Scott Wheeler's Prospect Pool Rankings 2026

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Major Major

How is Howard a tier 1? Curious how that is defined. His numbers look exactly like Pelletier's in D+4 and I don't think anyone on earth thought he was a tier 1 at the time plus he had another dimension to his game and also wasn't a jagoff. Feels like charity calling this guy tier 1.

I think someone else speculated (and it seems to be correct) that the tiers are relative to the rest of the system, not the rest of the league. That is, every team's best prospects are their first tier. Relative to the Oilers' system, Howard is in a tier of his own, so he's tier 1, the next one down is tier 2.

I mean, look at Florida's list. There's no way a system with 10 league-wide tier 1 prospects would be dead last.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Major Major

How is Howard a tier 1? Curious how that is defined. His numbers look exactly like Pelletier's in D+4 and I don't think anyone on earth thought he was a tier 1 at the time plus he had another dimension to his game and also wasn't a jagoff. Feels like charity calling this guy tier 1.

As DJones mentioned those are just tiers within the system, to create some separation between the prospect levels.

I added the tiers to the original list for each team, so if you scroll up you'll see that Florida has a 7th rounder leading the way, with a bunch of late picks for a total of 10 players in tier 1.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

What tier would Howard be on the Flames list? 4 or 5?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

What tier would Howard be on the Flames list? 4 or 5?

The no good tier.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

What tier would Howard be on the Flames list? 4 or 5?

Howard isn't a bad prospect. He's over a PPG in the AHL, so he's at least a replacement level NHLer.

I would probably put him in tier 2. Below the likes of Reschny, Wyttenbach, Parekh, and Gridin. In the same tier as Potter, Basha, Othmann, Honzek, Kerins, etc. Maybe you could make an argument about tier 3 if Potter gets tier 2 all to himself.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Howard isn't a bad prospect. He's over a PPG in the AHL, so he's at least a replacement level NHLer.

I would probably put him in tier 2. Below the likes of Reschny, Wyttenbach, Parekh, and Gridin. In the same tier as Potter, Basha, Othmann, Honzek, Kerins, etc. Maybe you could make an argument about tier 3 if Potter gets tier 2 all to himself.

There is no way Honzek and Othmann are on the same tier. Honzek is younger and significantly better.

Othmann tiers with Stromgren IMO. A clear step below Honzek if not two. Othmann's only played NHL games because the Rangers habitually rush players.

[Enoch Root]

Yeah, on the vote list, he probably slips in after Honzek - so about 8th or so, depending on who has graduated.

[Enoch Root]

My tiers...

1) Parekh
2) Gridin, Reschny, Wyttenbach
3) Potter, Brzustewicz, Honzek, Kuznetsov
4) Suniev, Basha, Castagna, Stockselius, Curran, Mews, Phillips, Wiebe
5) Othmann, Stromgren, Grushnikov, Morin, King

(the only separation between 4 and 5 being age)

I expect our 1st will join Parekh, and the VGS 1st joins tier 2

[Enoch Root]

Howard is either a weak 3 or a strong 4 on those tiers

[YyjFlames]

Wheeler does a top 100 drafted prospects once he finishes ranking the systems. He'll formally tier the prospects against each other at that point.

As he mentions in the article, he's always been higher on Howard than others. But even then, I suspect he'll drop him this year and may not even rank him with all the other prospects entering the system and some guys taking bigger steps forward.

Last year he had Howard ranked in tier 5 at 55 overall (which was in front of Gridin at 73 and Honzek at 74):

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/610...kings-top-100/

[Bingo]

I wish he would have established league wide tiers and then just show the placement within each system.

Maybe Howard is tier 2 league wide ... maybe 3

[DomeFoam]

I think Potter is being underrated here and would put him in tier 2. He has elite elite skating and handling, over a PPG on a very bad ASU team in the NCHC as an 18 year old.

Wheeler himself said Potters the best skating forward in last years class by a margin.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I wish he would have established league wide tiers and then just show the placement within each system.

Maybe Howard is tier 2 league wide ... maybe 3

Yeah it's a really weird way to do this and confusing as hell.

Provides no insight into the strength of the pipeline when the tiers are different team to team.

Really weird.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

My tiers...

1) Parekh
2) Gridin, Reschny, Wyttenbach
3) Potter, Brzustewicz, Honzek, Kuznetsov
4) Suniev, Basha, Castagna, Stockselius, Curran, Mews, Phillips, Wiebe
5) Othmann, Stromgren, Grushnikov, Morin, King

(the only separation between 4 and 5 being age)

I expect our 1st will join Parekh, and the VGS 1st joins tier 2

I like it. The only change I'd make would be Potter in Tier 2. I'd personally maybe even slide him into Tier 1... I feel he's extremely underrated. The combination of speed and skill is hard to teach, his skating is elite.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by DomeFoam

I think Potter is being underrated here and would put him in tier 2. He has elite elite skating and handling, over a PPG on a very bad ASU team in the NCHC as an 18 year old.

Wheeler himself said Potters the best skating forward in last years class by a margin.

This summer is shaping up to be the most fun CP prospect vote of all time.

2013 and 2014 were great with high end guys at the top (Monahan and Gaudreau then Bennett and Gaudreau) but the depth just wasn't there.

How many guys past 10th will we be excited about?

Last year I had it at about 6 (16) ... this year could be into the 20s with intrigue.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Yeah it's a really weird way to do this and confusing as hell.

Provides no insight into the strength of the pipeline when the tiers are different team to team.

Really weird.

It provides plenty of insight as he's giving a micro tiering within each system that can be compared to his top 100 rankings.

When he's done each system, he'll tier the top 100 players against each other. If Howard isn't on that list, you can assume all of the Oilers players are tier 7-and 8 (which gives a lot less value than tiering players within their system against each other).

[Rhett44]

Gridin is in tier 1 for me. I think he has the potential to be a 1st line winger.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon

There is no way Honzek and Othmann are on the same tier. Honzek is younger and significantly better.

Othmann tiers with Stromgren IMO. A clear step below Honzek if not two. Othmann's only played NHL games because the Rangers habitually rush players.

Don't get me wrong, I don't love pumping the tiers of any Oilers or Oiler prospects. That said, I would've been pretty happy if any Flames prospect was over a PPG in the AHL in his first season in the league.

Yes, Howard is older, but he still has a 2nd line ceiling. Prospects like Othmann and Honzek have a more clear path.

As far as Othmann vs Honzek, I think that Honzek's injuries play a role, despite Honzek looking better at the NHL level this year.
This year in the NHL:
Othmann 17GP, 0G, 1P, 09:52 TOI
Honzek 18GP, 2G, 4P, 12:21 TOI

Last year Othmann was 67th in Wheeler's rankings, while Honzek was 74th.
Last year in the AHL:
Othmann 26GP, 8G, 16P
Honzek 52GP, 8G, 21P

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

The no good tier.

They're clearly sh1ttier.

[TheScorpion]

Honestly surprised we haven't gotten to the Leafs yet.