BRHL2

BRHL Season Preview & Organizational Rankings

How does your team stack up

With the 2019-20 BRHL Season kicking off, here is an in depth look at how teams grade out at goalie, defense and forward. A look into their prospects, an overall organizational grade, a look at guys on the prospect lists who made NHL teams out of camp, etc. A complete overall look at the BRHL.

First, a fun look at players on teams prospect lists who made NHL rosters out of camp

Player	NHL Team	BRHL Team
Vladislav Gavrikov	Columbus	Avalanche
Joakim Nygard	Edmonton	Avalanche
Joel Persson	Edmonton	Avalanche
Ilya Mikheyev	Toronto	Avalanche
Elvis Merzlikins	Columbus	Blues
Noah Dobson	NY Islanders	Blues
Mario Ferraro	San Jose	Blues
Nick Suzuki	Montreal	Coyotes
Connor Timmins	Colorado	Ducks
Adam Fox	NY Rangers	Ducks
Martin Fehervary	Washington	Flames
Nikita Gusev	New Jersey	Islanders
Cody Glass	Vegas	Maple Leafs
Cale Makar	Colorado	Oilers
Jimmy Schuldt	Vegas	Panthers
Emil Bemstrom	Columbus	Rangers
Dante Fabbro	Nashville	Rangers
Dominik Kubalik	Chicago	Senators
David Gustafsson	Winnipeg	Sharks

PROSPECT AND SYSTEM GRADES

Now, let’s take a look at overall team prospect ratings.
Using the prospect gradings from July edition of TheNextWaveNHL https://www.facebook.com/thenextwavenhl/ . If we look at the top 100 rankings and apply an inverse value (#1 ranked prospect worth 100 points, #100 ranked worth 1 point), here are the team rankings for high end prospects in their organization, as well as a list of said prospects.

BRHL Team Ranks

Rank	Team	Top 100 Score
1	Ducks	375
2	Wild	277
3	Maple Leafs	251
4	Sharks	242
5	Oilers	240
6	Flyers	237
7	Rangers	223
8	Sabres	220
9	Flames	197
10	Stoners	182
11	Canadiens	179
12	Capitals	175
13	Coyotes	167
14	Avalanche	136
15	Bruins	73
16	Stars	66
17	Kings	62
18	Jets	40
19	Blackhawks	39
20	Blues	38
21	Golden Knights	34
22	Penguins	28
23	Canucks	27
24	Predators	16
25	Red Wings	8
n/r	Panthers
n/r	Devils
n/r	Blue Jackets
n/r	Islanders
n/r	Lightning
n/r	Senators
n/r	Hurricanes

Player Rankings (recently drafted players not in BRHL explain the missing rankings)

Player	Team	Top 100
Carter Hart	Canadiens	3
Cale Makar	Oilers	4
Vitali Kravtsov	Capitals	5
Kirill Kaprizov	Wild	8
Joel Farabee	Wild	9
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	Sharks	10
Ilya Sorokin	Flyers	11
Evan Bouchard	Sabres	12
Filip Zadina	Maple Leafs	15
Rasmus Kupari	Stoners	16
Dominik Bokk	Avalanche	18
Martin Necas	Canadiens	20
Filip Hronek	Flyers	21
Henrik Borgstrom	Capitals	22
Bode Wilde	Stoners	24
Cody Glass	Maple Leafs	26
Henri Jokiharju	Bruins	28
Quintin Hughes	Flames	29
Barrett Hayton	Ducks	30
Grigori Denisenko	Ducks	31
Jesse Ylonen	Sabres	32
Eeli Tolvanen	Sharks	33
Alexander Romanov	Rangers	34
Igor Shestyorkin	Stars	35
Erik Brannstrom	Wild	36
Morgan Frost	Oilers	37
Rasmus Sandin	Rangers	38
Kristian Vesalainen	Kings	39
Joseph Veleno	Sabres	40
Sam Steel	Ducks	44
Emil Bemstrom	Rangers	45
Aleksi Heponiemi	Sharks	46
Ty Smith	Ducks	48
Jesper Boqvist	Maple Leafs	49
Adam Fox	Ducks	50
K'Andre Miller	Coyotes	51
Alexander Chmelevski	Ducks	53
Martin Kaut	Flyers	55
Juuso Valimaki	Flames	57
Eetu Luostarinen	Avalanche	58
Ian Mitchell	Oilers	59
Dmitri Samorukov	Coyotes	60
Carl Grundstrom	Jets	61
Akil Thomas	Blackhawks	62
Jaret Anderson-Dolan	Blues	63
Cayden Primeau	Oilers	64
Oliver Wahlstrom	Coyotes	65
Jordan Kyrou	Golden Knights	67
Serron Noel	Maple Leafs	68
Urho Vaakanainen	Rangers	70
Dillon Dube	Flames	71
Troy Terry	Flames	72
Isac Lundestrom	Penguins	73
Thatcher Demko	Canucks	74
Jake Oettinger	Ducks	76
Nicholas Suzuki	Coyotes	78
Adam Boqvist	Flyers	80
Nils Lundkvist	Flames	82
Ryan Merkley	Stoners	83
Olli Juolevi	Sharks	84
Veini Vehvilainen	Predators	85
Albin Eriksson	Wild	86
MacKenzie Blackwood	Coyotes	88
Filip Hallander	Wild	89
David Gustafsson	Sharks	90
Vladislav Gavrikov	Avalanche	91
Taylor Raddysh	Red Wings	93
Samuel Ersson	Rangers	95
Marcus Davidsson	Maple Leafs	96
Philipp Kurashev	Coyotes	97
Ilya Samsonov	Flames	98
Lukas Dostal	Stoners	99
Kale Clague	Sabres	100

Next up, using NHL Teams Top 20 Prospect Rankings, we apply a 50-45-40-35-30-20-18-16-14-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points scale for inverse rankings (Having a teams #1 prospect is worth 50 points, the #20 prospect is worth 1 point). This tells us which teams have the deepest system in regards to prospects. Thank you CJ Smith for getting Rich a single point so every team had someone!

BRHL Team Prospect Depth Rankings

Rank	Team	Depth Score
1	Flames	857
2	Flyers	557
3	Stoners	484
4	Avalanche	461
5	Ducks	425
6	Maple Leafs	408
7	Sharks	394
8	Wild	358
9	Panthers	327
10	Rangers	310
11	Sabres	306
12	Capitals	295
13	Coyotes	292
14	Oilers	268
15	Golden Knights	233
16	Canucks	211
17	Canadiens	209
18	Blues	129
19	Devils	127
20	Red Wings	125
21	Jets	100
22	Blue Jackets	92
23	Islanders	84
24	Penguins	83
25	Predators	76
26	Bruins	70
27	Lightning	60
28	Blackhawks	58
29	Stars	54
30	Kings	50
31	Senators	34
32	Hurricanes	1

Overall Team prospect Grades and ranked. Factoring top 100 score as 75% of the grade and depth score as 25%.

Prospect Rank	Team	Prospect Grade
1	Flames	362
2	Flyers	317
3	Stoners	257.5
4	Avalanche	217.3
5	Ducks	387.5
6	Maple Leafs	290.3
7	Sharks	280
8	Wild	297.3
9	Panthers	81.8
10	Rangers	244.8
11	Sabres	241.5
12	Capitals	205
13	Coyotes	198.3
14	Oilers	247
15	Golden Knights	83.8
16	Canucks	73
17	Canadiens	186.5
18	Blues	60.8
19	Devils	31.8
20	Red Wings	37.3
21	Jets	55
22	Blue Jackets	23
23	Islanders	21
24	Penguins	41.8
25	Predators	31
26	Bruins	72.3
27	Lightning	15
28	Blackhawks	43.8
29	Stars	63
30	Kings	59
31	Senators	8.5
32	Hurricanes	0.3

Not a lot of surprises here, we see rebuilding teams at the top, and some stacked teams like the Flames up there as well. The teams that have no future, are accurately reflected. Wow the Canes and Sens are terrible. Quite the tumble for the once proud Sens system.

CURRENT YEAR PROJECTIONS

Now let’s look at actual rosters as we head into the season. We know which teams have a bright future. But what about this year?

Goalie Ratings – Starting Goalies are given 80% of the grade weight, backups 20%

G Rank	BRHL team	G Grade
1	Blackhawks	84.6
2	Golden Knights	79.6
3	Islanders	78.8
4	Hurricanes	78
5	Senators	77.8
6	Bruins	77.6
7	Ducks	77.2
8	Jets	77
9	Stoners	75.8
10	Wild	75.2
11	Predators	74.8
12	Red Wings	74.6
13	Kings	73.8
14	Blue Jackets	73.6
15	Rangers	73.6
16	Lightning	73
17	Blues	73
18	Canadiens	73
19	Penguins	72.8
20	Avalanche	72.6
21	Devils	72.6
22	Capitals	71.2
23	Sabres	69.8
24	Flyers	69.2
25	Coyotes	69
26	Oilers	68.8
27	Flames	67.8
28	Sharks	67.6
29	Panthers	66.4
30	Stars	64
31	Maple Leafs	62.8
32	Canucks	60

No surprises here, Chicago has the 2 best goalies on their roster right now, we know Bishop will be moving to Dallas (but will their horrendous goaltending kill them to start the year?). But the Hawks even have Koskinen as a 3^rd right now, so won’t drop much. The tanking Stoners are good in net for sure, how long until Fleury gets dealt? Of teams who consider themselves contenders, many likely need to address goaltending (Aves, Pens, Habs, Flames specifically)

Defenseman Ratings – Top 6 weighted equally. We know you can’t play a guy to death, top 6 matters.

D Rank	BRHL team	D Grade
1	Golden Knights	74.3
2	Blue Jackets	72.7
3	Avalanche	72.7
4	Jets	72.3
5	Bruins	72.2
6	Kings	72.2
7	Rangers	72
8	Lightning	72
9	Canadiens	71.8
10	Predators	71.7
11	Red Wings	71.7
12	Ducks	71.5
13	Stars	71
14	Senators	70.7
15	Penguins	70.7
16	Islanders	70.3
17	Blues	70.2
18	Flyers	70.2
19	Wild	69.5
20	Oilers	69.5
21	Hurricanes	69
22	Maple Leafs	69
23	Sabres	68.5
24	Flames	68.5
25	Devils	68.3
26	Panthers	68.3
27	Blackhawks	68.2
28	Sharks	68
29	Canucks	67.2
30	Capitals	66.5
31	Stoners	65.5
32	Coyotes	63.5

Wow are the Golden Knights stacked on D, combined with their goaltending, Vegas will be tough to score on. We see a clear break between contenders and rebuilders, with the exception of the Hawks, who will be fascinating. Can a poor DF be masked by great goaltending? Ditto Carolina. And man are the Coyotes terrible.

Forward Ratings – Top 12 weighted equally. We know you can’t play a guy to death, top 12 matters.

F Rank	BRHL team	F Grade
1	Stars	73.3
2	Bruins	73
3	Senators	72.2
4	Golden Knights	71.5
5	Lightning	71.5
6	Blue Jackets	71.3
7	Avalanche	71
8	Islanders	70.9
9	Canadiens	70.8
10	Predators	70.4
11	Blackhawks	69.8
12	Jets	69.6
13	Hurricanes	69.6
14	Penguins	69.4
15	Kings	69.2
16	Oilers	69.2
17	Blues	69.1
18	Rangers	68.8
19	Ducks	68.8
20	Red Wings	68.6
21	Sharks	68.2
22	Wild	67.5
23	Flames	67.1
24	Panthers	66.8
25	Coyotes	66.8
26	Devils	66.4
27	Maple Leafs	66.2
28	Canucks	65.1
29	Capitals	64.8
30	Flyers	64
31	Sabres	63.3
32	Stoners	61.3

No surprises here, the top offensive teams look like the top offensive teams. A few things jump out. Calgary is lower than one would suspect, same with Detroit. The Golden Knights again rank high on here. That team looks loaded. The Stoners & Sabres suck.

OVERALL TEAM RANKINGS

Using all the data we have, and utilizing a 40% impact of goalies, 30% for forwards and 30% for dmen, here are your 2019 Team Power Rankings to begin the season

Team Rank	BRHL team	Team Grade
1	Golden Knights	75.6
2	Blackhawks	75.2
3	Bruins	74.6
4	Senators	74
5	Islanders	73.9
6	Jets	73.4
7	Ducks	73
8	Hurricanes	72.8
9	Blue Jackets	72.6
10	Predators	72.6
11	Lightning	72.3
12	Avalanche	72.2
13	Canadiens	72
14	Kings	71.9
15	Red Wings	71.9
16	Rangers	71.7
17	Penguins	71.2
18	Wild	71.2
19	Blues	71
20	Devils	69.5
21	Oilers	69.1
22	Stars	68.9
23	Stoners	68.4
24	Sharks	67.9
25	Capitals	67.9
26	Flyers	67.9
27	Flames	67.8
28	Sabres	67.5
29	Panthers	67.1
30	Coyotes	66.7
31	Maple Leafs	65.7
32	Canucks	63.7

Some of this we know. The Canucks, Leafs, Coyotes, Panthers and Sabres will suck. Contending ranking super low are the Flames (27), Stars (22), Penguins (17). Some surprisingly high teams include Chicago (2), Anaheim (7), Carolina (8).

Now I realize grading goalies so highly wildly affects the swing of these gradings, but we’re seeing in the BRHLD, winning without a goalie is very tough.

The Verdict – Standings Prediction

Simply using the data at hand, here’s the projected playoff breakdowns

Pacific	Central	Metro	Atlantic
Golden Knights	Blackhawks	Islanders	Bruins
Ducks	Jets	Hurricanes	Senators
Kings	Predators	Blue Jackets	Lightning
Oilers	x Avalanche	Rangers	x Canadiens
Sharks	Wild	Penguins	x Red Wings
Flames	Blues	Devils	Sabres
Coyotes	Stars	Capitals	Panthers
Canucks	Stoners	Flyers	Leafs

OVERALL ORGANIZATION RANKINGS

Using current projection as 75% of the rating, and a team’s future grade as 25% of the rating. Here is your rankings of the top organizations within the BRHL as we head into 2019-20.

Org Rank	BRHL team	Org Grade
1	Golden Knights	4.5
2	Ducks	6.5
3	Blackhawks	8.5
4	Bruins	8.8
5	Islanders	9.5
6	Jets	9.8
7	Avalanche	10
8	Senators	10.8
9	Blue Jackets	12.3
10	Predators	13.8
11	Hurricanes	14
12	Canadiens	14
13	Rangers	14.5
14	Lightning	15
15	Wild	15.5
16	Red Wings	16.3
17	Kings	18
18	Stoners	18
19	Penguins	18.8
20	Blues	18.8
21	Oilers	19.3
22	Devils	19.8
23	Sharks	19.8
24	Flyers	20
25	Flames	20.5
26	Capitals	21.8
27	Stars	23.8
28	Sabres	23.8
29	Panthers	24
30	Maple Leafs	24.8
31	Coyotes	25.8
32	Canucks	28

I was going to write more, but anything that grades Devon that highly is obviously stupid and irrelevant.

Joel Mireau

My defence may be horrible but with Kulikov and Morrissey out its almost better than NHL Jets D!