The dog days of summer are finally here for hockey fans. All the excitement of the draft has finally evaporated and Free Agent Frenzy has passed. As of now, NHL teams are holding their prospect development camps to get an idea of how their new shiny toys stack up versus their other prospects.

October appears to be a light-year away. Fortunately for you, Frozen Futures has you covered. Each day we will be going over the Top 20 Prospects for a team in the NHL. From Anaheim to Winnipeg, we have you covered. This post is the Top 20 Prospects: Anaheim Ducks.

We will consider all players who have played in 65 NHL games or less before the age of 24 as prospects.

The Anaheim Ducks have an interesting system. Management in Anaheim has been able to keep a strong balance of prospects in each position while remaining as a contender for the Stanley Cup.

Sitting atop all of the prospects is defenseman Shea Theodore. Theodore is a two-way defenseman who can has a ton of offensive upside. With the Seattle Thunderbirds he was relied upon as a leader and played in all situations.

Future power forward Nick Ritchie is in second place on this list. After see-sawing between Ritchie and Gibson, I decided to choose Ritchie. He has the potential to be a dominant force at the NHL level and Anaheim fans are going to love him if he become more disciplined.

We all know what John Gibson is capable of. He only turned 22 recently and has posted some very impressive statistics so far in his career. However after the acquisition of Anton Khudobin, Gibson may find himself playing in the AHL with the San Diego Gulls this season.

For non-Anaheim fans, the next two names on the list may surprise you… some people may have never heard of these guys. Brandon Montour and Josh Manson are two defenseman that won’t have trouble carving out careers in the NHL. Montour is the younger of the two and possesses a much more offensive game compared to the defensive Manson.

Jacob Larsson, Anaheim’s 2015 NHL draft first-round pick at 27th overall finds himself outside of the top five picks. He’s a big guy who plays an intelligent game. In a couple years, Anaheim are going to have to make some huge decisions when it comes to their blueline.

Leading scorer of the Norfolk Admirals, Max Friberg, is ranked 11th. When I saw him play two years ago in the AHL Playoffs in St. Johns, NL I was pleasantly surprised with his play. He has a ton of skill and creativity and I keep wondering when he’s going to get more than a cup of coffee in the NHL.

Rank Player Name Position 1 Shea Theodore Defense 2 Nick Ritchie Left Wing 3 John Gibson Goaltender 4 Brandon Montour Defense 5 Josh Manson Defense 6 Jacob Larsson Defense 7 Stefan Noesen Right Wing 8 Nicolas Kerdiles Left Wing 9 Julius Nattinen Center 10 Marcus Petterson Defense 11 Max Friberg Left Wing 12 Michael Sgarbossa Center 13 Kevin Roy Center/LW 14 Nick Sorensen Right Wing 14 Andy Welinski Defense 15 Ondrej Kase Right Wing 16 Kenton Helgesen Left Wing 17 Brian Cooper Defense 18 Joseph Cramarossa Center 19 Grant Besse Right Wing 20 Keaton Thompson Defense

Have any questions? Check me out on Twitter, @brelyt

Come back to Frozen Futures on Monday for the Top 20 Prospects: Arizona Coyotes!