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New Prospect Rankings

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RWC has released their new prospect rankings. Some serious question marks IMO.

Here's the link:

http://www.redwingscentral.com/stories/200...nkingUpdate.php

01 Jonathan Ericsson (-)

02 Darren Helm (-)

03 Ville Leino (+8)

04 Justin Abdelkader (+1)

05 Jimmy Howard (-2)

06 Jakub Kindl (-2)

07 Thomas McCollum (NR)

08 Brendan Smith (-2)

09 Cory Emmerton (-1)

10 Mattias Ritola (+5)

11 Jan Mursak (-4)

12 Dick Axelsson (-3)

13 Joakim Andersson (-1)

14 Daniel Larsson (-1)

15 Max Nicastro (NR)

16 Logan Pyett (-2)

17 Gustav Nyquist (NR)

18 Julien Cayer (NR)

19 Stephen Johnston (NR)

20 Sergei Kolosov (-)

21 Zack Torquato (-3)

22 Johan Ryno (-3)

23 Jesper Samuelsson (NR)

24 Brent Raedeke (NR)

25 Brian Lashoff (NR)

I question some of those rankings.

The main two I have problems with are Ritola and Axelsson. Ritola has 10 points in 11 games, is playing in all situations and yet he’s at 10? He is even compared to Kopecky which doesn’t sit too well with me.

IMO Dick Axelsson is the best offensive prospect in our system. So on the whole he might not be ahead of Helm and Leino but when you consider his pure offensive talents he’s got to be higher. From memory he has 10 points in 12 SEL games this season, not bad for a 21 year old. And yet he’s at 13, below guys like Emmerton who realistically has shown very little. I’d put both these guys a lot higher.

I’d have Kindl higher too but at least he acknowledged that many still have him at #1. I think Larsson is a tad too low and Oulahen deserves to be on the list.

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Kindl just keeps falling and getting worse season by season. What's up with this guy? He almost made the team in the 06 training camp.

Far from it; he’s getting better. He had a forgetting rookie season but has been pretty solid this season, putting up a few points and making better passes and decisions. Coyote is giving excellent recaps of the Griffins games and has noted that he’s been much improved. I feel as though #6 is too low for a man of his potential.

We always like to leave our players in GR or overseas to develop so when they make the Wings team they're always ready to go. I guess this is another reason why we’re so successful but I can’t help but get the feeling it would be nice for once if we fast tracked a player. It somewhat occurred with Helm but he’s back in GR. Take Axelsson for example, having good success in the SEL as long as he finishes the season strong I’d almost be willing to take a punt on him in 2009/10.

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The main two I have problems with are Ritola and Axelsson. Ritola has 10 points in 11 games, is playing in all situations and yet he’s at 10? He is even compared to Kopecky which doesn’t sit too well with me.

IMO Dick Axelsson is the best offensive prospect in our system. So on the whole he might not be ahead of Helm and Leino but when you consider his pure offensive talents he’s got to be higher. From memory he has 10 points in 12 SEL games this season, not bad for a 21 year old. And yet he’s at 13, below guys like Emmerton who realistically has shown very little. I’d put both these guys a lot higher.

I’d have Kindl higher too but at least he acknowledged that many still have him at #1. I think Larsson is a tad too low and Oulahen deserves to be on the list.

I think you answered your own question with Ritola. He's been good apparently, but for 11 games. That does not undo his past mediocrity. He's lucky to have gone up five places. If he works hard for a full season then you can complain. He hasn't done that yet. Emmerton is the only guy above him, he could arguably be ahead of right now.

With regards to Kindl, him dropping doesn't mean he's getting worse. He's no Grigorenko. Leino came out of nowhere and Abdelkader is improving out of sight (his development is so unexpected). Kindl should be fine.

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Axelsson's also had problems with the team he's played for most of this season. Now that he's on a new team with strong management support I really think he'll do better and play with much more confidence.

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RWC has released their new prospect rankings. Some serious question marks IMO.

Here's the link:

http://www.redwingscentral.com/stories/200...nkingUpdate.php

I question some of those rankings.

The main two I have problems with are Ritola and Axelsson. Ritola has 10 points in 11 games, is playing in all situations and yet he's at 10? He is even compared to Kopecky which doesn't sit too well with me.

Regarding Ritola, now that the season's over...

His season of 42 points in 66 games is comparable to Kopecky's career AHL points-per-game. Both players played multiple forward positions and in all situations.

Ritola began his season at the age of 21; Kopecky spent much of his "21" season injured, so let's compare to the season when Kopecky began at 20. Kopecky played in all situations, and scored 17 goals and 38 points in 70 games. Both players are known as physical forwards.

How exactly is a comparison of Ritola to Kopecky inaccurate? Maybe if he suddenly regresses in his development and never makes an NHL roster it would be inaccurate.

As far as Axelsson...he has a lot of the same negatives that were applied to Hudler, only to a much greater degree. He weighs less than Hudler despite being seven inches taller. He's 22 and is being asked by Wings brass to improve his weaknesses if he wants a shot at training camp. Hudler played his first NHL game at age 19, and was asked by Wings brass to improve his skating, strength, and defense and has become a much more versatile player; Hudler was considered the most offensively talented center in his draft but his size/strength and defensive questions caused him to drop to #58. If he were the skater he is now, and his defensive skill compared to his offensive skill was the same then as it is now, Huds would've probably gone in the top five or ten overall. Axelsson simply needs to follow the Hudler model, or for that matter the Datsyuk model, as that's the same description of how Datsyuk went from a decent prospect to a superstar; by working his ass off on what he's not good at.

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35 points is a solid rookie year in the AHL, especially if you are not on a line with the right chemistry or if you do not log big pp minutes. Emmerton has been one of the best rookies in GR in a while with this in mind and in 09-10 he will log bigger minutes and get more prime-time ice with talented offensive players....I look for him to have a big campaign in 09-10 and the Wings will then also have a look at who he might work with too. Emmerton posseses excellent puck skills, great mits, has a great vision for the game along with being a great skater.....this is going to be a big year for guys like him. GR needs to put more responsibility on him....he will respond.

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35 points is a solid rookie year in the AHL, especially if you are not on a line with the right chemistry or if you do not log big pp minutes. Emmerton has been one of the best rookies in GR in a while with this in mind and in 09-10 he will log bigger minutes and get more prime-time ice with talented offensive players....I look for him to have a big campaign in 09-10 and the Wings will then also have a look at who he might work with too. Emmerton posseses excellent puck skills, great mits, has a great vision for the game along with being a great skater.....this is going to be a big year for guys like him. GR needs to put more responsibility on him....he will respond.

So he's improved beyond those reports that say he's an average skater?

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