Voted for Talbot for keeping a bad team in the game. They'd be last in the AHL without him.
Add Missiaen for showing good progress. He's good at stopping straight shots, good positionally, but needs to work on lateral movement and quickness. He has shown improvement in his lateral movement, and the value of a prospect is determined in much by his progress. Miss certainly deserves to be on the list of "honorable mentions."
Spelling is underrated. He had 4 points in 6 games at the WJC last year on a terrible team that finished last and got relegated down. He's second on his team in the Swedish Juniors. Spelling, Talbot and Bourque should definitely be in our top-20.
Spelling still needs to show he can produce at higher levels, but he has the most upside. McColgan is tempting, but he seems to have hit his offensive plateau a few years ago, and like Bourque he simply is too small to be effective otherwise in the NHL.
Delisle is having a very good year in the ECHL & he didn't embarrass himself in a brief stint with the Whale.
Talbot is a solid goaltender who will likely never get his chance here, because at this point with the franchise you want a veteran dependable backup rather than a rookie.
I think he'll end up a mid to low level starter on another team like Jason Labarbera or Johan Holmqvist for a few years.
Talbot add Zucc. Honestly I think Zucc has fallen behind this much because we aren't too sure whether or not if he'll return to NY. IMO he is a top 10 prospect.
Talbot add Zucc. Honestly I think Zucc has fallen behind this much because we aren't too sure whether or not if he'll return to NY. IMO he is a top 10 prospect.
Based purely on skill, he deserves to be higher on the list. A big part of my ranking criteria though is whether a player will ever reach his potential in the NHL. I don't see Zuccarello coming back over any time soon, and certainly not to play with us. I have a hard time voting for him for him that reason. He's obviously the best player left but will never pan out for us.
Based purely on skill, he deserves to be higher on the list. A big part of my ranking criteria though is whether a player will ever reach his potential in the NHL. I don't see Zuccarello coming back over any time soon, and certainly not to play with us. I have a hard time voting for him for him that reason. He's obviously the best player left but will never pan out for us.
This is exactly why I haven't mentioned him as well. I imagine the same is true for most posters on the board.
