Welcome to the Thursday Prospect Ramblings. This week I am still going to hang out at the NHL 2020 draft as I still have a discussion or two left in me. I decided that I wanted to discuss some primo landing spots for some prospects. What do I mean by that, well I mean that these were probably the best systems they could go to for fantasy purposes, or possibly the worst systems they could go to based on recent similar prospects and potential future opportunity.

 

Also, here is my #GoodTweet of the week, it is short and to the point:

(I am pretty much avoiding all Predators not named Roman Josi in fantasy drafts)

 

 

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Best landing spots

#3 Tim Stutzle – Ottawa Senators

• Here is the part of my ramblings where Senators fans will like me. Stutzle lands in a perfect spot in Ottawa as a high pick with tons of skill. There will likely not be much holding him back from a top line opportunity, the only thing that will hold his points back is the team \developing its young players after the scorched earth approach it took

 

#4 Lucas Raymond – Detroit Red Wings

• The Red Wings simply do not have a forward prospect like Raymond and they are not tremendously deep on the wing. A match made in hockey heaven for your keeper league as Detroit has legit young skilled players waiting for Raymond to join them

 

#7 Alexander Holtz – New Jersey

• Simply put, the Devils need a big-time goal scorer and Holtz is that. He will also join the team and with play with a great all-around centre or a great playmaking centre

 

#10 Cole Perfetti – Winnipeg Jets

• Mark Scheifele will take all of the pressure and top defensive players away from Cole Perfetti when he enters the league. He will likely also get a prime 2C spot and top skilled wingers to play with

 

#15 Rodion Amirov – Toronto Maple Leafs

• Amirov should be ready sooner than people think, and when he comes to the Leafs he is not coming to play in a bottom-six role, so he should have Tavares, Matthews, or Nylander (at C) to play with when he finally makes the big roster. Talk about cushy

 

#22 Hendrix Lapierre – Washington Capitals

• In a few years the only forwards that could have fantasy relevance on the Capitals would be Jakub Vrana, Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre. Long-term he is a great bet to post points but short term he should not be expected to make the lineup. If the Capitals decide to infuse youth in to the forward core sooner than later than both McMichael and Lapierre could have tremendous value

 

#27 Jacob Perrault – Anaheim Ducks

• Since the Ducks tend to draft amazingly I cannot help but expect Perrault to somehow end up as a 40-goal scorer, it is not fully impossibly. The Ducks need a big goal scorer and Perrault fits that mold

 

#30 Mavrik Bourque – Dallas Stars

• The Stars are already pretty old up front, and Benn seems to have fallen off of a cliff production-wise, so it could work out perfectly if Bourque can maneuver his way in to the 2C role behind Seguin as the Stars will need his production. I do not have the best faith in the Stars’ development system but Bourque should be able to overcome it

 

#34 John-Jason Peterka – Buffalo Sabres

• After picking Quinn far too high the Sabres made a great move grabbing a player that may end up being almost as good, or possibly (a slight possibility), better than Quinn for the team. He could easily wind up on the top six in a shooting role for the Sabres

 

#48 Jan Mysak – Montreal Canadiens

• The Habs really need more skill up front that can finish plays, it may take Mysak a while but he may step in to an opportunity to play along-side Suzuki or Kotkaniemi when those players are established stars, as long as Bergevin does not sign more wingers to long term contracts up front

 

#54 Emil Andrae – Philadelphia Flyers

• The Flyers are the perfect team for Andrae. He can play as long as he needs in Sweden and will not be asked to come in an be an immediate threat. He may not develop as early as hoped for fantasy squads but on the Flyers he will be afforded the time to really become an asset to your fantasy squad. The only worry is that when he makes it he may surpass your games played limit before he starts producing the numbers to make him a keeper

 

#85 Maxim Groshev – Tampa Bay Lightning

• The Lightning have had good success drafting Russian players and they have the perfect system that can let Groshev stay in Russia as long as he needs to see if he pans out

 

#100 Carter Savoie and  #126 Tyler Tullio – Edmonton Oilers

• Highly skilled players taken late int eh draft who could potentially play with McDavid or Draisaitl as their centres, pretty great spots. Let us all just hope the Oilers can develop these two players properly as they may take more time to make it, but the results could be worth it

 

#133 Anton Johannesson – Winnipeg Jets

• The Jets are thin on defense and really there are no saviors in the system. Johannesson likely will not become a savior but he could be a steady middle-pairing defenseman for the Jets who could produce better than expected stats for poolies

 

#211 Oskar Magnusson – Washington Capitals

• A long shot to make it as he was drafted in the seventh round, but he could not go to a team better that badly needs to take boom/bust offensively skilled forwards later in the draft. There should not be many prospects in the Capitals system that would jump ahead of Magnusson skill-wise

 

 

Worst

#2 Quinton Byfield – LA Kings

• Byfield is only on here for the simple fact that he plays centre and the Kings have Kopitar until 2024 and Carter until 2022 signed, not to mention Vilardi, Kempe, and Lizotte currently as centre. Add in to that Turcotte and Kupari in the system. Byfield should be the best of all centres listed, but what if Turcotte and Vilardi somehow cement themselves in to the 2C and 3C slot? Byfield may still need an extra season of development before stepping in to the NHL as well, giving other prospects a slight bump in opportunity. These are just worries though. Byfield should step in to the NHL right away, just do not expect big point totals to follow immediately

 

#5 Jake Sanderson – Ottawa Senators

• Sanderson is likely much better than I give him credit for, but in fantasy leagues he went to a team where he will need to battle Brannstrom and Chabot for PP ice time. That will not help his numbers in fantasy leagues

 

#8 Jack Quinn – Buffalo Sabres

• On one hand he could play with either Eichel or Cozens, but on the other hand the Sabres really should have drafted a better player available. The numbers may not reflect where he goes in a keeper draft. I do realize Eichel can make any player look amazing but will the opportunity be there for Quinn

 

Anyone drafted into Carolina’s system after Seth Jarvis at #13

• The simple fact that eventually it will get incredibly difficult to get ice (and powerplay) time, especially as Aho, Teravainen, and Svechnikov are already established on the top line and top powerplay, with Martin Necas moving on up before any other prospects get a chance. The Canes will have such a deep system, players may get lost in the shuffle or not produce well as they may only see limited ice time. There is a worry from me that there may be the dreaded “even splitting of ice time” for players on lines two to four, which really help none of them produce great fantasy numbers

 

#17 Lukas Reichel – Chicago Blackhawks

• A very good player but the Hawks are pretty deep up front, can he break in to a top six spot, or will he be stuck shuffling around lines two to four, like a few young Blackhawk forwards

 

#28 Ridly Greig – Ottawa Senators

• Multi-category-wise he should do great, but in straight points leagues he will disappoint. If more leagues phase out PIMs Greig may not even be drafted, as he could sit anywhere on lines two (fine production) to line four (zero production)

 

#31 Ozzy Wiesblatt – San Jose Sharks

• The Sharks will give him ice time but he will eventually need someone to play with and if he makes the Sharks any time soon it will be in a bottom six spot. Really the upside is not there for this player on this team

 

#44 Tyler Kleven – Ottawa Senators

• Well now it really seems like I am picking on the Senators, I swear I am not. My only problem with this selection is that the two players Toronto selected at #59 (Roni Hirvonen) and #64 (Topi Niemela) could be far superior picks. The Senators should have kept the picks rather than drafting the type of player that is available later in every draft

 

#60 Will Cuylle – New York Rangers

• Might make a role in the NHL as a grinder but Lias Andersson should be a superior player in every facet of the game. It will make his play look worse than it will be

 

#66 Kasper Simontaiva – LA Kings

• The Kings are going to be a deep team very soon, will someone like Simontaiva even get a legit shot to produce in the NHL or will he be given minimal ice time on a deep team. A team that could have room for this type of skilled player would be a much better fit

 

#123 Antonia Stranges – Dallas Stars

• The Stars have really underwhelmed me with the system they have to produce NHL players. These types of players tend to “bust” more than “boom” on the Stars, so I have little faith a player like Stranges can make the NHL and be fantasy relevant on the Stars

 

#137 Dmitri Ovchinnikov – Toronto Maple Leafs

• A highly-skilled but inconsistent player. My worry is that so many other talented prospects may leap-frog Ovchinnikov that there may be no room for him to even step in to the NHL

 

 

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Thanks for reading. Follow my twitter where you can disagree with me there: @FHPQuinn