With the NHL Central Scouting midseason rankings out, the CHL Top Prospects game in the books and the latest update of ESPN Insider NHL draft wonk Corey Pronman's top 50 prospects rankings, it's time to take the next step and see what some of these top prospects might look like in an NHL sweater.
Below, I take Pronman's top five prospects and see how these players might fit with the needs of the bottom five NHL teams (as of Jan. 22). For these teams -- with playoff hopes all but gone -- here's something to look forward to as the season heads for the home stretch.
Buffalo Sabres (30th)
Best fit: C Sam Reinhart
Central Scouting rank: 4 | Pronman rank: 2
Perhaps the only silver lining to the Sabres' miserable 2013-14 season is the fact that they currently hold the top pick in the 2014 NHL draft. (Buffalo could conceivably have two of the top five selections this June in the unlikely event the Islanders don't defer the first-round pick they included in the Thomas Vanek trade to 2015.) The general consensus is that the upcoming draft has only one high-end defensive talent (Aaron Ekblad), but Buffalo likely won't look to the blue line. The Sabres have a bevy of young defensemen in the system with Nikita Zadorov (age 18), Rasmus Ristolainen (19), Jake McCabe (21), Mark Pysyk (22) and even 314-game NHL veteran Tyler Myers (who is a mere 23 years of age). Moreover, Myers, Ristolainen and Pysyk all share the same shooting side (right) as Ekblad.
Where the Sabres could use the most help, from a prospect standpoint, is on the wing. Having said that, skewing a draft decision too heavily in favor of positional needs is a risky exercise. In opting for Reinhart, Buffalo gets, as Pronman notes, a potential right-handed top-six center (which are difficult, and very expensive, to find through trades or free agency) who plays an extremely intelligent game. When you add him into the mix of Mikhail Grigorenko (19), Zemgus Girgensons (20), Joel Armia (20) and Cody Hodgson (23), the Sabres' offensive future is definitely looking better than the present -- which is producing at the historically paltry rate of 1.73 goals per game.
Edmonton Oilers (29th)
Best fit: D Aaron Ekblad
Central Scouting rank: 3 | Pronman rank: 1
In a fantasy world, the Oilers would draft Carey Price and finally end the cycle of futility that has yielded more letters from the owner (1) than playoff games (0) for Oilers fans over the past eight seasons. However, drafting goaltenders high, with their long maturation dates, is always a dicey proposition, and this draft class is considered weak in netminding prospects.
With a top-six forward core of Nail Yakupov (assuming he stays in North America), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Sam Gagner and David Perron, the Oilers need help on the defensive side of the puck, where they are allowing an NHL-worst 3.48 goals against per game.
In Ekblad, the Oilers would get a right-handed-shooting defenseman Pronman calls "big and very strong" (he's 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds) and says "skates very well for his size and reads the game at an extremely high level." Add Ekblad to Edmonton's young defensive prospect corps of Justin Schultz, Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse, and owner Daryl Katz's next letter to his beleaguered fan base might well be for a deposit on playoff tickets.
Calgary Flames (28th)
Best fit: C Sam Bennett
Central Scouting rank: 1 | Pronman rank: 3
Despite ranking second to last in the NHL in offense at only 2.16 goals per game, the talent-thin Flames -- under the direction of truculence-loving Brian Burke -- probably would opt to select 6-4 D-man Ekblad if given the chance. Doing so would replicate Burke's previous blueprint of adding a big, strong top-four defenseman in his tenure at the helms of Anaheim (Chris Pronger) and Toronto (Dion Phaneuf). Alas, if the current standings positions hold firm, there is a high probability that Ekblad's name will be off the draft board by the time the Flames make their selection.
If that is the case, Calgary likely will opt for Bennett. Bennett's combination of skating, puck skills and work ethic is reminiscent of that of former Flame (and GM of Bennett's current junior team in Kingston) Doug Gilmour, who was a key member of Calgary's 1989 Stanley Cup-winning squad. Adding a player in the style of Gilmour will go a long way toward jump-starting the long-term process of putting some fire back in the "Flaming C."
Florida Panthers (27th)
Best fit: LW Michael Dal Colle
Central Scouting rank: 5 | Pronman rank: 5
Panthers GM Dale Tallon is following his Chicago blueprint and quietly building a stable of young prospects in South Florida. With forwards Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad currently in the NHL, and with explosive but pint-sized Rocco Grimaldi likely playing his last season of college hockey, Florida would be well-served to add a scoring winger to its young arsenal.
In adding lanky Dal Colle, whom Pronman describes as having, "the rare combo of size and high-end skill," Florida would possess a potential top-six forward corps that ranges in size from Huberdeau (6-1) to Bjugstad (6-6). Dal Colle himself measures up at 6-2.
New York Islanders (26th)
Best fit: RW William Nylander
Central Scouting rank: 2 (European skaters) | Pronman rank: 4
Pronman describes Nylander as "an electrifying talent with the hands, vision and creativity to make all kinds of offensive plays." This is genetics at work, as it would have also described the game of his father, Michael, over the course of his 967-game, seven-team NHL career.
If the Islanders can't mount a second-half surge and climb further up the standings, they might have to look internally to fill the void caused by the potential departure of free-agent-to-be Thomas Vanek. Assuming they don't transfer this pick to Buffalo (which makes sense only if they think they will be worse in the standings than 26th overall in 2014-15), then Nylander would automatically jump to the top of their prospect candidates on the wing.
Parting Shots
Team most likely to trade a top-five pick: Islanders
All drafts have a perceived separation point between the top-rated players and the rest of the pack, and the consensus on the 2014 draft is that this separation begins after pick No. 3. Assuming there are no trade restrictions on their 2014 pick, should they decide to use it, the Islanders might look to convert this selection into either a bona fide goaltending solution or a legitimate top-four defenseman to return them to the ranks of legitimate playoff teams.
Dark horse to crack the top five picks: Jared McCann
Preseason Central Scouting rank: 18 | Midseason CR rank: 11 | Pronman rank: 14
If the draft were conducted solely on the basis of the CHL Top Prospects game, McCann might be a lottery pick. The 6-foot-1 forward was a particularly noticeable player in all areas of the ice and scored the game winner with an NHL-caliber wrist shot. He has been steadily climbing the draft rankings, and, in a year in which the talent level seems to disperse widely early on, players such as McCann can serve as a lower-risk alternative for teams drafting near the top.