Calgarypuck Prospect Ranking 2021 - Round 1

[VilleN]

Went with Coronato. Really like his goal scoring ability and what the scouts are saying. Also, can we have a side poll on how posters think you spell Coronato? I’ve seen: Coronoto, Corronato and Coronota.

[Great Save Tanev]

Big bad WOLF

[Heavy Jack]

Coronato for me but Pelletier is what I’d call the #1 prospect the flames have that could make an impact this coming season at the NHL level.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by VilleN

Went with Coronato. Really like his goal scoring ability and what the scouts are saying. Also, can we have a side poll on how posters think you spell Coronato? I’ve seen: Coronoto, Corronato and Coronota.

Think about buying him a beer. I'd like to give a Corona to Matt = Matt Coronato

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by VilleN

Went with Coronato. Really like his goal scoring ability and what the scouts are saying. Also, can we have a side poll on how posters think you spell Coronato? I’ve seen: Coronoto, Corronato and Coronota.

I mean people are STILL spelling Monahan, Tkachuk and Hanifin wrong, we will see Coronato misspelled forever as well.

Went with Corronatto, hard to ignore almost a goal a game.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Coronato for me but Pelletier is what I’d call the #1 prospect the flames have that could make an impact this coming season at the NHL level.

Wouldn't that likely be Vlader? Barring another move, he's going to be the backup and even with Darryl's inclination to ride the starter, he should get 20ish starts. That's bound to have some impact on the season, either good or bad.

[agulati]

Went with Zary, but any of Coronato, Pelletier or Zary would be good picks

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Wouldn't shock me in the slightest if spots 2,3 and 4 all go the same way as last year. Don't think anyone can touch Wolf at 4.

I thought the same, but then I questioned if Vlader has actually proven more at a higher level than him??? Wolf has the hype of a homegrown talent, but Vlader should be close with him if we are basing it off of performance.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by getbak

Think about buying him a beer. I'd like to give a Corona to Matt = Matt Coronato

Best CP tutorial so far!

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by agulati

Went with Zary, but any of Coronato, Pelletier or Zary would be good picks

Yep. I see them as 1a, b and c.

[Timbo]

Oh look a shiny new thing, me likey! Obviously I picked Coronato, and Lanny's got me pegged for sure. I am like a crow collecting bright objects and stashing them in my nest.

[Nelson]

I picked Coronato because of 48 goals and 85 points in 51 games. Also, someone on here posted a scouting video about Coronato with a lot of very impressive numbers about Coronato’s play all over the ice. But Zary would be a very close second and really could’ve been number one for me. He had 86 points in 57 games in his draft year, made a very deep Team Canada and had a successful AHL stint. It’s a toss up between Coronato and Zary for me, and I’ll be voting for Zary next.

Here’s the scouting video about Coronato: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ENEDl7o7f0I. Credit to whoever posted this originally.

[BarDown]

Went with Zary, but agree with him, Pelletier and Crononato all being solid choices for #1.

Would be interesting to see where Zary would have gone in this year's draft if this was his eligible year. Have to think it would be much higher than #24OA.

[Enoch Root]

Agree that the 3 of them are essentially equivalent. Each with their own, unique set of skills of course, but their values are all pretty similar.

On another note, it is pretty amazing how much deeper the pool is from just a year ago. Having 4 or 5 goalies to be excited about is something I don't ever recall being the case for Flames fans.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by BarDown

Went with Zary, but agree with him, Pelletier and Crononato all being solid choices for #1.

Would be interesting to see where Zary would have gone in this year's draft if this was his eligible year. Have to think it would be much higher than #24OA.

Yes. I didn’t mention Pelletier in my post, but I also love Pelletier, and I really should’ve mentioned him. All three of Coronato, Zary and Pelletier were very solid picks in my mind.

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by Rick M.

Yep. I see them as 1a, b and c.

I would also ad the goalies in this as well.
Ahl goalie of the year and all wolf seems to do is win.

[SeanCharles]

Curious about the Heineman and Poirier votes…

I can almost understand Poirier but Heineman is especially shocking.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by BarDown

Went with Zary, but agree with him, Pelletier and Crononato all being solid choices for #1.

Would be interesting to see where Zary would have gone in this year's draft if this was his eligible year. Have to think it would be much higher than #24OA.

Why? He was an also was there at the WJC, which isn't bad but so were a lot of pick 1-23. He played 7 AHL games ... so did a lot of guys just drafted.

It would be hard to climb or fall given the limited sample/ opportunity all the players had in 2020-21.

There would be little support that he would have climbed into the top-12 (10 thru 12)
Askarov, Perfetti , Lundell

There was Justin Barron a big D man drafted #25 who went 31 pts in 34 games in Halifax and then 4 pts in 7 AHL games

#26 Jake Neighbours 33 pts in 19 games with the Oil Kings and +29 likely didn't hurt his draft appeal

#27 Jacob Perreault 17 pts in 24 AHL games.

[united]

Considered
Connor Zary
Matt Coronato

The Flames' two best prospects by a significant margin and you can't go wrong voting for either - these two are on a ledge by themselves. I am very pleased to have these two players in the system as I had each of them in my pre-draft top 10 in their respective drafts.

My prospect model, which adjusts for age, height, position, goals-per-game, assists-per-game, handedness, PIMs, and ice time in professional leagues, has Coronato ahead of Zary at 54 pre-UFA points-per-82 to 47 (meaning is projects ppg of players from their first NHL game to UFA - or expected value while under team control). That said, this one was a toss-up for me but ultimately went with Zary due to centre being his natural position, the old eye test, and his game transferring to pro without issue albeit in a small sample: the major junior to AHL jump is the largest year-over-year increase in quality of competition most prospects go through.

One thing to keep in mind through this voting process is strength of draft relative to picked position. Zary and Coronato conveniently provide a good illustration. On the surface, Coronato at 12th overall appears to be a much better prospect than Zary at 24th. However, with the added context that the 2020 draft is, on paper, projected to be the best or second best draft of the decade while the 2021 draft is projected to be the worst or second worst, and you get two prospects who are similar in potential despite the draft position disparity. Reverse years and they are likely picked in similar positions.

Connor Zary
A solid two-way centre leaning a bit more to the offence side of the equation. Uses his low centre of gravity to his advantage and is capable playing up the middle and in traffic. Very good attention to detail and his ability to process the game is his strength. Neither shot or skating will blow anyone away but I have no doubt his skating will rapidly improve and I love the Flames are targeting players needing that area improved. Just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a Daymond Langkow mold: to the average fan he seems boring or even underwhelming, but he does all the little things right that lead to his line's success and a lengthy career for himself.

Ceiling: #1 centre
Probable: 2A centre (Style: Daymond Langkow)
Floor: 4th-line journeyman

Matt Coronato
Exploded into the picture this year putting up a season for the ages. Took full advantage of increased powerplay usage but with expected organic progression at even strength as well, plus increased responsibility down a man. As yet another product of rising star, and new Maple Leafs' hire, Ryan Hardy's Chicago Steel, you have to be optimistic about the foundation that has been put in place for Coronato. Having multiple NHL-caliber development professionals at the USHL level will pay dividends for him and all his drafted teammates. Some will see 5'10 and think undersized, but make no mistake: Coronato goes hard to the tough areas, not dissimilar to fellow 5'10 Flames player Andrew Mangiapane. Already boasting an NHL shot he is able get unleash from varying release points, really the only knock, if that, is his skating can be improved. I have no doubt it will. Very exciting prospect. Gets a very slight knock due the Harvard/college UFA situation - let's see. Probably sticks at wing as he levels up but played quite a bit of C this season as well.

Ceiling: 1st-line winger
Probable: 1B/2A winger (Style: Jonathan Marchessault)
Floor: 4th-line journeyman

[united]

Here is how the two public prospect models see the players. While the good news is both models rate each player higher than public perception, the great news is JFresh/TopDownHockey absolutely loves Coronato.

Please note that the criteria each model uses for star and NHLer is different! JFresh/TopDownHockey will almost always be lower than Bader's as their thresholds are a much higher standard so adjust accordingly.

Hockey Prospecting
Calgary's own, and fellow Flames fan, Byron Bader runs the excellent site, Hockey Prospecting. You have likely seen his graphics before. At just $25/year his site is a wonderful resource for any fan interested in prospects. You can register here and support Bader's work if you are interested: https://hockeyprospecting.com/register/

Spoiler!

JFresh/TopDownHockey
JFresh and his partner TopDownHockey introduced their NHLe model this year. You will be familiar with the NHL player graphics they produce regularly. At $7/month the subscription is a no-brainer for any hockey fan. You can register here and support their work if you are interested: https://www.patreon.com/jfreshhockey

Spoiler!