Post Draft Edition - Now with a new tier structure for 24/25. For my innaugural, I'm going with 90's/00's rappers because it's my list, make your own list if you don't like it.
Tier 1 - The Nas Tier: Top tier from a young age, potential to be great
1) Easton Cowan - According to some pork afficionado on Twitter, he had a 4% chance of making the NHL. *Laughs in Wes Clark*. Stud, and a top ~15 prospect in the league. Our only true top prospect though sadly.
Tier 2 - Method Man: Pretty, pretty good. Not elite, but can be a big part of a good team.
2) Topi Niemela - Really good debut season in the AHL, probably closer to the show than most people think. Should get his first NHL reps at some point this year covering for injury
3) Dennis Hildeby - A few ups and downs in his AHL rookie season, was lights out for stretches, leaky for others. Can't teach 6'7 and athletic though. Likely to get 40-50 AHL starts this year and maybe his first NHL action.
4) Fraser Minten - I've said what I think in other conversations. Limited upside, probably not a source of offensive output but if he turns into a 3C, fine, we'll take it. There are prospects with more upside lower on the list, and his ranking here is pretty volatile. If he's not ready to be a 2-3C in the AHL right now, then he's a few years away from being anything in the NHL. For now I'll treat him like he's in relatively close proximity to being NHL ready.
5) Dan Benford - Another Wes Clark special. Don't be super shocked if the offence shows up this year and if it does he's a top pairing level prospect. The edge work is lovely, hopefully that translates on both sides of the puck as a pro
Tier 3 - Chi Ali: Talented, but so much can go wrong before you make it big
6) Nikita Grebenkin - some really sexy production comparables when you look at his KHL stats. NHL size, NHL speed, NHL skill set. Get to see him in the AHL this year, will tell us a lot about how quick he is. Might be ready sooner than we think and could move up a tier if he's an impact player in the AHL right away. Imo we're looking for 30/70 type paces to get excited given his age and professional experience
7) Artur Akhtyamov - 2 legit goalie prospects in the top 7? Is that legal? Does that mean we have to trade Hildeby for the worst goalie in the NHL now? Ahky was good in the KHL last year as a rookie and then a stud when sent down to the VHL for the end of the year and the playoffs. Hildy-Akhy is the best prospect tandem we've had since Rask/Pogge and that makes me sad on multiple levels.
8) William Villeneuve - I feel like he should be getting more hype. 6'2 RHD with excellent 5v5 numbers in the AHL. The type of prospect who no one outside of lunatics like us can pick out of a police lineup before he gets an injury call up, steals someones job in the NHL and sticks around for 10 years.
9) Noah Chadwick - The skating is a question mark, but he's yuge and skilled.
Tier 4 - Flavor Flav: Nothing wrong with playing your position and supporting the talent
10) Tverberg - Interesting AHL rookie season, but a 22 yr old 7th rounder is going to have to show that he's an AHL impact player this year for their to be much hope of him carving out a NHL role
11) Alex Steeves - The perennial sorta prospect. Would be nice to see him get an extended shot before he ends up waived and scoring 30 for Anaheim next year or some shit. Did improve last year fwiw.
12) Ty Voit - Schrodinger's 5th rounder. Both alive and dead at the same time. No idea what to expect, but interesting enough to not be in the next tier
13) Nick Moldenhauer - Good 2nd half, freshman struggling to get opportunity on a top NCAA program, etc. Could be a breakout prospect this year
Tier 5 - Aesop Rock: The "who the fuck is that guy?" tier. Maybe he'll be great, maybe he'll be at the bus station begging for change one day...dunno. Everyone else is in this tier until further notice imo. Hirvonen, Peksa, all the Wes Clark specials from earlier today including the big plugs in the 7th round. All of them. Here for now.
If we're doing early season lists, sure:
1) Cowan - Obviously. We've said everything we need to about him at this point. It's about that translating to the NHL now, and he was on the edge of being NHL ready this camp. Could easily be a late season addition after the end of the CHL season.
2) Hildeby - Tough to not get excited about his potential after a good pre season. Very athletic for his size. I know there are a lot of Woll fans around here, and I know I've never been one of them so grain of salt yadda yadda, but I wouldn't be surprised if Woll's injury proneness opened a door for Hildeby this year that he just kicks in and steals the job.
3) Niemela - I know I'm higher on him than most, but I didn't see anything in pre season that would make me reconsider. Looked composed, smart, efficient. The tools don't jump out at you but he seems to do everything well with no major weaknesses. Still only 22, and 22 pretty much all season.
4) Grebenkin - Good KHL production and comparables, and now we get to see him here. The most exciting stealth prospect we've had in a while, there's top 6 upside in there and the organization seems to like him a lot as well. Good size, good speed, sees the game well, isn't afraid of going to the net. At 21 though he should be an impact player in the AHL soon if we're going to see him as an offensive generator at the NHL level any time soon
5) Minten - Really good bet to be a NHL'er, I still hold to the limited upside opinion though. Maybe has enough offensive chops to product at a 3C level, maybe.
6) Bern Dernferd - Until he's unconkied, everything we know is from pre draft. Would be nice if he turned the skating and hands into offensive production this year
7) Chadwick - uhhhh...he's getting hard to ignore. Huge, has skill, seems to have improved his skating at least a bit. Apparently has leaderbeans. Big offensive jump last year, and early this year seems to be chasing 1PPG as a defender, still 19 all year.
8) Artur Ahktyamov - Welcome to the AHL, jesus. Decent 22 yr old season in the KHL last year, maybe he can stop pucks? Excellent start to his AHL rookie year
9) William Villeneuve - Good 5v5 production in the AHL, decent size and mobility, right handed.
10) Tverberg - Kind of a placeholder here for me, he seems to produce some at the AHL level so we'll see but his production has never jumped off the page even from back when he was in the OJ.
Unranked Watchlist:
- Victor Johansson: Uhhh...getting a call up to the SHL after shit kicking the J20 as a young 18 yr old is an accomplishment. He could easily move up this list to challenge Chadwick and Dernferd if he's any hell in the SHL at all.
- Ron Hirvonen: Ressurrection of the year candidate? 4 points in 3 games in the AHL to start the year. He's always played a gud pro 2 way game but the offensive output was disappointing. If he unlocks some skill, he's probably a bottom or middle 6 winger sooner rather than later.
- Nick Moldenhauer: Off to a slow start in the NCAA. If he's going to be anything, we should see some improvement there this year.
- Miroslav Holinka: Sure looks big and skilled, okayish but just okayish start to his CHL career. Would really like to see him up around that 1.2ppg mark before too long though.
