Trevor Shackles: Ranking the Senators Prospects: 16-20 Part 2/5 of ranking the Sens prospects

Oh my.

Remember Spatso's old Perron vs Marner days.

Back when Hockeybuzz was Hockeybuzz

You're prospect list seems filled with older guys so far?

I am very happy with our prospect pool. I honestly think we have a ton of very good NHLer's coming/here. I think Boucher and the other coaches here are good at developing young talent as well.

Other than letting go of Dahlen to Van... That kinda still pisses me off, He'll be a stud in the NHL.

But EM needs to invest in scouting and I have absolutely zero Faith in PD to make any trades or sign any good contracts. We have 14 UFA's over the next 2 years. Something that is easily to fix, but I don't think PD can do it.

This prospect series seems a little odd. Are guys still prospects at 23 yers of age?

A guy like Nick Paul (23) has been givens loads of opportunity to take a step and hasn't. He's as good as a write off at this point.

Whereas a guy like Gabriel Gange (22) seemed to have a bit of breakthrough last year and will be interesting if can put up another 20 goal campaign in the AHL and possibly get a call up to the show for a look.

I feel the Sens prospect pool is more of a mixed bag than anything. I'm still disappointed with the decision to use the pick this past draft on Tkachuck. Assuming this season is a disaster, even if the balls didn't fall our way for Hughes, you'd likely get a prospect in the Tkachuck range anyway.

The guy with the 5 assists. That made me laugh numerous times. Not sure why but it did.

This prospect series seems a little odd. Are guys still prospects at 23 yers of age?
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

I'm not sure there's a hard line regarding age... Christian Wolanin is 23, signed to a two-way ELC contract, left a year of NCAA eligibility on the table, and has just 10GP outside of college. That said, at the same age Nick Paul has had a lot more AHL grooming, and hasn't really shown any substantial development. He seems most likely capable of playing a checking line role at the NHL level, but so long as Dorion keeps acquiring guys like Pyatt, Burrows, Thompson, Paajarvi, and Carey, it's not clear that they're interested in young players having those roles.

The one player I have an issue with so far on the list is Englund, who I still think has the potential to be a significant part of their blue line. He wasn't drafted to be a possession driver or point producer... he was drafted to be a physical defensive-minded d-man with leadership qualities. The fact that he was made an assistant captain in just his 2nd AHL season and had the best +/- on the team of any regular d-man would seem to suggest that he's progressing just fine. Also, I don't think either Harpur or Borowiecki are a substantial barrier to his career development... with Claesson being a good example of how quickly things can change in terms of marginal assets.

Oh my.

Remember Spatso's old Perron vs Marner days.

Back when Hockeybuzz was Hockeybuzz

You're prospect list seems filled with older guys so far?
- walshyleafsfan

Well ya that's because it's the bottom of the list. Better prospects are going to be younger

The only guy I can imagine ending up decent on this list is Gabriel Gagne. England and Bergman are gonna be back in Sweden by the end of 2020. I'm fine with trying Nick Paul out at 4th centre but I don't see any chance that he ends up being better than a replacement-level player. Perron would be lucky to stick around more than a year or two at the AHL level, from what I've seen.

Prospects get a lot more interesting into the top-15 though, thank goodness

I'm not sure there's a hard line regarding age... Christian Wolanin is 23, signed to a two-way ELC contract, left a year of NCAA eligibility on the table, and has just 10GP outside of college. That said, at the same age Nick Paul has had a lot more AHL grooming, and hasn't really shown any substantial development. He seems most likely capable of playing a checking line role at the NHL level, but so long as Dorion keeps acquiring guys like Pyatt, Burrows, Thompson, Paajarvi, and Carey, it's not clear that they're interested in young players having those roles.

The one player I have an issue with so far on the list is Englund, who I still think has the potential to be a significant part of their blue line. He wasn't drafted to be a possession driver or point producer... he was drafted to be a physical defensive-minded d-man with leadership qualities. The fact that he was made an assistant captain in just his 2nd AHL season and had the best +/- on the team of any regular d-man would seem to suggest that he's progressing just fine. Also, I don't think either Harpur or Borowiecki are a substantial barrier to his career development... with Claesson being a good example of how quickly things can change in terms of marginal assets.
- khawk

Good point about Wolanin. Paul has been around since the Spezza trade so it feels like his "prospect time" is up. College players seem to have a more time to get into the nit and gritty of things in terms of development than players who go the junior route.

The only guy I can imagine ending up decent on this list is Gabriel Gagne. England and Bergman are gonna be back in Sweden by the end of 2020. I'm fine with trying Nick Paul out at 4th centre but I don't see any chance that he ends up being better than a replacement-level player. Perron would be lucky to stick around more than a year or two at the AHL level, from what I've seen.

Prospects get a lot more interesting into the top-15 though, thank goodness
- Mr_Clean

The most positive thing posted in a Sens blog in months.