I kind of agree with the general stance for your rankings. Only ones I don't fully agree with are Tuch (too high), Poehling being behind Juulsen and Tuch + Biondi over Stapley. I like that you have Dobes so high. Where would Evans rank for you if you put him in?
thanks
Tuch was tough since BU is where I will get a good feel for him since the AHL and the NCAA are my bread and butter for Hab prospects, those are leagues I know the best by far. Why I put him high is the skating/speed to go with what I saw as some surprisingly decent hands. I will have a much better feel for him by the end of the season.
I like Poehling and Juulsen as safe bets to be bottom line/pairing types that are just sold hockey players. having one over the other doesn't matter as I have them in the same tier as long as Juulsen is 100% healthy as I always really liked his defensive game if he could only improve his mobility.
Stapley I'm not a big fan of, he can't score in the NCAA, is a month younger then Poehling as he turns 22 in 2 months so that really goes against him. I like his playmaking skills and will say he improved a good bit last year. Biondi is a freaking tank though, his skating is odd and if he's not going to get much time at UMD this year it won't look as good but there's something there imo.
I've never been great with goalies but have seen every game of Dobes this year up until this weekend as my USHL package ended yesterday. He is a beast in net, does not like to be touched, has a temper but also like how he's aggressive but looks like his rebound control needs some work. The fact that he's going to Ohio State next year is big for me as I put a lot of stock into the program they are going to.
Evans I would of had around 11 or 12th.
Not a whole lot to add for me, I don't wildly disagree with anything.. if I'm going to nitpick
- Juulsen probably a little too high considering the fact he hasn't played any hockey in so long.
- Sean Farrell looks a little too low considering his offense and skating package
- Olofsson too low as well, I know the offense has been a struggle but I still think that his size, skating and defensive acumen has him tracking to be a likely bottom 6 forward at worst.
- Would probably bump McNiven down to the tail end of the top 20, at least behind Dichow and Dobes. At this point I dont' think McNiven is ever getting over the AHL hump and these other two goalies show some potential still.
that's a fair point on Juulsen for sure, I actually had him higher but dropped him since we just don't know. I did watch his one game he played and thought he looked very solid.
Farrell it's tough to gauge prospects when their teams are so stacked and being 19 in the USHL. I know he's only there because of Covid though but it's something I will keep in mind. I like what i've seen from him as a playmaker and the vision, now he's shooting more and he's not shy about mixing it up, twice this year already he's jumped into someone's face for taking liberties with his linemates.
Olofsson the injuries have been a big problem but at this point he's got to produce and being 21 and getting sent down was not a good sign.
Goalies are tough for me, I really like Dobes, can't say I was too impressed with the little I saw of Dichow. McNiven i've always liked but I wasn't expecting him back so i didn't really know where to put him but wanted him in there somewhere. In the small sample size he looked better then Lindgren who sadly has really regressed from AHL All Star to what he's been these past few years.
Like you said, it's hard to gauge where some of the guys in our prospect pool are ATM in their development, with a lot of them not having played any hockey since the spring. It's a solid ranking though, I don't find much to disagree with ! If you'll allow a few general thoughts :
- I haven't lost all hope for Brook after his first pro season but I have Harris pretty solidly in front of him now. I'd put him between Harris and Struble at 7.
- I don't have Farrell that far from Mysak in my own evaluation, I'd probably have him right after Hillis at 15.
- Some might think Tuch at 11 right out of the bat might be a bit generous but until we see him in action with BU I'm fine with this.
- I'd probably switch Fleury and Juulsen, until the latter can play enough to prove he hasn't regressed at least.
That's about it after giving it a quick glance, nice work !
I had a tough time with Brook, Struble Harris as I knew what my top 5 was but the next groups order. I went with Brook because I think if he's indeed put on the weight and strength he will be much better. I like Harris a ton more then just about anyone around and can't wait for NU to start. It would have been easier had they been playing for a month or so by now as he made big strides last year. Struble it's just like where do you put him, he could be our best prospect or a dud there's just so little to go off.
Farrell I would have had higher but it's tougher to get a read on him when his team is so stacked back to back years. He's a guy i will have to think more on next time.
yea Tuch is a really tough one since his BU time will be very telling. I'm really looking forward to it and there's got to be something there by Timmins saying they were getting calls for that pick to pick Tuch so other teams saw something.
I couldn't rank Fleury over Juulsen, he was just so terrible in Laval it was really disappointing to see as I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the ice for around 80% of the goals again (not just 5 on 5). He just played so poorly that I had to drop him down while Juulsen looked sharp although it was just 1 game.
I think Norlinders too high. 20, undersized and not producing much, the hype train is too big. Id bump him down several, several spots. As an example, I have a really hard time with Fleury being behind him by 12 spots, one is already NHL quality and actually produced more at a higher level while having better tools, I know Fleury had a rough stretch but its not impossible to think he bounces back, in fact, its pretty much a sure thing.
I also think Mysak is too low, and conversely, Guhle too high.
Tuch too high, Ylonen over Poehling is questionnable, both lack brains to make it as a top 6er, and I think Ryan is best suited for the third line unlike Ylonen.
I like that Brook is still high though, lets not lose hope, he still has the best skillset out of all our Ds.
Its a sad prospect pool, lets be honest. It went from real nice to meh in a matter of months, thanks to a bad draft.
I think you are wrong on Norlinder and he's not really undersized as he'll be around Markov's frame i'd say.
Fleury had such a tough year, I only saw a little of him in the NHL but wasn't impressed at all and then in Laval he was total shit. I don't see how it's a sure thing since in Laval for both years he's made a number of really poor defensive plays. That's IQ and lacking or else why so many poor choices in his own end.
Mysak I like but not sure about the upside. Guehle I haven't seen but he was a 1st rounder so I felt he had to be top 5.
I was going back and watching some games of Tuch last year and liked what i saw but as i've said it's really tough since he hasn't played at BU but the end of the year i'll have a much better feel for him.
Ylonen over Poehling because of the shot, Ylonen can shoot it, Poehling isn't much of a shooter. I also am concerned he's not very bright as he gets hit hard too often because of his head being down. If he's not learning by now to keep his head up, that's not very smart.
I don't know if the draft is bad or not, time will tell.
I like Brook a lot as well I've seen a lot of people drop him closer to 10 or out of the to 10 just because of his transition to the pro's.
Interesting to see Pitlick that low...I think I'd still slot him ahead of that group of Stapley, Olofsson, Smith, Biondi etc..
I think I know why you put Fleury a bit lower, lack of offensive dynamics not much creativity?
Jakub Dobes is an interesting rank, I haven't seen enough of him yet.
Ikonen wouldn't even be in my rank anymore due to injuries and from some stuff I;ve heard behind the scenes.
At least Brook got better and better as the season went on, I moved him up on the talk that he has worked hard on getting stronger this 0ff-season so I think he will look much better.
Pitlick i love the speed but the kid needs to stop coasting so much, way too often he will stop skating and just glide.
Fleury it was his shit D in Laval, he was just brutal there.
Dobes has been a lot of fun to watch, as his team as David Wilkie has them playing well.
send me a pm on Ikonen if you can as i'd be interested to hear what's going on. I've liked him if he could just stay healthy, guess I really should have put Gorniak in his spot.
Good job !
I will say this though...and it has nothing to do with your rankings....I will still say that our prospect pool is not as good as tons think it is. It really isn't.
thanks, I can respect your reasons, i guess i just assumed you had been adding comments to my rankings over the years since we go back a ways now in talking prospects.
As for our pool and i'm talking more last year since this is the first and hopefully only time I ever do a ranking where I haven't seen our 1st round pick play 3-5 games at the very least by now or that to wing it on guys like Tuch, Juulsen, Brook, etc..
Our system could be very good or it could be just hype because of having so many prospects in the early stages of development where things tend to go better thus look better. We saw it with Poehling and Brook last year, the hype was high and they didn't deliver. But we'll see as maybe Romanov is overrated or maybe he is the real deal, Norlinder has the tools to be great imo or maybe he can't put it all together. Primeau has been outstanding since being drafted but with goalies it's always tough to get a good read. Lindgren was an AHL all star and now we can't give him away.
This is the deepest i've ever seen though. What that leads to is anyone's guess.
Well, I think our prospects pool has never been as hard to rank as it is right now, we havent seen a guy like Tuch much, Ylonen is struggling to produce in Liga and we dont know why since their games are unwatchable, kid might be stuck on a third line with crappy linemates because the coach know he is going to eventually leave leave... Poehling struggled badly at his first pro season, but I still believe in his potential personally, probably not as a top 6 player, but a very solid third liner that will shut the opposition down while producing some decent numbers, I love the skating\size, quick hands and heavy 200 ft. work, I think he will be fine... Norlinder, Mysak struggling to produce too ect...
So I think the ranking is subjective to anyone at this point, we will see a couple of months from now, we will have more informations by then...
agreed.
I mean its bleak as a whole.. even looking at Ds, past Romanov and Brook... what do we really have? Its a shame about it. I don't see any possible impact player after the top 2, potentially 4 if you want to stretch Brook and Primeau.
Mysak probably had the 2nd highest ceiling and I dont think he has more than complimentary 1st line ceiling.
Norlinder has all the tools though, he can really snipe it, has the skating/mobility. He's shown good improvement in his defensive game though it still needs work.
Struble has the offensive tools, greater skater/mobility but not sure about the IQ and defensive game. Loves to be physical, there's no telling if he's a legit prospect or just a strong dude that thinks he's a linebacker playing for the Pats.
Harris has that elite skating/mobility to go with the poise and IQ. He's so smart defensively and had such an impressive 2nd season in the NCAA. If he keeps progressing no telling how good he can be.
These lists should never go away, and serve as a reminder never for us fans to never overhype our prospect pool, or Trevor Timmins. Sad thing is, your list wasn't incorrect, that's all the talent we had to choose from to make a list. Remember the guys pumping up Scherbak as our next secret weapon?
that's why I opted to do my own thread so that people could see the years of rankings and how many mistakes i make with the rankings. I've been ranking Hab prospects for some 20 years now, when I covered them for HF in the early days, you could go back and see what rankings for each year so i thought why not have a thread where posters can go back and look at what I said/thought. I put a lot of time into watching these prospects to form these lists, though this year was of course different but I wanted posters to have rankings from someone that is actually watching all the prospects play and not going off stats or whatever. Of course i'm wrong at times just like anyone but it's how we learn.
