I was also reading some of our prospect reports on hockeysfutures.com and there seems to be some very impressive young guns up and coming through the wood works.
Justin Pogge (who played phenomenal last against the Wolves for his first playoff game, coming in round three). Justin seems to have finally adjusted to the AHL and seems to be excelling, with
Toskala in for the next two seasons
Pogge obviously is going to be a main stay on the Marlies for a third season but I would like to think his first taste of the NHL could come about during injuries or just poor play.
Moving up on our prospect depth charts is the great
Nik Kulemin, he is going to be a Maple Leaf next season, no if ands or but. He didn't turn so many heads this season with an awesome highlight real of goals, but he has allegedly developed a strong defensive game while maintaining a 20 plus goal season in the Super League. He is said to be either a
Gary Roberts forward, offence/hitting, or he is
Darcy Tucker forward, scoring depth/energy guy. Either way the excitement around him will most likely increase during the summer.
Jiri Tlusty comes in at number three. I liked what I saw from him though I am hoping for an increase in offence, I think if we can start giving him some more minutes, which is very likely if
Sundin is not resigned, I think
Tlusty will avoid the slump and merely become the well rounded first line winger he was drafted as.
Fourth is
Anton Stralman. This guy had an impressive end of the season, he seems to have the confidence to perform in the NHL now, something that had made him seemingly invisible at the beginning of the season. I would love to see
Stralman come out of Training Camp this season with a perminate job on the roster, on my personal depth charts of the team he is in the 6th position and if
Kubinia is dump this off season he can only move up, with any luck we will not go chasing waterfalls and try to bring back Gill in the off-season or something.
Now for the guy I had introduced in my Caber's Pretraining Camp Predictions thread, the newest Russian dynamo on our roster,
Dimitri Vorobiev. This guy was an okay offensive presence in the Super League last season with a heavy hand when it come to hitting and defence, but this season he broke out offensively and take position #7 on my defensive depth charts, moving up from #10. I would like to see him in NA next year possibly on the Marlies, but it is currently unknown whether he wants to come her yet, and if he does I think it will be for a position on the Leafs. I would love it if
Kubinia left and we would have room for a second of our young defensive core like
Vorobiev or
Kronwall/Harrison.
After that comes
Robbie Earl who seemed unimpressive in the NHL this season but apparently tore it up in the AHL. I would like to see him develop a little more in the AHL before making a full leap into the big leagues but if his development stays the course he could be the depth scoring this franchise needs on the wing.
Then there is NCAA prospect
Tyler Ruegsegger how apparently had an awful season, good start disrupted by injury and zero finish. He is apparently undersized and slow off the start but a great lateral mover which would indicate a potentials for strong defensive play, though no reliance on the leafs next season.
Then there was our Top pick from last season's draft,
Dale Mitchell, our only OHL prospect. He was not as good as projected this season, sharing the load with
McClean and
Tavares on the Bulldogs seemed like an opportunity to flourish but he had a slow start but picked up in December. He still has next season on the Bulldogs to show he has what it takes for at least the AHL.
Following our loan OHL prospect is
James Reimer the goalie of Red Deer Rebels, and our only WHL prospect. He had an okay season on a bad team. He has one season available in the WHL, and with
Pogge seemingly having the Marlies Job uncontested,
Reimer's future is unknown as of yet. I think he may be brought into the Marlies as a back up, or possibly used as trade abit as his stock is seemingly raising around the league.
Then there is NCAA North Dakota prospect
Matt Frattin who had a third line roster role in his freshmen year. He is suppose to have a tremendous upside but on the deep ND team he was given the job of energy guy and apparently excelled in it. The true value of this player though will only be determined I believe in the next two or three seasons.
Now for the only prospect we have in the Q.
Chris DiDomenico. He had a fantastic season last year, went undrafted into the Q and made it on the Sea Dogs on their maiden season, he turned some head last year, but this year he was leading the league in points for much of the season and shows fantastic leadership. He is a player i am very excited to see in later years. He is a fighter, defensive player, power play specialist, and a general offensive threat. He is playing at least another season in the Q, but I think next season we will hear a lot more about this guy.
Ranked #12 on our Prospect list is NCAA U. of Michigan prospect
Ben Winnett. He had very little offence playing on the fourth line in his freshman season, but is fast and in a great development program in Michigan. He was also on the top PK, and as a freshman on a team as deep at Michigan that is a fantastic outlook.
Then for NCAA Colorado,
Chad Rau. He is eligibly weak in the lower body, but was 22nd in the country for points 42 in 40 games. and has been consistently a top scorer in college. He will be in his final year in college next season and it will be interesting to see if he can make the jump into the AHL/NHL or if he will meander in the Euro leagues.
AHL prospect
John Mitchell continues to improve his offensive numbers in this his 3rd AHL season, though he is more of a defensive specialist. Some have him projected to be so much as a third liner on the big club and I could see him dancing around as a fringe guy going into next season, especially if we can shed some no trade garbage from our forward lines.
Then dropping down to 15th overall is prospect
Jeremy Williams. He had a rough start season this year, he is coming off of the knee injury of last season and constant almosts with the big league, Jeremy Williams seems to be a turning point that will end with him as Euro leaguer or NHL player next season. I hope for the later, as he has in him to be a fantastic offensive presence and a great leadership character.
Phil Oreskovic, he played well for the Marlies after
Stralman was called up, having a +14, and he uses his size effectively, he is a great shut down guy though he seems to lack the mobility to be effective in the NHL as of yet. Whether the potential is there or not I don't know but he is hard working and huge. So that should count for something.
Jurja Mikus out of Slovakia was a low draft pick that some think has the ability to be a sleeper pick that may be talked about in latter years. He did well at the World Juniors and is big, a little light, at 6'4", 198 Ibs. He has a dynamite of a shot and is thought to be able to make a jump into the AHL next season if he shows interest.
Korbinian Holzer is a German Elite prospect on the raise, when he was drafted in the 6th round two years ago not much was talked about him, but he is now one of the youngest players in the German Elite league, he is a deceptively effective hitter, and he is an okay offensive threat from the blue line though his bread and butter is his shut down capabilities which seem to have been the reason for his raising stalk. His speed plays much into his development and he seems difficult to get around.
The second last prospect I am going to mention now is
Viktor Stalberg LW NCAA prospect coming out of Vermont he lead the team in goals and had a strong season has the baggage to be a useful power forward with a defensive edge and he is gritty and quick and is projected to make large strides up this list.
Finishing the list as prospect #20 is AHL/NHL forward
Alex Foster. He had a bad first season with the Marlies and was said not even to be considered for the team this season he started in the ECHL and finished as one of the Marlies top forwards.
Foster is a great playmaking centre with the touch around the net to have him considered for a top six prospect on the Marlies this season.
This is the list from
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article...ts_spring2008/
these paragraphs are based on my own scouting around the AHL and OHL, and league stat pages and hockeysfuture.com reports which I have read very thoroughly over the last two days. What I like the most about this is almost all of these guys have projected NHL poetical except for guys like
Oreskovic.
I am currently producing a personal depth chart including prospects and players, right now I am comfortable with my knowledge of our defence, and am currently looking deeper into our forwards, especially the prospect levels developing from the NCAA where there seems a lot of promise. Hope you all enjoyed the read.
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