One of the things that I enjoy the most about the annual Top 25 Under 25 feature is monitoring how the prospects move up and down the team’s depth chart: watching Drake Batherson progress from being a relatively unheralded fourth round pick to a top flight prospect just waiting to breakout in the NHL is the best kind example of this. A+ development track? We love to see it.
When Batherson first appeared on our Top 25 Under 25 list in 2017, he clocked in at 21st. He was just months removed from being drafted as a 19 year-old, and though there was some promise about him there was also a lot of uncertainty.