Monday, January 15, 2018

My Winter 2018 Flyers Top 25 Under 25 Ballot



For reference, here's where I landed this past summer:
1. Sean Couturier
2. Ivan Provorov
3. Shayne Gostisbehere
4. Travis Konecny
5. Scott Laughton
6. Travis Sanheim
7. Sam Morin
8. Phil Myers
9. Robert Hagg
10. Oskar Lindblom
11. Nolan Patrick
12. Mike Vecchione
13. Taylor Leier
14. Mikhail Vorobyov
15. Radel Fazleev
16. German Rubtsov
17. Nicolas Aube-Kubel
18. Mark Friedman
19. Wade Allison
20. Pascal Laberge
21. Isaac Ratcliffe
22. Anthony Stolarz
23. Alex Lyon
24. Carter Hart
25. Felix Sandstrom
26. David Kase
27. Kirill Ustimenko
28. Morgan Frost

I also cheated and made a second one based on slightly different criteria:
1. Ivan Provorov
2. Sean Couturier
3. Shayne Gostisbehere
4. Nolan Patrick
5. Travis Konecny
6. Oskar Lindblom
7. Travis Sanheim
8. Sam Morin
9. Robert Hagg
10. Philippe Myers
11. Scott Laughton
12. Carter Hart
13. Felix Sandstrom
14. Taylor Leier
15. Mike Vecchione
16. Wade Allison
17. Isaac Ratcliffe
18. German Rubtsov
19. Nicolas Aube-Kubel
20. Anthony Stolarz
21. Pascal Laberge
22. Mikhail Vorobyov
23. Morgan Frost
24. Matt Strome
25. Alex Lyon

I was at least a little bit wrong on Lindblom and Allison, and I was SUPER fucking wrong on Frost. But, overall, I don't hate that list. We'll lose Couturier and Lyon to the age limit this time around, so let's jump right in.

1. Ivan Provorov
2. Shayne Gostisbehere
These two are going to anchor the blueline for a very long time. Perhaps more importantly, though, the fact that the front office hit home runs with this pair means the rest of the blueline prospect pool is expendable if the right deal comes along. We can afford to lose Hagg, Morin, Myers, or even (gulp) Sanheim to improve the team in other areas if we need it. Although that might not even be necessary because....

3. Nolan Patrick
4. Travis Konecny
5. Scott Laughton
6. Oskar Lindblom
7. Morgan Frost
8. Wade Allison...the Flyers have a SHIT TON of high-end forward prospects. That group of six projects to be a top-six center, a top-six winger, a middle-six center, a middle-six winger, and two additional pieces that could range from elite, All-Star caliber talents to "just okay" NHLers. Consider the fact that Taylor Leier was once our second-best forward prospect, and I'm certainly okay with this upgrade. 

9. Carter Hart
For a few editions of this list, there was a legitimate battle for the spot of Top Goalie Prospect between Hart, Felix Sandstrom, Anthony Stolarz, and maybe even Alex Lyon. That competition has ended, and Carter Hart walked out of the ring after Stone Cold Stunnering everyone in his path. The only reason I don't put him right behind Provorov-Gostisbehere-Patrick-Konecny is because goalies are weird. 

10. Travis Sanheim
11. Phil Myers
12. Robert Hagg
13. Sam Morin
I rank the second tier of d-man prospects like this, though I would understand if your ordering of the four was different. Sanheim is the best and most complete, and I think the most frustrating part of this season so far is the coaching staff's criminal misuse of him. I prefer Myers next because of his handedness and his complete skill set. Hagg obviously has the trust of the coaches, which bumps him above Morin in my book. Though, to reference what I said in the Provorov/Ghost paragraph, if we had to trade a blueliner I'd be happiest to see Hagg go. 

12. Mike Vecchione
13. Taylor Leier
14. Mikhail Vorobyev
15. German Rubtsov
16. Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Simply put, I have no doubt that any of this group of five could slot into one of Scott Laughton's wing spots on a nightly basis and at least hold their own at the NHL level. That Valtteri Filppula, Jori Lehtera, and Dale Weise combine to make more than $12 million this season makes me want to die. 

17. Anthony Stolarz
18. Felix Sandstrom
I'm putting the goalies ahead of the rest of the babies, just because goalies are weird. Stolarz and Sandstrom have both fallen off the radar screen due to injuries and due to Carter Hart's otherworldly performance, but they are both still very highly-rated prospects. I dread the day we trade them both, end up getting nothing in return, and then have to watch them anchor their new teams in the Stanley Cup Final. 

19. Mark Friedman
The forgotten member of the defensive prospects, it's a real credit to the organization that he is this far down the list. He's small but that has yet to stop him, and I imagine he'll see time as an injury call-up once Myers and Morin make the jump from the AHL to the NHL rotation. 

20. Tyrell Goulbourne
He's on the NHL team already, so that's good? To be honest I completely forgot about him until I looked up the salary figures for the three overpaid vets. This 20 spot feels right for him.

21. Isaac Ratcliffe
22. Radel Fazleev
23. Matt Strome
24. Pascal Laberge
I am sad to see Laberge fall off as much as he has. He was primed to have a Frost-like breakout season, and then his skull was obliterated on a cheapshot and he hasn't been the same since. Concussions are wonky, and you never know how an individual brain is going to respond. But here's hoping that he stabilizes and gets back to the high-end prospect he was two years ago. 

25. Kirill Ustimenko
He was the Rinaldo pick, so he's going to lock up this 25th spot until his 25th birthday in January 2024.

Players I left off/completely forgot about:
  • Terrance Amorosa - No qualms. 
  • Cole Bardreau - Not a big deal. 
  • David Bernhardt - Feels like he's probably in the 25-30 range. 
  • Connor Bunnaman - Damn, should have had him in that 20-24 group of forwards.
  • Noah Cates - He's really young, right?
  • David Drake - No qualms. 
  • Ivan Fedotov - We have too many goalies. 
  • Linus Hogberg - He continued the annual tradition of WJC coaches under-utilizing Flyers prospects, which sadly probably hurt my opinion of him. 
  • Wyatt Kalynuk - No qualms. 
  • David Kase - He's another guy that probably belongs in that last tier of forwards.
  • Tanner Laczynski - Shit. He's probably done enough to fall just behind that Vecchione-Rubtsov tier. 
  • Ollie Lycksell - Good try BSH, that's a fake name. 
  • Cooper Marody - Whoops! Toss him in the Ratcliff-Strome range.
  • Danick Marter - Crap, I did a terrible job. He's in that 12-16 range for sure. 
  • Anthony Salinitri - Meh, no qualms. 
  • Maksim Sushko - I literally just followed him on Twitter this morning because I like him so much. He's gotta go in that 20-ish range. 
  • Carsen Twarynski - We have too many damn prospects. 
  • Brendan Warren - No qualms. 
  • Reese Willcox - No qualms. 
My Final Corrected Updated Ranking:
1. Ivan Provorov
2. Shayne Gostisbehere
3. Nolan Patrick
4. Travis Konecny
5. Scott Laughton
6. Oskar Lindblom
7. Morgan Frost
8. Wade Allison
9. Carter Hart
10. Travis Sanheim
11. Phil Myers
12. Robert Hagg
13. Sam Morin
14. Danick Martel
15. Mike Vecchione
16. Taylor Leier
17. Mikhail Vorobyev
18. German Rubtsov
19. Nicolas Aube-Kubel
20. Tanner Laczynski
21. Anthony Stolarz
22. Felix Sandstrom
23. Mark Friedman
24. Maksim Sushko
25. Isaac Ratcliffe
Honorable Mention (in order from 26-33)
Tyrell Goulbourne
Radel Fazleev
Connor Bunnaman
Matt Strome
David Kase
Pascal Laberge
Cooper Marody
Kirill Ustimenko