Scott Mayfield: #19 on the Islanders Top 25 Under 25

Scott Mayfield is a promising prospect well-liked by many an Islanders fan, but he's still a young defenseman who's completed just one season in the NCAA, so the degree of enthusiasm for his combo of size and skill is tempered by recognition of his youth.

That mix of promise with caution characterizes most of the members of the lower quarter of our Top 25 Islanders Under 25 list. But as you can see in the vote table below, our panel was divided into at least two separate groups over where Mayfield ranked as of May 2012.

Somewhat of a late bloomer, Mayfield shows current draft-watchers why the #34 overall selection isn't too bad to have. Immediately people notice his 6'4", 200 lb. frame and the smooth skating that goes with it. Though skilled, he's not a huge offensive dynamo, but as a freshman at Denver University he already logged important minutes (as well as 12 points in 42 games, and a team high 76 PIM).

How We Voted

Panelists: CanadianIslesLifer making a return appearance, as well as most of the authors at LHH.

Note: For those LHH readers who sent their own selections in, JPinVA has them summarized in this FanPost. That one will be fun to measure against our panelists' results.

Mayfield impressed at prospect development camp with the Isles last summer and also earned an invite to the USA junior evaluation camp, though he didn't win a spot on the WJC team.

As a righty shot with size the Islanders lack on the blueline, his profile is tantalizing. If everything proceeds developmentally, he could be a key piece in the future along with fellow DU product Matt Donovan. As the "low" vote on this one I rate his future highly, but I also weigh my Top25U25 votes more toward present ability rather than potential performance or current trade value.

Oh, and yes he's on Twitter at @ScottMayfield2, but don't be a creeper, okay?

Related Links

You can see which other prospects just missed our top 25 in this preview post. Others:

• At #25 was 2011 pick John Persson
• #24 saw another Swede from 2011, Johan Sundstrom
• At #23, the irritant known as Justin DiBenedetto
• #22: Kirill Petrov, with an asterisk
• #21: Brenden Kichton, Western late bloomer
• #20: Anders Lee, loophole guy?
• Our September 2011 25U25 Poll Results

Disclaimer You'll See with Each 25U25 Post

To reflect the variety of ways you can place value on prospects with uncertain futures, we brought a range of philosophies to this: Some voters valued present talent/maturity more, some valued future potential more. All are averaged with the intent of capturing a moment in time in the evolution of the Islanders prospect pipeline.