Which teams in the BRHL have the brightest future? We’re going to take a look at the teams with the best players under the age of 23. Let me just say, I'm not a scout and I'm definitely not qualified to make any kind of a prospect ranking. I'm just an idiot doing this for fun. I really wanted to use something like the old HF rankings or PNHLe to come up with values for each player and total them up to come up with a total score...maybe weight it based on draft position or something. But that wasn't available for every player here so we're stuck with my dumbass opinions. Anyway, lets dig in to part 1, teams 32nd to 22nd:

32. Montreal Canadiens:

Montreal is the only team without a single player U23 on the roster or on the prospects list. Easy to rank this last.

N/A

31. Dallas Stars:

Not much to speak about here. Both these young Dmen spent some time in the ECHL which makes this a big uphill climb to the NHL.

Zach Uens LHD 22 / Thomas Caron LHD 22

30. San Jose Sharks:

Some teams taking runs at the cup will have moved their young players out for immediate help, and the Sharks are no exception. I have them ahead of Dallas here, but only because Johansson has more time to develop into something.

Oliver Johansson C/LW 19

29. Ottawa Senators:

The only notable player here is Villeneuve, who has looked pretty good in his first pro season with the Marlies. Makar has shown improvement at UMass this season but has a long road ahead to the NHL. Yes, this is Cale's brother.

William Villeneuve RHD 21 / Taylor Makar C/LW 22

28. Edmonton Oilers:

Harris is the top dog right now in Edmonton’s system, he spent all of last season in the NHL and looked pretty good. Firstov put up good numbers in his first pro campaign in Russia after his NCAA career finished. Those are the two notable players on this list, the next few are long shots. Mysak disappointed this year and the other two are not likely NHLers, Larose is in Usports currently and Leipert is in the ECHL.

Jordan Harris LHD 22 / Vladislav Firstov LW 21 / Jan Mysak C/LW 21 / Alex Kannok Leipert RHD 22 / Nathan Larose RHD 22

27. Columbus Blue Jackets:

Farrell & Phillips have seen time in the NHL with Farrell being the more highly regarded prospect. This gives them the edge over Leon’s Oilers. There’s a familiar name in here two, Kyle Aucoin is the son of former NHLer Adrian Aucoin. Nobody beyond the top two stand out as highly likely to be NHL players.

Sean Farrell C/LW 21 / Isaak Phillips LHD 21 / Marshall Warren LHD 22 / Will Cranley G 21 / Mike Koster LHD 22 / Tanner Dickinson C 21 / Kyle Aucoin LHD 20 / Martin Has RHD 22 / Jack Smith C/RW 20 / Benjamin Brinkman LHD 22

26. Colorado Avalanche:

I have Newhook & Lipkin as the two notable players, but there are a bunch of others knocking on that door. Voronkov broke out this season in the KHL, Samson was a PPG Dman in the WHL, Lindbom looks good developing in Sweden. Newhook looks to be a fixture on the Avs roster so I’ll give them the edge over Columbus.

Alex Newhook C/LW 22 / Samuel Lipkin LW 20 / Ethan Samson RHD 19 / Gannon Laroque RHD 19 / Ty Gallagher RHD 20 / Joel Nystrom RHD 20 / Carl Lindbom G 19 / Eetu Liukas LHD 20 / Filip Cederqvist W 22 / Dmitri Voronkov LW 22 / Kim Nousiainen LHD 22 / Ben Meehan LHD 22 / Henrik Tikkanen G 22 / Valentin Nussbaumer LW 22

25. Carolina Hurricanes:

Nikishin looks like the top dog in Carolina’s system. He’s turned heads this season in the KHL posting 55 points from the backend, impressive. Robidas’s scoring pace slowed after a trade to the Remparts but he’s going off in the playoffs. I do like Fontaine & Cotton but we’re into longer shot territory here.

Ryan McCleary RHD 19 / Tyson Kozak C 20 / Connor McClennon RW 20 / Yevgeni Kashnikov LHD 20 / Jacob Melanson RW 20 / Justin Robidas C 20 / Olivier Nadeau C/RW 20 / Alexander Nikishin LHD 21 / Chase Clark G 21 / Nikita Nesterenko C/W 21 / Louis Crevier RHD 22 / Ilya Solovyov LHD 22 / Alex Cotton RHD 22 / Artyom Serikov LHD 22 / Gunnarwolfe Fontaine C/LW 22 / Luke Moncada C 22 / Riley McCourt LHD 22

24. Minnesota Wild:

I have the notable players as LaCombe & Peart. I was considering Heimosalmi too or maybe Kuznetsov but those aren’t homerun picks that look like they’re likely to step into the NHL soon. Regula has seen time with Chicago but doesn’t look like an impact player. The Wild's system is lacking in forward prospects.

Patrik Hamrla G 19 / Aleksi Heimosalmi RHD 20 / Cal Thomas LHD 20 / Daniil Sobolev RHD 20 / Jack Peart LHD 20 / Matteo Costantini C 20 / Tristan Lennox G 20 / Yan Kuznetsov LHD 21 / Eamon Powell RHD 21 / Maxim Groshev LW/RW 21 / Semyon Chistyakov LHD 21 / Jaydon Dureau LW 22 / Alec Regula RHD 22 / Albin Eriksson LW/RW 22 / Dmitri Rashevsky RW 22 / Jackson LaCombe LHD 22 / Lenni Killinen RW 22

23. Toronto Maple Leafs:

Matthew Knies is the top prospect in the Leafs system, just like in the NHL. Beyond Knies I have the other two notable players as Matthew Robertson & Jordan Spence. There are some other intriguing players in the system like Ahac, Robertsson, Gaudreau & Whynot. The depth at all positions give Garrett the edge over Al’s Wild.

Anton Olsson LHD 20 / Ben Roger RHD 20 / Benjamin Gaudreau G 20 / Brent Johnson RHD 20 / Cameron Whynot LHD 20 / Cole Huckins C 20 / Evan Vierling C 20 / Liam Gilmartin LW 20 / Matthew Knies LW 20 / Samu Tuomaala RW 20 / Simon Robertsson RW 20 / Raivis Ansons LW 21 / Bear Hughes C 21 / Daniel Ljungman C/RW 21 / Ethan Haider G 21 / Ilya Nikolayev C 21 / Jake Boltmann RHD 21 / Jakub Dobes G 21 / Jesper Vikman G 21 / Matthew Robertson LHD 22 / Layton Ahac LHD 22 / Jordan Spence RHD 22 / Olivier Rodrigue G 22 / Marcus Kallionkieli LW 22 / Sam Stange RW 22

22. New York Islanders:

I think the four notable players here are Cuylle, Bjornfot, Berggren & Vlasic but could see an argument for Grans or Portillo to be added to that list. This is a decent collection of youth considering the Islanders are perennial contenders. Joe deserves props for keeping his prospect pool stocked at all postions.

Justin Ertel LW 19 / Victor Stjernborg C/LW 19 / Vladislav Lukashevich LHD 19 / Dmitri Kostenko RHD 20 / Roman Schmidt RHD 20 / Will Cuylle LW 21 / Helge Grans RHD 21 / Dmitri Zlodeyev C 21 / Karel Klikorka LHD 21 / Tobias Bjornfot LHD 22 / Jonatan Berggren LW/RW 22 / Alex Vlasic LHD 22 / Kevin Mandolese G 22 / Andrei Buyalsky C 22 / Eric Hjorth RHD 22 / Erik Portillo G 22 / Ethan Phillips C/RW 22 / Matt Stienburg C 22

I hope to have Part 2 up tomorrow or Thursday for your enjoyment.

Thanks for reading!