NFHL Future’s 1981 Team Rankings In this second issue, NFHL Future will take a look at each organization’s prospects. There is a slight change to our definition of prospect this issue. With the lowering of the draft age, prospects are now defined as players 22 and under, whether playing in the NFHL or NMFHL. Prospects are given a rating that is a combination of the following two ratings: POTENTIAL ABILITY 10 Hall of Fame material player 9 Elite player, Perennial All Star 8 Top 3 Forward/Top 2 Defenseman/#1 Goalie 7 Top 6 Forward/Top 4 Defenseman/Borderline #1 Goalie 6 Third Line Forward/3rd Pair Defenseman/Back up Goalie 5 Fourth Line Forward/7th Defenseman/Depth Goalie 4 Elite Minor League Forward/Defenseman/Goalie 3 Average Minor League Forward/Defenseman/Goalie 2 Below Average Minor League Forward/Defenseman/Goalie 1 Beer League or Retirement Looms PROBABILITY OF REACHING DEVELOPMENT A Has already reached projected development or certain to reach projected development. B Likely to reach projected development, though may drop one level. C Could reach projected development, though may drop up to 2 levels. D Unlikely to reach projected development and could drop up to 3 levels. E Little potential for reaching projected development. With these ratings in mind, here are the team prospect rankings for the 1981 season. Click on a team to go directly to their page. Team Rankings 1 California Golden Seals 7 Los Angeles Kings 13 Quebec Nordiques 18 New Jersey Devils 2 Edmonton Oilers 8 New York Rangers 14 Minnesota North Stars 19 Montreal Canadiens 3 St. Louis Blues 9 Boston Bruins 15 Winnipeg Jets 20 Chicago Blackhawks 4 Pittsburgh Penguins 10 Toronto Maple Leafs 16 Vancouver Canucks 21 Calgary Flames 5 Detroit Red Wings 11 Washington Capitals 17 Philadelphia Flyers 22 Colorado Rockies 6 Buffalo Sabres 12 Hartford Whalers California Golden Seals Top Prospect Top Ten Prospects The California Golden Seals climb to the top of the prospect ratings thanks to already 1 Michel Goulet RW claiming two players starring in the NFHL as well as a sickening number of players coming down the pipe who will play significant Denis Savard C 2 roles on the team in the not-too-distant future. But really, you can’t 3 Michael Thelven D talk California prospects without starting with Michel Goulet. 4 Craig Hartsburg D Prospect is also taking the term very figuratively because Goulet is 5 James Patrick D only a prospect in terms of his age. Make no mistake, he has 6 Brian Mullen RW arrived. He is already a top 10 player in this league and is only going to get better. Two years in the league is early to stamp his 7 Tony Tanti RW inclusion in the Hall of Fame, but there is no better candidate in 8 Dion Ciccarelli RW this report than him. He simply has every offensive skill that you 9 Brent Ashton RW would want from a player. He is fast, strong on the puck, dazzling 10 Mike Ridley C puck skills, and possesses a laser shot. Really, the only thing lacking in his game is a back checking presence. In fact, he probably doesn’t even know what his own zone looks like. He is very bad defensively. But, he is very, very good offensively. Forwards Denis Savard looks to keep the Calder Trophy in California as he Left Wing Centre Right Wing has exploded on to the scene in the Doug Lecuyer 6B Denis Savard 9A Michel Goulet 10B NFHL. Smaller than Goulet, Savard Doug Sulliman 7C Brian Mullen 8C adds intensity and feistiness to his Mike Ridley 7C Tony Tanti 7B game that often gets him in trouble. John Chabot 7C Dino Ciccarelli 7B However, when not resting in the sin bin, Savard is also a master of the Mark Kumpel 6B Brent Ashton 7B puck. He has terrific puck skills and Dan Frawley 6B Vladimir Krutov 6C a deceiving shot. This tandem could go down as the deadliest duo since Smith and Wesson joined forces. While those two star in the NFHL, the farm team has talent bursting, too. While certainly not as high end as Goulet and Savard, there are players will become fixtures in the top six. Brian Mullen will certainly be one. Mullen does everything well. There isn’t one aspect of his game that you can say he is great at. But you can’t really find anything wrong with any part, either. He is that type that will work perfectly on the top line to balance against purely offensive players, providing some stability and presence in a back checking role. The right side is actually crowded with talent after Mullen. Tony Tanti, Dino Ciccarelli, and Brent Ashton all have top six make up, though obviously one or more will need to move to the opposite wing, where there is little in the pipe, to get regular playing time. Ciccarelli and Ashton are 21 now, so they have a smaller window to make it, but both have a decent shot. While Ciccarelli is faster and stronger, Ashton is better with the puck and plays a good defensive game. Tanti is 3 years younger and may be the best shooter of the farmers, but his discipline issues catch up to him and limit his playing time. He also needs to bulk up a bit to be effective. Down the middle, Doug Sulliman, Mike Ridley, and John Chabot have top six potential as well, though there are enough blemishes in their game to fear they may not reach it. Ridley, the youngest of the trio, has the best shot to make it, possessing offensive skills that will translate well in the big leagues. He never seems to really try, though, especially defensively. His booming shot, though, will eventually be his ticket to the show. Seals Trivia: Team Prospect Rank This Season: 1st Prospects Ranked: 21 Average Score: 7.00 Team Prospect Rank Last Season: 2nd Defense The blue line is ridiculous. Michael Thelven is already playing in the NFHL and Defense projects to be a top pairing guy. Quick with his stick and with a high hockey IQ, Michael Thelven 8B Thelven needs to get a bit stronger still, but at just 20, he has time. Craig Hartsburg Craig Hartsburg 8B and James Patrick also project to be top pairing guys while they still ply their trade James Patrick 8B on the farm. Hartsburg looks to be a top offensive player, but he is also a mean son Dean Turner 7C of a gun. He likes to get physical and has the strength to be effective and the speed Paul Reinhart 6C to make up for it when he is not effective. Patrick is a little more docile, but very Reijo Ruotsalainen 6C sound defensively and will provide some offense. Each looks like they will be spending another year in the NMFHL, but when they arrive, along with Thelven, Jim Wiemer 6C they will give the Seals version 2.0 of the big 3, after Gusev, Lapoint, and Savard are all gone. Goaltending The goaltending situation is basically non-existent, though they do have Doug Soetaert up on the big team, which will give them time to work on Darrel May. May will likely never Goaltending reach NFHL potential, but will most likely be anchoring the NMFHL powerhouse Portland Darrell May 5B team until the next hot shot prospect comes along. Edmonton Oilers Top Prospect Top Ten Last year’s top ranked prospect system, the Edmonton Oilers, fall just short of the title this Prospects year. The team addressed two of the weaknesses we noted in their system last year, that being offensive defensemen and too many 1 Jari Kurri RW prospects to develop. With trades to bring in veterans Brad 2 Steve Larmer LW Selwood, Ken Dryden, and Ulf Nilsson, the Oilers lost five 3 Al MacInnis D prospects, though only 2 of their top 15. While they no longer have 4 Laurie Boschman C the sheer numbers of prospects as last year, partly due to of our 5 Peter Andersson D lowering of the age of eligibility as well as recent trades, they still boast a plethora of future NFHL stars. Their top prospect is Jari 6 Don Beaupre G Kurri. Kurri, hurt by criticism of his play last season that saw many 7 Chris Chelios D question his #1 overall draft status, has come back to the NMFHL 8 Rick Wamsley G and is among the leaders in goals and points, while now projecting to be a very special 9 Gerard Gallant LW player. He has a good shot, great puck management skills and is a great skater. His 10 Dale Hunter C defensive awareness isn’t great, but it can be glossed over if he can produce like it appears he can. Forwards Up front, the Oilers have incredible Left Wing Centre Right Wing top line talent, though they do suffer Steve Larmer 9B Laurie Boschman 8B Jari Kurri 9A from a lack of depth now. Steve Gerard Gallant 7B Dale Hunter 7B Tim Kerr 7C Larmer leads the way on the left Randy Cunneyworth 6C Bobby Carpenter 7C Dave Hannan 6C wing. Larmer doesn’t have the Carey Wilson 6B offensive skills of Kurri, his shot is fairly weak, but he is very good back checking, has a nose for the puck, and won’t back down in the corners. He is also better with the puck than Kurri, so his offense will come, but he will be a set up guy more than a scorer.