1. Luke Hughes (LD, NHL)
Just as good of a skater as his brothers despite being significantly taller. Elite offensive upside. I see a lot of people ragging on his defensive game, and I don't know if we're watching the same player. At the NCAA and WJC level he looked solid defensively, and against Carolina he made a number of great plays on the back end. I would go so far as to say he's already an upgrade over Graves at 2LD.

2. Simon Nemec (RD, AHL)
Point totals may suggest Jiricek has been the better of the 2022 draft's top defensemen, but a closer look tells a different story. At 5v5, Nemec blows Jiricek out of the water, but he was so far down the depth chart that not only did he not get an NHL stint, he wasn't even playing PP1 in Utica--Walsh was. He put up the best D1 season of any AHL defenseman in a very long time--if not ever. Like Hughes, he projects as a number one defenseman, strong offensively and in transition.

3. Alex Holtz (W, AHL)
I've seen a lot of negativity around Holtz on this site and elsewhere, but I believe there is nothing to suggest that he cannot be an elite complementary dual threat. He still has his elite shot of course, but he has always been a great playmaker as well. His skating, while average, is no longer a glaring fault. Where he fails currently is in his pace of play; his feet are moving fast enough but his brain isn't. I think he makes the team this year, ideally with Hughes and Bratt/Mercer but more likely with Palat and Haula. He'll never be 'the guy' on his own, but with strong transition linemates that create space for him and PP1 deployment he can and will put up numbers.

4. Akira Schmid (G, NHL)
Schmid will be an NHL goaltender, and a competent one at that. He is huge, calm under pressure, and super solid positionally, so he hardly ever moves to make a save. Stylistically he's very similar to Connor Hellebuyck, though it would be a stroke of luck for him to reach that level of consistency. Wheeler at The Athletic ranked him 8th among goalie prospects, saying his biggest weakness was a wide stance that made the transition in and out of butterfly inefficient. Reportedly the team wants him in the AHL to start the year. With Daws injured and Schmid still young for a goalie, I believe a starter workload in Utica would be just as beneficial if not more so than a 1B or backup role in the NHL.

5. Seamus Casey (RD, NCAA)
Casey was a steal at the 2022 draft; a classic undersized defenseman value pick. He has elite skating, great vision, and flew under the radar putting up points on a stacked Michigan team. While he needs to bulk up a bit before turning pro, he has all the tools to do so. I believe that he would be best used as a forward, especially given our depth at defense. Due to his size and reliance on skill, he is a boom-or-bust prospect. Either his skill carries him into a top 4/top 6 role (maybe top 9 since we're so deep), or his game doesn't translate. I am a big believer in his skills, and he is still a few years away. Reports are he plans to turn pro when the NCAA season ends, and I would expect to see him in Utica for at least another year, or two if he stays at D

6. Arseni Gritsyuk (W, KHL)
Gritsyuk is an effective forward in the second best league in the world, which is impressive for a 22 year old taken in the 5th round. There is a small chance he pulls a Gusev and his game doesn't translate, but all signs point to him being at minimum a middle six complementary piece with a great shot. He recently signed a two year KHL deal, and he plans to come over when it expires. His presence on an ELC at that point in our window will be huge in keeping guys like Hughes, Holtz, and Nemec locked up long term.

7. Lenni Hameenaho (W, Liiga)
This guy is slow. Not only is he slow, but his stride is clunky and he lacks agility. He makes draft year Holtz look like a Hughes brother. Why then, is he in our top 10? Why did Dennehy claim that our staff ranked him in the first round? Hameenaho is perhaps the smartest player in his draft class. Liiga is by no means a fast league, but his brains so completely cover for his feet that he played a full season of men's pro in his draft year. Decent hands, too. If we can fix his skating, he is a lock to be an NHLer. If not, he won't even survive the AHL. He plans to return to Finland this season.

8. Nolan Foote (F, AHL)
Foote seems a lock to make the roster this year. He was a center in Utica, but is listed as LW and would be a natural fit as a replacement for Wood. He is limited in his upside, but he has all the tools to play a heavy bottom six role. His good shot should finally bring a scoring touch to the defensively sound but offensively inept super buddies, who can't find the twine to save their lives.

9. Topias Vilen (LD, AHL)
My personal favorite prospect. Fell in the draft due to a lack of offensive upside, but Vilen was a very solid defensive defenseman at the Liiga level in his draft year, and started putting up points in the following years. If he is able to adjust to the North American pace of play, he will be a solid depth defenseman, and if he can continue to grow his offensive game, he could find himself higher up a roster. If it all falls right, he's a John Marino.

10. Graeme Clarke (F, AHL)
Clarke wasn't projected to be much of anything until he was suddenly point per game in Utica as a D+4. He is still waiver-exempt, so he is a long shot to make the roster; he would have to earn a full-time spot since he's better off getting top line AHL minutes than riding pine. If he keeps developing well, he could be a solid top 9/middle 6 player.

Honorable Mentions:
Daws (G, AHL) - Played an NHL stint in 2021-22 and looked decent for his age. Bader has him at 50% to be an NHLer. He will miss a half the season with an injury.
Thompson (W, AHL) - Tops out as depth, but will be a permanent NHLer when someone picks him up on waivers this fall. Maybe he sticks around as 14th forward. Very little chance he turns out like his brother.
Filmon (W, AHL) - Good shooter, but not much else there. Has a long way to go before he's NHL ready. Very disappointing at dev camp. Devils twitter needs to pump the brakes on him.
Kallgren (G, AHL) - Was better than John Gibson in a 10 game NHL sample (per MoneyPuck GSAx/60)
Karpovich (D, MHL) - 2023 draftee. JFresh has him at a 56% chance to be an above-replacement NHLer. It will be a while before we see him in NA.

Pretty good rankings imo

For the HMs I would have Squires and Edwards over Kallegran and Thompson

Funny how former first rounder Chase Stillman isn’t on this list

Edwards probably deserves an HM, same with Stillman. I chose Thompson because on a less dominant team he probably gets a full time NHL role, whereas Edwards and especially Squires have to make the jump to pro. Stillman doesn't deserve the hate, even though I'm guilty of it myself. If he were a third round pick we'd love him.

I like the list. A rough snapshot of all our guys:

1. Luke Hughes
2. Simon Nemec
3. Alexander Holtz
4. Arseni Gritsyuk
5. Akira Schmid

6. Seamus Casey
7. Topias Vilen
8. Josh Filmon
9. Nolan Foote
10. Samu Salminen

11. Chase Stillman
12. Ethan Edwards
13. Zakhar Bardakov
14. Graeme Clarke
15. Lenni Hameenaho

16. Nico Daws
17. Petr Hauser
18. Tyce Thompson
19. Charlie Leddy
20. Cam Squires

21. Viktor Hurtig
22. Daniil Karpovich
23. Jakub Malek
24. Chase Cheslock
25. Brian Holanen

26. Daniil Orlov
27. Ty Brennan
28. Daniil Misyul
29. Cole Brown
30. Santeri Hatakka

31. Artem Schlaine
32. Michael Vukojevich
33. Artem Barabosha
34. Yegor Zaitsev
35. Jaromir Pytlik

I think this is spot on for Nemec vs Jiricek comparison. Nemec played very little power play at end of season…it was Russo #1, Walsh #2 for most of the year. Nemec did play a lot on Penalty Kill…and was quite good at it. And at 5v5, Nemec was among league leaders in points, CF%, GF%. He had an amazing season. And would be #1 on about 29 teams lists. Really pumped for him and Hughes.

I like your list, but I take issue here. My understanding is that Salminen has been very disappointing at the NCAA level, whereas Hameenaho has tremendous upside

Blame Tristian Broz! Salminen’s start of the season was a bit disappointing. He was supposed to attend Denver in the fall, but when Broz transferred in, they asked Samu to sit a year. Instead, he found a spot at UConn. So he arrived late due to visa issues as he changed host schools, so did not get chance to train with team until after games had started. So first couple of months weren’t great. But he picked it up in latter half of year. He had something like 1 point in his first 8 games (and missed a bunch). But finished with 16 points in 24 games total. And was put on power play mid-way through year.

On Hameenaho, I just threw the new guys in here. Haven’t really formed an opinion about them. So I probably have Lenni too low.

I'll give Salminen another look, but at this point I can't see him in the top 10.

You should watch Hameenaho. His skating needs a lot of work (it's really bad), but he has great hands and an unsettling ability to always be in the right place at the right time. If not for his skating, he would have been a first round pick, and a high one at that. Half of his goals are highlight reel dangles, and the other half are tap-in goals where he mysteriously is not covered at all, as if he is invisible to the other team.

2 goals in 2 games to start the Liiga season! I'm getting real excited about him.

According to Google Translate, the English translation for “Lenni Hämeenaho” is “Flew the Foreskin”.

Whoa.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/lassialanen/status/1703759285144956963

The highest points-per-game marks among draft-eligible skaters in the Finnish U20 league over the past 10 years (min. 10 GP):

Juraj Slafkovsky, 1.64
Samu Salminen, 1.53
Niklas Nordgren, 1.50
Jesse Kiiskinen, 1.39

It's early, but Hemming should be primed to enter that list soon.

Massive missing piece of context there: Salminen didn't turn pro because he wanted to play NCAA. Finnish U20 is not a good league.

Assuming top few spots have Luke, Nemec, Holtz, Schmid locked in…where would you all rank these guys?

1. Arseni Gritsyuk
2. Seamus Casey
3. Lenni Hameenaho
4. Josh Filmon
5. Nolan Foote

6. Samu Salminen
7. Topias Vilen
8. Chase Stillman
9. Graeme Clarke
10. Cam Squires

And how far up does Santeri Hatakka rise?

Luke, Holtz, Schmid, Foote can be considered graduated.

1. Nemec
2. Casey
3. Gritsyuk
4. Hämeenaho
5. Vilén
6. Filmon
7. Hatakka
8. Clarke
9. Daws
10. Bardakov

HM Squires, Karpovich, Salminen, Edwards, Orlov

Hatakka at 7…would be nice cherry on top of Meier deal. He is a hard one for me…on paper, he screams AHLer, but he looked really solid in pre-season. Will be interesting to see what he does in Utica.

Misyul was the other guy who looked bette than expected in camp.

Foote, Daws and Edwards aren’t healthy…latter two with major surgeries, so I left them off. But really like Edwards.

And where is Stillman?!?

Stillman and Misyul are probably the next two guys after the HMs. Stillman I see as having zero NHL upside beyond depth energy guy; he would have to start scoring to change that. Misyul is 23, and stylistically similar to Vukojevic and Okhotiuk. I don't see a place for him in the NHL given that he is playing a depth role in Utica at his age.

Stillman is possible Bastian replacement...I think his floor is high enough that we will see him in NHL...maybe peak is something like Garnet Hathaway.

Misyul looked like a smart, veteran player...and more mobile than I expected. I hope we see him in some games.

Vukojevic and Okhotiuk were rather different...Vuko was total project with size and some tools they thought would be more two-way (and childhood friend of Jacks). Okhotiuk was more stay-in-dzone, physical type. My impression was Misyul is probably more of Okhotiuk, with a little less "boom" and a little better with puck on d-zone exits.

tbh all I know about Vuk is that he is big, physical, and not good

Actually has some good hands and can flash some skill with puck. But he generally looks lost on ice. I bet he is someone who does better in practice...melts in games.