Summer 2015 Prospect Ranking - Round 6

[Bingo]

It's time.

Calgarypuck's 3rd annual Prospect Ranking Poll!

Going with the 25 and under with 65 or less games played at the NHL level which actually works pretty closely with my own rule of thumb of "anyone not too old that hasn't been penciled in".

Therefore Granlund, Ortio and Ferland are still prospects, with Jooris 5 games light of the 65 game limit.

Monahan and Gaudreau are young but clearly established and no longer prospects. Bennett may be penciled in but he's only played 12 NHL games and is a prospect.

Previous Two Editions
2014 - http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...highlight=poll
2013 - http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ospect+Ranking

Rankings:

1. Sam Bennett - 96% (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=147961)
2. Emile Poirier - 38% (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=147973)
3. Jon Gillies - 35% (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=147982)
4. Micheal Ferland - 44% (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=147999)
5. Joni Ortio - 63% (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=148014)

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

I start the bidding with Granlund.

[Bingo]

I went Hickey, really like his development arch ... coming on

So many players in this area that are good choices though. I like Granlund for steadiness, I like Kylington for upside. I like Klimchuk, Jankowski, Wotherspoon. Then the 2nd rounders from last year as well.

Tough call.

[Bingo Jr.]

Kylington is gonna be a player!

[c.t.ner]

Went with Jankowski, but I was torn between Seiloff (still think he can turn it around to be an impact player), Klimchuk, Kylington and Arnold. Smith should be in the mix, but I think I need to see him in the AHL before making a final decision.

[FlamesAddiction]

I went with Andersson. I like his upside too much despite the fact that he is still really new.

Granlund would be my second choice.

I don't know enough about Hickey.

[Red Menace]

5th time voting for Kylington....would be close between Hickey + Granlund otherwise

[Poe969]

agree on Buzz Kylington (I don't care how it's pronounced, he'll always be Buzz to me). The kid was a top 5 projected pick in this past draft and that's for a reason. I think he's going to be a star.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Jankowski. I would hope people are finally starting to see what we have here. Big talented kid with the best attitude you can imagine. Just wants the team to win and will do everything required to make that happen.

[Incogneto]

I'm on the Klimchuk train, Hickey would be a close 2nd. IMO, these 2 are the ones with the highest NHL upside.

[neo45]

Granlund has produced well at every level of hockey so far. Also has shown steady progression every season since being drafted

[Flashpoint]

Sorry for the driveby - 2013 rankings link goes 404 for me?

Cant believe how low Bouma was.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Going to keep going with criminally underrated Klimchuk until he is gone. Only Granlund is closer to the NHL but I believe Klimchuk has a much better chance of having a 500+ game career than Granlund. Their ceilings are roughly similar but something about Morgan screams future Flame to me. He may end up being the perfect #7 forward on a contending team in my view.

Hickey will be next for me as he looks to have solid combination of ceiling/chance of reaching it. We could have an embarrassment of riches on the backend in a couple of years if Hickey, Kylington and Andersson can become top 4 dmen.

My list right now is:

1) Klimchuk
2) Hickey

3) Granlund-Struggled with where to put him. Personally I think he's trade bait. Good chance of being an NHLer, but likely a depth player.

4) Jankowski-I'm not nearly as hard on this kid as some, actually I'm excited for him. He could be the perfect center for Klimchuk and Frolik in 2-3 years. I think he will make the NHL in some capacity and play a long time. Could be a 4th liner or even a 2nd. Just a victim of managerial boobery, can't hold that against him, even if he's not Nieuwendyk or Otto.

5) Kylington-Highest ceiling of all our prospects IMO... but will he even play in the NHL? Lots of things to fix if he ever wants to gain a coach's trust at the pro level, though he has time.

6) Andersson-Very intriguing player, I struggled where to rank him too. I wanted to put him under Hickey originally.

7) Wotherspoon-This guy mystifies me. On paper and scouting reports it seems like he should be about ready to play but I just don't see it in him yet. I want to say he has a really high chance of sticking as a 6/7, but is that really anything to get excited about? Don't know how high his potential really is, I think 4/5 is looooong shot.

8) Arnold-He will play on this team at some point, probably in a depth role. His best chance to stick might be converting to RW. Simple player, but I like him.

After that, it's like throwing darts at a board IMO

[BACKCHECK!!!]

I think Kylington is a perfect example of the problem with drafting high-ceiling defencemen.

He has a lot to work on in his game, but has a good chance to make the NHL. In probably 5-7 years. When he's probably not with the Flames anymore.

[GranteedEV]

Went with Jankowski. I know the numbers disagree but the kid just seems to have a jaw-dropping highlight package with a strong defensive game. It was a hair-thin margin between him and Granlund for me. Granlund has the higher likelyhood of being a Top 6 forward right now but I went with my gut feel.

[rollie619]

All with similar ceilings, but Granlund is the closest to being a full time nhler, so he gets my vote.

[Goodlad]

I also went Jankowski. It was really close between him and Klimchuk for me, but gave the edge to Janko for size and positional importance. Granlund is right there for me too, and I think he'll end up with a solid if unspectacular career in the NHL.

Hockey is in that mix somewhere too. Before Granlund for me, and possibly Klimchuk as well

[Parallex]

It's Hickey or Klimchuk. I'll go with Klimchuk since he's closer to the NHL.

[Enoch Root]

Let's get Granlund out of the way and then start the real fun with Hickey, Jankowski, Kylington, Andersson, Klimchuk, and Wotherspoon!

[ricardodw]

On Granlund and Klimchuck.

This is Klimchuk's 20 year old year. Granlund was a solid top line player on the AHL team with a nice 7 game NHL call up.

I would be very pleased with Klimchuk's progress if he matched Granlund's 20 year old season.

Poirier has somewhat earned his higher rating as he match Granlund's 20 year season as a 19 year old. But he needs to show the same sort of progress this year and show that he can play at the NHL level.


I might be out of step with the CP crowd who are more inclined to assign some top end value based on some scouting report that they saw or liked .

I like to see the player actually making progress and getting better.

A few years ago... Bouma, despite being obviously NHL ready was pegged as a 4th line energy player and so was waaay down on the prospect list.

Statistically a lot of the Flames prospects (especially the draft choices with no pro experience) will not get the 55 NHL games that Granlund will get.

I would like to see Klimchuk prove himself as a 1st year pro before calculating what his 400 game NHL pension will be.