Scott Wheeler's Prospect Pool Rankings 2025

[devo22]

I always like these. He'll rank the prospect pools of all 32 teams and also rank the top 15 prospects of each team. Obviously one could argue about the specific methodology, but I find his insights to be pretty balanced and valuable. This is how he does it:

You’ll find an emphasis on upside in my rankings. These rankings are not based on proximity to the NHL. A player with top-of-the-lineup potential may rank higher than a player with NHL experience who projects lower, even sometimes in cases where the former is less likely to reach his ceiling than the latter. Teams that have consistently prioritized upside and offence instead of playing it safe will tend to grade higher overall. I believe that approach should be the priority of modern scouting and that, over time, teams that draft and develop for ceiling instead of floor will distinguish themselves in a hard-cap league built on parity. The league’s most precious resource is homegrown talent capable of making more than a marginal impact while cost-controlled, particularly when depth pieces are so readily available through trades and free agency. My rankings should reflect that.

Skaters: To be considered a prospect, a skater must be under 23 years old and not established as a full-time NHL player with their club. The latter qualifier is the arbitrary section of the criteria. There, I trust my judgment for whether or not a rostered NHL player could still play games outside the NHL more than I trust any predetermined games-played cutoff. Preference for inclusion as an NHL prospect is more likely to be given to teenagers than 22-year-olds.

Goalies: To be considered a prospect, a goalie must be under 25 years old and not currently established as one of their NHL club’s two go-to options. This age criteria is more reflective of the typical goalie trajectory, allowing for the continued consideration of a small number of 23- and 24-year-old goalies.

Last year, he had the Flames at 15 (compared to 20 in 2023), so curious where they come in this time ... especially since four of his top six from last year will probably no longer be on the list. Here's how he had them a year ago (tiers were 1-4, 5-9, 10-15):

1 Matt Coronato, RW
2 Connor Zary, C/LW
3 Samuel Honzek, C/LW
4 Dustin Wolf, G
5 Hunter Brzustewicz, RHD
6 Jakob Pelletier, LW
7 Jeremie Poirier, LHD
8 Etienne Morin, LHD
9 Aydar Suniev, LW
10 Arsenii Sergeev, G
11 Jaden Lipinski, C
12 Rory Kerins, C
13 Cole Schwindt, RW
14 Joni Jurmo, LHD
15 William Stromgren, LW

HM Yegor Yegorov, G
HM Lucas Ciona, LW
HM Parker Bell, LW

-----

17 New Jersey (LINK)
18 Philadelphia (LINK)
19 NY Rangers (LINK)
20 Pittsburgh (LINK)
21 Vancouver (LINK)
22 Vegas (LINK)
23 Colorado (LINK)
24 Tampa Bay (LINK)
25 NY Islanders (LINK)
26 Los Angeles (LINK)
27 Ottawa (LINK)
28 Toronto (LINK)
29 Edmonton (LINK)
30 Boston (LINK)
31 Dallas (LINK)
32 Florida (LINK)

[Samonadreau]

edit nm

[Jiri Hrdina]

Another 3rd party validating that Edmonton is No Good.

[YyjFlames]

I like his work quite a bit too. There's a good chance Calgary moves into his top 10, as Scott had Parekh as the fifth best prospect going into last year's draft, Mews and Basha both as first rounders, Misa and Gridin second rounders and Battaglia as a solid 3rd rounder.

Pretty stellar draft from his perspective as well.

Calgary will take a few big hits if Wheeler considers that Wolf, Zary and Coronato -- last year's big three -- all have made the jump. I think he'll still consider Coronato a prospect, but Zary and Wolf at least will be gone.

[calumniate]

Big surprise Treliving cupboards bare

[Enoch Root]

So Coronato, Zary, Wolf, Pelletier and Schwindt are out.

In: Parekh, Gridin, Basha, Mews, Misa. And Battaglia might squeeze someone else out as well.

If we were 15 last year, I'll go with #12

[VilleN]

I think we'll be higher - I'm going to go with #8.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by calumniate

Big surprise Treliving cupboards bare

Has he traded away picks and prospects since he got there? I really haven't been paying attention.

At a minimum this ranking suggest he has done little to build their prospect pool. That doesn't really appear to be his thing.

[Bonded]

Did Wheeler like Parekh? If he did then I am guessing 5-8, if he didn't then 10-15

[Strange Brew]

Coronato, Zary and especially Wolf are some big moves out of the prospect pool. Although all three may be outperforming their projection in the NHL thus far maybe not a huge impact on the year over year rating.

[YyjFlames]

He may leave Coronato and maybe Pelletier on the list, as he had Zary on it last year who was about as established as Coronato is this year.

They'll probably be around 10-12 this year, as a lot of the clubs above Calgary did okay at the draft.

[devo22]

Skimming the pools he has already released, pretty crazy that Tyler Boucher (10th overall 2021) doesn't even make Ottawas top 15 anymore. Not surprising at this point, as he's struggling in the AHL (3 goals and 5 points in 28 games), but woof, what a way to blow a top 10 pick ...

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by devo22

Skimming the pools he has already released, pretty crazy that Tyler Boucher (10th overall 2021) doesn't even make Ottawas top 15 anymore. Not surprising at this point, as he's struggling in the AHL (3 goals and 5 points in 28 games), but woof, what a way to blow a top 10 pick ...

That was a bad pick from day 1. Everyone knew it was bad at the time. What the heck were the Sens even thinking?

[YyjFlames]

Pronman just released his top skaters/prospects under 23 today as well. He tends to be lower on the Flames prospects than Wheeler.

He's got Parekh at 37, Honzek at 74 and Coronato all the way down at 118. He had Coronato at 55 last year... so really, I'm not sure he really has as good a handle on players as Wheeler, and more just slots guys in. His stuff is still interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/603...under-23-2025/

[Paulie Walnuts]

Prospects and full time NHL players should be separated. It is 2 completely different things.

Stutzle is in his 5th season. He is in a list with prospects? lol

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

Pronman just released his top skaters/prospects under 23 today as well. He tends to be lower on the Flames prospects than Wheeler.

He's got Parekh at 37, Honzek at 74 and Coronato all the way down at 118. He had Coronato at 55 last year... so really, I'm not sure he really has as good a handle on players as Wheeler, and more just slots guys in. His stuff is still interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/603...under-23-2025/

I know Habs fans are melting down about where he placed Hutson at 39. He's also never been a big fan of Parekh hence the lowish ranking. It's just one man's opinion so I don't get too excited.

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

That was a bad pick from day 1. Everyone knew it was bad at the time. What the heck were the Sens even thinking?

Yeah. I could be remembering incorrectly but I think most lists had him as a late 2nd round pick or even into the 3rd round.

Either way, it was a big reach and there are multiple players taken after him that are looking much better early in their careers.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I know Habs fans are melting down about where he placed Hutson at 39. He's also never been a big fan of Parekh hence the lowish ranking. It's just one man's opinion so I don't get too excited.

Yeah, I don't tend to get bothered about his rankings but I do appreciate Wheeler's perspective more as he seems to have a better handle on prospects than Pronman and stronger arguments to back his position up (the Coronato ranking is a good example of this, as there's no good rationale for dropping him down 60 spots after the year he's had).

In Pronman's defence, under 23 year old prospects in the 15-40 ranger are pretty interchangeable so I don't get why fans would get too worked up over Hutson or Parekh who are in that grouping.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Prospects and full time NHL players should be separated. It is 2 completely different things.

Stutzle is in his 5th season. He is in a list with prospects? lol

To be fair, it’s not prospects he’s evaluating, it’s players under the age of 23.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Another 3rd party validating that Edmonton is No Good.

frankly I leave myself wondering how bad can these prospect pools be to be below Edmonton?