Welcome back to The Journey, where we follow hockey prospects and their paths to the NHL, providing fantasy predictions and analysis along the way.

In this week's edition, we will review July's Top 200 Fantasy Prospect Forwards and evaluate the prospects who have improved their value the most in the past few months, by taking a look at their most recent rankings and comparing them with those of May and June. We will then look at the forwards whose rankings have taken a nosedive, and analyze the reasons behind their drop in value.

The top 10 has seen a bit of movement, as one player was added and one was removed, along with important changes in the order. The #1 prospect in the NHL now has a different name, and he is first up on the list of risers.

Risers:

Cole Caufield, RW – Montréal Canadiens

Caufield steals the top prospect throne from Trevor Zegras after a wonderful 2021 playoff run with the Canadiens, helping them along to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance with 12 points in 20 games. He was involved in multiple key moments throughout the first two series, earning primary assists on overtime-winners against Toronto and Winnipeg, but was goalless heading into the third round. He finished the series against Vegas with four goals and was a key player for the Habs, even throughout their final loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Caufield is almost guaranteed a spot next to Nick Suzuki on the first line, and is Calder-eligible this year. His place at first in the top-200, along with his quick rise in value in the past two months, are both fully merited.

May: 5         June: 2          July: 1

Alex Newhook, C – Colorado Avalanche

Newhook cracks the top five after two solid months in which he managed to earn an NHL call-up on one of the most stacked teams in the league. In his first four games, Newhook had three assists and looked decent, but only earned a goal and an assist in his next 10 games. He notably suffered a back injury during the playoffs which kept him off for a week. He still showed NHL-readiness in the games he played, and has an entire offseason to come back healthy and ready to grab a middle-six role with the Avs.

May: 12         June: 6          July: 4

Connor McMichael, C – Washington Capitals

The newest addition to the top 10, McMichael makes the list after earning 27 points in 33 games at the AHL level. He began the year with a strong showing at the World Juniors, earning nine points in eight games for Canada, but his season with the Hershey Bears solidified his spot among the top-10 forward prospects, as he was routinely one of the most dynamic players on the ice. His playmaking and his shot combined with high-end skating abilities make for a translatable toolset, and the Capitals prospect took off after the start of May, earning nine points in seven AHL games. His place in the team's NHL lineup is not guaranteed, but is not far from it either.

May: 17         June: 15          July: 7

Jack Dugan, LW – Vegas Golden Knights

Dugan goes from the 60th rank right into the top 25 after an impressive showing with the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights, as the winger earned 33 points in 37 games in his rookie season as a professional. He looked dynamic and powerful, had a high sense of his surroundings and was even more comfortable in pressure situations, earning four points in five AHL playoff games. He is a late bloomer at 23 years old, but he could make the Knights' roster out of training camp or perhaps be a call-up option throughout the 2021-2022 season.

May: 70         June: 60          July: 24

Shane Pinto, C – Ottawa Senators

Now the 25th name on the forward list, Pinto was well outside of the top-100 two months ago. In that span, however, the forward made a name for himself with seven points in 12 NHL games with the Sens, who showed no hesitation to put him in their top defensive role in spurts throughout his stint with the team. In the six games he played after May 1, he earned five points, which truly put him on the map as one of the top forward prospects in the game. He should continue to assume defensive responsibilities for the Sens as he is already proficient in that aspect, and will likely gradually see his offensive ice-time raised as the team's season goes on.

May: 123         June: 80          July: 25

Nolan Foote, LW – New Jersey Devils

Foote's 2021 season began with the Binghamton Senators in the AHL, where he earned 17 points in 24 games as a rookie. A 6-4 winger with goal-scoring ability and pro-level smarts, Foote quickly earned a call-up to the Devils' main roster, earning a goal and an assist in six games. His NHL stint, along with the Devils' need for supporting wingers on Hischier and Hughes' flanks, make his rise in the forward rankings a logical one. Expect to see him compete for the team's bottom-six winger roles and possibly claw himself into the top-six if he performs well.

May: 102         June: 90          July: 69

Fallers:

Samuel Fagemo, RW – Los Angeles Kings

The Kings' second-round pick in 2019 finally made it to North America in 2021, as he joined the Ontario Reign in the AHL and played 32 games, earning 18 points. A shoot-first winger with creativity and skill, Fagemo struggled to match the scoring pace of forwards ahead of him in the rankings, and fell off slightly as a result. His end-of-season production improved with five points in seven games, but the Swede has work to do on and off the puck to catch up to his peers. Another year or two in the AHL will allow him to fine-tune his game and adapt to North American ice.

May: 46         June: 38          July: 72

Noel Gunler, RW – Carolina Hurricanes

Gunler's SHL production in 2021 did not impress too much, with 15 points in 39 games at the Swedish top level. He was traded from Brynäs to Luleå throughout the season and improved with his new team, but remained at a level of inconsistency that slid him down a few ranks. The prospects ahead of him in the rankings simply showed more regularly their top-form talent. If Gunler can bounce back with a strong 2021-2022 SHL season, he could disprove the doubts in his game, but for now he takes a slide.

May: 51         June: 46          July: 81

Jonathan Dahlén, LW – San Jose Sharks

The most productive player in Sweden's second division finds himself dropped out of the top 80. Despite his strong production level at the moment, there are questions as to how efficiently his game will translate to NHL ice. As Jack Han detailed in one of his prospect breakdowns, Dahlén doesn't show the tendency to challenge opponents and solve problems, opting rather for the first outlet for pressure that he'll see. In the offensive zone, he makes little attempts to gain the middle, and keeps his feet anchored when tracking play away from the puck on both sides of the play. If these issues are apparent at the Allsvenskan level, they are sure to be in North America, where these types of deficiencies are exacerbated by smaller ice surfaces.

May: 63         June: 56          July: 83

Dominik Bokk, RW – Carolina Hurricanes

Bokk was previously close to a spot in the top 50, but now finds himself outside the top 100 after a lackluster AHL season with no discernible improvement to his game as the season went on. The hope was that he would adapt to North American hockey after a couple of games in his rookie season this year, but he ended the year with 19 points in 28 games. A first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2018, Bokk plays a goal-scoring game with refined skill and one-on-one ability, but his routes and habits show some flaws that need correcting. Another AHL year for the German winger will help him iron out the wrinkles in his game.

May: 62         June: 55          July: 102

Tyler Benson, LW – Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers' second-round pick of 2016 has yet to play more than seven NHL games, and started the 2020-2021 campaign in Switzerland, earning 19 points in 15 games. He then returned to Bakersfield in the AHL when the league reopened, earning a point per game in 36 games and not seeing any part of the Oilers' NHL season. He falls outside of the top 100 due to stagnating performances (he earned similar numbers in his rookie year, back in 2018-2019) and the fact that he is 23 years of age. If his production improves this year, he should earn a spot in the NHL, which will allow for a better picture of his projectability as a forward.

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