FanRagSports Top 25 Under 25

[Enoch Root]

I am shocked that they have Werenski as the top Dman.

I would have Ekblad, Hamilton, Lindholm and Ristolainen all ahead of him.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Bingo

4. Patrik Laine
5. Leon Draisaitl
6. Matt Murray
7. Filip Forsberg
8. Mark Scheifele
9. Jack Eichel.
10. Zach Werenski
11. Johnny Gaudreau
12. Nathan McKinnon
13. David Pastrnak
14. Mitch Marner
15. Aaron Ekblad
16. Aleksander Barkov
17. Dougie Hamilton
18. Seth Jones
19. Sean Monahan
20. Nikolaj Ehlers
21. William Nylander
22. Jacob Slavin
23. Brandon Saad
24. Jonathon Drouin
25. Max Domi

Gaudreau, Hamilton, Monahan... and I think I would Tkachuk over Domi. I think he'd be on this list at the end of next year if he had (at least) another season like last.

All-in-all, that's not too shabby.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

No Lindholm? No Ristolainen? What is Domi doing anywhere near this list? Why is Draisaitl ahead of Eichel?

Many things do not make sense about this list.

[VilleN]

Maybe I'm a homer, but it really seems as though the media is trying to make Draisaitl into something he's not (yet, anyways). They are trying to recreate Crosby-Malkin with McDavid-Draisaitl... How can Drai be ranked higher than Gaudreau at this point? Let alone Scheifele and Eichel. He hasn't really proven anything, one good season and there are questions about how much he benefited from McDavid... seems premature to me.

[Gaudfather]

Originally Posted by VilleN

Maybe I'm a homer, but it really seems as though the media is trying to make Draisaitl into something he's not (yet, anyways). They are trying to recreate Crosby-Malkin with McDavid-Draisaitl... How can Drai be ranked higher than Gaudreau at this point? Let alone Scheifele and Eichel. He hasn't really proven anything, one good season and there are questions about how much he benefited from McDavid... seems premature to me.

It was also premature for Chia to lock him up like a bonafide superstar, but he did and now he's praying that he's right.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Gaudfather

It was also premature for Chia to lock him up like a bonafide superstar, but he did and now he's praying that he's right.

This is it in a nutshell. The problem for the Oilers is that there is almost no upside as they have paid a full premium for the upside.

[Charsiu]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

No Lindholm? No Ristolainen? What is Domi doing anywhere near this list? Why is Draisaitl ahead of Eichel?

Many things do not make sense about this list.

It seems to me that Ristolainen is one of the more underrated players in the league. There are a few players on this list whom I'd slot behind him.

[Love]

Originally Posted by Charsiu

It seems to me that Ristolainen is one of the more underrated players in the league. There are a few players on this list whom I'd slot behind him.

He's one of the more overrated players in the league honestly in my opinion and is inept in his own zone. I think Max Domi is really really underrated though. So much skill, tenacity, heart and grit. And he puts up decent point totals without really playing with anyone. He might have a big season with Stepan there now and potentially Keller, Strome + another step forward for Dvorak and Perlini. Too bad for that team though that Chychrun got hurt, they were my darkhorse wildcard team.

[The Fonz]

Gotta love the internet.

"This guy is one of the most under-rated players in the league"
"Actually, he is one of the most over-rated players in the league"

[Tinordi]

Yeah I don't get the love for Ristolainen either he's got pretty mediocre to bad underlying stats. I don't put him above any of the defencemen on this list for sure.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

I like Lindholm but he doesn't do much offensively and isn't even their #1 dman when it comes to regular strength ice time (Fowler is)

The highest defenseman on the list was 4th on his team in ice time. Ekblad was second in even-strength time on ice for his team. Hamilton was third. Slavin was behind Faulk on regular strength ice time. Johnson played more regular strength ice-time than Jones, but that's likely due to Jones injury. Throwing you a bone, Jones is really the only defenseman who met that criteria. Which is really to be expected when we're talking about 25 and under defensemen.

Oddly enough, Ristolainen by far played the most regular strength ice-time on his team and he wasn't on the list at all.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Yeah I don't get the love for Ristolainen either he's got pretty mediocre to bad underlying stats. I don't put him above any of the defencemen on this list for sure.

He's big (BIG=GOOD, as we know) and he scored a hat trick against us. He plays for Buffalo, who we almost never see. Put those together and you have a situation ripe for selection bias.

[OutOfTheCube]

I watch a lot of Sabres games and think Ristolainen is pretty darn good. He's definitely got some thing to work out and could use a little bit less minutes, but he's also a top young D in the league with a very bright future.

[The Yen Man]

It's crazy how overhyped Drasaitl is now. McDavid I get, guy is the real deal. But at this rate, if Drasaitl doesn't consistently get 80 or 90 points every year, he is going to be a disappointment.

They make him sound like he's going to be the next Malkin.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Yeah I don't get the love for Ristolainen either he's got pretty mediocre to bad underlying stats. I don't put him above any of the defencemen on this list for sure.

For me its his combination of skill, skating, size and toughness. If he fully rounds out he could be the next Chris Pronger. I think his upside is higher than almost any of the young defensemen being talked about here. That said he is less polished than some of them as well. But hey Pronger wasn't a Norris nominee early in his career. Sometimes the huge guys take a little while to get comfortable and grow into their upside.

We've seen a lot of growth in Hamilton's game so far and he's older than Ristolainen, no reason to think Ristolainen cannot continue to improve and reduce mistakes. Or to use another example right now Ekblad is the better player for sure, but I think Ekblad doesn't have a lot of room to improve his game. Ristolainen could be one of the best dmen in the league in a few years IMO as he can do it all. He can play the skill game on the powerplay, he can rush the puck, he can punish guys, he can physically dominate small forwards with his size. But its a gamble to take Ristolainen over some of the more polished guys. So in these lists it depends on how you're thinking about it. Sure some people like Resurrection try to view the list as who will do the best ONLY considering next season. But I think a lot of us view the list as who would we build a team around, who will have the best career.

I guess your list would be influenced by whether you value size, strength and physicality in a defensemen because I think that's the reason why some people think he should be on here and some think he shouldn't. If you don't value physicality and strength then of course he's not as appealing. If you do then you might be of the opinion that gives him an edge in upside over defensemen who will never be considered physical. I happen to think Ristolainen's upside is about as high as any of the young defensemen. He hasn't achieved it yet and there's no guarantee he will but I see room to grow into a monster. If you're talking about what defensemen I'd gamble on to build a team around who are under 25, he'd be in my top 5-10 and because I think defensemen are a lot more valuable than wingers I'd have a few more defensemen in my top 25 than this list does and less wingers.

Like this list should have Hanifin as well! Hanifin, Ristolainen and Lindholm would all make my top 25 of under-25 players to build around. Axe Domi and Saad for sure.

[Samonadreau]

Whenever i think of Ristolainen its his 3rd period hat trick against the Flames. Frickin Hiller.

[ricardodw]

The SB Nation NHL Top 25 Players Under Age 25

No. 25: Alex Galchenyuk, Canadiens center

No. 24: Jonathan Drouin, Canadiens winger

No. 23: Sean Monahan, Flames center

No. 22: Brandon Saad, Blackhawks winger

No. 21: Hampus Lindholm, Ducks defenseman

No. 20: Colton Parayko, Blues defenseman

No. 19: Nikolaj Ehlers, Jets winger

No. 18: Seth Jones, Blue Jackets defenseman

No. 17: Mitch Marner, Maple Leafs winger

No. 16: William Nylander, Maple Leafs winger

No. 15: Aleksander Barkov, Panthers center

No. 14: Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche center

No. 13: Aaron Ekblad, Panthers defenseman

No. 12: Filip Forsberg, Predators winger

No. 11: Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets defenseman

No. 10: Matt Murray, Penguins goaltender

No. 9: Johnny Gaudreau, Flames winger

No. 8: Jack Eichel, Sabres center

No. 7: Leon Draisaitl, Oilers center

No. 6: Mark Scheifele, Jets center

No. 5: David Pastrnak, Bruins winger

No. 4: Patrik Laine, Jets winger

No. 3: Coming August 23.



Honorable Mentions: Dougie Hamilton, Flames defenseman; Viktor Arvidsson, Predators winger; Oscar Klefbom, Oilers defenseman; Jacob Trouba, Jets defenseman; Jaccob Slavin, Hurricanes defenseman; Jonathan Huberdeau, Panthers winger; John Klingberg, Stars defenseman; John Gibson, Ducks goaltender; Jake Guentzel, Penguins winger; Rickard Rakell, Ducks winger



No love for Ristolainen here either

[dustygoon]

These lists are comedy. Don't tell me even Chia would t trade draisaitl for eichel, ekblad, or werenski straight up

[White Out 403]

glad that Trouba got an HM. hes a total stud D man. hopefully we lock him down or at least get a good return if really doesnt want to come back for a longer term deal

[Charsiu]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

He's big (BIG=GOOD, as we know) and he scored a hat trick against us. He plays for Buffalo, who we almost never see. Put those together and you have a situation ripe for selection bias.

I don't think this is entirely fair. First of all, your supposition of how little we watch Buffalo must simply be describing your own situation. Not to say that I am an expert in any way but I had Ryan O'Reilly in my hockey pool and watched a significant number of Buffalo games. Secondly, I wasn't merely referring to his goal scoring acumen, which by the way, was still at a clip, nearly half that of our boy Dougie.

What I like about him is his strength on the puck, his ability to block, hit and otherwise defensively quell plays in his zone. Sure he's inconsistent, he doesn't have a good ratio of take aways to give aways, but he's only 22 and has the potential to improve.

I'm not contending that he necessarily deserves to be slotted about any other defensemen on this list, (that said, is Slavin that much better?) but I do think he deserves a spot above at least Domi. Regardless, I'm not going to plant my flag and die by this statement. At a certain point it all gets pretty subjective.