The theme of this year’s Top 25 Under 25 continues. For all of us, this ranking has been about comparing sets of very young prospects with established players nearly ready to age off.
Our Week 4 Recap
#10: 2020 2nd-round pick
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Top 25 Under 25: The Leafs 2nd round pick sets the bar at #10
It’s actually surprising how consistently the PPP voters ranked it in two different clusters. Eight of the voters had it between 8 and 10, then the rest had it between 16 and 19. It received a rank from all voters. It makes me wonder how much of this ranking is due to the meteoric rise of Nick Robertson, our most recent second round pick.
#9: Pierre Engvall
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Top 25 Under 25: Pierre Engvall leaps up to 9th
Engvall works. “Working hard” is one of those eye-roll inducing phrases in hockey analysis because it can mean very little, but when enough observers and coaches point it out, you start having to acknowledge the reality. He has the size and strength to fight along the boards or in front of the net, and he’s willing to do it. He has octopus-length reach and quite good mobility—I don’t think he’s even just “a good skater for his size”, he can actually skate. He isn’t especially bad at anything, and he has enough finishing talent to make him a little more useful than your typical fourth-line grinder.
#8: Travis Dermott
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Top 25 Under 25: Travis Dermott keeps us guessing at #8
From a scouting perspective, Dermott is known for his skating agility and aggressive style in the neutral zone. He tends to want to get right up into opposing forwards’ faces as they try and carry the puck in, trusting his mobility to make sure he doesn’t get beaten wide. His mobility helps him in zone exits, where microstats tracking has generally painted him as a good, if unspectacular puck mover. As his point totals suggest, he’s not an offensive dynamo in terms of individual shot contributions or passing.
#7: Timothy Liljegren
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Top 25 Under 25: Timothy Liljegren is ready for the NHL at #7
It was quite dramatic when a draft prospect touted for his elite playmaking and scoring ability suddenly focused his whole season on defense, especially when you often want to see your players doing both. But the Marlies took a gamble with Liljegren and worked him hard in the AHL to become someone who can play top defensive minutes when such a thing was not his strength as a junior.
#6: Kasperi Kapanen
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Top 25 Under 25: Kasperi Kapanen drops to #6
Community Vote for Week 4
#10: Egor Korshkov
Weighted Average Ranking: 13.28
Total Rankings: 246 (245 in top 25)
#9: Pierre Engvall
Weighted Average Ranking: 9.30
Total Rankings: 256 (255)
#8: Timothy Liljegren
Weighted Average Ranking: 8.01
Total Rankings: 257 (256)
#7: Travis Dermott
Weighted Average Ranking: 7.20
Total Rankings: 257 (256)
#6: Nick Robertson
Weighted Average Ranking: 6.65
Total Rankings: 257 (256)
Egor Korshkov starts off your list today with a large distribution of votes that tail off to the right. That’s a very similar result to Adam Brooks last week, your #11. But then, as you move to your ninth choice, Pierre Engvall, who is also our ninth choice, we all start to agree. It was bound to happen eventually, and all of us joining up at Engvall’s close to unanimous ranking shouldn’t really be a surprise.
Your ranking for Korshkov surprises me a little, and it’s very weird to have been standing here saying for years he’s for sure a very good AHLer, and have you all rush past me at speed to decide he’s likely more than that. Or maybe you aren’t saying that, and you just like to rank on present value more than some of us on the official voting list do. Maybe you’re saying everyone below him is never likely to touch that level.
Your Liljegren and Dermott votes almost entirely match ours, so all that discussion in the Dermott post was just about how to describe someone ranked nearly as low as Engvall, not where to rank him.
Your rankings are very clear. You’ll notice they’re not bunched up, but are clearly averaging almost exactly on the placing on the list. All except Nick Robertson. You have him almost at seven, and while more people ranked him fifth than any one place, a lot of you ranked him lower than six. Overall you put him distinctly below the top five. And as you know, we put him in the top five.
Our top nine is the same set of names, in almost exactly the same order, but we did put the youngest ones higher than you. We have the Dermott and Liljegren order swapped around too, even while being as sure as you are that they make up a pair in that seven-eight spot.
Next week is our final five, and we already know ours isn’t exactly the same as yours. But what about our top three? Do you think ours will match yours?
Do you expect the community vote top 3 to match the official T25 list?
| Yes | 111 |
| No | 12 |
| Same names, different order | 34 |