YoungMony29
New Member, Must Send First
Hi everyone! I'm back with another addition of "YG tiers" for this week's release of 2021-22 Series 2. I had a lot of fun hearing from a lot of you who thought some players deserved some more attention and it led to having a lot more fun breaking the product since I really got to know the prospects. It's also nice to use this as a guide when I'm opening instead of having to go back and look up the ones I don't know.
Lucky to have a YG Tier:
452 Maksim Sushko - Philadelphia Flyers (23-RW)
One of the few Belarusian players to ever play in the NHL seems like his career in North America might be over already. He has bounced between the AHL and KHL (loan) the past three years and hasn't had much success in either league. It looks like he'll play in the KHL again this year so I don't think we'll see him again over here.
470 Mason Geertsen - New Jersey Devils (27-Fwd?)
Just a bum who likes to fight.
479 Dysin Mayo - Arizona Coyotes (25-D)
While not nearly as useless as Geertsen, Mayo only played in the NHL this year because he was in Arizona and they were desperate for defenseman
480 Justin Richards - New York Rangers (24-C)
Richards was signed out of Minnesota-Duluth to fill out the AHL roster, where he's been a 3rd line center for the past two years, though he did play 1 game last year for New York (and got an assist!)
483 Frederic Allard - Nashville Predators (24-D)
Former 3rd round pick who seems like a decent AHL defenseman, but with only 1 NHL game to his name at age 24 there's almost no chance he makes a name for himself
486 Gregory Hofmann - Columbus Blue Jackets (29-Fwd)
Hoffman is an interesting hockey player. At 29 years-old, the Swiss winger signed a 1-year contract to play in the NHL this past summer, only to return to Switzerland after his kid was born and not return. He has some game but just isn't a name in the NHL.
497 Maxwell Wilman - Philadelphia Flyers (27-Fwd)
Yea, not much to see here. Played 41 games because the Flyers stunk. About 0.5 PPG in the AHL.
Might Play Some Time in the NHL, Two-Way Contract Tier
455 Brett Murray - Buffalo Sabres (23-Winger)
Murray is a Power Forward hailing from Penn State who has been developing in the AHL for the past three seasons. At 6'5", he's an outlier in size as you don't see many forwards like him anymore. He wasn't a huge piece of the Penn State team the two years he was there, but he has been an important player for the Rochester Americans. Over the past two seasons he's totaled 52 points in 79 games with 3 goals and 3 assists in 10 playoff games this year. He did spend a little time in the NHL this year, playing 19 games in the middle of the season (2 goals, 4 assists).
457 Sampo Ranta - Colorado Avalanche (22-Winger)
Ranta had a really nice Junior season at Minnesota in 2020-21, scoring 19 goals in 31 games to finish behind only Cole Caulfield in the NCAA. On the surface that's very noteworthy, but every year in the NCAA the majority of the top 10 scorers do nothing in the NHL. Outside of that year, he doesn't have much on his resume that shows me he has true NHL potential. He was drafted in the 3rd round, he wasn't dominant in the USHL, he only played on one WJC-20 team for Finland (0 goals), and this year in the AHL he only had 14 points in 38 games.
458 Karel Vejmelka - Arizona Coyotes (26-G)
I don't want to pick on the man stuck playing goalie for Arizona in this era, so I won't. That being said, Vejmelka will probably find himself as a NHL backup or 3rd string goalie for the next handful of years.
460 Jonas Rondbjerg - Vegas Golden Knights (23-Winger)
It's no secret that Vegas' prospect pool is very weak, but the Danish winger had a nice little season for a 3rd round draft pick, accumulating 27 points in 39 games in the AHL and spending a good 30 games in the NHL as well (4 goals, 2 assists). I can't claim to know much about him but he's been playing professional hockey for a long time in Sweden so I wouldn't be shocked to see him on the roster in a bottom six role for all of 2022-23.
474 Brandon Duhaime - Minnesota Wild (25-LW/RW)
The former 4th round pick made his debut this year and surprisingly played 80 games for Minnesota in a 4th line role (6 goals, 11 assists, 122 PIM). Hard to expect much more than a 4th line ceiling here though, as even in the AHL he played the role of a grinder, only putting up 29 career AHL points in 87 games.
476 Thomas Novak - Nashville Predators (25-Fwd)
Thomas Novak clearly has some offensive playmaking potential despite not making it up to the NHL until this year at age 24 (played all four years at Minnesota). Over the course of the past two seasons in the AHL, he's accumulated 15 goals and 51 assists in 69 games (almost a PPG) after compiling 42 points in 60 games in his first AHL season. This play did earn him 27 games with Nashville, but he was only able to put up 1 goal and 6 assists.
484 Ivan Prosvetov - Arizona Coyotes (23-G)
The Coyotes would LOVE for a young goalie to breakthrough, but it's pretty hard to sound positive about Prosvetov's stats this year. Certainly playing in this organization doesn't help, but not beating out 29 year-old Scott Wedgewood for the backup position whilst getting shelled in the AHL doesn't look good.
3 NHL Games: .875 / 4.22
45 AHL Games: .880 / 3.66
Backup did worse (22 GP, .855 / 4.46)
487 Jasper Weatherby - San Jose Sharks (24-C/LW)
The Sharks signed their former 4th round pick following his senior year at North Dakota. Weatherby's first year of professional hockey was split between the NHL (11 points in 50 GP) and AHL (15 points in 25 GP). I'd wager that he's most likely an AHL player that could be a 13th/14th forward going forward. Not much else likely.
490 William Lockwood - Vancouver Canucks (23-RW)
The former Univeristy of Michigan captain fits perfectly in the "great upperclassmen college hockey player that doesn't have the skill of a NHLer" category. He could work his *** off and make the roster for some teams, but I'd guess he more likely than not will play the majority of his professional career in the AHL or abroad.
493 Jake Leschyshyn - Vegas Golden Knights (23-C)
Leschyshyn is an American-born centerman who focuses almost entirely on the defensive zone, failing to score over a point per game in the WHL until his last season. In the AHL it was more of the same with 19 points in his first 100 games, though he did have a nice season this year when he wasn't playing for Vegas, scoring 27 points in 34 games. He played 41 games for a very injured Vegas team, but got completely destroyed analytically in his 11 minutes of average ice-time over that span. He might develop into a 4th line center who kills penalties or could be a career AHLer.
499 Jonah Gadjovich - San Jose Sharks (23-LW)
The big Canadian winger only had 1 game of NHL experience before coming to SJ, but he did carve himself a roster spot the entire season, suiting up for 43 games. As a former 2nd round pick and member of the WJC team in 2017-18, he's a really hard worker who clearly has talent. Unfortunately that talent has yet to show itself at the highest level, and his 3 total points in 43 games probably shows he a borderline NHLer.
High Floor, Low Ceiling
468 David Farrance - Nashville Predators (22-D)
As a BC graduate, I actually watched Farrance play for our rival Boston University a few times and he was always one of the best players on the ice, which is why I wasn't surprised to see him named as an All-American and Hobey Baker finalist both his Junior and Senior year. When he signed with the Predators following his Senior year (2020-21), I thought he would be a mainstay in their lineup. That didn't end up being the case as he played the entire 2021-22 season in the AHL with Milwaukee, taking on a less offensive role than he had in college. I'm going to assume (hopefully) that this was a developmental decision by the organization to not rush him into the NHL, but this upcoming training camp and fall will be a huge indicator if that was the case. I'm hoping to see him full-time in Nashville in 2022-23.
494 Oskar Steen - Boston Bruins (24-Fwd)
I bounced around with what tie to put Steen in but ultimately listened to my gut and put him here. Steen wasn't a highly touted prospect, only being taken in the 6th round by Boston in 2016, but he's developed very nicely for a late round pick. He stayed in Sweden through the 2018-19 season and then came over on a ELC to the US. He played 60 games for the Providence Bruins in his first year, scoring a respectable 23 points, before getting bounced around between a loan back to Sweden, the AHL and a few games with Boston the following year. In a more stable 2021-22 season, he increased his AHL production to 35 points in 49 games and played a decent 20-game stretch for Boston where he found the net twice and added four assists. I think he'll be a decent bottom six forward for them starting next season, but I don't think he has any real threat to be a top six forward unless he rapidly improves.
495 Jacob Bernard-Docker - Ottawa Senators (21-D)
The Senators drafted a player in JBD that just loves trophies. After being selected 28th overall in 2018, he won a World Juniors Gold, a World Championships Gold, and a NCAA championship with North Dakota. He scored 60 points in 95 games in college, but if his AHL usage from this year shows anything (9 points in 58 games), I'd think that they hope he plays a defensive-first role, especially with Chabot and Sanderson ahead of him on the depth chart. If all goes according to plan, JBD will start the 2022-23 season on the 3rd pairing for Ottawa.
Decent Prospects: NHL or Bust Tier
462 Vladimir Tkachev - Los Angeles Kings (26-LW)
One of the most interesting/oddest prospects in this list is the 26 years-old Tkachev signed out of the KHL. After being undrafted, Tkachev won KHL rookie of the year in 2016-17 and led SKA St. Petersburg in scoring in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. This success earned him a look by the NHL and the Kings signed him last summer. On paper I would have assumed that he would have slotted into the NHL roster, but he only played 4 games for the Kings and instead played 41 games in the AHL, where he had 7 goals and 22 assists. I still think he'll be in the NHL this upcoming season.
477 Boris Katchouk - Tampa Bay Lightning (23-LW) (Now on Chicago)
Katchouk was traded alongside Taylor Raddysh to Chicago at the deadline for Brandon Hagel. For both players it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get out of a 4th line role in Tampa. Taylor Raddysh took advantage, but Katchouk went the other way with only one lone point in 21 appearances for Chicago. He just seems like a pretty mediocre player that fans think is better than he really is.
492 Jacob Peterson - Dallas Stars (22-Fwd (C?))
Peterson went from a relatively no name prospect (5th round pick in 2017) to begin the 2019-20 season to a consistent member of the Stars lineup in just 2 years. After his first full season in the SHL yielded some decent results for a 20 year-old playing with grown men, he shot up the prospect ranks by finishing second in U23 scoring in SHL in 2020-21 (14g/19a in 46 GP). He surprisingly made the opening night roster of what turned out to be a playoff team (fun fact: he scored a goal and I was at the game), and went on to play 65 games this year. While notching only 11:04 of TOI per game, he still found the back of the net 12 times. I won't claim that he's gonna be a great player or anything, but he's just someone to keep an eye on, especially with the success a ton of former late round picks from Sweden have had recently.
496 Pavel Dorofeyev - Vegas Golden Knights (20-Winger)
The talented Russian winger had a really nice year for the Silver Knights (AHL) this season, leading the team with 27 goals and 52 points in 63 games. From what I read, he's got a ton of skill with the puck on his stick who has played professionally for a long time, making his KHL debut in 2018 before being drafted 79th overall in 2019. The Silver Knights are basically barren of offensive talent, so Dorofeyev didn't have too much competition to be on the top line there, but it's still impressive nonetheless.
Good Prospects who could move up or down rankings rapidly:
453 Taylor Raddysh - Tampa Bay Lightning (24-RW)
Raddysh was drafted by TB back in 2016 and just couldn't break into the lineup with their crazy depth until this year. He was able to find a consistent spot in the bottom six, playing 53 games (12 points) before being traded to Chicago at the deadline. In Chicago he was given a more substantial role (TOI jumped from 11:03 to 15:34) and he made the most of the opportunity, scoring 6 goals and adding 4 assists in 21 games. Raddysh played on two Canadian WJC teams and had some success in the AHL. I could see him becoming a middle six forward, though more likely on the 3rd line than the 2nd line.
456 Nils Lundkvist - New York Rangers (21-D)
Before the 2021-22 season, Nils Lundkvist was a better prospect than Adam Fox was before his debut. The undersized (5'11") Swedish defenseman made his professional debut in the SHL at 17 in 2017 and was drafted 28th overall by New York in the 2018 draft. In 2019-20 he led all juniors in the SHL with 31 points in 45 games. The following season he continued his offensive domination by breaking the league's record for goals recorded by a defenseman under 21 (14 goals in 52 games). This led to him winning the Salming Trophy for the league's best defenseman.
After signing with the Rangers last summer and winning the best rookie award at training camp, it looked like Lundkvist would be a mainstay in the lineup this season despite being stuck behind two firm pairings in Fox-Lindgren and Trouba-Miller. Ultimately, this didn't happen as he played more in the AHL (34 games vs. 25 games) and failed to bring over that level of production, being outscored by Zac Jones in Hartford. Ultimately, he's got massive upside, but he could not be in a worse situation being stuck behind Fox/Lindgren/Miller and fighting for a spot with a very similar player in Zac Jones.
465 Adam Ruzicka - Calgary Flames (23-C)
The Slovakian center gave me some pause when trying to slot him into the correct tier. He is a big 6'4" center taken with a middle round pick (4th in 2017) who developed on an average trajectory in the OHL, but then he has put up some really solid numbers thus far since coming over to North America. Following a decent first year in the AHL, he's put up 41 points in 44 games over the last two years for Stockton (very good IMO for a big center) and contributed 10 points in 28 NHL games this season. I'm interested to see where he plays most of the 2022-23 season and no result would surprise me. Because of that, I placed him here.
473 Jonathan Dahlen - San Jose Sharks (24-Fwd)
Dahlen was a very hot name in the streets to start this season when he started with 6 goals in the first 11 games, but nobody has ever cooled off faster. There was a ton of hype around him before the year started and frankly I had no idea why, but after that start I thought maybe I was just missing something that his mediocre pre-NHL stats didn't show. When it took him 50 more games to score his next 6 goals, I felt vindicated in my skepticism. Still, for some reason he has that "it" factor it seems that could vault him up the ranks. I don't see it happening especially with his age, but we shall see.
478 Benoit-Olivier "Bo" Groulx - Anaheim Ducks (22-Fwd)
Groulx was a highly touted youth hockey player and was ultimately selected 1st overall in the QMJHL draft. While he didn't turn that potential into that of those that came in the two years after him (Alexis Lafreniere and Hendrix Lapierre), he turned into a stout defensive forward, winning the QMJHL Best Defensive Forward award in 2019-20. His limited production (as far as the Q goes) dropped Groulx to 54th overall in 2018, but he should fit nicely on this Ducks roster that has a lot of high-end offensive talent but needs strong defensive forwards to balance the lineup. He's compiled a respectable 51 points in 82 AHL games, but that's nothing to write home about. I still think he has a long NHL future ahead of him with the potential to develop into a second line center, but if he never makes the most out of his opportunities at the highest level he could also fall into purgatory between the NHL and AHL.
482 Matthew Phillips - Calgary Flames (24-Fwd)
Phillips is probably too good for the AHL at this stage in his career, but he hasn't been good enough to earn a spot on Calgary's roster yet in his career (only has 1 NHL appearance). He's definitely undersized at 5'8", but that has not stopped him from producing results. In 215 games in the WHL he potted 136 goals and in 199 career AHL games he's totaled 161 points, including 31 goals in 65 games this season. So that leads me to asking the obvious question. Why isn't he playing for Calgary? I simply do not know the answer.
485 Jesse Ylonen - Montreal Canadiens (22-RW)
Gonna copy over what I said about Ylonen a few weeks ago when I wrote about the Canadiens. I remembering hearing the name in the World Juniors for Finland alongside Kaapo Kakko, but to be honest I didn't even remember he was a Canadiens prospect. The 2018 2nd rounder seems to be developing nicely as a European center, and did produce 5 points in 14 games in the NHL this year (on top of 36 AHL points in 52 GP). I'm sure Habs fans are really hoping he can make the lineup full-time next season in a middle-6 role and there should be an opportunity for him to win a spot somewhere. Add in the "Montreal effect" and he has to be in this tier.
491 Grigori Denisenko - Florida Panthers (21-winger)
Denisenko made a name for himself by putting up some great numbers in back-to-back U20 World Juniors, scoring 9 points in both years (lead the tournament in the first year). That is certainly impressive and important, but he hasn't really played all that much since then so it's hard for me to place him in a higher or lower tier. In 2019-20 he played 38 games in the KHL (12 points), but over the past two seasons since coming to North America he's played only 45 AHL games and 8 NHL games, scoring 27 points and 4 points, respectively. Still, he's a former 1st round pick (15th overall in 2018) who clearly has talent. The question is, will be ever make use of that talent?
Very Good Prospects
454 Philip Tomasino - Nashville Predators (20-Fwd)
Tomasino lit up the OHL in 2019-20 following his draft year (24th overall) with 40 goals and 60 assists in 62 games. He followed that up with a stellar first year in the AHL with 32 points in 29 games and added 6 points in 7 games in the World Juniors for Canada. This year he successfully earned a full-time spot on Nashville's roster where he had some pretty good success with 11 goals and 21 points over the course of 76 games (playing only 11:32). He even was given a role on the PP for a chunk of the season (9 PP points). His analytics look great for a 20 year-old and honestly it's tough to poke holes in his prospects at this time. The big question is just this...can he be a star in this league? I'm not ready to say yes quite yet (especially in Nashville)
459 Dawson Mercer - New Jersey Devils (20-RW)
Mercer is everywhere on the ice, flying around and hitting anything he sees and just genuinely causing mayhem for the Devils. At 18th overall, the Devils seem like they picked a prototypical middle-six forward who can do a little bit of everything, but as far as league-wide value I think he'll fall short of being a star behind Hughes, Bratt, Hischier and Holtz in one of the league's smaller markets. He does work his *** off though so he'll for sure be a fan favorite and could definitely prove me wrong if he finds his way into a net-front role on the PP (something the Devils certainly need).
463 Jan Jenik - Arizona Coyotes (21-Winger)
This could be a little bold, but my gut wanted to put Jenik here despite not having the background of the rest of the players in this tier. While he was only a third round pick in 2018, after scoring 22 goals and adding 34 assists in 27 OHL games in 2019-20 DobberProspects rated him as having Superstar potential. They've since dropped that down over the past two years to "2nd line potential" which I think is probably fair. He wasn't fantastic in 2020-21 but I'll chalk that up to the fact that he only played 38 games and it was for 3 different teams in 2 different countries. This season he put up 17 goals and 30 assists in the AHL at 21 years-old, 7th in the league for U22 skaters with at least 30 games played. Of course, he plays in Arizona which sucks for his hobby value, but it's my list and I think he deserves to be in the 3rd tier.
467 Jake Neighbours - St. Louis Blues (20-LW)
Jake Neighbours is a very good prospect who was taken late in the 2020 first round that should will play all of 2022-23 in the NHL/AHL for the first time. He's played the last four years in the WHL, but unfortunately only got to play 19 games in 2020-21 (had 33 points), a very important year of development after the draft. As the captain of the Oil Kings this year, he showed his skill like you'd expect from a player in his 4th year scoring 45 points in 30 games while also leading the team to a WHL championship. He ended up playing 9 NHL games for St. Louis, but it's hard to put him in either of the top two tiers at this stage when he hasn't really played yet and wasn't a top prospect in his draft class.
471 Yegor Chinakhov - Columbus Blue Jackets (21-RW)
Chinakhov won the KHL Best Rookie Award right after being drafted 21st overall by Columbus, which has been won recently by Vitaly Kravtsov, Maxim Maxim, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Valeri Nichuskin. His first season after signing his ELC didn't exactly go how he had hoped (7g/7a in 62 GP), but I truly think that in today's NHL no player should be judged on their first season. Honestly I don't have much else to say except that 2022-23 should be much more telling of his future in this league.
472 Hendrix Lapierre - Washington Capitals (20-C)
Much like Jake Neighbours, without watching him play night in and night out prospecting him is very much still up in the air. He wasn't spectacular by any means in the QMJHL after winning Offensive Rookie of the year in 2018-19 (45 points in 48 GP), but he was putting up the numbers you'd expect (82 points in 61 games the past two seasons). He was called up for a brief stint with Washington this year, playing in just 6 games (1 goal), but time will tell if he's a top-six NHL forward. He does have the benefit of playing in an organization that is desperate for some homegrown prospects to make the jump soon.
Consolation Prizes:
461 Alex Newhook - Colorado Avalanche (21-C)
Some may have Newhook in the "chase card" tier, but I'm just a tiny bit lower than others are on the kid. As a BC fan, I did watch him play in college and he's got a ton of game and is a terrific skater. Having left BC at the end of the 2020-21 season, Newhook played his first professional season this past year. Playing 71 games for the best team in hockey is a success in itself, but he added to it 13 goals and 20 assists, not a pedestrian number while playing behind some of the league's best players. But there enlies some of the problem...can he really become a household name behind MacKinnon, Rantanen and Landeskog (plus Makar of course at D)? In a very surprising realization to me, he actually started more shifts in the D-zone than the O-zone (despite winning only 34.7% of faceoffs). That could be taken two ways; 1) the best opportunities will go to Mac and Rantanen or 2) He's already good enough to play wherever they need him. His analytics were good this year, he was only playing 13:34 per game, and he only had 6 PP points. There's no doubt all of those point to the opportunity to break out soon. I 1000% hope he proves me wrong and has me kicking myself for not chasing him.
466 Cole Perfetti - Winnipeg Jets (20-Fwd)
As far as pre-NHL careers go, Cole Perfetti's is basically flawless. In his rookie season in the OHL he led his team and all OHL rookies with 74 points in 63 games. The following year he broke the franchise record for points with 111 in 61 games. This led to him being selected 10th overall by Winnipeg in the 2020 draft, which by anyone's analysis was lower than he should be been selected. He signed an ELC right after being drafted and has played 49 games in the AHL over the past two years, having some great success for a teenager with 41 points in 49 games (15 goals, 26 assists). This play earned him 18 games with Winnipeg where he found the score sheet seven times. I really really want to put Perfetti in the top tier, but I just wish we were able to get a larger NHL sample size this year. Plus, I am very much concerned about the market in Winnipeg given how great Kyle Connor is and his deflated prices.
475 William Eklund - San Jose Sharks (19-Fwd)
It was a little surprising that William Eklund dropped to 7th in last year's draft, but it is exciting that he is going to a team that was absent a very top-end prospect in San Jose. The speedy Swede impressed the hockey world by winning SHL rookie of the year through an amazing season at 18 years-old with 11 goals and 12 assists in 40 games. If I were to project out who he most reminded me of it (in an ideal world), it would be a mix Jesper Bratt and Nicklas Backstrom. Eklund has great speed and always is looking to use that to set up his teammates. I do think that might be where I hesitate a little bit to see him becoming a superstar. He's never really been a big goal scorer, and if we know anything about the card market that is looked at as a big negative. Nonetheless, he should be a great player to watch and he's still a teenager...if he can learn to score he could be awesome.
481 Vasily Podkolzin - Vancouver Canucks (20-RW)
Out of all the guys in the top two tiers, Podkolzin is the one I know the least about. I just watched a little bit of tape on him and he seems like a very NHL-ready winger at 6'1" with a powerful stride that most young players take time to learn/develop. After a fantastic playoff run with SKA last year where he put up 11 points in 16 games, he played this entire year with Vancouver. The Canucks were a big disappointment in general this year, so I don't know what to make of his 14 goal and 12 assist season. All in all when I look at him though, he was a top 10 pick, he's on a team that should give him the right mix of opportunity and good teammates, and he played a full season at only 20 years-old. Definitely an exciting prospect.
498 Cole Sillinger - Columbus Blue Jackets (19-C)
What a shocker, I like another CBJ prospect...I swear I'm going to end up PCing like 5 guys in one of the league's bottom 5 markets. Sillinger can simply just score goals. For a team that lacks that aside from Laine, I'm excited at the prospect of Sillinger on the right side of the PP and Laine on the left. Sillinger is the only 1st rounder from 2021 to play more than 10 games in the NHL, and he played almost every one (79 GP). He scored 16 goals (all at even strength) and added 15 assists in that time, good enough for 8th best among rookies. Sillinger won a very respectable 46.5% of faceoffs and had decent analytics for a teenager, so it also looks like he'll be a center which is huge for Columbus. He has a high probability of being the de facto #1 center at 20 years-old next year. If he were in a bigger market he may be in the top tier.
Chase Cards:
451 Mason McTavish - Anaheim Ducks (19-C)
Imagining McTavish and Zegras playing together might give the hockey old-fashioned hardos an aneurysm. McTavish had a weird 2021-21 season before being selected 3rd overall as he only played 20 hockey games, 13 on loan in Switzerland (where he's from) and 7 in the U-18 WJC for Canada. It's tough to only have that small sample size, but when you score 14 goals that'll get you noticed. I know the majority of people had him falling anywhere from 5th-8th in the draft, so it was a little bit of a pleasant surprise to see him selected 3rd overall (though I was high on him as well). I do wonder if Zegras will dominate the spotlight in a mediun-small Anaheim market, but you have to include the most recent 3rd overall pick as one of the chase cards in my opinion. In the OHL this year he scored 14 goals (plus 26 assists) in 24 regular season game and then scored 14 more goals in only 18 playoff games. He should come into the league ready to score.
464 Lucas Raymond - Detroit Red Wings (20-LW)
Although he cooled off the 2nd half of the year and failed to get named a finalist for the Calder Trophy, Raymond stepped right into the NHL as a 19 year-old and produced for a bad Detroit team. His 57 points trailed only Michael Bunting and Trevor Zegras for rookie points and only Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi for points on Detroit. Anyone picked by an original six franchise in the top 5 (Raymond was 4th in 2020) will immediately have massive hype, and through one year in the pros Raymond looks like he may live up to it. He's been successful in the Swedish Hockey League for a few years, played on two WJC-20 Swedish teams, and had a great rookie year offensively (though he was -32). Definitely a chase card.
469 Moritz Seider - Detroit Red Wings (21-D)
Cale Makar. Adam Fox. Mortitz Seider. When people around the league talked about the best young defenseman in the NHL, Seider played his way into 3rd place on this list ahead of numerous other great young prospects. It's yet to be seen whether he wins the Calder Trophy (find out on 6/21 if he becomes the first Red Wing to win since 1965), but the young German defenseman shined as much as any rookie has the past few years (not counting Kaprizov). The 6'4" 6th overall pick from 2019 can simply do it all. More known before this season for his defensive game, Seider showed that he's got some serious offensive potential as well, putting up 50 points this year as a rookie. He can play on the PK, QB the PP and dominate with his size and skating ability at 5v5. It's been too long since Detroit had a clear-cut #1 defenseman. Seider is that guy.
488 Quinton Byfield - Los Angeles Kings (19-C)
If I were to go on how I actually projected these players to rank in their careers, Byfield would not be in the top tier. But since this is all about potential, he has to go here. Byfield has the potential to be a cornerstone of not only the LA Kings but the entire NHL. This 6'4", 216 pound center with soft hands is a needle in a haystack of intangibles, so it was no surprise that he went #2 in the 2020 draft. However, almost two years later there's many people including myself that are getting worried about him. He played 40 games this year for LAK after fracturing his ankle in October and never really got into a groove, only scoring 5 goals and adding 5 assists. I do think that he came into a roster that had been having a surprisingly strong season so he wasn't given the amount of playing team that everyone expected, so hopefully this was just a bump in the road of his young career. He was a former OHL #1 draft pick and CHL Rookie of the year for a reason, he has the chance to be a complete league-wide star. That is undeniable...but there is a reason it's called "potential". Everyone is rooting for him.
489 Anton Lundell - Florida Panthers (20-C)
I debated not including Anton Lundell in this tier but I just really wanted to show how much of a beast he was this regular season. The only reason that I hesitate that he'll be a star is that he's in Florida and that he's behind Sasha Barkov. Lundell was insane as a teenager in the Liiga with 28 points in 44 games before getting drafted and 25 points in 26 games after his draft year, he captained Finland to a WJC-20 Gold Medal, won a World Championship Silver Medal (and had the most points by U20 player), and put up 44 points in 65 games playing limited minutes as a rookie. I simply couldn't justify not having him in the top tier. He had a shocking 61% d-zone start rate but still had a positive CF% and easily positive xGF%, he had 59 takeaways to 35 giveaways and won 44.7% of his faceoffs (much better than the league-average for his age). Honestly, I don't have any idea why he wasn't taken earlier than 12th overall.
Let's hear your thoughts! Who are you most hoping to pull? Which of the non-top tier YGs are you looking to PC in the future? Good luck in your breaks!
Lucky to have a YG Tier:
452 Maksim Sushko - Philadelphia Flyers (23-RW)
One of the few Belarusian players to ever play in the NHL seems like his career in North America might be over already. He has bounced between the AHL and KHL (loan) the past three years and hasn't had much success in either league. It looks like he'll play in the KHL again this year so I don't think we'll see him again over here.
470 Mason Geertsen - New Jersey Devils (27-Fwd?)
Just a bum who likes to fight.
479 Dysin Mayo - Arizona Coyotes (25-D)
While not nearly as useless as Geertsen, Mayo only played in the NHL this year because he was in Arizona and they were desperate for defenseman
480 Justin Richards - New York Rangers (24-C)
Richards was signed out of Minnesota-Duluth to fill out the AHL roster, where he's been a 3rd line center for the past two years, though he did play 1 game last year for New York (and got an assist!)
483 Frederic Allard - Nashville Predators (24-D)
Former 3rd round pick who seems like a decent AHL defenseman, but with only 1 NHL game to his name at age 24 there's almost no chance he makes a name for himself
486 Gregory Hofmann - Columbus Blue Jackets (29-Fwd)
Hoffman is an interesting hockey player. At 29 years-old, the Swiss winger signed a 1-year contract to play in the NHL this past summer, only to return to Switzerland after his kid was born and not return. He has some game but just isn't a name in the NHL.
497 Maxwell Wilman - Philadelphia Flyers (27-Fwd)
Yea, not much to see here. Played 41 games because the Flyers stunk. About 0.5 PPG in the AHL.
Might Play Some Time in the NHL, Two-Way Contract Tier
455 Brett Murray - Buffalo Sabres (23-Winger)
Murray is a Power Forward hailing from Penn State who has been developing in the AHL for the past three seasons. At 6'5", he's an outlier in size as you don't see many forwards like him anymore. He wasn't a huge piece of the Penn State team the two years he was there, but he has been an important player for the Rochester Americans. Over the past two seasons he's totaled 52 points in 79 games with 3 goals and 3 assists in 10 playoff games this year. He did spend a little time in the NHL this year, playing 19 games in the middle of the season (2 goals, 4 assists).
457 Sampo Ranta - Colorado Avalanche (22-Winger)
Ranta had a really nice Junior season at Minnesota in 2020-21, scoring 19 goals in 31 games to finish behind only Cole Caulfield in the NCAA. On the surface that's very noteworthy, but every year in the NCAA the majority of the top 10 scorers do nothing in the NHL. Outside of that year, he doesn't have much on his resume that shows me he has true NHL potential. He was drafted in the 3rd round, he wasn't dominant in the USHL, he only played on one WJC-20 team for Finland (0 goals), and this year in the AHL he only had 14 points in 38 games.
458 Karel Vejmelka - Arizona Coyotes (26-G)
I don't want to pick on the man stuck playing goalie for Arizona in this era, so I won't. That being said, Vejmelka will probably find himself as a NHL backup or 3rd string goalie for the next handful of years.
460 Jonas Rondbjerg - Vegas Golden Knights (23-Winger)
It's no secret that Vegas' prospect pool is very weak, but the Danish winger had a nice little season for a 3rd round draft pick, accumulating 27 points in 39 games in the AHL and spending a good 30 games in the NHL as well (4 goals, 2 assists). I can't claim to know much about him but he's been playing professional hockey for a long time in Sweden so I wouldn't be shocked to see him on the roster in a bottom six role for all of 2022-23.
474 Brandon Duhaime - Minnesota Wild (25-LW/RW)
The former 4th round pick made his debut this year and surprisingly played 80 games for Minnesota in a 4th line role (6 goals, 11 assists, 122 PIM). Hard to expect much more than a 4th line ceiling here though, as even in the AHL he played the role of a grinder, only putting up 29 career AHL points in 87 games.
476 Thomas Novak - Nashville Predators (25-Fwd)
Thomas Novak clearly has some offensive playmaking potential despite not making it up to the NHL until this year at age 24 (played all four years at Minnesota). Over the course of the past two seasons in the AHL, he's accumulated 15 goals and 51 assists in 69 games (almost a PPG) after compiling 42 points in 60 games in his first AHL season. This play did earn him 27 games with Nashville, but he was only able to put up 1 goal and 6 assists.
484 Ivan Prosvetov - Arizona Coyotes (23-G)
The Coyotes would LOVE for a young goalie to breakthrough, but it's pretty hard to sound positive about Prosvetov's stats this year. Certainly playing in this organization doesn't help, but not beating out 29 year-old Scott Wedgewood for the backup position whilst getting shelled in the AHL doesn't look good.
3 NHL Games: .875 / 4.22
45 AHL Games: .880 / 3.66
Backup did worse (22 GP, .855 / 4.46)
487 Jasper Weatherby - San Jose Sharks (24-C/LW)
The Sharks signed their former 4th round pick following his senior year at North Dakota. Weatherby's first year of professional hockey was split between the NHL (11 points in 50 GP) and AHL (15 points in 25 GP). I'd wager that he's most likely an AHL player that could be a 13th/14th forward going forward. Not much else likely.
490 William Lockwood - Vancouver Canucks (23-RW)
The former Univeristy of Michigan captain fits perfectly in the "great upperclassmen college hockey player that doesn't have the skill of a NHLer" category. He could work his *** off and make the roster for some teams, but I'd guess he more likely than not will play the majority of his professional career in the AHL or abroad.
493 Jake Leschyshyn - Vegas Golden Knights (23-C)
Leschyshyn is an American-born centerman who focuses almost entirely on the defensive zone, failing to score over a point per game in the WHL until his last season. In the AHL it was more of the same with 19 points in his first 100 games, though he did have a nice season this year when he wasn't playing for Vegas, scoring 27 points in 34 games. He played 41 games for a very injured Vegas team, but got completely destroyed analytically in his 11 minutes of average ice-time over that span. He might develop into a 4th line center who kills penalties or could be a career AHLer.
499 Jonah Gadjovich - San Jose Sharks (23-LW)
The big Canadian winger only had 1 game of NHL experience before coming to SJ, but he did carve himself a roster spot the entire season, suiting up for 43 games. As a former 2nd round pick and member of the WJC team in 2017-18, he's a really hard worker who clearly has talent. Unfortunately that talent has yet to show itself at the highest level, and his 3 total points in 43 games probably shows he a borderline NHLer.
High Floor, Low Ceiling
468 David Farrance - Nashville Predators (22-D)
As a BC graduate, I actually watched Farrance play for our rival Boston University a few times and he was always one of the best players on the ice, which is why I wasn't surprised to see him named as an All-American and Hobey Baker finalist both his Junior and Senior year. When he signed with the Predators following his Senior year (2020-21), I thought he would be a mainstay in their lineup. That didn't end up being the case as he played the entire 2021-22 season in the AHL with Milwaukee, taking on a less offensive role than he had in college. I'm going to assume (hopefully) that this was a developmental decision by the organization to not rush him into the NHL, but this upcoming training camp and fall will be a huge indicator if that was the case. I'm hoping to see him full-time in Nashville in 2022-23.
494 Oskar Steen - Boston Bruins (24-Fwd)
I bounced around with what tie to put Steen in but ultimately listened to my gut and put him here. Steen wasn't a highly touted prospect, only being taken in the 6th round by Boston in 2016, but he's developed very nicely for a late round pick. He stayed in Sweden through the 2018-19 season and then came over on a ELC to the US. He played 60 games for the Providence Bruins in his first year, scoring a respectable 23 points, before getting bounced around between a loan back to Sweden, the AHL and a few games with Boston the following year. In a more stable 2021-22 season, he increased his AHL production to 35 points in 49 games and played a decent 20-game stretch for Boston where he found the net twice and added four assists. I think he'll be a decent bottom six forward for them starting next season, but I don't think he has any real threat to be a top six forward unless he rapidly improves.
495 Jacob Bernard-Docker - Ottawa Senators (21-D)
The Senators drafted a player in JBD that just loves trophies. After being selected 28th overall in 2018, he won a World Juniors Gold, a World Championships Gold, and a NCAA championship with North Dakota. He scored 60 points in 95 games in college, but if his AHL usage from this year shows anything (9 points in 58 games), I'd think that they hope he plays a defensive-first role, especially with Chabot and Sanderson ahead of him on the depth chart. If all goes according to plan, JBD will start the 2022-23 season on the 3rd pairing for Ottawa.
Decent Prospects: NHL or Bust Tier
462 Vladimir Tkachev - Los Angeles Kings (26-LW)
One of the most interesting/oddest prospects in this list is the 26 years-old Tkachev signed out of the KHL. After being undrafted, Tkachev won KHL rookie of the year in 2016-17 and led SKA St. Petersburg in scoring in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. This success earned him a look by the NHL and the Kings signed him last summer. On paper I would have assumed that he would have slotted into the NHL roster, but he only played 4 games for the Kings and instead played 41 games in the AHL, where he had 7 goals and 22 assists. I still think he'll be in the NHL this upcoming season.
477 Boris Katchouk - Tampa Bay Lightning (23-LW) (Now on Chicago)
Katchouk was traded alongside Taylor Raddysh to Chicago at the deadline for Brandon Hagel. For both players it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get out of a 4th line role in Tampa. Taylor Raddysh took advantage, but Katchouk went the other way with only one lone point in 21 appearances for Chicago. He just seems like a pretty mediocre player that fans think is better than he really is.
492 Jacob Peterson - Dallas Stars (22-Fwd (C?))
Peterson went from a relatively no name prospect (5th round pick in 2017) to begin the 2019-20 season to a consistent member of the Stars lineup in just 2 years. After his first full season in the SHL yielded some decent results for a 20 year-old playing with grown men, he shot up the prospect ranks by finishing second in U23 scoring in SHL in 2020-21 (14g/19a in 46 GP). He surprisingly made the opening night roster of what turned out to be a playoff team (fun fact: he scored a goal and I was at the game), and went on to play 65 games this year. While notching only 11:04 of TOI per game, he still found the back of the net 12 times. I won't claim that he's gonna be a great player or anything, but he's just someone to keep an eye on, especially with the success a ton of former late round picks from Sweden have had recently.
496 Pavel Dorofeyev - Vegas Golden Knights (20-Winger)
The talented Russian winger had a really nice year for the Silver Knights (AHL) this season, leading the team with 27 goals and 52 points in 63 games. From what I read, he's got a ton of skill with the puck on his stick who has played professionally for a long time, making his KHL debut in 2018 before being drafted 79th overall in 2019. The Silver Knights are basically barren of offensive talent, so Dorofeyev didn't have too much competition to be on the top line there, but it's still impressive nonetheless.
Good Prospects who could move up or down rankings rapidly:
453 Taylor Raddysh - Tampa Bay Lightning (24-RW)
Raddysh was drafted by TB back in 2016 and just couldn't break into the lineup with their crazy depth until this year. He was able to find a consistent spot in the bottom six, playing 53 games (12 points) before being traded to Chicago at the deadline. In Chicago he was given a more substantial role (TOI jumped from 11:03 to 15:34) and he made the most of the opportunity, scoring 6 goals and adding 4 assists in 21 games. Raddysh played on two Canadian WJC teams and had some success in the AHL. I could see him becoming a middle six forward, though more likely on the 3rd line than the 2nd line.
456 Nils Lundkvist - New York Rangers (21-D)
Before the 2021-22 season, Nils Lundkvist was a better prospect than Adam Fox was before his debut. The undersized (5'11") Swedish defenseman made his professional debut in the SHL at 17 in 2017 and was drafted 28th overall by New York in the 2018 draft. In 2019-20 he led all juniors in the SHL with 31 points in 45 games. The following season he continued his offensive domination by breaking the league's record for goals recorded by a defenseman under 21 (14 goals in 52 games). This led to him winning the Salming Trophy for the league's best defenseman.
After signing with the Rangers last summer and winning the best rookie award at training camp, it looked like Lundkvist would be a mainstay in the lineup this season despite being stuck behind two firm pairings in Fox-Lindgren and Trouba-Miller. Ultimately, this didn't happen as he played more in the AHL (34 games vs. 25 games) and failed to bring over that level of production, being outscored by Zac Jones in Hartford. Ultimately, he's got massive upside, but he could not be in a worse situation being stuck behind Fox/Lindgren/Miller and fighting for a spot with a very similar player in Zac Jones.
465 Adam Ruzicka - Calgary Flames (23-C)
The Slovakian center gave me some pause when trying to slot him into the correct tier. He is a big 6'4" center taken with a middle round pick (4th in 2017) who developed on an average trajectory in the OHL, but then he has put up some really solid numbers thus far since coming over to North America. Following a decent first year in the AHL, he's put up 41 points in 44 games over the last two years for Stockton (very good IMO for a big center) and contributed 10 points in 28 NHL games this season. I'm interested to see where he plays most of the 2022-23 season and no result would surprise me. Because of that, I placed him here.
473 Jonathan Dahlen - San Jose Sharks (24-Fwd)
Dahlen was a very hot name in the streets to start this season when he started with 6 goals in the first 11 games, but nobody has ever cooled off faster. There was a ton of hype around him before the year started and frankly I had no idea why, but after that start I thought maybe I was just missing something that his mediocre pre-NHL stats didn't show. When it took him 50 more games to score his next 6 goals, I felt vindicated in my skepticism. Still, for some reason he has that "it" factor it seems that could vault him up the ranks. I don't see it happening especially with his age, but we shall see.
478 Benoit-Olivier "Bo" Groulx - Anaheim Ducks (22-Fwd)
Groulx was a highly touted youth hockey player and was ultimately selected 1st overall in the QMJHL draft. While he didn't turn that potential into that of those that came in the two years after him (Alexis Lafreniere and Hendrix Lapierre), he turned into a stout defensive forward, winning the QMJHL Best Defensive Forward award in 2019-20. His limited production (as far as the Q goes) dropped Groulx to 54th overall in 2018, but he should fit nicely on this Ducks roster that has a lot of high-end offensive talent but needs strong defensive forwards to balance the lineup. He's compiled a respectable 51 points in 82 AHL games, but that's nothing to write home about. I still think he has a long NHL future ahead of him with the potential to develop into a second line center, but if he never makes the most out of his opportunities at the highest level he could also fall into purgatory between the NHL and AHL.
482 Matthew Phillips - Calgary Flames (24-Fwd)
Phillips is probably too good for the AHL at this stage in his career, but he hasn't been good enough to earn a spot on Calgary's roster yet in his career (only has 1 NHL appearance). He's definitely undersized at 5'8", but that has not stopped him from producing results. In 215 games in the WHL he potted 136 goals and in 199 career AHL games he's totaled 161 points, including 31 goals in 65 games this season. So that leads me to asking the obvious question. Why isn't he playing for Calgary? I simply do not know the answer.
485 Jesse Ylonen - Montreal Canadiens (22-RW)
Gonna copy over what I said about Ylonen a few weeks ago when I wrote about the Canadiens. I remembering hearing the name in the World Juniors for Finland alongside Kaapo Kakko, but to be honest I didn't even remember he was a Canadiens prospect. The 2018 2nd rounder seems to be developing nicely as a European center, and did produce 5 points in 14 games in the NHL this year (on top of 36 AHL points in 52 GP). I'm sure Habs fans are really hoping he can make the lineup full-time next season in a middle-6 role and there should be an opportunity for him to win a spot somewhere. Add in the "Montreal effect" and he has to be in this tier.
491 Grigori Denisenko - Florida Panthers (21-winger)
Denisenko made a name for himself by putting up some great numbers in back-to-back U20 World Juniors, scoring 9 points in both years (lead the tournament in the first year). That is certainly impressive and important, but he hasn't really played all that much since then so it's hard for me to place him in a higher or lower tier. In 2019-20 he played 38 games in the KHL (12 points), but over the past two seasons since coming to North America he's played only 45 AHL games and 8 NHL games, scoring 27 points and 4 points, respectively. Still, he's a former 1st round pick (15th overall in 2018) who clearly has talent. The question is, will be ever make use of that talent?
Very Good Prospects
454 Philip Tomasino - Nashville Predators (20-Fwd)
Tomasino lit up the OHL in 2019-20 following his draft year (24th overall) with 40 goals and 60 assists in 62 games. He followed that up with a stellar first year in the AHL with 32 points in 29 games and added 6 points in 7 games in the World Juniors for Canada. This year he successfully earned a full-time spot on Nashville's roster where he had some pretty good success with 11 goals and 21 points over the course of 76 games (playing only 11:32). He even was given a role on the PP for a chunk of the season (9 PP points). His analytics look great for a 20 year-old and honestly it's tough to poke holes in his prospects at this time. The big question is just this...can he be a star in this league? I'm not ready to say yes quite yet (especially in Nashville)
459 Dawson Mercer - New Jersey Devils (20-RW)
Mercer is everywhere on the ice, flying around and hitting anything he sees and just genuinely causing mayhem for the Devils. At 18th overall, the Devils seem like they picked a prototypical middle-six forward who can do a little bit of everything, but as far as league-wide value I think he'll fall short of being a star behind Hughes, Bratt, Hischier and Holtz in one of the league's smaller markets. He does work his *** off though so he'll for sure be a fan favorite and could definitely prove me wrong if he finds his way into a net-front role on the PP (something the Devils certainly need).
463 Jan Jenik - Arizona Coyotes (21-Winger)
This could be a little bold, but my gut wanted to put Jenik here despite not having the background of the rest of the players in this tier. While he was only a third round pick in 2018, after scoring 22 goals and adding 34 assists in 27 OHL games in 2019-20 DobberProspects rated him as having Superstar potential. They've since dropped that down over the past two years to "2nd line potential" which I think is probably fair. He wasn't fantastic in 2020-21 but I'll chalk that up to the fact that he only played 38 games and it was for 3 different teams in 2 different countries. This season he put up 17 goals and 30 assists in the AHL at 21 years-old, 7th in the league for U22 skaters with at least 30 games played. Of course, he plays in Arizona which sucks for his hobby value, but it's my list and I think he deserves to be in the 3rd tier.
467 Jake Neighbours - St. Louis Blues (20-LW)
Jake Neighbours is a very good prospect who was taken late in the 2020 first round that should will play all of 2022-23 in the NHL/AHL for the first time. He's played the last four years in the WHL, but unfortunately only got to play 19 games in 2020-21 (had 33 points), a very important year of development after the draft. As the captain of the Oil Kings this year, he showed his skill like you'd expect from a player in his 4th year scoring 45 points in 30 games while also leading the team to a WHL championship. He ended up playing 9 NHL games for St. Louis, but it's hard to put him in either of the top two tiers at this stage when he hasn't really played yet and wasn't a top prospect in his draft class.
471 Yegor Chinakhov - Columbus Blue Jackets (21-RW)
Chinakhov won the KHL Best Rookie Award right after being drafted 21st overall by Columbus, which has been won recently by Vitaly Kravtsov, Maxim Maxim, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Valeri Nichuskin. His first season after signing his ELC didn't exactly go how he had hoped (7g/7a in 62 GP), but I truly think that in today's NHL no player should be judged on their first season. Honestly I don't have much else to say except that 2022-23 should be much more telling of his future in this league.
472 Hendrix Lapierre - Washington Capitals (20-C)
Much like Jake Neighbours, without watching him play night in and night out prospecting him is very much still up in the air. He wasn't spectacular by any means in the QMJHL after winning Offensive Rookie of the year in 2018-19 (45 points in 48 GP), but he was putting up the numbers you'd expect (82 points in 61 games the past two seasons). He was called up for a brief stint with Washington this year, playing in just 6 games (1 goal), but time will tell if he's a top-six NHL forward. He does have the benefit of playing in an organization that is desperate for some homegrown prospects to make the jump soon.
Consolation Prizes:
461 Alex Newhook - Colorado Avalanche (21-C)
Some may have Newhook in the "chase card" tier, but I'm just a tiny bit lower than others are on the kid. As a BC fan, I did watch him play in college and he's got a ton of game and is a terrific skater. Having left BC at the end of the 2020-21 season, Newhook played his first professional season this past year. Playing 71 games for the best team in hockey is a success in itself, but he added to it 13 goals and 20 assists, not a pedestrian number while playing behind some of the league's best players. But there enlies some of the problem...can he really become a household name behind MacKinnon, Rantanen and Landeskog (plus Makar of course at D)? In a very surprising realization to me, he actually started more shifts in the D-zone than the O-zone (despite winning only 34.7% of faceoffs). That could be taken two ways; 1) the best opportunities will go to Mac and Rantanen or 2) He's already good enough to play wherever they need him. His analytics were good this year, he was only playing 13:34 per game, and he only had 6 PP points. There's no doubt all of those point to the opportunity to break out soon. I 1000% hope he proves me wrong and has me kicking myself for not chasing him.
466 Cole Perfetti - Winnipeg Jets (20-Fwd)
As far as pre-NHL careers go, Cole Perfetti's is basically flawless. In his rookie season in the OHL he led his team and all OHL rookies with 74 points in 63 games. The following year he broke the franchise record for points with 111 in 61 games. This led to him being selected 10th overall by Winnipeg in the 2020 draft, which by anyone's analysis was lower than he should be been selected. He signed an ELC right after being drafted and has played 49 games in the AHL over the past two years, having some great success for a teenager with 41 points in 49 games (15 goals, 26 assists). This play earned him 18 games with Winnipeg where he found the score sheet seven times. I really really want to put Perfetti in the top tier, but I just wish we were able to get a larger NHL sample size this year. Plus, I am very much concerned about the market in Winnipeg given how great Kyle Connor is and his deflated prices.
475 William Eklund - San Jose Sharks (19-Fwd)
It was a little surprising that William Eklund dropped to 7th in last year's draft, but it is exciting that he is going to a team that was absent a very top-end prospect in San Jose. The speedy Swede impressed the hockey world by winning SHL rookie of the year through an amazing season at 18 years-old with 11 goals and 12 assists in 40 games. If I were to project out who he most reminded me of it (in an ideal world), it would be a mix Jesper Bratt and Nicklas Backstrom. Eklund has great speed and always is looking to use that to set up his teammates. I do think that might be where I hesitate a little bit to see him becoming a superstar. He's never really been a big goal scorer, and if we know anything about the card market that is looked at as a big negative. Nonetheless, he should be a great player to watch and he's still a teenager...if he can learn to score he could be awesome.
481 Vasily Podkolzin - Vancouver Canucks (20-RW)
Out of all the guys in the top two tiers, Podkolzin is the one I know the least about. I just watched a little bit of tape on him and he seems like a very NHL-ready winger at 6'1" with a powerful stride that most young players take time to learn/develop. After a fantastic playoff run with SKA last year where he put up 11 points in 16 games, he played this entire year with Vancouver. The Canucks were a big disappointment in general this year, so I don't know what to make of his 14 goal and 12 assist season. All in all when I look at him though, he was a top 10 pick, he's on a team that should give him the right mix of opportunity and good teammates, and he played a full season at only 20 years-old. Definitely an exciting prospect.
498 Cole Sillinger - Columbus Blue Jackets (19-C)
What a shocker, I like another CBJ prospect...I swear I'm going to end up PCing like 5 guys in one of the league's bottom 5 markets. Sillinger can simply just score goals. For a team that lacks that aside from Laine, I'm excited at the prospect of Sillinger on the right side of the PP and Laine on the left. Sillinger is the only 1st rounder from 2021 to play more than 10 games in the NHL, and he played almost every one (79 GP). He scored 16 goals (all at even strength) and added 15 assists in that time, good enough for 8th best among rookies. Sillinger won a very respectable 46.5% of faceoffs and had decent analytics for a teenager, so it also looks like he'll be a center which is huge for Columbus. He has a high probability of being the de facto #1 center at 20 years-old next year. If he were in a bigger market he may be in the top tier.
Chase Cards:
451 Mason McTavish - Anaheim Ducks (19-C)
Imagining McTavish and Zegras playing together might give the hockey old-fashioned hardos an aneurysm. McTavish had a weird 2021-21 season before being selected 3rd overall as he only played 20 hockey games, 13 on loan in Switzerland (where he's from) and 7 in the U-18 WJC for Canada. It's tough to only have that small sample size, but when you score 14 goals that'll get you noticed. I know the majority of people had him falling anywhere from 5th-8th in the draft, so it was a little bit of a pleasant surprise to see him selected 3rd overall (though I was high on him as well). I do wonder if Zegras will dominate the spotlight in a mediun-small Anaheim market, but you have to include the most recent 3rd overall pick as one of the chase cards in my opinion. In the OHL this year he scored 14 goals (plus 26 assists) in 24 regular season game and then scored 14 more goals in only 18 playoff games. He should come into the league ready to score.
464 Lucas Raymond - Detroit Red Wings (20-LW)
Although he cooled off the 2nd half of the year and failed to get named a finalist for the Calder Trophy, Raymond stepped right into the NHL as a 19 year-old and produced for a bad Detroit team. His 57 points trailed only Michael Bunting and Trevor Zegras for rookie points and only Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi for points on Detroit. Anyone picked by an original six franchise in the top 5 (Raymond was 4th in 2020) will immediately have massive hype, and through one year in the pros Raymond looks like he may live up to it. He's been successful in the Swedish Hockey League for a few years, played on two WJC-20 Swedish teams, and had a great rookie year offensively (though he was -32). Definitely a chase card.
469 Moritz Seider - Detroit Red Wings (21-D)
Cale Makar. Adam Fox. Mortitz Seider. When people around the league talked about the best young defenseman in the NHL, Seider played his way into 3rd place on this list ahead of numerous other great young prospects. It's yet to be seen whether he wins the Calder Trophy (find out on 6/21 if he becomes the first Red Wing to win since 1965), but the young German defenseman shined as much as any rookie has the past few years (not counting Kaprizov). The 6'4" 6th overall pick from 2019 can simply do it all. More known before this season for his defensive game, Seider showed that he's got some serious offensive potential as well, putting up 50 points this year as a rookie. He can play on the PK, QB the PP and dominate with his size and skating ability at 5v5. It's been too long since Detroit had a clear-cut #1 defenseman. Seider is that guy.
488 Quinton Byfield - Los Angeles Kings (19-C)
If I were to go on how I actually projected these players to rank in their careers, Byfield would not be in the top tier. But since this is all about potential, he has to go here. Byfield has the potential to be a cornerstone of not only the LA Kings but the entire NHL. This 6'4", 216 pound center with soft hands is a needle in a haystack of intangibles, so it was no surprise that he went #2 in the 2020 draft. However, almost two years later there's many people including myself that are getting worried about him. He played 40 games this year for LAK after fracturing his ankle in October and never really got into a groove, only scoring 5 goals and adding 5 assists. I do think that he came into a roster that had been having a surprisingly strong season so he wasn't given the amount of playing team that everyone expected, so hopefully this was just a bump in the road of his young career. He was a former OHL #1 draft pick and CHL Rookie of the year for a reason, he has the chance to be a complete league-wide star. That is undeniable...but there is a reason it's called "potential". Everyone is rooting for him.
489 Anton Lundell - Florida Panthers (20-C)
I debated not including Anton Lundell in this tier but I just really wanted to show how much of a beast he was this regular season. The only reason that I hesitate that he'll be a star is that he's in Florida and that he's behind Sasha Barkov. Lundell was insane as a teenager in the Liiga with 28 points in 44 games before getting drafted and 25 points in 26 games after his draft year, he captained Finland to a WJC-20 Gold Medal, won a World Championship Silver Medal (and had the most points by U20 player), and put up 44 points in 65 games playing limited minutes as a rookie. I simply couldn't justify not having him in the top tier. He had a shocking 61% d-zone start rate but still had a positive CF% and easily positive xGF%, he had 59 takeaways to 35 giveaways and won 44.7% of his faceoffs (much better than the league-average for his age). Honestly, I don't have any idea why he wasn't taken earlier than 12th overall.
Let's hear your thoughts! Who are you most hoping to pull? Which of the non-top tier YGs are you looking to PC in the future? Good luck in your breaks!
