You guys are bang on regarding Granlund and Schwartz. Granlund might just be my favourite prospect of the entire bunch (including most of the 2011 draftees). the kid is a gamer

I think the best idea here is to focus on a bunch of d prospects that could really shoot up in the rankings during the upcoming season. Here are a few names I really like. As mentioned, Justin Schultz is going to be a really good offensive dman when he makes the Ducks. He'll take over the number one PP and be a great pairing with Fowler once he does. Other than that I like John Merrill, somebody that people don't talk about enough. I've seen him drafted and people always seem to shrug off the pick. He's only 19 years old and already has a clear path to the NHL, he'll be on the number one pairing with Larsson before you know it. Martin Marincin is a big powerful all around dman that should be on the Oilers at this time next year. Another player with a clear path to the NHL and one that possesses a lot of talent as well. He'll be a valuable fantasy player because he will bring Hits, PIM, goals, assists and a solid plus minus.


There's three to keep an eye on.
I hope that helps.

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Can't understand if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me. I'm saying this time next year these two will be regarded an the same plane, above all others with 0 NHL games to their name.

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20 Team Pool Points Keeper
G =1,A=1,PPG=1,PPA=0.5, SHG=1,GWG=1,PIM=0.1,+/-=0.25
Goalie cats (W=2, SO=3, SV=0.05)

F: Malkin, B.Richards, Voracek, O'Reilly, Downie, Burmistrov, Bailey, Mueller, Read, Boedker, Gomez, Adam
D: Green, E.Johnson, Elliott, Larsson, Jovanovski
G: Varlamov

Ok, I see what you mean. As far as the value - I absolutely agree - Granlund will be right there at the top. I just meant in terms of the OP's question: "Who will be next year's Rundblad?" (as in surprise/breakout prospect), I think Granlund is already highly regarded, whereas this time last year, Rundblad was relatively unknown, at least as an elite prospect.

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6-GM, Wk-H2H, Keep 40
START = 13F, 6D, 2G
F Pts = G (2), A (1), PP/SH (+1), GW (+2)
D Pts = G (3), A (2), PP/SH (+1), GW (+2)
G Pts = W (3), OTL (1), SO (+2), SV (.10)

F: Backstrom, Kopitar, Perry, P.Kane, Spezza, E.Staal, Nash, Vanek, Couture, B.Ryan, Eberle, J.Staal, D.Brown, Lucic, N.Horton, Backes, Tarasenko, van Riemsdyk, T.Ennis, B.Gallagher, Armia, Teravainen
D: Karlsson, P.Subban, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Doughty, Yandle, Chara, Kronwall, J.Johnson, Myers, J.Faulk, E.Johnson, A.Larsson, J.Morrow, S.Elliott, M.Rielly, Ceci
G: Price, Rask, M.Smith, Hiller

I would agree but he kind of broke out already even though people didn't really notice.

But yes, his stock will go up even more this year and people will start taking notice. He has the potential to finish Top 5 in SEL scoring this year.

I didn't think he would be that good this year. Even then it didn't change my opinion of him too much.

I'm gonna go with Oskar Klefbom or Jonas Brodin

Also John Klingberg who is a Stars draft pick from Frolunda but now plays for Jokerit.

I love the threads where we get a great discussion going, nice job guys.

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Assuming this isn't limited to D-prospects I'll bring up Aleksander Khokhlachev to the discussion. Drafted in the #2 round to Boston he'll propably have to wait for his chance in the NHL for a while, but I'm really excited to see what he can do in the juniors this year after a very impressive rookie season. The kid posted 76 points in 67 regular season games and followed that up with 20 points in 18 games in the playoffs for the Spitfires. This coming from a russian kid who was just few weeks away from being a 2012 draftee is highly impressive.

The thing that impresses me the most isn't his skillset or skating ability (which are both excellent though). It's the fact that he plays with so much heart and you won't see off his game for a shift. No matter what the scoreline is. He's undersized but plays way bigger game than what his frame would suggest.

Just my two cents, but I think he's exactly the kind of prospect that the OP is looking for. A prospect whose stock might increase tremendously during the season.

As I was reading this thread, Granlund and Schwartz were screaming out to me and I see that's been picked up.

By January they'll be among the two hardest prospects to get your hands on, and very likely considered the best guys not yet in the NHL.

Both of them are under-understood because they had injuries that stopped them from really performing at the WJCs last year. Granlund especially will leave the WJCs with the same type of hype/adulation that stuck to Schenn this past year. Schwartz is a prime candidate for that too.

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