Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Welcome to the 2021 Top Shelf Hockey Prospects series.  As we go through the Summer of 2021 LWOS will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. We 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 2021 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed.

What we will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2021-22 roster of the NHL team in question. We 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 we pick as our 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 (including playoff games) for a skater, 30 games played for a goaltender or have reached the age of 25. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances. 

Hockey Prospects

Links will be added as the articles are released.

2021 TOP SHELF HOCKEY PROSPECTS

2021 NHL Entry Draft Headquarters

2022 NHL Draft Early Rankings

Early Look (summer 2021)
Part Two (6-10)
Part Three (11-15)

NHL Organizational Rankings Summer 2021

31-21 Rankings
20-11 Rankings
10-1 Rankings

2021 Top 100 NHL Affiliated Prospects

100-81 Rankings
80-61 Rankings
60-41 Rankings
40-21 Rankings
Top 20 Rankings

2021 Top Shelf Prospects Team Reviews

Western Conference

Pacific Division Prospects

Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Kraken
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights

Central Division Prospects

Arizona Coyotes
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators
Minnesota Wild
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division Prospects

Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division Prospects

Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals