Welcome to The Athletic’s dive into the prospect talent pool for all 31 NHL organizations leading into the 2019-20 season.

This is a snapshot of the current state of every NHL farm system and the top prospects outside the NHL.

This overview will be divided into 31 columns going deep into each team’s farm system, with individual rankings and analysis of each prospect, counting down each day from the worst to the best. This page will be updated after each team’s analysis is published.

Each prospect’s talent will be ranked within its respective system and categorized in a tier based on their talent and potential that applies across all 31 systems.

There is no designated number of prospects I’m cutting each team’s ranking off at. Rather, I list all the prospects I think are NHL prospects within a system, so some rankings will contain more than others.

One thing I’ve become painfully aware of in the years of doing this series is how contentious the prospect eligibility threshold can be. Rarely does one player, unless it’s a truly elite prospect, move the needle dramatically, but it could impact a ranking by one or two spots.

There is no good way to define a prospect, whether objectively or subjectively, someone is going to get left out by the process, it’s just the way it goes.

With that said, the eligibility for being a prospect for these rankings is:

A skater no longer qualifies as an NHL prospect if he has played 25 games in the NHL in any campaign, regular season and playoffs combined, or 50 games total; or reaches age 27 by Sept. 15.

A goalie no longer qualifies as an NHL prospect if he has played 10 games in the NHL in any campaign, regular season and playoffs combined, or 25 games total; or reaches age 27 by Sept. 15.

In terms of tiers, I have the Rangers and Avs on a tier together, the Devils through the Flyers is a tier, the Hurricanes through the Red Wings is a tier, and the Ducks through the Lightning is a tier, with the remaining teams in their own tier.

And now for the rankings:

1. New York Rangers

2. Colorado Avalanche

3. New Jersey Devils

4. Los Angeles Kings

5. Vancouver Canucks

6. Montreal Canadiens

7. Philadelphia Flyers

8. Carolina Hurricanes

9. Edmonton Oilers

10. Chicago Blackhawks

11. Vegas Golden Knights

12. Ottawa Senators

13. Detroit Red Wings

14. Anaheim Ducks

15. Florida Panthers

16. New York Islanders

17. Arizona Coyotes

18. Buffalo Sabres

19. St. Louis Blues

20. San Jose Sharks

21. Toronto Maple Leafs

22. Minnesota Wild

23. Tampa Bay Lightning

24. Dallas Stars

25. Columbus Blue Jackets

26. Nashville Predators

27. Winnipeg Jets

28. Pittsburgh Penguins

29. Boston Bruins

30. Washington Capitals

31. Calgary Flames

For a snapshot of how your team’s best propsect compare to those around the league, check out the top skaters and top goalie rankings.

(Top photo: Kevin Light/Getty Images)