When I ranked prospect pipelines last year, the No. 1 system was the Tampa Bay Lightning, who produced two Calder Trophy finalists and had many young players throughout the team playing noteworthy roles en route to being a top team in the Eastern Conference. This year's top system, the Buffalo Sabres, are unlikely to do the same this upcoming season, especially the latter component, as they are about three years away from making the jump to playoff contention.
Strength of an organizational pipeline is considered as the totality of the players they have, however, additional value is given to teams with the very best prospects. Depth is considered, but it's depth in terms of quality prospects -- players who could project as a top-nine and preferably a top-six forward, a top-four defenseman or a starting goaltender.
These organizational rankings are done as a snapshot in time. They are not meant to rank team's draft and development abilities, there is no adjustment for prior draft successes or success from current young players at the NHL level, and they can change significantly by midseason due to graduations and player development. The profiles of the organizations are meant to be summaries of the farm systems and not detail every major prospect in the pipeline. Omission of particular names does not mean they were not considered, and remember to check back next week, as we'll have in-depth write-ups on the top 10 prospects for each organization.
As with any of my prospect files, the criteria for a prospect to no longer be eligible are more than 25 regular-season games played in any season or 50 career NHL regular-season games. For example, Mikhail Grigorenko is eligible, but Beau Bennett and Brett Connolly are not.
Here is my ranking of all 30 NHL team pipelines as of this summer:
Top 100 index | No. 1-50 | No. 51-100 | Top 10 goalies
1. Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres were tough on the eyes this past season. But at the prospect level, they have the best system in the NHL. With Rasmus Ristolainen graduated, eight of Buffalo's top 10 prospects are forwards, to go along with an elite defenseman prospect in Nikita Zadorov. In addition to the balance of forward positions, there is a balance of different playing styles. For instance, Sam Reinhart and Mikhail Grigorenko play different types of games than graduate Zemgus Girgensons. Hudson Fasching, J.T. Compher and Joel Armia are all different types of players, as well, yet are still top prospects. The future is bright in Buffalo, and not just because it's August.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay has graduated a lot of talented young players over the past few seasons. Tampa had 20 players age 25 or younger play a game this past season, many in significant roles. They still have yet to graduate some of their most high-end players in left wing Jonathan Drouin and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, along with some more quality names in the system. The depth is obviously a much different story now than from their run of Calder Cup contending teams in the AHL, with most of their former top AHL players now NHL regulars.
Islanders fans have likely had enough hearing about prospects in their seemingly decade-long rebuild, but there remain more good young players en route to help the NHL team. While only five of their top 10 prospects are defensemen, those five players are very strong prospects, led by No. 4 overall pick from 2012 Griffin Reinhart and rising Finn Ville Pokka. The past few months have added a whole new scoring dimension to the Islanders' system that was formerly very defense-heavy. The 2014 draft brought Michael Dal Colle and Josh Ho-Sang in the first round, and both are high-end offensive talents. Sebastian Collberg was acquired at the trade deadline for Thomas Vanek, and he remains a very intriguing talent as well.
An organization dinged consistently over the past several years for being too heavy on defense and goaltending and not focused on scoring can point to their up-and-coming talent as the response to those critiques. Nine of Nashville's top 10 prospects are forwards, and several are toward the top of my prospect board. Wingers Kevin Fiala -- drafted No. 11 overall in 2014 -- and Filip Forsberg -- acquired from Washington in the Martin Erat deal -- are pillars in this system, with the potential to be cornerstone scorers.
It seems every year that Florida has a top system, and the fans in Sunrise and still waiting for some sort of results. Their top talents are on defense and at center, led obviously by 2014 first overall pick Aaron Ekblad. Memories of Erik Gudbranson, and other top D prospects who have been just fine in the NHL, might cause some understandable concerns, but Ekblad is at another level as a prospect, with unique skills for a player with his physique.
I've really liked the two drafts under general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, with all of Columbus' top six prospects coming during those two years. The Blue Jackets have inserted a lot of skill and hockey IQ into the organization, but it's not all flashy players, as winger Kerby Rychel and defenseman Dillon Heatherington provide some sandpaper and size as well. The forwards stand out among this group, and when they graduate to complement Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner in the NHL, it will give Columbus an elite young collection up front.
The Jets' system is somewhat top-heavy, with Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey and Nic Petan being the top talents, and their depth being solid. The goalies in the system are impressive as well, as Eric Comrie is quite talented and Connor Hellebuyck has made everyone pay attention these past two seasons. Considering how well Jacob Trouba has looked at the top level, if one or two of the Jets' top prospects become top-level NHL players, Winnipeg could be in shape to make a serious run.
Calgary's No. 4 overall pick from 2014, Sam Bennett, is a big part of the high ranking, but the team has done a good job finding other talent, such as Johnny Gaudreau, whose prospect stock has soared after being the No. 104 overall pick in 2011. After those two names, they don't have a lot of guys who jump out and "wow" you, but they have a very deep system, a significant change from a few seasons ago.
This is a system that's dramatically changed with four first-round picks in the past two seasons, including top-10 selections Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen. The pipeline's quality doesn't extend too far beyond Vancouver's top prospects who were recently picked, but the core of this group is a very impressive one.
Montreal's system isn't ranked highly due to some elite talent selected in the lottery (Alex Galchenyuk is a graduate), but rather this team has for the most part had a history of making their draft picks count, and it continues to do so. The Habs have a lot of very impressive -- albeit not elite -- prospects at all positions except center, although Jacob de la Rose has done some spot duty there in his brief career.
11. Anaheim Ducks
The graduation of Hampus Lindholm was a big blow to their system, but there's still a lot left, albeit no skater prospect at his level; John Gibson is an elite goalie prospect, however. With Lindholm and Sami Vatanen graduated, nine of Anaheim's top 11 prospects are forwards. Players such as Rickard Rakell and William Karlsson provide a lot of skill, Nick Ritchie brings elite physicality, while Nic Kerdiles is a good combo act.
12. Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes have been patient with many of their top prospects, allowing their farm system to "bubble up," so to speak, with Brandon Gormley, Max Domi, Lucas Lessio and other top prospects getting ready to graduate now to the big club. After previously focusing on defense and goaltending through the turn of the decade, the Coyotes have recently bulked up on scoring talent with their prospects, something the big club desperately needs.
13. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton's system gets a high ranking mostly on the strength of their top five and top 10 picks from the past two years in Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse. There are certainly others prospects in this system, with a lean on solid defensemen, but the Oilers' value in their pipeline is primarily due to the two players who should graduate to the NHL within the next season or two.
Chicago has one of the best forward prospects in Teuvo Teravainen, but a decent amount of top talent after that. This ranking is due to the value of the skilled Finn, but also the incredible depth in this farm system, which is among the top five in the NHL. Chicago has talent in the AHL, junior and college ranks, in bunches. This is evident from the recent under-20 evaluation camps that took place, where Chicago was among the most well-represented teams.
The depth in Washington's system isn't great, but the top of their pipeline can go head-to-head with some of the elite teams. Evgeny Kuznetsov looks ready to graduate and contribute to the NHL team, while Andre Burakovsky, Jakub Vrana and Riley Barber are other top forward talents about whom their fan base should be excited. There are some good defense prospects here, and they just graduated Connor Carrick, but this organization lacks a top young talent on the back end.
Detroit graduated a lot of players over the past 12 months, including Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Danny DeKeyser and Riley Sheahan. With the next wave of Wings starting to appear, there's still talent left in the pipeline, but it's not as top-heavy. Anthony Mantha had a huge season that made you pay attention -- including 81 goals in 81 regular-season and postseason games for his junior team -- and the Wings are still pretty deep in above-average prospects but don't have real high-end talent other than Mantha.
Toronto's system improvements are not all based on drafting William Nylander, as they saw several of their prospects take significant steps forward this season. Andreas Johnson progressed from a sleeper seventh-rounder into a real top prospect, while Connor Brown was the top player in the CHL this past season. However, I think there are still reasonable concerns about how many really good prospects are in this system beyond the top four names.
18. St. Louis Blues
I really liked the talent influx the Blues got from the 2014 draft. Robby Fabbri and Ivan Barbashev provided a lot of upside for the front end of the system, but the club added a lot of talent in the later rounds, too. When you combine that with Dmitrij Jaskin and Ty Rattie's impressive campaigns at the AHL level, plus Jordan Schmaltz's quality development, the Blues' system starts to look a lot more dangerous than a year ago.
The Stanley Cup champs haven't picked high in the draft in a while and, consequentially, don't have a real top-end prospect. However, they have made the most of what picks they do have, finding quality talent from beyond the 20th slot. Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin and Tanner Pearson showed some dividends in the playoffs on that front, and they have more talent coming at forward, defense and goaltender.
20. Dallas Stars
With an elite talent such as Valeri Nichushkin going straight to the NHL, plus seeing some other prospects removed from the system due to graduation or trade makes the current outlook of Dallas' pipeline quite different from a year ago. The Stars' system remains very deep, as they rank high in players who could become regular NHLers. However, the very top of their system -- Brett Ritchie and Jamie Oleksiak among others -- is decent, but not overly impressive.
21. Boston Bruins
Boston's system has an interesting mix. At the top of the organization is a trio of small, high-talent forwards in David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner and Alex Khokhlachev, but then there's a lot of talent from the blue line back. Overall, however, the system is mediocre. One area particularly lacking is a true top defenseman prospect.
Pittsburgh certainly has a few really interesting prospects in their organization. Winger Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman Derrick Pouliot are really high-end offensive talents, along with some other good defensive prospects. The pipeline is thin, though; after the first tier of prospects, the talent level takes a steep drop.
23. Ottawa Senators
A system that was toward the top of the board a few years ago has fallen after graduations and trades of top prospects and picks. Curtis Lazar is a bright light in this organization, with Mark Stone being impressive, as well. But after those two, there are notable questions of either risk or upside on most of the players in Ottawa's top 10.
24. Minnesota Wild
The Wild have graduated most of their up-and-coming young core lately but still have a few pieces left. Their young defense is the strongest area, with Mathew Dumba, Gustav Olofsson, Christian Folin and Louis Belpedio forming a solid group. Some of their top forward prospects have been up-and-down at the AHL level, and there are questions about how much scoring talent will graduate from this system within the next three years.
Philly's a tough system to read. I have the Flyers ranked here due to not seeing real high-end prospects in this system, but there are legitimate arguments to be made that players such as Scott Laughton or Travis Sanheim could be described as such. I'm skeptical right now, but I acknowledge there is talent in this system, with much better depth than a few seasons ago.
Carolina's system was probably a contender for 30th before it grabbed Haydn Fleury in the draft this summer; he provides lot of upside on defense. The Canes have graduated most of their recent top picks already, and while they have talent behind Fleury, there aren't really many prospects who reasonably project into above-average NHLers.
27. San Jose Sharks
The Sharks graduated Tomas Hertl in 2013-14, which was obviously a big blow to the pipeline, but 2013 first-rounder Mirco Mueller has progressed well, and 2014 top pick Nikolai Goldobin is talented. I actually think they've done a decent job at the past few drafts acquiring talent, although I have questions on some of their recent second-round picks. There just isn't a whole lot here that wows you, and there are also some prospects whose development has not gone as hoped.
28. New York Rangers
There are a few reasons why the Rangers rank so low: Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller are considered graduates, several first-round picks were dealt away recently and Dylan McIlrath's development has been on the slow side. I really like forward Pavel Buchnevich in this system; other than him, the rest of their prospects need to improve in a substantial area to be a real top prospect.
The Devils have recently graduated Adam Larsson, Jon Merrill and Eric Gelinas but still have some pretty strong defense prospects on the way in Steve Santini and Damon Severson. While they've invested two recent first-round picks on forwards, the scoring talent in New Jersey isn't really overwhelming, and it's tough to really see more than one -- if that -- top-six forwards coming out of this system.
Colorado's system loses Nathan MacKinnon from last year's rankings, which is obviously a substantial minus in talent. Joey Hishon's injury issues and Duncan Siemen's slow development play parts into their dead-last ranking. For the most part, Colorado has moved a lot of their recent top picks and young prospects into the NHL, including defensemen Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott, which has left the system pretty barren.