UFHL Summer 2011 Farm Rankings

27^th: New York Islanders – 2010 Rank: 27^th – Movement: (0)

Top 5 Prospects: Chris DiDomenico (F), Justin Shrugg (F), Adam Henrique (F), Joel Chouinard (D), Alex Stalock (G)

Team Analysis: A lack of a top-end talented prospect and depth is evident. The free agent signings of four of the top 5 prospects (minus Shrugg) shows some impressive skills in terms of ditching the draft, trading picks for current talent and opting for players who impress after the draft. Hopefully the Isles will make some farm improvement this season and move from their two-time 27^th rank. But hey, when you got Drew Doughty and Sidney Crosby.. who cares?

26^th: Boston Bruins – 2010 Rank: 25^th – Movement (-1)

Top 5 prospects: Sven Bartschi (F), Carl Hagelin (F), Roman Cervanka (F), Steven Kampfer (D)

Team Analysis: Bartschi and Hagelin are two foreigners who could very well round out many organizations in the near future. Bartschi has a chance to make an immediate impact on a very poor team in the NHL and this could just add to the plethora of talent the second place Boston Bruins have. Cervenka will most likely never cross the pond but, again, being in second place allows you to wait it out and see if the highly talented forward moves. Diaz is a prospect who could end up being another Mark Streit, hailing from the same grounds as well. A lot of boom or busts in this farm, but very intriguing.

26^th: Tampa Bay Lightning – 2010 Rank: 21^st – Movement (-5)

Top 5 Prospects: Taylor Doherty (D), Dustin Tokarski (G), Matt Puempel (F), Patrick Weircioch (D), Alec Martinez (D)

Team Analysis: Mostering Doherty, Weircoich, Barrie, Cuma and Rutkowski all have a nice blend offensive talent, which is essential to a league such as our own. WJC Favorite Tokarski could see some minutes this year if his elders slip up or get hurt. A lack of offensive forwards outside of the name Puempel lacks as well as some more goaltending depth that can over-take back-ups Biron and Emery. Tampa has a relatively young team and with Toews, Lundqvist and Parise t build around, strong farms are almost unnecessary.

25^th: New York Rangers – 2010 Rank: 26^th – Movement (+1)

Top 5 Prospects: Marcus Kruger (F), Teemu Pulkkinen (F), Dustin Jeffery (F), David Savard (D), Mattias Ekholm (D)

Team Analysis: Most underrated players in any system right now could be Pulkkinen and Ekholm. Pulkkinen is a scoring wiz who has actually picked up his overall game. The whining about his skating is asinine while his playmaking ability is actually improving dramatically. Ekholm is probably just another proto-typical Nashville defenseman who will turn heads and develop into a 12-15 year NHLer who throws up beneficial numbers. Dice rollers like Granlund makes it very interesting. Add in Tanev, Spurgeon who have seen NHL time this past season as well as a blossoming Gustafsson might not actually be bad players in the long-run.

24^th Ottawa Senators – 2010 Rank: 23 – Movement (-1)

Top 5 Prospects: PK Subaan (D), Michal Grabner (F), David Musil (D), Adam McQuad (D), Eric Gelinas (D)

Team Analysis: PK Subban is a franchise stud defenseman, pure and simple. Grabner is a potentially a sniping 30-35 goal, 25-30 point forward. Not too shabby with either if you ask me. Musil has the potential to be a very nice top 4 defenseman, McQuaid is a physical defenseman who could fill in the enforcer spot very well and give you points from a very tough position to find quality in. The farm has a lot of depth in terms of Lowry, Lowe, and Team Biega, but not much high end after the top 2/4 in terms of impact. Esposito unfortunately is running out of time but anything is possible.

23^rd Vancouver Canucks – 2010 Rank: 18^th – Movement (-5)

Top 5 Prospects: Brandon Gormley (D), Chris Kreider (F), Mark Pysyk (D), Max Gratchev (F), Sergei Shirokov (F)

Team Analysis: Not much improved throughout the season in terms of drafting. The top 5 remains essentially the same as it was a year prior, which isn’t always a bad thing. Top end wise, Kreider and Gormley have top 2 lines potential without a doubt. Blacker is a hot prospect right now moving up the depth charts and Mark Pysyk, former first rounder who’s no slouch either. Who knows if he can crack the deep top 4 of Buffalo but as long as you make it, that’s all that matters. The lack of any kind of offensive prospect after Krieder and Gratchev will hopefully be addressed in the future. Depth on the blueline looks incredible.

2009-2010 Season Point Expectations

9/27/09 - Washington Post

Here are the point predictions and projections for the upcomming season.

First line:
Dustin Brown (500) - Mike Richards (625) - Patrick Kane (525) = 1650

*Each player should improve atleast a little from last season. Brown strugged to break 450 points so I see him amassing a lot more this season. Kane has a lot to prove and in an Olympic year, he needs a strong season to carry with him. Richards also wants to play in the Olympics so he needs a strong year so Yzerman notices him over the other strong center's around the league.

Second line:
Brenden Morrow (550) - Michael Frolik (400) - Scott Hartnell (550) = 1500

*Morrow should play the entire season with an edge to his game, proving he's leader of the Star's and can still hang with the boys. Frolik might have a sophmore slump but this kid has so many skills you cant deny it. Hartnell is always good for 50-60 points, 125+ pims. This line could end up stronger then ther first line.

Third Line:
Loui Eriksson (475) - Valterri Filppula (400) - Mikhail Grabovski (450) = 1325

*Loui Eriksson has had a strong pre-season and looks like he's still got his touch. Getting Morrow back shouldnt hurt his playing time and could make him better actually. Filppula will see more playing time and hopefully fail to go into his usual slump in the middle of the season. Grabovski looks faster then last season and looks fired up, ready to go. Added in a better defense in Toronto he might actually do better since the puck should be on the other side of things more often.

Forth Line:
T.J. Hensick (275) - Niklas Hagman (350) - Patrick Kaleta(200) = 825

*This line needs a lot of work. With Moller being sent down, he could be recalled and be placed into Kaleta's spot. I would be overly happy if this line got me 825+ points this season but its highly unlikely. Hensick could be anywhere from 13th forward to second line winger. Who knows. Hagman is a strong player who could be a hit or miss at 350 points. Who knows at this point.


First Pairing:
Niklas Kronwall (575) - Brent Seabrook (525) = 1100

*Kronwall should see more playing time. Im giving him a 30-40 point increase but he could see 600 points this season. He has looked very sharp in the preseason and should play 2-3 more minutes per game this season. Seabrook is the stud in Chicago and doesnt get the credit he deserves. He's made Keith what he is, not the other way around. He should improve on his numbers big time. He was their best defensemen in the Wing Series last spring.

Second Pairing:
Matt Niskanen (500) - John-Michael Liles (450) = 975

*Niskanen is the man in Dallas now. He could see even more then 500 points this season. Tremendous player, amazing athlete and should flourish if Crawford doesnt screw it up (and we think he will). JM Liles is still one of those players who can dominate a PP IF HE HAS SOMEONE TO PASS TO! Colorado is going to be horrible and that will also reflect on Liles usual numbers. He had 49 points once but I dont see that happening this year unless he plays unreal hockey.

Third Pairing:
Jonathan Ericsson (325) - Dan Hamhuis (400) = 725

*Ericsson has had a hit or miss preseason. Stuggling one night and flourishing the other. He should see some PP time this year but this is his first full NHL season so he might need some time before making the full adjustment to 350 points. His PIMS from pushing people around should give him a large boost. Hamhuis always starts quick and ends a little slow. He could be trade bait at some point this season as his contract is up. Hopefully Trotz will finally play him a little on the power play.

Rookie/Enforcer:
Erik Karlsson (250) - Mike Weber (225) = 550

*No idea how many games either will play but we hope its enough to do some damage. Karlsson is a stud and should be on our defense (within time he will) and Weber is an enforcing defenseman who should rack up some PIMS.

Goaltenders:
Marc-Andre Fleury (650) - Jimmy Howard (275) = 925

*MAF has to prove he can play with the best if he wants to go to the Olympics. I expect a strong season but a slow start from all the partying (still hate it). He usually always gets hurt so we feel that a strong, healthy season will boost his points. Howard is expected from Babcock to get 25 wins. We got faith, always have. Lets see what happens.

Total point projection: 9300 - 9600

2009 - 2010 Season Expectations

September 12, 2009- (Washington Post)

The Washington Capitals are preparing for a new season of high expectations. With another solid year of improvement under the belt, Washinton has it eye's set on continuing its lofty expectations. "We finished in the top 6 last season and this year we are shooting for third or even forth. By the looks of many teams and our underrated addition of Hartnell and (Morrow for an entire year), we feel that those two players are essentially huge difference makers for our organization"GM Ken Sviland said. Its up in the air who makes the final rookie spot or even how well the goaltending will play out but all eyes are on Washington. Their depth is one of the best, if not the best in the league. With 13 player out of a potential 28 all scheduled to play in the AHL, that is a very high ratio of producing a quality player for the upcoming season.

The KHL got the best of Washington too, taking the likes of former first rounder Marek Zagrapan and Jiri Hudler. Washington essentionally lost 500 points in scoring this year with a huge increase in offensive role that Washington would have given Hudler. "The situation is very sad. The KHL is a very overrated league and there is a reason why Russian players come to our league to play. Its just very inadequate. Jiri will be back and when he does we will welcome him with open arms. We are a top notch organization and he will just be starting to reach his prime when his contract runs out" Sviland said.

Of the potential player to make a push for the rookie spot, not one clear cut player is scheduled to make it yet so the race is on and the competition should be good.

Tune in a week prior to the NHL season and we will give you our yearly expectations for each player and where we are scheduled to finish.

Washington Capitals Draft Review

6/21/09 - Washington Post-

Today was a day of intense decision and speculation. The questions that Washington faced going into the draft were if they would stick with their game plan..or.. opt out of it if they saw studs available. "We had a lot of decisions and we made the best one. We are very thrilled to make these two swedes a part of our franchise." And ya know what, that is rightfully so. When it comes to Swedes, Washington has their way. Out of the 4 picked prior to the 2008 draft, three out of the four have made it to the NHL (Tobias Enstrom, Loui Eriksson, Oscar Moller) and the one (Christofer Lofberg) didnt cut it. Reports had it that Lofberg suffered from off-ice family issues which drove him to not succeed like many expected. Sviland, including this years draft and last years draft, swedes are taking over. Add in Erik Karlsson, who was ranked in the top 10 prospect in the world not in the NHL, David Ullstrom who reminds many of a young Johan Franzen, and two more studs who could end up becoming something special.

66 Overall - Anton Lander - Forward - Sweden

Analysis:
A strong, hard working center with both offensive and defensive skills. He a has a pretty good shot but he´s more of a playmaker than a scorer. He played a very sound, physical game and excels around the boards. He's a very offensively skilled player who uses his vision and instincts more then many people give him credit for. He's a natural born leader it seems. He always sports the captain "C" on almost every team he ends up playing on because of the large amount of character involved.

Some will say that his biggest flaw is his skating while others say his size will ruin his draft status. Sometimes his competitive edge can get the best of him.



This is the type of player who will make the NHL if he wants to simply because of his character and hard work. He's the type of player that builds champions because he never stops working. If his skating boosts, he could become a deadly player.

Potential:
Max: First line complementary player who will do everything to help the others.
Min: A third liner who plays a very skilled, smart game and plays a solid two-way game.
Style comparisons: Poor man's Forsberg (remember, i said styles) or Alfredsson. Ive heard both. I feel like he might play a little like Moller in LA or Hagman in Toronto.

72nd Overall - Anton Rodin - Forward - Sweden

Analysis:


Displayed a phenominal offensive ability when he played in tournament player. He displayed a immense hockey sense, skillset, impressive skating ability and creativity with the puck. He doesnt shy away from the physical contact, which is a positive sign.



Like Lander, he isnt overly big and will need to bulk up in order to play harder against men. Honestly, there really isnt a weakness to his game, "perhaps the fastest-rising and most improved talent in Sweden at the moment"

Potential: Sky is the limit?
Comparisons: No idea, more to come...

108th overall - Sergei Andronov - Right Wing - RUS

Analysis:
Andronov is a prospect of high interest to many clubs. First of all, he was an overager who could step in right away or within a year and not look out of place playing against men. He played in the KHL last year and saw 12 pts in 47 games, which is pretty good for someone his age. Many scouts and managers are high on his kid and his skill set is to many likings. He had good technical skills, meaning he has a solid game when he does not have the puck. Not someting you see in most Russian players. He's got a hell of a release and a pretty damn good skater as well.

His talent analysis is unknown but he could become a scoring complementary second liner who could flourish in the right system.

2009 Draft Special

(6-11-09) - Washington Post

It's no rumor that the Washington Capitals are opting out of this years draft, trading out all their respected picks for a total of 6 picks in the 2010 draft. "Yea I had to do it. Every year I drop a player I dont want to and it makes no sense anymore to do that. If I have faith in a kid, ill keep him from here on out. No reason to just go to the draft for the sake of drafting. If your going to waste a pick and drop the kid a year later, what sense does that make? We love our draft history but that does not matter right now. We care about re-tooling our farm and this right now is the best way. We are still scouting heavily and we may swing a deal on the draft day for a pick. If we do that, it most likely will be in the later round. We are scouting heavily to draft in the fourth round and thats where we currently stand. We snagged Andrei (Loktionov) last year and his stock is huge now. We plan on finding a similar player this year"

The 2010 draft seems to be a solid draft, but some compare the 2009 draft to the 2003's younger brother. "We know this, but at the time of deciding what path to take, the staff was not overly thrilled with what was talked about in the 2009 draft. If its a good draft then we should find plenty of free agents and a solid 4th round pick. Im not worried" Sviland said.

Breaking down the glarring holes in the system, here is how it looks:

1. Top goaltending prospect - Outside of Jimmy Howard who might be promoted next year, the only goaltending prospects are Jeremy Smith and Andrew Engelage. Washington needs to solidify this position in the next year or two.

2. Enforcer - Its hard to draft an enforcer, but Washington needs to find an upgrade over the likes of Patrick Kaleta. We like him, but he doesnt play enough (healthy scratches at times) to warrant this spot full time. Hopefully that changes.

3. Safe, offensive forward - Frolik and Moller graduated and they both look like the real deals. One is a poor man's Marian Hossa while the other is a better Niklas Hagman. We get that. But with kids like Dick Axelsson, Evgeni Dadonov, Akim Aliu, Louie Caporusso, Alex Vasyunov and Andrei Loktionov, there is a lot of talen here, but its all raw. The team could use more safe-offensive studs like Frolik and Moller.


The future holds a lot of bright future in Washingtton. Ending at 6th is a great sign of improvement and hopefully next year with the fresh addition of Brenden Morrow full time and an added Karlsson to the blueline should help big time.

Q and A with General Manager Sviland

(3-21-09) - Washington Post

We sit down with General Manager of the Washington Capitals. This year has not just been a suprise to everyone, but to him as well. He breaks down the season, expectations next year and a look at the 2009 draft.

Q: You are currently in 6th place, did you think a year ago you would be in his kind of position?

A: No, absolutely not. We have a very young and inexperienced team. We felt as though we made great strides last year and we certainly kept them up this year. After trading away pieces like Kris Letang and Ryan Kesler for the soon-to-be injured Brenden Morrow, I really did not think the team would rally behind that. Brenden brought some spark briefly and to only think where we could be if we had him is beyond phenominal. We set expectations to improve little by little every year and to jump from 16th to 6th is incredible.

Q: Who was your biggest suprise this year?

A: Its very hard to say, but if i had to pick one it would be Loui Eriksson. This kid is the best player everyone has never heard about. He currently has 33 goals and 410 UHFL points. How much can you expect from a kid who got barely half of that last year? He has been phenominal and I think we are only seeing the start of a budding star in the making. I think Loui could become one of the best players in the league with his overall skill set. He can play every situation and it shows. He's got 33 goals and is a plus-15. We never thought we could get this kind of production from our youngsters this year but it really shows how important the draft is.

Q: If you had to pick one weakness on your roster, what is it?

A: Goaltending without a doubt. We lovve Johan Hedberg but he's getting older and we need to look eslewhere. His position has not gotten us much this year and if we want to make a run at the regular season championship we are going to need another guy in Fleury's range.

Q: With your strength going from defense to forward this year, does that change your draft thoughts?

A: Defintely not. Overlooking the past drafts, we didn't stick to a strict game plan and it shows. In 2004 we picked a lot of bad players and the one we released ended up being the best one we picked. The past few years we have done a better job at getting guys in all rounds and we need to continue to stick by our game plan. This year we have a game plan and we will not opt out of that.

Q: What are you looking at at the draft?

A: I cant say that for sure but we do have our eyes on one kid who we are completely blown away with. We are going to be aggressive once the trade lock is lifted and try to acquire a 2009 first rounder without ruining most of our assets we currently have.

Q: Who do you see becoming your Michael Frolik/Oscar Moller next year?

A: We really had no idea these two would make it out of the gates. Next year Johnathan Ericsson will be a full timer, so he will help give us that 6th defensive position locked down. Evgeni Dadonov is scheduled to come over and try out at training camp so he could be a late suprise. I think guys like Jimmy Howard and Marek Zagrapan will finally make it and hopefully we can build upon that. We need to keep building our team a certain way and everything so far is right on track.

Q: What are you looking for in the summer?

A: I would like to acquire another player in Morrow's calibar to add to him. If we can add to this roster a player of that kind of skill without losing much of a roster player then we will technically be gaining two players this year (with Morrow coming back). It would be a phenominal pick up for our organization and it is something we are looking into. We have held some talks with other organizations and we plan on keeping the phone lines open.

Q: Thanks for your time, good luck the rest of the way.

A: Thanks, we appriciate it.

Washington's top 10 Prospects

(2-06-09) Washington Post -

1. Erik Karlsson - Defenseman - Comparison: Kimmo Timonen/Tobias Enstrom

Analysis: Power play quarterback of the future. He plays a lot better then his numbers suggest this year and he was the best player on team Sweden in the WHJC so much so that Ottawa GM considered bringing him over as early as next year. He was the highest rising prospect in last years draft, going from out of the top 100 ISS to start to being all the way to the top 5 almost. McKeen's report for example had Karlsson in their top 10. Erik could become the power player QB that Ottawa needs.


2. Jonathan Ericsson - Defenseman - Comparison: Less physical Pronger

Analysis: Big bodied rugged defenseman is all that is needed here. He has a absolute Cannon from the point and at times he looks like a poor man's Chris Pronger. By Poor man I say he is not nearly as physical nore composed with the puck, but he's got a large reach, absolute power/accurate shot from the point and has a tremendous offensive game (he used to be a Forward). Babcock is in love with him and he has to clear waivers next year so its highly likely he will become a second PP player as early as next year.

3. Jimmy Howard - Goaltender - Comparison: Tim Thomas

Analysis: Everyone is a downer when it comes to him but the kid is bored in the AHL. He comes up and loses a 1-0 game to Dallas last season; what more could you want out of him? Then, he gets player of the month honours last year and several player of the week ones to boot. He has thrown him a load of highly saved games but gets no love because of Larsson (who is vastly overrated). Howard has to clear waivers next year as well so if he does not get a shot in Detroit he will get one elsewhere; mark my word he is an NHL Starting goalie. He's got phenominal mentality, just poor rebounds and does let in the weak goals from time to time (type of goalie who sometimes would save an 10 shot-in-2 minutes performance then let in a floater from the blueline).

4. Dick Axelsson - Forward - Comparison: Smarter and better Mikael Samuelsson

Analysis: Hakan Andersson found another Gem in the second round. Hakan himself has stated he is one of the most skilled players he has ever seen and that goes with saying he saw Zetterberg and Datsyuk. He needs to control the demons inside himself which got him into trouble with the Swedish national team this summer. If he comes over next season then he very well could become a top 6 player in Grand Rapids. He's got size, scoring ability and very, very, tenacious.

5. Louie Caporusso - Forward - Comparison: Mike Cammalleri

Analysis: I know he wont make any lists but he very well should. When Palushaj went to the WJ's he took over and was on a scoring frenzy. He is at 20 goals in 29 games. Very errey to former UofM player Mike Cammalleri (29 goals in 42 games was his bext at UofM). Louie is a very underrated player because of his size but he has finesse scoring winger, top 6 skills written all over himself. Another year in the NCAA he could very well lead the league in goals and potentially even points; fighting linemate/teammate Aaron Palushaj.

6. Marek Zagrapan - Forward - Comparison: Poor man's Daymond Langkow

Analysis: Drafted as a kid who displayed a lot of maturity to cross the pond to further his development. He has slick hands, very crafty but needs to work on consistancy. He's a very streaky player but plays a lot bigger then his body suggests. With more work, he could flourish as a top 6 centerman and be the playmaker that Connolly has failed to be.

7. Mike Weber - Defenseman - Comparison: Craig Rivet/Mark Eaton with more offense

Analysis: Weber is not afraid of dropping the gloves. Possesssing a lot of maturity for his age he has done a fabulous job in the Sabre's organization from the AHL to NHL. Last season he was over +12 in 16 games last season. He is a defensive player first and could be a valued asset on the PK as well as 5 on 5 during crunch time. He's got great size at 6'2, over 200 lbs and has very good puck moving skills for a defensive defenseman.

8. Evgeni Dadonov - Forward - Comparisons: Poor man's Pavel Datsyuk

Analysis: With having a pretty good WJC showing in 2008/2009, Dadonov is showing the Florida brass why they drafted him when they did. He posesses superb vision and hands and with those two assets he is turning into a excellent playmaking centerman. His only weakensses are his defensive game, but so was Datsyuk's when he arrived onto the NHL scene. He's also very undersized so he is going to have to bulk up and play smarter then the rest of the growd if he is going to be successful. Definitely top 6 ability.

9. Mathieu Perreault - Forward - Comparisons: Andy McDonald

Analysis: This pass first, ask questions later player is really having a phenominal season in the AHL as a rookie. With natural talent, he is quickly becoming one of the better playmakers in the AHL ranks. He is very undersized for his profession, but he makes up for it like Dadonov with smarts, creativity and vision. He has the making of a top 6 centerman and in an organization with guys like Semin and Ovechkin, he could very well be a calder nominee once his rookie year arrives. Just needs to bulk up more.

10. Maxime Sauve - Forward - Comparisons: Patrice Bergeron

Analysis: Playing a horrible team does not help but he is making the best of the situation. He was not nominated to go to the WJC which was a slap to the face, but at least he is using that to his advantage. He is slowly moving up the ranks in the Boston organization and the QMJHL scoring title. He started the year very slow but has turned it on since November. His face-off ability is very average and it could be the only real down fall for this kid. Throwing on some bulk, keeping focused and continue to develope his game; this kid could become a top 6 forward that any team would love to have.