Prospect Poll #4

[Calicaps]

Caps' top 10 prospects

1. Ryan Leonard, #8 2023, RW, Boston College
2. Cole Hutson, #43 2024, D, Boston University
3. Andrew Cristall, #40 2023, RW, Spokane

Click to read more...

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Lappy

 

[RedRocking]

Miro. He’s got work to do on his game (skating, strength, positioning). But I like his compete, and he still has a lot of scoring upside with his shot.

 

[Agent37]

Are we throwing Ethen Frank on here? He’s only played so many NHL games thus far.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Are we throwing Ethen Frank on here? He’s only played so many NHL games thus far.

If Lappy is why not Frank

write in for Frank lol

 

[Langway]

Frank is too old probably.

I tend to go with plausible upside in these things and IMO that's Protas here. Others are closer to NHL ready but to me haven't flashed regularly enough for me to firmly believe they'll eventually become at least second-line staples. Nor did they dominate lower levels to the extent Protas has this season. Lapierre is the most accomplished but has fallen back hard this season. Miro has finish and physicality but is he more of a Connolly/DSP type bottom sixer ultimately? I don't think his skating or playmaking lend themselves to becoming an eventual second-liner. If he does it's because his strengths amplify and he's more of a complimentary type. Whereas Protas I think at his size and raw skill level has the makings of perhaps being able to do it all.

TLDR: Go magic beans!

 

[GoCaps2004]

Voted Protas for #3. And voted him again. Such a nice problem to have so many great prospects, but feel he is underrated like his brother was— and could very well end up better

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Miro, and not all that close for me. He’s well on track to being a top six guy.

The dude is 20 and has been holding his own against men in the professional ranks since he was 18, and that’s even after losing a season to cancer. He’s three years younger than Lapierre, for context.

 

[Melkor]

Thought would be going "off the board" here with Protas but I see he's gaining some serious traction. Protas indeed.

 

[Kazer]

Voted Protas for #3. And voted him again. Such a nice problem to have so many great prospects, but feel he is underrated like his brother was— and could very well end up better

I love Protas, but my concern is whether he's really that good or if he's a byproduct of Greentree. We will know more as he continues to progress through development.

 

[Calicaps]

As previously stated, the poll function will only permit so many choices. The first poll was maxed out before I reached the Rs. So in order to accommodate all the letters of the alphabet, I picked a 2000 birth year as the cut off. Our previous was 1998. Y2K includes Lappy but not Frank and a few others. I had suggested we do an over-ager poll after we have our top 10 here. But I suppose we could add a new guy each time we take one off the board. If folks want me to do that, please let me know, and I can update this poll.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

I love Protas, but my concern is whether he's really that good or if he's a byproduct of Greentree. We will know more as he continues to progress through development.

Reading comments from Spitfires fans lately, it sounds like Protas is the engine on their top line more so than Greentree...

He'll be 5th for me in this poll. Have to go Miroshnichenko here.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Miro. Easily

 

[Kazer]

Reading comments from Spitfires fans lately, t sounds like Protas is the engine on their top line more so than Greentree...

He'll be 5th for me in this poll. Have to go Miroshnichenko here.

That's fantastic. He's definitely creeping up my list.

This group for me is generally the 'closer to the NHL but lower ceiling' group with Miro, Lapierre, and Iorio, with Parascak included because he doesn't belong in the top group. Having said that you could make a legitimate argument that Protas should be ranked higher.

And, this probably belongs more in the general prospects thread, but the fact that our prospect group runs deep enough to have someone like Ilya Protas at 8 (or someone else I mentioned pushed down) speaks to how much the quality AND quantity of the group has improved year over year. Our #7 ranked prospect last year was Zac Funk.

And that's without accounting for legitimate prospects including Sikora, Mateiko, Chesley, Allen, and Muggli. Very impressive.

 

[Stan Galiev]

Really cool to have a top 15 prospect pool in the league when it’s been bottom 5 for so long. Also it’s impressive being a contender team as well. My vote here is Miro. He only 20 and is way ahead of schedule in terms of pro games. For a guy who lost whole year to cancer I think he is tracking as planned. I don’t think it will be too long before he puts his standout tools together and starts racking up points. Very bullish.

I don’t consider Jimi a prospect anymore due to NHL games played, but for the purposes of this poll I’d have him next. He looked so dynamic in the NHL and AHL playoffs. I thought he was about to have an elite launch off. At 23 he’s too young to write off. Let him cooked in the AHL more.

 

[Pigskin]

Imagine a world where Lil' Pro ends up as good as or better than Big Pro and Willy Dubie don't regress ... the sheer size of the top 6 ... oh my lord

 

[ArmadilloThumb]

Miroshnichenko here.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Voting Protas

 

[kicksavedave]

Surprised Lemay isn't gaining more traction

 

[DWGie26]

I voted for Lappy at 3 so gotta do that again here. He is a center with good wheels. The 3C is probably still his for next year. I think Miro will get another year in Hershey given he is waivers exempt again and I’m not yet convinced his ceiling is higher than Lappy. Both good prospects about to break through.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Easily Miro, he should have been #3.

 

[Kuz]

I voted for Lappy at 3 so gotta do that again here. He is a center with good wheels. The 3C is probably still his for next year. I think Miro will get another year in Hershey given he is waivers exempt again and I’m not yet convinced his ceiling is higher than Lappy. Both good prospects about to break through.

Went Miro myself as I have been a little dissapointed by lappy this season and a two year younger Miro is producing just as good as him this year. Based on the end of last year I expected him to have 3C locked up and in the future could be a good 2C, but right now that looks less likely.

While I see Miro having a better chance of being a top 6 forward. Could also argue for Protas who are looking very good this year. Right now he have a higher ceiling on paper, but a lower floor. Anyway its nice to have such a deep prospect group that our most recent 1st will be like 7th in the ranking and thats with having a quite good season. Usually our group have been so weak a 1st rounder would immediately be our 1st ranked prospect. Was hoping for a little more from Parascak this year, but Prince George have struggled more this season and you can see some drop off on production on Heidt aswell. They just had very good chemistry with Funk that have not been replaced.

 

[qc14]

Had Miro at 2 so will stick with him here. I still see a very nice middle 6 winger who can throw his weight around and score at a respectable rate. Once again think people are really underrating "floor" or certainty in these polls

 

[Random schmoe]

I'm going off my board here a little and choosing Miro. (I'd previously had LaPierre here.)

I still have confidence that LaPierre turns into a regular NHL center, likely middle 6.

When I mentored young people at work I would preach that success usually doesn't follow a straight line. Improvements can be gradual, with occasional setbacks, and when you look at them at micro levels things can appear stagnant or negative. But stepping back and looking at a macro level, understanding that the negatives now are likely to be better than the positives 2 years ago is critical. Lappy may not be kicking ass and taking names in Hershey so far in his limited time there, but but he's still better than he was 2 years ago. His development curve in a lot of ways resembles McMichael's.

But the realization that Miro is almost exactly 2 years younger, having lost so much time from his cancer, and still - regular season only and small sample sizes caveat - has slightly higher PPG in the AHL, (0.61 vs 0.58) tilted the scales.

I hate comparing wingers to centers, for various reasons, but I think Miro has a slightly higher chance of being a solid top 6 contributor. (I'm intentionally excluding analysis of the Caps' current wingers, trying to look at him in a vacuum.)

I personally put a lot of weight on proximity to the NHL in these rankings. So while a guy like Protas may have a ridiculously high ceiling, it could still be >2 years before he is an NHL regular, and I think the guys above are closer.

Two votes for Lemay? Guess I need to watch him more. I think he must have a burner account on this board, looking at you kicksavedave.



(As an aside, I like how some said LaPierre "is 23", when he is 22 for another week and a half, but Miro "is 20" though he turns 21 in a week.)

 

[Silky mitts]

...
I still have confidence that LaPierre turns into a regular NHL center, likely middle 6.
...
(As an aside, I like how some said LaPierre "is 23", when he is 22 for another week and a half, but Miro "is 20" though he turns 21 in a week.)

The age thing with Miro is he's 1 year older than Cristal and 2 years younger than Lappy so I put Miro 1st among them, but with Lappy he's 1 year younger than Big Protas and 4.5 years older than Lil Pro, so can you have more confidence Lappy will be a middle 6 NHL center than Lil Pro? And that's before you get into upside or additional years of control which are the 2 most important things.