Folks, we made it: volume five of five. First and foremost, thank you to all the readers who have followed this series. Before you ask, “where is Drake Batherson?” follow this link for the first half of the forwards. Today we cover all the remaining forwards aged 23-and-under from the farm systems of the teams around the Atlantic Division. Much like goaltending and left defence, the Senators really shine in this volume compared to the competition. As always, all the numbers below come courtesy of capfriendly and eliteprospects. You should all know the drill by now so without further ado, let’s one last time start with the Senators. (Spoiler alert: this article gets pretty bland after Ottawa’s list and that’s a good thing.)

Ottawa Senators

With the likes of fan favourite Clarke MacArthur, Mikkel Boedker, and Matthew Peca (whomst?) coming off the books this year, and Marian Gaborik, and Artem Anisimov coming off the books next year, the Senators should have ample cap space even if they provide any of Anthony Duclair, Chris Tierney, or Nick Paul with modest raises. Fans will look predominantly at the Brady Tkachuk contract negotiations as the corner stone of Ottawa’s financial future up front. Brady has a lot of company, however, when it comes to talented young Senators forwards.

• Vitaly Abramov 0.80 points per game in the AHL
• Rudolfs Baclers 1.09 points per game in the AHL and 0.20 in the NHL
• Logan Brown 1.12 points per game in the AHL and 0.35 in the NHL
• Michael Carcone 0.46 points per game in the AHL
• Filip Chlapik 0.59 points per game in the AHL and 0.19 in the NHL
• Angus Crookshank 0.65 points per game in the NCAA
• Alex Formenton 0.87 points per game in the AHL
• Johnathan Gruden 1.12 points per game in the OHL
• Parker Kelly 0.28 points per game in the AHL
• Viktor Lodin 0.44 points per game in Allsvenskan and 0.18 in the SHL
• Josh Norris 1.09 points per game in the AHL
• Jakov Novak 0.86 points per game in the NCAA
• Brady Tkachuk 0.62 points per game in the NHL/

I told you Brady has a lot of company. Abramov has always been a boom-or-bust prospect and the type that Ottawa has historically shied away from. He had fantastic numbers in junior and has played solid, although not quite phenomenal, hockey in the AHL. At his age, now is the time to see if he can make the jump to the NHL. He’ll have to play against the best if Ottawa wants to see what Abramov’s ceiling looks like. Balcers has definitely aged out of the AHL and with so many other talented young forwards around him, he won’t face any undue pressure once he joins the big club. Due to injuries, Brown didn’t quite put up the numbers expected in the AHL at first. Now Brown, like Abramov and Balcers has outgrown the AHL and, based on his nerd stats in limited NHL minutes, looks ready to graduate into a full-time NHL role. While Chlapik doesn’t have the offensive ceiling that some other young Sens forwards have, his limited play in the NHL has showcased his two-way aptitude he long displayed in the AHL. I could see Chlapik developing into a important part of Ottawa’s penalty kill in the future. While Crookshank had an underwhelming year production-wise, he has the tools at his disposal and remains a dark horse in Ottawa’s system. Formenton had an exceptional rookie AHL season and continues to receive rave reviews around these parts. Gruden still hasn’t quite found that next gear and will have to fight tooth and nail to keep up with the pack. I don’t know what I need to tell you about Tkachuk and Norris except to get used to watching them terrorize the opposition.

Boston Bruins

Even with someone like Brad Marchand locked up for another five seasons, the Bruins have kept all of their contracts under $7.5M in terms of cap hit and they still have financial flexibility of the nest couple of years. The Bruins remain a team very much in their window, although with a few decent players coming down the pipeline.

• John Beecher 0.52 NCAA
• Anders Bjork 0.33 NHL
• Jake DeBrusk 0.54 NHL
• Trent Frederic 0.54 AHL
• Cameron Hughes 0.36 AHL
• Joona Koppanen 0.42 AHL
• Jakub Lauko 0.41 AHL
• Matias Mantykivi 0.15 Liiga
• Quinn Olson 0.48 NCAA
• Pavel Shen 0.26 AHL/

None of the players in this group really stand out as future game-breakers to me. Boston has a few low-ceiling/high probability type forwards here. DeBrusk, who has already established himself in the NHL, probably stands out the most and I can see Frederic smoothly making the jump to the NHL when the organization feels the need. After that, Bjork and Lauko could become decent depth players. Although they still have plenty of time, Beecher and Olson haven’t set themselves apart from the pack in any way so far.

Buffalo Sabres

While Buffalo has some $35M+ coming off the books this summer, they still have five-plus years of Jeff Skinner at $9M to navigate and a lot of spots to fill on their roster. As we saw in previous volumes, Buffalo tends to lack in organizational depth and compensates by having one or two stud prospects at a given position.

• Rasmus Asplund 0.58 AHL and 0.10 NHL
• Brandon Biro 1.00 NCAA
• Filip Cederqvist 0.31 Allsvenskan and 0.07 SHL
• Marcus Davidsson 0.42 SHL
• Vasili Glotov 0.52 VHL and 0.27 KHL
• Casey Mittelstadt 0.69 AHL and 0.29 NHL
• Brett Murray 0.44 AHL
• Matej Pekar 1.24 OHL
• Lukas Rousek 0.56 Czech Extraliga
• Arttu Ruotsalainen 0.98 Liiga
• Linus Weissbach 0.63 NCAA/

Buffalo had hoped Mittelstadt would stand out as the crown jewel of this group, and while we can’t close the book on him just yet, it seems as though the Sabres may have set the young forward back a season or two by calling him up the the NHL prematurely. Asplund and Rousek present the Sabres with options for depth forwards who seem prepared for roles in the NHL while Murray likely needs another season in the AHL. Biro has plateaued in his development and we’ll see if he gets a chance in Rochester to get back into the mix. Weissbach had trended in the right direction up until this past, forgettable, season with the University of Wisconsin. The Sabres will need him to rebound as they don’t have a lot else cooking right now.

Detroit Red Wings

Like Buffalo, Detroit has some $35M coming off the books this year, although they still have players like Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielson, and Justin Abdelkader on the payroll. The Red Wings appear in no rush to get back into contention, though, and you can expect another paper thin team next season hunting a lottery pick. For the purpose of this exercise, the Red Wings and their ten zillion prospects remain the bane of my existence. Here we go again.

• Jonatan Berggren 0.50 SHL
• Mattias Elfstrom 0.69 Swedish Division 1
• Albin Grewe 0.83 SuperElit and 0.05 SHL
• Taro Hirose 0.77 AHL and 0.27 NHL
• Otto Kivenmaki 0.40 Liiga
• Dylan Larkin 0.75 NHL
• Robert Matrisimone 0.50 NCAA
• Chase Pearson 0.37 AHL
• Michael Rasmussen 0.63 AHL
• Givani Smith 0.51 AHL
• Elmer Soderblom 1.53 SuperElit and 0 SHL
• Evgeny Svechnikov 0.49 AHL
• Dmytro Timashov 0.20 NHL
• Kirill Tyutyayev 0.74 VHL
• Joseph Veleno 0.43 AHL
• Filip Zadina 0.76 AHL and 0.54 NHL/

There are too damn many of them. Starting with the Swedes, Berggren, Grewe, and Soderblom still need time before crossing the Atlantic but I’m keeping all three on my radar based on what they’ve accomplished so far. Likewise, Tyutyavey intrigues me and I would monitor his progress in Russia. In the NCAA, Matrisimone hasn’t gotten off to a great start and will need to recover some stock next year. I don’t think Smith has much of an NHL future at this point and I won’t hold my breath on Svechnikov much longer. Rasmussen and Veleno will likely need another year or two in the AHL before graduating to modest NHL roles. Timashov hasn’t managed to find a groove in the NHL and could run out of runway. Zadina, as Sens fans know well, has a bright future (even if he’s no Brady Tkachuk). You know the book on Larkin. He’s the real deal.

Florida Panthers

Could this be their decade? Who knows. They still have Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau locked up for a few more years. After that, it’s the great unknown. Like the Sabres, the Panthers’ system bends more towards quality than quantity in the sense that they have a handful of home-run prospects and a lot of noise.

• Karch Bachman 0.91 NCAA
• Henrik Borgstrom 0.47 AHL
• Aleksi Heponiemi 0.29 AHL
• Eetu Luostarian 0.51 AHL
• Aleksi Saarela 0.67 AHL and 0.44 NHL
• Justin Schutz 0.29 DEL
• Matthew Wedman 0.98 WHL/

As I wrote in a previous article, Borgstrom was recently still considered a prospect of intrigue up until this sub-par season in Springfield and other teams should be circling like vultures if Florida decides to part with the young forward. Heponiemi also had a rough season in Springfield but has plenty of time to recoup any prestige he may have lost this year. Overseas, Schutz still probably needs another season in Germany before making the trip across. All three Europeans could still provide value for the Cats while Luostarian and Saarela have likely topped out as depth players at the professional level.

Montreal Canadiens

While not quite monstrosity that we saw with Detroit, Montreal has maybe five zillion affiliated prospects and again it takes some effort to filter out the noise. Right now they have an affordable collection of cast-offs like Jonathan Drouin, Tomas  Tatar, and Max Domi up front holding things together while the team figures out just what direction it’s heading in.

• Cole Fonstad 1.09 WHL
• Jack Gorniak 0.25 NCAA
• Rafael Harvey-Pinard 1.26 QMJHL
• Samuel Houde 1.18 QMJHL
• Arsen Khisamutdinov 0.93 VHL and 0.10 KHL
• Jesperi Kotkaniemi 1.00 AHL and 0.22 NHL
• Aaron Luchuk 1.09 ECHL
• Jacob Olofsson 0.38 SHL
• Michael Pezzetta 0.13 AHL
• Rhett Pitlick 0.93 USHL
• Ryan Poehling 0.36 AHL and 0.07 NHL
• Joel Teasdale NA
• Hayden Verbeek 0.90 ECHL/

Look at all those made-up players! I haven’t heard of any of them. I exaggerate but barely. The big names here, Kotkaniemi and Poehling, both came into the league with plenty of hype only to hit walls in their development. Montreal would be best served to let both regain their confidence in the AHL before rushing them back into the big leagues again. Among the lesser-known commodities here, I would keep an eye on Olofsson over in Sweden. Pitlick will play his freshman season at the University of Minnesota when the NCAA resumes their activities while Gorniack will look to rebound after a poor season with the University of Wisconsin.

Tampa Bay Lightning

With big money tied up in stars like Nikita Kucherov and depth players like Yanni Gourde and Alex Killorn, what you see is what you get in Tampa. They don’t have any big money coming off the books for the first half of the decade and they still have to find a way to get their talented young NHLers under contract. I guess it bodes well (?) for the Lightning that they don’t have too much going on down on the farm.

• Alex Barre-Boulet 0.93 AHL
• Anthony Cirelli 0.65 NHL
• Ross Colton 0.68 AHL
• Gabriel Fortier 0.98 QMJHL
• Jimmy Huntington 0.67 ECHL and 0.09 AHL
• Mathieu Joseph 0.72 AHL and 0.19 NHL
• Boris Katchouk 0.53 AHL
• Cole Koepke 0.97 NCAA
• Alexey Lipanov 0.43 ECHL
• Ryan Lohin 0.33 ECHL
• Mikhail Shalagin 0.24 ECHL
• Otto Somppi 0.40 AHL
• Alex Volkov 0.65 AHL
• Dennis Yan 0.36 AHL/

The Lightning have a reputation for swinging for the fences at the draft and making thirty other general managers look bad so I full accept that I will miss the mark on most of these players and they’ll probably all win Selke trophies. Cirelli you should already know as he has developed into a solid two-way NHLer. I don’t know that Barre-Boulet will become the next Martin St. Louis but I get the impression that he’ll become one of those undrafted skaters who finds a way to stick in the NHL. He just continues to put up big numbers at every level. Katchouk, contrarily looks to have a future primarily in the AHL while Yan could make it as a fringe NHL forward on a deep team like the Lightning. By their standards, Fortier and Joseph are coming off poor seasons at their respective levels but still have a shot while players like Koepke and Volkov likely won’t get a shot in the NHL given their performances thus far.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Much like the first four volumes, you can skip this part (or any part really (I’m not your boss)). The leafs suck and I hate them and I hope all of these prospects quit hockey to pursue studies in medicine or something. It’s not like Toronto will be able to sign any of them anyways as they have to pay John Tavares, Andreas Johnsson, and something called an Alexander Kerfoot for the next half decade or more.

• Mikhail Abramov 1.21 QMJHL
• Nick Abruzzesse 1.42 NCAA
• Vladimir Bobylev 0.54 VHL
• Nikolai Chebykin 0.41 VHL
• Pierre Engvall 1.07 AHL and 0.31 NHL
• Pontus Holmberg 0.31 SHL
• Vladislav Kara 0.84 VHL and 0.30 KHL
• Semyon Kizimov 0.27 VHL
• Yegor Korshkov 0.57 AHL
• Auston Matthews 1.14 NHL
• Nick Robertson 1.87 OHL
• Riley Stotts 1.06 WHL/

First and foremost, Matthews needs to keep his pants on. At the pro level, Engvall and Korshkov represent the type of affordable depth Toronto needs to round out their NHL roster. In the NCAA, Abruzzese had some kind of season and because of his affiliation, I hope it was an aberration and he regresses to mediocrity. Robertson, lamentably, looks like a really, really good prospect and it pains me to type that. On a more positive note, Stotts and Toronto’s Abramov look pretty average so thumbs up!

Stats