By Daniel Chan -
Finally, the mid-season rankings are done and to conclude, I wanted to give out our mid-season awards to the Wild prospects.
Many times, these awards go to players who's rankings doesn't reflect their season's play. However, with the way this season is going, everything seems to be going exactly as planned, with the Wild's top prospects winning their respective areas.
Most Valuable Prospect
Mikael Granlund
Like always, Mikael Granlund is seen as the Wild's savior after seeing such long years without a prospect with such offensive abilities. He is currently playing for Finland as its captain in this years World Junior Championships and leads the tournament with 11 points in just 5 games. While he hasn't exactly been dominant as much as the hype made him out to be, he still displays offensive ability way above many of his peers. He'll be in a Wild sweater soon.
Runner Ups: Johan Larsson, Jonas Brodin
Top Goaltender
Matt Hackett
In the Wild organization that is deep with talented goaltending prospects, Matt Hackett finds himself on top. He's got good size, athletically strong, and is the only one with NHL experience; he won the NHL's second star of the week for his two starts for the Wild with two wins, a .974 save percentage and a 1.01 GAA.
Runner Ups: Johan Gustafsson, Darcy Kuemper
Top Defenseman
Jonas Brodin
Some were skeptical of drafting a defenseman that didn't have many points and that didn't compensate that with size or physicality. However, after watching him in the World Junior Championships, it is evident why he was the 10th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He has silky smooth skating, nifty stickhandling, and is defensively very smart. In addition, while he doesn't have many points in the SEL, he showed that he liked to shoot with his wrist shot as he played as the key defender for Sweden; those points will come soon enough.
Runner Ups: Justin Falk, Sean Lorenz
Top Forward
Mikael Granlund
A very close battle between Mikael Granlund, Johan Larsson and Jason Zucker, but like always, Granlund is here to save the day. Or he will be next season.
Runner Up - Johan Larsson, Jason Zucker
Most Improved
Brett Bulmer
No one would have guessed to see Brett Bulmer on the Wild's opening roster. Not only did he do that, he played as a very solid bottom six forward who added an element of physicality to the Wild team and drew penalties with his agitating style of play. A large knock on his game is that he tries to do too much, but with the Wild, he kept his game simple and played his physical game, something you love to see. Once sent back down to Kelowna, he continues that game but racks up some offensive points as well.
Runner Up: Johan Larsson, Erik Haula
Most Outstanding Rookie ('11 Draft Class)
Jonas Brodin
Besides perhaps Zack Phillips, Jonas Brodin runs away with the award. He plays as a key defenseman for a professional men's team and plays as a key defenseman for the Swedish team that is going for gold. When drafted, he was noted to be extremely skinny but looking at him today, he must have put on an extra 20lbs, which is great.
Runner Up: Zack Phillips, Mario Lucia
Best Defensive Forward
Johan Larsson
Runner Up: Jason Zucker, Charlie Coyle
Best Physical Player
Brett Bulmer
Runner Up: Jason Zucker, Justin Falk
Think you could write a story like this? Hockey Wilderness wants you to develop your voice, find an audience, and we'll pay you to do it. Just fill out this form.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.