THW NHL Prospects & Draft Substack - Oct. 26, 2023
Welcome to the THW NHL Prospects & Draft Substack newsletter, with all the latest from our great team of writers.
In today’s edition, we have a look at the top prospects in the 2024 Draft, Leo Carlsson’s unique development plan in Anaheim, some Capitals prospects off to hot starts and much more!
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Now on to the good stuff…
NHL Central Scouting Preliminary 2024 Rankings: First Reactions
October 25, 2023 by Logan Horn
The NHL’s Central Scouting bureau releases multiple draft rankings throughout each season, beginning in the Fall with their “Preliminary Players to Watch List”. Unlike Central Scouting’s rankings that will follow, this one simply groups prospects into a few categories based on where they project to be selected on draft day.
An “A” rating means that the player is likely to go in the first round, a “B” denotes a second/third round candidate, a “C” stands for the fourth/fifth rounds and finally a “W” is for the sixth and seventh rounds. Let’s dive into this list and see what we can learn from it about the 2024 NHL Draft class and the top players to watch over the next seven months or so.
Ducks Can Blaze New Trail with Carlsson’s Development Plan
October 26, 2023 by Corey Abbott
The Anaheim Ducks raised some eyebrows by choosing Leo Carlsson with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. However, the team’s reasoning behind the selection was well thought out, and it quickly became clear that he was the appropriate fit for the organization. Anaheim general manager (GM) Pat Verbeek is facing some criticism again for limiting the number of games that Carlsson will play during the first part of the 2023-24 season.
The straightforwardness of the strategy has been met with some frustration and disappointment, which is perfectly reasonable and understandable. Still, it’s worth noting that resting inexperienced players isn’t a completely novel tactic at the big-league level. The development plan for Carlsson is just different than what we generally see from top prospects in the NHL, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the wrong path.
Capitals Prospects Report: Cristall, Miroshnichenko & Leonard
October 25, 2023 by Jesse Courville-Lynch
The Washington Capitals have started the 2023-24 campaign well, and while they’re not winning as much as they wanted to open up the season, they’re showing signs of what could be a very successful team come playoff time.
While they are looking to find more success than last season as they push towards the second Stanley Cup in their franchise’s history, some of the team’s top prospects have started their own 2023-24 season away from the Capitals and have looked quite strong. Andrew Cristall, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Ryan Leonard are the Capitals’ top three prospects in their system and they have each had hot starts to the season!
Minnesota Wild Prospect Report: Pionk, Heidt, Novak, & More
October 23, 2023 by Tyson McKay
As the Minnesota Wild find themselves on uneven footing, stemming from early-season injuries, there has been one constant bright spot: their prospects.
Another week of action has given us some relatively new names to examine while also providing a couple of individual performances worthy of attention. Here’s another week of hyping up the best prospect pool in the NHL.
Last Edition’s Poll Results
Last time I asked you “Which high end goalie prospect will have the best AHL season this year?” and here are the results. Dustin Wolf and Jesper Wallstedt tied for the win, each earning 30% of the votes. I know that Wallstedt has lots of fans in the hockey world but it seems a bit early to predict him to have a better season than last year’s AHL MVP.
Maybe Wolf got fewer votes because he’s so good that people expect him to elevate to the NHL finally (if the Flames can find any takers for Dan Vladar), though I think it may just be another case of people underestimating him. I’ll let you in on a little secret that most teams in the AHL had to learn the hard way. Don’t underestimate Wolf, he will shut you down.
New Poll!
Buffalo Sabres - Sabres’ Rookie Benson Shows Early Promise
St. Louis Blues - Blues Make Right Call to Assign Top Pick Dvorsky to OHL Sudbury
NHL Awards - NHL 2023-24 Calder Trophy Predictions
Draft Coverage - 2024 NHL Draft: Baracchini’s Preseason Top 32