Welcome to the 2016 edition of “Top Shelf Hockey Prospects”. As we go through the Summer of 2016 I will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. I will go team by team through the NHL bringing you a look at each Teams Top Prospects. I will be following the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no traded draft picks) and you can find all the articles here. Since we had an extensive NHL Draft preview, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2016 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed.
What I will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at hockey prospects who were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2016-17 roster of the NHL team in question. I will also bring you one sleeper pick – a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as my dark horse to make the NHL. For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.
Links will be added as the articles are released.
2016 TOP SHELF PROSPECTS
NHL PROSPECT RANKINGS TOP 100
Ranks 100-76
Rankings 75-51
Rankings 50-26
Rankings 25-1
NHL Organizational Rankings Summer 2016
Ranks 30-21
Ranks 20-11
Ranks 10-1
2017 NHL Draft Grades, Summer Look
Western Conference
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators
Minnesota Wild
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals
2016-17 CHL PREVIEWS
QMJHL Maritime Division Preview
QMJHL East Division Preview
QMJHL West Division Preview
OHL East Division Preview
OHL Central Division Preview
OHL Mid-West Division Preview
OHL West Division Preview
WHL East Division Preview
WHL Central Division Preview
WHL B.C. Division Preview
WHL U.S. Division Preview