NHL Player Power Rankings: Top 300 Prospects Yet to Make A True NHL Impact

Sep 20, 2015; Providence,RI, USA; New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha (37) skates with the puck against the Boston Bruins during the first period at the Dunkin Donuts Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

NHL’s 2015-16 Calder class is the strongest in recent history, inspiring the idea for an NHL player power ranking highlighting the top 300 prospects yet to make an impact with their big club. Just two months ago, the top prospects list looked very different, but a lot of young guys have made significant impacts early into the new 2015-16 season.

Any top prospects list is strictly opinion by the writer (or group of writers). No matter what our knowledge on a prospect, there are numerous variables (nhl roster depth, development, etc.) that decide a player’s fate. There are also those rare prospects that have excellent offseasons, and steal a roster spot out of no where (i.e. Vancouver’s Ben Hutton).

Oct 10, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers center Oscar Lindberg (24) high fives the bench after his goal during the first period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Looking over THN’s (The Hockey News) 2015-16 preseason prospect rankings, the evidence is clear. New York’s Oscar Lindberg was ranked 6th on the Rangers top 10 prospects list, projected for just 23 points. Chicago’s Marko Dano was expected to open the season with the big club and produce over 40 points in a top-six role.

Nashville’s Austin Watson was ranked 7th on the Predators prospects list, not expected to have an NHL impact at all. New Jersey’s Sergey Kalinin was a wild-card somewhat comparable to Ben Hutton, but was still projected for 17 points. Pittsburgh’s Daniel Sprong was expected to be returned to junior. The Blues Joel Edmundson ranked 6th on St.Louis’ prospect list, not expected to have an NHL impact.

NHL player power rankings are subjective, constantly changing with new guys emerging all the time, particularly with prospects. Even the scouts that get paid to watch these players are prone to making mistakes. It’s difficult to look at a teenager and project the future of a young man, or where they may fit on the future depth chart

For sake of the countdown, players currently on NHL rosters (exception to temporary call-ups to replace an injured player), or certain players that have spent the majority of the new 2015-16 season with their NHL club are exempt. The below omissions include some players that played significant NHL games in 2014-15 as well. For example, why include Ryan Strome (who was somewhat recently sent to Bridgeport for a short-stint), when we’ve seen him play a significant amount of time (50 points last season).

Below is a list of the most notable omissions from these NHL player power rankings. It’s not a list of all omissions, but highlighting specific players still considered “prospects”. These are the borderline players that cases could be made for why they should or should not be part of the top 300.

The focus of these NHL player power rankings is strictly talent. This isn’t a countdown for who’s going to have the best/most productive career. It’s also not a list for who is closest to being NHL ready. Some players ranked in the 200’s could be much closer to making an NHL impact than a top 25 player.

Statistics were obtained from Hockeydb.com and EliteProspects.com

Noteable Ommissions:

Ready to be full-time NHL’er(?)

F Nick Ritchie, Anaheim Ducks

D Josh Manson, Anaheim Ducks

D Stefan Elliott, Arizona Coyotes

D Klas Dahlbeck, Arizona Coyotes

F Frank Vatrano, Boston Bruins

D Joe Morrow, Boston Bruins

F Ryan Spooner, Boston Bruins

F Andrew Miller, Edmonton Oilers

D Jake McCabe, Buffalo Sabres

G Joni Ortio, Calgary Flames

D Brett Pesce, Carolina Hurricanes

F Marko Dano, Chicago Blackhawks

F Viktor Tikhonov, Chicago Blackhawks

F Kerby Rychel, Columbus Blue Jackets

F William Karlsson, Columbus Blue Jackets

F Dennis Everberg, Colorado Avalanche

F Brett Ritchie, Dallas Stars

F Radek Faksa, Dallas Stars

D Jyrki Jokipakka, Dallas Stars

D Jamie Oleksiak, Dallas Stars

D Alexey Marchenko, Detroit Red Wings

D Griffin Reinhart, Edmonton Oilers

D Darnell Nurse, Edmonton Oilers

F Sergei Plotnikov, Pittsburgh Penguins

F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers

F Anton Slepyshev, Edmonton Oilers

F Iiro Pakarinen, Edmonton Oilers

D Derek Forbort, Los Angeles Kings

F Tyler Graovac, Minnesota Wild

F Colton Sissons, Nashville Predators

F Sergey Kalinin, New Jersey Devils

F Matt Puempel, Ottawa Senators

F Shane Prince, Ottawa Senators

D Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers

F Taylor Leier, Philadelphia Flyers

F Scott Laughton, Philadelphia Flyers

F Ty Rattie, St.Louis Blues

F Nikolay Goldobin, San Jose Sharks

F Joonas Donskoi, San Jose Sharks

F Barclay Goodrow, San Jose Sharks

D Scott Harrington, Toronto Maple Leafs

F Hunter Shinkaruk, Vancouver Canucks

F Stanislav Galiev, Washington Capitals

F Nic Petan, Winnipeg Jets

F Andrew Copp, Winnipeg Jets

F Jared McCann, Vancouver Canucks

F Jake Virtanen, Vancouver Canucks

Honorable Mentions:

D Marcus Pettersson Anaheim Ducks

F Henrik Samuelsson, Arizona Coyotes

F Jakub Forsbacka-Karlsson, Boston Bruins

F Sean Kuraly, Boston Bruins

D Linus Arnesson, Boston Bruins

D Will Borgen, Buffalo Sabres

F Bill Arnold, Calgary Flames

D Brandon Hickey, Calgary Flames

F Garret Ross, Chicago Blackhawks

F Josh Anderson, Columbus Blue Jackets

D Andrew Bodnarchuk, Columbus Blue Jackets

D Michael Downing, Florida Panthers

F Corban Knight, Florida Panthers

F Joel Lowry, Los Angeles Kings

D Carson Soucy, Minnesota Wild

D Adam Pelech, New York Islanders

F Kirill Petrov, New York Islanders

D Mark Alt, Philadelphia Flyers

D Matthew Spencer, Tampa Bay Lightning

F Casey Bailey, Toronto Maple Leafs

F Zach Hyman, Toronto Maple Leafs

F Chandler Stephenson, Washington Capitals