Parsing Hockey's Future's Islanders Top 20 Prospects Spring Edition

I mostly agree with your assesment but disagree with your opinion that Ness has had a poor year with the Gophers. While he is not scoring at the pace many have expected and his numbers are down from his freshman year; he’s looked good defensively in the games I’ve seen, has gotten a good amount of ice time and his numbers aren’t terrible considering the gophers have been a pretty low scoring team all year. Anyones assist numbers would be down if there forwards aren’t finishing. Donovan has had the better year offensivly but I really haven’t seen him play enough to know anymore about his game except his numbers. I’ve seen Kessel play and have been impressed and think he should of been higher on the list.

at least on the Islanders, what I find even more confusing that the obvious mistake filled rankings is the grades given most players. De Haan for example was given a 7.5D which means (the 7.5) he is forecasted to be a #3-4 defenseman and (D) unlikely to reach potential might drop three ratings. Seriously is that what they think of him, I mean I can see the doubt (only because of his weight/size) but unlikely no way, and a #3-4 nope he’s going to be a #1-2 or a bust.

The Trevor Smith ranking is moronic, as is the Schremp and McDonald (hello have you watch the Islanders at all this year) Tambelli deserved to be on the list (or should I say just missing it along with Smith) more.

As and Islander fan its bad enough I feel second class in my own city, does the whole hockey community have to disrespect us by not doing proper research, I mean they ranked us 19th over all, and the Rangers 3rd, hell they ranked Toronto 18th, I know our prospect are far deeper than both.

I’ve never been enamored with HockeysFuture (and when they called out Ryan Miller for allow two Crosby goals in the Gold Medal game … uh what?), I think they just take a bunch of names and try to sort them out to get website hits. It’s a bit of a joke. I find it very hard to argue with anything you’ve said, and it’s good to see that someone else has been paying attention to Ridderwall’s exploits.

I’m curious to know what they think about players like Ridderwall, or Jared Spurgeon, Jyri Niemi and the like. Things like this are much more easily handled by people that follow the team, and/or the junior/international affiliates of these players, where they can actually see the play of each prospect, rather than taking a shot in the dark and writing it down.

I think the list is poorly researched and pretty half-assed. But you have to remember that the writers for the Hockeys Future site itself are NOT scouts or professionals or even particularly knowledgable regarding the team about which they write. Its just a site for aspiring future journalists to get some practice. Honestly, I trust you guys more than I trust them. And to be objective and fair, I think thre are people on the HF boards who know a lot more about the teams than the writers do. Youd think that supposed future sports journalists would have the smarts to check around and, oh I dont know, actually research the most recent information on the players they are talking about, but- nope.

Well I’m not the only one that thinks Ness should leave the Gophers – Botta did an article on Ness this evening. After this article and the stuff I’ve heard out of Minnesota it seems like it’s not a question of if he will leave but whether he will see time in Bridgeport this season or not.

I think the problem is continuity, at least for the Islanders section. They seem to be looking for an author for the Isles HF section every 6-10 months. So if your new, I guess you just take the already out of date list and plug in names as you remove the graduates. Not that I’m making an excuse for them as I think HF is pretty much a joke outside of looking up info on this years or next years draft prospects.

Great post H&F

Islander Futures
 2010-11 should bring them closer to being “ready”. That means that they hopefully will NOT have their first or second round picks in the NHL, and atop this list. You will have some graduating, and some aging off. The only remnants in the top 10 should be, Hamonic, deHaan, Petrov(?), Rhett and Gregoire. Wouldn’t it be funny if Martin is a F/T NHLer before he ever became a top 20 prospect.
1. de Haan… signs with the Isles and gets at least 40 AHL games. Unless they sign a top puck mover he is on the Isles short list should Streit, Hillen or Andy Mac go down next year.
2. Joensuu… Jesse has earned a realistic NHL shot. That means he comes into camp with a spot that’s his to lose. If they keep bergy beyond draft day he will be on the roster, and I hope it shakes out that way. Moulson has solidified a top two LW spot. I think we all want the Isles to have Martin in the mix as well… so that will leave Jesse battling Tambellini and a possible UFA for TOI at LW. I have a feeling Garth will allow the competition to keep him out of the UFA-LW market(that means add Smith to the competition). He also has Bailey if they find a C to take away those precious minutes.
3. Hamonic, in my estimation is slightly above deHaan on the depth chart. Not becasue he is better, but because they need his defensive ability (especially on the PK) more than they need deHaan’s playmaking ability. Both are needed, but with Streit there, and Hillen developing into one of the better puck movers, Hamonic’s AHL stay should be shorter than deHaan’s.
4. Petrov… why do I see this as much ado about nothing. If he comes in over the summer and has a good camp… AND PLAYS BY THE RULES (which means he takes a spot in BP ratherr than demanding NHL time, then we can start talking about him. So far, we’ve only seen him playing against kids… and have HEARD about his potential. I really want to see what he does when his time and space are taken away… does he FIGHT and PUSH or does he run and hide… until we see that he’s a question mark.
5. MacDonald, is only a “prospect” until he gets healthy and he fulfills his games played qualification. Andy is an NHLer.
6. Schremp… see Andy Mac.
7. Smith might lose the qualification by age.
8. Gregoire… devoid of hype[that I have seen] might be a lot higher on this list next year. I finally got to see him play yesterday (replayed game). I’d say (with limited data) that if he stays in school he would travel the same path as Rhett. He might need some size to break into what looks like the only position(LW) on the ISLES that is GROWING exponentially.
9. Rhett… AHL next year… and pushing very hard by the end of the season to be at the top of the call-up list. S/B a roster mainstay (ala Hunter) by 2012-13. If there is a long term injury in camp at RW Rhett may be off the list by March 2011.
10. Ness… let’s hope that his invisibility (in my opinion) was due to Lucia, and not Aaron Ness. I just don’t see it with him. Too many undersized guys to leapfrog, and too many bigger stronger defensemen that fill more immediate needs. But it looks like we’ll see him as a professional next year, either with Utah or Bridgeport… I’m guessing Utah. I really don’t see Ness as a top 10 prospect anymore… he’s going to have to reprove that designation.

4. Petrov… why do I see this as much ado about nothing

the short answer? at the 2008 draft, he was #2 in central scoutings euro rankings
and ISS had him overall at 17 on draft week – that’s why he’s a top prospect and hyped

bailey 10 (9th overall)
petrov 17(73rd)
trevino 26 (36th)
toews 27 (66th)
ness 29 (40th)

mighty praise was given to the isles for this draft… still yet to be determined though

Are you saying the Islanders should of taken Filatov? All I was saying was that by trading down and stockpiling picks in 08 Garth picked five players who were ranked by ISS as first round talent. I agree that it is yet to be determined the wisdom of doing so, although so far I am very happy with Bailey and not at all sold on Filatov yet. As far as Petrov, its not like we wasted a first or second round pick on him and if we ever get him to North America he could still develop into a scoring threat at the NHL level.