Hockey's Future Ranks The Caps' Prospects

Hockey's Future has released it's current ranking of the Caps' Top 20 Prospects, and Karl Alzner makes his debut all the way up at number two (Nicklas Backstrom is number one).

Obviously Eric Fehr's back and Simeon Varlamov's sparkling 5.25 GAA and .741 save percentage at the Super Series haven't scared HF too much, as they are ranked third and fourth, respectively. Also of note, given that Jeff Schultz has already shown that he's able to handle himself at the NHL level, the fact that he's only ranked 8th 11th speaks to the quality of the high-end talent in the system (either that or a lack of appreciation for Schultz's game).

Here's a quick look at the Top 20 (click through for a paragraph on each), with their previous rank in parens:

1. (1) Nicklas Backstrom, C
2. (NR) Karl Alzner, D
3. (2) Eric Fehr, RW
4. (3) Semen Varlamov, G
5. (4) Francois Bouchard, C/RW
6. (6) Michal Neuvirth, G
7. (5) Tomas Fleischmann, LW
8. (10) Keith Seabrook, D
9. (7) Chris Bourque, F
10. (11) Oskar Osala, LW
11. (8) Jeff Schultz, D
12. (17) Mathieu Perreault, C
13. (NR) Josh Godfrey, D
14. (NR) Teddy Ruth, D
15. (9) Patrick McNeill, D
16. (NR) Phil DeSimone, C
17. (14) Sasha Pokulok
18. (15) Andrew Gordon, RW
19. (12) Sami Lepisto, D
20. (16) Travis Morin, C