Prospect Poll #2

[Calicaps]

Caps' top 10 prospects

1. Ryan Leonard, #8 2023, RW, Boston College

Click to read more...

 

[Cappy76]

Voted Hutson very on the fence though between him and Cristall. Went with Hutson based on elite D being harder to come by than wingers.

 

[wickedwitch]

Cristall vs Hutson is really interesting because they are the same prototype: absurdly high hockey IQ, highly skilled, creative, but small.

Hutson is better in high-pressure situations (see the WJC) thus far and has a chippiness and physicality to his game that Cristall doesn't. Hutson's really taken a step since that stupid penalty he took in the first game against UMass. I also think he has a slightly higher ceiling than Cristall, but that's hard to judge. In a vacuum, I take Hutson, and he is who I voted for.

But... the Caps have a much greater need for Cristall than Hutson. You can really only have one D-man in the lineup who doesn't PK, and the Caps already have Chychrun. Also, a lot of Hutson's value would come on the PP, so he loses value if not on PP1. If the Caps re-sign Chychrun long-term, I think they have to trade Hutson. (This is one reason I am hesitant albeit not against re-signing Chychrun for 3+ years. But that's for a different thread.)

Cristall, OTOH, is everything the Caps are lacking. He has the potential to be a top end scorer. He's also extremely creative which has basically disappeared from our forward group. Bonus: he's good at shoot-outs.

 

[twabby]

Voted Hutson again for the same reason as last time. FWIW my rankings are:

1. Hutson
2. Cristall
3. Leonard

 

[HTFN]

Would have been Cristall if Hutson didn't show up big this winter, but could honestly go either way

 

[qc14]

Going with more floor than upside here but I've seen Miro do it at the pro level and Hutson and Cristall have not. Not that Miro has a low ceiling either, I think he'll be a really good middle 6 winger in the league for a long time and a total pain in the ass to play against

 

[Dr John Carlson]

I think I'd go:

Leonard
Hutson
Miroshnichenko
Cristall

And then one of Parascak/Protas/Lapierre...

 

[Calicaps]

I voted Lappy. He's shown he can be a solid NHL player. He still needs to put it all together and get back in the lineup, and maybe he won't, but he's shown more at this level than anyone else on the list.

 

[Ridley Simon]

It’s Hutson.