Prospect Info: The 2023-2024 Prospects Thread Pt. 3

[Aqualung]

Lekkerimaki cut from the Sweden squad and a player a year younger Felix Sorum made it. Obviously it's 1 tourney but Lekkerimaki has a lot of maturing to do in his game He's very up and down with consistency.

Sorum made it (so far) because his game can work on a 4th line. Lek is an offensive player more suited for the top 6. They have different skill sets that kept Sorum on the team.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Just looking at Sweden's roster and Unger-Sorum is the only guy under 24. So it's not like Lekk got beat out by a bunch of young guys.

 

[Yultron]

Lekkerimaki cut from the Sweden squad and a player a year younger Felix Sorum made it. Obviously it's 1 tourney but Lekkerimaki has a lot of maturing to do in his game He's very up and down with consistency.

It makes absolutely 0 sense how Sorum made the team, but yet the World Juniors MVP and breakout player of the year in the SHL in Lekkerimacki gets cut .

 

[Yultron]

Just looking at Sweden's roster and Unger-Sorum is the only guy under 24. So it's not like Lekk got beat out by a bunch of young guys.

But it’s still a really impulsive decision , this reminds me of the 2006 World Juniors when Team
USA cut Bobby Ryan from the main roster less than a year after he was drafted right behind Crosby and destroyed junior hockey ,

I understand the situations are very different , but it still makes 0 sense

 

[VanJack]

It doesn't shock me that Lekerimakki has been sidelined or the World Hockey Championships.....I figured he'd end up on a taxi squad, rather than being cut altogether.

Looking back, it's kind of too bad the Swedish Hockey officials even invited him to training camp in the first place. He could have learned a lot more just staying in Abbotsford and helping their playoff run.

 

[Tables of Stats]

The stats are updated. There are a few notables still playing in the NHL so it's not entirely locked up, but I probably won't update it again until the playoffs are done.

 

[ManVanFan]

Let's hope that their is a lesson to be learned for the scouts of the VANCOUVER CANUCKS, (I don't know why my computer put that in capital letters) Logan Stankoven a PPG WHL junior player is probably a much smarter bet than a PPG kid playing in the Belarus league.

 

[VanJack]

Let's hope that their is a lesson to be learned for the scouts of the VANCOUVER CANUCKS, (I don't know why my computer put that in capital letters) Logan Stankoven a PPG WHL junior player is probably a much smarter bet than a PPG kid playing in the Belarus league.

Yep.....Jim Benning's parting draft gift to the organization. But he did it so many times over the years; and traded so many draft picks despite being a lottery team year after year; that all you can really do is sigh and move on.

 

[RobertKron]

Yep.....Jim Benning's parting draft gift to the organization. But he did it so many times over the years; and traded so many draft picks despite being a lottery team year after year; that all you can really do is sigh and move on.

This you three months ago?

It's the Matt Phillips syndrome......a dominant player at the AHL-level, but in the NHL he's not big enough, or strong enough to play center. So he has to try and make it on the wing.

How well has he adapted? Well he was on waivers again and picked up by the Pens.....his third NHL team in less than a year.

Not saying Stankoven will follow in his footsteps, but the jury's still out. Sooner or later posters will figure it out that AHL stats for smaller players, don't really mean that much.

 

[VanJack]

This you three months ago?

Yep....no doubt I blew it with Stankoven.....I looked at his 5,8 stature on Hockey DB and seriously questioned him making an impact on the NHL. But watching him in this series, he's built like a fire plug and he's actually winning puck battles.

But I guess that's why I'm not a scout.....trying to project what a player like Stankoven will do at the next level is an art that few actual scouts possess. And obviously Dallas Stars might have the best scouting staff in all of hockey.

If the Canucks drafted a guy like that, he'd probably turn into another Connor Lockhart.

 

[mathonwy]

Yep....no doubt I blew it with Stankoven.....I looked at his 5,8 stature on Hockey DB and seriously questioned him making an impact on the NHL. But watching him in this series, he's built like a fire plug and he's actually winning puck battles.

But I guess that's why I'm not a scout.....trying to project what a player like Stankoven will do at the next level is an art that few actual scouts possess. And obviously Dallas Stars might have the best scouting staff in all of hockey.

If the Canucks drafted a guy like that, he'd probably turn into another Connor Lockhart.

Logan Stankoven, 'energizer bunny,' gives Stars lots of excitement after world juniors

Stankoven didn't get the same attention as Connor Bedard, but showed he soon could be a middle-six NHL forward.

www.nytimes.com

You just had to watch him in the world juniors to be a believer.

 

[ManVanFan]

I can't believe that Jonah Gadjovich has 4 times the amount of NHL games as Kole Lind. Gadjovich can barely skate.

 

[VanJack]

I can't believe that Jonah Gadjovich has 4 times the amount of NHL games as Kole Lind. Gadjovich can barely skate.

But Benning couldn't believe that Lind was still on the board in the second round. Believe it Jethro.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I can't believe that Jonah Gadjovich has 4 times the amount of NHL games as Kole Lind. Gadjovich can barely skate.

I was more surprised he caught on with a top flight team like Florida and largely stuck around. I thought he was a guy largely getting a look because SJ was terrible.

Good for him. Limited skill set, but he's worked within it. Always seemed to have a good attitude.

 

[VanJack]

Sometimes a guy the Canucks unearthed during the Benning years, bounces around a bit but eventually makes it.

Two guys who come to mind are Forsling and Chatfield. Now key d-men with their respective teams. But they probably had to leave Vancouver to ever realize their potential.

 

[ManVanFan]

I was more surprised he caught on with a top flight team like Florida and largely stuck around. I thought he was a guy largely getting a look because SJ was terrible.

Good for him. Limited skill set, but he's worked within it. Always seemed to have a good attitude.

Florida got cap issues, need whatever depth they can get for cheap basically. haha.

Sometimes a guy the Canucks unearthed during the Benning years, bounces around a bit but eventually makes it.

Two guys who come to mind are Forsling and Chatfield. Now key d-men with their respective teams. But they probably had to leave Vancouver to ever realize their potential.

Stecher, Hutton as well. Mikey D. had a pretty good season in Providence. Lockwood 23 games with the Panthers as well. Gaudette is now 27 but over a PPG in the AHL. Somebody will give him a chance I bet.

 

[ManVanFan]

Came across this random prospect pool ranking

https://x.com/i/web/status/1787104969486647492

There is a lot of truth to it I'd say. 17 possible depth forwards. Without a 1st or 2nd round pick this year. I'd say the prospect pool will be even worse next season.
It was mentioned that Lekkerimaki is not ranked as impact forward due to previous bad year. So really the pool rests on Lekkerimaki and Willander. Some others are gonna need to make a big jump.

 

[arttk]

Came across this random prospect pool ranking

https://x.com/i/web/status/1787104969486647492

There is a lot of truth to it I'd say. 17 possible depth forwards. Without a 1st or 2nd round pick this year. I'd say the prospect pool will be even worse next season.
It was mentioned that Lekkerimaki is not ranked as impact forward due to previous bad year. So really the pool rests on Lekkerimaki and Willander. Some others are gonna need to make a big jump.

Sorry that some shitty ass ranking

 

[ManVanFan]

Sorry that some shitty ass ranking

It's unfortunate and normally I'm a proponent for a higher ranking for the prospect pool but Bains, Karlsson, Aman and Podkolzin didn't show enough this year in the NHL to look like anymore then depth guys. Raty was good but it's an absolute mixed bag of results for a 21 year old AHL player. None which turned into real impact players though.

See next year how D-Petey and Perkins do in the AHL. Otherwise some are going to have to take a real leap in development to make the pool a liar.

 

[Lindgren]

It's unfortunate and normally I'm a proponent for a higher ranking for the prospect pool but Bains, Karlsson, Aman and Podkolzin didn't show enough this year in the NHL to look like anymore then depth guys. Raty was good but it's an absolute mixed bag of results for a 21 year old AHL player. None which turned into real impact players though.

See next year how D-Petey and Perkins do in the AHL. Otherwise some are going to have to take a real leap in development to make the pool a liar.

Perkins is going to be in the AHL next year? I must have missed that news.

 

[arttk]

It's unfortunate and normally I'm a proponent for a higher ranking for the prospect pool but Bains, Karlsson, Aman and Podkolzin didn't show enough this year in the NHL to look like anymore then depth guys. Raty was good but it's an absolute mixed bag of results for a 21 year old AHL player. None which turned into real impact players though.

See next year how D-Petey and Perkins do in the AHL. Otherwise some are going to have to take a real leap in development to make the pool a liar.

I mean it’s just lazy ranking.
Hog played in the NHL for the full year and put up 25 goals. He is not a prospect. Nevermind the fact 25 goal scores are more than “depth”.

Ranking Mynio and Kud over D Petey is also lazy.
Lekk won the world juniors MVP and basically all of the players that won that are impact players. Saying nah that doesn’t count because he was injured the year prior is just stupid.
Counting Ty Young and not Tolopilo who actually played as well as Silovs down in the minor is another miss.
The ranking is ass because it’s ass.

 

[Vector]

If I’m reading that right, that’s a ranking based on statistics rather than scouting. I’m not as high on Lekkerimaki as most but the explanation for ranking him there doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Perkins is going to be in the AHL next year? I must have missed that news.

You did. He signed a contract but has been injured since the last NCAA game so he never suited up in Abbotsford.

 

[ManVanFan]

Perkins is going to be in the AHL next year? I must have missed that news.

Nope that's my mistake I meant Mueller not Perkins.

 

[credulous]

I mean it’s just lazy ranking.
Hog played in the NHL for the full year and put up 25 goals. He is not a prospect. Nevermind the fact 25 goal scores are more than “depth”.

Ranking Mynio and Kud over D Petey is also lazy.
Lekk won the world juniors MVP and basically all of the players that won that are impact players. Saying nah that doesn’t count because he was injured the year prior is just stupid.
Counting Ty Young and not Tolopilo who actually played as well as Silovs down in the minor is another miss.
The ranking is ass because it’s ass.

it's an organizational ranking of u24s. hoglander is 23. tolopilo is 24

i think vancouver is better than that ranking indicates but i also think the nhl teams success overshadowed a pretty bad year for the system as a whole. only really lekkerimaki (and silovs) outperformed expectations. willander met expectations but podkolzin, raty, klimovich, ward and hirose all struggled. sasson, bains and mynio probably had the most optomistic years and none of them really project to be much. guys like pettersson and kudryavtsev might be something but we've barely even seen them in the ahl yet

 

[ManVanFan]

If I’m reading that right, that’s a ranking based on statistics rather than scouting. I’m not as high on Lekkerimaki as most but the explanation for ranking him there doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

It was an under 23 rankings. Draft year plus 5 was the cut off for it. It is also based on stats profiles of the players. So a core player would be in the 85th percentile or above. Impact was 60-85 percentile. 59 and below is depth. The guy said that Lekkerimaki wasn't rated as an impact player because his draft plus 1 season was poor. If he comes to NA and has a good season, he will rise. Obviously development is never linear but honestly, I find these rankings hella better than a lot of the prospect rankings. At least it leaves out the bias part. I don't love analytics but if you look at the best drafting teams in the league like Carolina. They draft heavy analytically and a lot of misses drafting over the years tend to be ones that analytics didn't favour.