Young Stars shine brightest in TSN’s Core 4 U-24 ranking
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Dallas is living up to its team name with a constellation of young Stars that stands as best in the NHL.
TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button ranks Dallas’ players as the league’s premier group in our annual Core 4 U-24 ranking.
“Everything is bigger in Texas, and the Dallas pool of young players is bigger than anyone’s in the NHL,” said Button.
Led by 23-year-olds Jason Robertson, Jake Oettinger and Miro Heiskanen, the Stars have a core brimming with high-end talent.
“The Stars have one of the very best goal-scorers in the NHL, a standout goaltender and a difference-making defenceman, who collectively fit the definition of core and are essential to success,” said Button.
Button and FloSports Senior NHL Draft and Prospects analyst Chris Peters assessed all 32 NHL teams’ assets 23 or younger as of the start of the 2022-23 regular season.
Players were graded as AAA (superstar), AA (elite), A (starting goalie, top-pair defenceman, first-line forward), B (tandem goalie, top-four defenceman, top-six forward) or C (backup goalie, depth defenceman, bottom-six forward).
As in the past, the four top young players in each organization are highlighted in our listing, regardless of individual grade.
New this year is expanding team lists to include all A and B players/prospects to reflect the depth or lack of depth each team has in players aged 23 and under: hence the Core 4 U-24 Plus More tag.
Top-ranked Dallas has 10 players rated or projected as A or B NHLers.
No. 2-ranked Detroit is not only special because of its high standing but because of its uniqueness.
The Red Wings have only five A or B players/prospects – not a lot for a team that ranks so high – but they are all A level, with two AA’s (Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond) and three A’s (Simon Edvinsson, Sebastian Cossa and Marco Kasper). They are the only team with no B-level players listed.
No. 3-ranked Buffalo has a league-high 11 players rated or projected as A or B NHLers.
The Sabres also lead in team points by U-24 players this year, 133 – including 42 goals (five behind NHL-leading New Jersey’s 47).
Next up in the league-wide ranking are a pair of Canadian teams: No. 4 Montreal and No. 5 Ottawa.
The Canadiens have six U-24 players on their current roster, headlined by AA forwards Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Importantly, Montreal has four defencemen, including 2022-23 team members Kaiden Guhle, an A player, and Arber Xhekaj, a B. The only missing ingredient for the Canadiens is a prospective successor to Carey Price in goal.
Montreal ranks second in U-24 goals (45) and points (113), led by Suzuki (14-16-30) and Caufield (16-9-25).
The Senators are chock full of forwards, led by AA’s Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, plus A-level Josh Norris. They have one A defenceman (Jake Sanderson). Among the B forwards are Aug. 8, 2002, birthday twins Ridley Greig and Roby Jarventie.
Ottawa ranks fifth in both goals (38) and points (97) by U-24 players.
As for the Stars, their rise to the top of Core 4 U-24 can be traced directly to the 2017 draft when they selected Heiskanen third overall, Oettinger, 26th, and Robertson, 39th with their first three picks.
“It’s one of the greatest team drafts in NHL history,” said Button.
Left winger Robertson joins Colorado defenceman Cale Makar and New Jersey centre Jack Hughes as the only AAA players in the TSN U-24 ranking. Oettinger and Heiskanen are both AA players.
“I don’t want to say [the 2017 draft] saved the franchise, but it stopped us from maybe taking a big dip,” said Stars’ GM Jim Nill.
The GM credits director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell and his staff with replenishing the prospect cupboard.
“Joe is the leader of that group and done a great job for us,” said Nill. “The heartbeat of your team is the scouting staff. It’s about players. It’s a bigger picture than that, but you need to have the players first.”
Whereas No. 1-ranked Dallas has double-digit players earning A or B grades, No. 32-ranked Tampa Bay has just one B-level prospect (Isaac Howard) to go along with three C’s.
The Lightning have just one goal from a U-24 player this year.
There is a ready-made explanation for Tampa’s low standing. They have traded away five first- round picks in the past five years along the way to winning two Stanley Cups and reaching a third final.
That might be the Lightning’s ultimate trade – swapping a future foundation for championships in the present. There isn’t a team in the league that wouldn’t make that trade-off.
Here is a look at the remaining Canadian teams:
No. 9 Vancouver: The Canucks are headlined by AA’s Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, a pair of authentic prime-time players. But both will age out next year and they are currently backed up only by A prospect, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and C player Vasily Podkolzin.
No. 15 Edmonton: The Oilers have six A or B players in the organization – first among them A-level goalie Stuart Skinner. Skinner has 16 career wins and showing signs of becoming just the fourth drafted goalie in team history to reach 50, following Grant Fuhr (226), Andy Moog (143) and Devan Dubnyk (61).
No. 22 Toronto: The Leafs are another team without an A prospect, not surprising since they are in a win-now window and have traded away first-round picks three of the past four years. Rodion Amirov, the Leafs No. 15 overall pick in 2020, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2022 and is undergoing treatment. Toronto’s list is headed up by B player Rasmus Sandin.
No. 23 Winnipeg: The Jets have a past record of drafting and developing few teams can match, but premier picks from 2011 through 2016 still with the team – Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor – have all aged out of Core 4 U-24 status. Cole Perfetti is an A-level player and in the Calder Trophy conversation.
No. 28 Calgary: The Flames are the only Canadian team whose list is headed up by a goalie: Calgary Wranglers’ netminder and 2020 Canadian Hockey League goalie of the year Dustin Wolf, a B-level prospect. Adam Ruzicka, 23, is the only U-24 player Calgary has used this season.