Image courtesy: Fantasy Jester Sports

Welcome to the Thursday ramblings …again. It is time for my top five prospects on the Central teams, hopefully you are excited. Also any prospect moves that happen with the NHL trade deadline looming I will go over as well. As of my writing this first paragraph LA and OTT made a bizarre trade that saves Ottawa money which is all Melnyk wants. Sorry Ottawa fans.

I also realized I should add more to the notes portions for more “reasonings,” but I am a concise writer in my analysis yet long winded in my descriptions. Figure that one oout!

I saw The Ghost Town Blues Band at a blues festival last summer, give them a listen:

{youtube}g1W0ZqxBhNE{/youtube}

****************

Just an FYI in my analysis I compare upside with NHL likelihood, as some players may have higher upside but a small chance to translate their game to the NHL.

CENTRAL

Chicago

1. Henri Jokiharju
2. Andrei Altybarmakyan
3. Maxim Shalunov
4. Dylan Sikura
5. Matthew Highmore

Notes:

• I consider Alex DeBrincat an NHLer now. Kid just scored 20 goals in the NHL, albeit inconsistently because of ice time allotted to him. I had his as a first round pick in 2016 but #Size made him a stolen second round pick for the Blackhawks
• The Hawks system is pretty gross right now but at least the young players who should be given a chance are being given a chance. Meaning adding anything is difficult
• Altybarmakyan was such a smart pick by the Hawks, if he comes over he will be a very good player
• The Hawks need to do whatever they can to get Shalunov over from the KHL, they likely can’t until his next deal runs out but he would be a great addition. Think a slightly less skilled Panarin

Colorado

1. Tyson Jost
2. Cale Makar
3. Vladislav Kamenev
4. AJ Greer
5. Conor Timmins

Notes:

• Girard is not counting as a prospect for me anymore because he is trusted with ice time and power play time. The stats may not be there but they soon will be
• Tyson Jost is considered a prospect for me because he started very slow, went to the AHL, and got hurt. Now he is up in the NHL playing tons of time but not getting the greatest results, in a couple seasons better results will follow
• I am also considering JT Compher and Alex Kerfoot as NHLers since they are more likely to be good to great bottom six guys than top six guys
• What happened to Duncan Siemens? He has turned into an AHL defenseman that appears to at best be a five or six NHL defenseman that hits and fights
• Greer has been slow to come back from injuries so far in 2017-2018, hopefully he can get up to speed soon

Dallas

1. Miro Heiskanen
2. Julius Honka
3. Valeri Nichushkin
4. Jason Dickinson
5. Jason Robertson / Roope Hintz

Notes:

• Jason Dickinson is going to be turned into a bottom line player if Hitchcock continues to give him no chances to succeed
• I wish I could add Denis Gurianov to this list but he has been pretty underwhelming in the AHL during his career
• Numbers three to five are all lumped so closely together I added an extra player, so it is pretty much three to six… There are no real great forwards in the Stars system more just average middle-six players. Even Nichushkin seems mediocre now-a-days
• Besides Heiskanen and Honka the cupboard is pretty mediocre

Minnesota

1. Kirill Kaprizov
2. Joel Eriksson-Ek
3. Jordan Greenway
4. Luke Kunin
5. Dmitry Sokolov

Notes:

• Kaprizov is the best drafted prospect in the NHL period (in my opinion)
• If not for injury Mason Shaw would likely be on my list as the offensive upside is there (big time) but his size, and missing most (if not all) of this season could hurt his chances long term
• Sokolov’s skill is enough to bring him to the NHL but he needs to competitive drive to really make it, otherwise he won’t get more than AHL time
• Joel Eriksson-Ek should be a top six centre in Minnesota in a couple seasons and when he is the points will come. It is no fun to have to wait for a player to produce but in his case you will

Nashville

1. Eeli Tolvanen
2. Dante Fabbro
3. Yakov Trenin
4. Emil Pettersson
5. Alexandre Carrier

Notes:

• Just give Pontus Aberg ice time, he proved in the playoffs he can be a top six forward but a consistent bubble player does not suit him well
• Moving Girard and Kamanev has really weakened Nashville’s prospect pool, but that is the price you pay for being a Stanley Cup contender
• Trenin is a player I have routinely had my eye on, the skill is there but the AHL development has been a little slow to start
• I do not see Tolvanen or Fabbro being moved for rentals at the deadline but crazier things have happened

St. Louis

1. Jordan Kyrou
2. Klim Kostin
3. Robert Thomas
4. Tage Thompson
5. Jordan Schmaltz / Ivan Barbashev

Notes:

• The Blues have a great top eight group of prospects, so good in fact I couldn’t include Sammy Blais or Villie Husso, and had to add Barbashev as a co-holder of spot number five
• Barbashev is a legit NHL talent, he just seems to get such inconsistent ice-time and line-mates that it is no wonder he hasn’t broken out consistently yet. Hopefully the Blues do not do to him what Hitchcock did to Jaskin (ie. Making him a bottom six forward)
• Not to mention there is also Alexei Toropchenko waiting in the wings, and he could develop into a very nice NHL player
• I also need to mention Jake Walman! Like come on St. Louis share the wealth
• St. Louis players in the AHL this season could likely see slower development as (thanks to Las Vegas) their AHL-affiliate is a mess
• Is may just be me but I feel Kyrou will have the same impact as Schwartz and Fabbri for the Blues (just hopefully without the latter twos abilit to get hrt)

Winnipeg

1. Kristian Vesalainen
2. Jack Roslovic
3. Tucker Poolman
4. Eric Comrie
5. Michael Spacek

Notes:

• The Jets prospect pool has been pretty depleted after seven years of fantastic first round drafting (minus Logan Stanley), due to the team being mediocre at best
• With the above comment, I only believe Logan Stanley will get a chance to become an NHLer because he was a first round pick
• Do not count out Brendan Lemieux from being a future NHLer, but he won’t be anything great. Also Nic Petan and Marko Dano should be given full-time roles but for some reason are not.
• This team will be very good for a very long time (depending on Canadian dollar and Winnipeg market)

**************

Ok, no NHL trades happened since that Phaneuf trade, which involved no prospects so #NoAnalysisNeeded.

Also sorry Senators fans that Melnyk is YOUR teams owner.

Anyway, follow me on the cyber –> @FHPQuinn