28th in Prospect Depth According to Hockeysfutures

[The_Don]

When your #6 guy is a 21 year old playing in the ECHL, doesn't bode well for prospect depth.

[The_People1]

When your #6 guy is a 21 year old playing in the ECHL, doesn't bode well for prospect depth.

Touche.

Although, Ryder is in my opinion, not our #6 best prospect... might round out top 10 though.

I would see it as,

1. Mikael Backlund, C - 8.0D

2. Mitch Wahl, C - 7.0B

3. Greg Nemisz, RW - 7.0C

4. John Negrin, D - 7.0C

5. Leland Irving, G - 7.0C

6. Matt Keetley, G - 7.0C

7. Matt Pelech, D - 6.5B

8. Juuso Puustinen, RW - 7D

9. John Armstrong, C - 6.5C

10. Daniel Ryder, C - 7.0D

It's almost better to have A's and B's with the hockeysfuture ranking system as opposed to high numbers. That said, i only see Wahl and Pelech as "for sure NHLers" where as everybody else is still a lot of progress away.

[ID_7894561230]

Just about right.

I was always under the impression that for the last while or so, Calgary hasn't been in a position to be able to draft those insane young offensive prospects that people will gush about, but has all the right grit, grinders, and goaltenders (I know, but that was a horribly unintentional alliteration) to supplement the rest of the team.

I do have high hopes for Wahl and Backlund, however. As well, I will be very excited when Negrin and Pelech join the team.

[LewisD91]

I'd have Aulie in there as one of our top prospects....

[Unleash_the_Phury]

Our farm system doesn't have a ton of top-level talent outside Backlund (Though here's hoping Wahl and Nemisz become stars) but my personal 'top 10' prospects all have the potential to be regular NHL players.

1. Backlund: Hopefully becomes the franchise centre we've been lacking since Savard was traded.

NHL Equivalent: Daniel/Henrik Sedin. Whichever one of them plays centre.

2. Irving: He's ripped the number 1 job from Keetley in QC, and I thought Keetley looked more polished than McE last year.

NHL Equivalent: Price/Mason.

3. Wahl: Strength down the middle; future number 2 centreman who makes his line-mates better.

NHL Equivalent: Marc Savard

4. Negrin: Smooth, smooth skater, and while he doesn't score a lot of goals, he gets a ton of pucks through and has a lot of assists. If he becomes the next Mathieu Schneider, is anyone gonna complain?

NHL Equivalent: Mathieu Schneider (GASP!)

5. Pelech: I get the feeling the organization wants Pelech to pair with Regher next season; our next big, strong, bruising d-man who may not be the most offensively gifted guy on earth.

NHL Equivalent: Imagine Kyle McLaren if he didn't suck in the New NHL (God I hate that phrase...)

6. Nemisz: He's putting up a ton of points in the O this year; his skating needs to get better, but he'll be a fixture on the wing in two or three years.

NHL Equivalent: Keith Tkachuk

7. Aulie: He's gonna get some hype because of his play at the WJHC, and even though I don't see him progressing especially fast, he's gonna fill out, and you have to let 6 ft 6 200+ pound defencemen find themselves.

NHL Equivalent: I'm thinking 'If Hal Gill could skate'. And I'm fine with that.

8. Sutter: Based on his limited time here this season, Sutter >>> Nystrom, Prust, Primeau.

NHL Equivalent: Kirk Maltby

9. Greentree: He's a few years older, but he's a big, tough forward who goes to the hard areas. And he's putting up points in the AHL and one would think he's due for a call-up soon with all the injuries.

NHL Equivalent: Ryan Clowe

10. Palin: Why not? He was an AHL All-Star this season. And since our AHL All-Star d have all graduated to the NHL level (Gio, Reggie 2.0, Pardy) it seems only fair that Palin get his due.

NHL Equivalent: Adam Pardy

Keep in mind I'm seeing like, the best possible scenario for all these guys. It doesn't mean i expect them all to be this good.

Oh, and a message to Hockeysfuture: How you have a guy who hates hockey, a Fin we don't seem to care about, and a backup goalie who lost his job and was sent to Vegas in our list of top 10 prospects absolutely astonishes me, and speaks to the heart of your incompetence or lack of caring. Though it's probably both. And either put Pardy in our list of top 10 or tell us he's graduated. Either way, if you'd kindly pull your head out of your rectum, it'd certainly make for a much more legitimate if not any more pleasant look at the top prospects throughout the NHL.

[agulati]

This would be the top eleven prospects for me (on the basis of their readiness and chances to step into NHL this season or the start of the next season)

1. Matt Pelech

2. Leland Irving

3. Mikael Backlund

4. Ryan Wilson

5. John Negrin

6. Kyle Greentree

7. Kris Chucko

8. Mitch Wahl

9. Greg Nemisz

10. Matt Keetley (He would have been higher up but due to his present season he is at No. 9)

11. Keith Aulie

[bubbsy]

first off, i'd say making the playoffs every year for the past 5 years, will keep you from getting high first round picks. the one we did get, is a bluechip (phaneuf).

unfortunately, not all teams can draft like the wings.

secondly, the list lost ALL credibility when the leafs were ranked #17 wiht their top prospects being:

1. Luke Schenn, D, 2. Nikolai Kulemin, LW, 3. Justin Pogge, G, 4. Dmitri Vorobiev, D, 5. Mikhail Grabovski

Schenn isn't a prospect anymore, and the remaining i barely see really becoming impact players in the nhl.

[cross16]

first off, i'd say making the playoffs every year for the past 5 years, will keep you from getting high first round picks. the one we did get, is a bluechip (phaneuf).

unfortunately, not all teams can draft like the wings.

secondly, the list lost ALL credibility when the leafs were ranked #17 wiht their top prospects being:

1. Luke Schenn, D, 2. Nikolai Kulemin, LW, 3. Justin Pogge, G, 4. Dmitri Vorobiev, D, 5. Mikhail Grabovski

Schenn isn't a prospect anymore, and the remaining i barely see really becoming impact players in the nhl.

Agreed 100%.

and whats funny, is that whoever writes for the Leafs will count Schenne, Kulemin and Grabovski as "prospects". Yet guys like Prust, Boyd, Moss and Gio are all considered graduates. I'd put them in the same level as they are all NHL players. Yet the Leafs use those type players to get to #17 while the Flames land at 28.

I wasn't suprised, mainly because Hockeyfutures puts a precedent on two things. Top notch talent, and quickest to play in the NHL. So for example, a guy like TJ Brodie should be considered one of the Flames top prospects with his upside. Thats a true "prospect". Yet hockey futures tends to devalue the guys that are a ways away from the NHL, or guys that will jsut play a depth role. So naturally, becuase the Flames are short on blue chip prospects, and most of them are years away anyway, your going to land #28th on a list.

however, If you went by a true prospect list, as far as the calibre of NHL players, I believe the Flames would be in the middle of the pack. They have tons of NHL calibre players, just not the "sexy" type of players people want to see in a system.

Basically, I woudn't worry about it at all. Flames prospects pool is actually quite good, and very underrated. Th top 10 list at Hockey futures should question their crediablity right away. They put a guy in Ryder who didn't even play last year and Pusstinen who the Flames didn't even sign. They have Jordan foulton ranked over Brodie and Aulie.

Hockey Futures has really struggled to find a full time Flames writer and you can tell as their Flames coverage is very all over the place.

[Unleash_the_Phury]

Agreed 100%.

and whats funny, is that whoever writes for the Leafs will count Schenne, Kulemin and Grabovski as "prospects". Yet guys like Prust, Boyd, Moss and Gio are all considered graduates. I'd put them in the same level as they are all NHL players. Yet the Leafs use those type players to get to #17 while the Flames land at 28.

I wasn't suprised, mainly because Hockeyfutures puts a precedent on two things. Top notch talent, and quickest to play in the NHL. So for example, a guy like TJ Brodie should be considered one of the Flames top prospects with his upside. Thats a true "prospect". Yet hockey futures tends to devalue the guys that are a ways away from the NHL, or guys that will jsut play a depth role. So naturally, becuase the Flames are short on blue chip prospects, and most of them are years away anyway, your going to land #28th on a list.

however, If you went by a true prospect list, as far as the calibre of NHL players, I believe the Flames would be in the middle of the pack. They have tons of NHL calibre players, just not the "sexy" type of players people want to see in a system.

Basically, I woudn't worry about it at all. Flames prospects pool is actually quite good, and very underrated. Th top 10 list at Hockey futures should question their crediablity right away. They put a guy in Ryder who didn't even play last year and Pusstinen who the Flames didn't even sign. They have Jordan foulton ranked over Brodie and Aulie.

Hockey Futures has really struggled to find a full time Flames writer and you can tell as their Flames coverage is very all over the place.

Schenn is a raw rookie, and I don't know about Grabovski but I think he's in his first or second year. Gio, Moss, and Boyd have been up at the NHL level consitently since 06.

[cross16]

Schenn is a raw rookie, and I don't know about Grabovski but I think he's in his first or second year. Gio, Moss, and Boyd have been up at the NHL level consitently since 06.

Schenn is absolutly. I was referring more to Kulemin and Grabovski.

Grabovski had about 30 NHL games played before this season. Boyd had about 50 and Moss 80 over two season. All three were question marks heading into their team's camps. That, IMO, puts them in the same boat. You can't be considered a "gruaduate" until you are a sure fire full time NHLer. That was neither Moss nor Boyd coming into training camp. And some will say will Boyd and Moss were penciled in, well so was Grabovski. He was pencilled into the top 6, while Moss and Boyd had to fight their way into the top 9.

Gio played the 1 year in the NHL and then went to Russia, and he had about 50 games played in the NHL.

Kulemin hadn't played in the NHL yet, but again for a guy that was pegged to play in the Leafs top 6 your splitting hairs to consider him a "prospect" and Boyd a graduate.

[Neufy_3]

Yeah, that list from Hockey's Future is out of date. Ryder is nowhere near being our #6 prospect and he's probably not even on the list anymore, realistically. Aulie's too low (as is Wahl IMO), and Brett Sutter and especially Kyle Greentree should be on the list and not just notables. And Ryan Wilson is nowhere to be seen. So yeah, I think the list is fairly inaccurate.

And as for ranking, I'd peg us in the middle of the pack. We don't have a lot of "stud" prospects, but we do have numerous potential top 6 forwards/top 4 defensmen and a fair amount of safe, NHL talent.

This is how I'd rank the top 10:

1. Backlund

2. Irving

3. Negrin

4. Wahl

5. Nemisz

6. Pelech

7. Greentree (IMO he's gonna turn out to be an absolute steal, getting him for Ramholt)

8. Chucko

9. Aulie

10. Wilson

And then there's also Sutter, Palin, Brodie, Keetley and Deilert (who I think could very well end up being a Red Wings-esque late round steal)

Yeah, I think our prospect pool is fine for depth.

[Iggy83]

I happen to really like our prospect pool. Sure we don't have many blue chippers and sexy prospects yet, those will come in time. With being competitive every year you don't really get sexy pics unless you really "steal" someone. Sutter has drafted a lot of prospects that will do well in our system and quite a few that will turn out to be decent NHLers that will take a couple more years than say someone in the top 5. But looking at our prospects, how many 2,3,4 line players do we have coming up? most of them sit in this category. We also have a lot of defencemen that are #4-7's, and a lot of backup goalies with one or two possibly becoming a starter. A lot of NHL teams do not have this kind of depth. we can pick any player out of our pool of prospects (just about) and put them into the 3-4 line spots. With all this depth, we won't have to go out and sign someone from free-agency to fill those bottom lines and d pairings, which will save us cap space, allowing to spend more money on the blue chippers via free agency. Look at what some teams are paying for those same kind of players (Ottawa with Fisher/Vermette, Edm with Penner, Tor with Finger, etc.). Has anyone else noticed too that Sutter has now started taking more risky picks (Backlund, Nemisz, Wahl, etc) that will most likely be top 6 forwards? Give it time. Detroit's success in the drafts hasn't come all at once. They have been good at drafting for years and years. Besides, our list on HF isn't all that accurate anyway. Why is Puustinen, Ryder, Carpentier, Fulton, and Seitsonen in the top 20? 2 of those aren't with the team anymore, and I can name 20 players better than the others. Where in the top 20 is Pardy, Prust, Greentree, Sutter, Brodie, and Deilert? Pardy and Prust haven't met the criteria yet (65 games by the end of the season of their 24th bday). Isn't Pardy and Prust only 24?

[piperboy]

It's a pretty cursory review by someone, with very little hardcore knowledge of our propsects, in my opinion. For example, how Keith Aulie isn't in the top 20 begs a question. I am actually very excited about the young defender. He was an absolute rock in the world juniors, especially as the tournament got down to the final games. He was on the shutdown pairing and looks to be a very smart player. He's also a decent skater for such a big guy. When he fills out, he'll be a good stay-at-home guy for the Flames.

[The_Don]

Schenn isn't a prospect anymore, and the remaining i barely see really becoming impact players in the nhl.

I don't consider "not a prospect anymore" half way through his rookie season as a 19 year old. he definitely is a prospect in my eyes.

[Dusty_Foot_Philosopher]

It's all speculation.

[Neufy_3]

It's all speculation.

Except there's a marked difference between speculation from someone who knows the organization and the prospects and follows their progress, versus someone who doesn't follow the organization or the prospects very well.

Seeing as Hockeys Future doesn't currently have a dedicated Flames writer, they fall into the latter.