2020-21 UD Series 2 Young Guns Tiers

[YoungMony29]

Before the release of UD Series Two this week, I wanted to take a little time to research the Young Guns to get a sense of who I would be excited about getting. Like always, about half of the players have little chance to make an impact in the NHL, and while I unfortunately think that this crop lacks the upside of prior releases, there's some players to be excited about.

Bottom of the Barrel (13):

Jalen Chatfield (VAN), Nicolas Meloche (SJ), Jordan Gross (ARI), Mathias Brome (DET), Calvin Thurkauf (CBJ), Brian Pinho (WAS), Darren Raddysh (NYR), Joel Kellman (SJ), Maxim Letunov (SJ), Matiss Kivlenieks (CBJ), Cole Smith (NSH), Philippe Maillet (WAS), Alexander Yelesin (CGY)

Little Hope (15):

Gilles Senn (NJD), Gage Quinney (VGK), Mason Marchment (FLA), Jani Hakanpaa (ANA), Austin Poganski (STL), Brandon Crawley (NYR), Niko Mikkola (STL), Chase Priski (FLA), Keegan Kolesar (VGK), Steven Lorentz (CAR), Nikolai Knyzhov (SJ), Lukas Vejdemo (MTL), William Lagesson (EDM), Alexander Barabanov (TOR), Anthony Angello (PIT)

Some Potential Lurking (10):

Brayden Burke (ARI), David Kase (PHI), Alec Regula (CHI), Brandon Hagel (CHI), Alexander Romanov (MTL), Ian Mitchell (CHI), Philippe Desrosiers (FLA), MacKenzie Entwistle (CHI), John Leonard (SJ), Stuart Skinner (CAR)

NHL Futures with a Low Ceiling (5):

Ty Smith (NJ), K'Andre Miller (NYR), Cal Foote (TB), Pius Suter (CHI), Yegor Sharangovich (NJ)

Impact Players and Starting Goalies (4):

Nils Hoglander (VAN), Dylan Cozens (BUF), Ilya Sorokin (NYI), Kevin Lankinen (CHI)

Superstars in the Making (2):

Kirill Kaprizov (MIN), Tim Stutzle (OTT)


What are everyone elses thoughts? Are there any I got extremely wrong or any lesser known players y'all are excited to pull?

 

[Ultimater]

I think that’s a great list! Only changes I’d make are bumping up Marchment a notch or 2, he’s been playing well for Florida this year and Kase to little hope. I’ve watched about 80% of Flyers games last couple of years, he can fill a spot for a couple of games but he’s not bringing anything really valuable.

Hope everybody has fun breaking S2 this year!

 

[Hama]

Romanov is projected to be an impact player as NHLers go, he was probably NHL ready last year but was still under contract in the KHL. And as usual, hobby wise, it is the defenceman quandry

Cozens will be a star in his own right, a very highly skilled centre, who eventually will fill out and reach his full potential unless being in Buffalo in its current state for a prolonged period stunts his development.

Kaprizov is already a finished product, having played 5 years in the KHL before coming over, the best comparable to him is Panarin.

Stutzle will be the one that probably has the most upside of the top end guys in UD2, he's only 18 and will be able to grow along with his team.

 

[YoungMony29]

Romanov was one of the guys I most struggled ranking. I have seen many people very excited about him and obviously being in Montreal he inherently is more sought after. I haven't watched too many MTL games this year, but he seems to me like just a stay at home defenseman and his pre-NHL stats back that up. I think that giving the titles to each section was a little misleading perhaps but I thought it was more fun than "Tier 1, Tier 2", so perhaps he should belong in that 3rd Tier.

To your point unfortunately, the D just don't have that much value. I do think that we're seeing an evolution of the D position though and players are gaining more fandom and hobby value (Makar, Hughes, Fox, etc.).

Romanov is projected to be an impact player as NHLers go, he was probably NHL ready last year but was still under contract in the KHL. And as usual, hobby wise, it is the defenceman quandry

Cozens will be a star in his own right, a very highly skilled centre, who eventually will fill out and reach his full potential unless being in Buffalo in its current state for a prolonged period stunts his development.

Kaprizov is already a finished product, having played 5 years in the KHL before coming over, the best comparable to him is Panarin.

Stutzle will be the one that probably has the most upside of the top end guys in UD2, he's only 18 and will be able to grow along with his team.

 

[junyab]

I think Smith and Miller could be bumped up 1 spot, but overall, a very good breakdown!

 

[Burner]

Romanov was one of the guys I most struggled ranking. I have seen many people very excited about him and obviously being in Montreal he inherently is more sought after. I haven't watched too many MTL games this year, but he seems to me like just a stay at home defenseman and his pre-NHL stats back that up. I think that giving the titles to each section was a little misleading perhaps but I thought it was more fun than "Tier 1, Tier 2", so perhaps he should belong in that 3rd Tier.

To your point unfortunately, the D just don't have that much value. I do think that we're seeing an evolution of the D position though and players are gaining more fandom and hobby value (Makar, Hughes, Fox, etc.).

He's not on Makar/Hughes level but he's a solid defender that throws some big hits and will be putting up a respectable amount of offense soon. I'd put him ahead of guys like Fox value-wise and defeintely a notch or 2 higher in your rankings simply because of the Montreal factor but everything projects for him to be a very solid defender. The only downside is that defensemen don't get any love in the hobby.

 

[flamesfan1216]

Pretty decent list. Romanov like has been mentioned I’d probably bump up the one level. Only other name after a quick look that I may move is Matiss Kivlenieks. I believe the Jackets are pretty high on him, but goalies are voodoo so who knows if he’ll pan out. Good list though. A few months ago I really thought series 2 would be a bit better honestly, but a few guys just didn’t get called up in time like I had hoped.

 

[deepbluejacket]

Times have certainly changed. Both Kaprizov and Stutzle selling for more than Crosby did out of the gate. Heck, some are selling for more than McDavid out of the gate.

 

[YoungMony29]

To bring this full circle I got my hobby box for series 2. I got 2 tier 3 players, 1 tier 4 and 3 bottom tier. Don’t worry though I got a basic Egor Korshkov rookie materials to make up for it!

 

[piper1]

Alexander Romanov (MTL) will be part of Montreal's top pairing for years to come.