The 30th ranking is fair, but excluding Lauko from his list kinda cuts into his credibility. In the comments he says not includinf Lauko wasn’t an oversight, he’s just “not fond” of the player. The other prospect guy over there, Pronman, had Lauko as the Bruins 7th ranked prospect. Wheeler can’t fit him in the top 15? He’s got time for Joona Koppanen, who admittedly is having a decent year, but ultimately is a 21 year old with 11 goals in 83 career AHL games, but doesn’t for Lauko? He’s a 19 year old coming off a PPG season in the Q, and the Memorial Cup’s leading scorer in his first season playing in North America. He’s got 4-4=8 in 18 games in his first pro year as one of the youngest players in the AHL who has missed a lot of time with injuries. Hell, Wheeler includes Pavel Shen who is a similar spot but has less production, 7 points in 27 games.
The Bruins system isn’t littered with blue chip, can’t miss prospects so I understand and agree with a low overall system ranking. They have some intriguing players and seem to prefer drafting low ceiling, high floor types which will always lead to poor rankings by prospect writers. That said, failing to include Lauko at all makes me wonder how much these prospect guys actually watch the players. It is like he watched 1 Providence game which Lauko probably missed because he’s dealt with injured and decided that was it.