Athletic's Farm System Rankings

[rataylor22]

Just as an example, Matt Poitras went to the WJC but is not included in Boston's list, but Kent Johnson played 10 games in the AHL in November so he is included in CBJ list. Even Connor Zary being included in Calgary's list, he's not going down to the A this season and will require waivers next season.

[rataylor22]

The only thing I don't like about the Athletic's rankings is they tend to weight the blue chip prospects too heavily. A team only needs 1 or 2 to be 10 spots ahead of a team that has a well stocked pool of slightly lesser caliber prospects. Carolina is a good example, if Kochetkov is included they move up 10 spots but Carolina has excellent depth at most positions, they can pretty much choose their favorites whereas a team like Chicago is really counting on 2 or 3 guys to hit their projections.


Philadelphia? Really? Everyone not named Barkey and Michkov is already in the show.

I specifically said "except in the case of elite players"

Did you? I think Michkov is more than elite enough to push a farm system into the top 10. So making them 10th vs. 6th is close to semantics.

[Daydream Nation]

I think Wheeler has made some really....interesting...judgements on who he is including and not including on different lists.

I agree. This is why I like Pronman's ranking teams based on all players 22 and under regardless of NHL experience.

[rataylor22]

I agree. This is why I like Pronman's ranking teams based on all players 22 and under regardless of NHL experience.

I think there is a way to have set criteria for Wheeler's list and have it be different than Pronman's, but Pronman did say he essentially changed to that criteria to eliminate this scenario. But you can just make the cutoff for Wheeler's list if they're calder eligible or not. Would it change the ranking a bunch because you'd have like Bedard on Chicago's list? Sure, but like. Whatever.

[hockeyrobot]

Zary is a weird one. I'm not sure why he's included on the list .

[hockeyrobot]

Detroit 2
Buffalo #1.

The blurb on the Wings...

. The Red Wings’ pool is led by half a dozen higher-end prospects and followed by legitimate depth in numbers right through to the end of the list. They don’t have a top-10 forward prospect but they’ve got two top-10 D prospects, they’re the only organization in the league with two top-10 goalie prospects, and there are another two (or three) forwards who are going to be really solid NHL players, plus several others who’ve got a chance to play games.

2023 prospect pool rank: No. 4 (change: +2)

[hockeyrobot]

And for Buffalo. Nice that he calls out Benson vs Fantilli and Leo.

Even with a young NHL core already made up of Owen Power, Dylan Cozens, JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Mattias Samuelsson and Peyton Krebs, a group that made them the No. 1-ranked pool in this countdown just two years ago, the Buffalo Sabres have another wave coming, this one led by Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich, Matt Savoie, Devon Levi, Noah Östlund and Isak Rosen. This version of the pool wasn’t the clearcut choice for No. 1 in the countdown, but its top six or seven prospects are as strong as any group in the league and they’ve got B and B-plus prospects behind them well into the double digits on their list.

know that may not be much of a consolation for a fan base that hasn’t seen the promise of that first group materialize into playoff contention, but better days have to be coming with all of this youth and talent.

Note that although he has played entirely in the NHL so far this season, Benson’s a player I decided to make an exception for and include because of his age (Adam Fantilli and Leo Carlsson, who were excluded, are seven and five months older than him, for example), because he wasn’t the top-five pick that tends to bypass these lists (like Fantilli and Carlsson are) and because I think there’s still a chance we see him play at a lower level at some point.

[Pengwin7]

Thanks.

I'm glad they are not "clear cut".
This year... really feels like several teams have "good" prospect pools...
But I don't think there's a team with a "great" one right now.
(And this - being - that the top 3 guys from 2024 went straight into the NHL... and the other big-name, Michkov, went to a PHI team that is sort of meh beyond him).

It's going to be VERY intersting to see what BUF does with all these forwards.
There just simply isn't room for all of them to get ice-time.
Something has to give... I'm not sure if it's better for a BUF forward prospect to end up WITH the team... or WITH another.

But it's... probably... the biggest F prospect log-jam I can ever recall in the NHL.

[I actually traded Isak Rosen this year in one league... for an underwhelming return... because I get brain-cramps trying to figure out how he cracks this roster.]

[hockeyrobot]

Thanks.

I'm glad they are not "clear cut".
This year... really feels like several teams have "good" prospect pools...
But I don't think there's a team with a "great" one right now.
(And this - being - that the top 3 guys from 2024 went straight into the NHL... and the other big-name, Michkov, went to a PHI team that is sort of meh beyond him).

It's going to be VERY intersting to see what BUF does with all these forwards.
There just simply isn't room for all of them to get ice-time.
Something has to give... I'm not sure if it's better for a BUF forward prospect to end up WITH the team... or WITH another.

But it's... probably... the biggest F prospect log-jam I can ever recall in the NHL.

[I actually traded Isak Rosen this year in one league... for an underwhelming return... because I get brain-cramps trying to figure out how he cracks this roster.]

I did see some Mittelstadt rumors out there.

[dejeanneret]

Thanks.

I'm glad they are not "clear cut".
This year... really feels like several teams have "good" prospect pools...
But I don't think there's a team with a "great" one right now.
(And this - being - that the top 3 guys from 2024 went straight into the NHL... and the other big-name, Michkov, went to a PHI team that is sort of meh beyond him).

It's going to be VERY intersting to see what BUF does with all these forwards.
There just simply isn't room for all of them to get ice-time.
Something has to give... I'm not sure if it's better for a BUF forward prospect to end up WITH the team... or WITH another.

But it's... probably... the biggest F prospect log-jam I can ever recall in the NHL.

[I actually traded Isak Rosen this year in one league... for an underwhelming return... because I get brain-cramps trying to figure out how he cracks this roster.]

Agree regarding the forward prospect logjam in Buffalo. It's for this reason that I could see Buffalo -- maybe -- being in serious pursuit of Pettersson if Vancouver is indeed considering moving him.

Buffalo is in need of a player of Pettersson's offensive ilk to FINALLY get themselves over the hump and become a serious playoff contender, and has the combination of current roster players and prospects to maybe get something done.

That said, I'd still be pretty surprised if Vancouver seriously entertains moving Pettersson. Their fanbase has been starving for a championship just as long as Buffalo's has. I think the organization would be hard pressed to sell the move to the fanbase given how well positioned the Canucks currently are to make some serious noise. A short playoff run this season could change the calculus though.

[Pengwin7]

re: Buffalo.
I can see them moving Mittelstadt & another F-prospect (one of Rosen/Kulich/Savoie) for a 4th high-end D (to go with Dahlin/Power/M.Samuelsson).

I do not see Elias Pettersson having any interest in long-term signing with Buffalo.
(Assuming Pettersson has a wife/gf... I don't see a strong want for a Swedish girl to watch to settle down in Buffalo long-term. Doesn't fit for me. No major Swedish-comfort presence there.)

[loppantorkel]

That was Pronman's preseason ranking though wasn't it? Pronman tends to be alot looser with who is still considered a prospect.

It appears Pronman also does team - Pipeline - Rankings. I think it's an annual thing. That latest, preseason, list had Anaheim, Chicago, Buffalo, NJ, Columbus as the top five. Minnesota down at 10th, so a bit different. Have to say I think Pronman's list feels more relevant when looking at prospect pools, but being different serves a purpose too.

[hockeyrobot]

Wheeler also posted his top goalie and skater prospects over the last few days.

[hockeyrobot]

Michkov is #1.

[loppantorkel]

..and Wallstedt nr1 and Askarov nr2 as the only top tier goalies.