Who has the best OVERALL prospect pool in the NHL?

[Gulvorn]

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

Who was disappointing besides Brule and Picard? Klesla has developed, took him longer than expected, and has just been injured for the last couple seasons. Same thing happened to Leclaire. Zherdev was always skilled enough to play, so scouting wouldn't have done anything to prevent them from taking that. The 2003 draft was like a minefield. Incredibly deep, lots of talent.

The 2000 draft who would they have gotten that's better than Klesla is atm? Scott Hartnell or Brooks Orpik? Steve Ott, Brad Boyes, or Niklas Kronwall? Those are like the only players from that draft still playing that were selected after the CBJ pick (Except Lilja and Bryzgalov).

Yes, in hindsight, the Blue Jackets should have taken Kopitar instead of Brule in the 2005 draft, but the 2004 draft might have been the weakest draft ever. I can't think of anyone who came after Picard who is notable besides Mike Green. It's Columbus' fault for having a bad team early on, and only being bad enough to get the 1st overall once, and then constantly picked outside the top 5 in weak draft years where there were hardly any good players, except for the rare gems?

 

[Blues0307]

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

Don't be that guy...

 

[One Trick Pony*]

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.

Bjugstad, Howden, Petrov, Nelson, Watson, Goncharov, Maclean, Kuznetsov, Johansson, Neuvirth, Forbort, McIlrath, McDonagh, Cole, Schwartz, and Caron do not belong anywhere near the word "bluechipper".

 

[dafoomie]

NYI

Niederreiter
de Haan
Hamonic
Nelson
Petrov
Kabanov
Koiskinen

Those two Bos/NYI rookie games they moved to the Garden are going to be sick. The Bruins should have Seguin, Colborne, Caron, Knight, Spooner, Alexandrov, Button, Sauve, all but Button drafted in the top 2 rounds. The Isles obviously are stacked, great take for $5.

I think a lot of people are overlooking most of this year's draftees since HF hasn't rated those guys yet.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Those two Bos/NYI rookie games they moved to the Garden are going to be sick. The Bruins should have Seguin, Colborne, Caron, Knight, Spooner, Alexandrov, Button, Sauve, all but Button drafted in the top 2 rounds. The Isles obviously are stacked, great take for $5.

I think a lot of people are overlooking most of this year's draftees since HF hasn't rated those guys yet.

i really wish i could go

 

[OK Okposo]

NYI

Niederreiter
de Haan
Hamonic
Nelson
Petrov
Kabanov
Koiskinen

Will be at the prospect games.

 

[dafoomie]

Will be at the prospect games.

The Bruins haven't announced a roster but it'll probably resemble their development camp roster minus the guys returning to the NCAA.

http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=533669

 

[Qvist]

Who was disappointing besides Brule and Picard? Klesla has developed, took him longer than expected, and has just been injured for the last couple seasons. Same thing happened to Leclaire. Zherdev was always skilled enough to play, so scouting wouldn't have done anything to prevent them from taking that. The 2003 draft was like a minefield. Incredibly deep, lots of talent.

The 2000 draft who would they have gotten that's better than Klesla is atm? Scott Hartnell or Brooks Orpik? Steve Ott, Brad Boyes, or Niklas Kronwall? Those are like the only players from that draft still playing that were selected after the CBJ pick (Except Lilja and Bryzgalov).

Yes, in hindsight, the Blue Jackets should have taken Kopitar instead of Brule in the 2005 draft, but the 2004 draft might have been the weakest draft ever. I can't think of anyone who came after Picard who is notable besides Mike Green. It's Columbus' fault for having a bad team early on, and only being bad enough to get the 1st overall once, and then constantly picked outside the top 5 in weak draft years where there were hardly any good players, except for the rare gems?

Heh, talk about looking at the sunny side of life.

Klesla has not developed, to remotely what anyone would reasonably expect from a 3rd overall pick. He ranks as a perennial disappointment and a bad selection. Leclaire as of now is the sort of player who gets a shot as a starter on the sort of team who is desperate enough to gamble. He was also a bad selection. Zherdev was dealt away for second-tier assets, has never been a high-impact player and is questionable to even have a sustained NHL career.

These are all failed top ten picks. Period. And you don't have five failed top ten picks in almost as few years because there were no one better to select or because of bad luck. Period.

 

[Qvist]

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.

Machacek, Carrozzi, Klingberg and Kulda, sure. How could I forget.

Look, Homer. There are 20 guys on every team who have a chance to make the NHL and who showed potential at prospect camp. It's just that nearly all of them won't. Atlanta has Burmistrov, Cormier and then pretty much the same kind of bunch of longshots that all the other teams have (and in fact I don't even think their secondary prospects look very strong, compared to many other teams). If you think that's one of the better prospect groups in the NHL, dream on.

And sorry, but that last paragraph of yours deserves to stand as a near-perfect summation of the mental processes behind chronic fan over-rating of own prospects.

 

[HemskyToHall*]

Oilers have the big 3, along with it is the NCAA's best D-man (HM to Weircioch) Jeff Petry ,our Dave Bolland in Tyler Pitlick, Oliver Roy, who will show the world his talent at next year's WJ's, (Last player to be cut) and Anton Lander who happens to be an Alternate captain of SEL Timra, a candidate for future captain.

 

[Qvist]

u left out the petrov, kabanov and nelson

That's because none of them are legitimate blue-chip prospects, at least not at this point.

 

[Qvist]

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.

Couldn't agree more. I was similarly surprised.

 

[OK Okposo]

That's because none of them are legitimate blue-chip prospects, at least not at this point.

Blue chip (tm) means potential high end talent. Obviously there are question marks surrounding Nelson and the Kirills but you have to admit they have that potential.

 

[HemskyToHall*]

Blue chip (tm) means potential high end talent. Obviously there are question marks surrounding Nelson and the Kirills but you have to admit they have that potential.

Kirill seems like a boom/bust, if we are talking top end potential than Linus Omark should also be mentioned.

 

[Qvist]

Blue chip (tm) means potential high end talent. Obviously there are question marks surrounding Nelson and the Kirills but you have to admit they have that potential.

Well, this is Wikipedia on same concept:

"Blue chip" players have proven themselves to be amongst the best at their respective positions in their sports and are more sought after than other players. They are typically perceived as "can't miss" prospects who are desired by most organizations. Blue chip athletes are likely to have an immediate impact on teams that acquire them and have proven skills rather than speculative or untapped potential.

Seems to be sort of dominated by an NFL draft kind of context, but the bottom line is that the word describes prospects who are consensually regarded as having an unusually high likelihood of making an impact at the next level. That doesn't really cover players drafted last in the first round or in the third round two months ago, or a former third-round selection who as far as I have seen have never been talked about as a top-notch prospect by anybody who isn't an Islander fan. Potential notwithstanding, all three are players who have more to prove before they merit such description.

Speculative top end potential is in my opinion worthless as a general measure of a prospect's worth.

 

[OK Okposo]

Well, this is Wikipedia on same concept:

"Blue chip" players have proven themselves to be amongst the best at their respective positions in their sports and are more sought after than other players. They are typically perceived as "can't miss" prospects who are desired by most organizations. Blue chip athletes are likely to have an immediate impact on teams that acquire them and have proven skills rather than speculative or untapped potential.

Seems to be sort of dominated by an NFL draft kind of context, but the bottom line is that the word describes prospects who are consensually regarded as having an unusually high likelihood of making an impact at the next level. That doesn't really cover players drafted last in the first round or in the third round two months ago, or a former third-round selection who as far as I have seen have never been talked about as a top-notch prospect by anybody who isn't an Islander fan. Potential notwithstanding, all three are players who have more to prove before they merit such description.

Speculative top end potential is in my opinion worthless as a general measure of a prospect's worth.

Fair enough, thats just what I take Blue chip to mean.

 

[Qvist]

I've always suspected people weren't employing the term according to the same understanding of it. Explains a lot, really.

 

[WangMustGo]

Those two Bos/NYI rookie games they moved to the Garden are going to be sick. The Bruins should have Seguin, Colborne, Caron, Knight, Spooner, Alexandrov, Button, Sauve, all but Button drafted in the top 2 rounds. The Isles obviously are stacked, great take for $5.

I think a lot of people are overlooking most of this year's draftees since HF hasn't rated those guys yet.

When are those games? and are they at the Boston garden?(I would imagine) But really hoping they are at Madison Square Garden.

 

[dafoomie]

When are those games? and are they at the Boston garden?(I would imagine) But really hoping they are at Madison Square Garden.

They're on September 15 and 16 in Boston. They were originally going to be in Shelton, CT.

 

[Fourier]

...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.

I honestly do not believe this is true.

The list of prospects is pretty diverse.

Highly skilled forwards with size:

Hall, MPS

Smaller skilled forwards with a high compete level:

Omark, Eberle (Both have no problem going to the tough areas)

Two-way forwards with skill and good size:

Lander, Pitlick, Vande Velde, Hartikainen, Martindale, Hamilton

Offensive Defensemen:

Chorney

Two-way defensemen:

Petry, Marincin

Shut down defensemen:

Plante, Peckham


The Oilers prospect pool actually has pretty good balance. There is not even that much duplication with the current roster. There would still be room for two of Cogs, Brule and Gagner with this pool. Gagner could be a very good number 2 center. Brule can play in many different roles. Cogs looks like the odd man out to me.


The problem is that the team lacks a true first line center (unless Hall makes the transition), a true stud defenseman and a top end goalie. But it would be pretty rare to expect a prospect pool to contain more than one of these.

 

[deanmoriarty]

tyler pitlick will be a bust, i can tell by looking at his face. no heart.

 

[Neely2005]

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

Or if you trade away your Draft Picks.

 

[CupofOil]

I hate to be a bit of a homer because that's not what i'm about but how can almost everybody have Edmonton outside of the top 5? I'm not saying that the Oilers overall prospect pool is the best or even top 3 but the top end talent alone should be enough to put them in the conversation at least and their depth is underrated as well....

Hall
MPS
Eberle
Omark
Pitlick
Lander
Hartikanen
Rajala
Vande Velde
Martindale
Hamilton

That is a very diverse group of forwards with a ton of skill, grit, character and defensive capabilities. There is also a decent group of defense prospects which is lacking one high end guy....

Petry
Plante
Marincin
Peckham
Chorney

And Olivier Roy has a lot of potential as a possible future #1 Goalie, he might even start for Canada at the upcoming WJC so overall i think the Oilers should definitely be in the top 5 conversation, probably in the 4th or 5th slot. If the Oilers can get Larsson or Musil in this upcoming draft, they will probably have the most complete prospect pool in the league.

 

[AwesomePanthers]

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

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

First of all: There's not a snowballs chance in hell that there are 12 teams with better prospects than the Islanders. They're easily top 5 to me.

Second of all: Minnesota have been known to have a very weak prospects pool. I would put them at the bottom together with Philly.


For my ranking I would really have a hard time not putting my team in the top 3 atleast. I really like the pools of NYI, Nashville, Pheonix and LA, but if Oilers can add some good defence prospects they could be in the top5.

1. Florida (Call me homer, but Markström, Gudbransson, Howden, Bjugstad, McFarland, Petrovic, Robak, Repik, Grabner and Dadonov (+ some other good goalie prospects) is too good of a groupe to beat).

2. NYI (Stacked up some good prospects over the last years, liked the adding of Kabanov. Very good balance of defencemen and forwards, and great depth!)

3. Pheonix (OEL and Gormley will be a rocksolid top 2 for years to come, also have some other nice prospects).

4. Nashville (very good D depth and some solid center)

5. LA (great d prospects and good goalie in Bernier + Schenn etc.)


HM: Oilers, Caps and Rangers.

 

[Qvist]

First of all: There's not a snowballs chance in hell that there are 12 teams with better prospects than the Islanders. They're easily top 5 to me.

Well, what exactly is so great about them? If you have faith that Kabanov is an elite prospect, for which you could certainly make a case, that improves them. But I just don't see that they have anywhere close to the overall quality of the teams I put in the top 5. Again, once you're past the top 3 (or 4), then you are into secondary territory. There are lots of teams with considerably more than that.

Second of all: Minnesota have been known to have a very weak prospects pool. I would put them at the bottom together with Philly.

Well, they do have a top-notch prospect in Granlund, and very good ones in Scandella and Hackett. Granlund alone puts them well above the Flyers, and I don't see three prospects of that quality in the teams I have below them.

1. Florida (Call me homer, but Markström, Gudbransson, Howden, Bjugstad, McFarland, Petrovic, Robak, Repik, Grabner and Dadonov (+ some other good goalie prospects) is too good of a groupe to beat).

2. NYI (Stacked up some good prospects over the last years, liked the adding of Kabanov. Very good balance of defencemen and forwards, and great depth!)

3. Pheonix (OEL and Gormley will be a rocksolid top 2 for years to come, also have some other nice prospects).

4. Nashville (very good D depth and some solid center)

5. LA (great d prospects and good goalie in Bernier + Schenn etc.)

HM: Oilers, Caps and Rangers.

You would seriously rather have Nino Niederreiter, Travis Hamonic and Calvin DeHaan than Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and MPS? Or think that the Islanders lesser prospects are so much better than the Oilers' and will yield such great results that it outweighs the difference? When I buy an NHL team, you're not getting hired kompis.