Prospect Info: Post deadline prospect rankings

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Can we get some info on these prospects, particularly Howden and Hajek? The trade thread is just a bunch of people *****ing about the trade. Almost no info on those guys.

Howden is Stepan, Andersson mold, but bigger and better skater. Same type of offensive and defensive profile. Hajek is a really good defensive defenseman, but has not put up much offense so far in his career, although some people think there's offensive potential that isn't showing in the points.
 
I think some are underrating Rykov. He's a more talented defenseman than Lindgren and Hajek, in my opinion. He's also producing for the best team outside the NHL. The other two are good, but NCAA and WHL are not trying to get into SKA's team.
 
Howden is Stepan, Andersson mold, but bigger and better skater. Same type of offensive and defensive profile. Hajek is a really good defensive defenseman, but has not put up much offense so far in his career, although some people think there's offensive potential that isn't showing in the points.

Thanks. Isn't a bigger/better skater Stepan a 1C? At least that seems like it could be the absolute ceiling.
 
Thanks. Isn't a bigger/better skater Stepan a 1C? At least that seems like it could be the absolute ceiling.

I don't know. Before we traded for the guy, I probably would've said 2C, and I'll stick to that to not have his team affiliation influence my judgement. If that happens, that likely means he's just slightly worse than Stepan in those areas, despite playing a similar game, but I've seen some compare him to Couturier, Schenn, and those guys are on pace for 70+ points this season, so maybe thats closer to a comparison for Howden.
 
Can we get some info on these prospects, particularly Howden and Hajek? The trade thread is just a bunch of people *****ing about the trade. Almost no info on those guys.

Howden is a personal favorite of mine. Every time I've seen him over the years, he impresses me more. He's a smart, two-way center. Top-six potential. Good size, but not huge. Not a power forward. A complete, 200 foot player who is a leader, has lots of character and works hard. The offense has continued to progress each year and might be undervalued by some. Shows up in big moments. Versatile, capable of playing wing or center. Has shown an ability to adapt to all kinds of in-game situations and roles. Has looked good in tournaments, including the WJC, in the playoffs, and during a brief stint in the AHL shortly after turning 19.

Hajek is a two way defenseman with a nasty side. Good size, good skating, good ability to move the puck. Still raw - working on discipline and continuing to put all the pieces together. Much more of a boom or bust prospect and a little further out to see which direction he goes. Top 4 potential, but I think he his ceiling could be top pair if he puts it all together.
 


Their little blurb on him said, "All signs point to that he will be an NHL player, likely as a 3rd or 4th liner, if everything goes perfect a 2nd liner"

They question if he will be able to score enough at the NHL level.

Obviously this is 2 years old, things have changed.


Also there is this:

Don't know if he's great in real life, but in nhl 16 gm mode, he's ridiculously fast and good in 3 to 4 years
 
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Their little blurb on him said, "All signs point to that he will be an NHL player, likely as a 3rd or 4th liner, if everything goes perfect a 2nd liner"

They question if he will be able to score enough at the NHL level.

Obviously this is 2 years old, things have changed.


Also there is this:

Yeah seems like he’s scored a ton at every level so far.
 
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Is Rykov that good?

I wouldn't have expected the best of the three defensemen we got to come from Grabner.
 
Chytil
Shestyorkin
Andersson
Howden

DeAngelo

Georgiev
Hajek
Rykov
Huska

Gilmour
Pionk
Lindgren
 
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Howden is a personal favorite of mine. Every time I've seen him over the years, he impresses me more. He's a smart, two-way center. Top-six potential. Good size, but not huge. Not a power forward. A complete, 200 foot player who is a leader, has lots of character and works hard. The offense has continued to progress each year and might be undervalued by some. Shows up in big moments. Versatile, capable of playing wing or center. Has shown an ability to adapt to all kinds of in-game situations and roles. Has looked good in tournaments, including the WJC, in the playoffs, and during a brief stint in the AHL shortly after turning 19.

Hajek is a two way defenseman with a nasty side. Good size, good skating, good ability to move the puck. Still raw - working on discipline and continuing to put all the pieces together. Much more of a boom or bust prospect and a little further out to see which direction he goes. Top 4 potential, but I think he his ceiling could be top pair if he puts it all together.

Thanks Edge, you make Howden sound like Toews.
 
With Spooner and Hayes in the mix.

We're suddenly pretty well set up at center.
I posted a version of this somewhere in all the chaos today, but in my dream world scenario I’d try to package 2 of Spooner, Hayes, and Namestnikov and use that as a base for a deal with Carolina for a Pesce/Slavin/Hanafin (the latter is the longest shot of them and would probably need a better first piece, but a guy can dream)
 
  1. 2018 NYR First
  2. Andersson
  3. Chytil
  4. Shesterkin
  5. Hajek
  6. Howden
  7. 2018 BOS First
  8. 2018 TB First
  9. Lindgren
  10. Pionk
  11. DeAngelo
  12. 2018 NYR 2nd
  13. Rykov
  14. 2018 NJ 2nd
  15. 2018 NYR 3rd
  16. Huska
  17. Ronning
  18. 2018 BOS 3rd
  19. Gilmour
  20. Lettieri
  21. Georgiev
Bold=On NHL Roster today.

No place to go but up.
 
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Is Rykov that good?

I wouldn't have expected the best of the three defensemen we got to come from Grabner.

I think he's the upside-odds balance.

Lindgren is steady and solid, but there's not that an area where you look at him and think, "Man, if that aspect of his game comes around, look out."

Hajek is raw. There's the offense, there's the snarl, but there's a lot of things that are a work in progress.

Rykov splits the difference a little. He's a two-way guy who projects to have a very smooth, steady game. His game is more mature at this point, as is the level of competition he is facing.
 
I posted a version of this somewhere in all the chaos today, but in my dream world scenario I’d try to package 2 of Spooner, Hayes, and Namestnikov and use that as a base for a deal with Carolina for a Pesce/Slavin/Hanafin (the latter is the longest shot of them and would probably need a better first piece, but a guy can dream)
I can't imagine Carolina would even consider that, but who the hell knows. Carolina needs high-end forwards, not middle-six tweeners for top defenseman like the ones you mentioned.
 
Andersson if I'm not mistaken often played on the left wing in the SHL. Reading Beacon's game reports he's a lot better at face-offs than Chytil though. Chytil seems like a sure bet to be a center but he's got to work on that--at least get to the point next year where he wins 3 or 4 out of 10. Otherwise I think he might see a lot of wing if he's up with the Rangers---or at least until he does. Anyway I don't see Andersson as necessarily a center---he might get that JT role where he switches back and forth from LW to C and vice versa. Zibanejad and Hayes aren't that old so I wouldn't discount them being around 3-4 years from now. IMO Hayes has had the better season. Zbad does not look like he'll ever be a good 1C to me. If anyone in the organization I'd say Chytil. Mika is much better as a 2C. Chytil is ahead of Andersson right now who are both ahead of Howden who has excellent numbers in the W but IMO Chytil and Andersson are younger and have excellent numbers in the A. They all were at this year's WJC--they all did well to very well.
 
I think he's the upside-odds balance.

Lindgren is steady and solid, but there's not that an area where you look at him and think, "Man, if that aspect of his game comes around, look out."

Hajek is raw. There's the offense, there's the snarl, but there's a lot of things that are a work in progress.

Rykov splits the difference a little. He's a two-way guy who projects to have a very smooth, steady game. His game is more mature at this point, as is the level of competition he is facing.

That upside with Lindgren is there if he can skate at an elite level. IMO I like Samberg more on the US junior team, but Lindgren is a reliable option. If he can get that extra step, then the offense will come in the Pros.

One thing to note with Lindgren is that he plays half his games on an Olympic rink. So it's a different beast offensively. Far less offense from defense in those conditions.

Same thing happened with Skjei, and he scored 39 points as a rookie.
 
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Yes, we certainly need a sniper even though Kevin is gr8 from the blueline - I really hope we can get a scoring winger and 2018 is the year! :)
 
  1. 2018 NYR First
  2. Andersson
  3. Chytil
  4. Shesterkin
  5. Hajek
  6. Howden
  7. 2018 BOS First
  8. 2018 TB First
  9. Lindgren
  10. Pionk
  11. DeAngelo
  12. 2018 NYR 2nd
  13. Rykov
  14. 2018 NJ 2nd
  15. 2018 NYR 3rd
  16. Huska
  17. Ronning
  18. 2018 BOS 3rd
  19. Gilmour
  20. Lettieri
  21. Georgiev
Bold=On NHL Roster today.

No place to go but up.


I think Chytil is being a bit underrated here.

If he were a few weeks younger we're probably talking about taking him around where we're picking right now.
 
I can't imagine Carolina would even consider that, but who the hell knows. Carolina needs high-end forwards, not middle-six tweeners for top defenseman like the ones you mentioned.
I don’t disagree, it’s just my pie in the sky day dream for the rest of the day. In all honesty I’m not even sure if any of them besides Hanafin line up age-wise with this rebuild we just started
 
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