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Top 4 Under 24 - Who has the best young core in the league

Top 4 Under 24?

  • TOR

    Votes: 19 70.4%

  • EDM

    Votes: 6 22.2%

  • WPG

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • ARZ

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • TAM

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Others ...

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    27
number17

number17

Mod Squad
(Sorry, this is take II ... I forgot WPG in take I)

Sparked by the TSN intermission discussion last night, I think this is a very interesting topic.

Let me quantify the question though.

- By YOUNG I am setting the cutoff line at 24 or below, reason is if the intention is to project who will be the best teams in the NHL in ~ 5 years time, 24 makes sure the players won't be over his peak by then.

- By CORE I and defining it as a group of 4 players (F, D and G) who are either in the NHL or on the system

Based on that definition, I guess the usual suspects and their best players are :

TOR - Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly
WPG - Laine, Scheifele, Connor, Morrissey?
EDM - McDavid, Nurse, Puljuarvi, RNH? (Or Eberle instead of Puljuarvi?)
PHX - Domi, Strome, Dvorak, Samuelsson?
BUF - Eichel, McCabe, Nylander, Ghule
TAM - Druoin, Kucherov, Vasilevsky, Point?

Obviously, a lot of things can go wrong in between now and then, and having a young core now doesn't guarantee a parade 5 or 6 years from now either, but it's a good starting point to take a future-view of where the teams may end up
 
Winnipeg (Scheifele, Laine, Ehlers, Trouba) , Edmonton (McDavid, Puljujarvi, Draisaitl, Klefbom), Florida (Barkov, Huberdeau, Bjustad, Ekblad) and maybe Buffalo (Eichel, Reinhart, Nylander, Ristolainen) are up there. But for me its the Leafs.

Outside the Leafs none of them have an elite #1 C, #1 D and #1 W. Winnipeg has the forwards, but I don't think Trouba or Morrisey compare to Reilly. Edmonton has the center, but they don't have Marner or Reilly. Buffalo and Florida have the center and defenseman bu no Marner.

The Leafs is the deepest and most balanced group of elite talent.

Of course if you put the age up to 26 then Tampa is awseome. Stamkos, Drouin, Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilevsky. They aren't going anywhere anytime soon
 
Yes ... but between 19 and 26 there is a very big gap ... this is a young men's league so in 4-5 years time, Tampa's core (assuming it is more or less what it is today) is not going to look so sharp with Hedman, Stamkos, Johnson etc over 30.

Tampa will dominate in these 4-5 years in the meantime, no question about that.
 
Going to vote TOR, just because they seem to have taken the biggest leap from complete shyte to a pretty damn good team in a very short period of time. The core you list outside of Rielly are all Rooks, some of the other teams have year two and year 3 guys in there and I would not count them much better than TOR (exception Tampa...but they have some great vets on that team). Edmonton seems to be taking forever, although its tough to vote against any team with McDavid. heck he could have Larry, Curly and Moe with him and that's still a good core just because of him alone. I like Winnipeg as well though, Scheifele has turned out much better than I thought he would.

My basic thought is this, if Toronto Rookies are this good this early, imagine in a just a year or two?
 
yep - that's really the ultimate test.

the leafs rookies all jumping into that lineup is instantly turning them into a good team.

the other ones, not so much. and that really does matter.

If the leafs weren't winning with all four in the lineup, then barring some extreme explanation (like awful goaltending or tons of injuries), I'd be pretty worried about their potential to win a cup.
 
then again, WPG is doing pretty well with their kids in the lineup now, considering all their injuries this year.
 
McDavid >>

Otherwise, Scheifele-Laine is looking like a pretty insane duo, and obviously the Leafs core is solid.
 
Yes I think TOR and WPG really take the prize ... of course, the rest of the way is up to management, player development, and a bunch of other factors but I think young core it's TOR and WPG.

Last season when TOR and EDM were head to head for the Matthews sweepstakes all season, you could tell the vast difference in reaction from Babcocks and McLellan. Babs knew his best young players (Marner, Nylander, Kapanen, etc.) were playing in junior or AHL, meanwhile the best young players for EDM were already on the NHL roster.
 
One player doesn't win a Cup. McDavid doesn't put the Oilers over the top, no matter how awesome he is.

Leafs, then Winnipeg, then Edmonton.
 
Marner is the real tipping point for me.....I think in pre-season I'd have had to go Edmonton just to land McDavid, given that kind of talent always equates to a Cup......but Marner being this good this fast, and how that equates to his increased odds of reaching his full potential as an NHLer.....I'd have to go Leafs.

Rielly is really coming in to his own this year as well, and having him locked up on that contract also means the Leafs blow away any other the other teams 4th option, value wise.




....and all that said, McDavid still makes it feel mildly insane to pass on him.
 
Edmonton and it is not even close
even if you exclude mcdavid and go with the next top 4 then are pretty close but add mcdavid and it is a trump landslide
 
zeke said:
yep - that's really the ultimate test.

the leafs rookies all jumping into that lineup is instantly turning them into a good team.

the other ones, not so much. and that really does matter.

If the leafs weren't winning with all four in the lineup, then barring some extreme explanation (like awful goaltending or tons of injuries), I'd be pretty worried about their potential to win a cup.
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I think Babcock deserves a lot of credit for their success and relative consistency.
 
I honestly don't think Puljujarvi-Draisatl-RNH-Klefbom/Nurse compares with Toronto, Winnipeg or Buffalo. Lots of good secondary talent there though.
 
and now back to regular programming ...

Given differnet players have different development curve, and some may make immediate impact while others may take a couple years before they truly blossom, what is most impressive is how well the young buds have played in the NHL right off the bat - at least for the first 20 games.

There was a lot of discussion about Puljuaarvi before the draft, or Strome, or Kyle Connor ... and they may eventually become elite players too but they sure have not made the immediate adjustment like the big 3 have .
 
leafman101 said:
I honestly don't think Puljujarvi-Draisatl-RNH-Klefbom/Nurse compares with Toronto, Winnipeg or Buffalo. Lots of good secondary talent there though.
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I do give those teams the edge. But we have had more time to evaluate the oilers prospects (eg. RNH was a 52 point guy in 62 games his rookie year).

Draisaitl is pretty awesome IMO.
Puljujarvi I have no idea on him. But he is still 18.
RNH - depends on if he is that solid two way 55 point centre or not (he has been bad this year)
Klefbom I find has been the best oiler dman - not saying much I know
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
I think Winnipeg wins if you expand this to top 6 or top 8
Click to expand...

Depends on if you think Connor-Petan-Morrisey is better than Brown-Soshnikov-Carrick, if we're talking about just NHL kids right now, and by how much. Because our top 4 has been a lot better than their top 4 so far....it would need to be a pretty wide gulf between 5-6-7 to make much of a difference.
 
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