We are in the dregs of summer, so we take a critical look at the Winnipeg Jets organizational cupboards and highlight who we feel are the Jets’ “Top 20 Prospects” when looking at a combination of potential and probability of positive impact for the franchise.

We start our prospect profile with a cop out, and focus our attention on three collegiate players.

Scoring carries a huge premium value in our prospect profile series, as scoring is a huge indicator of future success both in predicting likelihood of becoming a bonafide NHL player and the potential impact ceiling. While we will be combining ceiling and safeness of the prospects, there will be an extra weighting given to ceiling as quality depth roster pieces are easily and cheaply obtainable through the NHL’s free agency market.

All three of these players are similar beyond their playing in the NCAA. They have not scored exceptionally well, but good enough to be real prospects, while carrying with them some attributes that make them intriguing prospects outside of just their point production.

There were some eyebrows raised when the Jets drafted Appleton in 2015. He was a second-time-eligible draftee who was unable to score over a point per game in the USHL as an 18-year-old, and was only sixth on his team in scoring.

Appleton was still an interesting prospect with his combination of tools. The 6’2 centre had NHL projectable size, while having some flashes of offensive flair. Appleton has demonstrated above average hockey IQ and vision. He has solid hands while consistently trying to make plays.

The issue with having tools and not scoring is that, while tools are nice, production is proof the player can put the tools together in a manner to outperform his similarly aged peers who are primarily composed of those who will never play pro-hockey, let alone the NHL.

Appleton showed though that he can produce in his freshman season in the NCAA. Splitting time as a centre and winger, Appleton put up around a point per game pace in college for the 2015 calander year. Unfortunately he did slow down significantly in the backhalf, finishing the season with a 0.59 point per game pace.

A 0.59 point per game pace places Appleton at a humble 41st overall for NCAA freshman scoring. He was, however, 9th in shot per game production, suggesting there may be even more untapped offensive potential in Appleton if he is able to push these shots to more dangerous scoring areas more often.

The pGPS model states that 9.3 per cent of the 387 players statistically similar to Appleton’s 2015-16 season in era-adjusted scoring and height made the NHL for 200 games or more. Despite his slow second half to the season, this actually represents an improvement of his PCS numbers (a model similar to pGPS since purchased by the Florida Panthers) by over a 100 percent.

Most of his successful comps peak as third-line or lower players, suggesting limited ceiling and therefore limited organizational value, but a third-line player would still be a significant win from a sixth round selection. Appleton’s likelihood of being a significant impact on the NHL team is small, but still there at 20-years-old.

The Jets selected Foley in the third round in 2015 at 78th overall. Foley, like Appleton, was an under point per game scorer in the USHL, who carried a low PCS rating for where he was drafted (although the Jets killed the rest of the draft in PCS). The winger differed from Appleton though with being well respected by third-party draft resources in their rankings.

Foley is a decent goalscorer who can drive to the net. While not overly tall, Foley is built solid and will often have larger players bounce off him. He also is a very strong skater, especially north-south. The winger is best known for both his agitative game, as an aggressive player who can get in the oppositions head. He also is highly thought of for his intangibles, in constantly being exalted for his strong leadership characteristics.

Foley fell behind in both points per game (50th) and shots per game (35th) for freshman players in the NCAA, but he is a year younger than his draft peer.

Foley has the same number of statistical cohorts who have made the NHL, although with a smaller pool of statistically similar players due to being younger. Because of this, Foley finds 15.1 percent of similar players have made the NHL for careers of at least 200 games played. This represents an increase and improvement from his eight percent PCS rating last year.

Like Appleton though, Foley also finds most of his cohorts being marginal players of low value. There are some who have carried impactful careers, but the Jets will be lucky if Foley hits his third-line ceiling.

Foley is a safer player, but has a low ceiling, which is why we find him tied with these other two at 20th overall.

C.J., also known as Clinston, Franklin was drafted by the Jets in the fifth round in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Franklin was then an overage draft selection who was passed over the two previous drafts. Franklin scored a near point per game pace as an older player in the USHL in his draft season, showing that he had offensive potential but was also older than much of his competition.

The winger is a crafty player who competes hard, making him fit well with the Jets other smaller players like Nic Petan and Chase DeLeo. Franklin has good speed and solid hands, but is not a very efficient cerebral player outside of puck distribution.

Franklin turned some heads though, scoring 28 points in his freshman season in only 37 games. He slowed down last year, with only 25 points in 41 games.

His low scoring as an older player in a non-pro league gives Franklin a low pGPS score, with only two percent of 1208 statistical comps making the NHL.

There are indications though that Franklin could be more productive than what pGPS thinks with his raw scoring numbers. While Franklin’s point per game pace fell, Franklin’s goal and primary assist rates actually improved over the last season. The 22-year-old’s largest problem was a huge fall in secondary assists, which tend to be highly volatile in smaller sample sizes.

This potential undervaluing of the pGPS model, and the fact that many in the Jets’ organization have been happy with the forward’s growth, is why Franklin sits here as well at 20th overall.