This article is part of our The Coming Thing series.
It kind of seems like all the Canadian teams are hogging the top rookies for themselves, doesn't it? The Leafs have Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander -- three of the top four in rookie scoring -- the Jets have Patrik Laine (third in rookie points), and the Flames have Matt Tkatchuk (fifth). It's not until you get down to Sebastian Aho of the Hurricanes that you find a U.S.-based team with a place on the rookie leaderboard. If we really want to make America great again, it seems like drafting better hockey players is the way to do it, but hey, maybe it's just that the American teams are already great.
Anyway, it's time to take a look at the last week or so of prospect movements.
Comings and Goings
Brandon Montour, D, ANA -- Let's start with arguably the most exciting player of this group. A 2014 second-round pick, Montour's now 22 years old, and he's absolutely slaughtered the AHL over the past two seasons -- we're talking about 57 points in 68 games from the blue line last season, and he's actually improved his pace this year to the tune of 12 goals and 30 points in 34 contests. As it is for most rookies, the NHL has been a tougher transition, but the former USHL and UMass-Amherst star picked up his first NHL goal last week and added his first career assist in Thursday's game. He's seeing major power-play minutes, and Montour's track
It kind of seems like all the Canadian teams are hogging the top rookies for themselves, doesn't it? The Leafs have Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander -- three of the top four in rookie scoring -- the Jets have Patrik Laine (third in rookie points), and the Flames have Matt Tkatchuk (fifth). It's not until you get down to Sebastian Aho of the Hurricanes that you find a U.S.-based team with a place on the rookie leaderboard. If we really want to make America great again, it seems like drafting better hockey players is the way to do it, but hey, maybe it's just that the American teams are already great.
Anyway, it's time to take a look at the last week or so of prospect movements.
Comings and Goings
Brandon Montour, D, ANA -- Let's start with arguably the most exciting player of this group. A 2014 second-round pick, Montour's now 22 years old, and he's absolutely slaughtered the AHL over the past two seasons -- we're talking about 57 points in 68 games from the blue line last season, and he's actually improved his pace this year to the tune of 12 goals and 30 points in 34 contests. As it is for most rookies, the NHL has been a tougher transition, but the former USHL and UMass-Amherst star picked up his first NHL goal last week and added his first career assist in Thursday's game. He's seeing major power-play minutes, and Montour's track record suggests that he'll start converting if that persists.
Timo Meier, RW, SAN -- Called back to "the big leagues" following the All-Star break, Meier has shuffled along pretty quietly as a Shark other than the goal he scored in Thursday's game. The No. 9 overall pick just two drafts ago, the Swiss winger has split his time between the NHL (where he has a modest five points in 23 games) and the AHL (where things have been much better -- 15 in 18). Meier's big and tough, and no one's questioning his skating or shooting ability, but power forwards often take a while to adjust to hockey's highest level. That is to say, don't look for big short-term contributions, but the long-term value remains high.
Juuse Saros, G, NAS -- A personal favorite of mine among goalie prospects, Saros had a very brief stay in the AHL -- he was sent down Saturday and brought back up Monday. However, after dominating in the NHL through his first nine appearances (5-3-1, 1.44 GAA, .952 save mark), Saros has received a bitter dose of reality over his past two starts, allowing nine total goals while suffering losses to the Sabres and Rangers. There's no reason to be disheartened about his long-term prospects, though; I believe Saros is destined to spend a long time in the upper crust of NHL netminders once he gets out of Pekka Rinne's shadow.
Jakub Vrana, RW, WAS -- The Caps' first-rounder in 2014, Vrana has seen a minor downtick in his AHL production this season (24 points in 31 games), but he remains a high-upside prospect for an organization that's incredibly deep on the wings. Vrana's latest recall didn't result in any playing time and he has a modest three points in his first NHL games, but that's come in quite limited minutes. For now, he'll continue plying his trade at the AHL level, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get traded if the Caps have to fill a need ahead of the deadline.
Kevin LaBanc, RW, SAN -- A victim of demotion back on Monday, LaBanc was recalled by the Sharks on Friday without missing a game -- so maybe "victim" was a strong word there. Although his production's dried up recently (just two helpers and 10 shots in his last 14 contests), LaBanc is one of the most intriguing young forwards in the league. The 21-year-old flies under the radar because of his lack of pedigree, but he was dynamite in juniors and has carried that over to the AHL, where he owns 15 points in just 10 games. The Staten Island native has appeared in this space before because of his massive upside, and I'll reiterate that he should be universally owned in keeper formats.
Prospect of the Week
Alex DeBrincat, RW, CHI -- This guy's no stranger to those who follow NHL prospects, as his junior career has been nothing short of spectacular. An absolute steal by the Blackhawks with the No. 39 overall pick in the 2016 draft (acquired in the Andrew Shaw deal), DeBrincat cleared 100 points in his first two junior seasons, and he's only eight away from doing so for the third time this year. Indeed, over his first 45 contests this season, he's averaged nearly a goal a game (44) and more than two points per game. Once maligned as a guy who was just riding along in the wake of Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome, he's proven definitively that their success was equally (or at least semi-equally) his. The Michigan native may be a small package at 5-foot-7, but we all know that hasn't stopped a torrent of other undersized players from making their names in the NHL.
