You can probably chalk this one up – at least partially – to my self-professed hockey naivete.

Hockey Prospectus came out with its first-ever organizational “prospect” rankings this past week, ranking the Dallas Stars 28th out of 30 NHL teams in terms of its prospects.

Essentially, Hockey Prospectus doesn’t appear willing to part with much of its paycheck at the betting window based on the caliber of kids who aren’t yet on Dallas’s roster.

And, since Idaho is Dallas’s ECHL affiliate, that caught my attention.

So I decided to scroll through the players that H.P. (not Hewlett Packard) tabbed as Dallas’s top ten prospects.

Forward Reilly Smith, who just completed his sophomore season at Miami of Ohio, was tops on the list. He was followed by Scott Glennie, the team’s top draft pick in 2009. Jamieson Oleksiak, this year’s top selection, is number three, followed by Philip Larsen, Alex Chiasson, and Brenden Dillon at 4-5-6. Seventh is goaltender Jack Campbell, Dallas’s top pick in 2010, eighth is defenseman Patrik Nemeth. Colton Sceviour is ninth and John Klingberg is tenth.

Two things jumped out to me – (1) No former Steelheads on the list, and (2) No Tyler Beskorowany (which is technically covered by no. 1, but I felt it warranted its own notation). Let’s address them in reverse order.

First, former Steelheads’ goaltender Tyler Beskorowany’s omission from the list. “Besko,” Dallas’s second-round pick in 2008, split the 2010-11 season between the ECHL and the AHL, his first season as a professional. He has prototypical goaltender size (a legit 6-foot-5) and came out of a strong junior-hockey league in the Ontario Hockey League.

Um, pardon me for asking, what else could he have done to warrant inclusion? He absolutely dominated the ECHL level – one Western Conference coach voted Beskorowany as the league’s MVP despite the fact he only played 20 games at this level – with a .928 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average. He played 18 games in the American Hockey League, which is the highest level of minor-league hockey in North America, and cooled all the way down to a .921 save percentage and 2.58 goals-against average. If he had played enough games, he would have been tops in the ECHL in save percentage and top-ten in the AHL. He was selected for the ECHL All-Star team and was named the ECHL’s goaltender of the month in January. He pitched a shutout in his first professional start with the Steelheads and later had an AHL shutout as well.

PS – he’s 20 years old. Twenty.

In a system that, according to Hockey Prospectus, is weaker than the quality of professional baseball in Tibet, a player with those credentials can’t even crack the top ten?

Color me confused.

So let’s take a closer look at the ten players Hockey Prospectus selected. Above and beyond the “no Steelheads” thing, which shouldn’t come as a great shock (I’ll explain why in a moment), one key thing caught my attention – six of the ten aren’t even in the Stars minor-league system yet, and don’t figure to be this coming hockey season. Smith, Oleksiak, Campbell, Chiasson, Nemeth, and Klingberg all appear to be slated to play in college, juniors, or overseas.

Translation: of the ten, only four are actually available to the parent club at this point.

That could either be a really good or really bad thing, depending on your point of view. If your glass is half-empty, you’re asking “are the guys we have really so bad that players who aren’t even pros yet already grading out as better players?” If your glass is half-full, you say “when these players start joining the Stars organization in the next year or two, the mother ship could be primed for a MAJOR jump in the standings.”

There are arguments on both sides and I’m not a scout, so I’ll leave that debate alone. It isn’t uncommon for teams to draft players and then follow them through juniors or college – like the Stars did with Beskorowany – you just hope they grow and develop at a good pace so they can hit the ground running when they get into your system.

It shouldn’t be a great surprise that no Steelheads made the list. Generally-speaking, the best prospects bypass the ECHL level altogether. It’s not a universal truth (see: Beskorowany, Tyler), but teams usually send their top prospects either straight to the NHL or to the AHL. Players assigned to the ECHL usually come her e to improve elements of their game. The Stars knew Tristan King could score, but they wanted him to become a better two-way player. Next stop, Idaho.

Highly-touted goaltenders can see time at this level (see: Beskorowany, Tyler) because there are a limited number of goaltender spots available in any given system. Two in Dallas, two in Texas, and two in Idaho. So, in Dallas’s case, you have Kari Lehtonen signed to a big deal with the parent club, a solid young goaltender in Richard Bachman in Texas, and you want to get Beskorowany on the ice. He’s young, you want him to play. Next stop (at least for 20 games), Idaho. If Brent Krahn could have stayed healthy in the AHL, it would have been longer.

Speaking of Bachman, was he not included in H.P.’s list because he’s 5-foot-10? Sooner or later, someone is going to realize that the dude just stops pucks. Isn’t that what you want a goalie of any height to do?

Anyway, the players who come to Idaho are developmental players. They’re players with specific skills that need to be polished. So they’ll sometimes be overlooked next to the shinier, glitzier top picks that head straight to the AHL. Does that mean Matt Tassone has no chance to play in the NHL? Absolutely not. It just means his ladder is one rung taller than some other players.

After all, the Steelheads have seen more than 15 move on from Idaho to the National Hockey League. At some point, prospect list or no prospect list, Beskorowany will add to the number of alums to pull on an NHL sweater.

So take the list for what it is … a list. It makes for fun conversation and a lot of “what if’s,” but players aren’t promoted or demoted based on their ranking on Hockey Prospectus.

Which NHL prospects will be assigned to the Idaho Steelheads this coming season? Find out starting on October 15 in downtown Boise as Idaho plays its home opener against the Utah Grizzlies. Ticket packages begin at just $275 per seat for all 36 home games – call 108.383.0080 and ask to speak to an account executive to make sure you have your tickets!