Prospects who made it/dissapointments

[Swayze11]

I think this thread comes up at the beginning of each season and it is always nice to see what GMs expected out of their players.

Who are your surprise cuts and who made their team and you were not expecting?

Surprise cuts:
Kaspari Kapanen - Not enough ice for him with the amount of forwards Toronto has. Similar situation to Janko here.
Miro Aaltonen - Same situation as Kapanen above. I really thought he would make the team.
Oskar Lindblom - I was expecting him to be my hidden gem and not only make the Flyers but play in a top 6 role. After coming over from Sweden where he won MVP in the SHL I thought his transition would be a lot smoother.

Surprised they made it:
Alex Formenton - I drafted him late in the 2nd round of this years draft and viewed him as a long term project. I was pretty surprised he made the Sens although they do have a lot of injuries so I could easily see them sending him back.
Tage Thompson - I knew he had a good chance of making the Blues but I did not expect him to make it in his first full pro season.
Mackenzie Weegar - Didn't see him making it at all.

[MJK]

Who Made the Show:
Martin Necas
Chris Bigras

Notable Cuts:
Michael Dal Colle
Roland McKeon
Duncan Seimens
Rasmus Andersson

[savardandjokinen]

Guys who made it
Anton Forsberg: beat out JF Berube for Blackhawks backup job, should be the Oilers backup next season.
Andrei Mironov: Got him for free, made Avs d corps out of Russia
Jesper Bratt: 6th round pick in 2016, randomly signed him in free agency this year and he went on to dominate Devils camp and make the team. Call me a genius if you like
Jake DeBrusk: Wasn't surprised he made it, but looks like he's going to be on the Bruins 2nd line.

Lots of guys who were on the bubble who didn't make it who should play a game or two this season: Mario Kempe, Michael Mersch, Colby Cave, Teddy Blueger, Adam Tambellini, Andreas Johnson, Frank Corrado and Brenden Kichton. Expected Kempe to make it and the other guys are somewhat on the bubble who were last cuts. They aren't top prospects but they have bottom line potential.

[flambers]

Guys who are on the Coyotes AHL/ECHL team

Players on the opening day roster
Oscar Sundqvist
Chris Wagner
Iiro Pakarinen
Jamie Oleksiak
Laurent Brossoit
Christian Fischer

Players who were cut that are bubble players
Ryan Sproul
Markus Sorensen


Players on the IR who are bubble players
Tyler Bertuzzi
Zach Sanford

[MJK]

Originally Posted by flambers

Guys who are on the Coyotes AHL/ECHL team

Players on the opening day roster

Jamie Oleksiak

Getting pretty loose with the term 'prospect"!

[flambers]

Originally Posted by MJK

Getting pretty loose with the term 'prospect"!

Yep, Wagner is also a stretch to be called a prospect...

[Tilley]

Blackhawks considered players 23 or younger:

On the opening day roster:
Ivan Barbashev - likely would have made the roster, but numerous injuries to Blues lineup cemented his spot
Frank Vatrano - wasn't great this preseason and could end up in the AHL if he doesn't pick it up
Ondrej Kase - hoping to move from a top 9 to top 6 role
Brendan Leipsic - needs to show what he can do with the Knights as he couldn't crack the Leafs last year
Barclay Goodrow - Strong pre-season looking to cement himself into the top 9
Andreas Borgman - Stuck with the Leafs on the bottom pairing, may not be in TO long if he struggles
Tucker Poolman - Surprise to the final Jets roster, looked good, let's see when the real bullets fly
Filip Chytil - Biggest surprise of all rookies will be centering 2nd line. He may only get 9 games, but looked amazing in the pre-season

Didn't make the cut:
Zach Aston-Reese - sent down, but all reports are he will be up at some point this season
Ryan Donato - rookie needs time in the AHL
Mikahil Vorobyov - another rookie in the AHL
Petr Cehlarik - likely up and down between NHL and AHL this year
Mark Friedman - AHL rookie with the Flyers
Josh Jacobs - One more year in the AHL
Blake Siebenaler - One year to see if he has NHL chops
Spencer Martin - Starter for the AHL Avs. Probably a better lineup than in Colorado anyway
Alexandre Carrier - Should be an early call up to a stacked Nashville defense if injuries occur. Got in 2 NHL games last year.

On the IR:
Colin White - likely makes the Senators, we'll see when he returns to the lineup