{"id":34712,"date":"2018-08-27T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T14:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=34712"},"modified":"2025-10-10T22:55:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T02:55:25","slug":"tsp-2018-nhl-organizational-prospect-rankings-top-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/08\/27\/tsp-2018-nhl-organizational-prospect-rankings-top-10\/","title":{"rendered":"TSP: 2018 NHL Organizational Prospect Rankings Top 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the 2018 Top Shelf Prospects series.\u00a0 As we go through the Summer of 2018 LWOH 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\u00a0you can find all the articles here<\/a>.\u00a0 Since we had an\u00a0extensive NHL Draft preview<\/a>, we will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2018 draft, as there have been no games since then, and our reports on them will not have changed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"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\u2019s draft;<\/em> their progress, and their chances of making the 2018-19 roster of the NHL team in question. We will also bring you one sleeper pick \u2013 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\u2019t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played (including playoff games) or is 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and we may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.<\/p>\n

2018 NHL Organizational Prospect Rankings (20-11)<\/h1>\n

After going through the top 10 prospects of every team in the NHL and giving full scouting reports, we will now be ranking each team’s prospect pools.<\/p>\n

Note: If you click on the team name, you will get a link to a full report on that team. \u00a0The snippets here are just a taste of the information available.<\/p>\n

For NHL Organizational Prospect Rankings 31-21, Click Here<\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

For NHL Organizational Prospect Rankings 20-11 Click Here<\/span><\/a>.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

10.) Vegas Golden Knights<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

In Cody Glass<\/strong>, Nick Suzuki<\/strong> and Erik Brannstrom<\/strong>, the Golden Knights have three blue-chip prospects. Defenceman Nicolas Hague\u00a0<\/strong>and winger Lucas Elvenes<\/strong> aren’t quite blue-chippers but are close to that status. One through five, the Golden Knights are almost as good as any other team. However, beyond that, the depth really falls off. Slava Demin<\/strong><\/a>, Ivan Morozov<\/strong>, Dylan Coghlan<\/strong>, and Ben Jones<\/strong> are prospects worth watching, but each comes with huge question marks. The lack of prospect depth is something that should be expected at this stage of the team’s development. There has been a lot of talk about last year’s expansion draft rules. One area they did not help the Golden Knights, was in building prospect depth. There is a real lack of prospects in the age 21-24 group on the team.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9.) Detroit Red Wings<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

A great draft sees the Wings add Filip Zadina<\/strong><\/a>, Joe Veleno<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Jonatan Berggren<\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0Jared McIsaac<\/a><\/strong>. Zadina is an NHL-ready sniper on the wing. He was fourth in our draft rankings. Veleno was ranked 12th and inexplicably fell to the bottom of the round. He projects as a two-way centre with excellent skating. We ranked McIsaac, a two-way defender with good size as another first-round prospect. Berggren is an industrious forward who lacks size but does not lack talent. We ranked him 33rd going into the draft. Overall, this draft was a major coup for the organization.<\/p>\n

2017 first-round pick Michael Rasmussen<\/strong> had a decent regular season. He absolutely exploded in the playoffs with 16 goals and 33 points in 14 games for Tri-City. The defence core features Filip Hronek<\/strong>, Dennis Cholowski<\/strong>,\u00a0Gustav Lindstrom<\/strong>, and\u00a0Vili Saarijarvi<\/strong>. Undrafted signee Joe Hicketts<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0continues to push for an NHL job. The Wings hope that Evgeny Svechnikov<\/a><\/strong> takes a step forward this year. He could step up and grab a top-nine spot on the NHL club. In goal,\u00a0Filip Larsson<\/strong> and\u00a0Keith Petruzelli\u00a0<\/strong>lead the way.\u00a0The Wings have built excellent depth in their system. They need to add a few more elite prospects before their rebuild will be truly successful. The team is well on their way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8.) Montreal Canadiens<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Canadiens issues at centre have been well-documented. They loaded up on centre prospects at the 2017 and 2018 drafts. While that may not provide immediate help, they are well-stocked going forward. Jesperi Kotkaniemi<\/strong><\/a> is an elite-level prospect. Ryan Poehling<\/strong> and Jacob Olofsson<\/strong><\/a> are just behind that. Depth comes from Joni Ikonen<\/strong>, Jake Evans<\/strong>, Cam Hillis<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0Allan McShane<\/a><\/strong>, and Cole Fonstad<\/strong><\/a>. If enough develop, some of these centres may be forced to the wing out of sheer depth.\u00a0Already on the wing are Nikita Scherbak<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Jesse Ylonen<\/a><\/strong>, and Will Bitten<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The defence features Victor Mete<\/a><\/strong> and Noah Juulsen<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0who should be big parts of the NHL team this year. We are higher on\u00a0Josh Brook\u00a0<\/strong>than most. He does everything well and could really develop. After a trade to Regina,\u00a0Cale Fleury\u00a0<\/strong>was able to show what he was capable of on a competitive team. The Habs are much stronger on the right side than the left. The issue could be eased if one of\u00a0Alexander Romanov<\/strong><\/a>, Jordan Harris<\/strong>,\u00a0Jarret Tyszka<\/strong>,\u00a0Michal Moravcik <\/strong>or David Sklenicka<\/strong> take a step forward this year. In goal, Cayden Primeau<\/strong> might have been the NCAA’s best goalie as an 18-year-old. AHL goalies\u00a0Charlie Lindgren<\/a><\/strong> and Michael McNiven<\/strong> also have potential. The key to the Habs system is their depth at all positions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7.) St. Louis Blues<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

In Robert Thomas<\/strong> and Jordan Kyrou<\/strong>, the Blues had two of the top players in the OHL last year. They both contributed in a big way to Team Canada’s gold at the World Juniors. Thomas was also the OHL playoff MVP. The team also has Klim Kostin<\/strong>. He is a very talented winger. German forward Dominik Bokk<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0rose up draft lists all year long. The Blues also have\u00a0Samuel Blais<\/a><\/strong>, Erik Foley<\/strong>, and Zach Sanford.<\/strong>\u00a0This gives them both high-end forward prospects and solid depth.<\/p>\n

The blue line is also very deep with a very good prospect in\u00a0Jake Walman<\/strong>\u00a0leading the way. The two-way defender had an up and down first pro season in the AHL. Former first-round pick\u00a0Jordan Schmaltz<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0should fight for a spot in training camp. 2018 second-round pick\u00a0Scott Perunovich<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0led Minnesota-Duluth to the NCAA championship. Other notable defenders are\u00a0Niko Mikkola<\/strong>,\u00a0David Noel<\/strong>, and\u00a0Mitch Reinke<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Goaltender Ville Husso<\/strong> is close to NHL ready, and one of the top goalie prospects in the world. The team has great depth in goal with Evan Fitzpatrick<\/strong>, David Opilka<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Jordan Binnington<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in the system.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6.) Philadelphia Flyers<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

Goaltender Carter Hart<\/strong> should be a future NHL star and solve the Flyers long-running goaltending issues. Anthony Stolarz<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Alex Lyon<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Felix Sandstrom<\/strong>\u00a0fill out the goaltending depth. Former undrafted free agent Philippe Myers<\/strong> was an absolute steal and is close to taking an NHL job. An injury will keep Samuel Morin<\/a><\/strong> on the sidelines to start the year, but he is also close to NHL ready. The two will eventually form a pair of twin towers on the Flyers blue line. Philadelphia added Adam Ginning<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the NHL Draft. He is another big defenceman.<\/p>\n

Up front, 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost<\/strong> won the OHL scoring title. This year’s first pick,\u00a0Joel Farabee<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was a first line forward on a strong US NTDP squad. With a second first rounder, the Flyers took centre Jay O’Brien<\/strong><\/a>. The high school forward didn’t see a lot of games against high-level competition but excelled every time he did. Collegiate forward Wade Allison<\/strong>\u00a0and OHL star Isaac Ratcliffe<\/strong> are future power wingers. Centre\u00a0Tanner Laczynski<\/strong> also had an excellent NCAA campaign. Immediate help comes in the form of Oskar Lindblom<\/a><\/strong> who got in 23 NHL games last year. Forward depth is the Flyers biggest strength.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5.) New York Islanders<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

The Islanders might have had the best draft of any NHL Team. They walked away with two of our top 10 ranked prospects in Oliver Wahlstrom<\/strong><\/a> and Noah Dobson<\/strong><\/a>. The team also snagged\u00a0Bode Wilde<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Ruslan Iskhakov<\/strong>,\u00a0Jakub Skarek<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Jake Pivonka<\/strong>, and\u00a0Blade Jenkins<\/strong><\/a>. Over the course of two days, they added high-end quality and depth to the system. Wahlstrom is a sniper on the wing. Dobson is an excellent two-way defender who led his team to the Memorial Cup. Wilde was a top defenceman for the US NTDP. Skarek was one of the top goalies in the 2018 draft. Overall, They received an A+ grade in our 2018 NHL Draft Grades.<\/p>\n

The group already included a top goalie prospect in Ilya Sorokin<\/strong>. Winger Kieffer Bellows<\/strong> broke records at the World Juniors. Meanwhile, Joshua Ho-Sang<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0continues to knock on the door of a full-time roster spot. Michael Dal Colle<\/a><\/strong> has been a disappointment after being taken fifth overall. He must turn that around soon or be left behind. Puck moving defencemen Devon Toews<\/strong> and Sebastian Aho<\/a><\/strong> are also close to making the squad on a full-time basis. Fellow puck movers\u00a0Mitchell Vande Sompel<\/strong> and David Quenneville\u00a0<\/strong>provide depth. They also have depth in goal with Linus Soderstrom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.) New York Rangers<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

In Lias Andersson<\/a><\/strong> and Filip Chytil<\/a><\/strong>, the Rangers have two high-end centre prospects who should be contributing at the NHL level soon. They added another high-end forward with Vitali Kravtsov<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0at the NHL draft. He set records for a teenager in the KHL playoffs. The team also added centre Brett Howden<\/strong> in a trade with Tampa. Depth forwards include\u00a0Ty Ronning<\/strong>,\u00a0Vinni Lettieri<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Boo\u00a0Nieves<\/a><\/strong>. The high-end forwards are here but depth can still be added.<\/p>\n

The Rangers are deep on the blueline where Libor Hajek<\/strong> is the feature attraction. The trade-deadline acquisition had a strong final season in the WHL. They also added Ryan Lindgren<\/strong>,\u00a0Rob O’Gara<\/a><\/strong>, and Yegor Rykov<\/strong>\u00a0in trades. They previously added\u00a0Neal Pionk<\/a><\/strong> and John Gilmour<\/a><\/strong> as undrafted free agents. Both defenders contributed to the club last season. The draft brought K’Andre Miller<\/strong><\/a> and Nils Lundkvist<\/strong><\/a>. The team also has a top goalie prospect in\u00a0Igor Shestyorkin<\/strong>. Further down the depth chart Alexandar Georgiev<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Adam Huska<\/strong>,\u00a0Olof Lindbom<\/strong>, and\u00a0Brandon Halverson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0provide plenty of competition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.) Carolina Hurricanes<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

Second overall selection Andrei Svechnikov<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and 2017 first-round pick Martin Necas<\/a><\/strong> are elite level talents. The Hurricanes hope that they can find chemistry together. Winger Valentin Zykov<\/a><\/strong> and centre\u00a0Janne Kuokkanen<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>look close to NHL ready. Other solid forward prospects include Warren Foegele<\/a><\/strong>, Julien Gauthier<\/strong>, Nicolas Roy<\/a><\/strong>, Morgan Geekie<\/strong>, Lucas Wallmark<\/a><\/strong>, Jack Drury<\/strong>,\u00a0Aleksi Saarela<\/strong>,\u00a0Stelio Mattheos<\/strong>,\u00a0David Cotton<\/strong>,\u00a0Cliff Pu<\/strong>, and\u00a0Eetu Luostarinen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On the blue line, Jake Bean<\/strong> could be an outstanding offensive defenceman. He is another elite level prospect. Fellow defender\u00a0Adam Fox<\/strong>\u00a0also moves the puck extremely well. Defenders Roland McKeown<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Luke Martin<\/strong> also have NHL potential.\u00a0Trevor Carrick<\/a><\/strong> and\u00a0Michael Fora<\/strong>\u00a0are further down the depth chart. The Hurricanes don’t have a true top-end goalie prospect but\u00a0Callum Booth<\/strong>,\u00a0Jeremy Hellvig<\/strong>, and\u00a0Alex Nedeljkovic<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0are decent projects.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.) Vancouver Canucks<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

2017 first-round pick Elias Pettersson<\/strong>\u00a0had the best season of any drafted prospect not in the NHL last year. He won nearly everything he could possibly win in Sweden. First-round pick Quinn Hughes<\/strong><\/a> was ranked third on our draft board. His skating and offensive game are special. Thatcher Demko<\/a><\/strong> is a top goalie prospect, who could push for an NHL job very soon. After a disappointing 2016-17, Olli Juolevi<\/strong> bounced back with a strong season in Finland. He would likely make the Canucks out of camp if not for an injury that will keep him out of the lineup early in the year. Jonathan Dahlen<\/strong> was acquired in a steal of a trade with Ottawa. He had a huge year in the Allsvenskan. Goalie Michael DiPietro<\/strong> was one of the best in the OHL. He gives the Canucks an incredible six elite-level prospects.<\/p>\n

Just below that level, the Canucks also have forward\u00a0Adam Gaudette<\/a><\/strong>, who was one of the best players in the NCAA last year. In the WHL, Kole Lind<\/strong> had 95 points in 58 games for the Kelowna Rockets. Power winger Jonah Gadjovich<\/strong> had some injury issues. He still put up 48 points in 42 games in the OHL. Other forward prospects include Petrus Palmu<\/strong>, Tyler Madden<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Artem Manukyan<\/strong>, and\u00a0Lukas Jasek<\/strong>. The Canucks blueline depth includes Jett Woo<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Guillaume Brisebois<\/strong>,\u00a0and\u00a0Ashton Sautner<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.) Buffalo Sabres<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

In Rasmus Dahlin<\/strong><\/a>, the Sabres drafted a generational level talent. He is the best 18-year-old defenseman that we can remember. He is the top prospect in all of hockey. Defenceman Brendan Guhle<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>proved he is NHL-ready last year. The team also added Mattias Samuelsson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in the second round of the NHL Draft. Further down the depth chart\u00a0Will Borgen<\/strong>, Jacob Bryson<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Casey Fitzgerald<\/strong> are solid prospects. The Sabres cleared the decks in goal, leaving room for Linus Ullmark<\/a><\/strong> to claim an NHL spot. Finnish goalie\u00a0Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen<\/strong> is further away but progressing nicely.<\/p>\n

They also have 2017 first-round pick Casey Mittelstadt<\/a><\/strong> who should be the team’s second line centre this season. He is another elite level talent\u00a0and a\u00a0top-10 prospect in the world. Sniper Tage Thompson<\/a><\/strong> was added in a trade with St. Louis. Winger Alexander Nylander<\/a><\/strong> is very talented\u00a0but has struggled as a teenager in the AHL. He needs to take a step forward this year. Centres Rasmus Asplund<\/strong> and Marcus Davidsson<\/strong> are legitimate prospects with two-way games. Swedish winger\u00a0Victor Olofsson<\/strong> was the SHL’s leading goal scorer last year.\u00a0Nicholas Baptiste<\/a><\/strong> and\u00a0C.J. Smith<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0are further down the depth chart but can contribute at the NHL level.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/h4>\n

MONTREAL, QC – JANUARY 05: Rasmus Dahlin #8 of Team Sweden skates the puck during the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship bronze medal game against Team Russia at the Bell Centre on January 5, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team Russia defeated Team Sweden 2-1 in overtime and win the bronze medal. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the 2018 Top Shelf Prospects series.\u00a0 As we go through the Summer of 2018 LWOH 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\u00a0you can find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3462,309],"tags":[182,136,95,152,491,48,475,126,2148,39,298,158,961],"class_list":["post-34712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nhl-prospects","category-nhl-top-prospects","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-carolina-hurricanes","tag-detroit-red-wings","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl-prospects","tag-philadelphia-flyers","tag-scouting-reports","tag-st-louis-blues","tag-top-shelf-prospects","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-vegas-golden-knights"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475799,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34712\/revisions\/475799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}