Prospect Update

Here's the ROY scoring race as of today;

1 Patrick Kane, CHI RW 38, 9g 28a 37pts
2 Jonathan Toews, CHI C 36, 15g 17a 32pts
3 N. Backstrom, WAS C 40, 7g 22a 29pts
4 Tobias Enstrom, ATL D 41, 3g 21a 24pts
5 Martin Hanzal, PHX C 38 3g 17a 20pts
6 Andrew Cogliano, EDM C 41 7g 12a 19pts
7 Peter Mueller, PHO C 37, 9g 9a 18pts
8 Sam Gagner, EDM C 39 3 1316
9 David Perron, STL LW 26, 8g 7a 15pts
10 Tom Gilbert, EDM D 41, 7g 7a 14pts

I've also included the name of the FUNHL team that holds the players rights if they are a prospect.

1. Kane-R Chi 37 pts in 38 games. (Knights Templar)

Still the odds on favourite at this point, but its no longer a runaway. He's cooled off significantly
since some early season heroics, and it remains to be seen if the choir-boy framed Kane can take the pounding of a full 82 games.

2. Jonathon Toews -C Chi, 32 points in 36 games (Wolves)

Bad news for ROY candidate Jonathon Toews has injured his knee. Given that it was his inspiring performance that allowed the Wolves to trade Anze Kopitar for Marian Gaborik, this is not good news - at least, not for the Wolves. He may have the prettiest goal of the year, but a knee injury at this stage means he simply won't be a candidate for ROY moving forward.

3. Niklas Backstrom-C Wsh, 29 points in 40 games. (Severed Heads)

The key for Backstrom is that he was barely on the radar over the first 20 games, but has been a ppg or better since the coach was canned (13 pts in 13 games). Now that he's getting time with Ovechkin at both even strength and the powerplay, he's a threat to catch and pass the Chi-Hawk punks ahead of him.

4. Toby Enstrom - D Atl, 24pts in 41 games

A Rafalski clone, Enstrom is an undersized puck mover and powerplay specialist. He's averaging an awesome amount of ice-time on a team that is defensively challenged. His biggest obstacle is his low profile.

5. Martin Hanzal-C Phx, 20 pts in 38 games (Knights Templar)

He had a 5 point game to pad his stats, but the big (6'5") Red Deer Rebel is developing nicely as a Handzus style checking pivot. Which actually sucks if you are the KT, because who wants a checking pivot when it's all about the points?

6. Andrew Cogliano-C Edm

There are two paths that Mr. Cogliano might tread as an undersized speed burner. He could follow the Kariya path and become an indispensable offensive weapon whose hands are as fast as his wheels - or he could be the next Todd Marchant. He looks good, but right now my bet is he is another Marchant / Paul Ranheim / David Legwand.

7. Peter Mueller-C Phx (Highlanders)

A better offensive player than team mate Hanzal, but at this stage he's further behind in his learning curve. Should become a bold strapping swashbuckler of a pivot ala Kopitar in LA, but frisky horses like Mueller need to be broken in over a few seasons.

8. Sam Gagner-C Edm (Bladerunners)

'Samwise' has slick moves, excellent passing ability, a terrific nick-name, the high expectations of a talent starved city, and buckets of hockey sense. Unfortunately, he lacks both a 4th and 5th gear, or enough muscle to power his way through danger zones. Daymond Langkow turned into a pretty decent player with a similar skill-set, but neither Kris Beech nor Daniel Tkazcuk were able to overcome similar limitations.

9. David Perron-LW

Similar in style and skills to Martin St Louis, Perron has an opportunity to learn from the Jedi master of skill wingers in Paul Kariya. His offensive pace is better than several of the players ahead of him now, and he could move well up the list by the end of the year if he stays on a scoring line.

10 . Tom Gilbert-D

Arguably the best of the three Edmonton rookies, he's averaging a full 8-9 minutes more of ice-time a game and is being played in key situations throughout. Could be another Wade Redden style 2-way defender who contributes at all ends of the rink.

Here are some names that aren't in the top 10, but are still worth noting;

- Dan Carcillo-L Phx, his 172 PIM stands way out from the crowd as he leads the league in TG production. More of a Sean Avery pest with some skills than a pure bruiser, Carcillo is nevertheless determined to carve a name for himself - on the chest of every body he plays against.

- Erik Johnson-D StL (Ramapithicines), the Blues aren't rushing things with their prized defender, and the progress has been slow, but steady. Future franchise stud on defense reminds me of a young Mark Howe.

- Matt Niskanen-D Dal, is proving that there are offensive defensemen in Dallas not named Zubov.

- Carey Price-G Mtl. Slowly but surely pushing Christobal Huet out the door.

Every year we GMs miss out on some players who defy our predictions to become contributing NHL players. This year that award clearly goes to; Toby Enstrom, with special consideration to Andrew Cogliano.

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In other prospect news, it looks like the newly acquired Bladerunner prospect TJ Oshie may have some 'off ice issues' to deal with.