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[DanielNegreanu]

In this edition of the power rankings we'll also look at the numbers thus far for players 23 or younger currently on an AHL roster. It's also no coincidence that a lot of the best teams have lots of young players contributing. Shoot Loose and the Screamin' Eagles lead the way with 12 active players under 24, followed by the Ghosts of Elvis and Cheap Thieves. On the other side of the coin you have teams like the PKDealers (0), Mustangs (1), Purple Hearts (1), and Swackers (1). Simply having young players on your roster isn't enough, of course, as they need to produce. The Blackdraft have 8 young players on the roster, but that hasn't helped them much in the standings.1. The Big M's (LW 1) (Forwards 2, Defense 2, Goal 2, +/- 1) Pos Player Team Age GP G A P PP PPPGF Alex Ovechkin WAS 21 26 17 11 28 22.5 0.865F Jason Spezza OTT 23 27 12 20 32 22 0.815F Nathan Horton FLA 21 28 7 10 17 12 0.429D Matt Carle SJ 22 27 3 13 16 9.5 0.352D Jay Boumeester FLA 23 28 4 6 10 7 0.25F Ryan Kesler VAN 22 27 3 2 5 4 0.148F Geoff Platt CLB 21 3 0 0 0 0 0 Alex Ovechkin, Jason Spezza, and Matt Carle is quite a core to build on.2. Shoot Loose (LW 2) (1,1,8,2) F Thomas Vanek BUF 22 26 17 16 33 25 0.962F Evgeni Malkin PIT 18 21 13 12 25 19 0.904F Christopher Higgins MON 23 13 8 5 13 10.5 0.808F Eric Staal CAR 22 28 16 10 26 21 0.75F Tuomo Ruutu CHI 23 14 6 2 8 7 0.5F Wojtek Wolski COL 20 25 7 9 16 11.5 0.46F Nikolai Zherdev CLB 22 22 6 6 12 9 0.409D Joni Pitkanen PHI 23 25 0 16 16 8 0.32D Ryan Suter NAS 21 25 4 7 11 7.5 0.3F Stanislav Chistov BOS 23 11 1 2 3 2 0.182F Rotislav Olesz FLA 21 24 1 5 6 3.5 0.146F Alexander Steen TOR 22 28 1 5 6 3.5 0.125 Wow, not only does this team have solid veterans and an excellent farm system, but this is a solid group of players that will be part of the team for years to come and will only get better. Malkin, Vanek, Staal, and that's not all.3. Dawgs (LW 3) (3,7,8,4) F Ilya Kovalchuk ATL 23 28 17 15 32 24.5 0.875F Jiri Novotny BUF 23 24 5 4 9 7 0.292D Paul Ranger NYR 22 27 0 11 11 5.5 0.204D Anton Babchuk CAR 22 26 1 7 8 4.5 0.173F Konstantin Glazachev JR 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kovalchuk is the only standout star in this bunch, but he is quite something. The Dawgs are built for now.4. Swackers (LW 4) (4,3,13,3) D Tim Gleason CAR 23 19 0 3 3 1.5 0.079 This team was once brimming with youthful players, but they're all grows up now. The team will have to hope that it can be restocked with players from the farm system in future years.[b[5. Greaseballs (LW 5) (7,8,4,6)[/b]F Pierre-Marc Bouchard MIN 22 26 5 13 18 11.5 0.442F Fredrick Sjostrom DET 23 22 2 4 6 4 0.182D Fedor Tyutin NYR 23 26 1 7 8 4.5 0.173D Keith Yandle PHO 20 7 0 2 2 1 0.143F Jannik Hansen VAN 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 Youth isn't too much of a factor here outside of Pierre-Marc Bouchard who rarely gets time with the team. Tyutin has been average at best, but the Greaseballs have hope for the young rear guard.6. Red Ravens (LW 6) (5,8,12,7) F Milan Michalek SJ 22 24 9 15 24 16.5 0.688D Duncan Keith CHI 23 24 0 9 9 4.5 0.188F Patrick O'Sullivan LA 21 12 1 1 2 1.5 0.125 O'Sullivan has huge potential but has been a big disappointment thus far, currently playing in the minors. Michalek, however, has been one of the team's best players.7. Screamin' Eagles (LW 7) (6,4,18,5) F Zach Parise NJ 22 25 9 10 19 14 0.56F Ryan Getzlaf ANA 21 28 11 7 18 14.5 0.518F Joffry Lupul EDM 23 25 8 5 13 10.5 0.42F Matt Stajan TOR 23 28 6 10 16 11 0.393D Andrej Mezsaros OTT 21 27 4 12 16 10 0.37F Jeff Carter PHI 21 12 1 4 5 3 0.25D Shane O'Brien ANA 23 28 2 9 11 6.5 0.232F Patrick Thoresen EDM 23 24 2 7 9 5.5 0.229D Dennis Wideman STL 23 22 2 4 6 4 0.182D Nathan Paetsch BUF 23 16 0 4 4 2 0.125F Chris Thornburn PIT 23 21 2 1 3 2.5 0.119D Chis Campoli NYI 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 No major superstars here, but the Eagles have done a wonderful job drafting over the years, replenishing an already excellent team from within. Never having a top pick at the draft, it shows in the types of players on the team now. No Crosby's or Ovechkin's, but then again, players like that don't come along very often.8. Legend Killers (LW 9) (16,6,1,12) D Shea Weber NAS 21 25 5 10 15 10 0.4F Scottie Upshall NAS 23 10 2 1 3 2.5 0.25F Alexander Perezhogin MON 23 25 3 5 8 5.5 0.22F Jiri Hudler DET 22 20 4 0 4 4 0.2 Shea Weber has stepped right in and performed playing in a high octane offense in Nashville. Frankly, you would expect a few more young players on a relatively recent expansion team.9. Cheap Thieves (LW 11) (10,14,3,10) F Alexander Semin WAS 22 22 10 11 21 15.5 0.705F Anze Kopitar LA 19 28 6 18 24 15 0.536F Lee Stempniak STL 23 25 8 7 15 11.5 0.46F Jussi Jokinen DAL 23 26 7 8 15 11 0.423F Corey Perry ANA 21 28 5 11 16 10.5 0.375D Peter Harrold LA 23 6 0 2 2 1 0.167D Marc-Edouard Vlasic SJ 19 27 1 7 8 4.5 0.167D Brent Seabrook CHI 21 24 0 5 5 2.5 0.104F Petr Kalus BOS 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kopitar and Semin are two of the team's best players and will lead a strong core of young players in what GM Negreanu hopes will become a powerful dynasty in the East. Kalus, who was expected to make the Bruins was sent down to the minors.10. Rug Rats (LW 8) (9,11,10,8) F Ales Hemsky EDM 23 23 4 14 18 11 0.478F Phil Kessel BOS 19 24 5 3 8 6.5 0.271D Mark Giordano CAL 23 10 2 0 2 2 0.2D Patrick Columbe VAN 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hemsky is hurt which is a big blow to the team, but should recover nicely and be a staple of this team for the next decade. Joining him, will be Phil Kessell who is performing well for a teenager in the NHL. Aside from that, the Rug Rats will have to make some key personnel decisions in the next few years.11. Mustangs (LW 10) (11,12,6,12)F Kyle Wellwood TOR 23 28 6 16 22 14 0.5 The future is bleak for the Mustangs whether GM Bogosyan wants to believe it or not. Lots of overpriced 30 something free agents in Mustang land, but very little support from the farm on this team. Experts believe that you are looking at a future expansion team, in that, Kyle Wellwood and Dustin Penner will be the only players left here in three years with any sort of value. This team is built to win now, it's simply not good enough to do that against the elite teams in the AHL.12. Purple Hearts (LW 12) (15,5,15,3)D Shaone Morrison WAS 23 26 1 4 5 3 0.115 Once a proud franchise, things look extremely bleak for a team that once boasted the most powerful defense in the league. They are a long shot to make the playoffs this season, which should give them a chance at a high pick to replenish the farm and infuse a youth movement on an aging team.13. Ghosts of Elvis (LW 13) F Sidney Crosby PIT 19 22 10 24 34 22 1D Dion Phaneuf CAL 21 23 5 10 15 10 0.435F Dustin Brown LA 22 27 7 9 16 11.5 0.426F Mike Richards PHI 21 27 1 9 10 5.5 0.204F Gilbert Brule CLB 19 21 2 2 4 3 0.143D Dan Hamhuis NAS 23 24 1 4 5 3 0.125F Ryan Shannon ANA 23 28 2 3 5 3.5 0.125D Yan Sauve JR 16 0 0 0 0 0 0F Ryan Hollweg NYR 23 26 0 0 0 0 0 An ugly start the season, due in large part to a terrible set of goaltenders, this team will be just fine and will likely make a run at the playoffs. Not only this year, but thanks to phenom Sid "The Kid" and Dion Phaneuf the Ghosts will contend for the division title for years to come.14.Ravag (LW 16) (14,10,13,15)F Jordan Staal PIT 18 25 7 2 9 8 0.32F Dan Fritsche CLB 21 21 3 5 8 5.5 0.262D Johnny Boychuk COL 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 How is this possible? The GM is clearly at fault here making poor decisions year in and year out. Jordan Staal will develop into a player for sure, but a team that's been this bad for so long, drafting high year after year, should have a group of young forwards that resembles... well, what Shoot Loose has.15. Canadian Gothic (LW 14) (17,14,5,17)F Brad Richardson COL 21 26 5 1 6 5.5 0.212D Steve Eminger WAS 23 23 0 5 5 2.5 0.109D Milan Jurcina BOS 23 15 0 0 0 0 0D Tom Gilbert EDM 23 0 0 0 0 0 0F Barry Tallackson NJ 23 2 0 0 0 0 0 Getting anything of value that could play immediately is impressive. None of these players has done much at all, but it's a start. 16. PK Dealers (LW 15) (13,14,15,16)NONE! What a joke this team is here! They've improved since their expansion season, but have improved to the lower end of mediocrity with no sight of improvement any time soon. Whether it's trading draft picks or drafting poorly, something needs to be done about the GM. Most GM's would have been fired for being drunk at EVERY draft, but the team is sticking with their man. Why, we'll never know.17. Ingmen (LW 18) (12,14,20,14) F Patrice Bergeron BOS 21 24 7 18 25 16 0.667F Steve Bernier SJ 21 27 8 14 22 15 0.556F Patrick Eaves OTT 22 27 5 8 13 9 0.333F Mikko Koivu MIN 23 26 6 10 16 11 0.423F Rick Nash CLB 22 23 7 8 15 11 0.478F Derek Roy BUF 23 19 4 11 15 9.5 0.5 A solid group for an expansion team on the rise. Bergeron is a real keeper, and you can expect to see this lineup for at least the next seven years as these are all sure-fire NHLers.18. Dirty Trix (LW 16) (18,19,6,18)F Paul Stastny COL 20 26 7 13 20 13.5 0.519F Brooks Laich WAS 23 18 0 1 1 0.5 0.28D Ian White TOR 22 28 2 8 10 6 0.214F Joel Perrault STL 23 16 1 1 2 1.5 0.094D Dustin Byfuglien CHI 21 0 0 0 0 0 0D Maxim Kondratiev NYR 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 Excellent job of snagging some real value here for an expansion team. Stastny is looking great and Ian White is an offensive force that will take the reigns from McCabe on the Toronto powerplay in the future.19. Smokin' T-Birds (LW 19) (19,18,10,19)F Erik Christensen PIT 23 6 2 1 3 2.5 0.417D Bruno Gervais NYI 22 25 0 0 0 0 0 It's extremely difficult for a first year team to acquire anything of value as far as youth that's ready to play. Those players are either protected or already signed from previous drafts. The Birds did well to grab Christensen, and Gervais shows promise as well.20. Blackdraft (LW 20) (20,20,17,20)F Travis Zajac NJ 21 23 6 8 14 10 0.435F Stephen Weiss FLA 23 27 5 8 13 9 0.333F Blair Jones TB 20 6 0 2 2 1 0.167D Aaron Johnson CLB 23 10 0 3 3 1.5 0.15F Marcel Goc SJ 23 27 2 4 6 4 0.148D Kristian Tollefsen CLB 22 25 0 1 1 0.5 0.02D Richie Regehr CAL 23 0 0 0 0 0 0F D.J. King STL 22 6 0 0 0 0 0 Clearly this team is built for the future and fans are in for the long haul. Bosting an impressive 8 young players is amazing for an expansion team, although it's clear that it will be a while before this team will compete. The building blocks are now in place, though, with players like Zajac, Weiss, and defenseman Aaron Johnson.

[goose]

If farm systems were taken into account this list might look a little different, but overall an interesting analysis of current players. R.J. Umberger and Loui Eriksson (about to be called up) could be added to my list.edit: 23 or younger, I see.

[digitalmonkey]

These rankings punish GMs who are smart enough not to call up prospects too early.

[DanielNegreanu]

digitalmonkey, on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006, 10:10 AM, said:

These rankings punish GMs who are smart enough not to call up prospects too early.

They aren't "ranking" at all. Just the way the team is currently made up. I didn't have the time to go through all of the farms looking for NHL players. I'll probably do something farm related down the road.

[digitalmonkey]

DanielNegreanu, on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006, 2:30 PM, said:

They aren't "ranking" at all. Just the way the team is currently made up. I didn't have the time to go through all of the farms looking for NHL players. I'll probably do something farm related down the road.

I know...I'm just bustin' your balls because I know how long this one took you. You forgot Nigel Dawes on my roster (reserved), not that he has done much in the NHL yet either.

[serge]

You have done some good research but your analysis is not only WRONG but biased...So two guys like Afinogenov and Gionta..who by the way are in the elite category when you are looking at NHL players..are only 27 years old...they are cheap and will be part of my core for many many yearsYour analysis is not correct...I have decided I am not going to argue my points anymore and you will see the results..by the way look at the standings...get used to it..another point...age is meaningless...check out the top 25 NHL point leaders...you will find a big percentage of them are over 30....and a very few are under 24...thats all

[DanielNegreanu]

serge, on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006, 2:44 PM, said:

You have done some good research but your analysis is not only WRONG but biased...So two guys like Afinogenov and Gionta..who by the way are in the elite category when you are looking at NHL players..are only 27 years old...they are cheap and will be part of my core for many many yearsYour analysis is not correct...I have decided I am not going to argue my points anymore and you will see the results..by the way look at the standings...get used to it..another point...age is meaningless...check out the top 25 NHL point leaders...you will find a big percentage of them are over 30....and a very few are under 24...thats all

A lot of teams have players that age that are good as well. For example, I have Gagne, Jokinen, and Sedin who are 27, 26, and 26. As for my analysis, it's not right in the least. It's dead on and the numbers back it up. If we took a look at your farm team it would only stress the point even more. You keep using the standings as "proof" that your team is the better one. Ingmen is and the Legend Killers are also 17-14-1. Are you foolish enough to believe that those teams are better, than say, the Ghosts of Elvis? You are two points out of being out of the playoff picture, and that's where you will end up by the end of the season.

[serge]

DanielNegreanu, on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006, 4:53 PM, said:

A lot of teams have players that age that are good as well. For example, I have Gagne, Jokinen, and Sedin who are 27, 26, and 26. As for my analysis, it's not right in the least. It's dead on and the numbers back it up. If we took a look at your farm team it would only stress the point even more. You keep using the standings as "proof" that your team is the better one. Ingmen is and the Legend Killers are also 17-14-1. Are you foolish enough to believe that those teams are better, than say, the Ghosts of Elvis? You are two points out of being out of the playoff picture, and that's where you will end up by the end of the season.

There is a major part of my philosophy that you just dont get...There is more than one way to build a championship..Now I may not win the championship the next 3 years, however I will be in a pretty good position to do so...Here is another SHOCKING tidbit for you...I rather have ten 30 year olds than ten 24 year olds...WHY you may ask?Just take a look like I said at the leaders in the NHL and check out their ages...So what if Joe Sakic is 38...he is MONEY to get 80pts year in and year out..Same with Pronger and same with Kariya...If i have these players for 3 years ( and I might not but will have an equivalent like Jagr etc) who cares if they are 35 or 38...Operation Mustang is alive and kicking and once it comes to fruition you might apologize for your ignorance in the philosophy...If Sakic gets me say 80pts this year and Kopitar gets you 80...Who cares how long i have him...Operation Mustang is a 3 year projectNow I will say that your philosophy may not be wrong, but its not the only way to build a winner...as i will prove...Now you never know, i might get really lucky this year and I might win a championship..At least i will be in position to do it..Ok i wont be tapping the aquarium again..so i hope you took notes

[DanielNegreanu]

Actually Serge I do know what it takes to win a championship. In fact, I've won TWO! How many championships have the Mustangs won? Better yet, how many finals have they made? How many divisions have you won? Accroding to my calculations for your team:Championships 0Finals 0Division wins 0 Your way isn't the right way.

[goose]

I wish I was in Serge's division lol. It would be sweet to get to play him so often over the next few years.

[DanielNegreanu]

goose, on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006, 5:27 PM, said:

I wish I was in Serge's division lol. It would be sweet to get to play him so often over the next few years.

It kind of annoyed me that I was in a division with the only expansion team trying to win now, the Gothic. It's good to know, though, that in about 3 years we'll have a bottom feeder to beat up on.

[digitalmonkey]

DanielNegreanu, on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006, 8:33 PM, said:

It kind of annoyed me that I was in a division with the only expansion team trying to win now, the Gothic. It's good to know, though, that in about 3 years we'll have a bottom feeder to beat up on.

The funny thing is I never set out with the intention of trying to win this season. I just wanted to built a nice farm team while putting a team together that wouldn't lose on a consistent basis. I have almost as many points now as I thought I would end the season with.I think it's safe to say that Serge will win the bet against Darrell that has my point total and Serge's point total going against Darrell's total + 20 points.And Serge, check out the Big M's boxscore from last night. Good luck with that 3 year plan.THE BIG M'S A G VISNOVSKY LA 0 2 MARKOV MTL 0 1 LILES COL 1 0 WHITNEY PIT 0 2 SELANNE ANA 2 1 OVECHKIN WSH 1 0 SPEZZA OTT 1 1 LECAVALIER TAM 1 0 DRURY BUF 1 1 GOMEZ NJ 0 1 DALLAS DAL 3 FINAL SCORE: 10

[digitalmonkey]

I believe Zbynek Michalek is 23. He's gonna be a stud d-man.

[Babying]

digitalmonkey, on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006, 10:29 AM, said:

I believe Zbynek Michalek is 23. He's gonna be a stud d-man.

Stud D-Man will be Eric Johnston, Drew Doughty, Luc Bourdon and Marc Staal. Maybe Carl Sneep (from the point to either Crosby or Malkin).

[digitalmonkey]

Babying, on Thursday, December 7th, 2006, 6:50 PM, said:

Stud D-Man will be Eric Johnston, Drew Doughty, Luc Bourdon and Marc Staal. Maybe Carl Sneep (from the point to either Crosby or Malkin).

Wow, really? Ingmen is gonna dominate in a couple of years.Hi Wayne.