2019 THN Top 100 Players Under 21

[Goat James]

On 11/24/2019 at 10:13 PM, the grinder said:

a

and so was alexander daigle and nail yakupov  ,    you  know what I mean  look at petey on the list  , he  was projected like 10th overall  and now he is second on the list .I hate when they put  pros vs junior . you never know if they can actually make it in the nhl or will another petey come out of no where 

Both Daigle and Yakupov had good rookie seasons, so just ‘cause a player’s turned pro doesn’t mean that we know what kind of career he’s going to have. And for every first overall bust there’s like seven guys who lived up to their potential. I don’t see the issue here. 

[Phat Fingers]

On 11/24/2019 at 3:14 PM, nuckin_futz said:

Interesting list. Thanks for posting.

 

My guess is the list makers are impressed with Tkachuk's size. He's excelling in the league at a very early age for a big man. But I agree with you, I'd take Quinn Hughes over him any day. You always take elite skating ability over size any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

Quinn Hughes has the shot of Ray Bourque and skating ability one notch below Paul Coffey.

If Quinn had Ray Bourque's shot, he would have way more than 2 goals so far.  Hopefully his shot rounds into form as he matures, but that was never his strong suit.  Skating, IQ and Skilled playmaking both with and without the puck make Quinns game elite. 

 

Makar has a much better shot, Bourque like, that's giving him the edge vs Hughes superior playmaking and skating. 

 

Still both players are performing beyond belief.  Makar has a distinct advantage playing in Colorado as the Av's are a powerhouse about to be unleashed.  Getting the Bryon last year gives them an amazing opportunity until Mickinnons contract expires.  

 

Vancouver has some steep competition pending in the next 5 years with the Av's.  Let's see if JB can amalgamate a superior roster with lower picks and a higher tax rate. 

[Johnny Torts]

should be ep n quinn 1,2

[Nave]

Pettersson is #1, and Quinn should be higher. 

[ItTakesAnArmy]

On 11/24/2019 at 7:01 PM, BoKnows said:

how is byfield and lafreniere top 10.

Good draft year, that is why every team will want to keep their first round picks this year even the fourth selection will be like a second or third pick in ordinary years.

 

Lottery picks are worth 3 times as much this year.

 

But that has been common knowledge in the NHL for two years now.

[.Naslund]

Lafreniere has been hyped for like 2-3 years now as being an impactful player in the NHL. Much more highly regarded than Jack Hughes, Hischier etc, so no duh he should be in the top 10 and on this list period. Reading comprehension people it's a projection of under 21 prospects and where they'll be in a couple years time. 

 

So excited for two Canucks in the top 10. In my opinion, defence is one of the most important positions and the fact that Dahlin has been one of the most impactful defenceman at his age in HISTORY holds itself true to him being the number one prospect. I don't think people realize that he has the potential to be the greatest defenceman in history (or at least I think he does). Dahlin is only NINETEEN. It's ridiculous.

 

Petterson is looking like a future top 5 offensive player in the NHL as well. Excited for future Pettersson, Hughes, Boeser vs MacKinnon, Makar, Rantenen matchups for years....luckily we have a Demko, which they don't

[khay]

1 hour ago, .Naslund said:

Lafreniere has been hyped for like 2-3 years now as being an impactful player in the NHL. Much more highly regarded than Jack Hughes, Hischier etc, so no duh he should be in the top 10 and on this list period. Reading comprehension people it's a projection of under 21 prospects and where they'll be in a couple years time. 

 

So excited for two Canucks in the top 10. In my opinion, defence is one of the most important positions and the fact that Dahlin has been one of the most impactful defenceman at his age in HISTORY holds itself true to him being the number one prospect. I don't think people realize that he has the potential to be the greatest defenceman in history (or at least I think he does). Dahlin is only NINETEEN. It's ridiculous.

 

Petterson is looking like a future top 5 offensive player in the NHL as well. Excited for future Pettersson, Hughes, Boeser vs MacKinnon, Makar, Rantenen matchups for years....luckily we have a Demko, which they don't

But they have Byram, which we don't... or do we have Juolevi?

 

Dahlin as the best defenceman in history? That's some compliment. I really like the player too but better than Lidstrom and Bourque (not to mention Orr)? I'm too young to have watched Orr but even Lidstrom and Bouque already seem unsurmountable right now for anyone.

 

 

[Phat Fingers]

1 hour ago, .Naslund said:

Lafreniere has been hyped for like 2-3 years now as being an impactful player in the NHL. Much more highly regarded than Jack Hughes, Hischier etc, so no duh he should be in the top 10 and on this list period. Reading comprehension people it's a projection of under 21 prospects and where they'll be in a couple years time. 

 

So excited for two Canucks in the top 10. In my opinion, defence is one of the most important positions and the fact that Dahlin has been one of the most impactful defenceman at his age in HISTORY holds itself true to him being the number one prospect. I don't think people realize that he has the potential to be the greatest defenceman in history (or at least I think he does). Dahlin is only NINETEEN. It's ridiculous.

 

Petterson is looking like a future top 5 offensive player in the NHL as well. Excited for future Pettersson, Hughes, Boeser vs MacKinnon, Makar, Rantenen matchups for years....luckily we have a Demko, which they don't

Not to dispute the love for Dahlin, but Quinn has shown that his attacking is superior to Dahlin and for that matter, so has Makar.  

 

Buffalo is a legit team and Dahlin is a stud.  The pre draft hype was warranted, but Quinn is blowing the doors off Dahlins rookie season at the same age.  

 

Quinn will never match Dahlin in terms of size and Dahlin will match Quinn in terms of skating.  Playmaking, IQ and passing are up for grabs.  

 

Not saying Quinn will be better, their both elite, but Quinn looks like he believes that he was the best D man drafted in that year.

 

Buffalo has alot of talent, literally the Oilers of the East with more balance.  

 

Ahead of Vancouver and behind the Av's in terms of team skill.  

Edited December 4, 2019 by Phat Fingers

[DefCon1]

On 11/24/2019 at 1:17 PM, cuporbust said:

Hughes second in rookie points as a d man, but comes in at 10?  I'm hoping they just confused jack for Quinn because swapping those two spots , it makes sense (somewhat). Having Quinn Hughes at #10 is a joke. 

Lets just say that if a team offered Byfield, or Brady Tkatchuk or Lafferenier straight up for Q. Hughes, I would hangup the phone. He should be top 5 in that list, not number 10 when he is 3 points behind Makar right now and actually drives the play and seems to be a better offensive D man than Makar based on the eye test. Although Makar is better at defense.

[Darius]

5 minutes ago, DefCon1 said:

Lets just say that if a team offered Byfield, or Brady Tkatchuk or Lafferenier straight up for Q. Hughes, I would hangup the phone. He should be top 5 in that list, not number 10 when he is 3 points behind Makar right now and actually drives the play and seems to be a better offensive D man than Makar based on the eye test. Although Makar is better at defense.

Not disagreeing with what you saying...(although ive read that Lafrenier looks like a real elite franchise player ... )   

 

Ive seen posters write " Makar is better at defense"  more than once....other than plus minus, which can be misleading, where is this position coming from?  Genuinely curious....

Edited December 4, 2019 by Darius

[DefCon1]

29 minutes ago, Phat Fingers said:

Not to dispute the love for Dahlin, but Quinn has shown that his attacking is superior to Dahlin and for that matter, so has Makar.  

 

Buffalo is a legit team and Dahlin is a stud.  The pre draft hype was warranted, but Quinn is blowing the doors off Dahlins rookie season at the same age.  

 

Quinn will never match Dahlin in terms of size and Dahlin will match Quinn in terms of skating.  Playmaking, IQ and passing are up for grabs.  

 

Not saying Quinn will be better, their both elite, but Quinn looks like he believes that he was the best D man drafted in that year.

 

Buffalo has alot of talent, literally the Oilers of the East with more balance.  

 

Ahead of Vancouver and behind the Av's in terms of team skill.  

When it comes to offense, I take Hughes over Dahlin any day. Hughes is the reason why Canucks are scoring more goals, just look at his exits out of the defensive zones and entries into the offensive zone. His first pass is always on point and he is one of the few handful of defensemen in the league that I've seen can hover on the blueline and skate circles without losing the puck most of the time. The only other defensemen that i've seen which can do this is Makar and Karlsson. 

[DefCon1]

1 minute ago, Darius said:

Not disagreeing with what you saying...(although ive read that Lafrenier looks like a real elite franchise player ... )   

 

Ive seen posters write " Makar is better at defense" ....other than plus minus, which can be misleading, where is this position coming from?  Genuinely curious....

Makar is a bit better at defense because I've seen a bunch of Avs games where he literally breaks up 2 on 1s with his stick play and high IQ, not saying Hughes is bad or anything. Although I feel Hughes is better at offense and he would have more points if he played with the Avs who have more forward depth and skills compared to canucks.

[Darius]

2 minutes ago, DefCon1 said:

Makar is a bit better at defense because I've seen a bunch of Avs games where he literally breaks up 2 on 1s with his stick play and high IQ, not saying Hughes is bad or anything. Although I feel Hughes is better at offense and he would have more points if he played with the Avs who have more forward depth and skills compared to canucks.

Now with Rantanen coming back it will prop up his 5 on 5 numbers even more I think.

 

Ive noticed that during 5 on 5 play that QH is not paired up with our top players a lot of the time.  I usually see Stech  Benn etc on the ice with the Petey line.  I wonder how Makar gets paired up in Colorado 5v5.....

Edited December 4, 2019 by Darius

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, DefCon1 said:

Lets just say that if a team offered Byfield, or Brady Tkatchuk or Lafferenier straight up for Q. Hughes, I would hangup the phone. He should be top 5 in that list, not number 10 when he is 3 points behind Makar right now and actually drives the play and seems to be a better offensive D man than Makar based on the eye test. Although Makar is better at defense.

I don't think you understand how they rank them. It's done based on who they are right now - AND - on how they predict their entire careers will turn out.   Based on the right now AND on futures - you take Makar as fast as you can and then hang up the phone.  You probably do the same with Lafrenniere - he's close to Crosby level hype.  Definitely have to discuss it - same with BT.  He's like a 6'3" Claude Lemuiex.   I'm sure this list will move around and things will be different next year (Last year EP started as number one for example, after his crazy start and the timing of the magazine) - we should be stoked we have two guys in the top ten - first time since they started doing this.  

 

A lot lot could happen in the next 10 months.  Both injuries and fatigue will come into play.   QH top ceiling would be like a Phil Housley.  He's never going to be a guy that can crush guys or out muscle them.  Makar and Dahlin and Heiskanen all have a physical advantage.   Good thing he skates well - and has all the other gifts you'd want in a PMD. 

[cuporbust]

3 hours ago, Darius said:

Not disagreeing with what you saying...(although ive read that Lafrenier looks like a real elite franchise player ... )   

 

Ive seen posters write " Makar is better at defense"  more than once....other than plus minus, which can be misleading, where is this position coming from?  Genuinely curious....

Exactly 

[IBatch]

58 minutes ago, cuporbust said:

Exactly 

 

THN did a direct comparison in one of their recent mags (two weeks ago approx), broke it down into five catagories..the information is available if you look for it. 

[cuporbust]

29 minutes ago, IBatch said:

 

THN did a direct comparison in one of their recent mags (two weeks ago approx), broke it down into five catagories..the information is available if you look for it. 

Yep. Looked at it .

Edited December 5, 2019 by cuporbust

[Phat Fingers]

Draft hype rules these lists.  Dahlin above Ep40.... never saw it and still can't.  To be honest, Dahlin's strength is offence, Hughes is better at driving offence and I see no reason for that to change.  Looking at a few breakdowns of Hughes play defending, he has way better awareness than Dahlin in his own end.  Currently Makar and Hughes are both ahead of Dahlin's development curve.

 

In 5 years, wtf knows.  That's the out this article's always give themselves.  Its like taking a firm position on jello... it means nothing.  The only thing it does is stir up controversy to sell itself.  

[IBatch]

On 11/25/2019 at 9:44 AM, Westcoasting said:

 The more i see of him the more i wonder how good he will be at his best.

He's like EK.  At his best I'd expect he will be winning Norris trophies and able to slow or speed up the pace or control the pace of the game just with his passing and skating abilities.  One of a few defenseman I've ever see do this.

 

Pronger and Niedermayer did this...so did Lidstrom and Borque...not many can/could.  Potvin and Orr too, Coffey too but that's about it.  

[IBatch]

On 12/3/2019 at 9:54 PM, The Game said:

Both Daigle and Yakupov had good rookie seasons, so just ‘cause a player’s turned pro doesn’t mean that we know what kind of career he’s going to have. And for every first overall bust there’s like seven guys who lived up to their potential. I don’t see the issue here. 

Yeah it happens.  Daigle was supposed to be the next Lemuiex (or even Gretzky).  Would be like Crosby or Lafrenniere flopping.   He wasn't terrible but wasn't the best player on their team by a long shot (it was Yashin - and it caused contract problems as a result).... Yakupov scored more goals then almost anyone in the CHL the last fifteen years ...it wasn't supposed to go that way but sometimes it does..Pronger for the last laugh - Daigle was pretty arrogant about it.