AHL Farm Rankings: #17 Greaseballs

Post Reply
Cheapthief
Posts: 222
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:11 pm

AHL Farm Rankings: #17 Greaseballs

Post by Cheapthief » Sat Apr 24, 2021 1:52 pm

#17 Greaseballs

There were a lot of factors that went into evaluating a players value in the AHL, including age of the prospect, salary, and progression. A younger prospect is given more leeway in terms of production than an older player who has yet to produce at the pro level. The level of competition was also factored.

We broke down the teams into 5 tiers:

Tier 1: PPG potential for a $3.00 forward, 50 point potential for a dman. This group will also have some players with lower base salaries that have high upside, but they aren’t held to quite that standard. For a $1.00 3rd rd pick he needs to have 60+ point upside to be in this elite tier. Most every top prospect drafted in 2020 is given serious consideration of being in this tier.

Tier 2: This is where you will find the very good prospects, some $3.00 players who have regressed a little, and some cheaper players on the uptick production wise.

Tier 3: With the players in this group, their trajectory could go either way and the jury is still out. Typically there is potential at reaching tier 2, but just as likely to fall to the bottom.

Tier 4: They are still considered prospects, but their days are numbers and they don’t have a lot of time left to break out.

Tier 5: These are the duds. The only reason any of them should be on a farm is because there is extra space. There is no upside.

In ranking the farms, the entire farm depth was looked at, with extra weight given to high end talents, especially those already producing at the NHL level.

For each report we will cover the average age of the group, number of players drafted by round, and finally, the number of players on in the NHL now. Within the summary write up for every team, we will also include what their draft pick status for the next 3 seasons.

Summary:

Today, the Greaseballs are in a game 7 with a chance at the AHL Finals. Make no mistake, this team is built to win now and has the weapons to do so. The Greaseballs have a complete roster, without a boost from the farm outside of K’Andre Miller 21 who has been a pleasant surprise, a young depth defenseman that can play spot duty on short nights.

Greaseballs window only recently opened up, and with an incredibly deep core of talent they should be a competitive team for years to come. Developing a stellar farm can wait, as the majority of this core is currently in their prime and all on affordable contracts. How deep? Let’s take a look:

Miro Heiskanen 21 $3 free agent will likely get a 3 year deal

Ryan Pulock 26 3.75 4.25 solid contributor
Auston Matthews 23 $7.25 signed for next season, but then expects to get a big raise over 4 digits
Mikko Rantanen 24 $6.00 another pay jump coming after next year
Brady Tkachuk 21 $3 solid progression, a free agent to get the full 3 years
Andreas Athanasiou 26 2.00 2.00 solid value

Jesper Bratt 22 2.00 2.25 excellent price
Oliver Bjorkstrand 26 $1.75 $2.00 a keeper to be sure
Pavel Buchnevich 26 $1.25 Can’t do much better than a $1.25 1st line player for the Rangers
Frank Vatrano 27 1.00 1.00 Another cheap contract locked up

All in all, keeping this core is relatively cheap, which means GM Steinberg can be aggressive in the free agent market and add where he sees fit. Forwards appear deep, so maybe that means top notch goaltending and a some added punch on defense. They reside in the division of death, but this team shouldn’t fear any with this brilliant core.

Again, this farm isn’t expected to be good with all the key graduates already on the roster, but Greaseballs have maintained ALL of their assets for the next 3 seasons, owning all of its picks. As far as cap space goes, they hover around the $60 mark for all 3 years, and these should be really good years for the franchise.


Average Age: 22.7

Currently in the NHL: 1

1st rd picks: 1

2nd rd picks: 9

3rd rd picks: 4

4th rd picks: 2



Tier 2:

K'Andre Miller 21 D NYR $2.00 NHL 40-4-5=9
-Looking great as an NHL rookie contributing modestly and there appears to be significant upside

Tier 3:

Raphael Lavoie 20 F EDM $1.50 AHL 7 3-2=5
-There is time for the big man to be an NHL player, performing respectably as an AHL rookie after a great Swe-1 season
Tristen Robins 19 F SJ $1.00 WHL 16 10-13=23
-Dominating as a 19 year old in the WHL, will make the jump to the AHL soon
Mavrik Bourque 19 F DAL $2.50 QMJHL 28 19-24=43
-Performing well since the draft in his 3rd year in the Q, likely several years away from the NHL
Akil Thomas 21 F LAK $0.50 AHL 30 7-8=15
-21 year old AHL rookie posting modest numbers as a pass first center
Conor Timmins 22 D COL $1.00 AHL 6 1-3=4
-A crowded blue line in Colorado will make it tough, this is a player that could benefit from a trade

Tier 4:

Emil Heineman 19 F CAL $1.50 SweHL 43 7-6=13
-Progressing nicely in second year in the SweHL, but several years from being fantasy relevant in the NHL
Alexei Toropchenko 21 F STL $0.50 KHL 45 7-4=11
-Didn't do much in the AHL and moved to KHL where it's hard to evaluate a young players numbers

Tier 5:

Albin Eriksson 20 F DAL $1.00 SweHL 36 0-4=4
-A high draft pick that really hasn't shown any offensive results whatsoever, hasn't scored a goal since the 18-19 draft
Lucas Johansen 23 D WSH $2.00 AHL 5 0-2=2
-4 AHL seasons and we aren't seeing offensive progression after a promising rookie season
Noah Rod 24 F SJ $1.50 Swiss-A 43 18-8=26
-Hasn't played in the AHL since 17-18 season and isn't even lighting up the Swiss-A, another dud
A.J. Greer 24 F NJ $2.00 AHL 12 2-2=4
-37 NHL games, but offensive production was nonexistent and he appears to be further regressing in the AHL
Blake Speers 24 F ARI $1.00 AHL 4 0-0=0
-You are looking at a career minor leaguer with zero upside
Nicolas Kerdiles 27 F ANA $1.50 AHL 3 0-1=1
-Another prospect well past his window at 27 destined to be a career minor leaguer
Landon Ferraro 29 F MIN $1.50 DEL 26 10-1=11
-He's 29 and producing modestly in the DEL, just more dead weight taking up a farm slot
Corbin Knight 30 F PHI $2.00 KHL 57 18-22=40
-At 30, Knight may be the oldest player on any farm, safe to say it's time to let him go

Post Reply