This second last week of the T25 is where we used to see a lot of hopes and dreams for second- and third-round draft picks. Since the GMs of the Leafs just willfully keep trading these picks away, when they could be superstars, the ranking really jumps right from the faint hope maybe AHLers into the top rank of prospects.
Official Vote
Last week we finished off with the biggest leap up in weighted average ranking with Topi Niemelä at number 7 and a full 2.43 ranking spots higher than Miroslav Holinka below him. The big jumps keep coming in the four players ranked this week.
7 Dennis Hildeby
With a jump in ranking of 1.93, Hildeby comes in at 6.86, the first person whose ranking is a lower number than his placing.
Species
6 Nikita Grebenkin
Soaring up the rankings is Nikita Grebenkin, 1.21 above Hildeby and coming in a 5.64.
Brian S
5 Ben Danford
Very nearly tied with Grebenkin, Danford is at 5.50.
Brian S
4 Nick Robertson
With a meaningful jump up to 1.21, Nick Robertson is the border player between the top three and everyone else, but that's not a unanimous opinion. A lot of voters ranked him third, but a group of less impressed voters had him down below some of the rest of the people listed above.
Hardev
Community Vote
7 Topi Niemelä
With a weighted average ranking of 8.82, Niemelä was ranked in a very tight consensus right around where he landed – one spot higher than on the official vote.
The surprise is the strength of the votes higher than seventh. He marks out the first person not ranked below 25 by anyone (4 N/A votes might indicate unfinished ballots).
6 Ben Danford
Danford got a lot of "first-round" votes that put him strongly in sixth place with a ranking of 7.38. Only a couple of people forgot about him down where he started on the list as a young player.
5 Dennis Hildeby
Hildeby has all the buzz, and that got him up over Danford and into fifth place, two places higher than on the Official Vote.
There is a little bit more of a trail of doubt off to the right, but note the y-axis, this is a strongly held opinion on his value. Goalies are always a safe bet, right?
4 Fraser Minten
On the one hand, Minten, who played in the NHL last year as a teenager, got the strongest consensus vote so far. On the other hand, that's a lot of people who think at least four or even five other players are better than him.
His average ranking is at 4.89, leaving an interesting amount of room for the top three next week.
The top three are next week, and you know who they are, you likely can guess the order, but that doesn't mean there won't be surprises because the days of unanimous votes are over. See you next week as we wrap up this year's T25.
