Hockey's Future Spring top 50

[4horsemen]

If you haven't seen the latest top 50 prospect list from Hockey's Future you can find it here:

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article...nhl-prospects/

As always, I find lots to disagree with but all in all it's an interesting read and there's always something to learn from it.

For those who haven't looked at this list before please keep in mind that it's based on actual NHL value, not fantasy! That being said, if you're going to base a list on a prediction of actual NHL value then the litmus test should always be, 'would it be reasonable to expect the majority of GM's in the league to trade player 20 for player 10'. The answer should almost always be yes when you're looking at player separated by 10 spots and obviously becomes more debatable in players separated by only a few spots.

My biggest issue with the list is the ranking of Trouba at 37. I think he's about 20 spots too low and that's just way, way off.

I've spoken with one of my friends who writes for HF and asked him where the biggest arguments were (they come together as a team to create this list). I'm curious to know your collective thoughts on the list so I can assess if I'm on an island or not.....I obviously have lots of issues with it and I'm not sure I'd ever survive the collaberative process

[ericdaoust]

I used to use that site religiously about 10 years ago but their ranking system is a dinosaur IMO. I can't really complain though because they are evaluating the player and not necessarily his potential for statistics.

[Spleentastic]

Lists like this are enitrely subjective, so it's hard to make arguments one way or the other.

That said, a couple of things stood out to me:

Jonas Brodin outside the top 20 - I suppose we're talking about pure upside in a list like this, but man, how do you discount him becoming a top-20 defensive defenceman as a 19 year old? Even if he never develops an offensive game, he's still worth $6 million a year as a guy who can anchor your franchise.

Markstrom at 12 WAY ahead of Lehner at 31 - I'm nitpicking here, as the goalies are still 1-2 on the list, but it still seems like a rather large gap despite Markstrom not having outplayed Lehner at all over the last two years at any level.

As for Trouba, the Dman list looks like this: Schultz, Reilly, Reinhart, Murray, Brodin, Klefbom, Beaulieu, Despres, Smith, Dumba, then Trouba. So yes, Trouba is too low, as I think he's better than everyone after Brodin ahead of him (except maybe Smith).

[4horsemen]

I used to use that site religiously about 10 years ago but their ranking system is a dinosaur IMO. I can't really complain though because they are evaluating the player and not necessarily his potential for statistics.

Well, I suppose it's like any site in that the info is only as valuable as the person presenting it. This site is no different. HF is a massive collection of writers, many of them are useless but there are some very strong hockey minds there also.

[bigbabybuda]

Strome to low, Trouba to low, Toffoli to low imo. In the end it is what it is, hard to argue. I think its a pretty good list.

[STONE.]

Markstrom at 12 WAY ahead of Lehner at 31 - I'm nitpicking here, as the goalies are still 1-2 on the list, but it still seems like a rather large gap despite Markstrom not having outplayed Lehner at all over the last two years at any level.

You missed Vasilevskiy at 20.

[bigs_biggie]

I'm not sure I like Silfverberg at #30 I find that low.

[Zorro]

I'm not sure I like Silfverberg at #30 I find that low.

Totally agree, I feel he is worthy of a top 10 ranking..