I released my 21st-25th ranked prospects in the Senators system yesterday, and now for part two I will be looking at 16th-20th, which surprisingly includes some solid prospects. In other years, that was not always the case. Let’s take a look at the next group of five:
20. Parker Kelly, C/LW
Kelly isn’t a flashy prospect, but he could very well fill a role in the Senators bottom-six as soon as 2020-21. He ended his WHL career with a solid season in Prince Albert with 67 points in 64 games, although that team was stacked and he finished 4th on the team in scoring. He won development camp's hardest working player trophy in 2018 and 2019, so it’s clear that the organization thinks he can be a quality depth piece with his work ethic.
He will have to show more offensive ability in his freshman season in the AHL if he wants to get a chance to play in Ottawa, but it looks as if he already has close proximity to the NHL considering he just needs to fill a specific lesser role in the bottom-six. I don’t see much upside in him though, so that’s why I have many other prospects ahead of him.
19. Johnny Gruden, C/LW
Gruden was seen as a bit of a steal in the 2018 draft, although he followed that up with a disappointing freshman season at Miami University. He had just 15 points in 38 games, but his team was quite terrible as they won 11 times in 38 games and their leading scorer had 26 points. The good news is that Gruden will be playing in London for the 2019-20 season so we should get a better sense of the type of production we can expect out of him.
The Knights are a fantastic development team in the OHL, and I would not be surprised to see him thrive for his final junior season before turning pro. His USHL production was much more impressive than his NCAA production, and I’m curious to see if he can bounce-back from a subpar season. Having Gruden 19th on this list just speaks to the depth in the system, because he’s a pretty solid lottery ticket who has a decent chance of making it to the NHL.
18. Angus Crookshank, LW
I’ve said this before, but Crookshank is one of the most underrated prospects in the system right now. Even with that though, I couldn’t put him much higher because of how many prospects either have a longer track record, a higher ceiling, or a shorter path to the NHL. He had a great first season at the University of New Hampshire where he had 23 points in 36 games, which was only one point behind the team lead.
Having that large of a role on a team in a freshman year is a huge deal, and I’m very excited to see if he can improve on that throughout the rest of his NCAA career. Crookshank has the ability to become a top-six forward, and that’s what intrigues me about him. I’d keep an eye out on him because if he gets off to another hot start, he could be a very fast riser in the system, and I could see him getting into the top-10 by the end of the year.
17. Max Veronneau, RW
It’s odd putting Veronneau on this list because he is almost 24 years old, but he has only played 12 games in the NHL and is technically a prospect. He has to be ranked decently high because he has already made it to the NHL and will probably be one of the first call-ups in 2019-20, so the fact that he has an established floor cannot be ignored. At the same time, I’m not expecting the world from Veronneau.
I like that the Senators have given him a chance by signing him, and his numbers at Princeton over his final three seasons look great, but many NCAA players like him have gone through the same path and failed to be any sort of impact player in the NHL. I’d like to see how he does in a top-six role in Belleville, as that should give us a better sense of the type of production we should expect. Despite having him higher than Crookshank on this list, I’m not as excited about his future compared to Crookshank, but I do think there is a higher possibility that he stays in the NHL in some capacity, so that gives him a slight edge. I can’t see Veronneau making the team right away, but don’t be surprised if we see him for 10-25 games in Ottawa.
16. Mads Sà¸gaard, G
Ottawa has four pretty solid goaltending prospects in the system now, plus Kevin Mandolese who is a bit of a wildcard. Although I didn’t like trading up to pick Sà¸gaard, I do like him as a prospect. In many systems, he would easily be the best or second best goalie prospect, but right now I have him just a hair behind Marcus Hogberg, Joey Daccord, and Filip Gustavsson. You could make a case for him at #2 out of those four, but I put him as the lowest in that group because he really only has one successful season in junior hockey.
He is a massive goalie at 6’7… and I’m excited about him long-term, but he’s still a long ways away from making it to the NHL.
The Top 25 list now looks like this:
16. Mads Sà¸gaard 17. Max Veronneau 18. Angus Crookshank 19. Jonny Gruden 20. Parker Kelly 21. Olle Alsing 22. Morgan Klimchuk 23. Michael Carcone 24. Kevin Mandolese 25. Mark Kastelic
Stay tuned for parts 3-5!