2010 Wild Prospect Top 10 List

2010 Wild Prospect Top 10 list, the draft and changes to Minnesota's developmental system

Written by Derek Felska
Thursday, 15 April 2010 19:38

I'd rather be talking about Minnesota's playoff games right now, but as you can tell that didn't quite work out since I am talking about the Wild's future talent instead. I have been a long-time subscriber to the Hockey News, and one issue I always can't wait to see is their annual Future Watch feature. Why? Not only do I get perhaps an idea of who are the top prospects of the rest of the league but also I get to see how a panel of NHL scouts view the Wild which you would have to believe is the most objective source one can ask for. How did the Wild stack up in this year's issue? Well according to the panel of 23 NHL scouts was asked to evaluate the prospect pool of the league's 30 teams and the Wild ranked a humiliating 29th. In the same issue, when you factor in Minnesota's average draft position which is around 8th throughout its franchise history it ranked dead last. Popular prospect evaluation website Hockey's Future.com also has Minnesota ranked 30th. Ouch. Dead last is not just embarassing it is a huge indictment to the players this team has selected the last 9 seasons. Certainly it must be seen as an indictment of Minnesota Assistant General Manager Tommy Thompson who has been the architect of the team's draft just prior to the 2002-03 season. Draft read like an incrediblely long list of failure starting with 1st round failure A.J. Thelen (12th Overall in 2004), and James Sheppard (9th Overall in 2006); a player who will be a restricted free agent this summer with just 11 goals and 49 points in 224 NHL games has to be considered a huge disappointment, along with a host of failed 2nd round picks like Roman Voloshenko and Ondrej Fiala. Many Wild fans still chaffe at the fact Thompson chose to draft big and slow enforcer Matt Kassian in the 2nd round, 57th Overall in 2006. It are these drafting woes that have forced the organization to go to far more expensive free agency to fill its holes, and it continues to be a source of weakness for the Wild. Part of the issue stems from the fact the team has opted to trade away picks for players it needs in the present or it has rushed some of its prospects to the NHL too quickly and they struggled to step up their level of play, with James Sheppard and Colton Gillies being terrific examples of this. Other organizations, like the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings for example have not fallen into the trap of rushing their young talent too early and instead opted to let their youngsters season in the minors until they are ready to take the next step and they've reaped the rewards of being patient.

I do not dispute or challenge Minnesota's paltry ranking at all, in fact I would have ranked them in the bottom five of the NHL without hesitation. The Wild's prospect pool is simply not that impressive. No real shining stars, and while there are some viable NHL prospects there are no game changers. You can sense the level of frustration the organization is having with its milquetoast prospect pool as it fired its American Hockey League affiliate Head Coach, Kevin Constantine on Thursday. Despite what some fans may think about Constantine, a known defensive-hockey guru he played the Wild's new aggressive forechecking system probably to his team's detriment as the Aeros finished last in the Western Division and out of the AHL playoffs. Was the failure of this season really Constantine's fault or is he just the scapegoat for someone elses' mistakes? Thompson has somehow avoided all accountability despite undeniable failure with important selections. Why he hasn't been sent packing just baffles me. Minnesota has also had NHL Hall of Famer Guy Lapointe as its Coordinator of Amateur Scouting from the team's inception so the team's failures at the draft table also are a reflection on him as well. He too should have his feet held to the fire for this situation the organization finds itself in. There was a mild house cleaning in the team's scouting staff shortly after the Wild hired Chuck Fletcher as General Manager, but really did any of the team's scouts deserve to stick around? No doubt Chuck Fletcher has some more tough decisions to make but kicking Tommy Thompson and Guy Lapointe to the curb may be a step in the right direction. (click on the link for the rest of the article)

Enjoy...and let the debate begin!

2010 Wild Prospect Top 10 List

Quote :

it has rushed some of its prospects to the NHL too quickly and they struggled to step up their level of play, with James Sheppard and Colton Gillies being terrific examples of this

Or maybe they just arent that good?

cehnehdeh wrote:

Quote :

it has rushed some of its prospects to the NHL too quickly and they struggled to step up their level of play, with James Sheppard and Colton Gillies being terrific examples of this

Or maybe they just arent that good?

they both had a decent shot at being good in the NHL, shepp needed at least 2 years before he should have been given a chance Gillies more like 3. I mean Gillies's development in his NHL year was to watch the wild play... which is better then actually playing 21+ min in AHL

Regardless of how much time they're given in the AHL or any other team we have already seen how Sheppard just does not have an NHL shot. He's got pretty good size but he doesn't use it because he's not strong enough...and he hasn't shown much good hockey sense either. The best thing about him I guess is that he is still very young and who knows what could happen...but so far Ceh seems to correct...from what we've seen at least.

Either way, those two guys are not going to provide the top 2 line talent we actually need right now - it seems like Gillies will be best in a 3rd line grinding role while Shep as of this point hardly cracks the 4th.

Pretty much, i do think TT is gone after this year, i mean we moved up to get Gillies, its not like he wouldn't have been available 2 spots later.

I'm hoping that this draft we get a Winger with a scoring touch even if he's a year or two away from NHL.

cehnehdeh wrote:

Quote :

it has rushed some of its prospects to the NHL too quickly and they struggled to step up their level of play, with James Sheppard and Colton Gillies being terrific examples of this

Or maybe they just arent that good?

However if they weren't that good you're likely not going to make them better by rushing their development and hope they some how figure it out earning 4th line type ice time. I think Sheppard is not NHL calibre and Gillies still is not...the Wild will be lucky to turn both of these guys into 3rd line talent.