So at the bottom were my thoughts on some initial changes (Sens prospects in the 1st, lots of general thoughts in the 2nd), but the biggest thing I wanted to discuss before we really get going on this is the tiers (and my comments below might be outdated if we change the tiers lol). Right now we have A Tier as elite prospects, of which there are maybe 5 in the world, and EE Tier as the guys that aren’t likely to ever play in the NHL. It just seems really cramped to try and fit every relevant prospect into 3 tiers between those two extremes. Since we’re doing our own thing and not beholden to anyone else’s standards (we’re just using it as a base to get all the names in there), I’d propose we use the following tiers, so we get 4 tiers to group guys into while still recognizing the superstars as separate:
S Tier: The elite of the elite. Probably only 5 of them in the world, maybe less (basically the current A Tier). Left off of most pages because most teams don’t have them. This is your #1 D, superstar top liner type of player.
A Tier: Projected high end players, very likely to be first line or top pair guys. Projected elite starting goalies.
B Tier: Projected top six forward, likely to be seen on a scoring line when they make it. Projected top four defensemen. Projected starting/1A goalie.
C Tier: Projected middle six guys, might not have the offense to hang in the top six, but will still be useful NHLers for other reasons, such as defense, speed, etc. Projected 4-5-6 defensemen, likely to get a full time NHL spot but not necessarily be a major contributor. Goalies with 1B upside.
D Tier: Projected bottom six players, 6-7 defensemen (not necessarily full time, but still on the roster), and goalies with backup/solid #3 potential.
EE Tier: Everyone else.
I think this gives us 4 pretty distinct tiers for grouping the bulk of relevant prospects. 3 just seems too cramped, and either doesn’t differentiate between good vs. great, or doesn’t differentiate between likely to make it vs. long shot like 4 tiers does (current C Tier seems especially crowded, having guys like Cam York and Tristan Broz in the same tier lol).
Quoting: Alfie11
For Sens prospects, I have a few proposals:
Sanderson B-->A
I legitimately think he's the best defenseman outside of the NHL right now, right up there with Power, and he's putting up crazy numbers on a significantly less stacked team. He's always been elite defensively, and this year he's showing that there's an element of offense to his game that makes him the complete package (his points per game in college both last year and this year are better than Makar's points per game in his DY+1/2 years). He's got elite skating, he's got the size, he's got the physicality, and from what I've seen (mostly last year's WJC) he very rarely makes mistakes and knows exactly when to step into the play (for example, in the gold medal game last year, he stepped up into the play and hit I believe Cozens, and that directly led to the USA's 2nd goal). This WJC will be very interesting, him vs. Power for best D outside the NHL is an underrated storyline imo, and I really think one of them is coming out with the best D of the tournament (all respect to Topi Niemela but I think he's #3, maybe he continues to improve and makes that conversation a 3-way storyline though, he'll definitely have the opportunity to step up on a Finnish team that just lost their 1C).
Pinto-->B or off the list
He's an NHLer now. If you want to keep him on the list though, he should be B Tier.
19-20: NCHC Rookie of the Year, led USA in scoring at the 2020 WJC
20-21: Top 3 in Hobey Baker voting, NCHC Player of the Year, NCHC Forward of the Year, NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year, Western Conference First Team all-conference, Western Conference regular season scoring leader
If those accolades don't convince you I don't know what will lol. With the chemistry shown by the Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson line, he's poised to be on a line with Stutzle long term, and I think that line is going to be our long term 1st line (Stutzle, Pinto, and literally whoever we draft in 2022, assuming it's a forward in the top 12, which is a pretty safe bet).
JBD and Thomson C-->B
I think both guys easily have top 4 upside. JBD has had success at every level (WJC gold as the ice team leader for Canada at the 2020 WJC, NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year last year, etc.), he's just a rock defensively, and masters every level before moving on. He's been pegged as the long term potential partner for Chabot for years and has done nothing to show that he won't eventually get there (maybe 1 more year in the AHL, 1 year on the 3rd pair, then he could step into the top 4 by 24-25, seems like a pretty reasonable projection with the potential to get there quicker). Thomson looked poor in Finland, but has really bounced back on track in his development in North America. He's been really good in the AHL, and has looked pretty good filling in at the NHL level as well (I believe he played 22 minutes in his first game lol). It's pretty reasonable to expect him to take a 2nd pair role in the next couple years. Future top 4 of Chabot-JBD / Sanderson-Thomson is entirely possible.
Guenette, Roger, Kastelic, Crookshank, Mandolese, Reinhardt EE-->D
Guenette and Roger I think both have the upside of being a 3RD. Crookshank has been hurut this year but he was near point-per-game as an AHL rookie last year, he's played himself up into fringe NHLer one day status. Kastelic fits the mold of a 4C perfectly and has been solid in the AHL, he'll probably be a fringe lineup guy in a couple years. Reinhardt is kinda in the same boat, plus I believe he had an impressive training camp this year so he has that going for him. Mandolese was QMJHL Goalie of the Year in 2020 and has been solid in the AHL this year for a middling Belleville team, he could probably be an NHL backup in like 2-3 years.
Engstrand D-->EE
Drafted as a double overager in the 5th round in 2020 and then hasn't been impressive in the SHL. Maybe he succeeds if he comes over to the AHL, but for now I don't think he really has an NHL future, he's just big but without even being physical.
If you want to move other guys down you could maybe bump Latimer from D to EE, he was fairly mediocre on Edmonton, but he does have 6 points in 4 games for Prince Albert after going the other way in the Guhle trade, so maybe opportunity was the only issue, he's one to keep an eye on at least. Johansson is point per game in the Swedish U20 league through 14 games but pointless in 12 SHL games so take that how you will. Probably another case of reserving judgment for now given he's only 18. He needs more play time. If the Sens really believe in him, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to bring him over to play in the AHL next year, and develop him under Troy Mann's watchful eye.
Quoting: Alfie11
Also from a cursory glance, Eklund and Power should be A tier, probably McTavish, Guenther, and Seider/Byram/Raymond (if they still count) as well. I'm not sure if we're defining A tier as legitimate superstars or very likely top line/pair guys, if it's the second you could bump up Caufield and Edvinsson. I'd move Wallstedt down as well, I don't really think any goalie should be A tier, especially not in the year just after getting drafted, and being ranked above literally all 19 guys selected ahead of him, including another goalie. A few C tier prospects should be bumped up to B tier (Neighbours, Bordeleau, Pinto although I don't think he should count at all anymore tbh, Perreault, Lucius, Heinola). Several B tier prospects should be moved down (for example Ceulemans [could go either way on him though tbh], Khusnutdinov, Primeau, Stankoven, and Gunler). And Krebs is listed under Vegas still lol