Who has the best OVERALL prospect pool in the NHL?

[ThirdManIn]

I opened this thread just to be a jack ass and vote for Nashville because I figured it was just another homer thread. It sort of is, but I see we've been getting love anyway so screw it. It's tough to argue with LA or FLA though.

 

[TimHortons]

NSH
STL
FLA
NYI
LA

In that order.

 

[CDA]

...but never with one team. Problem with Edmonton's prospect pool is there are too many of the same type of player.....and additional redundancy with their younguns like Gagner. Edmonton needs to divest some of their uni-dimensional talent pool for D and G talent sooner than later or they will not be a very rounded team....you cannot win in NHL without such roundness.

Is this a Wellwood joke?

 

[Qvist]

We did forwards and defenceman, but who has the best of the bunch from both?

St. Louis with Pietrangelo, Schwartz, Tarasenko, Allen, Sonne, McCrae and Cole?

Florida now with Markstrom, Gudbranson, Bjugstad, Howden, Grabner, Pretovic, Robak, Ellerby and McFarland?

LA with Schenn, Loktionov, Bernier, Teubert, Hickey and Voynov?

Phoenix with Maclean, Tikhonov, OEL, Summers and Gormley?

Thoughts?

Defining for the sake of simplicity "prospects2 as anyone who qualified for that status in the last THN FW (February this year) plus the last draft, and considering mainly the amount of top-end talent (which is the only kind with a really significant likelihood of becoming good NHLH players) my choice is Phoenix. Turris, Bødker, Gormley, OEL, Goncharov....a better combination of depth and top talent than any other team.

Complete ranking:

1. Phoenix
2. Edmonton. Not as much depth as several other teams, but no one has a better top end package than Hall, MPS and Eberle

3. Washington. Carlson and Alzner look like terrific top 4 defensemen, plus there's Kuznetsov, Johansson, Neuvirth.

4. Los Angeles. Not far behind, with Schenn, Teubert, Hickey, Bernier,

5. St.Louis. Excellent elite talent in Tarasenko, Pietrangelo. Plus Schwartz, Allen and Cole.

6. Nashville. Wilson and Ellis are both really good prospects, in addition to which come Watson, Pickard, Blum and good general depth.

7. Florida. Gudbranson and Markstrom are top prospects both, Bjugstad, Howden, Matthias also very good, plus pretty decent general depth.
8. Montreal. Subban is the elite guy, but there's also Kristo, Leblanc, Tinordi and Eller.

9. Chicago. They don't have a really top notch prospect, but they have amazing depth of prospects good enough to be likely to succeed: Morin, Hayes, Vishnevsky, Stalberg, Leddy, Skille.

10. NY Rangers. Ditto, with Stepan, Kreider, Grachev, McDonagh and McIlrath.

11. Boston. They have one of the best in Seguin and other good 'uns in Colborne, Marchand and Caron - but maybe not quite the depth of those above.

12. Columbus. Johansen and Filatov elite prospects, plus there's Moore, but the depth isn't great.

13. NY Islanders. Strong general depth, but few legitimate blue-chip prospects. Niederreiter the best, also De Haan, Hamonic.

14. Anaheim. Sbisa, Fowler, Palmieri, Etem the main men.

15. Carolina. Skinner the top guy, also good prospects in Boychuk, Bowman, McBain. Good but not spectacular group.

16. Vancouver. They have a blue-chipper in Hodgson and good ones in Schneider and Schroeder, but the rest seem second-tier.

17. Dallas. Campbell and Glennie both very good, but not that much beyond that.

18. Detroit. Good depth as always, but it's mainly good rather than great prospects. Smith, Kindl, Tatar, Sheahan.

19. Colorado. No real blue-chippers, but Hishon, Shattenkirk look good. Nno team is better at consistently finding gems among lower-rated players though.

20. Buffalo. You have to like Ennis, and there is also Pysyk and Kassian.

21. Ottawa. Cowen, Wiercioch, Lehner. rundblad, maybe. But no really top name.

22. Calgary. Good ones in Backlund, Erixon and Nemisz, but no really top name.

23. Minnesota. Granlund excellent, Scandella and Hackett good, maybe not a lot more.

24. Toronto. Kadri a top prospect, Bozak good, and decent depth of secondary prospects. Not too bad, but not one of the stronger groups either.

25. Atlanta. Traded away a lot of their best prospects. After Burmistrov and Cormier it looks questionable.

26. Tampa Bay. Still have a ways to go to rebuild their talent pool, so badly maintained for so long. Connolly and Ashton, then it crosses into secondary territory.

27. New Jersey. Two good ones in Josefson and Tedenby, but neither is a truly elite prospect.

28. San Jose. They'd look a lot worse without Couture. But they are traditionally good at getting good players from the ranks of the less highly regarded, so I might underrate them.

29. Pittsburgh. Tangradi, Bennett and........oh well.

30. Philadelphia. No-brainer. The only team without a single really good prospect.

 

[Qvist]

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".

You're right.

Just for the hell of it, I just leafed through the prospect rankings in the 2005 THN Future Watch.

What I found was that about 3 out of 4 of the players ranked in the top 50 have become more than marginal players in the NHL by now, or remain highly ranked prospects.

About half of the players ranked 51-75 had achieved the same.

Among prospects who made their team's top 10 list but wasn't in the top 75 overall, it was roughly one in five. That's pretty much the same rate as a second-round selection.

In other words, having one prospect ranked in the league top 50 created about the same likelihood of getting an NHL player as having four prospects good enough to make your top ten, but not the league top 75. Which means it's better to have 3 really good prospects than to have 10 who are merely good.

 

[charliolemieux]

Taylor Hall
Magnus Paajarvi
Jordan Eberle
Jeff Petry
Linus Omark
Anton Lander
Olivier Roy (potential team Canada starter at WJ's)
Tyler Pitlick
Martin Marincin
Curtis Hamilton
Ryan Martindale
Theo Peckham
Taylor Chorney
Chris Vande Velde

That's a hell of a prospect pool. All of those players could become NHL'ers.

The high level potential of the three bolded I think has to give EDM the edge.

Toronto has to be up there, if we are still calling 09-10 rookies prospects.
The goaltending depth is great. Some nice powerforwards coming along. The D looks fine. Ofcourse the key is Kadri. The depth would be even better if we still had Dido and Stalberg who we gave up for Versteeg.

 

[hgo]

13. NY Islanders. Strong general depth, but few legitimate blue-chip prospects. Niederreiter the best, also De Haan, Hamonic.

This is why I came here and was surprised that the Islanders were getting some "best prospect pool" votes. Now that Tavares has graduated, they don't really have a blue-chip prospect. Depth is nice, but you do need high-end talent to have an elite prospect pool.

 

[RoyBoyCoy]

I'd give it to Florida Markstrom, Gudbranson, Bjugstad, Howden, McFarland, Petrovic, Grabner, Robak etc with Phoenix in a close second. If Gormley and OEL both pan out that could be the among the most deadly tandems in the league, two very very intelligent and skilled players in all 3 zones.

Montreal*, St. Louis, Nashville, Edmonton, and Boston are also up there


*=Yes Homer. But if you look we have a quite deep prospect pool. Subban obviously takes the cake, Kristo, Tinordi, Eller, Leblanc and Pacioretty are the next level. But it's players like Avtsin, Bennett, Quailer, Ellis, Gallagher, White and Palushaj that show how deep the pool really is.

 

[Sens With Benefits]

I'd give it to Florida Markstrom, Gudbranson, Bjugstad, Howden, McFarland, Petrovic, Grabner, Robak etc with Phoenix in a close second. If Gormley and OEL both pan out that could be the among the most deadly tandems in the league, two very very intelligent and skilled players in all 3 zones.

Montreal*, St. Louis, Nashville, Edmonton, and Boston are also up there


*=Yes Homer. But if you look we have a quite deep prospect pool. Subban obviously takes the cake, Kristo, Tinordi, Eller, Leblanc and Pacioretty are the next level. But it's players like Avtsin, Bennett, Quailer, Ellis, Gallagher, White and Palushaj that show how deep the pool really is.

It's true, they have some serious depth, but I feel for a lot of guys it's either big or bust, no middle ground. and by that I mean, either they crack the top 6 or they don't make the team as they aren't suited to be grinders.

 

[Felix Unger]

This is why I came here and was surprised that the Islanders were getting some "best prospect pool" votes. Now that Tavares has graduated, they don't really have a blue-chip prospect. Depth is nice, but you do need high-end talent to have an elite prospect pool.

I think this might be one of those times that non-Islander fans, particular people from Western Canada, who see Hamonic a lot, hype our prospects more than we do.

Cheers,

Dan-o

 

[Gulvorn]

Montreal is probably about middle of the pack with their current prospects. Somewhere between 12-18 in the league.

 

[RoyBoyCoy]

It's true, they have some serious depth, but I feel for a lot of guys it's either big or bust, no middle ground. and by that I mean, either they crack the top 6 or they don't make the team as they aren't suited to be grinders.

Yeah that'll likely be the case with some players, namely Kristo, Gallagher, Maxwell and perhaps Palushaj. Maxwell is a complete waste of space as an NHLer right now, if he can't figure out how to provide in the NHL, I can see him being a really good AHLer because I don't want him anywhere near our third line. I certainly hope he does but if Eller doesn't turn into a Top 6 Centre I'd be fine with him as a third liner, he's smart and responsible. Same goes for Leblanc. I haven't seen enough of guys like Quailer and Avstin but their both pretty big guys and I haven't heard anything bad about their defensive or physical game, so they could be good 3rd liners.

 

[Top Corner2]

My team!

 

[PaPaDee]

My team!

haha so true, without naming my team these are my top 5:

1. NYI
2. FLA
3. PHX
4. NAS
5. LA

 

[RoyBoyCoy]

haha so true, without naming my team these are my top 5:

1. NYI
2. FLA
3. PHX
4. NAS
5. LA

Except that in your case you should be putting yourself in there IMO

 

[JVR21]

I can't wait until the season starts so the Oilers prospect pool will be nothing special at all.

 

[One Trick Pony*]

I can't wait until the season starts so the Oilers prospect pool will be nothing special at all.

Why?

 

[Duke749]

25. Atlanta. Traded away a lot of their best prospects. After Burmistrov and Cormier it looks questionable.

Ok, lets look at the guys other then Burmi and Cormier.
Kulda-played some games last year for atlanta and showed plenty of prmise to be a shutdown guy. Is all but a lock to play a majority of the season.
Klingberg-Big Power forward type swedish player. Will spend another yera in sweden to fine tone his skill set and will be ready to play next year on the big club. Plays a physical style and is willing to drive the net.
Machacek-Had a good yera in the AHL last year followed up with a good playoffs. If he isn't on the roster opening night, will likely be the 1st call-up.
Postma-Highly talented Offensive defensemen. Still neds to put on a little weight and is not quite ready to make the jump. Definitly has NHL potential
Chris Carrozzi-Was OHL goaltender of the year. Definitly has some NHL potential even if it's just as a back-up.

This is just a small smaple of some of the Thrashers prospects. There are 15 or so more that have a chance to make the NHL in some form or fashion. Thing about the ATL's prospects is they aren't that well known or aren't any of the big names. Most of the guys at the prospect camps did very well and showed potential.

 

[BLAME CANADA*]

I can't wait until the season starts so the Oilers prospect pool will be nothing special at all.

Well they might get to add Larsson

 

[Gobo]

I can't wait until the season starts so the Oilers prospect pool will be nothing special at all

Jealous brah? I think so.

Anyways top prospect pool has to go to Washington. There's a reason Hershey is always a Calder Cup contendant

 

[startainfection*]

13. NY Islanders. Strong general depth, but few legitimate blue-chip prospects. Niederreiter the best, also De Haan, Hamonic.

u left out the petrov, kabanov and nelson
the 3 you mentioned along with petrov, kabanov and nelson should put the islanders in the top 3
and all of their prospects have great size as well

This is why I came here and was surprised that the Islanders were getting some "best prospect pool" votes. Now that Tavares has graduated, they don't really have a blue-chip prospect. Depth is nice, but you do need high-end talent to have an elite prospect pool.

i wouldnt trade petrov, nino, kabanov, hamonic, de haan, nelson, donovan, lawson and koskinen for any other team's top prospects

 

[s7ark]

I can't wait until the season starts so the Oilers prospect pool will be nothing special at all.

Gut feeling because you're sick of hearing about them on HF? While I can understand that, they really are good players. Eberle and MPS didn't look out of place at the WC and MPS was named an all-star along with Malkin and Datsyuk. Hall is a 1st overall pick like Tavares, Stamkos and Kane from the past 3 years. Even if they don't come roaring out of the gate, the likelihood is all 3 will end up top 6 players in some regard. And we do have guys like Hemsky, Penner, and Gagner to take the tougher minutes and give the kids an easier time.

As objectively as I can given my strong team bias, I think my top 5 would be:

1. FLA
2. PHX
3. EDM
4. NAS
5. LA

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Look for the team with the worst records for the past ten years

finishing top 5 in the draft doesnt mean crap if you dont have a good scouting staff

 

[TheKingSlayer]

finishing top 5 in the draft doesnt mean crap if you dont have a good scouting staff

See Columbus. Lots of dissapointing picks in the top 5-10 over the years.

 

[MCI Center]

I'll go for a top 10 (Blue-chip prospects in bold):

1. Edmonton- Hall, Paajarvi, Eberle
2. Florida- Gudbranson, Markstrom, Bjugstad, Howden
3. New York Islanders- Hamonic, Petrov, Niederreiter, Kabanov, de Haan, Nelson
4. Nashville- Wilson, Ellis, Blum, Watson
5. Phoenix- Goncharov, OEL,Gormley, Maclean
6. Washington- Johansson, Alzner, Carlson, Neuvirth, Kuznetsov
7. Los Angeles- Schenn, Forbort, Hickey, Bernier
8. New York Rangers- Stepan, McDonagh, Kreider, McIlrath
9. St. Louis- Tarasenko, Cole, Schwartz, Pietrangelo
10. Boston- Seguin, Caron, Colborne

H.M.: Columbus, Chicago, Vancouver

I know I just listed each team's "top" prospects, but I did also consider depth. Certain teams, such as Florida, L.A., Washington, and the Rangers, just have ridiculous depth (as well as some blue-chip prospects.) Others, such as Edmonton, St. Louis, and Boston, have pools that are dominated by their top-end talent, and dip-off sharply after the top 3-5.