Rags top 20 prospects

[bruins4777]

Derek is probably the only one who will care about this, but i'm bored as hell and i'm prolonging studying for my ap test, so i'll just chime in on what i feel about this list...and what so of my friends have said.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?s...hreaded&order=0

1. Fedor Tjutin, D - 21 - St. Petersburg, RSL

2. Henrik Lundqvist, G - 23 - Frolunda, SEL

3. Al Montoya, G - 20 - Michigan, NCAA

4. Jozef Balej, RW - 23 - Hartford, AHL

5. Jarkko Immonen, C - 22 - JYP, SM-Liiga

6. Lauri Korpikoski, LW - 18 - TPS, SM-Liiga

7. Nigel Dawes, LW - 20 - Kootenay, WHL

8. Hugh Jessiman, RW - 21 - Dartmouth, NCAA

9. Thomas Pock, D - 23 - Hartford, AHL

10. Bruce Graham, C - 19 - Moncton, QMJHL

11. Maxim Kondratiev, D - 22 - Lada Togliatti, RSL

12. Darin Olver, C - 20 - Northern Michigan, NCAA

13. Garth Murray, C - 22 - Hartford, AHL

14. Bryce Lampman, D - 22 - Hartford, AHL

15. Alexandre Giroux, LW - 23 - Hartford, AHL

16. Petr Prucha, C - 22 - Pardubice, Czech

17. Dominic Moore, C - 24 - Hartford, AHL

18. Brandon Dubinsky, C - 18 - Portland, WHL

19. Dwight Helminen, C - 21 - Hartford, AHL

20. David Liffiton, D - 20 - Hartford, AHL

Out of my friends, i'm the only one who thinks tjutin deserves his place. I feel personaly cause of his NHL performance, but whatever. Lundquivist and Tjutin both deserve high marks.

Personally i really don't feel montoya and Balej should be that high. I was impressed with balej early in the season, but as the season wore on i felt he was inconsistent and played a style that i don't think maximized his talent. But i guess he still rebounded ok. I dunno, maybe he needs a better challenge. I don't know balej as a prospect very well. When i see him, i don't feel that "confidence" that he'll be a great NHL all-star one day.

Why moore is so low, is really beyond me. I mean he slumped offensively in the second half, but come on, that guy is incredible. I really like him and i'd put him top 10, ahead of pock definently. Everytime i see pock i come away unimpressed. I like his skills, but he seems to chase the game. And he doesn't stand out above lampan or nycolat for their blue line. But from what i'm reading off of this top 20 thing, i guess this year was just rough for him...So thats probably why I never saw him do much.

Giroux, this is the one placement i really like. I've always felt the guy won't be much. He to me is a lot like lehoux, great talent, but these certain things that lead me to believe he won't make it big. I just don't like him. To me he just seems like a puck hog with a temper. Kinda like sergei berezin...no thats mean, not that bad. But i just don't like him much.

The more HF top 20's i read, the more i feel like they care way too much about potential to the point that it really boils over safeness of a prospect and such....but then again thats what stupid NHL scouts do, so i shouldn't be suprised. The only list i've agreed with 90 percent so far is the bruins one and maybe two or three others...

[CMONPETEYD]

The lock out is the best thing that could have happened to the rangers prospects. Gives them all another yr of seasoning without the pressure of having to come up way to early.

seems like the media touts all these rag prospects as the next greatest thing. They either get traded for over the hill stars and then bloom, or fizzle in the bright NY lights.

Almost like Generation K for the Mets (Pulsipher, Isringhausen and Wilson), or Alex Escobar

Edited April 22, 2005 by tsdevils82

[Derek21]

The list looks a lot better than it did before.

But I also want to comment on what Ts82 said about how the lockout benefited the Rangers. You are TOTALLY right about that. It gave all the prospects another year to develop. This will be beneficial to the new direction the organization is taking. Whenever the NHL returns, the Rangers might have some new guys ready to compete for spots. And some more guys will wind up in Hartford.

bruins, I like Tjutin. But in my opinion, he projects at best to be a 2nd or 3rd D-man. I see him as a smart two-way player who won't put up a lot of points. But he is probably capable of 5-6 goals and 20-25 assists. Maybe he tops out at 30-35 points if he hits his peak. He should have a solid plus/minus.

I actually think Kondratiev could be better than him. He also might put up more points. I definitely see the Russian duo being paired together. They have good chemistry and play similar games. Max should be rated higher on that list. Flip him with Pock. Pock has been working more on his defensive game this year bruins. That's why he's not contributing much offensively. He also had a couple of injuries which kept him out of action. Who didn't?

If I were ranking, Henrik Lundqvist is first on the list because of how he dominated back home. He is the goalie for Sweden on the tour, facing a star-studded Russian roster. He'll also probably play in the world's. His potential is higher than Fedor's. He has a chance to be a quality #1 goalie. The key will be how he adjusts to the smaller North American rinks and the skaters.

Nice to see Dawes finally move up into the top ten. He is our most overlooked player. Stolen in the 5th round, all he's done is lead Canada in scoring in the '03-04 WJC. Then help in a supporting role win a gold this year and went berserk in the 2nd half of his junior season. He had a long point-streak and actually wound up with 49 or 50 goals.

Jessiman took a step back. He's where he should be. That ankle injury cost him a year of development. He might be better off returning now for his senior year at Dartmouth.

Immonen is another guy who was acquired in the Leetch deal. He did very well in Finland and is said to be close to signing. He might have 2nd line potential as a playmaking center.

Moore should be in the top ten. It's a joke that he isn't. Moore is like Mike York. Can play in any situation and is a solid skater. Dangerous shorthanded too. Smart player.

I'd put Giroux ahead of Murray. Murray is always getting hurt. If he stayed healthy, he has the size to be a grinder. He used to have scoring skills but they might have taken a hit due to all the time away from the rink.

Giroux I like. So, we disagree there bruins. He has come over and adjusted to McGill's defensive system and led the team in goals. He is a scorer. But he also can drop the gloves.

Also, both Bruce Graham and Daren Olver had nice seasons. Graham was doing very well before an injury. Olver had 42 points this year in college and he still has two years of eligibility left at Northern Michigan. I smell steal.

One player who they forgot about was Ryan Callahan. He should be in the top 15. He had a good WJC and looks like a smart player.

[bruins4777]

I dunno...about tjutin he just seems safer to me than lundquivist, but i definently feel lundquivist has more potential than tjutin.

As for kondrakrazyname i only saw him play once? twice maybe i forget. All i remeber about him was that he SUCKED BIG TIME. He was turning the puck over like there was no tomorow and really looked uncomfortable with the puck, but it was only one or two games so i'm not going to judge too quickly. I don't know him as a prospect very well. His visor is weird.

The thing about lundquivist is I'm always really skeptical about guys like him who come over. I really really really hope the rags don't throw him right into the NHL, i mean he might adapt fine and be great, but i don't know what it is. There's just something inside me that says he'll struggle at first in adjustment...I mean wasn't tellquivist another guy who was supposed to be a top swedish prospect? then comes over and struggles immensley? We'll see. I really want to see him badly. I think the main reason i'm so skeptical about lundquivist is because i heard he has trouble with people crashing his net, and he'll face loads of that behind that rangers defense.

Derek, wasn't pock a forward at one point of time? I think i read that somewhere. I guess it makes sense that he is learning defense this season. I think he has a long way to go. The good thing i guess, is that when i saw him he didn't stand out as a turn over machine. So thats good. He'll be an interesting guy to watch. What do you think his potential is?

Giroux...meh i guess its just one of those disagreement things. I just don't like puckhogs...well i mean i don't mind the way kovalchuk handles the puck and i love seing guys who handle the puck a lot and make everybody look like fools by dancing around them, but giroux just seems to handle the puck dangerously and i don't feel it will translate to the NHL well. But i do have to give him credit for adjusting to the defensive system. I really don't think he's a depth forward thats for sure.

I was wondering derek, what do you think of lundmark now? I mean he sucked horribly the first half, but he's come on big time this second half, and didn't he have a pair of assists in that last playoff game or something?

[KarlovyVary]

I don't think they so much forgot about Callahan, but more the fact that he still has to prove how good he is. He's played 3 years in the OHL, had a very good 03-04 season when Guelph reached the Memorial Cup. But overall, he's never been more than a point-a-game player.

He's smart, has a good skill set, and is a great leader, but I don't think he can be anything better than a third line winger in the NHL.

Lundqvist is pretty good, but it's always hard to judge a European goaltender. I've watched a couple of SEL games and the goalies play a completely different game. Out of all the NHL goalies who competed in Europe for a year, they definitely were not as dominant as some may have expected. Jussi Markanen was probably one of the NHL goalies who had a good season in Europe, and he doesn't rank among in the best in the NHL.

Personally, I'd like to see Lundqvist play a game in North America first before he gets dubbed as NY's franchise goalie.

[GA Devil]

Korpikoski falling in below the radar. Considering where he was selected, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

[Derek21]

Not really GA. Korp was basically used on the fourth line of TPS men's team. So he was playing against guys older than him and didn't see a lot of ice-time. He registered six assists for the season.

Against guys 20 and under in a recent junior tournament, Korp scored four goals and one assist for the most points on his team.

Next year, he'll probably get more experience against the pros.

bruins, Lundqvist played against a great Russian team today and stopped 32 of 34 shots in a 2-1 loss. Russia was loaded. Kovalchuk netted a goal.

Karlovy is right about Callahan. But I love his style. He does so many things well. He'd be an agitating guy to play against in the future. That's the kind of guy I want on the Rangers. Kills penalties well. Skates hard. Draws penalties. Hits like a freight train.

bruins, my opinion on Lundmark is blah. It really doesn't matter what he does in the AHL playoffs. I mean sure, his production should be a key to the Pack's plight for the Calder. But he's already proven himself in the 'A.' It's at the NHL level that fans don't know if he can hack it. Until he does, the jury is out.

[bruins4777]

Seems like lundmark is to the rangers what hilbert is to the bruins...except not really. Well ok kind of iffy analogy...Hilbert basically has consistently put forth great AHL numbers, but shown either lack of desire in the NHL or just frustrating play, by floating and such....i don't think hilbert is as frustrating to the bruins as lundmark is to the rags, and i think hilbert has put forth a better overall caree than lundmark...but i think, from what i hear from you, that the way they frustrate fans with their transition to the NHL is very similar.

Hmm, while it is impressive what lundquivist did vs. russia, i remeber last year vs. canada. Up to that game lundquivist was among the best, if not the best, goaltender in the tourney. Then he got cracked by canada and lost his poise and was lit up for 5 goals. Which makes me question whether or not he can deal with adversity. And world championships are played on euro ice, so i'm still going to question his transition.

I guess i'm coming off as rather pessimistic about henrik...meh. There are just certain players which i question more than any other...don't really know why i do it...but meh.