Picture courtesy of MyNHLTradeRumors.com
Well if it isn’t Thursday again, Smarch has begun, time for some ramblings from me. I will go over my top five prospects per team from the Atlantic division. I am ranking them on future NHL likelihood and an ability to put up points. Next week should cover the Metro unless some crazy stuff goes down, like last week and my writing on what prospects could be moved. I was wrong on a few and right on a few as well #NotAnInsiderrrrrr
EDIT: Apparently I believe Detroit and Carolina traded Divisions, so Carolina is included here instead of Detroit. Enjoy my mistake! I will add Detroit next week and just copy and paste Carolina…. As well as possibly making a joke about myself.
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Atlantic
Tampa Bay
Notes:
- Tampa traded Brett Howden and Libor Hajek to the Rangers at the deadline, so do not expect them here but if they were I would have Howden in the three to five range
- I am leaving both Sergachev and Gourde off of the list as they are NHLers
- It really amazes me how all of Tampa’s prospects right now all seem to be in the same middle six forward (or a number three to six defenseman) range as no one stands out for me, but a majority seem to just be destined for the NHL
- I do like Alexei Lipanov long-term but he has not really impressed me in the OHL this season
- Volkov could step in to the Lighting as early as next season and fill in the Killorn spot, with a better scoring touch, but may be kept seasoning in the AHL for a bit
Toronto
Notes:
- Honourable mention to Carl Grundstrom and Dmytro Timashov
- The Leafs are really stacked on wing prospects but lack on defense and centre prospects
- Toronto is either going to have to make room for their prospects or trade them away as at least five will be NHL ready by next season
- Garret Sparks does not get the respect that he deserves, he likely does not have a future on the Leafs but if another NHL tea, trades for him make you sure pick him up
Montreal
Notes:
- I am considering Victor Mete and Charles Hudon NHLers
- The Montreal farm system, aside from the top five, is nothing great
- I do like Cayden Primeau long-term as a goaltending option and I do think there could be quite a bit of upside in the seventh round pick
- Chalk me up to not believing in Jake Evans as an offensive top-six option, but think he could carve out a bottom-six role
Boston
Notes:
- This team has so many whiffs and hits in terms of drafting it is incredible
- I am counting Danton Heinen, Charlie McAvoy, and Jake DeBrusk as NHLers
- Honourable mentions to Peter Cehlarik and Anton Blidh
- Yes I do believe Khokhlachev will be back in the NHL sooner than later
- Can Jakub Zboril and Zachary Senyshyn become NHL players or will those three picks look to be one of the worst draft sections ever
Ottawa
Notes:
- I am not counting Thomas Chabot as a prospect as he is an NHLer
- Marcus Hogberg and Filip Gustavsson are both fantastic goaltending prospects so I kept them on the same level, but Gustavsson is much farther away
- The Sens are going to regret trading Jonathan Dahlen for Burrows. It is not Forsberg for Erat bad but it is bad
- Lots of young players are going to get an opportunity on this team in the future, great for rebuilding fantasy teams
- I am sorry your team is owned by Eugene Melnyk Sens fans
Carolina
Notes:
- Honourable mention to Jake Bean, Janne Kuokkanen, and Eetu Luostarinen
- The Hurricanes are an incredibly frustrating team. They have so many great prospects but won’t make a move to improve their NHL team, unless it means they can trade with the Blackhawks
- This team needs a number one centre and count me on the pessimistic side that he won’t be good enough to be a number one, but I do think he can become a great number two centre
- I am very sad Sergey Tolchinsky is just not busting through in the AHL as I really wanted that kid to succeed, great heart, skill and character
Florida
Notes:
- Adam Mascherin needs to up his skating and Jonathan Ang just needs to up his consistency to be full on believable prospects for me. If they could just combine their abilities they would become the top prospect in the CHL
- The Panthers top three is probably the best top three for forward prospects in the NHL
- Imagine if this team kept Marchessault and R. Smith how they could insulate a crop of two rookies with exceptional skill in the NHL
- If Malgin can get both ice time and not get injured he can become a legit top nine NHLer
Buffalo
Notes:
- The bottom just falls out for Sabres prospects after this top five as they really need a lot of help. In fact after Mittelstadt and Guhle there is no guarantee with the others in the top three for NHL players as Nylander has underwhelmed this season, but that could be due to injuries
- This team is just so weird, they have a good top end in both the NHL and prospects and then it just drops off a cliff for depth
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The winning prospect after the trade deadline for future opportunity and perhaps an enhanced ceiling I will go with Victor Ejdsell as I like how he was picked by Chicago, they usually know what they are doing.
Runner up: Brett Howden
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Alright that is all for me today. I have decided to lower my initial hope for twitter followers down from 700,000,000 to 70,000,000, so now I am only 69,999,832. Help me out and twitter follower number 4,712,088 will win a prize! Follow here @FHPQuinn
“My lucky number is four billion. That doesn't come in real handy when you're gambling. Come on four billion!… Darn! Seven. Not even close. I need some more dice. Four billion divided by six… at least.” – Mitch Hedberg