Anaheim Ducks Top-10 Prospects
Hello everyone and welcome to hockeyrospects.com YouTube channel. I am Jeron Bbe and I’m joined again by Brad Allen. Hey Brad, how’s it going? Hey Jerome, it’s going well. We’re back. We’re back up and running. Another season. Another uh another season where like for scouts it’s our Christmas. This is our Christmas Christmas morning. We unwrap the gifts. we find every prospect we can and uh it’s exciting times but it’s also exciting to talk about where uh everybody is in organizations. Yes. Uh especially like there was actually a pretty cool article um done on the athletic where there was like this image that was sent to me uh by multiple different people of like basically um it was basically a circular image of like where teams are uh in terms of their development their development curve. Um, and yeah, it was it’s certainly food for thought in terms of where some teams are in if they’re stuck or if they’re actually developing correctly or if they’re about to have to enter a retool or rebuild. Um, you know, obviously this the the difficulty with it is the prospect component. Trying to actually figure out exactly what some of these prospects are going to develop into uh is the tricky part because it can definitely change where you put certain teams uh on the graph. So, it it was it was very intriguing, especially with like certain teams like Anaheim that we’re going to talk about today and others like Seattle and Calgary where seemingly they look stuck in no man’s land on paper, but then for instance, one of the big differences between the two, Seattle and Calgary would be that Calgary has um that ace he they have basically the next Carrie Price and Dustin Wolf. And does that mean that he can carry them like Price did into contention regardless of the fact they’re not actually that good a team? So yeah, Anaheim’s not in that boat though because they think their prospect pool’s significantly deeper, which we’re about to talk about. Yeah. So just so for people uh with the new season, we’re going to do a lot more content on YouTube. Uh last year Brad and I had our podcast scouting session. It’s going to be back, but a bit uh not right now. Uh we’re just going to focus a bit more on the um each NHL team’s uh top 10 prospect ranking. Um so today we’re going to take a look at the Anaheim Ducks top 10 prospect. Um so you can expect about two video, maybe three video per week that we’re going to produce. Uh scouting session will be back pretty soon. Um but um you know for now we’re going to focus a bit on on those NHL top 10 prospect rankings. So Brad, let’s take a look at the Anaheim Ducks. Uh what we have here as far as a top 10 prospect uh ranking for them. Um so folks can follow the screen here. They’ll see the our ranking is on the screen here. So maybe a first general take Brad on on their prospect pool that’s the top 10. They have other guys also that you know we did talk about maybe they could you know be in that top 10 range. Maybe some guys that are not even in the top 10 that will end up playing some NHL games at some point. Um, but let’s maybe focus here on the the top 10. And what’s your maybe your first take here on what they have in in their prospect pool at the top here? Uh, well, it’s wellrounded. They have a lot of different types of defenseman. They have a lot of different types of forwards, uh, both wing and center. Um, they have a pretty darn interesting hyper athlete in Damian Clair and Net to build around with Dol there. Um, and, uh, you know, they got a wild card there. We put a 10 in Terren Smith where he’s a type of prospect where if you can get Herman Traf or Terren Smith to hit uh that really enriches the pool depth which I we think is possible especially Herman Traf like very streamline straightforward horse of a kid like just a a perfect example of modern day power forward with tremendous amount of speed uh tons of range within his handling and he knows how to come off the wall successfully at unique angles. That’s the huge difference between him and uh some prospects that are at the power four position that don’t play. It’s like it’s the ones that can attack on unique angles and have a ton of range to them and a ton of speed. And he’s got both of those qualities. He can also really rip a puck. Uh I was telling Jerome earlier for everybody like one of the strangest stats I’ve ever seen was this preseason where uh Traf and Alfenskin uh shot 13 shots on net and every single one landed on net. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 13 for 13 stat line ever. So that was kind of interesting. But it tells you about the shot volume that that he has. Uh he’s a bit limited in terms of his creativity and absolute ceiling because the vision, the playmaking is not entirely at the same level, especially when he enters the offensive zone. But he’s a neutral zone entry threat. He knows how to pass a puck through the neutral zone. He knows how to get the puck out of danger in the Dzone. So I think there’s a really good base for even the the ninth prospect on our list to hit. And that speaks to the depth of this this pool. It’s a pretty pretty darn good pool. Uh, Jerome, what do you think? Where are you with the top end there? Well, I just I want to maybe add something on tra. Um, as you guys can see, the last column is where we had those guys rank in their, you know, their draft year. So, we we definitely had like a lot of uh time for draft. We rank him 57. Um, and then he got a C+ uh grade from from us. So, we definitely like him a lot in his draft year. Um, I remember watching him and I I felt like I mean I’m based in Montreal, so I see a lot of Montreal Canyons play, but I felt like there’s a lot a bit of a Joel Army um in his game um you know Jo was a first round pick so he had a lot of lot of talent um but just with his size, his reach um his frame, how he used his frame was very similar to Armya. I think if he really want to um maximize his potential um will will you know Army when he was 17 18 was not you know known for um his play away from the puck his defense like his play on the PK he was he was an offensive player right so if Traft can like add more value to his play away from the puck uh defensive game I think he’s really gonna improve his chance to to be NHLer and play for a long time because he’s he’s got some talent. Um we as you mentioned Brad like 13 shot in one game like you don’t get 13 shot in one game if you’re untalented. So um I think he’s pretty underrated uh as far as um you know as as an evaluation. I I feel like we’re maybe the only people on earth who really are really high on him as far as uh you know maybe potentially becoming an NHL player. Um so but you know if you look at the uh the prospect pool at thought it was pretty easy. The top four the top four top five guys are were pretty easy to rank. Obviously Sanaka at number one was you know pretty pretty easy at number one. McQueen. We did talk about him a lot last year. Um he was he was giving us difficulty last year, but we felt like here he feels like a the true number two uh prospect on that pool. Uh and he’s off to college um this season at Providence College. So um we’ll will be interesting to see how much improvement we can see in his you know playmaking. That was a big the big question mark we had about him last year. Um so will be interesting to see him play in college. Uh Stan Soulberg, I mean we if people have followed us for a few years, they know how much we we love that player uh in his draft year. Um I don’t think he’s that far off from the NHL. I don’t know. Anime is in a bit in a in a tricky situation. And it’s the same thing for Ian Moore and Tristan Luno. It’s like how much are the Docks willing to put more young player on their roster? Um I think I feel like they they have to make the playoff really soon or at least to be uh you know in the mix to like compete for a playoff spot and you know I feel like sometime teams will value veterans more than young players at at that at that point in their uh development. So, um, and also like the Ducks have a, you know, their top six on D is pretty set, pretty much set, you know, with, you know, uh, True Boys there now, Ellison, um, uh, Mintov, Zelwagger. Um, so they have a lot of guys in their top six. So, those Soulberg, Moore, Luno will have to be really good to, you know, win a a roster spot um, right now. And also uh you Brad you you and I were talking about like Luno more like how much are they going to be able to produce offensively when you think of uh Zwiger being an offensive player uh Menikov being an offensive player. So it’s going to be tough to Yeah. Yeah. I forgot about him. Um really good player. Um so it’s going to be tough for those guys to get, you know, power play time. you know, Luno was almost a point per game player in the uh AHL last year. Uh and and Moore is coming out of uh Harvard uh play a few games last year. So, it’s got they’re they’re the training camp and how they they do early in the season will be pretty interesting to see how those guys, you know, line up in the dep chart and, you know, may they might most likely might start in San Diego, but um I don’t think they’re far off those three guys. Um, you know, Soulberg is a bit like maybe the guy that might replace Gudas on on on the Anaheim um Anime, you know, decor at some point. Uh maybe not right now, but um they do play a similar uh chaotic game in the physically and in their own zone. So, um I like their the top five. Lucas Parish Brad maybe uh you know maybe the success in the ACHL was not there last year but the Einstein was also not there but really successful in the Al Vinskin um and he was a second a high second round pick by them 35th overall so um he does I think fits at number six pretty well maybe you want to talk about him a bit too and also the goalie Damon Clara who um did not have a good year last But the tools are incredible with with this young goalie and you know 66 goalie just it takes more time. Just look at you know Sebastian Casa in Detroit. It it takes time for those 66 goalie to really you know be at her best and he’s he’s just 19 years old. So um but the the potential is is still there for for Clara. Yeah absolutely. I mean, we we should run down right through the system, maybe give a brief recap on what we think. So, with with Senaki, we’re talking about a dynamic uh winger that can basically do everything. Extremely versatile. Um, obviously, his calling card will be his offense, but we think there’s an opportunity for him to become a very, very dominant 200 foot player, uh, due to his range and his his skating is improving. That would be the one thing I’d say that really needs to come another step is just the explosiveness in the first three steps. the the quick switch needs to continue to develop and then he’s I just want to mention like it is crazy that like at their cap he’s listed at 6320 to 06 because like four years ago he was 510 150 still was tiny wasn’t he when when they draft him to Raw like obviously he was really raw but the potential was immense and the the the thinking was how much better is he going to get in two three four years because he was still growing uh in his frame. So, um now he’s at 206, so he’s he’s starting to look more like uh you know, not a finished product, but he’s getting there basically. Um so, I’ll let you continue here, uh Brad, but you know, I just wanted to mention system senica because it it’s pretty incredible to see the the progression, you know, physically in the last, you know, four years. Well, to follow through with that, like the other thing that’s incredible is for a player with that type of growth spurt to have the coordination and the handling rates he did in his draft year. That’s like it’s ridiculous. It’s unheard of. Uh and that’s only going to continue to get better and they’re already incredible. They’re way better than McQueen’s at the same time uh same age in their respective draft years. Like that’s one huge difference between them. Um that’s not talked about publicly. McQueen has fantastic hands in theory. And yes, I know in development camp and we’ve seen some clips and yes, obviously he can string together some remarkably unique uh deaks and and do some amazing things at speed, but if you saw the rates in terms of the consistency of them, they’re way more uh there’s way more of a spectrum there than with Senaki. Um so that’s one thing that McQueen’s going to have to really focus on relative to Senaki in order for him to translate correctly. They’re very different players obviously. with McQueen. The the huge benefit of McQueen is that he has power elements to him that Senaki lacks. Um so it’s one of those situations where you know McQueen can get net front basically at will and that’s the that’s the huge value here. It’s it reminds me a bit Jerome of what Columbus is attempting to do with the dual power centers down the middle. So you got Adam Fintelli and Kaden Lindstöm, right? And then you look at what Anaheim has right now and um they have McTavic and then they’re hoping McQueen can slot in there just like with McTavage. You have two power centers. Now you’re talking right now because if you get two power centers to play in top six that can hit and they’re a bit different. Uh that’s a matchup nightmare for every team across the entire league and it gives you a distinct advantage that very few franchises ever get to have that and that’s what Anaheim’s doing. The other interesting aspect of Anaheim, I find Jerome, is that you look a lot of teams now, they really focus on the middle first and Anaheim is in a fantastic position because they already have what looks to be a franchise goalie um in Dostell, but then they their back end is seems like it’s incredibly deep like we just mentioned it. It’s it there’s so much versatility and dynamic talent like Mikov is so dynamic uh and has so much more runway than what we’ve seen. Um, you know, it’s one of those situations where like Mikov did not have a good season last year, but the potential is enormous. It’s immense. Lome has been uh a basically like since the first year in college like his progression has been unbelievable. I remember watching him in high school. He had no idea how to how to defend in any capacity. The most routine defensive plays he he didn’t understand how to uh how to defend against them. And what’s fascinating to me is when you look at him relative to Stian Soulberg um and you look at him relative to Mchukov and even Zelwiger, he he’s not nearly as errorprone. Now he’s a bit older as well and that matters. Maturity plays a factor. Uh cooking as long as he did in the oven in college there really matters. Uh they slow roasted him correctly and they’re it’s paying dividends now. But they need that because if you look at Stian Soulberg, Stion Soulberg also has difficulty with his error rates. So there there’s a lot of talent and Soulberg, I agree with you, I think he’s going to replace Gudas. He’s going to be that physical uh force that they need, but unlike Gudas who plays a much more simplified game, Soulberg is is has a dynamic quality to him offensively to at least be able to run maybe a power play too one day. Um but he does it while being more mistakrone. And then Ian Moore, who’s a phenomenal skater and and has two-way upside as well, can also be occasionally mistakrone. uh and that goes right down. So Terrence Smith is another example where you you might get an offensive defenseman who’s who’s another power play too, but he’s also mistaken. So it’s all about u the value of Lome and then trying to get uh Mchukov and Zelwiger uh and Leno uh in a position where they can streamline a little bit in the right areas of the game in terms of puck movement, in terms of exit playm, stretch playm. so that they can be a team that can then uh uh basically take over and transition with their power centers. I think I think that’s like what they’re attempting to build. And um it’s pretty interesting because they’re close to it. Like if Roger McQueen hits, I really think it changes the landscape of what this team will look like and how you project them in five years. And then you’re hoping for those bonuses from Igor Sarov, who we haven’t talked about, Jerome, phenomenal shot, one of the best shots uh out of any prospect. like for sure a top 20 shot across the board prospectwise. Um, can he pot 20 25 goals a year for them? Can Herman Traf play an ad depth role uh and be one of those power fors that just overwhelms with his his physicality? Like the the kids a monster like he’s such a freak athlete. So, can he come in? Lucas Person brings the ver versatility. So, they just they have a ton there. And um I really like the pool. I I think Anaheim’s finally going to turn a corner is what I’m trying to say. I think I think they have a real chance. Clara is the ultimate wild card. Uh we will not know what he is for another two to three years. Like he’s behind technically in some areas. Mentally he’s inconsistent, but to Jerome’s point, uh the kid is built like a Lamborghini, which is fitting since he’s Italian. Um he’s an incredible talent. He just he’s a bit all over the map and that that happens just like Sebastian Kosa. people gave up on Kosa way too early and thought that he wasn’t going to be able to uh figure it out in the AHL and then he he looks he looks like he’s absolutely going to be the part if he continues on the path he is. So uh ton of talent, ton of versatility, uh one of the scariest upcoming teams if McQueen and Senaki hit specifically because of their range size and the power that will be initiated will be similar to Columbus uh which has the Voronov and Tely and Lindstöm combination. Yeah. Let’s not forget uh Leo Carlson as the Oh, yeah. Yeah. That he’s kind of important, too. Yeah. Yeah. He matters. Yeah. Yeah. So, they have they have a really good prospect pool. Uh even guys like like I mentioned before, like outside of the top 10 that might get some mini games. Uh Tyson might be one as a as a depth, you know, third pairing, you know, five, six, seven D on a team. Um, Nathan Gocehe has a Fortline center that can, you know, win face off uh and play fast. Well, he’s he’s a good skater and and play physical. Um, Maxim Massa is a bit of a wild card. Um, you know, it’s a big year for him coming up with Shikuri in the Q. Shikuri will be top two, top three team in the in the league. Um, he’s got some work to do with the the skating, the the the compete level. sometime it’s not as good as uh we we wish it was. Um but he’s talented. He can really shoot a puck. He’s got good hands. Um so remains to be seen. Like as I mentioned, it’s a it’s a big year for him uh coming up. So that will uh Brad, that will wrap up a bit our conversation about the uh the prospect pool of the Anaheim Ducks. Uh we’ll be back for our next video and um it will be about the Boston Bruins. So uh subscribe to our channel uh and you know help us grow the channel. I think we’re about 50 subscriber away for a thousand. So be nice to get there um at this you know in the coming weeks, months. Um so stay tuned. We’ll be back for more videos uh soon. And uh the next one will be the Boston Bruins.
Jérôme Bérubé and Brad Allen break down HockeyProspect.com’s Top-10 rankings of the Anaheim Ducks prospects.
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