14 Top Prospects. That's it?

14 top prospects. That's it?...

Ever wonder why the Detroit Red Wings always have good teams? They draft well, and they keep top prospects in their system. The Blackhawks now fit that category. They draft well, and they are now loaded with top prospects. This yahoo article I read today, ( http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/According-to-ESPN-the-NHL-franchises-with-dimme;_ylt=Alarz0jRbgDekaJOr5m96P17vLYF?urn=nhl-wp10561 ), listing in their perceived order whom they believe has the best prospects. No surprise there....the Hawks were in the top 5. What surprised me was Ottawa and Florida being so high,...but equally surprising was Vancouver and San Jose being at the bottom. So, let me put their list up and we'll go over the players they most likely perceived as top prospects for the Hawks.

Here's the ESPN.com 2011 organizational ranking, along with the number of top prospects for each team.

1. Florida Panthers (15)	7. New York Islanders(11)	13. Buffalo Sabres (8)	19. Boston Bruins (7)	25. Carolina Hurricanes (7)
2. Edmonton Oilers (14)	8. St. Louis Blues (11)	14. Los Angeles Kings (9)	20. Tampa Bay Lightning (8)	26. Nashville Predators (7)
3. Ottawa Senators (14)	9. Colorado Avalanche (9)	15. Philadelphia Flyers (7)	21. Winnipeg Jets (7)	27. Washington Capitals (6)
4. Chicago Blackhawks(14)	10. Dallas Stars (9)	16. New Jersey Devils (8)	22. Toronto Maple Leafs (7)	28. Calgary Flames (6)
5. Detroit Red Wings (13)	11. Montreal Canadiens(10)	17. New York Rangers (8)	23. Pittsburgh Penguins (8)	29. Vancouver Canucks (6)
6. Minnesota Wild (12)	12. Anaheim Ducks (9)	18. Columbus Blue Jackets (7)	24. Phoenix Coyotes (8)	30. San Jose Sharks (6)

The Edmonton Oilers have been so terrible for so long, they have to have good prospects because their drafting near the top of the draft board every year. Let's look at whom the players are from the Blackhawks they perceive as top prospects.

1) Kyle Beach.
2) Jeremy Morin
3) Mark McNeill
4) Dylan Olsen
5) Kevin Hayes
6) Ryan Stanton
7) Brian Connelly
8) Brandon Pirri
9) Igor Makarov
10) Brandon Saad
11) Adam Clendening
12) Shawn LaLonde
13) Ben Smith
14) Marcus Kruger
.........................................This is a guess and I bet I'm about 75-80% correct with his perception. (Maybe more ) If you see the list below, and then INCLUDE Ben Smith and Marcus Kruger, then my list would be well over 20 players. Would your list be greater than 14 too? I believe the Hawks think their top prospect list is greater than 14 also.

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Forwards

#	NAME	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
12	KYLE BEACH	6' 3"	202	JAN 13, 1990	21	NORTH VANCOUVER, BC, CAN
52	BRANDON BOLLIG	6' 3"	215	JAN 31, 1987	24	ST. CHARLES, MO, USA
	ALEXANDER BROADHURST	5' 10"	150	MAR 7, 1993	18	NEW LENOX, IL, USA
24	PHILLIP DANAULT	6' 0"	181	FEB 24, 1993	18	VICTORIAVILLE, QC, CAN
	DAN DELISLE	6' 4"	222	SEP 24, 1990	20	MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA
49	CHRISTOPHER DIDOMENICO	5' 11"	165	FEB 20, 1989	22	TORONTO, ON, CAN
47	ROB FLICK	6' 2"	205	MAR 28, 1991	20	LONDON, ON, CAN
58	BYRON FROESE	6' 0"	176	MAR 12, 1991	20	WINKLER, MB, CAN
68	DAVID GILBERT	6' 2"	186	FEB 9, 1991	20	CHATEAUGUAY, QC, CAN
39	JIMMY HAYES	6' 5"	210	NOV 21, 1989	21	BOSTON, MA, USA
	KEVIN HAYES	6' 2"	201	MAY 8, 1992	19	BOSTON, MA, USA
61	MIRKO HOFFLIN	6' 0"	174	JUN 18, 1992	19	FREIBURG, DEU
59	ROB KLINKHAMMER	6' 3"	206	AUG 12, 1986	25	LETHBRIDGE, AB, CAN
26	IGOR MAKAROV	6' 1"	195	SEP 19, 1987	23	MOSCOW, RUS
23	BRETT MCLEAN	5' 11"	185	AUG 14, 1978	33	COMOX, BC, CAN
17	MARK MCNEILL	6' 1"	211	FEB 22, 1993	18	LANGLEY, BC, CAN
27	JEREMY MORIN	6' 1"	189	APR 16, 1991	20	AUBURN, NY, USA
	JOAKIM NORDSTROM	6' 1"	160	FEB 25, 1992	19	STOCKHOLM, SWE
54	PHILIPPE PARADIS	6' 2"	205	JAN 2, 1991	20	DOLBEAU, QC, CAN
37	BRANDON PIRRI	6' 0"	160	APR 10, 1991	20	TORONTO, ON, CAN
44	LUDVIG RENSFELDT	6' 3"	192	JAN 29, 1992	19	GAVLE, SWE
43	BRANDON SAAD	6' 1"	203	OCT 27, 1992	18	PITTSBURGH, PA, USA
	MAXIM SHALUNOV	6' 3"	185	JAN 31, 1993	18	CHELYABINSK, RUS
	ANDREW SHAW	5' 10"	180	JUL 20, 1991	20	BELLEVILLE, ON, CAN

Defensemen

#	NAME	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
	BRADEN BIRCH	6' 3"	192	SEP 25, 1989	21	HAMILTON, ON, CAN
	ADAM CLENDENING	5' 11"	187	OCT 26, 1992	18	NIAGARA FALLS, NY, USA
56	BRIAN CONNELLY	5' 10"	167	JUN 10, 1986	25	BLOOMINGTON, MN, USA
	KLAS DAHLBECK	6' 2"	194	JUL 6, 1991	20	KATRINEHOLM, SWE
48	SIMON DANIS-PEPIN	6' 6"	229	APR 11, 1988	23	MONTREAL, QC, CAN
	JOE GLEASON	5' 9"	171	MAR 30, 1990	21	EDINA, MN, USA
	JUSTIN HOLL	6' 2"	170	JAN 30, 1992	19	EDINA, MN, USA
	SAM JARDINE	6' 1"	190	AUG 12, 1993	18	LACOMBE, AB, CAN
	STEPHEN JOHNS	6' 3"	215	APR 18, 1992	19	ELLWOOD CITY, PA, USA
42	SHAWN LALONDE	6' 1"	192	MAR 10, 1990	21	OTTAWA, ON, CAN
46	JOE LAVIN	6' 1"	199	JUL 17, 1989	22	WORCESTER, MA, USA
	NICK MATTSON	6' 1"	189	OCT 25, 1991	19	SALEM, OR, USA
34	DYLAN OLSEN	6' 2"	206	JAN 3, 1991	20	SALT LAKE CITY, UT, USA
	MICHAEL PALIOTTA	6' 3"	198	APR 6, 1993	18	WESTPORT, CT, USA
	PAUL PHILLIPS	6' 1"	195	JUL 16, 1991	20	DARIEN, IL, USA
55	RYAN STANTON	6' 2"	205	JUL 20, 1989	22	ST. ALBERT, AB, CAN

Goalies

#	NAME	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
60	MAC CARRUTH	6' 2"	169	MAR 25, 1992	19	SALT LAKE CITY, UT, USA
	JOHAN MATTSSON	6' 3"	200	APR 25, 1992	19	STOCKHOLM, SWE
38	ALEC RICHARDS	6' 4"	210	JUN 29, 1987	24	ROBBINSDALE, MN, USA
40	KENT SIMPSON	6' 3"	182	MAR 26, 1992	19	EDMONTON, AB, CAN
** = INJURED RESERVE