Wilderness Walk: Wild Prospects Included In Top Ranking

Wheeler's list was a big downer for the Wild. Yes, they landed three guys in the top 50 and that is fine. But in the "Honorable Mentions" group there was not much to be excited about including that the teams 2023 number one draft pick was not even mentioned.

33 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

Wheeler's list was a big downer for the Wild. Yes, they landed three guys in the top 50 and that is fine. But in the "Honorable Mentions" group there was not much to be excited about including that the teams 2023 number one draft pick was not even mentioned.

We have the #1 goalie prospect in the article posted today.

1 hour ago, viper3119 said:

We have the #1 goalie prospect in the article posted today.

It is the Honorable Mentions or lack there of that concerned me.

5 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

Wheeler's list was a big downer for the Wild. Yes, they landed three guys in the top 50 and that is fine. But in the "Honorable Mentions" group there was not much to be excited about including that the teams 2023 number one draft pick was not even mentioned.

Not sure Stramel not being included means too much.  There were 20 players taken ahead of Stramel this year, and at least 30 projected to go ahead of him by many outlets. Only 4 first round players from the 2022 draft have seen any NHL action, so much of that class is likely to be included.

Carson Lambos(#26) not being included from the 2021 draft would be more concerning to me than Stramel not being included.

There are some guys from the 2020 draft still eligible, and far more developed, like Rossi.

Actually more surprised they did not mention Khusnutdinov than Stramel.

21 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Not sure Stramel not being included means too much.  There were 20 players taken ahead of Stramel this year, and at least 30 projected to go ahead of him by many outlets. Only 4 first round players from the 2022 draft have seen any NHL action, so much of that class is likely to be included.

Carson Lambos(#26) not being included from the 2021 draft would be more concerning to me than Stramel not being included.

There are some guys from the 2020 draft still eligible, and far more developed, like Rossi.

Actually more surprised they did not mention Khusnutdinov than Stramel.

Lambos' year was really only strong in the +/- category, otherwise it was pretty pedestrian. However, Winnipeg did have a lengthy playoff run. Master's put up more points for Kamloops. 

I think our pool got stronger even with the graduation of Faber and Rossi. But, on paper, which is what Wheeler's looking at, it won't look that way until around mid season. Stramel had such a bad year at WI that he wasn't going to be mentioned at all. He can redeem himself this year. 

I'm very excited about The Bank heading to Des Moines, and Heidt being drafted in the 2nd round. 

5 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I'm very excited about The Bank heading to Des Moines, and Heidt being drafted in the 2nd round. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what Bankier can do in the AHL as well, but there was an indication that the start of his season would be delayed due to an undisclosed leg injury suffered during training.

Heidt seems pretty similar to Rossi, so could take him a few years, but I imagine he could put up some points some day. I'll be interested to see who ends up with the better career between him and his linemate, Koehn Ziemmer.

Heidt(24 more assists) was the better all-around skill player for their age group and league, but Ziemmer has a goal-scoring knack(16 more goals) that may play at all levels. If Ziemmer works on his skating, I could see him being a factor down the road as well.

On 7/19/2023 at 6:16 PM, Up North Guy said:

It is the Honorable Mentions or lack there of that concerned me.

They had 7 Top-50/Honorable Mention guys out of 127. There are 30 teams, so the average would be about 4.2. They were tied for the most in the NHL with Anaheim and Columbus.

2 hours ago, Tony Abbott said:

They had 7 Top-50/Honorable Mention guys out of 127. There are 30 teams, so the average would be about 4.2. They were tied for the most in the NHL with Anaheim and Columbus.

I can’t copy and paste from my phone but Wheeler also uses tiers, which I find useful. All seven Wild prospects were in the fourth tier. The lowest tier on this list. That’s a bummer.  But also that’s  seven dudes with top six/top four upside. That’s a lot.