MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
We've had a chance to see some of our kids over the last few games, so it's probably a good time to throw up our personal prospect lists. I'll be borrowing from the Hockeys Future ranking system for the grades ( http://www.hockeysfuture.com/playerprojections/ ). I'm going to use 50 NHL games as my cutoff.
1) Travis Dermott - 8C We need to see it in harder usage, but what he did last year suggested that there's top pairing upside there.
2) Rasmus Sandin - 8C Seen him for a few games now, and wow. I'm still very high on Lilly, but despite being a year younger, Sandin appears to be a step better than Lilly already
3) Timothy Liljegren - 7.5B Has taken solid steps forward. The skating looks plus, the vision and passing ability is plus, the decision making process is still a work in progress, and it's where Sandin appears to have an edge on him at this point.
4) Andreas Johnsson - 7.5C Plus acceleration, good hands, great instincts around the net with a solid shot.
5) SDA - 7.5D Obvious project. Kid is tiny but the skill is so obvious, despite him playing against competition older, way bigger, way more experienced than he is, but damn if the kid hasn't been impressive. Did not look out of place in pre season hockey at all, which as a barely 18 yr old midget, is impressive.
6) Carl Grundstrom - 7C Better shot at being a regular NHL'er than SDA, but lower offensive potential so here we are. Plays angry, shoots the puck a lot, might end up as a limited middle 6 guy who meshes well with higher skilled players by taking the beatings they don't. Like Hyman with a set of hands.
7/8) Rosen 7D & Borgman 7D Don't have a preferred order here. Rosen looks like he's figured out North American hockey after a rough transition and is probably a step better than Borgman at the moment. Borgman is younger with a better 2 way toolkit imo. Both look like they have sleeper 2nd pairing upside but the downside is career AHL/Euro stud.
9) Eemeli Rasanen - 6.5C Huge, skates okay, has some puck skills. I think there's a ceiling as a 2nd pairing RHD there but it looks like it's going to be the long road with him
10) Pierre Engvall - 6.5C Big kid, looks like he's added a step in the off season. Still a bit of an awkward stride but seems to have a functioning IQ to go with decent hands, a heavy shot and what appears to be at least average speed now. If he fills out a bit, it will be hard to keep him out of the top 9, he brings size and complimentary skills that will be useful as hell with the expensive centre depth we're going to have going forward
System Strengths: Depth of talent on the blueline and wings. There's probably no star talent hiding in here, but we don't need that, do we? It looks like we have a really solid group of cheap youth coming through that should be able to play with, and support the studs. I can't think of too many teams with a group of non full time NHL defenders as good as Dermott-Sandin-Lilly-Rosen-Borgman, which is of course partially why the Marlies won the Calder last year.
System Weaknesses: Goaltending and centre. But seriously who gives a **** if we develop a single prospect centre for the next 7 years or so? SDA is an interesting prospect there, but that's a hell of a log jam. In net, we're kind of a ****ing wasteland I think. I'm not seeing Sparks as ready for the NHL yet, and he kind of has to be. Woll hasn't developed, Scott is shit, Bouthillier looks meh. It's not a position of immediate need, but the sooner we find an heir apparent to the #1 job, the better.
1) Travis Dermott - 8C We need to see it in harder usage, but what he did last year suggested that there's top pairing upside there.
2) Rasmus Sandin - 8C Seen him for a few games now, and wow. I'm still very high on Lilly, but despite being a year younger, Sandin appears to be a step better than Lilly already
3) Timothy Liljegren - 7.5B Has taken solid steps forward. The skating looks plus, the vision and passing ability is plus, the decision making process is still a work in progress, and it's where Sandin appears to have an edge on him at this point.
4) Andreas Johnsson - 7.5C Plus acceleration, good hands, great instincts around the net with a solid shot.
5) SDA - 7.5D Obvious project. Kid is tiny but the skill is so obvious, despite him playing against competition older, way bigger, way more experienced than he is, but damn if the kid hasn't been impressive. Did not look out of place in pre season hockey at all, which as a barely 18 yr old midget, is impressive.
6) Carl Grundstrom - 7C Better shot at being a regular NHL'er than SDA, but lower offensive potential so here we are. Plays angry, shoots the puck a lot, might end up as a limited middle 6 guy who meshes well with higher skilled players by taking the beatings they don't. Like Hyman with a set of hands.
7/8) Rosen 7D & Borgman 7D Don't have a preferred order here. Rosen looks like he's figured out North American hockey after a rough transition and is probably a step better than Borgman at the moment. Borgman is younger with a better 2 way toolkit imo. Both look like they have sleeper 2nd pairing upside but the downside is career AHL/Euro stud.
9) Eemeli Rasanen - 6.5C Huge, skates okay, has some puck skills. I think there's a ceiling as a 2nd pairing RHD there but it looks like it's going to be the long road with him
10) Pierre Engvall - 6.5C Big kid, looks like he's added a step in the off season. Still a bit of an awkward stride but seems to have a functioning IQ to go with decent hands, a heavy shot and what appears to be at least average speed now. If he fills out a bit, it will be hard to keep him out of the top 9, he brings size and complimentary skills that will be useful as hell with the expensive centre depth we're going to have going forward
System Strengths: Depth of talent on the blueline and wings. There's probably no star talent hiding in here, but we don't need that, do we? It looks like we have a really solid group of cheap youth coming through that should be able to play with, and support the studs. I can't think of too many teams with a group of non full time NHL defenders as good as Dermott-Sandin-Lilly-Rosen-Borgman, which is of course partially why the Marlies won the Calder last year.
System Weaknesses: Goaltending and centre. But seriously who gives a **** if we develop a single prospect centre for the next 7 years or so? SDA is an interesting prospect there, but that's a hell of a log jam. In net, we're kind of a ****ing wasteland I think. I'm not seeing Sparks as ready for the NHL yet, and he kind of has to be. Woll hasn't developed, Scott is shit, Bouthillier looks meh. It's not a position of immediate need, but the sooner we find an heir apparent to the #1 job, the better.
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