These rankings take into account players on prospect lists ONLY. Players on pro contracts are considered “graduated” by this chart. Please take this into account before you bitch about where you’re rated.

30. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
Top 10: Norm Milley, Jeremy Reich, Colin Fraser, Wade Dubielewicz, Scott Heffernan, Artem Chernov... honestly, I can't find information on half of their prospects, which can't be a good sign.

Prognosis: This organization is a mess. With players like Eric Lindros, Al MacInnis and Adam Deadmarsh potentially on the verge of retirement, they desperately need some injection of youth. GM Mikko Vuori’s love of drafting Finnish youth hasn’t produced much help at the WCFHL level. Making matters worse, Chicago has only a 7^th and 8^th round pick in the next draft, and no 1^st rounder the following year.

29. COLORADO AVALANCHE
Top 10: Andreas Holmqvist, Cody McCormick, Pierre Hedin, Maxim Lapierre, Martin Grenier, Mikko Luoma, Evgeny Gladskikh, Dmitri Pestunov, Kari Haakana, Martin Chabada

Prognosis: A perennial elite-level team, Colorado’s prospect depth is barren. They also have zero remaining 2004 draft choices. No impact players on the horizon, though Hedin and Holmqvist could be solid blueliners.

28. NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Top 10: Hannu Toivonen, Danny Richmond, Johan Holmqvist, Joel Lundqvist, Jeremy Van Hoof, Beat-Schiess Forster, Per Mars, Marty Magers, Alex Kozevnikov, Tony Virta

Prognosis: Nashville has stripped its cupboard bare, trading away top prospects like Joni Pitkanen, Steve Ott, Brooks Orpik, Philippe Sauve and Adam Munro as well as top picks in an attempt to make the playoffs. They are in a dogfight for one of the bottom two spots in the West. If they don’t get one, this would be one of the all-time colossal failures, with no hope on the horizon for help. It may be painful watching their top prospects all shine as Stars for seasons to come.

27. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Top 10: Antero Nittymaki, Cory Urquhart, Brian Finley, Mike Danton, Fedor Fedorov, Matt Walker, Marc-Andre Thinel, Francois Beauchemin, Michel Riesen, Jonas Fiedler

Prognosis: Not as bad as it seems, with Eric Staal, Barret Jackman and Andrew Raycroft contributing at the WCFHL level. But that’s it. Acquiring players like Pavel Bure made no sense and threw off the needed rebuilding process (Bergenheim for Rycroft?). The worst team in the NHL also has no draft picks until round 5 of the next draft and nothing in the pipeline – their best prospect is a goaltender, and Raycroft is their franchise netminder already. If, as it should be, their draft pick turns into the heralded Alexander Ovechkin, GM Sean Conley can never say we didn’t told ya so…

26. VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Top 10: Jiri Hudler, Kyle Freadrich, Stefan Liv, Magnus Kahnberg, Andrew Hutchinson, Teemu Lassila, Paul Lynch, Emanuel Peter, Michal Lanicek, Markus Kankaapera

Prognosis: A young team at the WCFHL level with some good building blocks, but the prospect tank is dry. Liv has regressed, and only Hudler saves this sad sack of talent. They do have Nashville’s first rounder to go with their own, so help could be on the way shortly.

25. EDMONTON OILERS
Top 10: Hugh Jessiman, Petr Taticek, Craig Anderson, Marek Svatos, Patrick Aufiero, Michael Henrich, Sergei Klyazmin, Michal Vondrka, Peter Sarno, Matthew Descoteaux

Prognosis: Get past the first four and there’s trouble. Taticek and Jessiman are both highly regarded, but will have to fill into their big frames. Anderson is a maturing goaltender and Svatos could contribute soon. The rest are has-beens and never-wases.

24. NEW YORK RANGERS
Top 10: Jeff Carter, Antti Miettinen, Dominic Moore, Brandon Bochenski, Shane Hynes, Staffan Kronwall, Zbynek Michalek, Nathan Robinson, Johnathan Aitken, P-A Parenteau

Prognosis: Carter has star potential, but the rest is a rag-tag bunch of (mostly) late bloomers and sleepers. Miettinen, Aitken and Michalek could be contributing already, but at what capacity?

23. DETROIT RED WINGS
Top 10: Martin Prusek, Ben Eaves, Jozef Balej, Ben Eager, Sergei Zinovjev, Alexei Stonkus, Dwayne Zinger, Eric Himelfarb, Curtis McElhinney, Andrew Ianiero

Prognosis: Their pro roster is veteran-laden after GM Shon Shampain’s retooling, but the farm still needs help. Prusek is a star goalie waiting to happen, but with Brodeur in front of him he may wait a while. Still, the talent of Eaves and Balej is hard to ignore, and Eager could develop into an Adam Deadmarsh-type player…or, at worst, a fourth line lug.

22. MIGHTY DUCKS OF ANAHEIM
Top 10: Chris Higgins, Patrick Sharp, Par Backer, Shane Bendera, Jean-Francois Damphousse, Teemu Laine, Lasse Kukkonen, Jonas Almtorp, Paul Ballantyne, Matt Jones

Prognosis: OK, I think Higgins is going to be phenomenal, so maybe they’re a little higher than they deserve to be because of that. Sharp could contribute already, and Backer is a sleeper who continues to impress. It would help if one of Bendera or the aging Damphousse would finally become a backup-caliber goalie at least.

21. NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Top 10: Cam Ward, Adam Henrich, Brooks Laich, Aaron Johnson, Nikos Tselios, John Pohl, Michal Barinka, Milan Jurcina, Stephen Dixon, Martin Podlesak

Prognosis: A bunch of young talent already on their roster (Heatley, Ruutu, Arnason, Hartnell), but what you see is what you get. Ward is a highly-touted goalie, but there’s no top-end player in the bunch. They get marks here for having more depth than teams rated below.

20. NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Top 10: Josh Harding, Jeff Woywitka, Ilya Bryzgalov, Masi Marjamaki, James Howard, Jay Harrison, Kyle Wellwood, Brian Boyle, John Doherty, Dominic D’Amour

Prognosis: Okay, lots of goalies. Okay, Nash and Zherdev are graduated. Harding would have started for Team Canada at the WJCs if Fleury had not returned and I suspect he would have shown his caliber as an elite netminder. Woywitka is a top prospect on defence, and I think that Boyle, while young, could be an impact player down the road.

19. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
Top 10: Marc-Andre Fleury, Jesse Niinimaki, Pascal Leclaire, Martin Vagner, Maxime Daigneault, Nigel Dawes, Ian White, Drew Fata, Aaron Rome, Joni Puurula

Prognosis: Three of their top five prospects are goalies. Perhaps Leclaire and/or Daigneault (or Puurula, for that matter) should be moved to fill needs elsewhere, because Fleury is the franchise. They already traded away one top goalie prospect (Jeff Deslauriers, for Felix Potvin). I don’t understand moving draft picks to get guys like David Oliver and Ray Schultz. Vagner has rebounded to reclaim status as a promising blueline prospect.

18. BUFFALO SABRES
Top 10: Sergei Anshakov, Vladislav Evseev, Jakub Cutta, Victor Uchevatov, Duncan Milroy, Patrick Jarrett, Joel Stepp, Colin Stuart, Andy Chiodo, Anton Kadeykin

Prognosis: I just like the look of their system. Evseev and Anshakov were guys who fell on draft day for no real reason. Milroy, Jarrett and Chiodo have faced accusations of poor attitudes, but the talent is definitely there. Surprising that Cutta hasn’t made more of an impact, his time is running out fast to do so.

17. OTTAWA SENATORS
Top 10: Alexander Steen, Steve Bernier, Colby Armstrong, Garth Murray, Peter Budaj, Brian McConnell, Alexandre Picard, Josh Langfeld, Brock Radunske, Julien Vauclair

Prognosis: Steen, Bernier and Armstrong is a solid trio of forwards who project as good second-liners. If one of them can rise above that to become a true top-line player, the Sens will be in good shape. Murray’s stock has fallen while Langfeld’s has skyrocketed.

16. PHOENIX COYOTES
Top 10: Jeff Tambellini, Tim Gleason, Mark Popovic, Konstantin Pushkarev, Alexander Auld, Tomas Zizka, Kris Vernarsky, Dmitri Patzold, Rob Zepp, Charlie Stephens

Prognosis: Phoenix continues to build a nice core of prospects to go along with the likes of Jason Spezza, Mike Ribeiro and Ales Kotalik. Gleason and Popovic could be their top pairing down the road, with Zizka not far behind. Tambellini is a gifted scorer. Phoenix needs someone like Auld or Patzold to develop soon with Hasek on the way out and Johnson struggling.

15. ATLANTA THRASHERS
Top 10: Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, Igor Grigorenko, Valtteri Filppula, Brent Seabrook, David Liffiton, Vojtech Polak, Ruslan Zainullan, Janos Vas, David Turon, Barry Brust

Prognosis: The fortunes of the Thrashers’ prospect core rest largely on Grigorenko’s continued recovery from a serious auto accident earlier this year. If he can recover his prior form, Atlanta will have one of the best young forwards in hockey to go alongside a potential franchise netminder (Deslauriers) and a solid crop of rearguards led by Seabrook. Filppula’s play at the WJCs this year for Finland suggests brighter things ahead.

14. LOS ANGELES KINGS
Top 10: Eric Fehr, John-Michael Liles, Tobias Stephan, Noah Welch, Doug Janik, Christian Larrivee, Josh DeWolf, Alexei Shkotov, Libor Ustrnul, Barret Heisten

Prognosis: Fehr has been dominant in the WHL this season and could be the power forward the Kings need along their skilled youth like Michael Ryder. Unfortunately, after Fehr and Ryder there isn’t much up front in the cupboard. Welch and Liles could both be front-end defencemen and Stephan has shown great promise.

13. ST. LOUIS BLUES
Top 10: Trent Hunter, Garnet Exelby, Matt Spiller, Jiri Novotny, BJ Crombeen, Paul Gaustad, Marc-Andre Bernier, Jay McClement, Michael Garnett, Kyle Wanvig

Prognosis: Hunter is the jewel and ready for game action, as are Exelby and Wanvig. Spiller has tremendous potential, and both Crombeen and McClement could be shutdown players given the right opportunity. The Blues are an old team with a franchise goalie in Theodore, so their young players will be given plenty of opportunities in the coming seasons.

12. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Top 10: Alexander Perezhogin, Mike Rupp, David LeNeveu, Andrei Mikhnov, Ray Emery, Ryan Kesler, Lee Falardeau, Stephen Werner, Owen Fussey, Matt Murley

Prognosis: A team in transition, the Penguins have a nice base to build from. Emery and LeNeveu form a potent 1-2 tandem in net. Perezhogin has tremendous skill and could crack their lineup next season. Rupp should already be there.

11. CALGARY FLAMES
Top 10: Alexander Polushin, Fredrik Sjostrom, Tyler Redenbach, Tim Brent, Duncan Keith, Dany Sabourin, Paul Bissonnette, Andrei Taratukhin, Blair Betts, Konstantin Volkov

Prognosis: Polushin and Sjostrom are two of the top goal scoring forward prospects in hockey. Redenbach leads the WHL in scoring this season and has seen his status escalate accordingly. Brent has leadership qualities and Bissonnette could be ready on the back end far before anyone expects. Sabourin could add goaltending depth if Dan Blackburn’s injury woes continue. Will Betts ever get a fair shot?

10. MINNESOTA WILD
Top 10: Kari Lehtonen, Andrei Kastsitsyn, Igor Knyazev, Brendan Bell, Rob Globke, Konstantin Korneev, Denis Grot, Ryan Munce, Branislav Fabry, Denis Ezhov

Prognosis: Would be rated even higher if the likes of Konstantin Koltsov and Brent Burns were still considered prospects here. Lehtonen is, in these eyes, the top young goalie in hockey (a nose ahead of Fleury) and should be ready just in time for Ed Belfour to step aside. Kastsistyn’s medical troubles seem a thing of the past and the Belarussian star has explosive scoring power. Knyazev’s a bit of a mystery, but Bell has gone from a third-round pick to the CHL Defenceman of the Year a season ago. They’ve been smart about not trying to reach for the playoffs too soon but might make them anyway.

9. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Top 10: Ryan Suter, Ryan Getzlaf, R.J. Umberger, Matt Foy, Trevor Daley, Alexei Mikhnov, Jan Lasak, Tomas Duba, Tony Salmelainen, Brady Murray

Prognosis: Suter is a rock and Daley is perhaps the fastest-skating defenceman on this list. Foy and Getzlaf have developed faster than expected and they have the good Mikhnov. Lasak hasn’t gotten his shot but could do well. Umberger is the wild card. Plus, they will draft in the top 5 for certain, and very likely at the top…look out.

8. WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Top 10: Mike Komisarek, Mark Stuart, Jakub Klepis, Andy Hilbert, Mike Morris, Rastislav Stana, Ari Ahonen, Tim Ramholt, Justin Papineau, Tomas Slovak

Prognosis: Washington has depth at every position. Komisarek and Stuart are both punishing physical defencemen that every team would love to have. Hilbert, Klepis, Morris and Papineau is a nice quartet up front – Hilbert and Papineau are ready now. Ahonen and Stana are both good goaltending futures. The real sleeper here is Swiss rearguard Ramholt, who has been a revelation for Cape Breton in the Q this year.

7. DALLAS STARS
Top 10: Mike Richards, Shaone Morrisonn, Jason Bacashihua, Toni Koivisto, Konstantin Glazachev, Doug Lynch, Ivan Huml, Jarrett Stoll, Kamil Kreps, Brett McLean

Prognosis: Thanks to Nashville for sending them Pitkanen, Ott, Sauve and Orpik, which has allowed them to not rush guys like Huml and Morrisonn. Dallas has a ton of young talent already contributing (the aforementioned four, plus Zidlicky, Nedorost, Hall and Sutherby) and there’s more on the way. Richards is a playmaking wizard, Lynch and Morrisonn are frontline defencemen, Bacashihua shows great promise and McLean is mature enough to be a top-6 forward for a weaker squad.

6. MONTREAL CANADIENS
Top 10: Ryan Malone, Tomas Fleischmann, Keith Ballard, Karel Pilar, Maxime Ouellet, Eric Nystrom, Jussi Jokinen, Tomas Plekanec, Jiri Bicek, Yannick Lehoux

Prognosis: Loaded with talent. Ouellet and Mika Noronen could be the 1-2 punch as early as next season. Malone would already be a front-liner for this team and Pilar could contribute to their blueline. Fleischmann’s buzz has continued to grow. Nystrom’s stock has cooled somewhat but he’s still got loads of talent. They already have a top rookie this year in Matthew Lombardi and Malone could be the next one.

5. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Top 10: Denis Grebeshkov, Matt Stajan, Robert Nilsson, Brad Boyes, Chris Kunitz, Josh Hennessy, Petr Vrana, Max Kondratiev, Jarkko Immonen, Eero Somervuori

Prognosis: Toronto’s traded away some good prospects this season (Ruutu, Cammalleri, Campbell, Jokinen), which is uncharacteristic, but has many more on the way. Grebeshkov is arguably the top defensive prospect in hockey, or certainly the one closest to being an impact player with Pitkanen already in the WCFHL. Stajan, Kunitz and Boyes all have tremendous potential, with Kunitz the most developed, Boyes the most talented and Stajan the most balanced of the three. Nilsson has struggled this season but a good summer would restore his glow. Vrana and Hennessy were both rated among the top 10 WCFHL prospects in the QMJHL last week by an independent scouting service. Immonen is a true sleeper, as his play for JYP of the Finnish League has been nothing short of brilliant. Wouldn’t hurt if Jamie Lundmark, Jeff Taffe and Ron Hainsey lived up to their hype.

4. FLORIDA PANTHERS
Top 10: Scottie Upshall, Corey Perry, Kirill Koltsov, Mike Cammalleri, Lukas Krajicek, Pavel Vorobiev, Tomas Kopecky, Gregory Campbell, Kiel McLeod, Christoph Brandner

Prognosis: The wheelin’ dealin’ Panthers have an excellent prospect base to make more trades with. They lack a goalie, but with Luongo they might not need another one. Talent from top to bottom in this organization, with Upshall as the crown jewel and Cammalleri the one most ready to contribute. Koltsov is oozing talent and everyone seems to want Perry, which can only be a good sign for the first-round selection.

3. SAN JOSE SHARKS
Top 10: Dustin Brown, Mathieu Garon, David Hale, Christian Backman, Jakub Koreis, Alexei Semenov, Loui Eriksson, Vesa Toskala, Mikhail Yakhubov, Kevin Klein

Prognosis: This rating is as much for depth as it is for quality, as the Sharks have both. These players may have to wait a while, as San Jose has the best young core of talent on their roster of any team, by far. Garon and Toskala are terrific goalies but must sit behind Kolzig and Kiprusoff. Hale, Semenov and Backman could all play for most teams now, but not the Sharks (Redden, Niedermayer, Kaberle, Lidstrom, etc.). There’s no true superstar left on their prospect list, but do they need another one? Not really. Just phenomenal trading, drafting and scouting by GM Mikael Svensson for several years now. Someone should pass his résumé to Glen Sather.

2. CAROLINA HURRICANES
Top 10: Braydon Coburn, Thomas Vanek, Shawn Belle, Paul Martin, Patrick O’Sullivan, Petr Kanko, Niklas Kronwall, Corey Locke, Lukas Mensator, Joakim Lindstrom

Prognosis: What a top four Coburn-Belle-Martin-Kronwall could someday become. Martin and Kronwall could be their #2 and #3 defencemen right away, behind DeVries. Vanek has slid a little in some eyes but O’Sullivan has shown why his talent was top-10 if his attitude was sub-par. Kanko and Locke can score from anywhere, and Belle skates like the wind. Mensator is all they have for a goalie, but with DiPietro and Conklin they might not need one for a long time.

1. BOSTON BRUINS
Top 10: Dion Phaneuf, Ryan Whitney, Zach Parise, Daniel Paille, Carlo Colaiacovo, Jim Slater, Mikko Koivu, Fedor Tjutin, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Anthony Stewart

Prognosis: This is what rebuilding teams like Philadelphia and Columbus should aspire to. They’re taking their lumps at the WCFHL level right now, but shouldn’t be for long. Look at that list of ten names and then add Hamhuis, Eminger, Leopold, Kobasew, Weinhandl, Frolov, Horton, Tallinder and Ryan Miller. Scary. Not much else to say, they’ve got more talent in their system than anyone else. Defence, scoring, well-rounded players and even two more first rounders to come this year.