Welcome to the third of four WHL Future Watches! Today we look at the top prospects of the Western 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.
CHICAGO GRIZZLIES
Mathew Dumba
Sean Monahan
Matt Hackett
Brett Connolly
Jeremy Morin
Brandon Pirri
Emerson Etem
Marcus Kruger
Jacob Josefson
Mattias Tedenby
ANALYSIS
The Grizzlies are a very weird team. I don’t quite know why. Kruger, Josefson, and Tedenby are all very speedy with okay offensive upside, but only Tedenby’s upside is potentially top 6 as Kruger and Josefson are more useful on the penalty kill. This prospect pool got a big boost with the recent acquisitions of Brandon Pirri, who won last year’s AHL scoring title on a bad team, and Emerson Etem, a speedy sniper who scored 61 goals in his last year of junior. Morin is more of a gritty forward (and ref-puncher), while Connolly is basically Etem with a better release but inferior speed. The three blue chips: the two-way center Monahan, who contributes a lot offensively especially on the power play; the mobile two-way defenseman Dumba, who can really lay a big hit; and the goaltender Hackett, who took Houston to the Calder Cup Finals in 2011.
STRENGTHS: Two-way forwards
WEAKNESSES: Depth defensively
Overall analysis: There’s lots of speed here, no doubt about that. But outside of Monahan, there’s no real gamebreaker. There should be more defensive depth, but this is actually a decent prospect pool.
MINNESOTA RINK RATS
Joey Hishon
Nino Niederreiter
Jason Zucker
Stefan Elliot
David Rundblad
Darcy Kuemper
ANALYSIS
Obviously, we’re continuing to exclude guys who have played a lot in the WHL,which rules out young stars Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Justin Faulk, and Cam Fowler. But this could be a very solid supporting cast for that core. Niederreiter and Zucker are guys who can really shoot the puck and have great hands. Hishon is a solid playmaker with leadership capabilities, having captained Owen Sound to the 2011 OHL championship. Elliot and Rundblad are extremely mobile defensemen who can move the puck. Kuemper is a big goaltender who makes key saves.
STRENGTHS: Quality of offensive prospects
WEAKNESSES: Depth at forward and defense
Overall analysis: With the core of Duchene, Landeskog, Faulk, and Fowler, the few guys listed here will be a terrific supporting cast. Although the Rink Rats should probably build some depth in the system.
NASHVILLE STAMPEDE
Derek Grant
Austin Watson
Curtis Lazar
ANALYSIS
Don’t let the short list fool you, the Stampede have some good young talent. The only problem is that they’re all playing in the WHL. Although I wouldn’t complain about Ryan McDonagh, Roman Josi, Travis Hamonic, and Slava Voynov. Watson and Lazar have solid two-way upside, but nothing game breaking, while Grant’s ceiling is a depth center.
STRENGTHS: Two-way upside
WEAKNESSES: Quality and depth
Overall analysis: The Stampede traded away two drafts two years ago to become competitive immediately, and although they have lots of young talent in the WHL, it really put a damper on their prospect pool.
SASKATCHEWAN DUGOUTS
Filip Forsberg
Brock Nelson
Vladislav Namestnikov
Magnus Paajarvi
Danny DeKeyser
Alex Petrovic
Mark Visentin
ANALYSIS
Forsberg and Nelson bring some size and a little grit to the mix. Forsberg has 30-40 goal upside in my opinion. Namestnikov is a crafty playmaker with sound defensive abilities. DeKeyser has terrific skating abilities and a big shot, and was highly coveted in the draft this past year. Visentin is a World Juniors goat, but is still a reliable puck-stopped when he’s not playing Russia. Paajarvi has sound two-way acumen while Petrovic is a terrific all-around defenseman.
STRENGTHS: Two-way acumen
WEAKNESSES: Depth
Overall analysis: The Dugouts have a little pro-ready talent already with the big club, but other than that, these guys are long-term projects.
SASKATOON FIGHTING IRISH
Jamie Doornbosch
Ben Hanowski
Jared Staal
Anders Lee
Philippe Paradis
Matt Fraser
Eddie Pasquale
ANALYSIS
Doornbosch has gone to college in Canada so it is unlikely he pursues a full-time career. Staal and Paradis are…not very good, to put it lightly. Lee however is a big forward with upside who can score often and played very well in college with the other Fighting Irish, Notre Dame, hovering around a point per game in his career there. Fraser has been scoring all kinds of goals in the AHL, while Pasquale is a talented keeper who needs to work on consistency. Hanowski has size and scoring ability, basically a poor man’s Lee.
STRENGTHS: Size and scoring
WEAKNESSES: Defensive depth, which does not exist
Overall analysis: Despite the lack of depth in the system, the FIRISH should not panic yet. They’re title contenders this year, and this list excludes WHL talents Ryan O’Reilly, Alex Pietrangelo, John Carlson, and Jeff Skinner.
WINNIPEG WARRIORS
Ryan Strome
Zack Phillips
Carter Ashton
Mat Clark
Nikita Zadorov
Brayden McNabb
Brian Lashoff
Greg Pateryn
Alexander Pechurskiy
ANALYSIS
Ruh roh. Outside of Zadorov, McNabb, and Strome, this is an underwhelming list. And this is a team, second-last in the Campbell, who for inexplicable reasons traded away two 1st rounders, both likely to be very high picks, along with bluechipper Jack Campbell, for Corey Perry. Pechurskiy is playing in the KHL for Magnitogorsk but has been getting lit up. Ashton and Phillips, while solid prospects, are really nothing special. McNabb and Zadorov anchor the blueline, with McNabb the PP quarterback and Zadorov the BIG shutdown guy, while Strome is a gifted playmaking center (#FreeStrome). Other than that, it’s mostly depth guys.
STRENGTHS: Ryan Strome, Nikita Zadorov, Brayden McNabb
WEAKNESSES: Everything else
Overall analysis: Uh oh.
The Thundercloud 