Prospect Info: Samkow Memorial HFCBJ 2024 Summer Prospect Rankings: #8

[Viqsi]

Vote for the best prospect from the above poll (listed alphabetically) and post who you think should be added from the full (remaining) list below. Criteria is that they are under 25 and haven't spent the majority of a season in the NHL.

There are no set guidelines to determine how you vote. Peak potential, likelihood of NHL career, pathway to playing time, expectations based on draft status -- any/all of these can be used at your discretion. There is no right/wrong way to vote.

The list so far:
1. Cayden Lindstrom (C)
2. Denton Mateychuk (LD)
3. David Jiricek (RD)
4. Gavin Brindley (C/RW)
5. Charlie Elick (RD)
6. Jordan Dumais (RW)
7. Jet Greaves (G)

Select your add from the list below:
Luke Ashton (LD)
Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm (LD)
Cameron Butler (RW)
Corson Ceulemans (RD)
Cole Clayton (RD)
Kirill Dolzhenkov (RW)
James Fisher (RW/MOD)
Evan Gardner (G)
Tanner Henricks (RD)
Aidan Hreschuk (LD)
Oiva Keskinen (C)
Samuel Knazko (LD)
Nolan Lalonde (G)
Nikolai Makarov (LD)
Luca Marrelli (RD)
Max McCue (C)
Hunter McKown (C)
Tyler Peddle (C)
Luca Pinelli (C)
Mikael Pyyhtia (LW)
Guillaume Richard (LD)
Martin Rysavy (LW)
Melvin Strahl (G)
Andrew Strathman (LD)

Added: William Whitelaw (C)

Add votes so far (as of squashmaple):
Ceulemans - 4
Richard - 3
Gardner - 3
Keskinen - 3
Pinelli - 3
Marrelli - 2
Fisher - 2
Knazko - 1
Dolzhenkov - 1

Click to read more...

 

[Viqsi]

Malatesta, add Pinelli.

 

[majormajor]

Svozil add Richard.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

If you have a reason you'd like to share for your add vote, I'd love to hear them.

Personally, Im'a keep adding James Fisher until it happens.

 

[koteka]

LDBB add Gardner

 

[koteka]

Malatesta, add Pinelli.

Why Luca Pinelli over Luca Marrelli?

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Why Luca Pinelli over Luca Marrelli?

I guess it depends on if we're taking our Lucas in chronological or alphabetical order.

 

[CannonFire1]

Svosil, add Richard.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Add Gardner

 

[Doggy]

Malatesta, add Pinelli.

For a 5'9", 170 Lb guy he sure does rack up a lot of PIMs (Pinelli). Can we call him "Sweet Lou", I wanna call him that.

I voted for LDBB and don't feel I have enough room on my Luca bandwagon to add another so soon. Please add Corson Ceulemans. This is a make or break year for him...he's gotta start showing some serious progress in his game.

 

[cslebn]

Add Knazko

I feel like he's got a higher probability of making it than Ceulemans at this point.

 

[DarkandStormy]

Add Pinelli.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Ivanov. Add Keskinen, he did very well in the Liiga last year.

 

[Doggy]

Ivanov. Add Keskinen, he did very well in the Liiga last year.

I considered Keskinen but then talked myself out of it (I can be convincing). I think until we see him play a season in North America I am skeptical. How many times do we need to see an Emil Bemstrom or Jonathan Davidsson? I know every player is different but we just seem to get our hopes up for these mid-late round European picks who show decent offense in the adult Euro leagues and then bomb out on North American ice.

 

[EspenK]

I voted so I can see the results.

Add DSL.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

I considered Keskinen but then talked myself out of it (I can be convincing). I think until we see him play a season in North America I am skeptical. How many times do we need to see an Emil Bemstrom or Jonathan Davidsson? I know every player is different but we just seem to get our hopes up for these mid-late round European picks who show decent offense in the adult Euro leagues and then bomb out on North American ice.

Fair enough. It's pure gut feeling and guesswork from my side. I could just as easily have gone with Ceulemans, for instance. To your point, the Liiga in particular seems to have decreased in quality and success in that league seems to have projected very poorly to NHL success lately. But I still feel Keskinen has a higher chance of being an NHL player than someone like Pinelli does.

 

[majormajor]

I considered Keskinen but then talked myself out of it (I can be convincing). I think until we see him play a season in North America I am skeptical. How many times do we need to see an Emil Bemstrom or Jonathan Davidsson? I know every player is different but we just seem to get our hopes up for these mid-late round European picks who show decent offense in the adult Euro leagues and then bomb out on North American ice.

I don't know if this is known at this point but Ceulemans didn't make the cut on our AHL roster last year. He hasn't developed much physically and his hockey sense is still lacking. You might as well go with a guy who tore up a Euro league, however poor that may be as evidence.

I'm also unimpressed by the upside for Luca Pinelli and Samuel Knazko. Knazko is a thin D with limited tools and limited D ability. Overall low upside but skates well enough to maybe play in a few NHL games here and there. Pinelli is just not a big enough producer for such a tiny player. His chances seem very low.

 

[CBJx614]

Ivanov, add Dolzy.

I just feel with a few more years developing in the KHL we can have another NHL ready Russian by the time his contract is up and he makes the jump. This goes for both Ivanov and Dolzy as both are seeing a good amount of playing time at a young age in the KHL.

Dolzy is already seeing about 10 minutes/game at 20 yo in the KHL. Though those numbers were cut in half during the playoffs.

 

[tunnelvision]

Add Marrelli

If you have a reason you'd like to share for your add vote, I'd love to hear them.

Reasons:

- 6'2 RD
- patient and smart puck mover
- shows potential to become a good two-way D, can play PK and PP
- impressive development curve in the OHL production-wise (3 full seasons: 12P->28P->57P)
- seems to be in a supportive environment for D+1 year, plays a key role on a great team, quarterbacks top PP unit featuring Calum Ritchie and Beckett Sennecke
- these highlight clips (in addition to 3-4 Oshawa games I've seen him play in):




I think he's got top-4 upside. That should justify a relatively high ranking.

 

[Xoggz22]

Add Richard

 

[koteka]

Add Marrelli

Marrelli is a guy that could be considered a top 5 prospect next year. I have him in my top 11 now. He has more upside than a lot of guys.

My top 11 by tiers:

Cayden Lindstrom

Charlie Elick / David Jiricek / Denton Mateychuk

Gavin Brindley / Jet Greaves

Luca Del Bel Belluz / Evan Gardner / Sergei Ivanov / James Malatesta / Luca Marrelli

I don’t think anyone after those 11 has much of a future. I mean a big guy like Henricks, Ashton, or Dolzhenkov might develop which would be great, but I am not holding my breath.

 

[Viqsi]

Why Luca Pinelli over Luca Marrelli?

I liked what he put up for his overager season, and I tend to finch at rating recent picks higher because of a desire to avoid Shiny New Toy syndrome. We're well into the territory where I'm going by statwatching and sparse scouting reports so I'm more prepared than usual to be wrong.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Marrelli is a guy that could be considered a top 5 prospect next year. I have him in my top 11 now. He has more upside than a lot of guys.

My top 11 by tiers:

Cayden Lindstrom

Charlie Elick / David Jiricek / Denton Mateychuk

Gavin Brindley / Jet Greaves

Luca Del Bel Belluz / Evan Gardner / Sergei Ivanov / James Malatesta / Luca Marrelli

I don’t think anyone after those 11 has much of a future. I mean a big guy like Henricks, Ashton, or Dolzhenkov might develop which would be great, but I am not holding my breath.

Fisher, of course

 

[Viqsi]

Also, for the record and because I've shown these things before, here's what I have for my list so far:

https://nwcs.com/~jvc/haqi/2024summerprospectranking.txt

I'm still kind of rearranging the bottom seven or eight as I go on occasion so I dunno if it'll stay that way. But that's what I've got at the moment.

 

[Doggy]

Fair enough. It's pure gut feeling and guesswork from my side. I could just as easily have gone with Ceulemans, for instance. To your point, the Liiga in particular seems to have decreased in quality and success in that league seems to have projected very poorly to NHL success lately. But I still feel Keskinen has a higher chance of being an NHL player than someone like Pinelli does.

I respect those thoughts on Ceulemans. We know he's "toolsy" as much as I hate the word. I just think the Granato effect really delayed his development and know he had plenty of injuries this past season. This is more hope than expectation I guess. I believe the talent is there, he needs to stay healthy and could see potential opportunity to grow this season.

I can certainly be talked out of him here in the 8-10 range but at 21 years old I am not ready to give up on him as a legit future NHL contributor. As I said, this coming season may be make or break for him.