You still have faith in Norlinder? Personally I thought Trudeau had a really good year, better than Norlinder. I like Engstrom at 4, I don’t think he is underrated anymore
I was thinking about doing a video on Norlinder's season to show what went wrong, what he needs to work on and how much he improved at the season went on from the 1st half to the 2nd half. But that will take a great deal of time and I'm insanely busy right now waiting for f***ing NLST to get off it's ass.
With Norlinder he's a high boom/bust type of prospect, the skills are there, the confidence is not, he needs a lot of work yet but another year in Laval and he'll either show enough progress or he won't and that could be the end of the line. It would not surprise me in the least if he ends up in the SHL in a few years or is a top pairing blueliner in the NHL for a long time.
The skills look good but the mental part of the game is still a big question mark as well as he's got to get stronger, add some mass. Playing on the PP all season would be a good start as well, as that's his bread and butter.
Engstrom it's a bit of him having such an outstanding season vs some others not doing as well as hoped so I dropped them down a bit.
2 of our top 4 prospects are LD's, and we already have Guhle, Matheson, Xhekaj, and Harris, plus Eddy, in the NHL. That should make for some good trade bait. But the players that might be moved (Matheson, Harris, Engstrom, Struble, Trudeau) need more time to get their value up. They're on the rise, but haven't hit the peak, imo...
I'd have Struble and Trudeau ahead of Norlinder at this point - probably Besudin as well. But I hope Norlinder can have a big year, if only at the defensive end. Was good that he was abke to play so many games last year after all the injuries.
At some point more trades will likely have to happen although from this group so many of them can play RD so it's not a huge problem as in time it should work it's self out hopefully to the good for us as it's still so early that I would assume we need 3-5 years to really start to see what we got from all these D prospects. It will be extremely interesting to see how that plays out.
Struble I didn't get to see much of him at all this year unlike his previous 3 years where I rarely missed a game, he's a very interesting prospect, when he had 1 goal and posters were saying no way we would sign him, I said he would be signed for sure. He's just got too many tools that make you think if you could develop his offensive game to the point where it's actually solid, then you got yourself one heck of a prospect as he plays a power game and has made a lot of strides in his defensive game to the point it's looking very good as I did see every game he played in Laval and was very impressed.
In the NCAA his offensive game was very frustrating, he would try often but most of the time it just lead to nothing, he was so far from Harris who just looked the part from day 1 like he would easily play in the NHL despite his physical limitations from his draft days. But Struble is a nasty piece of business, he can really dish it and seems to enjoy it although he was a lot smarter in Laval about it then I have seen from him at any time. It says a lot if he can keep his cool as it's been an issue at times.
Trudeau I just clearly got wrong, when I watched him and Simoneau I was never impressed but always liked what I saw from the Simoneau. This year it started off great for Simoneau but he never looked the same after the injury and with his size and the way he plays (a bit like Gallagher), I don't know if he can hold up physically in the NHL if he can even make it of course. Trudeau's offensive game was a big surprise to me, if he can work on his defensive issues then he's a legit prospect for sure. Next season will be very interesting to see how much progress he can make or not.
Not bad.....we have so many prospects that have very similar value so that makes it very difficult to rank them. The only significant issue that I have would be Norlinder being way too high imo. I think Struble is a much better prospect as well as Kapanen and Trudeau appears to be a better prospect as well. I would have Norlinder closer to the bottom of this list as tbh I don't see a future in the NHL for him at this point.
I prefer Roy over Farrell as well but overall it is a solid list. No two people on this site will have two identical top 20 rankings.
Kapanen was really tough to get to see much of, I liked the improved skating/speed but his liiga numbers aren't very exciting for his age. That said he did show a good bit of progress so as long as he can keep improving. I likely won't get to see too much of him next season but hopefully it goes well for him and then he comes to Laval so I can get a better look.
Roy and Farrell are neck and neck for me as both could easily be the Habs top prospect but their lack of physical tools of speed, skating, strength, much like Kidney are all big concerns for them to overcome. I focused heavily on watching Hutson, Mailloux, Farrell this season and didn't get to see much of Roy but have always had them on the same level among our best prospects. I like the way Farrell plays the game more then I do Roy but his shot is just so sick that I often go back and forth with them.
Having guys like Oliver Kapanen and Jayden Struble who both have solid NHL upside so low is a good sign for years to come. There is alot of depth in that prospect pool. The top end is lacking somewhat, but mostly because the core on the team is young and graduated. Guys like Davidson and Touch have some upside as well.
If our #5 pick could become a star or near star player, we would be set for years. Excluding goalie of course, as that remains a bit of a question mark.
Just for fun, here would be my top 20
1. Logan Mailloux (I see a potential top 2. Hutson will be more exceptional at some things, but Mailloux less risky and more complete, imo)
2. Lane Hutson
3. Sean Farrell
4. Owen Beck
5. Joshua Roy
6. Adam Engstrom
7. Heineman
8. Mesar
9. Kidney
10. Struble
11. Kapanen
12. Dobes
13. Norlinder
14. Trudeau
15. Davidson
16. Tuch
17. Rohrer
18. Guindon
19. Simoneau
20. Teasdale
All in all, no major differences. I like Kidney, Struble, Kapanen and Davidson a little higher and Norlinder lower (although I am not completely done with him either).
that's a really good list, I had Mailloux and Hutson neck and neck for the top prospect. It came down to my concerns over Mailloux's IQ/maturity vs Hutson's lack of physical tools (mass, strength, backwards skating). It's very close as Mailloux with his mix of size and skill could be deadly in the NHL. The sky is the limit with both of these prospects but there are a lot of concerns yet still but the high end skill they have shown so far is very exciting.
Kidney I'm not as impressed with as he needs to shoot more, he needs a lot of work physically. If you say compare him to Roy, who has the sick shot and insane passing/playmaking ability whereas Kidney needs to evolve his game more. It's going to be a ton of fun watching the 2 of them in Laval though, can't wait to see how it goes for them.
Struble if he can find any sort of decent offensive game and he could be an exciting prospect. I'll be keeping a close eye on him in Laval next year for sure.
Kapanen I wasn't too impressed with in the little i've seen of him, he's ok and I like the progress he's making, if he keeps it up then we got something. The offense concerns me a lot but perhaps I've underrated it.
Davidson I just didn't get to see at all but his skating, speed, strength concern me. I am very interested to see him at camp though so I can get a better read on him.
You get to make another list in a few weeks time !
Or do you wait till after preseason?
No I don't put out the season opener until I've had the chance to see the bulk of them play for a few weeks. Usually some time in November.
I remember being high on Mac Bennett…good times…or maybe not
I was a big fan as I thought his excellent mobility would make him a decent bottom pairing D but the offense just never progressed and he was undersized where players his size at that time had to put up a lot more offense to even get a whiff of consideration. It's funny though as I can recall watching what a great duo Bennett and former Hab Greg Pateryn made at Michigan. To me it was clear as day that Bennett was the better prospect but some times the guy with bad stats ends up better in the long run. Pateryn was one of the rare players that excelled in our AHL system at the time while Bennett looked lost and didn't play his game at all.
Yes and no. We didn't have too many picks then and we would get very excited for junior success of a few players. Now, we look at a guy like Kidney who just toyed with the Q and we don't get too excited. There is definitely more substance to this list. We see 2nd rounders who are developing well (Oliver Kapanen) way down the list, while we used to have 5th rounders who have junior success high. A guy like Davidson would have been more hyped some years ago.
well said! agreed on all points.
I' d put Wawa just behind the 2 Dmen, think he ends up with the highest ppg from that whole list.
But that's just me, that list looks good
I feel like you can make a case for any of the top 6 to be at #1. Engstrom if more posters followed the SHL I think the hype would be much higher and had Farrell just gone to Laval from Harvard I think some would be higher on him, Beck with his inconsistent production I could see many not putting him at the top but he's so safe to be imo at worst a solid NHLer as there are just so many things to like about his game. If he can find a way to be more consistent offensively then look out as the shot is there but can he progress enough or will he end up say a worse Dvorak, only time will tell.
Roy could be the most skilled forward we have in the organization, if he can work on his physical tools of adding mass, strength, working on being more explosive he could be one heck of a player for us.
