TSN has recently released a player ranking of the top 50 players in the AHL.(click here) We are going to keep this Red Wing centric and go over the players from the Griffins. Three Griffins made this list. The ones who made it surprised me quite a bit. Click the jump for the rest of the article.
To be eligible for this list you had to play a minimum of 15 games(11 for goalies). With that out of the way, let's delve into the 3 players on the list. The highest ranked Griffin is Gustav Nyquist at number 5. His placement on this list is a little peculiar since he is clearly in the NHL for good and will not be returning there, however he was eligible to be on it, and he is definitely deserves that high of a rating. However, it is relevant to note that out of the players ranked ahead of him, one of them is a career minor leaguer, Travis Morin, who has 6 NHL games since being drafted in 2004 by the Capitals. Another is Brian Gibbons, who is 25, and is probably not ever going to be quite good enough to make the NHL. The next player is Colton Sceviour who is again, a career minor leaguer. 3 of the 4 players ranked ahead of Nyquist aren't NHL prospects. This should further solidify Nyquist as one of the most intriguing young players in the game today. He was dominant in the AHL and he should look to be a force for the Red Wings going forward. Nyquist was just flat out more skilled than the other players in the AHL, it will not be this way in the NHL, Nyquist is already good enough to be a top 6 forward on the Red Wings, however he is not down growing. He will continue to get better going forward and it will be interesting to see how high he can elevate his game. Will he be a playmaker? Or can he be more than that. Will he be capable of making his own highlight reel as Datsyuk has? Winged Pride is not going to compare Nyquist to Datsyuk because, well no one is like Datsyuk, his skills are special and Winged Pride won't compare a prospect to him. However. Goose has immense skill with the puck, a nose for the net, great vision, and he's a strong skater who makes good choices.
The next player that is on the list is Tomas Jurco, he was ranked 11. Jurco is becoming dominant in this league. He is playing on the Griffins dynamic first line, who hasn't missed a beat despite losing Nyquist to the NHL. Eaves has slotted in his spot and the trio is still generating 3 points a game as a group. Jurco is turning into an extremely complete player in the AHL. He is a power forward with great hands and a good shot. Jurco has great puck speed and can accelerate through the zone and create chances seemingly at will in the AHL. At 6'2" he is big enough to hold his own and do what he wants with the puck. Jurco is the best player on the Griffins today and is more than deserving of his rating.
The last player on this list was quite surprising to Winged Pride. Ryan Sproul was rated 27th. He is the second highest defenseman at his position, behind the ex-Griffin Chad Billins. Sproul rated this high on the list is a little surprising. Sproul is a great young talent but for him to be rated this high means that Sproul is really excelling on the intangibles, things like defensive positioning and being a strong attacker on the puck, or Mr. Cullen is maybe falling in love with Sproul's offensive abilities. Either way, Sproul is progressing and growing much faster than he was anticipated to, he has refined his game is growing quite rapidly. Winged Pride sat down with Sproul last week and he had some interesting things to say, read about what he said here.
It was interesting to Winged Pride that the Griffins goaltender was left off the top 50, however only one goalie was put on the list and Mrazek's numbers aren't nearly as impressive as they were last year. A lot of this list is hard to put into context because the turnover in the AHL is so high due to graduation it is hard for player's to really establish their reputations. With more Wings prospects asserting their way through the AHL, the light is shining quite bright for the Red Wings future. They have many dynamic prospects and the Wings should look to regain dominance with these guys coming through the ranks in the coming years.
The next player that is on the list is Tomas Jurco, he was ranked 11. Jurco is becoming dominant in this league. He is playing on the Griffins dynamic first line, who hasn't missed a beat despite losing Nyquist to the NHL. Eaves has slotted in his spot and the trio is still generating 3 points a game as a group. Jurco is turning into an extremely complete player in the AHL. He is a power forward with great hands and a good shot. Jurco has great puck speed and can accelerate through the zone and create chances seemingly at will in the AHL. At 6'2" he is big enough to hold his own and do what he wants with the puck. Jurco is the best player on the Griffins today and is more than deserving of his rating.
The last player on this list was quite surprising to Winged Pride. Ryan Sproul was rated 27th. He is the second highest defenseman at his position, behind the ex-Griffin Chad Billins. Sproul rated this high on the list is a little surprising. Sproul is a great young talent but for him to be rated this high means that Sproul is really excelling on the intangibles, things like defensive positioning and being a strong attacker on the puck, or Mr. Cullen is maybe falling in love with Sproul's offensive abilities. Either way, Sproul is progressing and growing much faster than he was anticipated to, he has refined his game is growing quite rapidly. Winged Pride sat down with Sproul last week and he had some interesting things to say, read about what he said here.
It was interesting to Winged Pride that the Griffins goaltender was left off the top 50, however only one goalie was put on the list and Mrazek's numbers aren't nearly as impressive as they were last year. A lot of this list is hard to put into context because the turnover in the AHL is so high due to graduation it is hard for player's to really establish their reputations. With more Wings prospects asserting their way through the AHL, the light is shining quite bright for the Red Wings future. They have many dynamic prospects and the Wings should look to regain dominance with these guys coming through the ranks in the coming years.