clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Top 25 Under 25 - Winter 2012 - Final Rankings

By Scott Reynolds

We're now through the fifth installment of the Top 25 Under 25, and in just two and a half years, I know that I've learned some pretty valuable things. I've learned that it's too easy to get excited about how well a guy is performing in the CHL, that even a team like the Oilers which has been stockpiling high picks can look awfully suspect once you move out of the top five or ten guys, and that generally respectable colleagues can hold very different views on which of these prospects deserves a higher ranking. We'll take a look at everyone's complete list after the jump.

The chart below shows each writer's individual rankings as well as the overall list. With seven us making the rankings, it's much easier to move around on the former than the latter, and in fact, the top seven is exactly the same overall as it was last time even though each and every individual made some changes. All 44 players under consideration are listed, and the columns are sortable; just click on the header row that you'd like to see and you're ready to go.

Overall Player Ben Bruce DB Derek Jon Ryan Scott
1 Taylor Hall 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 3 2 3 3 2 3 2
3 Jordan Eberle 4 3 2 6 3 2 3
4 Sam Gagner 2 4 4 2 4 4 4
5 Magnus Paajarvi 6 6 5 5 5 6 5
6 Jeff Petry 5 5 10 4 6 5 6
7 Linus Omark 9 11 6 7 7 7 7
8 Oscar Klefbom 7 9 9 9 8 8 8
9 Teemu Hartikainen 12 8 7 11 9 9 9
10 Anton Lander 14 7 8 10 12 11 11
11 Martin Marincin 10 10 15
 12 13 12 10
12 Tyler Pitlick 16 12 18 8 15 10 16
13 Colten Teubert 18 13 12 16 11 14 13
14 David Musil 17 14 19 14 10 13 14
15 Theo Peckham 8 16 11 20 16 17 17
16 Curtis Hamilton 11 17 21 17 14 15 15
17 Dillon Simpson 23 26 20 13 18 16 12
18 Tyler Bunz 19 15 13 26 17 26 24
19 Olivier Roy 15 20 17 21 23 27 25
20 Tobias Rieder 20 19 30 18 20 20 23
21 Brandon Davidson 29 18 16 23 27 18 21
22 Alex Plante 21 22 14 32 25 24 22
23 Kyle Bigos 22 27 25 15 29 23 20
24 Jeremie Blain 24 25 26 22 28 22 18
25 Martin Gernat 31 23 22 33 19 19 19
26 Taylor Fedun 30 24 24 19 21 21 29
27 Taylor Chorney 13 31 23 30 33 30 30
28 Ryan Martindale 25 37 27 29 26 25 26
29 Ryan O'Marra 26 21 42 42 22 31 34
30 Milan Kytnar 32 34 29 31 32 34 31
31 Samu Perhonen 39 36 31 37 24 28 28
32 Philippe Cornet 40 38 28 27 31 36 32
33 Antti Tyrvainen 33 40 33 43 30 29 27
34 Chris VandeVelde 27 30 43 28 35 38 35
35 Frans Tuohimaa 35 35 34 25 34 37 37
36 Toni Rajala 34 39 35 24 38 32 36
37 Drew Czerwonka 41 29 36 36 36 33 33
38 Kristians Pelss 37 33 37 40 37 35 38
39 Travis Ewanyk 36 28 39 39 41 40 41
40 Johan Motin 28 41 32 38 42 42 42
41 Mark Arcobello 42 32 40 35 39 39 39
42 Kellen Jones 38 42 38 41 40 41 40
43 Alexander Bumagin 44 44 41 34 43 43 44
44 Cameron Abney 43 43 44 44 44 44 43

As always, we're most interested in hearing about where you think we went wrong, and to get that conversation started, let's look at each ranker's unique selections:

Ben: I'm convinced that having Taylor Chorney at #13 is more Ben making a point about everyone ranked below Chorney than it is Ben making a point about Chorney himself. Ben thinks the Oilers' prospects suck. There's no other explanation. Other notables: Theo Peckham at #8; Anton Lander at #14; Johan Motin at #28.

Bruce: If you're a marginal prospect, the key to success in Bruce's eyes is playing in the WHL where it's easy for him to get some look-sees in order to justify liking you. Bruce is a good person. He likes people. So just give him a reason. Travis Ewanyk did it. Drew Czerwonka did it. But Dillon Simpson went to college, so Bruce showed him the error of his ways by knocking him all the way down to #26. Other notables: Linus Omark at #11; Ryan O'Marra at #21; Mark Arcobello at #32.

DB: As a new member to our group, I appreciate the way that DB went out of his way to piss Derek off by ranking Chris VandeVelde at #43. Good work. Other notables: Jeff Petry at #10; Alex Plante at #14; Tobias Rieder at #30.

Derek: Derek has his favorites, but sometimes I think he likes to be contrary for the hell of it. How else to explain Alexander Bumagin's surge up the rankings? After placing him in 47th (of 48) last time, Bumagin clocks in at #34 this time. What changed? Derek's disdain for you if your favorite prospect is ranked at #35 or lower. Other notables: Toni Rajala at #24; Frans Tuohimaa at #25; Alex Plante at #32.

Jon: When it comes to goalies, it's awfully hard to get a read on how good they are at a young age. Jonathan's ranking of Samu Perhonen at #24 suggests that draft position is a pretty major part of his decision-making process. Other notables: David Musil at #10; Ryan O'Marra at #22; Taylor Chorney at #33.

Ryan: It's his first time writing for the Top 25, and he knows that all the hip kids hate goalies, so he made sure to rank the two best goalies in the system lower than everybody else. Cool factor = 10. Other notables: Nope, it's pretty much just the goalies.

Scott: My rankings are all excellent. I don't know why people dislike Jeremie Blain so much all of a sudden or why Antti Tyrvainen isn't regarded as having real NHL potential, or why Derek and I are the only ones who really believe in Dillon Simpson. These people are crazy.