Going to keep going with criminally underrated Klimchuk until he is gone. Only Granlund is closer to the NHL but I believe Klimchuk has a much better chance of having a 500+ game career than Granlund. Their ceilings are roughly similar but something about Morgan screams future Flame to me. He may end up being the perfect #7 forward on a contending team in my view.
Hickey will be next for me as he looks to have solid combination of ceiling/chance of reaching it. We could have an embarrassment of riches on the backend in a couple of years if Hickey, Kylington and Andersson can become top 4 dmen.
My list right now is:
1) Klimchuk
2) Hickey
3) Granlund-Struggled with where to put him. Personally I think he's trade bait. Good chance of being an NHLer, but likely a depth player.
4) Jankowski-I'm not nearly as hard on this kid as some, actually I'm excited for him. He could be the perfect center for Klimchuk and Frolik in 2-3 years. I think he will make the NHL in some capacity and play a long time. Could be a 4th liner or even a 2nd. Just a victim of managerial boobery, can't hold that against him, even if he's not Nieuwendyk or Otto.
5) Kylington-Highest ceiling of all our prospects IMO... but will he even play in the NHL? Lots of things to fix if he ever wants to gain a coach's trust at the pro level, though he has time.
6) Andersson-Very intriguing player, I struggled where to rank him too. I wanted to put him under Hickey originally.
7) Wotherspoon-This guy mystifies me. On paper and scouting reports it seems like he should be about ready to play but I just don't see it in him yet. I want to say he has a really high chance of sticking as a 6/7, but is that really anything to get excited about? Don't know how high his potential really is, I think 4/5 is looooong shot.
8) Arnold-He will play on this team at some point, probably in a depth role. His best chance to stick might be converting to RW. Simple player, but I like him.
After that, it's like throwing darts at a board IMO
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