WWAC League Prospects

yak Scott C Wheeler
Set.14.2012
The art of ranking a prospect is one that will never be down to a science. Teams and scouts at all levels of hockey (junior, internationally or professionally)

have different views on the modern day hockey player and what makes him/her the next star. When analyzing a prospect, many struggle with their views of the ideal young player, taking into consideration pure raw talent, readiness and dependability. Some value leadership, others value offense and others still value attention to small details. Due to this, prospect rankings nearly always vary as teams look for that special quality in a player. One has to look no further than evidence of the most recent NHL draft, where there was contention amidst the top 3-5 selections with a virtual unknown at many spots heading into the minutes before the draft.

Earlier this month, five of WWAC’s writers put together their respective Blue and White prospect lists which were in turn ranked into one collaborative Top 20 Leafs Prospect list. As promised, those same five writers put together their top 20 National Hockey League Prospects in the days that followed. This time, instead of creating one list, the crew at WWAC decided to open it up for the fans and put each of our rankings on the line, demonstrating again, the aforementioned different views on ranking prospects.

Criteria:

· Prospects must be 26 years of age or younger
· Prospects must have less than 82 NHL games played in their career
· Prospects must never have played more than 41 games in a season

*Toronto Maple Leafs prospect
*Unique player to his list

#	Scott Wheeler	Owen Durkin	Alex Mamalis	Dave Hamilton	Dante Martella
1.	N. Yakupov	V. Tarasenko	M. Granlund	N. Yakupov	N. Yakupov
2.	M. Granlund	N. Yakuov	E. Kuznetsov	M. Granlund	D. Hamilton
3.	D. Hamilton	J. Huberdeau	J. Markstrom	V. Tarasenko	R. Murray
4.	A. Galchenyuk	M. Granlund	J. Huberdeau	R. Strome	M. Granlund
5.	V. Tarasenko	D. Hamilton	A. Galchenyuk	*S. Despres	A. Galchenyuk
6.	E. Kuznetsov	R. Murray	N. Yakupov	R. Murray	J. Huberdeau
7.	J. Huberdeau	B. Holtby	*M. Rielly	*G. Nyquist	R. Strome
8.	R. Murray	J. Schultz	S. Baertschi	*A. Shaw	V. Tarasenko
9.	E. Etem	M. Scheifele	R. Murray	E. Kuznetsov	M. Grigorenko
10.	M. Scheifele	*J. Blum	G. Reinhart	*N. Kadri	M. Zibanejad
11.	R. Strome	E. Etem	M. Scheifele	J. Schultz	E. Etem
12.	B. Holtby	M. Zibanejad	M. Zibanejad	J. Huberdeau	M. Scheifele
13.	S. Baertschi	B. Smith	R. Strome	*P. Holland	*F. Forsberg
14.	J. Schultz	R. Strome	M. Grigorenko	J. Schwartz	E. Kuznetsov
15.	J. Markstrom	R. Ellis	D. Hamilton	*K. Palmieri	*N. Bjugstad
16.	*M. Rielly	J. Markstrom	V. Tarasenko	R. Ellis	J. Schultz
17.	B. Smith	C. Kreider	*M. Hackett	*S. Machacek	S. Baertschi
18.	M. Zibanejad	*S. Elliot	*T. Teravainen	C. Kreider	*M. Rielly
19.	G. Reinhart	*N. Kadri	J. Schultz	M. Zibanejad	J. Schwartz
20.	*T. Rattie	S. Baertschi	*B. Saad	B. Smith	B. Smith

With the rankings we’d like to open it up to the fans and find out their answers to three simple questions:
1. Who would you have #1?
2. Would Rielly or Kadri make your list?
3. Is there a prospect the 5 writers left off their lists that would make yours?

If you have the time – and patience – go ahead and throw together a list of your own and share it with us!

Cheers,

WeWantACup