1. Cossa. Cossa is #1 bc of what he can become - A four-series-winner. A guy who can be so dominant, he can take the 2nd, or 3rd, or even 4th best team in the playoffs, and just walk them to Stanley Cup presentation carpet. 6'6" or 6'7", 19yrs old, and barely coordinated enough to ride a bicycle (and without great coaching, it seems).. and he already appears to be a solid AHL level goalie. Just looking at him...he's built more like an NFL TE, or an NBA PF; not an NBA wing...he look like he's probably, just naturally, end up weighing 240-260lbs without much fat at all. That is a big, wide and freakishly athletic man in net. He seems to absolutely have the right head for this.. he's going to put in all the work that's necessary, he's going to take coaching, he's going to do everything in his power to reach his potential. And he just seems to have that gamers mentality, that focus, competitiveness, resiliance. Husso's here for 3yrs, and Cossa can primarily play in the AHL for all 3 of those yrs (unless he just develops too quickly). Once he just learns how to play this game...how to see it, anticipate it, read it, position himself, his pads, how to play this situation, that...it's scary how good he could be. I think Yzerman's going to ensure that gets all the coaching, training and experience he needs to reach his potential as well. Maybe he ends up just being average, or good. But he could be generational.
2. Edvinsson. He's built like more of an NFL WR or NBA wing...but he's still, just naturally...going to end up walking around at 6'6" or 6'7" and 220-240lbs. And that's important to mention first, because he's not a nice kid. He's mean. And he wants to play a physical game. He just hasn't had the weight to do it. That's going to change soon...and it's really going to change his game. All the skating skill in the world. All the puck skill in the world. Pretty good shooting ability. He just needs this yr (as Seider did) to be the #1 defenseman in a man's league. To lead the first pair, the first PP, the first PK. To learn how to position himself in this situation and that, how to play this situation and that, when to take risks, when to be patient, etc. He's smart, and he's got the right mentality...he'll work hard and take coaching. Will he be as good as Seider? Maybe not. But Seider's already the 2nd most valuable defender in the league behind Makar.. and Edvinsson could definitely round out the top-3. I think he's ultimately a 2nd team All-NHL level player. He and Seider should lead our first two pairs for a decade. Primarily in the AHL this yr, NHL 2nd pair next (hopefully playing with Hronek's replacement).
3. Kasper. The odds of Kasper being a Stanley Cup-caliber top-6 forward are very high. He's going to be a really good defensive forward, for sure, with his size, strength, skating and tenacity; could maybe even be a PK1. As a center, he seems to be pretty solid controlling the puck, making smart passes, and burying his chances. As a wing he could also very much be a Bertuzzi-like go into the corners to retrieve the puck and cause havoc in front of the net type. If he Raymond/Soderbloms his way onto the team next yr, great. If he spends a yr in the AHL, great.
4. Buchelnikov. If you dug up Al Arbour and showed him a half hour of Luke Raymond SHL tape and a half hour of Buchelnikov tape...are you sure he'd say Raymond was the better prospect? I'm not. Buchelnikov looks to me to have EVERYTHING it takes to be a superstar RH winger in the NHL. Speed, puck skill, shot, smarts...it's all there besides big power forward size. They need to get him out of Russia and into the AHL asap. He could be a darkhorse candidate to make the Red Wings out of camp, but most likely needs a yr in GR to work out his defensive game.
5. Wallinder doesn't have the freaky "it" factors of Seider or Edvinsson. But I, frankly, Expect him to be a Stanley Cup-quality top-4 D. And I think that's going to become a more popular opinion over the next 2 seasons. He's set to have his breakout star #1 SHL Dman season this yr. He'll have his #1 AHL Dman season next yr. And he's going to look a lot different in training camp the next yr than he does now. Great size.. 6'4" or 6'5", and I think he'll actually end up being the most muscular of he, Seider and Edvinsson. His skating's already right there with Seider and Edvinsson. And his puck game's already pretty damned good. Next two yrs as the #1D in the SHL and AHL, he's going to learn a lot about positioning, reading, decision-making. And he's never going to need to be a top-4 point guard with Seider and Edvinsson here...but I think he'll be a guy who could eventually leave as a FA and be about 15 teams' #1D.
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STEPPING DOWN A LEVEL HERE
6. Mazur is next for me bc he seems almost guaranteed to be at least a solid NHL 3rd or 4th liner / PKer. Being RH helps his case too. Hopefully he moves to GR next yr. Could make the Wings after 1yr there. He'll get much bigger and stronger in the next 2yrs, a little faster, and a lot smarter. Is he a Bertuzzi-type who can play a similar game in the top-6, or a Maltby-type with more scoring potential. That'll be seen. But I think he'll be a Red Wing.
7a. Buium. He's a bit of a mystery to me, honestly; I haven't seen a ton of him, besides the two Frozen Four games. I do believe it was Yzerman himself's call to trade up and select him #36 ovr. He's 6'3" and already 220 or 230lbs, a real tank of a 19yr old. And Denver's coach really seems to repeatedly praise his intelligence. His skating, best-case scenario, is probably NHL average. That alone, I think sort of starts to point him to 3rd pair potential. He's got a ton of puck talent, of course.. but not a killer shot. Maybe he can develop into a real mean SOB, with a very high IQ, and a very efficient offensive game...ala Chiarot? Hopefully he's in GR nexr yr, where he'll need to be for at least two yrs.
7b. Anton Johansson. This guy reminds me a lot of a RH Wallinder. Super raw, but a really incredible athlete and skater at 6'4" or 6'5" with some obvious hand-eye/puck ability. He'll need this yr, next yr, and the next in the SHL before making the move to GR. I thought about rating him above Buium bc he's got better top-4 potential. But he's just got such a long ways to go development wise still.
9. Savage. Sort of like Mazur in that I feel very confident he can be a Stanley Cup quality 4th line center / PK1 guy. Never gonna be a big scorer. And maybe we resign Ras or Veleno to be our 4th center (behind Larkin, Kasper and Copp). But I do think that we have a Draper-like talent in Savage.
10-12. Al. Johansson/Sebrango/Viro. Similar to Savage. I'm quite confident all 3 of these guys will at least be solid 3rd pair NHL'ers. We'll just have to see what the depth ahead of them looks like.
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QUESTIONANBLE NHL-LEVEL PROSPECTS
-Dylan James. Everything sounds great. Mastrosimone, Hanas and Mazur all had almost identical prospect profiles. We'll see with him.
-Cross Hanas. Speaking of. Next couple yrs will be big for him in GR. Needs to establish himself as a 4th line PK1 NHL'er w scoring ability.
-Lombardi/Tyutyayev. Lots of raw offensive talent. Just have to wait and see how the rest of their games round out.. and how close they get.
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