While the Detroit Red Wings have struggled over the past few seasons, there’s plenty of hope and excitement for the future with two of their high-end players in the top three of our annual NHL-affiliated prospects ranking.

At No. 1 is Moritz Seider, who was 25th on last year's list. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound German blueliner has elevated his play to the next level with his size, physicality, puckhandling and offensive skill. Drafted sixth overall in 2019, he has the makings of a future No. 1 defenceman.

Red Wings prospect Lucas Raymond, taken fourth overall in last October's draft, is No. 3 on our list. The winger, whose style of play is similar to Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner, has six goals and 18 points in 34 games with Frolunda in the SHL this season.

In second spot is Montreal prospect Cole Caufield. The Wisconsin Badgers right winger was the top scorer in college hockey, is the favourite to win the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's best player, and captured gold with Team USA at the World Juniors.

Caufield, who signed his three-year entry-level contract last weekend, looks ready to turn pro and make a contribution with the Canadiens. Drafted by Montreal in 2019, he has elite scoring ability. The Habs don't have a player like him in their current lineup, so they should give him a chance and see if he can bring that scoring touch.

Spencer Knight, who signed his first contract with the Florida Panthers this week, is the top-ranked goaltender in our 75-player ranking. The 19-year-old had a 16-4-1 record at Boston College this season with a 2.18 goal-against average and .932 save percentage. He also helped lead the U.S. to gold at the World Juniors in January.

Knight's college teammate Matthew Boldy, a left wing who signed with the Minnesota Wild this week, comes in at No. 5, while Knight's potential Panthers teammate Anton Lundell, a centre, checks in as our sixth-ranked prospect.

A couple of blueliners are up next with Ottawa's 2019 draft pick Jake Sanderson seventh and Edmonton Oilers prospect Philip Broberg at No. 8.

Centre Dylan Holloway, our ninth-ranked prospect, was a dominant player in college hockey after the World Juniors – likely the second-best college player after his Wisconsin teammate Caufield. Defenceman Nils Lundkvist of the New York Rangers rounds out the Top 10.

On the team side, the Toronto Maple Leafs lead all Canadian franchises with five players in the Top 75 – defenceman Rasmus Sandin (No. 14), forwards Nick Robertson (No. 18), Rodion Amirov (No. 57) and Nicholas Abruzzese (No. 67) and defenceman Topi Niemela (No. 73).

There's plenty to like in the Leafs' system, with Sandin and Niemela named the best defencemen at the 2020 and 2021 World Juniors respectively, Robertson leading the OHL in goal scoring last season, and Abruzzese leading NCAA freshman scoring last year.

The Oilers and Senators are next with four players each. Joining Broberg and Holloway in Edmonton's crop are blueliner Evan Bouchard (No. 43) and goaltender Stuart Skinner (No. 71).

Ottawa has the University of North Dakota trio of Sanderson, Jacob Bernard-Docker (No. 44) and Shane Pinto (No. 61), as well as defenceman Erik Brannstrom (No. 19). Bernard-Docker and Pinto both signed their entry-level contracts on Thursday and could get a look in Ottawa's lineup soon.

The Canadiens, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets each have three players. Joining Caufield on Montreal list are blueliners Kaiden Guhle (No. 36) and Mattias Norlinder (No. 62), while Calgary has forwards Connor Zary (No. 37), Jakob Pelletier (No. 51) and goaltender Dustin Wolf (No. 58). Jets blueline prospects Ville Heinola (No. 12) and Dylan Samberg (No. 39) and forward Cole Perfetti (No. 27) make the list.

The Vancouver Canucks have just one prospect in the Top 75 - right wing Vasili Podkolzin ranked 50th.

The team with the most prospects in our ranking? It's good to be the Kings, with seven players – forwards Arthur Kaliyev (15th) Quinton Byfield (17th), Alex Turcotte (22nd), Rasmus Kupari (33rd) and Samuel Fagemo (74th) and defencemen Brock Faber (23rd) and Kim Nousiainen (69th) making the list.

Note: The first column in the table below indicates the prospect’s placement in our 2020 ranking:

Top 75 NHL-Affiliated Prospects

1. Moritz Seider, D Det

2. Cole Caufield, RW Mtl

3. Lucas Raymond, RW Det

4. Spencer Knight, G Fla

5. Matthew Boldy, LW Min

6. Anton Lundell, C Fla

7. Jake Sanderson, D Ott

8. Philip Broberg, D Edm

9. Dylan Holloway, C Edm

10. Nils Lundkvist, D NYR

11. Alexander Holtz, RW NJ

12. Ville Heinola, D Wpg

13. Yaroslav Askarov, G Nsh

14. Rasmus Sandin, D Tor

15. Arthur Kaliyev, RW LA

16. Vitali Kravtsov, RW NYR

17. Quinton Byfield, C LA

18. Nicholas Robertson, LW Tor

19. Erik Brannstrom, D Ott

20. Peyton Krebs, C VGK

21. David Farrance, D Nsh

22. Alex Turcotte, C LA

23. Brock Faber, D LA

24. Gregori Denisenko, RW Fla

25. Thomas Bordeleau, C SJ

26. Seth Jarvis, C Car

27. Cole Perfetti, C Wpg

28. Ivan Morozov, C VGK

29. Alexander Alexeyev, D Wsh

30. Alex Newhook, C Col

31. Marco Rossi, C Min

32. Jeremy Swayman, G Bos

33. Rasmus Kupari, C LA

34. Jack Dugan, C VGK

35. Pierre-Olivier Joseph, D Pit

36. Kaiden Guhle, D Mtl

37. Connor Zary, C Cgy

38. Shakir Mukhamadullin, D NJ

39. Dylan Samberg, D Wpg

40. JJ Peterka, LW Buf

41. Connor McMichael, C Wsh

42. Nicolas Beaudin, D Chi

43. Evan Bouchard, D Edm

44. Jacob Bernard-Docker, D Ott

45. Hendrix Lapierre, C Wsh

46. Cam York, D Phi

47. Matias Maccelli, LW Ari

48. Philip Tomasino, RW Nsh

49. Nolan Foote, LW NJ

50. Vasily Podkolzin, RW Van

51. Jakob Pelletier, LW Cgy

52. Dawson Mercer, RW NJ

53. Jonatan Berggren, LW Det

54. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, G Buf

55. Thomas Harley, D Dal

56. Brendan Brisson, C VGK

57. Rodion Amirov, LW Tor

58. Dustin Wolf, G Cgy

59. Barrett Hayton, C Ari

60. Ivan Chekhovich, LW SJ

61. Shane Pinto, C Ott

62. Mattias Norlinder, D Mtl

63. Justus Annunen, G Col

64. Jan Jenik, LW Ari

65. Mason Lohrei, D Bos

66. Yegor Chinakhov, RW Clb

67. Nicholas Abruzzese, C Tor

68. Justin Barron, D Col

69. Kim Nousiainen, D LA

70. Kiriil Marchenko, RW Clb

71. Stuart Skinner, G Edm

72. Daniil Tarasov, G Clb

73. Topi Niemela, D Tor

74. Samuel Fagemo, RW LA

75. Victor Soderstrom, C Ari

 

Top 5 Prospects From Each Canadian Team

Calgary Flames

1. Connor Zary, C

2. Jakob Pelletier, LW

3. Dustin Wolf, G

4. Yan Kuznetsov, D

5. Jeremie Poirier, D

Edmonton Oilers

1. Philip Broberg, D

2. Dylan Holloway, C

3. Evan Bouchard, D

4. Stuart Skinner, G

5. Dmitri Samorukov, D

Montreal Canadiens

1. Cole Caufield, RW

2. Kaiden Guhle, D

3. Mattias Norlinder, D

4. Cayden Primeau, G

5. Ryan Poehling, C

Ottawa Senators

1. Jake Sanderson, D

2. Erik Brannstrom, D

3. Jacob Bernard-Docker, D

4. Shane Pinto, C

5. Filip Gustavsson, G

Toronto Maple Leafs

1. Rasmus Sandin, D

2. Nicholas Robertson, LW

3. Rodion Amirov, LW

4. Nicholas Abruzzese, C

5. Topi Niemela, D

Vancouver Canucks

1. Vasily Podkolzin, RW

2. Jack Rathbone, D

3. Kole Lind, R

4. Toni Utunen, D

5. Dmitry Zlodeyev, C

Winnipeg Jets

1. Ville Heinola, D

2. Cole Perfetti, C

3. Dylan Samberg, D

4. Mikhail Berdin, G

5. Daniel Torgersson, LW