Over the past week or so, Corey Pronman at The Athletic has been rolling out his rankings of each NHL team's prospect pool. The criteria is any player that has played less than 25 NHL games last year or 50 overall, and is under 27 years old. He's dropping the teams in reverse order, starting with the Caps at 31, and has gotten as high as 15 today. Not surprisingly, the Blues spot hasn't been revealed yet, but what is interesting is that besides the Blues and Hawks, the rest of the Central division has shown up in the bottom half. WPG-28, NSH-26, COL-21, MIN-18, DAL-16 in case you were wondering.

It's not surprising that the cupboard is fairly bare for the top 2 teams in the division, but interesting to see that Minnesota and Dallas have the same problem with their prospects as they do in the NHL, being stuck in the middle. The write-ups are worth a read or at least quick scroll through if you subscribe.

https://theathletic.com/459786/2018/08/ ... -rankings/

Dave's a mess wrote:... Not surprisingly, the Blues spot hasn't been revealed yet, but what is interesting is that besides the Blues and Hawks, the rest of the Central division has shown up in the bottom half. WPG-28, NSH-26, COL-21, MIN-18, DAL-16 in case you were wondering. ...

So if my long division is right, the Blues are guaranteed a spot in Pronman's upper half. There is much rejoicing in Blues-land.

Considering how much Pronman loves Kyrou and Thomas, and rightfully so, I have no doubts the Blues will be top 5 on this list.

What else can be said about this team right now? A legit cup contender, not in cap hell, and a legit top 5 prospect pool.

Life is good.....until the games start.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Considering how much Pronman loves Kyrou and Thomas, and rightfully so, I have no doubts the Blues will be top 5 on this list.

What else can be said about this team right now? A legit cup contender, not in cap hell, and a legit top 5 prospect pool.

Life is good.....until the games start.

He was higher on Bokk than anyone I saw this year too. Hopefully we get some saves and make some noise.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Considering how much Pronman loves Kyrou and Thomas, and rightfully so, I have no doubts the Blues will be top 5 on this list.

What else can be said about this team right now? A legit cup contender, not in cap hell, and a legit top 5 prospect pool.

Life is good.....until the games start.

Not so sure about that. I feel we are the tier right below cup contender, whatever that is called.

Doug Glatt wrote:

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Considering how much Pronman loves Kyrou and Thomas, and rightfully so, I have no doubts the Blues will be top 5 on this list.

What else can be said about this team right now? A legit cup contender, not in cap hell, and a legit top 5 prospect pool.

Life is good.....until the games start.

Not so sure about that. I feel we are the tier right below cup contender, whatever that is called.

I don't look at any teams in the West and say, "they are clearly better than the Blues"....because of that, I consider the boys a contender.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:

Doug Glatt wrote:

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Considering how much Pronman loves Kyrou and Thomas, and rightfully so, I have no doubts the Blues will be top 5 on this list.

What else can be said about this team right now? A legit cup contender, not in cap hell, and a legit top 5 prospect pool.

Life is good.....until the games start.

Not so sure about that. I feel we are the tier right below cup contender, whatever that is called.

I don't look at any teams in the West and say, "they are clearly better than the Blues"....because of that, I consider the boys a contender.

Fair enough. We aren't far off, and things change quickly once the season starts. My rankings would go like:

Caps
Lightning
Jets
Preds
Leafs
Knights
Bruins
Pens

Those are the cup contenders, imo.

Then I think the next group has the Blues, Sharks, Flyers, Kings, Ducks, Blue Jackets

Doug Glatt wrote:

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:

Doug Glatt wrote:
Not so sure about that. I feel we are the tier right below cup contender, whatever that is called.

I don't look at any teams in the West and say, "they are clearly better than the Blues"....because of that, I consider the boys a contender.

Fair enough. We aren't far off, and things change quickly once the season starts. My rankings would go like:

Caps
Lightning
Jets
Preds
Leafs
Knights
Bruins
Pens

Those are the cup contenders, imo.

Then I think the next group has the Blues, Sharks, Flyers, Kings, Ducks, Blue Jackets

Hard to find much to disagree with on your list, although I'm that guy that's STILL not a believer in the Knights

I'd take the Blues roster over there's. MAF is going to be 34 and has played 38 and 46 games the last two season's and had statistically his best season last year. Some regression should be expected.

My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

NHLTIM wrote:My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

I think both Dahlin and Mittelstadt are better than any players the Flyers have so I'd probably put the Sabres ahead of them for that reason.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

I think both Dahlin and Mittelstadt are better than any players the Flyers have so I'd probably put the Sabres ahead of them for that reason.

For me Dahlin and Mittelstadt are already NHL players.

NHLTIM wrote:

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

I think both Dahlin and Mittelstadt are better than any players the Flyers have so I'd probably put the Sabres ahead of them for that reason.

For me Dahlin and Mittelstadt are already NHL players.

For sure, but I was going off the criteria in the OP so they will be included in the rankings.

Doug Glatt wrote:... I feel we are the tier right below cup contender, whatever that is called.

In horse racing, those are called "also-rans."

NHLTIM wrote:My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

So is that the reason Philly will be on NBC Sports so often in the coming season? Maybe I should give 'em a glance.

JMC-STL wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

So is that the reason Philly will be on NBC Sports so often in the coming season? Maybe I should give 'em a glance.

Even if they had a bare prospect pool, the Flyers are a fun team to watch. They're easily in the top 10 NHL.TV (or whatever it's called these days) teams for me. Loads of offensive skill with a great PP every year, but not super stingy in their own end. Great for a neutral observer.

Dave's a mess wrote:

JMC-STL wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

So is that the reason Philly will be on NBC Sports so often in the coming season? Maybe I should give 'em a glance.

Even if they had a bare prospect pool, the Flyers are a fun team to watch. They're easily in the top 10 NHL.TV (or whatever it's called these days) teams for me. Loads of offensive skill with a great PP every year, but not super stingy in their own end. Great for a neutral observer.

They are the main player for Karlsson right now too. Flyers have always been my 2nd favorite team after the Blues. My first ever hockey jersey when I was younger was a road(orange) Flyers. Got it at Casey's sports in Clayton I believe...that was back when the jerseys didn't have the logo on them and you had to go to the counter and purchase the logo separately for like $16 a pop and have your mom sew it on!

NHLTIM wrote:

Dave's a mess wrote:

JMC-STL wrote: So is that the reason Philly will be on NBC Sports so often in the coming season? Maybe I should give 'em a glance.

Even if they had a bare prospect pool, the Flyers are a fun team to watch. They're easily in the top 10 NHL.TV (or whatever it's called these days) teams for me. Loads of offensive skill with a great PP every year, but not super stingy in their own end. Great for a neutral observer.

They are the main player for Karlsson right now too. Flyers have always been my 2nd favorite team after the Blues. My first ever hockey jersey when I was younger was a road(orange) Flyers. Got it at Casey's sports in Clayton I believe...that was back when the jerseys didn't have the logo on them and you had to go to the counter and purchase the logo separately for like $16 a pop and have your mom sew it on!

I didn't know that one. That's a jip.

Dave's a mess wrote:Over the past week or so, Corey Pronman at The Athletic has been rolling out his rankings of each NHL team's prospect pool. The criteria is any player that has played less than 25 NHL games last year or 50 overall, and is under 27 years old. He's dropping the teams in reverse order, starting with the Caps at 31, and has gotten as high as 15 today. Not surprisingly, the Blues spot hasn't been revealed yet, but what is interesting is that besides the Blues and Hawks, the rest of the Central division has shown up in the bottom half. WPG-28, NSH-26, COL-21, MIN-18, DAL-16 in case you were wondering.

It's not surprising that the cupboard is fairly bare for the top 2 teams in the division, but interesting to see that Minnesota and Dallas have the same problem with their prospects as they do in the NHL, being stuck in the middle. The write-ups are worth a read or at least quick scroll through if you subscribe.

https://theathletic.com/459786/2018/08/ ... -rankings/

What the heck do the Hawks have that puts them in the top 15? Okay, DeBrincat and Schmaltz, sure, but still, not much else out there. Even when the Hawks are bad they're overrated.

Doug Glatt wrote:

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Considering how much Pronman loves Kyrou and Thomas, and rightfully so, I have no doubts the Blues will be top 5 on this list.

What else can be said about this team right now? A legit cup contender, not in cap hell, and a legit top 5 prospect pool.

Life is good.....until the games start.

Not so sure about that. I feel we are the tier right below cup contender, whatever that is called.

I believe it's called "home."

BillP wrote:

Dave's a mess wrote:Over the past week or so, Corey Pronman at The Athletic has been rolling out his rankings of each NHL team's prospect pool. The criteria is any player that has played less than 25 NHL games last year or 50 overall, and is under 27 years old. He's dropping the teams in reverse order, starting with the Caps at 31, and has gotten as high as 15 today. Not surprisingly, the Blues spot hasn't been revealed yet, but what is interesting is that besides the Blues and Hawks, the rest of the Central division has shown up in the bottom half. WPG-28, NSH-26, COL-21, MIN-18, DAL-16 in case you were wondering.

It's not surprising that the cupboard is fairly bare for the top 2 teams in the division, but interesting to see that Minnesota and Dallas have the same problem with their prospects as they do in the NHL, being stuck in the middle. The write-ups are worth a read or at least quick scroll through if you subscribe.

https://theathletic.com/459786/2018/08/ ... -rankings/

What the heck do the Hawks have that puts them in the top 15? Okay, DeBrincat and Schmaltz, sure, but still, not much else out there. Even when the Hawks are bad they're overrated.

The Hawks had a really good 2018 draft and they focused on fixing their blue line for the future the last couple of years. They are in good shape with Boqvist and Jokiharju. Jokiharju is a really nice player and will probably make some noise in camp this year.
They will have to address their forward prospects but they did draft Nik Nordgren in June and Jake Wise has some potential and they drafted Parker Foo last year...he was bit of a sleeper pick that might very well pan out.
They are just going through a mini rebuild right now but they do have some nice players on the way.

Pronman posted an article today on which prospects helped their draft stock the most at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup

https://theathletic.com/474229/2018/08/ ... etzky-cup/


Posted this name because I think this is Tim's boy - Kirby Dach, RW

I liked Dach a lot based on what I saw before, but he made a big impression on me in this tournament. Even though he played on the wing, I saw a guy with the makings of a front-line center. He’s big with great hands and vison, skates well, and can play a responsible two-way game. He has the ability to drive a line at the pro level, and he was often a primary drive of offense for Canada when he was on the ice.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Pronman posted an article today on which prospects helped their draft stock the most at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup

https://theathletic.com/474229/2018/08/ ... etzky-cup/


Posted this name because I think this is Tim's boy - Kirby Dach, RW

I liked Dach a lot based on what I saw before, but he made a big impression on me in this tournament. Even though he played on the wing, I saw a guy with the makings of a front-line center. He’s big with great hands and vison, skates well, and can play a responsible two-way game. He has the ability to drive a line at the pro level, and he was often a primary drive of offense for Canada when he was on the ice.

Yeah..Dach will be a center in the NHL and a very good one. His doesn't have the top end speed that some of the other guys like Hughes and Cozens have but one thing that Dach can do is tilt the ice in his teams favor.
I expect him to put up 100pts in the WHL this year and at least make a run for discussion on #1 overall next June.

NHLTIM wrote:

Dave's a mess wrote:

JMC-STL wrote: So is that the reason Philly will be on NBC Sports so often in the coming season? Maybe I should give 'em a glance.

Even if they had a bare prospect pool, the Flyers are a fun team to watch. They're easily in the top 10 NHL.TV (or whatever it's called these days) teams for me. Loads of offensive skill with a great PP every year, but not super stingy in their own end. Great for a neutral observer.

They are the main player for Karlsson right now too. Flyers have always been my 2nd favorite team after the Blues. My first ever hockey jersey when I was younger was a road(orange) Flyers. Got it at Casey's sports in Clayton I believe...that was back when the jerseys didn't have the logo on them and you had to go to the counter and purchase the logo separately for like $16 a pop and have your mom sew it on!

You're in luck Tim, just heard that on Wednesday NHL Radio will preview both the Blues and Flyers. I'll be interested to listen to that even though they aren't bullish on the Blues.

BillP. wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:

Dave's a mess wrote:
Even if they had a bare prospect pool, the Flyers are a fun team to watch. They're easily in the top 10 NHL.TV (or whatever it's called these days) teams for me. Loads of offensive skill with a great PP every year, but not super stingy in their own end. Great for a neutral observer.

They are the main player for Karlsson right now too. Flyers have always been my 2nd favorite team after the Blues. My first ever hockey jersey when I was younger was a road(orange) Flyers. Got it at Casey's sports in Clayton I believe...that was back when the jerseys didn't have the logo on them and you had to go to the counter and purchase the logo separately for like $16 a pop and have your mom sew it on!

You're in luck Tim, just heard that on Wednesday NHL Radio will preview both the Blues and Flyers. I'll be interested to listen to that even though they aren't bullish on the Blues.

Yeah....Boomer has been getting a lot of mileage out his "I just don't see it" in regards to the Blues additions. Blues fans were giving it to him good a couple of weeks ago and he was like "everybody in St. Louis calm down and don't go jumping off the Arch"

NHLTIM wrote:My guess is that the Flyers are going to be ranked #1

Flyers posted today. #12

NY Rangers are #11.

Here's the current list, for reference:

11. New York Rangers

12. Philadelphia Flyers

13. Ottawa Senators

14. Chicago Blackhawks

15. Arizona Coyotes

16. Dallas Stars

17. San Jose Sharks

18. Minnesota Wild

19. Toronto Maple Leafs

20. New Jersey Devils

21. Colorado Avalanche

22. Edmonton Oilers

23. Pittsburgh Penguins

24. Anaheim Ducks

25. Columbus Blue Jackets

26. Nashville Predators

27. Boston Bruins

28. Winnipeg Jets

29. Calgary Flames

30. Tampa Bay Lightning

31. Washington Capitals


So the top 10 is FLA, DET, MTL, BUF, CAR, NYI, STL, LA, VAN, & VGK in some order.