Tier 3: The Good
Tier 3 prospects are those that look to have real upside to their game, but it is a bit more difficult to project where they will be on the team’s roster.
Sometimes these players can be high draft picks that were surprising at the time they were selected or could be guys acquired later that have impressed during the early stages of their developments.
The most notable name in this tier is Logan Brown, who was originally selected 11th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2016 Draft.
At the time he was selected, fans had mixed feelings about him and his development has taken a while longer than a lot of players selected so highly.
His first season in the AHL was fairly successful, with 14 goals and 42 total points in 56 regular-season games.
Brown will be hoping to improve on the six regular-season games he has already made for the Ottawa Senators, potentially pushing for a third-line role on the team.
Shane Pinto was a surprise selection with the 32nd overall pick in this year’s draft, with a number of other highly rated forwards still on the board.
Pinto has impressed since being selected by the Senators and will continue his development at the University of North Dakota.
He is viewed highly by the organisation, but it is difficult to project where he will eventually end up on the Senators roster.
Rudolfs Balcers has already featured for the Senators 36 times this past season and showed flashes of real talent.
He is likely to hold down a position on the team’s bottom-six, with hopes that he can progress further and push for a role higher in the line-up.
A number of promising players sit on this list, including goaltender Mads Søgaard, who was selected in the second round of this year’s draft.
The 6-foot-7, Danish goalie is a very promising prospect for the Ottawa Senators, but with so many other goaltender prospects ahead of him, there’s no telling when or if he will get to suit up for the NHL club.
The Full List
- Logan Brown
- Jonathan Gruden
- Shane Pinto
- Rudolfs Balcers
- Jonathan Davidsson
- Vitaly Abramov
- Alex Formenton
- Mads Søgaard