Quoting: AC14
Even though we did draft a boat load of LHDs and have quite a few in the system I think we have to keep trying until a guy cements himself as a top 4 guy. I think Lindstein is going to be a nice complimentary 2nd pairing guy which is completely fine. Other guys it's really hard to tell.
Pekarcik reminds me alot of a guy like Toropchenko. Big fast, bull in a china shop type player who has some skill, but probably not enough of it to be in the top 6. Good 3rd/4th liner as long as they keep the bull in a china shop mentality and keep the motor high.
Buchinger is the one in our current system who i think actually has a decent chance to be a long term NHLer on defense.
Tucker seems a bit to slow but his compete level is good enough to keep him regularly somewhere in the NHL for a while as depth.
Perunovich just lost soo much time with injuries. I think if he's willing to take low salary deals he'll be a player, but more so in the role of a bottom pairing guy who can run a powerplay really well - more or less Torey Krug.
Gaudet/Burns/Fischer admittedly I don't think i'm too familiar with them to make a sure judgement. Gaudet seems more like a vanilla defender who may get some time like Kessel currently but who knows.
As far as projecting. It's borderline impossible to, but i'd imagine at least 1 or 2 of our top end forward prospects Neighbors included (Neighbors, Bolduc, Dean, Stenberg,Dvorsky, Snuggerud) don't work out. But that's completely fine with that we will get more prospects over the years to fill the gaps. But the one thing I find interesting is going through and looking at the current roster/other rosters around the league and seeing how few drafted players see sustained time with a team or at least show on their roster after 3-4 years of the ELC expiring.
I agree with you that we gotta be realistic about how many of the current prospects are going to be true top six forwards... it may be even lower that what you're imagining...
Snuggerud and Dvorsky, to me, are the most sure-fire top six guys - undeniable NHL shot and compete - but they've also created a little bit of doubt with their inconsistencies in production (yes it's too early to judge)
Bolduc played a great all-around game in juniors but watching him vs pros it's hard to see how he will make that part of his identity - he may be more of a PP threat/sheltered 3rd line guy but likely an NHLer.
Dean was always tracking as a bottom six C aside from an insane playoff heater in the Q (as a 20 yr old fwiw).
Neighbours may always be the 3rd guy on his line but still has promise as being that guy on a scoring line which helps.
Stenberg is an unknown for me. I'm hoping he turns out like Steen where he can be relied on for steady play in any deployment. (Remember when they let him loose and he had 33 goals that one year?!)
Pekarcik has a loooong way to go - he was only like 3 days away from being 2024 eligible - but I've seen some nice flashes from him.
So yeah, I hope they all pan out but realistically we could be looking at 2-3 impact guys. Luckily, there should be money to spend on outside acquisitions, and like you said all the teams have to make tough decisions on who to keep and who to move. Here's to hoping we get better pro scouting than the guys who liked Krug and Leddy more than Dunn and Walman.