[Siludin]

No, it's William Wallinder, Willander is a very good prospect and likely makes the top 50 next year but not this year.

I meant you have Willander listed as a Detroit player, but he is a Canucks pick

Edit: oh I misresd what you said - I understand now, but disagree even more.

 

[Mrb1p]

I meant you have Willander listed as a Detroit player, but he is a Canucks pick

Tom Willander and William Wallinder are not the same person.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Marat Khusnutdinov

 

[Ace]

Switch Benson and L. Hughes imo

I’ll take a skilled forward who defends over a defenseman who doesn’t,

 

[Siludin]

Tom Willander and William Wallinder are not the same person.

Yeah I can't believe I misread that but I'm going to blame it on being a brutal take

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Thats a fair one. Luke Hughes is a high octane offensive player, but to me, he's not an easy player to evaluate. He leaves me wanting more and makes my shake my head more often than I would like to admit for a mostly strictly offensive Dman. Its not something that Ive related to with the other defensemen above him on the list.

Im also not sure that even he can claim to have a better skillset than any of the others above, theyre just great freaking prospects. Cutter Gauthier is not someone I would usually rank above a guy like Hughes, but CGs showed a willingness to be a pro player that Hughes has not, a willignness that makes me think hes one of the guys that gets "it".

Im still seeing Hughes as a top 3 D with 50-60 points ability if Im honest.

I think Hughes is difficult to evaluate because it's been far too easy for him.

Last WJC. The guy could effortlessly blow by his peers while coasting. Truly remarkable. Makar level imho.

Otoh, his lack of backcheck urgency, especially to cover his own egregious giveaways, was disgraceful.

On balance, give me that talent all day, every day. Sand off those lazy defensive deficiencies, and he's a perennial Norris candidate.

 

[Realgud]

I meant you have Willander listed as a Detroit player, but he is a Canucks pick

Edit: oh I misresd what you said - I understand now, but disagree even more.

Interesting that you disagree on a player that you didn't even know existed.

 

[Mrb1p]

Marat Khusnutdinov

Marat Khusnutdinoffthelist

Yeah I can't believe I misread that but I'm going to blame it on being a brutal take

Im pretty confident youve never seen Wallinder play, since you thought he didnt exist.

I think Hughes is difficult to evaluate because it's been far too easy for him.

Last WJC. The guy could effortlessly blow by his peers while coasting. Truly remarkable. Makar level imho.

Otoh, his lack of backcheck urgency, especially to cover his own egregious giveaways, was disgraceful.

On balance, give me that talent all day, every day. Sand off those lazy defensive deficiencies, and he's a perennial Norris candidate.

Its not just defense. His choice of offense is also very "lazy" and he does low iq plays often imo. Extreme example but he reminds me of Drouin a little bit. Im sure hell have more success though.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I’ll take a skilled forward who defends over a defenseman who doesn’t,

Interesting that you disagree on a player that you didn't even know existed.

I didn't know I came to a roast, but this thread is awesome so far.

 

[Rebels57]

Reinbacher way too high and over Luke Hughes? Sheesh.

 

[LemonSauceD]

What an awful rankings, but thanks for sharing.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

What an awful rankings, but thanks for sharing.

Doesn’t seem that bad tbh… what’s so awful about it…. Don’t really see any absurd takes