I know at 26 he is not a prospect, but the signing of Kyle Capobianco was interesting to me. When playing against the Baby Stars, he stood out as a much better player than anything Texas had on defense. The second year of his contract is also a one way deal, which means he has a great chance to be the 7th d-man. Bischel will be a full time NHL player no later than 25/26, but Capobianco will be in Dallas before Kyrou, White etc.
Good point Barbara. Next Monday I'll actually dig deep into Texas Stars stuff, recent signings, projected lineup, etc. As someone with actual NHL experience (however limited), he's definitely a dude to keep an eye on. Hell of a year for Manitoba too. And agreed. I don't see White or Kyrou ever making it. Kyrou I think has real potential, but if coaching staff doesn't trust Lundkvist, I see no reason for them to trust Kyrou.
Great article. We definitely need to restock. How are we going to do that? Can you opine on what draft picks we have in the next 3 - 4 years and will we try to stockpile picks over the next 12 - 24 months to replenish the cupboard?
I actually have a piece on the 19th doing exactly that: an early look at the 2025 draft. (In my experience, this is the cheapest way to have a loose perspective on the draft itself, as you can shortcut a view of everyone's progress, or lackthereof) But there I'll talk about the picks Dallas has, who they might want to get an early look at, and what it means for Dallas' pipeline.
Great article! I like the way you clarified how you view prospects. Great information. I've also felt that in the draft, teams should put a premium on players with rare skillsets. Such as offensive defensemen, or elite playmakers, or phenomenal snipers. Guys like that don't grow on trees so if one falls to you in the draft, I think a team should take them even if they don't have the best size or skating. You can teach skating, defensive awareness, or position play but you can't teach hands or playmaking.
Thanks Tim! And agreed. A lot of players that have fallen out of the rankings completely are players that didn't have standout skills. Wyatt Johnston is really the only exception, and I suspect that being a COVID year had a lot to do with it. If Johnston had played a full season, I doubt he falls to 23. I do think the pendulum is shifting in part because junior teams are getting better at development. All of a sudden, premium talents are hiding specific skillsets in favor of two way play (Celebrini is a great example of this evolution in action), while one dimensional players are balancing out their lack of layers with intangibles. (Ridley Greig is a great example of this subversion) Basically, I think hockey is finally catching up to the other big leagues where prospects are simply better in every way, and the difficulty is finding out where they live in this new paradigm.
David this is a very informative article and I am glad to see it because I don’t always know about the prospects. However I am wondering ab out 2 you didn’t mention. Matej Blumel and Oskar Back. Are they not considered prospects? Do you think either will be on the Stars roster next season?
Any player beyond 23 years of age, I simply don't count. The reason why draft years are -- broadly speaking -- so informative is that the year is a punctuation on everything that came before. Despite being pups, they've bee competing for years, and are known commodities. That's why players who have big second halves tend to attract more attention (Miro Heiskanen and Bennett Sennecke being two good examples), as it's a potential sign of their development hitting its stride. It's also why players who have down years fall out of favor completely, like Aaron Kiviharju this year (before the 2024 draft year, he was a top 5 pick). So to me, players like Blumel and Back are basically old men, and this ain't the country for them.
I will say, both are good though. Mark Zimmerman at DBD slowly brought me around to Back's game. If he had elite puck handling, he'd be an absolute beast, but he doesn't, so he isn't. Nonetheless, his game is more nuanced than Swedish Rent-A Faksa. Blumel, even if he were younger, I wouldn't care too much for, but he's got a dangerous shot, and know show to use it. Obviously, anything can happen. It doesn't happen often, but the Marchments and Gourdes of the world won't be the last.
Outside Bischel and Tiefense, the 2022 and 2023 look bad. Which, if I'm recalling, is how they were viewed at the time. The biggest whiffs look like the 3rd rounders, Gardiner and Fegaras, especially considering the trade up for Gardiner. The 2nd rounders (Bertucci and Kyrou) also don't seem to be on track to be future lineup mainstays, but at least they may see the NHL.
The Gardiner pick was off-the-wall trash. Reminded me of Minnesota picking Filip Johansson in 2018. Made absolutely zero sense then, and just as much sense now. Again, first principles: if you can avoid picking a bottom six forward in the first four rounds of the draft, avoid it like the plague.
However, I think the 2022 draft is looking solid. Bichsel, Kyrou, White, Mayorov (their Russian goalie prospect), and Seminoff are interesting enough prospects IMO. Sure, Bichsel is the only sure thing, but three of these guys are already in the AHL, and Mayorov has posted solid numbers in the MHL -- it's the MHL, granted, but still.
So David , you see the SWISS HAMMER as a possible 2nd coming of a Chris Tanev / Darian Hatcher type ! NICE !!!
Pretty much. I know that's overly hype, but I'm drinking the Swiss koolaid here.
Derek Neumeier reposted comments regarding Hemming at the World Junior Showcase which said he was a top performer on the Finnish team.
I know at 26 he is not a prospect, but the signing of Kyle Capobianco was interesting to me. When playing against the Baby Stars, he stood out as a much better player than anything Texas had on defense. The second year of his contract is also a one way deal, which means he has a great chance to be the 7th d-man. Bischel will be a full time NHL player no later than 25/26, but Capobianco will be in Dallas before Kyrou, White etc.
Good point Barbara. Next Monday I'll actually dig deep into Texas Stars stuff, recent signings, projected lineup, etc. As someone with actual NHL experience (however limited), he's definitely a dude to keep an eye on. Hell of a year for Manitoba too. And agreed. I don't see White or Kyrou ever making it. Kyrou I think has real potential, but if coaching staff doesn't trust Lundkvist, I see no reason for them to trust Kyrou.
Great article. We definitely need to restock. How are we going to do that? Can you opine on what draft picks we have in the next 3 - 4 years and will we try to stockpile picks over the next 12 - 24 months to replenish the cupboard?
I actually have a piece on the 19th doing exactly that: an early look at the 2025 draft. (In my experience, this is the cheapest way to have a loose perspective on the draft itself, as you can shortcut a view of everyone's progress, or lackthereof) But there I'll talk about the picks Dallas has, who they might want to get an early look at, and what it means for Dallas' pipeline.
Great article! I like the way you clarified how you view prospects. Great information. I've also felt that in the draft, teams should put a premium on players with rare skillsets. Such as offensive defensemen, or elite playmakers, or phenomenal snipers. Guys like that don't grow on trees so if one falls to you in the draft, I think a team should take them even if they don't have the best size or skating. You can teach skating, defensive awareness, or position play but you can't teach hands or playmaking.
Thanks Tim! And agreed. A lot of players that have fallen out of the rankings completely are players that didn't have standout skills. Wyatt Johnston is really the only exception, and I suspect that being a COVID year had a lot to do with it. If Johnston had played a full season, I doubt he falls to 23. I do think the pendulum is shifting in part because junior teams are getting better at development. All of a sudden, premium talents are hiding specific skillsets in favor of two way play (Celebrini is a great example of this evolution in action), while one dimensional players are balancing out their lack of layers with intangibles. (Ridley Greig is a great example of this subversion) Basically, I think hockey is finally catching up to the other big leagues where prospects are simply better in every way, and the difficulty is finding out where they live in this new paradigm.
David this is a very informative article and I am glad to see it because I don’t always know about the prospects. However I am wondering ab out 2 you didn’t mention. Matej Blumel and Oskar Back. Are they not considered prospects? Do you think either will be on the Stars roster next season?
Any player beyond 23 years of age, I simply don't count. The reason why draft years are -- broadly speaking -- so informative is that the year is a punctuation on everything that came before. Despite being pups, they've bee competing for years, and are known commodities. That's why players who have big second halves tend to attract more attention (Miro Heiskanen and Bennett Sennecke being two good examples), as it's a potential sign of their development hitting its stride. It's also why players who have down years fall out of favor completely, like Aaron Kiviharju this year (before the 2024 draft year, he was a top 5 pick). So to me, players like Blumel and Back are basically old men, and this ain't the country for them.
I will say, both are good though. Mark Zimmerman at DBD slowly brought me around to Back's game. If he had elite puck handling, he'd be an absolute beast, but he doesn't, so he isn't. Nonetheless, his game is more nuanced than Swedish Rent-A Faksa. Blumel, even if he were younger, I wouldn't care too much for, but he's got a dangerous shot, and know show to use it. Obviously, anything can happen. It doesn't happen often, but the Marchments and Gourdes of the world won't be the last.
Outside of the top 3, this is pretty ugly.
Outside Bischel and Tiefense, the 2022 and 2023 look bad. Which, if I'm recalling, is how they were viewed at the time. The biggest whiffs look like the 3rd rounders, Gardiner and Fegaras, especially considering the trade up for Gardiner. The 2nd rounders (Bertucci and Kyrou) also don't seem to be on track to be future lineup mainstays, but at least they may see the NHL.
The Gardiner pick was off-the-wall trash. Reminded me of Minnesota picking Filip Johansson in 2018. Made absolutely zero sense then, and just as much sense now. Again, first principles: if you can avoid picking a bottom six forward in the first four rounds of the draft, avoid it like the plague.
However, I think the 2022 draft is looking solid. Bichsel, Kyrou, White, Mayorov (their Russian goalie prospect), and Seminoff are interesting enough prospects IMO. Sure, Bichsel is the only sure thing, but three of these guys are already in the AHL, and Mayorov has posted solid numbers in the MHL -- it's the MHL, granted, but still.
Way too early to judge these drafts . Usually takes 4 - 5 years . I’m waiting to see . Having said that ,however , you’re probably right 😫
Love this stuff, thanks!
Thanks for reading Chris!
Is Antonio Stranges the son of Ralph??
Unfortunately not.