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No longer a laughing stock but still earning respect, the New York Islanders have built a pretty decent stable of young players after years of less than mediocre results at the NHL level. The Islanders have prospects on the way at every position so the pieces are there for the once floundering organization to finally right the ship for the long haul.
GM Garth Snow, a goaltender in his NHL days, selected a pair of NCAA netminders in June - one coming off a fantastic freshman season, the other hoping to make his own mark in college this coming year as a rookie. Stephon Williams was terrific for Minnesota State and Eamon McAdam could become Penn State's starter as the program moves to the Big 10 conference.
Forwards in the system include Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome, Taylor Cammarata and Kirill Kabanov. But with the amount of blueliners the Islanders have drafted over the last four years, my pick today shouldn't come as any surprise.
2012 Choice: Scott Mayfield - The big defenceman had just completed his freshman year at Denver and I wanted to know what steps forward his development would take as a sophomore. This year may prove even more interesting for Mayfield after turning pro last spring. This year Mayfield will play in Bridgeport and hope to adapt quickly as the organization is flush with defencemen on the way.
My selection for Islanders prospect of 2013-14 to be One To Watch comes after the jump.
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We talk a lot about NHL rookies on The Pipeline Show but in Colorado, the guy behind the bench this year is a pretty intriguing freshman. Patrick Roy is the rare coach who was a superstar player who spent time in junior hockey preparing for his return to the NHL. After 8 seasons with the Quebec Remparts, Roy feels he's finally ready to take on the head coach job in Colorado and that is going to make for interesting discussions all year.
But the One To Watch series doesn't talk about coaches, it's looking at a young guy on the ice coming up the system and the Avalanche certainly have some interesting players on the way.
2012 Choice: Mike Connolly - A very disappointing season for a guy I admittedly held high hopes for. The former Camrose and Duluth standout had a very impressive season as a rookie pro in 2011-12, mostly in San Jose's system but Connolly fell far from that success last year. There was an injury to start the year and by the end of it he'd managed just 9 goals and 23 points in 65 AHL games. This year Connolly is playing in Germany.
My 2013-14 choice as One To Watch for Colorado comes after the jump.
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The Canucks are still considered one of the contending teams in the Western conference but for the first time in a few years there appears to be talented youth on the way. Camp has seen solid performances from recent draftees and it's compelling to see how many, if any, of the prospects at camp earn a spot with the big club.
2012 Choice: Joe Cannata - The former Merrimack standout played sparingly in the AHL and ECHL last season and received a late season recall to sit on the bench while Cory Schneider was injured. Cannata posted decent numbers in AHL Chicago and oddly enough, pretty forgettable ones with ECHL Kalamazoo. He should see a lot more starting time this year.
My 2013-14 One to Watch for Vancouver comes after the jump.
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We
had our massive WHL Preview show a couple of weeks ago with both Dean
Millard and I joined in studio by a couple league broadcasters and on
the phone by a third plus a media man in Seattle. Corey Graham or the
Oil Kings and Red Deer Rebels voice Cam Moon were kind enough to sit in
with us. Then we also spoke with Kamloops Blazers broadcaster Jon Keen
and ESPN 710 Seattle's Andy Eide.
I'll refer you to that show, the archive is RIGHT HERE, as I will not be going as in-depth here in the blog but using this as more of a summary to what we discussed that night.
After the jump, my predictions for the East conference and the two teams I'm looking at for the conference finals. Plus, having posted my Western conference predictions earlier, I'll also include my WHL Championship final and who I'm selecting as the WHL representative at the 2014 Memorial Cup in London, ON.
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We had our massive WHL Preview show a couple of weeks ago with both Dean Millard and I joined in studio by a couple league broadcasters and on the phone by a third plus a media man in Seattle. Corey Graham or the Oil Kings and Red Deer Rebels voice Cam Moon were kind enough to sit in with us. Then we also spoke with Kamloops Blazers broadcaster Jon Keen and ESPN 710 Seattle's Andy Eide.
I'll refer you to that show, the archive is RIGHT HERE, as I will not be going as in-depth here in the blog but using this as more of a summary to what we discussed that night.
After the jump, my predictions for the West conference and the two teams I'm looking at for the conference finals.
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The recent Stanley Cup champions have built their team around size and skill and added to both of those categories at the 2013 NHL Draft. New additions like 40-goal man Valentin Zykov and 6'7 winger Justin Auger fit the bill not to mention CHL Goaltender of the Year Patrik Bartosak.
L.A.'s NHL depth allows the team the luxury of bringing along their prospects slowly and that's paid off for guys like Slava Voynov, Jake Muzzin, Trevor Lewis, Dwight King and Jordan Nolan. That's good news for guys that are still biding their time on the farm.
2012 Choice: Martin Jones - The former Calgary Hitmen goalie wasn't drafted but signed after an impressive camp invite. Heading into last year it was feasible that with so many Jonathan Bernier trade rumors going around, a NHL appearance might be in Jones' near future. That didn't happen but he did manage to have arguably his best professional season. He played 56 regular season games and held a 2.53 GAA and 9.19 SV%.
My Los Angeles prospect pick for One To Watch in 2013-14 comes after the jump.
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The Capitals only had one rookie contribute much at the NHL level last season and that was 25 games from defenceman Tomas Kundratek. The former Medicine Hat Tiger was originally drafted by the New York Rangers but has worn a Caps jersey for all 30 NHL games that he has appeared in.
Yevgeni Kuznetsov is the top prospect for the Washington Capitals but he's spending another season in the KHL before coming over to this side of the Atlantic.
There are a number of other quality guys in the system, Tom Wilson and Madison Bowey immediately come to mind, but the franchise isn't as deep as it was a decade ago. That's probably a good thing because it should mean that there is more NHL success so they are drafting later than they had been.
2012 Choice: Braden Holtby - The former Saskatoon Blades keeper established himself as the new starter for the Caps with a strong lockout shortened season. His 23 wins were one off the league high although he managed the total playing far fewer games than the trio of goalies with 24 wins. Holtby is still young but a strong start to the year would make him a viable consideration for the 2014 Canadian Olympic team.
My 2013-14 One To Watch pick for the Capitals comes after the jump.
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Solid drafting and patient player development have been keys to the success of the St. Louis Blues in recent years. The team spent its fair share of time at the lower end of the standings but made the most of the down years. The Blues drafted in the top half of the first round four times in five years from 2006-2010 and still have those players on their roster, or the players they received for them via trades.
Despite picking much later these days, the Blues have still done very well at the draft with a number of their prospects trending upwards.
2012 Choice: Max Gardiner - I thought Gardiner was an interesting player in an even more interesting situation. The former Golden Gopher was back in the NCAA but with a different program, and a new one at that in Penn State. Gardiner had a good year collecting 21 points in 23 games but only managed 3 goals. I'm guessing more was expected and if so, more will be counted on as he begins his junior season with the Nittany Lions.
My 2013-14 choice for One To Watch with the Blues comes after the jump.
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It's definitely a new era in Southern Alberta as a number of fan favorite veterans have moved on, Brian Burke has joined the organization and the team has embraced a rebuilding mentality.
With that comes a number of young prospects and new faces to the team and a level of uncertainty. But just because these new players aren't proven doesn't mean they can't get the job done. For the first time in a number of years, the Flames have a number of young prospects in the system for fans to be excited about. Perhaps the rebuild won't take as long as it has for other franchises in different cities.
2012 Choice: Laurent Brossoit - The Edmonton Oil Kings netminder began last season trying to erase the memories of a sub-par Memorial Cup and summer U20 camp performance. For the most part, Brossoit had a very successful year although he was overlooked for Canada's entry at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Russia. The goaltender posted career best numbers with a 2.25 GAA and .917 sv% and was even better in the playoffs.
My 2013 selection for One To Watch for the Flames comes after the jump.
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An intriguing mix of seasoned vets, actual superstars and a smattering of talented youth on the way. The Minnesota Wild should be a team to consider a threat in the very near future although I'm not sure if that's reasonable to say about this season.
Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle and Jonas Brodin are just the tip of the prospect iceberg that Wild fans enjoyed watching last year. There are a number of guys still in college or junior who could impact the NHL roster in the near future including Mario Lucia, Zack Phillips, Tyler Graovac, Adam Gilmour, Carson Soucy and Darcy Kuemper. Of course there is a defenceman on the way as well, more on him in a second.
2013 Choice: Charlie Coyle - Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fan of Coyle's. My question leading into last season was whether he would be able to produce offensively as a pro. That answer came in the form of 25 AHL points in 47 games and 14 more in 37 NHL contests.
My selection for One To Watch with the Wild for 2013-14 comes after the jump.
