THN - Future Watch 2014

[josef]

Top 10:
1.Drouin
2. Gibson
3. Teravainen
4. Forsberg
5. Strome
6. Kuznetsov
7. Ristolainen
8. Zadarov
9. Wennberg
10. Mantha

Flames:
29. Johnny Gaudreau
35. Sven Baertschi
48. Emilie Poirier

Ranking: 23 - C+

Flames Top Ten:
1. Gaudreau
2. Baertschi
3. Poirier
4. Gillies
5. Klimchuk
6. Ortio
7. Jankowski
8. Granlund
9. Reinhart
10. Arnold

Draft Ranking 2014:
1. Draisaitl
2. Ekblad
3. Bennett
4. Reinhart
5. Dal Colle
6. Nylander
7. Perlini
8. Kapanen
9. Fleury
10. Ritchie

[ComixZone]

While things are getting better, we still have a long long road ahead.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

While things are getting better, we still have a long long road ahead.

no question, but THN is by far the outlier on evaluating the Flames prospects.

Calling Gaudreau 29th individually (he is #1 in NHLE by a very large margin) and calling the Flames 23rd overall is, frankly, a joke.

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

no question, but THN is by far the outlier on evaluating the Flames prospects.

Calling Gaudreau 29th individually (he is #1 in NHLE by a very large margin) and calling the Flames 23rd overall is, frankly, a joke.

Especially considering the Flames were ranked among the top 10 for prospects after the draft by TSN, SN, and various other outlets. THN is the definition of eastern bias. And that's saying something when TSN is in the conversation.

[Bourque's Twin]

Tervainen is 3rd??

The Flames are 23rd??

Both of those rankings ruined all credibility.

[kyuss275]

Rankings would be different if they added rookies playing right out of the draft. I don't care what THN considers prospects. To me Monahan is still a future prospect.

[Da_Chief]

How can you have 3 prospects in the top 50 and have depth behind them and be only 23rd overall. The top 22 must have some helluva list.

[Erick Estrada]

I have the issue and it's a little puzzling how they grade teams. The Oilers are 11th despite only having only one prospect in the top 50, Brossoit as their 4th best prospect and a bunch of nobodys after that won't likely get a sniff in the NHL. Flames have 3 players in their top 50 as well as guys like Granlund/Jankowski in their top 10 that would be in the Oilers top 5 and are 23rd. Makes no sense as some of the top teams in their grading have zero blue chippers.

[Ashasx]

Holy overrating Forsberg, Zadarov, and Wennberg, Batman!

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Holy overrating Forsberg, Zadarov, and Wennberg, Batman!

I was actually hoping that the Flames could have somehow snagged Wennberg with their 2nd pick last year. He's a very good prospect. I agree on Forseberg and Zadarov.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I was actually hoping that the Flames could have somehow snagged Wennberg with their 2nd pick last year. He's a very good prospect. I agree on Forseberg and Zadarov.

He's not top 10 NHL prospect good.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

He's not top 10 NHL prospect good.

In your opinion maybe. I don't think any of us can say what is or is not a top 10 NHL prospect. My beef was how they graded the teams considering some of the top ranked teams had a lot of middling prospects and having lots in the top 50 seemed to have little value in the overall team rankings.

[albertGQ]

Guys. If you read the actual issue (which I'm assuming most didn't). They base the team rankings on prospects & full time NHLers that are 23 years old or younger (I think 23 is the cutoff but not 100% sure). This is how they've always done the team rankings.

That's why you see puzzling rankings like the Oilers 11th with only one prospect in the top 50.

[Tinordi]

Teravainen is going to play for Chicago starting this week I believe. Salary cap permitting of course.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Guys. If you read the actual issue (which I'm assuming most didn't). They base the team rankings on prospects & full time NHLers that are 23 years old or younger (I think 23 is the cutoff but not 100% sure). This is how they've always done the team rankings.

That's why you see puzzling rankings like the Oilers 11th with only one prospect in the top 50.

I read that but I don't see all these top 23 year old younger players on the Ducks roster or their prospect base to put them at #1. How do you not place the Avalanche at #1 if you look at 23 year old and under talent?

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I have the issue and it's a little puzzling how they grade teams. The Oilers are 11th despite only having only one prospect in the top 50, Brossoit as their 4th best prospect and a bunch of nobodys after that won't likely get a sniff in the NHL. Flames have 3 players in their top 50 as well as guys like Granlund/Jankowski in their top 10 that would be in the Oilers top 5 and are 23rd. Makes no sense as some of the top teams in their grading have zero blue chippers.

Yeah the Canes are up there too without a single guy in the top 50.

I've re-read the explanation for the rankings and it still isn't clear but I gather it is less a prospect ranking and more a mathematical scoring of how each team has done relative to its recent draft positions.

But yes it is confusing.

THN continues to put out a terrible product - I only by the year book, draft guide and future watch - and I'm not really sure why I do that anymore even.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

no question, but THN is by far the outlier on evaluating the Flames prospects.

Calling Gaudreau 29th individually (he is #1 in NHLE by a very large margin) and calling the Flames 23rd overall is, frankly, a joke.

Could not agree more.

I think the Flames have pushed themselves into the 10-15 range for prospect pools over their last 3 drafts. This isn't Sutter's bottom of the bucket prospect system anymore. So what's with the major hate on for Flames prospects? Any reputable source in the Boston area with a head attached to his shoulders would have Johnny Hockey top 3 on that list.

[CaptainCrunch]

I usually keep the future watch editions, this years went out with the recycling their team rankings and individual rankings were pretty poor.

[kehatch]

THN doesn't rank the prospects. They query scouts from NHL teams to get a numerical rating. Just because it doesn't say what Calgary fan's want it to say doesn't make it garbage. It is a heck of a lot more credible than a site like HF that has a bunch of non-hockey people arbitrarily assign scoring for their designated teams.

[madmike]

In my opinion the Flames are a bit short on high ceiling blue chip prospects.

As far as good, solid NHL prospects though I'm not sure there's a deeper org in the league.

Brossoit was 3rd on the Oilers list for example. He wouldn't even crack the Flames top 10.