Who has the best OVERALL prospect pool in the NHL?

[LaFan1967]

Last year

1 Nashville
2 Los Angeles
3 St Louis
4 Washington

I don't think any of these 4 had any players graduate to the big club last year.

Edmonton < 9 > and Boston < 10 > could move into the top 4 on the backs
of Hall and Seguin and Florida < 11 > as well .

 

[KreiMeARiver*]

Rangers:

Kreider
McDonagh
Grachev
Stepan

..not too shabby

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

The Rangers are lacking the surefire future superstar (like a Stamkos) that I think is necessary to break the top 3, but I'd have to slot them in around the top 7 - maybe (dare I say likely?) even top 5.

On the Rangers board, we're currently doing our biannual rankings. We're now up to #24 (where I think it's starting to peter out) - you can see them below. IMO something like 18-21 have legit shots to at least get the proverbial cup of coffee in the NHL, 9-13 legit shots to become regular players - and as many as seven legit shots to become meaningful players (i.e. top 6 forward, top 3 d-man).

Top Prospects

1. (+3) Derek Stepan (C) - Drafted in the 2nd Round of the 2008 Draft
2. (+5) Chris Kreider (LW) - Drafted in the 1st Round of the 2009 Draft
3. (+0) Evgeny Grachev (LW) - Drafted in the 3rd Round of the 2008 Draft
4. (+2) Ryan McDonagh (D) - Drafted in the 1st Round by Montreal in the 2007 Draft.
5. (NR) Mats Zuccarello Aasen (F) - Undrafted, Signed by NYR in 2010.
6. (NR) Dylan Mcilrath (D) - Drafted in the 1st Round in the 2010 Draft
7. (+2) Ethan Werek (F) - Drafted in the 2nd Round in the 2009 Draft
8. (+6) Dale Weise (F) - Drafted in the 4th Round in the 2008 Draft.
9. (NR) Christian Thomas (F) - Drafted in the 2nd Round in the 2010 Draft.
10. (+3) Carl Hagelin (LW) - Drafted in the 6th Round in the 2007 Draft

Second Tier

11. (-1) Chad Johnson (G) - Drafted by Pittsburgh in the 5th Round of the 2006 Draft
12. (+0) Mike Sauer (D) - Drafted in the 2nd Round of the 2005 Draft.
12. (+7) Pavel Valentenko (D) - Drafted by the Montreal Canadians in the 5th Round of the 2006 Draft.
14. (+1) Ryan Bourque (LW) - Drafted in the 3rd round of the 2009 Draft.
15. (+10) Mikhail Pashnin (D) - Drafted in the 7th round of the 2009 Draft.
16. (+0) Dane Byers (LW) - Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2004 Draft.
17. (+3) Roman Horak (C) - Drafted in the 5th round of the 2009 Draft.
18. (-1) Tomas Kundratek (D) - Drafted in the 3rd round of the 2008 Draft.
19. (NR) Andrew Yogan (C) - Drafted in the 4th Round in the 2010 Draft
20. (+4) Brodie Dupont (LW) - Drafted in the 3rd round of the 2005 Draft.

Third Tier

21. (NR) Jesper Fasth (C) - Drafted in the 6th Round in the 2010 Draft
22. (NR) Jyri Niemi (D) - Drafted in the 3rd Round by Islanders in the 2008 Draft.
23. (+3) Daniel Maggio (D) - Drafted in the 6th round of the 2009 draft
24. ?

3 years ago a guy like Kundratek would've been about #10 on our list. Does any other organization have that kind of depth (and depth of quality) in the system?

 

[massivegoonery]

My Hawks should be up in the top 10 here somewhere. Lots of high-end talent acquired in the sell-off this summer.

Here's the fan poll so far:

1. Kyle Beach (76.00%)
2. Dylan Olsen (67.50%)
3. Marcus Kruger (34.15%)
4. Jeremy Morin (36.11%)
5. Shawn Lalonde (36.96%)
6. Nick Leddy (31.58%)
7. Viktor Stalberg (32.56%)
8. Kevin Hayes (73.33%)
9. Jack Skille (24.00%)
10. Ivan Vishnevskiy (24.00%)
11. Brandon Pirri (37.21%)
12. Igor Makarov (46.43%)
13. Ludvig Rensfeldt (34.15%)
14. Jimmy Hayes (47.50%)
15. Bryan Bickell (32.43%)
16. Philippe Paradis (23.53%)

 

[Captain Conservative]

Nashville-

grade a prospects with less than a year (or none) of NHL experience,

Colin Wilson
Cody Franson
Ryan Ellis
Jon Blum
Roman Josi
Chet Pickard
Austin Watson



Can any team top that?

1. John Carlson (D) - Drafted 1st Round, 27th Overall in 2008 Draft
2. Karl Alzner (D) - Drafted 1st Round, 5th Overall in 2007 Draft
3. Semyon Varlamov (G) - Drafted 1st Round, 23rd Overall in 2006 Draft
4. Michal Neuvirth (G) - Drafted 2nd Round, 34th Overall in 2006 Draft
5. Marcus Johansson (C) - Drafted 1st Round, 24th Overall in 2009 Draft
6. Evgeny Kuznetsov (C) - Drafted 1st Round, 26th Overall in 2010 Draft
7. Dmitri Orlov (D) - Drafted 2nd Round, 55th Overall in 2009 Draft
8. Braden Holtby (G) - Drafted 4th Round, 93rd Overall in 2008 Draft
9. Mathieu Perreault (C) - Drafted 6th Round, 177th Overall in 2006 Draft
10. Cody Eakin (C) - Drafted 3rd Round, 85th Overall in 2009 Draft
11. Stanislav Galiev (C) - Drafted 3rd Round, 86th Overall in 2010 Draft
12. Andrew Gordon (RW) - Drafted 7th Round, 197th Overall in 2004 Draft
13. Dmitry Kugryshev (RW) - Drafted 2nd Round, 58th Overall in 2008 Draft

 

[forty47seven]

Nashville gets my vote.

Nashville has IMO the best defense prospect pool; however, I don't think their forwards get the recognition they deserve. No one has even mentioned last years Hobby Barker winner Blake Geoffrion. Guelph Strom forwards Taylor Beck [61GP 39G 54A 93PTS] and (the underrated) Michael Latta [58GP 33G 40A 73PTS 157PIM] haven't been getting any attention. Throw Colin Wilson, Austin Watson and Zach Budish in the mix and you have very well balanced set of forward prospects.

 

[Epictetus]

I like Florida.

 

[BLAME CANADA*]

Vancouver is pretty strong

Cody Hodgson
Cory Schneider
Jorden Schroeder
Anton Rodin
Sergei Shirokov
Yann Sauve
Kevin Connauton (surpassed Blum for most goals by a D man, best in Giants history also for most pts)
Steven Anthony
Peter Andersson (this guy is our next Edler)
Jeremy Price

 

[Tavaresmagicalplay*]

I like Washingtons group personally. All around they are the most talented and the deepest. They also have a pretty underrated guy in Mathieu Perreault. I think he could be a top six guy in the nhl and give them even more scoring depth next year.

 

[Soundgarden]

I'm really excited about Florida's group of young guns: Markstrom is arguably the top goaltender prospect in the league and just after this draft they have Gudbrannson, Bjugstead, Howden and Mcfarland.

 

[JTG]

Islanders, Panthers, Kings.

Nashville has great top tier talent, but they can't possibly use all of the high end defensemen they have. If they could flip a defensive prospect for a forward prospect of the same caliber, they could be up in the top 3 too.

 

[chewey]

Forwards:
- Hishon
- Stoa
- Yip
- Porter

Defense:
- Shattenkirk
- Elliot
- Gaunce
- Holos
- Chouinard
- Barrie
- Wilson
- Cohen
- Silas
- Rutkowski

Goaltending:
- Pickard
- Aittokallio​

The Avs lack the top end talent in offense (no players in the same potential as Halls, MSPs, Eberles and such) as well as in defense (no players in the same potential as OELs, Petriangelos, etc.) and goaltending (again, no Markstroms, Berinere, Varlamov etc.) but the team has depth on every position.

I'd say they are outside the top 10 looking in or near the bottom of top 10.

My money on the best goes to FLA.

- Markstorm
- Howden
- Budjstad
- Ellerby
- Gudbranson
- Garbner

just deep and top end talent.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I think the teams at the top last year are still at the top this year.

Nashville: Wilson, Blum, Watson, Pickard, Franson, Roussel, Budish, Ellis...

LA: Schenn, Bernier, Forbort, Voinov, Toffoli, Teubert, Loktionov, Weal...

St. Louis: Pietrangelo, Tarasenko, Cole, Schwartz, Allen, McRae, Sonne, Junland...still pretty impressive considering they traded away Eller, Rundblad & Palushaj.

Washington: Carlson, Varlamov, Alzner, Kuznetsov, Neuvirth, Johansson...

Columbus: Filatov, Johansen, Moore, Goloubef, Calvert, Mayorov...

I see Vancouver, Edmonton and Boston as definitely being in the top 10 as well.

 

[startainfection*]

right now it the islanders but next year after the bruins get another top 5 pick because of the kessel trade they will have the best prospect pool

 

[zackisonfire]

So people make arguments for their prospect pool by simply listing names?

List a bunch of names and then win! What an odd thread.

 

[Vic Rattlehead*]

So people make arguments for their prospect pool by simply listing names?

List a bunch of names and then win! What an odd thread.

Agreed. I can't believe the same people than complain about the HF organizational rankings when the writers at least do more than list names.

 

[Luck 6]

No mention at all of Vancouver.. They have to be top 10 for sure.

Schneider
Hodgson
Schroeder
Rodin
Connauton
Sauve
Shirokov

Those guys right there give us an extremely deep group, and we still have guys like Sweatt, Anthony, Andersson etc. which add to it.

 

[MSG the place to be*]

I am a Rangers fan. I love our prospects.

Now with that out of the way I am actually gonna be unbiased. (try it sometimes guys).

THE EDMONTON OILERS HAVE THE BEST POOL

There is way too much attention paid to "depth". Depth is called "I'm gonna list my favorite team's draft picks from 2007-2010 and hope it looks long enough to impress someone".

Call up the Oilers and ask for Hall. Some teams sadly enough dont have an entire prospect pool that the Oilers would swap for Hall. No Joke. For the average team it would probably cost a team their top 4-5 guys. Then in MPS and Eberle your talking about 2 more top 10 prospects in the league. I can't even name more than a couple more of their prospects but thats enough for me.

As far as the Rangers, yes I like to hope that guys like Werek, Bourque, Weiss, Byers, etc. pan out but in reality its all about the top guys. Kreider, Stepan, Grachev and to a lesser extent McDonagh.

If your all caught up on depth, its probably because your team doesnt have quality prospects.

 

[IrishSniper87]

With the "graduation" of Giroux and JVR, the Flyers have to be near the bottom.

 

[OK Okposo]

I am a Rangers fan. I love our prospects.

Now with that out of the way I am actually gonna be unbiased. (try it sometimes guys).

THE EDMONTON OILERS HAVE THE BEST POOL
There is way too much attention paid to "depth". Depth is called "I'm gonna list my favorite team's draft picks from 2007-2010 and hope it looks long enough to impress someone".

Call up the Oilers and ask for Hall. Some teams sadly enough dont have an entire prospect pool that the Oilers would swap for Hall. No Joke. For the average team it would probably cost a team their top 4-5 guys. Then in MPS and Eberle your talking about 2 more top 10 prospects in the league. I can't even name more than a couple more of their prospects but thats enough for me.

As far as the Rangers, yes I like to hope that guys like Werek, Bourque, Weiss, Byers, etc. pan out but in reality its all about the top guys. Kreider, Stepan, Grachev and to a lesser extent McDonagh.

If your all caught up on depth, its probably because your team doesnt have quality prospects.

Yea, because who needs defense?

 

[Jakomyte]

Why don't we add a rule to this thread where you CAN'T just pimp your own team's prospects. Just list you favourite team and then suggest why a different team has the best prospect pool.

My team is Montreal, but I think Florida is at or near the top after the 2010 draft. They have a good mix of everything, including a top goalie (Markstrom), defensemen (Gudbranson, Ellerby) and forwards (Bjugstad, Grabner, Repik, Howden, McFarland).

I can't think of another team that has that type of quality at all 3 major positions.

 

[wpgyotes]

I think we have balance at all three positions, but whether or not they'll pan out is another story.

Turris
MacLean
Tikhonov
Boedker
Brown
OEL (D)
Goncharov (D)
Gormley (D)
Summers (D)
Stone (D)
Visentin (G)
Domingue (G)

 

[s7ark]

Yea, because who needs defense?

Petry, Plante, Marincin, Peckham, and Chorney all stand a decent shot at being an NHLer for Oiler d prospects.

 

[Gulvorn]

I think the Jackets have some pretty solid overall prospects.

Defensive prospects include Moore 7.5C (D), Goloubef 7.5C (D), and Savard 7.5C (D).

So looking at the defensive prospects, the Jackets have 3 guys who are projected to be somewhere between a 1st or 2nd line pairing defender with their potential being at a medium level. So even in a worse case scenario, 2 of those 3 should be at least 2nd line defenders at the NHL level. I personally think Moore could be a 8.0C.



Forward prospects include Filatov 8.5C (LW), Johansen 8.0C (C), Calvert 7.5C (LW), Straka 7.5C (LW), Smith 7.0C (LW), Mayorov 7.0C (LW), and Atkinson 7.5D (F). We obviously lack some RW talent, but that isn't too uncommon. The switch for some players from LW to RW isn't that hard, and is sometimes beneficial.

So Filatov is projected to at least be a 1st line player that has potential to be an All-Star. He is projected at the medium level chance of reaching that potential though, which likely means he has some chance of being an All-Star player, but more than likely will at least be a 1st line winger.

Johansen is likewise considered to be a 1st line center, with a worst case scenario being possible 2nd line. Calvert and Straka are both possible 1st liners, but with the medium potential rating, could fall to being 2nd line wingers. Smith and Mayorov might have 2nd line talent, but again, will likely be 3rd liners with the 7.0C rating. Atkinson is the most unpredictable prospect at the moment from the forward position. He could be as high as a 1st line guy, but could be as low as a 3rd or 4th line guy. Depends on if he can live up to his talent.


Goalie wise, the Jackets prospects are low at the moment. Their best goalie prospect at the moment is Wesslau at a 6.5C.


So in summary, if you look at the Blue Jackets prospects, they have a pretty good solid list of prospects.

They have 3 defenders who can top out at the 1st line level, and bottom out around #4 defender material.

They have 1 forward with All-Star capability, 1 with high 1st line potential, 2 with median/low 1st line potential and median/high 2nd line potential, and 2 with median/low 2nd line potential and median/high 3rd line potential.

They have 1 goalie with low possibility of starter potential and a median potential of backup goalie material.

If I were rating the Jackets, I'd say they have a B in defensive prospects, a B+ in forward prospects, and a D+ in goalie prospects at the moment. So as you look ahead 3 years, it should be better team with their highly projected prospects (with an exception to the goalie position), that is if they meet their potential or don't fall more than a line in their initial potential rating.

 

[R S]

No mention at all of Vancouver.. They have to be top 10 for sure.

Schneider
Hodgson
Schroeder
Rodin
Connauton
Sauve
Shirokov

Those guys right there give us an extremely deep group, and we still have guys like Sweatt, Anthony, Andersson etc. which add to it.

Vancouver has a very very good NHL team, but they have one of the weaker prospect pools in the entire league. Sorry to break the news to you.

I like several of their pieces like Schneider and Hodgson, but that's about it.