Rank the Young Devils in the System for the 2016 AATJ Top 25 Under 25 List

Here we are entering the month of August with training camps and the World Cup of Hockey still a few weeks away from commencing. This year's training camp will give us a look at the young players in the Devils professional system and those that they hold the rights to that are still in juniors and college. This year's list will feature a lot of turnover as Ray Shero has made his mark on the organization over the past year. This year's list will have 17 new Devils under 25 in the system with 13 players departing the rankings. We will use a combination of rankings from the AATJ writers as well as a survey for the community to give their rankings. Join us for the 5th annual AATJ Top 25 Under 25 list.

Recap of 2015’s List

The Top 25 Under 25 list started in 2012 and has featured community involvement since 2013. Last year saw Adam Larsson take home the top spot followed by Damon Severson, Kyle Palmieri, Jon Merrill, and Pavel Zacha to round out the top 5. The rest of the top 10 included Eric Gelinas, Jacob Josefson, John Moore, Reid Boucher, and Steve Santini. We will certainly have a different top 10 and list this year with Larsson and Gelinas gone, Palmieri, Josefson, and Moore aged out, and the additions of Taylor Hall and a new draft class.

Here are the links to last year's posts on the Top 25 Under 25:

Top 5, 10-6, 15-11, 20-16, 25-21, and The Outsiders

New Additions

Ray Shero and his staff have clearly been busy over the past year adding young talent to the organization. This year's list will feature the 17 players above. Highlighted by the fantastic addition of Taylor Hall and supplemented with young NHL experience in Beau Bennett, Devante Smith-Pelly, and Brandon Gormley. Ken Appleby and Nick Lappin were undrafted free agents that have signed in the past year and have seen AHL action and they will be joined by ADevils signings Kevin Rooney and Jan Mandat. To cap it off, the most recent draft class of 9 prospects has brought new life into the rankings.

Departures

Players

The Survey

John has set up this survey where you can go and rank all 42 players. Please make sure to rank all 42 players to avoid any fringe prospects getting a high ranking over legitimate NHL players. The survey will last for roughly two weeks which should be ample time to get your rankings in. Casting your vote is as simple as clicking the drop down menu next to the player's name and choosing the ranking you feel they deserve. You can also drag and drop players into the rankings that you see fit. Once you have all 42 ranked, just hit the "done" button on the bottom. We'll start to post the results soon after that.

Voice your opinion on these players in the comments. Feel free to make a case for or against a player and debate with other Devils fans. Talk about your ranking strategy. Do you give players with more professional experience the edge or do you value potential higher? Thank you for reading and have fun ranking these players. I'm really interested to see what the AATJ writers and community can come up with together this year.