One notable difference, but a lot of agreement this week.
Six more names were revealed this week, bringing us into the top 10. Last week we left off at number 14, William Villeneuve on both lists. There is no 13 on the official list because of a tie at 12th place, and that’s where we start today.
Official Vote
#12 Ty Voit in a tie vote (no, actually I’m not tired of this joke) impressed with a very good OHL season.
#12 Alex Steeves had some votes all over the middle of the list, but one person had him in the top 10. Steeves and Voit arrived 3.67 ranking points above Villeneuve, marking the biggest jump on the official list.
#11 Joey Anderson couldn’t crack the top 10, not even with NHL games in the books. However, he was ranked at 8th by one person, and finished nearly a full ranking point ahead of the 12s in average ranking.
#10 Pontus Holmberg caught our attention with a pair of solid SHL seasons, and a few AHL games last year. He’s in the top 10, and his votes came in a tight group between 9 and 12.
#9 Fraser Minten is a newly drafted prospect who vaults straight into the top 10. Last year Matt Knies debuted at 10th place with Mitch Marner still on the list.
#8 Nick Abruzzese just barely outranked Minten on the strength of a good pro debut after a long college career.
Community Vote
In our week two summary, the early signs of agreement between the two rankings were apparent. Now it’s blindingly obvious. Five of the six players on the list are the same, but we begin with one that was different.
#13 Victor Mete
There was a lot of talk in the Mete post (where he was ranked at 18) about his real value considering he might be lost on waivers, he’s almost too old, and he’s on his third NHL team. And yet the community vote had him significantly higher, essentially swapping him with Ty Voit compared to the official vote. He got a lot of votes in the top 10 as well, and he had an average ranking of 16.72, up a touch from Villeneuve’s 17.51.
#12 Pontus Holmberg
Ranked one place higher than Mete, but with over a full ranking point in average ranking between them, Holmberg was a full step up. Notice how the votes tightened up for Holmberg, as they did on the official list. His average ranking was 15.44.
#11 Joey Anderson
With another jump in ranking, Anderson came in with an average of 14.14.
#10 Alex Steeves
Only half a point ahead of Anderson, Steeves had an average ranking of 13.65.
#9 Nick Abruzzese
Abruzzese was almost a full point higher than Steeves with an average of 12.73.
#8 Fraser Minten
So close to Abruzzese in ranking at 12.62, it’s as near as this list gets to a tie.
For all the agreement between who is on the two lists, the Community Vote is still ranking everyone with a lower average than the official list. The big jumps have already happened on the official list with Holmberg coming in at exactly 10 in average ranking in 10th place. The top 10 aren’t spread evenly to number one, but they are unambiguously the top 10.
On the Community Vote, Steeves at 10th place has a ranking of 13.65, and there’s a big jump yet to come higher up the ranking order in what I consider a fairly surprising place. However, as is now obvious, the top seven players are identical on both lists.
Players seven through four will be revealed next week, a short week after Labour Day. See you Tuesday!