i’m getting ready to defend dylan cozens in these comments

The Top 7 guys are labeled as Tier 1 drafted prospects, which I think is fair. Cozens is legit top tier, shocked to see him 1 but its not a stretch at all

Surprised to see Caulfield so high, personally I'd take Byram, Kap and Turcotte over him. Don't know much about Newhook but crazy that the Avs have another prospect ranked above Byram

Zegras >>>> Cozens

Newhook and Caulfield are a bit linked now bc they went 15th and 16th overall last draft but newhook just had such an impressive season.
Didnt think Caufield had a good showing at the WJC and Newhook had a better rookie season than him in the NCAA, but splitting hairs having them ranked back to back

this list sucks. I mean they included a guy like Vilardi but didnt put Hayton? Is this mostly guys from the 2019 draft, recency bias there?

The Athletic actually sucks and they make you may to read their articles so nobody actually cares at all about their opinion.

"featured in my 2019 ranking have since graduated under those criteria. They are: Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko, Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Cody Glass, Adam Fox, Filip Zadina, Dante Fabbro, Adam Boqvist, Nick Suzuki, Martin Necas, Kirby Dach, Noah Dobson, Henri Jokiharju, Jordan Kyrou, Joel Farabee, Emil Bemstrom, Alexandre Texier, Barrett Hayton, Rasmus Sandin, Troy Terry, Sam Steel, and Dillon Dube"

Hayton is an NHLer now so he doesnt make the list.

Fro the Sens
18 Batherson
19 Branstromm
38 Docker
40 Norris

I can think of a ton of guys that deserve to be here. everyone on Ottawa must also have graduated as well

i just updated the list and gave you their spots

the Sens
18 Batherson
19 Branstromm
38 Docker
40 Norris

I think Wheeler defended his take well enough in the article. He said (paraphrasing) that Cozens doesn't have the ceiling that the 6 on the list following him have, but his uniqueness with his skating, size, and hands is what landed him at 1. I think that's a fair take even if I don't agree.

My meaningless and useless opinion:

Cozens, Caufield, and Kaliyev are a bit too high (IMO). Conversely, I like Krebs better than the list would suggest, and Tomasino may have shot up past a few guys I see in that top 15 as well. I can probably nitpick more, but that's what first comes to mind.

Boldy over Seider is a little rough

well thats not true, people do care about what they write....Le Brun writes for them, Corey Pronman draft and prospect articles are some fo the best you can find . Lots of great Analytics people write for them,. Solid beat writers like Michael Russo, Aaron Portzline, Jeremy Rutherford, etc

You may not like that its a paywall but lets not pretend people dont like their content.

they are in the same tier of prospects according to his rankings. 1-7 Top tier, 8-14 2nd tier, 15-35 mid tier

I agree, its not a stretch to but him up there based on his argument. And chances are if this was a normal offseason and guys got to see them play in the international tournmanets, playoffs etc that wrap up the year, this would be a complete different list

No like just look at the comments on the atheltics facebook ads. I click it expecting an article, then i get a screen that says "hey pay us money"
The comments all are like "not worth it" "crappy list" "dumb article we already knew that"

facebook ad comments is your barometer? Oh boy, well that explains a lot

Am I just biased because I'm a Wings fan or should Seider be higher?

His write up

"Would I have taken Seider sixth overall a year ago? No. Would I take him sixth overall in a re-draft today? No. But was he closer to that range than where I had him (late 20s, early 30s) ahead of the draft? Yes — and Seider proved that throughout this season with his impressive play as a teenager in the AHL and an all-star worthy performance at the world juniors. I still want him to impose himself offensively more than he does, and look shoot more than he does, and just flat out attack a little more. But he can shed some of the caution with age and experience and the rest is clearly there. He’s big, he’s strong, he uses both of those things intelligently, he’s mobile for his size, he’s got all situations upside, and he’s going to have a better ability to play tougher minutes at the NHL level than arguably any other defenseman on this list. That matters, even if his game with the puck or from the offensive zone blue line in is a little duller than his peers near the top here (which isn’t to say it’s not still an asset because it’s definitely getting there)."

offensively he hasnt done enough for Wheeler to move him up any higher from where he had him originally in the 20s

Bias. He might have been drafted high in the first round but nobody had him ranked above the middle of the first round last year

Just curious what were his write ups for Branstromm and Norris? I assumed both would be higher with Branstromm highly regarded as the top piece coming back in Stone trade and Norris winning AHL rookie of the year. Maybe I just have higher expectations for them then I should??

Cozens is insane. I go to quite a few Calgary Hitmen games, and I went to every game in the series between the Hitmen and Hurricanes in Cozen's draft year. It is incredible the impact he has, he can easily turn into a first line player in the NHL. If you don't have him at the top of this list, your trippin.

Brannstrom spent a few more games in the NHL than the AHL this season but he also spent all of January and February in Belleville before a March stoppage, he’s a late birthday for his 2017 draft year, and there’s a boom or bust element that comes with his projection that all very much still make him feel like a prospect. The 2019-2020 season was one of real highs and lows for Brannstrom but as was typical, the highs were enough to keep me bullish on his upside if everything comes together. Brannstrom’s always going to be limited in his own zone due to his size and propensity to want to try cute little plays on exits, or through the neutral zone. He’s also always going to be a high-level stretch passer who can attack down the wall and throw a seam pass through traffic, or walk the line to give his teammates time to get open. He can start a rush or lead one. He can run a power play. There’s a lot to like in his game and though it feels like he has been around forever, he’s got time on his side to work through some of the warts.

Norris has produced in line with prospects I have higher on this list, so his evaluation has less to do with outcomes and more to do with style. He’s a fabulous player who is NHL-ready today. My concern with his game has always been that I’m not sure his skill set is high-end enough to play on a first line, or to be more than a complementary piece on an NHL power play. He quick, he’s strong, he’s always on the move, he can score from mid-range, he can make plays to his linemates in tight and around the perimeter. I think he’s going to be a very good third-line center, if not a second-line one. I just don’t see him finding another gear and I think most of the forwards ahead of him on this list have tools that may give them a better chance at finding that level — at going from impact player to star player.

Hmm interesting.

Ranking drafted prospects (after the few superstar studs that are obvious) on whose "better" always is just a shot in the dark anyway. A good chunk of these guys (and others not mentioned) are so close together in skill and statistics that the only defining thing that separates them is personal preference. That's basically all Wheeler's doing here. Separating really good prospects by who he likes better.

I prefer the prospect pyramid when ti comes to ranking prospects. Who cares whose 8-15th for example. They're all Tier "X". That's what's important. Ranking players in arbitrary #'s is completely pointless and many times is completely subjective in nature IMO.