- Five of the 10 biggest prospects in hockey belong to the Utah Mammoth
- Ilya Protas tops the list at 6-foot-5 after leading every AHL rookie in scoring
- Read below for the full 10 and which of these giants open the year in the NHL
Utah has spent two drafts collecting giants, and the receipt showed up this week.
Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff ranked the 10 best NHL prospects standing 6-foot-5 or taller, and five of them belong to the Mammoth. A couple more just missed the cut.
The name at the top is not one of theirs. Ilya Protas went first, and Washington earned it. The 20-year-old winger put up 29 goals and 66 points in 69 games with Hershey to lead all AHL rookies last season, then chipped in four points in four NHL games skating next to older brother Aliaksei.
Ellis has him pegged as a difference-maker right away at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds. His first NHL goal in April was the scouting report in one clip:
Sebastian Cossa is the highest Mammoth name at No. 2. Detroit shipped the 6-foot-6 goalie to Utah on June 26 for a first-round pick, and he opens the season behind Karel Vejmelka. Michael Hrabal, 6-foot-7 and coming off a .937 save percentage in college, lands seventh, which gives one franchise two of the best young goalies in the sport.
Ethan Belchetz sits third. Utah took the 6-foot-5 winger 17th overall in June out of Windsor, and Ellis nicknamed him the Chaos Conductor for the way he runs people over before he shoots. Here is Belchetz on the night the Mammoth called his name:
Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But finish the Utah group at fifth and ninth. Both are 6-foot-5, both got a taste of NHL games last season, and Ellis expects Simashev to start on the third pair and push his way up.
New Jersey owns two. Anton Silayev, the 6-foot-7 defenseman who signed his entry-level deal in June, ranks sixth and gets his first year in North America. Goalie Mikhail Yegorov is eighth and returns to Boston University.
Here is the full 10:
- 1. Ilya Protas, LW, Capitals: 6-foot-5, led all AHL rookies with 66 points
- 2. Sebastian Cossa, G, Mammoth: 6-foot-6, 26 wins and five shutouts in Grand Rapids
- 3. Ethan Belchetz, LW, Mammoth: 6-foot-5, 17th overall pick in June
- 4. Malte Gustafsson, D, Islanders: 6-foot-4, mobile SHL defender
- 5. Dmitri Simashev, D, Mammoth: 6-foot-5, 35 points in the AHL
- 6. Anton Silayev, D, Devils: 6-foot-7, first season in North America
- 7. Michael Hrabal, G, Mammoth: 6-foot-7, .937 save percentage in college
- 8. Mikhail Yegorov, G, Devils: 6-foot-5, back at Boston University
- 9. Daniil But, LW, Mammoth: 6-foot-5, seven points in 29 NHL games
- 10. Dean Letourneau, C, Bruins: 6-foot-7, 39 points in 36 NCAA games
Letourneau is the best story of the bunch. He scored zero goals as a Boston College freshman, then put up 22 goals and 39 points in 36 games as a sophomore and finished second on the team in scoring behind James Hagens.
Cossa is the closest of the group to a real NHL job. Protas is the one who might not need to wait at all.
