Welcome to the second of four WHL Future Watches! Today we look at the top prospects of the Central Division’s six squads. The ten or fewer prospects were hand picked by yours truly, and the qualification is that they must be 23 years of age or younger. The prospects are in no particular order.
DETROIT COUGARS
Stefan Matteau
Jonas Brodin
Calvin de Haan
Darnell Nurse
Duncan Siemens
Oscar Klefbom
Jamie Oleksiak
Mirco Mueller
Andre Pettersson
Tomas Vincour
ANALYSIS
Oh great, another team with nothing in goal. There’s also very little up front with AHLer Andre Pettersson (playing for Binghamton) and Tomas Vincour, who is currently playing for the KHL club Ak Bars Kazan. Matteau has solid upside, but his attitude is a problem after bolting his QMJHL team last playoffs. The real gems are on defense, with big names like Nurse, de Haan, Oleksiak, and Mueller all having solid upside. But the real gem is Jonas Brodin, the slick-skating Swede.
STRENGTHS: Mobile, solid defensemen
WEAKNESSES: No goaltending prospects and no depth at forward
Overall analysis: Lack of activity has crippled this team up front, but their defensemen in training are very, very good.
NIAGARA ICEDOGS
Sean Couturier
Nathan MacKinnon
Brayden Schenn
Cody Eakin
Jaden Schwartz
Mikael Granlund
Charlie Coyle
Ryan Murray
Hampus Lindholm
Jacob Markstrom
ANALYSIS
Holy smokes, is this system stacked. It’s so stacked that there was no room to put Jake Allen, Marco Scandella, Mike Sgarbossa or Sami AittoKallio. This team has a little bit of everything. Franchise forward? MacKinnon’s there. Franchise defenseman? Ryan Murray has you covered. Franchise goaltender? Jacob Markstrom says hi. There is depth and quality at every position, and this list doesn’t include WHL-experienced guys like Adam Henrique, Tyler Seguin, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Cody Hodgson, and Evander Kane.
STRENGTHS: High end talent at all positions
WEAKNESSES: Is too much talent a problem?
Overall analysis: Jon Lemoine’s rebuild is going extremely well. The future for the IceDogs is so bright, I need sunglasses.
OTTAWA POLAR BEARS
Robin Lehner
Chris Brown
Mika Zibanejad
Matt Puempel
Dmitrij Jaskin
Mark Stone
Matt Tennyson
Eric Gelinas
Nikita Filatov
ANALYSIS
Robin Lehner has solidified himself as Craig Anderson’s backup this season and could earn the starting role within the next two years. Up front you have some interesting prospects. Zibanejad has solid two-way upside, as does Brown. Dmitrij Jaskin has a terrific release but is a subpar skater. Matt Puempel still needs to fill out and, like Jaskin, work on his skating. Filatov was once a hyped up prospect, but currently plays for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL and looks unlikely to return to North America. Stone is talented and hard-working with a high hockey IQ, but like Puempel and Jaskin can’t really skate well. Tennyson and Gelinas are interesting defensive prospects.
STRENGTHS: Hard working, two way wingers
WEAKNESSES: Depth on defense
Overall analysis: Despite trading away the third overall pick this year, the Polar Bears have a bright future. If guys like Stone, Jaskin, and Puempel can fill out and improve their skating, watch out.
SCRANTON THUNDERBOLTS
Seth Jones
Vladimir Tarasenko
Elias Lindholm
Alexander Wennberg
Richard Panik
Dmitry Orlov
Radko Gudas
Jacob Trouba
Philipp Grubauer
Taylor Beck
ANALYSIS
What’s interesting is that when GM Justin Fox took over, none of these guys were around. That was only before the 2012 Draft. Trouba is a big, slick skating defenseman who hits hard and has a bomb of a shot. Jones is similar, but has more offensive flair, and is generally better than Trouba. Fox believes Jones could have the potential to be the best American d-man ever. Orlov was considered a major reach pick, but has great all-around upside and has WHL experience. Gudas is a punishing physical defenseman similar in mold to Darius Kasparaitis. Up front, there’s a little bit of everything. Panik and Beck bring big bodied goal scorers, with Beck needing work with his skating and Panik with his defense. Lindholm is a very skilled two-way center, as is Wennberg who has already gained WHL experience this year. Tarasenko is an amazing offensive force who can WOW you with his moves. To round out the improving prospect pool, Grubauer has a winning pedigree and has already seen two WHL starts this season.
STRENGTHS: Size and skill on forward and defense
WEAKNESSES: Depth at right wing
Overall analysis: Justin Fox’s bold rebuild project is progressing nicely, despite some reach picks. Lots of upside at all positions.
TORONTO STALLIONS
Brendan Gaunce
Tyler Johnson
Andrew Shaw
ANALYSIS
That was one short list. With an aging pro roster, this team could be in trouble due to lack of depth. Gaunce is a forward with good two-way upside, and was recently dealt to Erie in a huge OHL trade. Johnson was AHL MVP last year and has amazing skill, but is very small. Shaw is an agitator and nothing more.
STRENGTHS: Grit
WEAKNESSES: Depth/high-end potential
Overall analysis: Stallions are going to need to draft well in the next couple of years, because there’s not much in the system.
WATERLOO LUNATICS
Alex Galchenyuk
Mike Matheson
Teemu Hartikainen
Phillip Danault
Tim Erixon
Evgeny Grachev
ANALYSIS
Hartikainen and Grachev are currently in the KHL, Haritkainen with Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Grachev with Admiral Vladivostok. Galchenyuk is incredibly skilled and in addition to high level scoring will also be a strong defensive forward. Erixon has had attitude problems in the past but beyond that has strong upside. Matheson is in his second year at Boston College but has said he likely won’t stay all four years. Danault is a good skater and hard worker, but isn’t really that skilled.
STRENGTHS: Mobile defensemen
WEAKNESSES: Lack of depth
Overall analysis: Uh oh. There’s not much in the system and on the pro roster I only count 5 guys under 30, and one’s the third string goalie. Again…uh oh.
The Thundercloud 