Who are the NHL’s top 100 prospects?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Athletic Hockey Show — Who are the NHL’s Top 100 Prospects?

Date: April 14, 2026
Hosts: Max Boltman & Scott Wheeler

Episode Overview

In this episode of The Athletic Hockey Show (Prospect Series), hosts Max Boltman and lead NHL prospect writer Scott Wheeler dive deep into Scott's annual "Top 100 Drafted NHL Prospects" list. They analyze the emerging elite talents, risers, and some challenging rankings, discussing which NHL teams have the strongest prospect pools, and sifting through the most fascinating player development stories of the season. The conversation highlights individual standouts, intriguing sleepers, prospect comparison debates, as well as insights into the current landscape of goaltending prospects.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Elite Tier: Michael Misa and Porter Martone

[01:44–04:30]

• Who’s at the Top and Why?
  Scott’s top tier is a "bubble of their own" featuring Michael Misa (likely 2025 1st overall pick) and Porter Martone (Philadelphia Flyers), with Martone described as one of the best NHL rookies this season.

  • “Martone has stepped in and immediately not just been a good player for them, but on most nights been one of their very best players.” (Scott Wheeler, [02:16])
  • Misa’s “skating and position tipped the scales,” but Martone’s physicality, competitiveness, and ability to keep up at NHL pace make the gap small.

• Why not a Bigger Top Tier?

  • Earlier in the year, the top group might have included more names.
  • Notable prospects just below the top two: TJ Iginla, Berkly Catton, Jake O'Brien, Roger McQueen, Michael Hage, Anton Frondell.

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2. Frondell vs. Martone, and Team Prospect Depth

[04:30–08:31]

• Anton Frondell (Chicago Blackhawks):

  • Elevated play as an 18-minute-a-night center, driving his own line (even without Bedard).
    • “I do still wonder a little bit with Anton about the playmaking… but he’s right in that top ten, right in that second tier.” (Scott Wheeler, [05:00])
  • His emergence makes Chicago’s system even deeper (8 players in the Top 100).

• Nashville’s System:

  • Most prospects in the Top 100 (9), but missing a true high-end “star” like Frondell or Martone.
  • Prospects like Brady Martin and Riker Lee stand out, but the group is more about depth than superstar upside.

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3. Big Risers and Russian Prospect Watch

[12:25–17:35]

• Ilya Protus (Washington Capitals):

  • Massive leap in prospect rankings after dominating the OHL, then AHL, now looking strong in his NHL debut.
    • “He’s already scored in the NHL, just made his debut last week and he’s already got a few points in the league.” (Scott Wheeler, [12:42])
  • Comparison to his brother Alexei: “I actually think in terms of pure puck skill at the same age… Ilya’s more impressive.”

• Roman Kantserov (Chicago) & Alexander Zurovsky (Montreal):

  • Russian prospects generate intrigue due to international isolation.
    • “Kantserov is the more premium of those two players… high-end skater… he’s going to be a top-six winger for the Blackhawks long-term.” (Scott Wheeler, [15:24])
  • Kantserov vs. Zurovsky: Kantserov is closer, more NHL-ready; Zurovsky needs to get stronger, will likely spend more years in the KHL.

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4. Deep Cuts and Surprises: Calgary, Letourneau, and Gridden

[17:35–22:33]

• Calgary’s Quiet Prospect Build:

  • Flames have strong risers like Mavig Gridden (described as “the most under-the-radar young player in the NHL this year”), and Ethan Wittenbach.
    • “He slows it down and picks people apart and just has this incredible poise on the puck.” (Scott Wheeler, [18:04])
  • Both have become impactful at the NHL level sooner than expected.

• Dean Letourneau’s Rocket Ship Ride:

  • Massive improvement after struggling in his freshman year at Boston College—now showing the high-end skill that made him a first-rounder.
    • “There was something there all along, and then we saw it sort of blossom this year.” (Scott Wheeler, [20:11])

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5. The Hardest Prospects to Rank

[24:26–27:22]

• Guys Who Score, But Will it Translate?

  • Players like Cole Eiserman (“could score 35–40 NHL goals or be an AHL scorer”), Jonatan Lekkerimäki (Vancouver), Ike Howard, and Matt Savoie are tough to fit on the list due to boom-or-bust profiles.
    • “If Cole Iserman reaches his potential… but Max Plante’s going to play and Emmett Finney’s already playing. Those players have more value than if Iserman’s just an AHL scorer.” (Scott Wheeler, [24:43])
  • Value of “sure-thing” middle-six players often wins out over pure-scorer prospects.

• Quirky/Personal Favorites at the Bottom:

  • Ivan Ryabkin, Bryce Pickford, Benjamin Routainen, Adam Banach round out the list—unique profiles or outstanding single-season accomplishments put them over the threshold.
    • “Rao Tiainen set the record for his age class in scoring in Liga… hard to ignore.” (Scott Wheeler, [27:40])
    • Adam Banach: “Such a dog, skates so well and he’s so smart on the puck.”

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6. Self-Audit: Scott’s Hits and Misses

[30:23–33:29]

• Two recent success stories:
  • Gabe Perreault (NY Rangers): “I think if you redo that draft in five years time… he’s going a lot closer to six than he is to 22.” (Scott Wheeler, [30:52])
    • Elite playmaker, competitive, underestimated skater, already impacting NHL games post-Panarin trade.
  • Michael Hage (Montreal):
    • Remains at Michigan for another year, has developed into a true play-driver and is filling out physically.
    • Could be the Habs’ critical second-line center behind Suzuki.
    • “If Hage can be that for them, it kind of changes everything for them… It’s hard to look at many organizations… who are in a better spot.” (Scott Wheeler, [33:29])

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7. Debating Riker Lee vs. Noah Östlund

[36:16–39:03]

• Riker Lee (Nashville):
  • High-risk, high-reward pick; “One of the most skilled players in the sport”.
    • “If he hits… he has a chance to be a 60 or 70 point top-six winger, power play one threat, scores five or ten highlight real goals a year…” (Scott Wheeler, [36:37])
  • Noah Östlund (Buffalo):
    • More of a 40–50 point, 2-way center—already a 30-point NHL player.
    • Lee is a bigger swing for upside, while Östlund is a safer bet for regular NHL value.

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8. Goalie Prospects: The Next #1s

[39:03–42:16]

• Sebastian Cossa (Detroit), Sergey Murashov (Pittsburgh), Jacob Fowler (Montreal):

  • Jacob Fowler: “Already the goalie in Montreal… I think he should be their Game 1 starter.” (Scott Wheeler, [39:28])
  • Fowler is in a tier of his own, projecting as an NHL workhorse.
  • Murashov emerging fast—might be handed the net soon in Pittsburgh, “right there” with the top goalie prospects.
  • Others: Augustine (Detroit), Andrianov, Ravensbergen, Zevregin (Philadelphia), Michael Hrabal.

• How Many Will be True #1s?

  • “Of those top ten in my top twenty, I think seven or eight of them have a real chance to become that.” (Scott Wheeler, [41:39])

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Notable Quotes

“Martone has stepped in and immediately not just been a good player for (the Flyers), but on most nights been one of their very best players. And that, that is hard to ignore.”
— Scott Wheeler ([02:16])

"I actually think in terms of pure puck skill at the same age… Ilya’s more impressive [than Alexei]."
— Scott Wheeler ([12:42])

“Kantserov is the more premium of those two players… high-end skater… I think Kantserov is going to be a top-six winger for the Blackhawks long-term.”
— Scott Wheeler ([15:24])

“Gridden’s a top six forward in the league. Like that’s the projection on Gridden now. And… he went from being in the top 100 to like a top 30 guy in the top 100 this time around.”
— Scott Wheeler ([18:04])

“I think if you redo that draft in five years time… Gabe [Perreault] is going a lot closer to six than he is to 22.”
— Scott Wheeler ([30:52])

“If Hage can be [a second line center] for them, it kind of changes everything for them… Even though he doesn’t change everything from a talent standpoint… he might be an invaluable one.”
— Scott Wheeler ([33:29])

“Jacob Fowler is already the goalie in Montreal… if his body can hold up, I think that’s what he is.”
— Scott Wheeler ([39:28])

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Important Timestamps & Segments

• [01:44] — Opening segment on the elite prospect tier (Misa, Martone)
• [04:30] — Frondell vs. Martone, Blackhawks/Nashville depth
• [12:25] — Risers: Ilya Protus, Russian prospects analysis
• [17:35] — Calgary’s prospects, Letourneau’s bounce-back year
• [24:26] — Hardest spots to rank: scoring outliers vs. safe bets
• [27:22] — Bottom-of-the-list favorites and hidden gems
• [30:23] — Wheeler’s prospect track record ("victory lap" for Perreault, Hage)
• [36:16] — Riker Lee vs. Noah Östlund debate
• [39:03] — Goalie prospect landscape, who’s next to be a starter

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Conclusion

This episode gives prospect junkies an in-depth, honest look at both the science and art of NHL prospect evaluation. Scott Wheeler brings encyclopedic recall and transparency to the rankings process, highlights the season’s dramatic risers, and provides context behind tough ranking decisions — from safe bets to wild-card talents. The hosts offer a clear snapshot of where organizational pipelines stand and what emerging NHL trends and player types may shape the game’s future.

Find the full Top 100 Prospect List at The Athletic.

Transcript

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[Athletic Hockey Show Intro]

This is the athletic hockey show prospect series.

[Max Boltman]

Hey everybody. Max Boltman here alongside Scott Wheeler for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series. Last week, Scott and I dove into his prospect pool rankings from the team side. We talked about which teams have moved up the most. Who's best positioned for the future. Today we're going to go a little bit more into the individual side of things and we're going to go through your top 100 drafted prospects. And at the top, it's a tier of two. It's Michael Misa and it is Porter Martone who has had the fantastic debut for the Philadelphia Flyers. Why? Why the gap after these two?

[Scott Wheeler]

I think part of it is just Martone's play. Like I had I done this a few months ago and Martone was excellent in college. But had I done this a few months ago, I think a the tier might have been larger. Like you might have seen four or five players in that group instead of just two in that first T and B. Marton might have been third or fourth instead of second. And I debated. I I really, really debated Porter at number one ahead of Mike. The the position part of it, the skating part of it, sort of edged Misa in Misa's favor. But the Martone that we've seen over what is It now, almost 10 games here in the NHL has been impressive. And not just impressive from a rookie 1920 year old kid stepping into the league standpoint, but impressive from a Philadelphia Flyers roster construction standpoint. Like he has stepped in and immediately not just been a good player for them, but on most nights been one of their very best players. And that, that is hard to ignore. I want that everybody wondered about the pace, right? That's always been the question with Porter was just sort of how it was all going to work. We know he's got the skill level, the vision, the playmaking, the size he's worked on. His consist of his effort level, his off puck play, all of that has come. He's physical, he's a competitor. But it was just sort of the boots and the feet and I've wondered about them myself at times and it has not been. He's been ahead of the play, he's been jumping into gaps, he's been in the mix. And on top of that, the skill level and the net front and all of that is there and it's real. So those felt like the two. And that's not to say that those kids in that tier behind them couldn't join them. Like Tjinla is very high and you, you go into sort of that next group of forwards. Berkeley Catton obviously played the full year in the NHL. Jake O', Brien, Roger McQueen, there's, there's Michael Hayd, the emergence of Michael Hage. There are other players, Anton Frondell, there are other players in that sort of next tier who I think have a chance to be impactful guys in their own right. But it just feels to me like Misa and Martone deserved sort of a little bit of a. A bubble of their own.

[Max Boltman]

Well, the guy who I was curious about why he wasn't there or at least the next guy up was Friendle because you talked about how good Martone's been since he got to the league. Frondell has been just as good in Chicago since he arrived. You still have, like you said, he's in the next series number six, but there's a few guys between him. Zane Perek, TJ Genla, guys who have, you know, certainly great prospects, high pedigree. James Hagen's also just debuted. But man like Frondell and Martone right now look like kind of similar level to me, at least for what they've been in the NHL.

[Scott Wheeler]

So Far, yeah. I'm a little surprised by just how much they've played Anton. They've played Anton more in for the Chicago Blackhawks than they have for. Than he did in Jurgarden. Right. Like, He's. He's playing 18 minutes a night for them. He's driving his own line. They started him with Bedard, then they separated him from Bedard. He's had success in both spots. That part of it for me is really, really new and interesting. Like, I. I've always been. I've always liked Anton. I think Anton's a very good player. I like the shot and. And oddly enough, the one timer hasn't even really popped for him yet. But I did wonder similarly about his boots just in those short little races, and I wondered about his playmaking and what his ultimate offensive ceiling would be. And he hasn't been the production. If you go back and watch his points in the NHL so far, it hasn't been a lot of him creating for himself and playmaking, but he's arriving on pucks, at pucks on time. He's around the net. He scored a couple of goals right at the top of the crease. He's made plays off the cycle in terms of driving to the net and, and sort of wraparounds and that kind of a thing. Power moves off the boards. I do still wonder a little bit with Anton about the playmaking. Like, he just doesn't have the skill and feel on the puck that Amisa or Martone do. But, I mean, he's. He's right in that. That sort of top 10, right in that second tier.

[Max Boltman]

Well, Blackhawks fans can't be too bummed about it because they have eight prospects on this top 100 list. It's them in Nashville dominating the list. Nashville, by the way, was not one of the. Like Chicago, I believe, was your top system when we did that ranking. Nashville has nine prospects in this. It's just they're. They're missing that Frontel. They're missing that star prospect. Brady Martin, I think, is the highest ranked of the group you have for them. And it's a deep system, though. And so it's. It's a recipe for. If the Nashville Predators get the right break, get the right piece, and it's going to be tough for them based on where they are in the standings this year, they're probably not going to be picking top five barring a major break in the lottery. But you get that one star piece and they could shoot up in a hurry.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, those were the top two, nine for the Preds and eight for for the Blackhawks. In this year's top 100 there were a couple of a few teams I believe four teams with seven prospects behind them. Nashville's interesting though, right? Because as you sort of alluded to, they don't have the premium, premium premium guy. They but on the flip side, they could have also had more than nine. Like I left players who've played NHL games for them off off the list this year. There were four or five guys in my honorable mentions I sort of listed at the top of this year's article sort of 20 or 30 guys that were sort of in that that would be in that six tier. There's six tiers in the top 100 that if I extended it past 100 players would be in the same tier as the players who sort of rank in the 90s, if you will. And they had a cut. They had multiple players sort of in that groups including Felix Nielsen who was unbelievable in the SHL this year and guys who've played, as I mentioned, guys who played NHL games for them this year they've had the emergence of Ryan Uco who looks like a was a riser and appeared for the first time on this list UFOs 22. So this will be his lone appearance on this list. But just for him to emerge and play his way on onto it sort of adds another piece for them. They've. They've got defensemen like Cameron Reed and Tanner Mullen Dyke and forwards like like right. They do have some skilled forwards like Riker Lee is one of the most is a favorite of mine and one of the most talented prospects in the sport from a pure skill standpoint. But they don't have. There are things that could hold Riker back. They don't have that. True, true. Sort of teach again, some of the names that the total off the top.

[Max Boltman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No for sure.

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[Max Boltman]

All right, well, we talked about some of the guys who have debuted this year and a guy who just debuted is Ilya Proteus. He's one of the big risers on your list here. There's a few guys that we should probably talk about. I don't want to overwhelm you all at once. Let's start with Protus. Everyone's familiar with his brother. How similar is Ilya to Alexi?

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, Ilya, after the season a year ago, sort of shot up my list. He was a third round pick in his draft class and was a fringe guy in my top 100, I must admit, in that year. Then last year, in the summer on the summer version of this list. He's all the way up into the 50s all of a sudden after he was basically a force like one after Michael Misa, probably the best forward in the OHL last year from start to finish. And then it's okay, let's see him do it again. Let's see him have a second season like that at the AHL level. He makes the jump to the hl. He could have gone back to Windsor, who are chasing an OHL title this year, and played another year of junior. He decided that at 6 foot 5 and 220 pounds that he was ready to take that next step. And he's skilled and he's got the puck. Skill is really, really impressive. And then he makes the jump to the AHL and he's a point per game player in the AHL as a 20 year old and, and dominant at times for Hershey as well. And now we're seeing him in the NHL. He's already scored in the NHL, just made his debut last week and he's already got a few points in the league. He's on their top. He, they slotted him onto their top power play. So they've got both the brothers on their top power play already right away and they're, they're giving him a look down the stretch here to show what he's made of and he just continues to show it. And so once you get through the big names like the top 10, the guys who've been top 10 picks, I think he's not even in necessarily in a tier behind those guys. Like I think we should be talking about Ilia in the in the same way we talked about Alexi. Both are going obviously Alexi we've already seen be a 60 point player in the league. I think that's kind of the tier that we're talking about with Ilya as well. Ilya is also playing center. I have him listed as a winger and Caps fans have kind of given me a hard time about how I keep listing him as a winger even though he's playing center in the AHL and now playing center in the NHL. I'm not sure whether he'll ultimately be a center in the NHL long term, but if he is a center, there's even more value there and that's where they've started him. So just a, like just a force and extremely, extremely skilled. I actually think in terms of pure puck skill at the same age, like the hands in tight for that size that Ilia has has sort of a more impressive quality that way than Alexei did.

[Max Boltman]

It's an interesting time right now in talking about Russian prospects because we haven't seen most of them at Internet meaningful international competitions. That's just the way it is right now. And so there's. There's kind of this intrigue around a lot of them. And I woke up to an article this morning from Scott Powers about Roman Cancerov and the name Kirill Kaprisov's getting thrown around. Obviously the production this year gives you kind of the license to, to dream on something like that. Montreal certainly with Alexander Zurovsky ton of buzz right now for these two Russians. What's a reasonable expectation for these guys and what is the best case scenario for both of those two?

[Scott Wheeler]

I think, I think Roman is and Jurassic are both going to be top six wingers. I think Cancerous the more premium of those two players. He's smaller like Sharovsky's a lean six foot two. Cancerov's kind of a stocky five foot nine, five foot ten. But in, in Cancer of you just have there's more pace. He's. He's more direct, he's more net focused. Jurorski is a more of a sort of perimeter feel playmaker. Cancerov just comes at you and he's a high end skater. I think Cancerov is going to be a top six winger for the Blackhawks long term even when they're in their contending window. Like I think that's the kind of player that we're talking about with Cancerov. I think he joins sort of Frontel And Nazar in that, that sort of tier, we'll see what Nick Lardis becomes. Obviously they've got Lardis playing there and scoring there at the moment, but I think there's probably only room for one of Lardis and Cancerov in that top six long term as kind of a sub six foot scoring winger. But Cancerov's the real deal. Jurovski, there are still some more development checkpoints that Juawski has to hit. Like he's got to get stronger and there are things that he's going to have to do. He's going to, he's going to spend another couple years at minimum in the khl. Whereas Cancerov, like it's, it's the here and now with Cancer of now, he, he led the KHL in goals this year. It's, it's real. And so now we get to see, in the next year or so we get to see what he looks like in the NHL. And I'll be fascinated to see how they sort of mix and match all these guys. And there's a chance that, don't forget, there's a chance that the Blackhawks, who are now, I believe locked into 31st in the standings, so can pick anywhere from first to fourth, but we'll have a top four pick again this year. There's a chance that they draft Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg. Right. So suddenly you've got, you've got a lot to work with and then you've got all of the depth guys and Ryan Green has played in their top six this year and you've got guys like Merrick Vaneker coming and there's, it's going to be interesting to see how they make that work and also how they try to add legit NHL players to that mix instead of these sort of buyout contracts that they've had to, to sort of fill out their roster over the last couple of years because it's. The clock is ticking on them to incorporate all these guys. Certainly. But the clock I think has also now started to tick in Chicago for them to take a step.

[Max Boltman]

Yeah, you talked about Ryan Ofco. He's another riser for you here in the Predator system. But Calgary has a couple of these guys. Mavig Greedon is one of them. Ethan Wittenbach, who just had one of the best seasons of any college hockey player, might have had a case as like a Hobie Baker snub there for the Hobie hat trick. At least Calgary kind of, you know, again, similar thing. I mean, they have Perek at the top of their system. I think they're still looking for certainly that kind of system defining forward and maybe they're able to find that in this year's class. But they're starting to build up quietly some nice depth as well.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, Greeden is, feels like maybe the most under the radar young player in the NHL this year, I think. Flames. I know Flames fans because I'm constantly hearing from them about it. Flames fans are extremely excited. Like they see a kid who just operates at a completely different level than all of their other players and that includes Matt Coronado and Jonathan Hubertow and Nazem Kadri when he was there. They have watched him now play for. I think he's played 35, almost 40 games in the NHL this season. And you talk to people, not just fans in Calgary, but I've talked to people around the Calgary organization and he just slows it down and picks people apart and just has this incredible, incredible poise on the puck. You like, you hear names like Putrov and some of those guys tossed around with him and he's not going to be that. But Gridden is like, Gridden's a top six forward in the league. Like that's the projection on Gridden now. And he was never that sort of 120 point player when he was in Schwinnegan when he was in the queue, he was kind of a 90 point player. And he's just took this step this year, both in the AHL where he was excellent in the first half, and even in the NHL of late where it's like, okay, this kid, he's not going to be the best player on the Calgary Flames offensively when they're trying to get it back into the playoffs. But right now he kind of looks like that on some nights for them. So I had to sort of adjust accordingly. Like, he was always a kid that I really liked. I was. I was actually quite high on him in his draft year and he's been on my. He's been in my top 100 in the past, but he went from being in the top 100 to like a top 30 guy in the top 100 this time around. And that's just a testament to the way that he's played over the. Like, I think he has like 12 points in his last 13 or 14 games in the NHL and it's really clicking for him right now.

[Max Boltman]

I remember a year ago we were talking about frustration with Dean Letourneau who had been the first round pick, and it wasn't immediate in college this year. Dean letourneau popped and how high can, can this kind of rocket ship ride he's on take him? I think everyone's going to look at him and danger montage Thompson, I don't know if that's totally realistic, but certainly there's a lot more there than, than the worry would have been a year ago.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, Dean's, and frankly, Dean's a player that I've, I've followed really, really closely. St Andrews College is across the street from where I grew up and down the street from where I currently live. And when I watched him at SAC about half a dozen times over his course at SAC and you talked to some of the staff there and even some of the staff at BC once he committed and it was like, okay, this kid's six foot six, six foot seven maybe when it's all said and done and he's got legit skill and he's got finesse and he's got poise on the puck and he's like, they never played him at the net front on the power play. He ran the flank for them on the power play there. And that's a prep school level, so a different level. But then he makes the jump. Will Smith moves on to the NHL a little unexpectedly for Boston College and he makes the jump last year when he was supposed to be in the USHL for the full season and it goes really badly for him, at least for a first overall pick. And people were kind of making it, making light of it and giving him a hard time about it and giving. I remember sitting at U18s with Scouts, Scouts, giving some of the Bruins staff hard times about it and, and then this year he sort of looks like that again. And the challenge with Dean was always he wasn't a he, like he wasn't a power forward. He. The questions about him at SAC were about his play off the puck and keeping his feet moving and drifting and floating and being disengaged. And people called him soft. And that part of it for Dean kind of lingered into his, into his first year. And then this year he gets an opportunity at the top of a weaker Boston College lineup than the one that we've seen the last couple of years prior where they were the number one team in the country two separate seasons gets more of an opportunity and just the skill level starts to pop and then you start to turn your attention to, okay, forget some of the deficiencies, he's athletic, he can skate, he's got skill and then you start to. People start to float around Tage Thompson and those kinds of names, right? I. I don't think he's Tage Thompson. I don't think he's Elmer Soder Blum, to use a Detroit example, either. But there's, there's something there. There was something there all along, and then we saw it sort of blossom this year, and I'll be fascinated next year. James Haggins has moved on. That Boston College team is going to look different yet again. I'll be fascinated to see if he can do it again. Like just go back and repeat this season as more of the guy with with the Eagles.

[Max Boltman]

You're saying you think he's better than Soder, but to be clear, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just making sure that the listeners are going to be on the same page with that one.

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[Max Boltman]

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[Max Boltman]

All right, let's move on to some of the guys you had the most trouble slotting here. And like, there's a few guys that I think of on these lists, like, and they're typically the guys who are able to put the puck in the net. But you wonder what is it going to look like at the highest level against the best goalies, against the best D. I'm thinking about guys like Cole Iserman here.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, there's always sort of 30 or 40 names that you slot. Like, I, when I start building this, the spreadsheet that we use to populate the user interface that's on the site, there's always 30 or four names that I slot quickly. And then I move those guys around and I divide them into tiers. And that process is the. Is the fastest part of this entire thing. Like, you put the Mises and the Frontels and the Hagens and those guys at the top, and then you figure them out. But that happens pretty quickly. And even the next tier, like that second tier of defenseman and second tier of center or winger happens pretty quickly. And then you get into the third tier, that sort of 50 to 80 range on the countdown, and it always becomes really, really hard. You're sort of measuring the smaller guys who look like dogs, like a Max plant for Detroit, for example. You're measuring guys who are playing in the NHL, like an Emmett Finney who played in the league this year. And you're measuring guys who come with some risk. And so you mentioned Eiserman. I think of Eisenman. I think of Jonathan Lekur Mackey, who Vancouver Canucks fans are really down on right now. Every time I sort of talk to people about him in Vancouver, they're down on. I think of Ike Howard, who won the Hobie Baker last year and has been a point per game player in the AHL this year, but lost out on what was essentially one job up for grabs between him and Matt Savoy. Matt Savoy is another player that's in that sort of range. Right. So those guys become tricky to, to really sort through if, if Cole Iserman reaches his potential. Cole probably scores 35 or 40 goals in the NHL at some point in his career. And it's cranking that one timer on the power play. And he's got power Play utility that a lot of the guys, once you get through those 30 or 40 names, just don't have. Right. But Max Plant's gonna play and Emmett Finney's already playing. And even if there's sort of middle six guys, I know Emmett has obviously spent a lot of time on the first line this year, but even if they're sort of middle six guys on what you would imagine a contending team looking like, those players have more value than if Cole Iserman's just an AHL scorer. And that, that's the, that I find that to be the hardest part of the list. And then the bottom of the list takes shape. Shape pretty quickly. Easy pretty quickly as well, because then you have sort of the fringe guys who have some flaws or some quirks in their games that sort of rounded out. But yeah, it's, it's sort of measuring the guys in the middle of the list that are going to be third line NHL and in many cases are already playing in the NHL or the smaller guys who've had a lot of success, like a Max Plant versus sort of some of those scorers and some bigger guys like a Jack Nesbit who sort of projects a little bit differently. Like, it's that that part of the list is the hardest and I could flip those guys like you give me a guy at 50 on the list and a guy at 80 at the list and I could probably make a case in either direction.

[Max Boltman]

You talked about kind of some quirks. There is some of that at the back of your list here. Like when I look at the very bottom names on your list. Ivan Rayabkin. I mean, very bottom. This is the top 100. Round out the top 100. Ivan Rayabkin, Bryce Pickford, Benjamin Rothiine and Adam Binoch. Fair to say these are some like personal favorites of yours here that, that you're getting on the list a little bit.

[Scott Wheeler]

Routine wasn't really a personal favorite. I've watched a ton of him over the years, but Routine was kind of a kid that I just felt I had to include just to almost to make people aware of him. Rao Ti Ainen set the record for his age class in scoring in LIGA this year. And so those records are no longer held by Alexander Barkov and then some of the big, big names that have come through Finland over the last three, four decades. Right. He led that league in scoring. He had almost 80 points in that league. And that league isn't also what it was 10 years ago, if I'm being honest. They've had some Financial troubles and those leagues struggle to spend in line with the SHL and now with the National League in Switzerland in particular. But very, very skilled player who I felt was hard to ignore, like just a ton of puck skill for a six foot forward. Pickford, again, like just hard to ignore what he's accomplished in the WHL over the last couple of years. Banach's kind of a favorite of mine. Last year we talked so much on our show about that, that sort of trio of 5 foot 8, 5 foot 9 guys and where they would go, right? You had Cameron Schmidt who goes in the third round to Dallas. You had L.J. mooney who goes in the fourth round to Montreal. And you had Adam Banach who goes in the fourth round to Minnesota. But Knox, the only of those three guys that actually cracked the list. Mooney was not too, too far off. Schmidt is sort of a distant guy in that conversation now, even though Schmidt was actually the one who was drafted the highest and had another successful year scoring in the whl. But you watch Banach in particular and he's going to the University of Western Michigan and he'll play with the Broncos next year. And I expect him to have an impact there as a freshman. Banach is just, he's such a dog and he skates so well and he's so smart on the puck that I felt like he, he warranted inclusion. So yeah, that is kind of how that, that bottom took shape. Ryabkin, I mean Reabkin was two points the most productive, more productive than Tjginla in, in junior hockey this year. Like over two points a game after he got sent down. He started the year in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. Obviously a very, very highly high sort of high end guy. Was once viewed as a top five, 10 pick in his draft class. Then there's attitude issues, there's weight issues, he bounces around on teams. He gets suspended a couple of times, he gets healthy, scratched in the mhl. He comes over to the ushl. Like his, his draft year was just a mess. The Carolina Hurricanes take a flyer on him in the second round, start him in the AHL this year. He wasn't quite ready for that. He goes back to the queue and he's the most dangerous forward in the queue all year long, including side by side Justin Carboneau and guys who were first round picks. So again, just another player. Flawed for sure, but felt like he warranted inclusion on the list.

[Max Boltman]

Yeah, I'm always trying to get you and Corey to take little victory laps and you're Both so resistant to it. I know because it can go both ways. But you've had a couple nice calls here that I do want to shout out here. One of them is Gabe Perot. We talked a ton about Gabe. It's not like nobody knew who Gabe Perot was. Right. He was, he was historically productive at the US ntdp, but the conversation was always at the size with the skating. What was going to translate? We've all seen the answer to that. And you've been banging the drum for Gabe the whole way.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, Gabe's a favorite of mine and there's a reason that we do. The players I was wrong about and not the players I was right about. Because fans enjoy that more like they want to see us. And I think it's a. I think from a transparency, we don't learn a lot from the guys that we hit on. We learn more from the guys that we miss on. So I always enjoy that, that process. But yeah, I mean Gabe's. Gabe was sixth on my ranking and he went 22nd overall. And I think if you redo that draft in five years time, I. With what I expect is coming for Gabe and I expect he's going to be a true top six winger for the Rangers here. He might not go sixth, but he's, he's, he's going a lot closer to six than he is to 22. And I just think the skill level and the playmaking. We've talked about it so much. I've. I've talked about it so much on the show and in my writing. I think it's pretty unique. Like the way he sees the ice and we're already seeing it in the NHL. We're seeing sort of after they traded Panarin and sort of the team took a little bit of a different shape post deadline here. We're seeing guys get, get opportunities there and he's a player that has just looked not. Not necessarily dynamic offensively because he doesn't. He's not breaking ankles and scoring end to end goals in the way that the sort of transcendent players do, but just inside the offensive zone when he gets the puck on his stick. He just has such a calm and poise about him to pick things apart and to make plays. And he is highly skilled and I think he's got an underrated nose, nose for the net and was always more competitive. Like he'll track back and lift pucks off of guys up and under their sticks and that kind of a thing. And I think he's a better skater than people ever gave him credit. And it's just, it is really starting to come now for Gabe. I always felt when I watched that line with him and Ryan Leonard and Will Smith that he was way closer to those guys than they gave him credit. And then on many nights, both at the NTDP and at Boston College that he was the play driver on that line oftentimes. So yeah, it's nice to see him. Those guys were always going to go straight to the NHL like Smith and Leonard did and Gabe was always going to have to linger in the HL and prove it a little bit. That's part of just where he was drafted as well. But it is really nice to see him sort of clicking now and I think there's no looking back sort of moving forward here for him.

[Max Boltman]

Another guy you were a big believer and I think, I think all of us on the hockey show really liked Michael Hage. He's had a great college career. I was very surprised actually to see the news this week that Michael H. Is going back to the University of Michigan for his junior season. I thought we might be seeing him in the playoffs for Montreal this year. First off like thoughts on that decision and what it means for Michael Hage. But, but second, like what has made Hage so successful in college hockey?

[Scott Wheeler]

Well, the big thing that has, has sort of happened with Hage that was the one thing he had to show everybody was can he be a driver? Like everybody watched him play in Chicago and they knew he was a high end skater. They knew he had skill, they knew when he was skating that he could make plays and he had pace. He was always six foot one. Right. Like there was always going to be a body that he could fill out. He, he, he was also lean and it wasn't lean because he struggles to put on weight. It was lean because he had shoulder surgery in his 16 year old season in Chicago and lost a summer of training and was just a little bit behind that way through, through just, just gym time that his peers had had. He's always had a very sort of athletic frame and so now he's starting to fill, fill out. He's up over £190. Part of the reason he went down back is because I think they think he can get to like 200, 202, 203 and that be his playing weight. But this year the, the question with Hage was A, is he a center or a winger and B, is he a play driver? And that the play, if he's a play driver that probably means he's a center. So they kind of go together and, and, and just off puck habits. And some of that needed to come as well. And he was a play driver for them this year. Like it, it ran through him. He wasn't playing off of other guys. He wasn't only doing it on the power play. It was five on five. It was every night. It was down the middle. And that is I think what has really sold people on the potential. And it just, it sort of makes you wonder about the one thing that they need in Montreal. Right. Like it. The, the big question in Montreal for the last three, four years is we got to get a second line center to play behind Michael H. And Oliver Kapanen has done a nice job as a rookie in the league in that role this year, but that's not Oliver Kapanen's role for a Stanley cup winning team. Right. So they need that. They need ideally, Oliver Kapanen's your third line center. And if Hage can be that for them, it kind of changes everything for them. Even though he doesn't change everything from a talent standpoint in the way that a Slavkovsky or a Hudson or Caulfield do. I don't think he's going to be that level of player for them, but he might be an invaluable one in that if he becomes the second line center, they don't have to chase it, they don't have to overspend on it. The young group gets to continue to be cheap and they. That young group, if you look at what Caulfield and Slafkovsky and all those guys are making, it's a cheap core. Suzuki too. It just it like they're already very well positioned. But if Hage can fill that role, it's hard to look at many organizations in the around the league who are in a better spot. Especially if Jacob Fowler's a number one goalie, which I also think he's capable of being. So everything's coming up Montreal Canadiens these days, it feels. And I didn't even mention Ivan Demidov in, in all of that. Who, who is going to have to get paid eventually. But yeah, it's the, the Hage. Hage becoming a 2C is. Would be monumental for them.

[Max Boltman]

We'll come back to the goalies in a second here. The last guy I really wanted to ask you about was Riker Lee. You mentioned him earlier. I know he's a favorite of yours as well. He's ahead of a guy who's one of My favorites, Noah Osland and with, with what Noah Oslin shown in the NHL this year, I was fully expecting to see Noah Oslin ahead of Riker Lee on this list. You have Lee ahead so I know he's one of your guys. Go to bat for him here. Why is Riker Lee in the top 30 on your list?

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, and, and Noah's been excellent this year. Like I should, I should preface, he has been especially defensively. He has been excellent for that team. He skates, he's always skated at an NHL level. He's an excellent, excellent skater. The question with Oslin was always sort of is he going to put the puck in the net? Like he's a, he's a skinnier kid and he has added weight but he always sort of made a ton of plays and was detailed, detail oriented and his coaches adored him and he penalty killed at lower levels and he was a two way C type and he could play make and pass. But it was like is he only going to be a 10 or 15 goal guy? Was kind of the question with Oslin. And even if he becomes that if he's got 30 or 40 assists, that's a very valuable sort of 40 to 50 point player in the league. And I think that's sort of the projection for Oslin, the projection for me with Lee and again another one of those guys that maybe comes with a little bit more risk. But if we hits and he hits on a roster that desperately needs talent, they're going to put him in positions to succeed in Nashville and they need him to succeed in that role. And from a skill standpoint like Riker has a chance to be steal like a steal of the draft type if he hits. And maybe the likelihood of that is, is much lower than it is of, of Oslin who's already a 30 point player in the league, becoming a 40 or 50 point player in the league. But like I think Riker's got a chance to be a 60 or 70 point top six winger, power play, one threat, scores five or 10 highlight real goals a year kind of player at the NHL level and there's just not a lot of guys once you get through the, the TJ Guinlers and the Mises and the Hagans and the Cattons and the Dan Yays and the, the Roger McQueen's and those sort of true guys that we all know are premium guys and I think protest has joined that group. Once you get through those guys there is not a more skilled player than, than Riker. The Feet are the. Have always been the issue with Riker. Like he's got below average feet, but he's way more competitive than I think people realize. And I could see him going like he had 30 points playing on their third line this year and was the fourth leading scorer behind the three players who played on Michigan State's first line. That's Daniel Russell, Porter Martone, Charlie Stramel. He had. He was just under a point per game. I think he had like 35 points in 36 games kind of thing. I would not be surprised if Riker lee played, has 45, 46, 47 points for them next year and is their top, their leading scorer on that team next year with. With all three of those guys on the first line having moved, moved on there. I think that's the kind of player that we're, we're talking about here.

[Max Boltman]

All right, let's close with the goalies then. One of the players who I've been monitoring most closely through this year because I keep checking the AHL goalie stats and monitoring how Sebastian coast is doing, obviously I cover the Red Wings most, mostly during the season. Sergey Maroshov has been right there with him, if not ahead of him the whole year for the Penguins. He's kind of come out of nowhere. How does he stack up with some of the best goalie prospects in NHL systems right now?

[Scott Wheeler]

I think he's right there. Now. I had Fowler, I have Fowler sort of in a tier of his own. I truly believe that Jacob Fowler is going to be a 60 game a year goaltender. And if his body can hold up, I think that's what he is. There are questions about. There have been questions in the past about his body and his fitness. He plays at £230 and. And those guys, whether it's Freddie Anderson or you go down the list of guys who've played at that weight over the years, they do have a tough time playing that number of games, especially with the shots that they face and the quality of chances that everybody's facing in the NHL now. But Fowler for me is already the goalie in Montreal. I think he should be their game one starter. He was good again last night. As we record this, he's up above. I think he's around 9.05- which seems like I think 905 in the NHL is now the new sort of 9, 15 in the NHL. But after Fowler, like you get into the big names, right, you get into Augustine and Cosa in, in Detroit, you get into Andreanov, who was drafted in the first round last year. Joshua Ravensbergen who was drafted in the first round last year. Michael Horable, who was tremendous at UMass this year and has had some positive starts in Tucson in the NHL already. Those guys are kind of the names that everybody talks about when they talk about the top goalie prospects in the sport. I think Murashov and, and Igor Zev Reagan as well, who's playing in the KHL right now, third round pick of, of the Philadelphia Flyers. Those two guys are right in that mix. And again we taught you, you mentioned the Russians off the top and maybe Russian prospects almost flying under the radar in recent years because of the lack of a U18 and U20 showcase for them. And Zev Reagan and Maroshov fit into that. Like they, I think we, they'd be viewed differently. They probably would have been drafted higher. All of that is sort of a part of the conversation with them. But they belong with the best of the best in terms of the top goalie prospects in the sport right now.

[Max Boltman]

There is always like a little bit of parsing to do though, right? Because you can have a top 10 goalie prospect and that guy ends up being like a 30 game player in the NHL. Like which of the top prospects on your goalie list do you think are. Let's, let's, let's not set the bar at 60, let's say 45 plus game a year types when they're in the NHL through, through the prime of their career. I'm not saying next year or anything like that.

[Scott Wheeler]

Yeah, I think Ravensburg and Harable Fowler are going to be that. I think one of the two Detroit guys becomes that and it'll be fascinating to see which of which of the two emerges. I think Murashav, it will be that and might be the soonest to be that. Like it feels like they're going to hand the net over to him next year and Mershav's going to have an opportunity to play that number of games. I'm not quite sold on Andreanov, Ravensburg and Zev Reagan, but they also have, have an opportunity to be that. But you're probably I think of those top 10 in my top 20, I think seven or eight of them have a, have a real chance to, to become that.

[Max Boltman]

Yeah. Awesome. Great stuff from you as always, Scott. Make sure everyone you go read this. It's Scott Wheeler's top 100 drafted NHL prospects. You can find that on the Athletic that is going to do it for us today. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Athletic Hockey show. Prospect series you can catch more of. Oh, I don't need to shout out Chris Peters today because Chris Peters isn't here. But you should still check out his work over at Flow Hockey and we'll talk to you soon. AI pilots are easy, but scaling AI across enterprise customer experience is where most organizations fail. Parloa's Agentix CX platform helps enterprises move from experimentation to to production. With the AI Agent Management platform for Enterprise CX companies can design, test and orchestrate production grade AI agents across customer service operations. The result? AI agents that turn customer conversations into lasting loyalty. Learn [e-mail] think Verizon is expensive?

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