As there did not seem to be any more responses forthcoming, I tabulated the results and put together our composite list compiled from the responses to the fan poll. Between the comments on the post and a few email responses from my attempt to promote it on Twitter, we had 9 different lists. Not a great turnout, but not bad for our first try, and certainly better than trying to decide on our own who goes where. The lists were ranked from 1 to 25, with each player receiving 25 points for each 1st place vote on down to 1 point for each 25th place vote. The totals were then combined to get an average and the list sorted from high to low.
The predominant opinion seemed to be that the list should be made up of players under the age of 25 that had not yet graduated to the NHL, so nearly all of the lists reflected that same format. That means that a veteran NHL player like Brandon Sutter did not make the cut, as he has long since moved beyond being considered a prospect. One response did include the 3 rookies from last season: Beau Bennett, Simon Despres, and Robert Bortuzzo. However when combined with the other lists it wasn't enough for them to even crack the Top 25. However, if they had been considered in all lists, it is safe to assume Bennett would have been #1 or #2 overall and Despres would have made the Top 10. Bortuzzo probably would have made the list, but his placement would likely have been lower in a list that focused more on future player potential than current accomplishments.
There were also a few notable names that got a couple of votes, but not enough to manage to crack the list: Brian Gibbons, Paul Thompson, and Zach Sill. Of course they fall into that middle territory of players of recently (or soon to be) 25 years of age that are still rookies, so that may be one reason they didn't manage to make more peoples' lists. Of course the other explanation is that they are now "veterans" amongst our prospect pool, so we have already seen what they are capable of, and it doesn't appear to be more than fringe bottom on the lineup NHL or career AHL players.
Runners Up: In addition to those players listed above that got a limited number of votes, we have a few additional names that got a handful of votes but not enough to push them into the Top 25. This includes: Clark Seymour, Bobby Farnham, Ryan Segalla, Dane Birks, and for some strange reason a lone vote for Alexander Pechurski. But now, without further ado, we present to you the results.
Pittsburgh Penguins 2013 Pre-Season "Top 25 Prospects Under 25" Fan Poll Results
#25 - Blaine Byron
#24 - Matthew Murray
#23 - Bryan Rust
#22 - Scott Wilson
#21 - Reid McNeill
#20 - Sean Maguire
#19 - Dominik Uher
#18 - Nicholas D'Agostino
#17 - Josh Archibald
#16 - Tristan Jarry
#15 - Jake Guentzel
#14 - Harrison Ruopp
#13 - Matia Marcantuoni
#12 - Anton Zlobin
#11 - Eric Hartzell
#10 - Theodor Blueger
#9 - Tom Kuhnhackl
#8 - Philip Samuelsson
#7 - Oskar Sundqvist
#6 - Adam Payerl
#5 - Jayson Megna
#4 - Scott Harrington
#3 - Olli Maatta
#2 - Brian Dumoulin
#1 - Derrick Pouliot