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Alright, so you’ve read our new prospect ranking system and should understand the idea behind it. But you’ll no doubt be aware the B’s have way more than just 10 prospects worth talking about, so we present to you this morning the players who didn’t make the cut. We admit we might overrate and underrate certain talents based on our own biases and such, but that’s what the comments are for. Reasonable debate over X, Y and Z prospect.
Something that has surely been a staple of internet hockey discussion and has never gone into a landslide of name calling and appeals to authority. No sir.
And without further ado, I give you...The rest of our prospects, starting from the bottom and rising.
36. Cameron Hughes - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 2.5/10
Hughes is a bit of an enigma for a few reasons, but what drops him so deep down this list is primarily his position being a deep, deep well the Bruins can go to over and over again. Not helping is that he has a teammate in the top 10 who played and produced much more consistently than he did in the NCAA, and that did indeed continue when both players went to the AHL by the end of Wisconsin’s season. Hughes will have to make a big case for himself in the coming years.
35. Connor Clifton - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 2.5/10
Being 23, in the AHL for the past quarter season and tying with Chris Breen for points is no mean feat. However, at 23, the level of his production and defensive skill may unfortunately be his peak. If he distinguishes himself in the coming year, he’ll rise.
34. Dustyn McFaul - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 2.5/10
A LHD whose future is definitely out in front of him; he plays for the Cedar Rapids USHL team this year, and then goes to Clarkson University. But aside from one pretty decent season in the OJHL, there really isn’t much on the guy to go on for upward or downward trajectory. Maybe he’s great with Cedar Rapids/Clarkson and we’re all wrong? But he has to get there first.
33. Cameron Clarke - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 2.7/10
Clarke plays on a fairly desperate Ferris State team where he has put up only modest gains. Which is fine for a Defenseman but being 22, and still kinda skinny for a 6’1 player, he’s going to have to do some filling out and have a standout year for Ferris State to rise in these rankings.
32. Curtis Hall - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 2.8/10
An enormous center from the Youngstown Phantoms who will be playing in his first year at Yale. How his first and second year go will likely determine whether or not he moves from this spot in the near future.
31. Zane McIntyre - G
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3/10
It really breaks my heart to put Zane McIntyre on this list and so low on the totem pole. It really does. McIntyre mechanically has shown many of the skills needed to succeed in the modern NHL and in the AHL but there’s eventually a point where you have to ask a player to try and work past his limitations and McIntyre just...hasn’t. He’s often shown issues with stumbling in year one, but right now we’re entering year four of this development process, and many of the issues he had back in 2015 are still issues he’s working on in 2018: namely keeping his head in the game and losing pucks in crowds. As painful as it is, It really seems like Zano won’t be the answer the Bruins want or need in goal.
30. Anton Blidh - LW/RW
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3/10
Blidh has actually played in the NHL, but his contributions as a 4th liner have been fairly minimal. As a depth guy for Providence he definitely seems like an okay player, but he’s had real issues standing out from other, better players from Providence.
29. Colby Cave - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3.2/10
Second verse, same as the first. Like Blidh he’s had plenty of good, productive games and has been a leader for the young P-Bruins in their depth, but when he’s been called up to the NHL (which is very infrequently), he’s never really stood out. Not helping matters is that now there are plenty of young, hungry centers at the very tip top of the list that can probably do much more impactful things even on the B’s 4th line.
28. Wiley Sherman - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3.25/10
While huge and a RHD on a team that still needs a few of those, Sherman’s productivity as a Harvard player and as a successful defender took a bit of a hard reality check from a mere two games as a P-Bruin. He certainly has the mass that scouts want, it’s all a matter of whether or not it actually translates to a full season of Semi-Pro or even professional action. Considering he’s 23 now? He’s gonna have to show that he’s something more than a just large body sooner rather than later.
27. Olivier Galipeau - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3.3/10
While a respectable LHD for the Drakkar, Sagueneens, and Foreurs in the QMJHL and an interesting defect from the Habs prospect system, Galipeau’s first taste of professional action starts this year in Providence, where the line for LHD wanting to play hockey is out the door and round the corner. If he’s as generally consistent as he’s been in the Q? There’s a chance he could jump up the list.
26. Daniel Bukac - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3.3/10
Another large RHD for you. Since he’s signed with the Niagara IceDogs, he will continue to develop his game over the next year or so. Whether or not he finally makes the jump to Providence is entirely up in the air however, as he’s likely to slot in with Niagara’s bottom pairing. There’s even the possiblity of him re-entering the draft if he doesn’t think he’s got a chance with the B’s.
Big year for Big Bukac indeed.
25. Pavel Shen - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3.5/10
Shen’s youth is always a plus, but he’s going to have to have a hell of a year with Salavat Yulaev or their feeder program Tolpar in order to jump up this list, and almost all of that is due to the sheer number of centers in the system.
24. Martin Bakos - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 3.8/10
Hired as Providence depth and that’s likely where he’s gonna stay. There’s hope for the guy if a player or two gets hurt, however.
He will get to go to China however, and that’s pretty dope.
23. Cedric Pare - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 4.2/10
While he’s been pretty decent as a center for the St. John Sea Dogs, he’s going to Rimouski Oceanic this year as an overager. This is his last year in junior to show he’s all that before he goes to the AHL. Again, not a bad talent, but the sheer number of centers just shoves him deep into the prospect pool.
22. Kyle Keyser - G
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 4.7/10
Keyser’s sophomore year as a goaltender for the Oshawa Generals was pretty good, and was a marked improvement over his freshman campaign. However, Keyser could mostly say he was the starter because the Gens seemingly oversigned in goal, having five players who actually played and six on their roster. As he enters his 19th-20th year, he’s going to have to improve on a .904 SV%, and likely bulk up some more as he awaits his transition to the semi-pro leagues like the AHL or ECHL.
21. Karson Kuhlman - C/RW
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 4.7/10
Kuhlman’s pedigree is pretty impressive, all things considered. He’s been on a Frozen Four and NCHC winning Minnesota-Duluth team, and has won the Clark cup in the USHL with the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Now, Kuhlman has to show that his winning ways and decent production can follow him to the Providence Bruins.
20. Jack Becker - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 4.8/10
The curse of “the Boston Bruins have a logjam at center” strikes again as the fairly productive Becker had a pretty good freshman season with the Michigan Wolverines, but just barely made the cut of their top 10 point getters, tied for 8th place or 10th place depending on how you look at it. Becker’s sophomore campaign will probably help him sink or swim.
19. Emil Johansson - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 4.8/10
A solid season in Providence as part of their bottom pairing is pretty good, but Johansson is practically shunted all the way to this list due to the sheer quality of LHD the Bruins have been acquiring lately.
18. Axel Andersson - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 4.8/10
Andersson has plenty of time to rise up this list on his own, as he’s a fast RHD who can move the puck well enough on his own, but he did just join the prospect pool as a relative unknown. But, there’s plenty of potential in this kid, so for the time being he will be rising in these rankings as a member of Djurgårdens, and as a member of the U20 Sweden team.
17. Zach Senyshyn - RW
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 5/10
Zach Senyshyn’s first pro-level year didn’t go exactly as planned, and he did take some adjusting to the pro-level game. But he had an alright year at the end of the day. Now that he’s adjusted, one can expect the crafty winger to really show us what caught Don Sweeney’s eye back in 2015.
16. Victor Berglund - D
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 5/10
A player whose stock has been slowly rising overseas as a member of the illustrious MODO Hockey club in Sweden, getting recent calls to play for his country this year. However, he will continue to play for MODO as they gear up for a hopeful promotion to the SHL, and gain valuable experience against guys much older and stronger than he is.
15. Joona Koppanen - LW
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 5.2/10
Left wing is a fairly stocked position this year across the board by the B’s, with barely any slots open and Providence having a pretty good idea as to what their LW depth is going to look like. Namely, it’s going to involve the enormous 6’5 Koppanen, who only played ten games with the P-Bruins last year but was able to pick up at least a couple of goals. He shined more as a member of the Finnish U20 team, where he was a force on their world junior squad and in international tournaments he was able to pick up 9 points in 16 games. Not too shabby!
Of course, now he has to do something with all that in Providence as a full-time player. He’s got plenty of room to grow, but his first full year will definitely help him along into being a more defined prospect.
14. Oskar Steen - C
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 5.5/10
Playing for Färjestad BK in your first season as a 19 year old is no small feat, and he certainly shown on the international stage that he can light teams up if they’re not ready for him. Once again, the sheer number of centers and the fact that his first year with Färjestad meant he didn’t see much ice time against adults, getting less than 11 minutes a game. This year likely changes that for him. How he reacts will very much determine how his stock looks in about a year or so. Another year at the WJC will also help him along, no doubt.
13. Dan Vladar - G
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 5.8/10
Vladar feels like he’s been in the Bruins system for six years and has only recently turned 21 (his birthday was on the 20th of August), and already he seems to have an odd quirk to his game: he did “okay” while as a member of the ECHL Gladiators, not perfect, but not bad either...but the few times he’s ever been in Providence he’s played pretty dang well, staying well over .920 in each game. Now, Vladar is going to get to show us whether or not this is actually how he plays at the AHL level and not just flashes of glory, as he takes to the P-Bruins full time.
12. Jesse Gabrielle - LW
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 6/10
The pesky, feisty winger had an odd 2017, in which he was a bit middling in his 21 Providence appearances, but then went back to junior and had a much better year. Gabrielle returns to the P-Bruins for good this time, and he will get to bring his obnoxious, Marchand-esque playstyle to the AHL. One can assume he will try to do this around players Wiley Sherman’s size.
11. Jakub Lauko - C/LW
Aggregated confidence in making the NHL and being successful: 6.2/10
The speedy Center-Winger just barely misses the cut by .4 of a percentage point. The speedy winger has plenty of reasons to be a top 10-er in the near future if his positive, driven attitude and clear skill on the ice can translate to clearer success in Chomutov. Another year goes by and his production continues to be where it is? He could probably find himself in next year’s top 10 and very easily on the P-Bruins roster.
With all those gentlemen accounted for, we will leave you in suspense for the weekend over our #10 prospect. The only hint I can give? Is that his position was on this list three times.
See you monday!