2022 NHL Draft Final Rankings - Top 100
After scouting this draft class for the entire year, here is my final ranking with explanations and analysis for each ranking and player.
With the draft less than a week away, I couldn’t delay releasing my final top-100 rankings, as much as I wanted to. This year’s class may lack the high-end talent we saw in 2020 and which will be available next year, but the grouping of players that I have ranked between 13 and 54, ranging from Jagger Firkus to Elias Salomonsson, are all viable first-round selections, in my mind. This cluster includes players whose floors — in my view — are as high as third-line contributor and of #4 defenceman, while others offer more uncertain projections but possess ceilings that could bring them as high as a complimentary first-line winger or a complimentary #2 defenceman. Weighing the pros and cons of each player, their upsides, their floors, their projections, their ages, and their likely development paths proved especially challenging in this range.
Whereas my top 12 has separated itself from the pack, my rankings past 54 are made up of players whose upsides are rather low or who are difficult to project to the NHL with any certainty. The strength in this class rests within its quantity of B+ prospects, many of whom could be available through the third round and into the early fourth, but once they’re off the board teams are going to need to really hedge their bets on players with as many flaws as they have strengths and hope that their development teams can mould them into the best versions of themselves.
This is my first year of going all-in with scouting, and it has been a continuous learning process. Game reports that I wrote at the start of the season are painful to read for me now, because of how little valuable analysis was noted, with certain reports almost resembling a play-by-play, something which I thankfully moved on from quickly. The work I put into this has already paid off, too, as I joined the Dobber Prospects Draft team as a scout in late May and took part in the team’s final ranking meeting in a crossover role. Next year, I will scout the OHL, which I am already very excited about.
As my rankings will make obvious, I have a pretty clear scouting ideology, which is sure to further evolve and develop, the more time I spend doing this. As of now, I put a lot of value into players who could potentially be real needle movers at the NHL level. Whether that be a first-line centre, a minute-munching defenceman who tilts the ice in his team’s favour, or a middle-six Swiss Army knife like Artturi Lehkonen, I’m interested in players that will either drive play for their team or who can valuably complement those who do. My view is that undersized players who check these boxes are routinely undervalued by NHL teams and slip in the draft as a result, which is why I’ve been singing the praises of guys like Lane Hutson, Frank Nazar, Vladimir Grudinin, and Jagger Firkus.
One last note, before I jump into the rankings, most NHL teams don’t even reach their 70th ranked player by the 7th round, and considering that I’ll draft in Montreal’s stead prior to each of their selections, I doubt I’ll reach 80. As a result, the players I have ranked between 80 and 100 aren’t necessarily players I’d push for at the draft, even in the seventh round, but they have demonstrated enough interesting qualities to stand out from the rest of the pack for me, and I wouldn’t be opposed to picking any of them late in the draft, even if I wouldn’t push for them. You can find my “team” of “drafted” players from the past two drafts here, which I will add to in a week’s time.
I will also link to each player’s Elite Prospects profile so that you can easily access all of their stats, average rankings, and sizes at the click of a button.
Tier 10: Late swings on third-line upside
100. Lucas Edmonds,*** RW
Let’s bookend my rankings with the Kingston Frontenacs’ two top scorers this season. Edmonds is in his final year of draft eligibility and racked up the points this season after playing the last years in Sweden. The skill is clear, his handling ability is the basis of his entire game. He can draw in opponents and beat them with a quick move, making it look easy. But he relied on his maturity relative to his competition to produce. This advantage allowed him to out-wait his opponents regularly, but this won’t be an option at the professional level with his quality of tools. His value starts and ends with his hands, as his shot is about average, he thinks the game decently but not outstandingly, and his defensive work rate is often non-existent. He’ll be drafted, but I doubt he makes the NHL despite the dazzling hands.
99. Mathew Ward, LW
Ward is an undersized skilled playmaker who depends on having space to truly excel. This is due to his subpar skating ability, which doesn’t allow his feet to keep up with his hands and brain. He thinks the play well and find soft ice better than most WHL players, but he does have a tendency to force plays when they’re no there. In my final viewing of Ward this season, he passed the puck into defenders’ skates or sticks six times off the rush, with each one leading to a turnover. Ward has, however, shown his ability to elevate his game when playing with more highly-skilled linemates, as his mind keeps up with their creativity and foresight, as we saw at the U18’s.
98. Cole Spicer, C
The USNTDP always features some fun players on their third line who get drafted late due to their small samples. Devin Kaplan is the one that gets me excited this year, but Spicer demonstrated enough projectable elements to his game to squeak onto my final list. Spicer is more of a goalscorer than he is a playmaker, and his quick release is a danger from close range. While his motor is good, his skating mechanics are below average. But it is his defensive activity rate, positioning, and intelligence that cemented his spot in my top 100. His responsibility in his own end could very well elevate him into a fourth-line role in five or six years with a full four years of development in college.
97. Bryce McConnell-Barker, C
BMB is one of the slowest players I have ranked. His forward stride is ugly and lacks efficiency. He’s also a player who lacks the skill most need to succeed in a third-line NHL role. But the hockey mind behind these limited tools is a really strong one. BMB is the glue of his line, play flows through him and he dictates the pace at which it plays. He consistently gets open to provide an outlet for his teammates and makes the simple but right play in transition more often than not. In the offensive zone, he gets most of his production by reading the play well and anticipating when he needs to strike to whack in a rebound or get open in a defender’s blind spot in the heart of the slot. If he spends significant time with a high-end skating coach, he could *maybe* turn into a third-line centre, which would be gold this late in the draft.
96. Justin Côté, RW
Côté is a player I wanted to fall in love with but just didn’t. His goalscoring is the only reason to draft him, but it’s enough of a standout skill for me to rank him on my board. Côté’s release is quick and precise. He loves to drift into the lower slot and score from in tight. He’s also a legitimate threat on the power play, and if he makes the NHL, he’ll be a valuable shooter on a second power-play unit. However, despite this ability, Côté is really difficult to project to the NHL. He really struggles to play under physical pressure, which is, by far, the most important ability for undersized players to succeed in the NHL. He also offers little defensive value, while being a straight-line factor in transition, rarely weaving East to West, and he lacks deception.
95. Samuel Savoie, C
Savoie is a player I dismissed at first when I went to a handful of Olympiques games early in the season but circled back to in the last few months. He lacks the skill that is expected from high QMJHL draft selections and he isn’t dynamic or manipulative. But he is an effective ball of violent determination. Despite his slightly undersized profile, Savoie plays a fiercely physical game, finishing his hits and driving the middle lane whether defences want him to or not. Pair this with a smart and effective defensive game and upside as a forechecker, and it isn’t difficult to see Savoie in a fourth-line NHL role in a few years’ time. But if he can turn his inside game into improved production on rebounds and tips, he could be a valued third-line complement to more skilled linemates as a gritty winger who does all the dirty work.
94. Antonin Verreault, LW
The highest-ranked of this QMJHL trio, Verreault’s projection to the NHL is a far bigger question mark than Savoie’s but his skillset is clear enough to carve out a spot on this list. He’s a shifty undersized winger who can be invisible for large portions of a game and then take control of a shift displaying good hands, great vision, and a high motor, leaving you wondering why these flashes aren’t more consistent. At his best, Verreault’s play is one of controlled chaos, he drives the middle lane despite his small frame, tenaciously dives at rebounds, and pulls off a dangle or a pass that you typically only see from players who go in the top two rounds. He is also the primary distributor on Gatineau’s top power-play unit, the play flows through him and he dictates its pace. Most of the time though, Verreault is a perimeter playmaker and inactive in the defensive zone.
93. Alexander Perevalov, LW
Perevalov is ranked far higher on many boards and is at 39 on Bob McKenzie’s final consensus rankings, but he’s in my bottom tier, why? Well, it’s impossible to deny the skill he possesses and the production he had in the MHL. His handling ability is his greatest strength, he is a very adaptable handler, as his hands are independent of his feet. His agility and decent motor complement this strength and make him an able puck carrier. His big limitation is his on-ice awareness. He has a good shot but he struggles to find the pockets of space in the offensive zone to use it. Considering that the MHL is a league with next to no defensive systems, if he struggles to find space to drift into at this level, it’s a huge red flag for his projection. This lack of awareness is equally an issue when he carries the puck, as he skates directly into pressure and can struggle to sense pressure coming from behind him. The skill is still enough to cement his spot on my list, however, as if he develops his awareness significantly, he could possibly become a second-line contributor, but it’s a real long shot in my view.
92. Nicholas Moldenhauer, RW
Moldenhauer is, in a sense, the foil to Perevalov. His sense of space and timing as well as his off-puck offensive movement is the strongest aspect of his game. He attacks soft ice in the offensive zone with great intelligence, and he has the shooting mechanics and soft hands to execute on his chances. The biggest question mark for me is his consistency, a bit like with Verreault, Moldenhauer was kind of just there for many of his shifts not actively doing much of significance on the ice. Despite this regular passive play, his ability to read coverage and evolving defensive structures and to execute upon those reads, often in the middle of the slot, is a highly-projectable skill that I don’t want to bet against, so he’s got a spot on the list.
91. Reid Schaeffer, LW
While Perevalov might fall from his projected second-round selection due to his passport, Schaeffer might go as early as the back half of the first round due to his goalscoring ability and size, a combination that just about every NHL team values tremendously. He uses this size, too, as he happily throws his weight around at the WHL level to separate opponents from the puck. He also has surprisingly soft hands in tight space, which really facilitate his shooting game. He’s also a reliable defensive player, with sound positioning and an active stick. My main concern with his projection is his utter lack of dynamism and his limitation to straight-line attacks that are not particularly difficult to defend. He is a non-factor in transition, and his lack of creativity and diverse skating patterns in the offensive zone really limit his offensive upside. Still, he’s a relatively easy projection for a fourth-line role with his combination of net-front ability, size, and defensive responsibility, and with significant improvements in processing, forethought, and creativity, he could become a useful third liner.
90. Alexander Suzdalev, LW
Suzdalev has a great and diverse shot, enhanced by sound mechanics, and really quick hands. That’s where the value is with this player, as there is little other reason to draft him apart from betting on these two overlapping and standout skills. He’s a hunched skater who struggles to generate much straight-line speed because of a fairly shallow stride and his lack of agility somewhat limits the effectiveness of his hands, as he isn’t as deceptive as he could be, due to his rigid hips when in motion. His motor isn’t particularly high and his playmaking game is limited by his subpar scanning for teammates, both in its frequency and effectiveness. But on the sliver of a chance that he develops into a dynamic second-line sniper, I had to place him near the top of this tier of flawed forwards.
89. Ludwig Persson, LW
Persson produced at an excellent rate in the Swedish U20 league this season, which was due to his great playmaking ability from the perimeter and his understanding of offensive timing and spacing, which allowed him to drift into prime scoring areas undetected when defenders had their backs turned. While his shot projects as NHL average at best, he was able to get to high danger areas regularly enough to score 25 goals in 41 games. On top of this, he is a decent skater and has a decent level of skill and handling ability. Most of his tools are average, while the hockey sense, specifically in the offensive zone is his standout quality. However, Persson almost never attacks the middle lane and struggles to retain his level of effectiveness under physical pressure, which casts significant doubt on how his game will translate to the NHL.
Tier 9: Mishmash of High-Floor and High(ish)-Upside Prospects
88. Jake Karabela, C
Karabela is my second-highest ranked of the three Guelph forwards likely to get drafted this year, Matthew Poitras did not crack my top 100. He’s also the flashiest of the three, with the third player being Danny Zhilkin. Karabela’s skill shines brightest when surrounded by high-pace line-mates, which was certainly the case at the CHL top prospects game, where he was one third of the game’s best line, along with Jagger Firkus and Owen Beck, two players I like a lot. In that performance, Karabela’s puck-handling opened up space for his line-mates to exploit and drew pressure away from the two goal-scorers. He’s also a refined defensive forward already. Despite these positives, the skill is often limited to flashes, he has a low activity rate in the offensive zone, preferring to glide around than to move his feet, and he is very much a perimeter player who struggles to attack the slot and the middle lane.
87. Vinzenz Rohrer, C
I watched a lot of Vinny Rohrer this year… maybe too much. I went to over twenty 67’s games this season, as I was just a short walk away from Lansdowne, and the amount of viewings I had of the team’s most highly-touted 2022 prospect may have made it easier for me to poke holes in his game than with other players, but I just couldn’t put him higher than the mid-80s. Rohrer is one of the best forecheckers I’ve seen in this class, with a consistently high motor and tenacity, he really hounds the puck in the offensive zone. He’s also a capable defensive player, who brings intelligent positioning and the same intensity to the defensive zone. But I am of the mind that the offence is really limited. His shot is average, at best, though he will score some goals by finding soft ice in the offensive zone, and his playmaking ability is probably a bit better than his 23 assists would indicate, but neither aspect is particularly notable. His hands are his best tool, they keep up with his feet and while he won’t pull off highlight-reel moves, he’s a fairly dangerous OHL player with the puck on his stick and cutting through defensive layers. In the end, Rohrer projects as a 4th line checking forward.
86. Brady Stonehouse, RW
Yeah, Rohrer isn’t my highest ranked 67’s player in this class. Brady Stonehouse’s ceiling isn’t any higher than Rohrer’s, and I’m not convinced that his floor is higher either, but watching Stonehouse play hockey was routinely the most entertaining aspect of going to 67’s games, something I’m sure my friend Nolan could attest to. Stonehouse’s on-ice personality is a near mirror image to Brady Tkachuk’s, he’s just an absolute pest who gets under the skin of his opponent’s without even trying. Despite being 5’9”, Stonehouse plays a physical brand of hockey, finishing his checks and being very strong on the puck. By the end of the season, he was promoted to the first line to play with Jack Beck and his offence really took off when given this quality ice time. His offensive reads became more refined and his consistent drives to the net with the puck began to see more success. Stonehouse plays at a high pace and constantly attacks the middle. His defensive play has a long way to go, not for lack of effort, but I still believe he could peak as a perennial fourth-line fan favourite who makes checking hockey fun as hell to watch.
85. Jake Livanavage, LD
The more I watched the Chicago Steel play this season, the more I came to appreciate Jake Livanavage’s game. He is at his best as a passer with space to work with, so he excels in transition and as a power-play quarterback. On the power-play, he activates regularly and is an effective playmaker when cutting up along the boards, often sending a pass to the slot from the half-wall. His offensive effectiveness is far more muted at even strength, where he struggles to read and pass through multiple layers of defenders when pressured. His defensive game is a work in progress, but there were enough flashes of strong reads and good habits for NHL teams to trust their development teams to mould him into a decent bottom-pairing defenceman with PP2 upside.
84. Hunter Haight, C
Haight is one of the case studies this year that really challenged me to weigh tools vs sense. He’s a gifted puck-handler, an excellent perimeter playmaker, and has an above-average shot in this class. He’s certainly a candidate to have a breakout season in the OHL next year. However, while I think he could absolutely dominate in a junior setting, I really struggle to project him to the NHL with his lack of awareness, scanning, and overall hockey sense. He’s an inconsistent scanner, but whether he scans or not rarely changes his decisions, as if he doesn’t process the information he should gather through his scans. He’s also regularly caught off guard with the puck when a back-checker catches up to his and pickpockets him. I’d be less concerned about this lack of awareness if he were a better skater, but he rates at just under average to me, and the lack of a separation gear hurt his transition game a lot this season. I still have him ranked higher than players I prefer watching because the upside is quite significant — maybe second line wing — if he can surmount this huge obstacle.
83. Beau Jelsma, LW
Another pair of teammates go back-to-back. Jelsma is a very different player to Haight, and his ceiling is undoubtedly lower, but I think the discrepancy in NHL likelihood is large enough to rank Jelsma just a bit higher — plus, his name is just way cooler. Jelsma has one of the draft’s highest motors. It’s so high, in fact, that despite his relatively unrefined stride, he’s also one of the faster players in the class, his stride rate is just that high; it’s a rare case of quantity > quality. As a result, he’s an excellent and willing forechecker, retrieving pucks at an elite rate. He’s also a strong defensive player. His positioning isn’t the most consistent, but his intensity and relentless pressuring of the puck carrier makes him a very effective F1. His shot isn’t anything special, but he can score quite a few goals by sprinting to the dirty areas and just whacking at loose pucks. If his development goes well, Jelsma could be a valuable checking forward on a fourth line, and if his playmaking and vision take another step, he could even be the energy guy on a third line.
82. Ryan Greene, C
Despite playing on the USHL’s worst team, Greene was an excellent complement to line-mate Cam Lund, who will be covered a bit later. Whereas Lund is the shooter with his fair share of skill when given some space, Greene is a good small-area player who is at his best as a playmaker along the boards. Greene is physically implicated in the offensive zone and wins puck battles by reading the flow of play rather than outmuscling his opponents. He also keeps his head up and processes his reads quickly and sends passes to the slot right after winning possession along the boards. His defensive play ranges from intelligent and physically implicated to head scratching, but flashes of defensive ability are at least something to work with. In transition, Greene is effective at exiting the puck out of the defensive zone as a carrier, and tends to defer to his teammates to generate entries, which he shouldn’t need to do, as he reads play well and is an able puck-handler, and adding an element of carrying the puck into the offensive zone would diversify his game. His upside is limited, but as a bottom-6 playmaking centre from the boards with good hands, a Greene should get picked on day 2 of the draft.
81. Brenden Sirizzotti,* RW
Okay, this one is interesting. Sirizzotti’s is not a name I’ve seen ranked by *anyone* else, but having watched him a tonne with the 67’s before his trade to Niagara, he was a consistent positive on the ice… well at least that was my read until Nolan sent me his xGF%, which was… mediocre at best. Despite that and his status as a D+1, I’m ranking him here, knocking on the door of my top-80. He’s at his best off the rush and he consistently cuts to the middle to shoot. That shot is above average, but not by too much. Mostly, Sirizzotti is an intelligent player with an excellent sense for pressure and teammates’ positions and patterns. He’s a capable playmaker, and can score from in tight by attacking the slot with what seems like reckless abandon at times. His passes are accurate at short and long ranges, too. I see an upside as a third-line Swiss Army knife IF he can improve his defensive play. The motor is consistent, but similar to Stonehouse, the reads just aren’t. Without this patch to his game, I don’t see a future NHLer. While this may turn into a lesson learned, as I am betting against analytics and age here, but I enjoyed too many details of Sirizzotti’s game to not rank him.
80. Marek Hejduk, F
Drafting Hejduk would be a pure bet on skill and genetics, as he’s the son of NHL legend Milan. The younger Hejduk will not match his father’s skill or production, but he could make for an intriguing late-round project pick for a team that trusts its development team as well as Harvard’s ability to foster his skillset, where he’s headed to in the Fall. His handling ability is what makes him stand out, along with his ability to dextrously handle through and around pressure at high speeds, his feet keep up with the hands. His playmaking is mainly dependant on his ability to cut through the first defensive layer with his hands and to hit his subsequent passing target. His shot isn’t much of a threat from medium range, but he can get decent elevation from in tight. The road to the NHL would be a long one for Hejduk as his game lacks refinement and is really based on a single strength, but he could turn into a skilled middle-six forward if he is developed perfectly.
79. Kenta Isogai, F
Isogai’s production in the USHL was… bad. But that’s not stopping me from ranking him in my top 80. Like many players I appreciate, his game is structured upon his intelligence and intensity. Isogai was limited to a depth role in Youngstown and made every second of ice time count. He attacks the puck relentlessly, which makes him an effective forechecker and an able F1. With the puck on his stick, this same intensity and inside-game are apparent. He attacks the middle without hesitation and makes simple and good decisions inside the offensive zone to retain possession. His adaptable and simple game is equally effective in transition and his positional awareness and intensity are integral to his defensive impact as well. While he still really needs to fill in his frame, I think Isogai could peak as an intelligent and intense 3rd liner in the NHLer whose tools and production are limited but who drives tremendous possession metrics.
78. Simon Forsmark, LD
Forsmark is a player I’m really curious to follow for the next few years to see where his career take him, even if I’m skeptical of his potential as of right now. He’s a very intelligent player who plays a game of anticipation but devoid of pace. His play is lackadaisical at times and slow all the time. That lack of speed is true both for his skating and his execution. His skating needs an absolute overhaul to project to even NHL average. While the skating is the biggest deficiency in his toolkit, it’s his lack of pace that concerns me the most, as it severely limits his value in transition and in the offensive zone. Despite this, the foundation of a straightforward puckmoving defenceman who closes gaps quickly against the rush is there. But because there is so much development necessary for him to make the NHL and because his offensive ceiling is further limited by the lack of high-end playmaking and shooting ability, I couldn’t justify placing him much higher than 78 on my board.
77. Mats Lindgren, LD
Lindgren is another intelligent defenceman whose skating limits his game. He is also one of the youngest players in the class. His stride is limited in power output and he lacks agility due to his stride being hunched as well. His passing tools also lag behind the lanes and options he spots. He reads play really well, but hitting his targets, especially through multiple defensive layers can be difficult. A team with an excellent development team could turn him into a dependable #4 who excels in the breakout and could maybe QB a PP2. But the limitation of his tools and its impact not only on his offensive game but on his transition defence as well is concerning enough for me to have him relatively low on my board despite his high degree of intelligence and late birthday.
76. Matyáš Šapovaliv, LW
Šapovaliv is one of the easier players to project to an NHL role in my bottom two tiers, but his upside is quite limited. He lacks dynamism and can overestimate his handling ability, while his stride is below average, even for a player of his size. Despite these limitations which will keep him from a top-six role in the NHL, he is a precise passer, which he uses effectively in transition to gain zone entries and in the offensive zone to feed his teammates in the slot from behind the net or along the boards. The finer details of his game are simple but strong. While his defensive involvement and awareness is a clear area to further develop, projecting him as a fourth-line facilitator who can move up to a third-line role in a pinch when needed is a relatively straightforward projection. My ranking of him is mainly indicative of the value I place in upside over fourth line certainty.
75. Filip Bystedt, C
Bystedt will not be available at 75, I’m almost positive of that. He’s a very big forward who possesses a very good shot, very good hands, and decent and passing ability. His tools are almost unilaterally above average, except for his skating, which is hampered by an ugly stride and a very low top-speed. His movement in the offensive zone is also mainly limited to the system’s suggestions as he lacks instinctual offensive awareness and anticipation, but that isn’t the biggest limiting factor for a player who typically plays as a net-front presence and has the hand-eye coordination to be a real tipping threat and has the hands, shot, and passing ability to make impressive plays in tight space when he gets to a rebound. I think he could become a Brian Boyle-style centreman who uses his finesse and size to excel on a power play surrounded by higher skill players, but has limited effectiveness at 5v5. In order to hit a higher ceiling, his awareness and skating will need significant improvements.
74. Maveric Lamoureux, RD
My first real viewing of Lamoureux was the CHL top prospects game, and that was uhhh… a poor showing for the rangiest defenceman in the class. As a result, I had a fairly negative view of his value as a prospect until I got a real in-depth viewing of him where I wasn’t trying to watch 25 prospects in a single game. In fact, Lamoureux is a smooth-skating inconsistent defenceman who has as many flashes of brilliance as he does painfully bad defensive errors, most often associated with being overly aggressive and being beaten by a rusher’s very first move, leading to odd-man rushes. But the basis for an imposing 3rd pairing defenceman is there. He’s dominant physically and will need to learn to not chase hits that take him out of the play. His fluidity and mobility paired with his tremendous reach also allow him to patrol a huge amount of ice defensively, and his ability to close gaps quickly should help him translate his game to the NHL. His best tool with the puck is his puck protection, but his game on the offensive side of the puck is fairly limited. I think he’d be a decent pickup for a team looking for mobility and size in a right defensemen and are content with filling a hole on their bottom pairing rather than swinging for the fences as of the third round.
73. Tomas Hamara, LD
Tomas Hamara had a breakout performance at the U18s, filling in for David Jiricek as Czechia’s top defenceman and power-play distributor. He even earned a spot on the tournament all star team due to the sheer amount of assists Jiri Kulich’s one timer blasts on the man advantage gave him. As a whole, Hamara’s profile is solid but unspectacular. He’s a capable distributor, both in transition and in the offensive zone, but he lacks significant creativity and deception, which limits his offensive upside. Of his tools, his skating is what stands out the most. He’s not the quickest, but his agility and edgework make him an adaptable carrier and could carry him to a role as a fifth defenceman on a pairing with either an offensive or defensive specialist.
72. Oliver Boutin,* LD
Here’s another name most of you won’t be familiar with, who I picked up on by going to multiple live games. Boutin is an undersized D+1 defenceman who plays a highly effective game structured upon his intelligence, awareness, and mobility. Having watched a few games from the Gatineau scouting and media box — including one just 15 feet away from Trevor Timmins back in October — I can tell you that at least a few NHL scouts who sat around me were continuously impressed with Boutin despite his smaller size. I still doubt he gets picked, but he’s very worthy of a 7th round flyer in my view. Boutin’s defensive positioning is about as refined as you’ll see from any QMJHL defenceman. He was routinely Gatineau’s most-used player on the PK for a reason. He closes his gaps quickly but doesn’t over-commit, he blocks passing lanes by scanning very effectively, and he disrupts the cycle with an active stick. His mobility facilitates all of this and is also key to his value in transition. He picks up the puck on retrievals and is equally comfortable passing the puck up the ice as he is carrying it himself. His offensive game is solid but unspectacular. I would grade his shot as slightly above average for a defenceman, and he likes to drift into the high slot to use it. While he’s a capable distributor and does very well to maintain possession in the offensive zone, his playmaking is limited. Whenever he played with Noah Warren, I thought they were the best pairing on Gatineau by a country mile, they compliment each other very well. I see a future fifth defenceman in the mould of Brett Kulak in Boutin if he is developed properly.
71. Tucker Robertson,* C
Robertson was ranked up in the second round around the turn of the calendar year, as his OHL production was ridiculous, he was among the OHL’s top 5 scorers for quite a while. While it cooled down a lot since then, I liked so much of what I saw from Robertson throughout the season in my live 67’s viewings. His motor is very high and his ability to anticipate play is more refined than the vast majority of CHL players. He’s consistently in the right place at the right time to whack at a rebound or to pick off a pass. His tenacity and dexterity in small area play in the offensive zone is his most projectable offensive skills, as it opens him up to shoot from in tight, which he does very well, especially in terms of getting elevation on the puck from the low slot. While I’m not a particular fan of his skating mechanics, much like with Beau Jelsma, his motor helps his foot speed quite a bit, though his speed isn’t close to that of Jelsma and needs more refining to project to the NHL. I don’t want to undersell his playmaking ability, either, as he can execute on the passing options he spots. While he doesn’t see complex playmaking opportunities, I’d still rate his offensive passing game as a strength. I think that a third line role with value on a PK1 unit and PP2 bumper or net-front presence is not out of Robertson’s reach, but a fourth line role is a more realistic projection. Either way, he’s an entertaining player to watch.
70. Mikey Milne,* LW
Unlike the two previous overagers, Milne should have been picked last year. He’s progressed very nicely this season and shown off more of his value as a tenacious puck retriever in the offensive zone. Of all the players covered thus far, only Šapovaliv makes for an easier and more straightforward NHL projection in a fourth-line role than Milne. Milne’s motor is irreproachable and he has the physicality to match it, which makes for a hard to handle and intense package. This makes him a terrific forechecker and an absolute pain in the ass in the defensive zone as he closes in on the puck-carrier like a bull seeing red. All of this makes him highly projectable, and he has shown the flashes of complex playmaking reads and driving the net hard but with a good understanding of defensive spacing this season that could elevate him into a third line role. Most likely, however, he turns into a fourth liner who no player in the league enjoys playing against due to his nearly unmatched intensity.
Tier 8: Non-Negligible Middle-Six and #4D Potential
69. Kaspar Kulonummi, RD
Kulonummi may not have a significant offensive ceiling, but his potential as a defence-first defenceman who excels and is versatile in transition makes him an intriguing prospect. His skating is a real strength despite his lack of high-end speed, as his fluidity and mobility allow him to adapt to pressure and evolving defensive situations very quickly and calmly. This allows him to close his gaps quickly, suffocate rushes, and to send a quick counter attack, which he is equally able to do by passing as with his own feet as the carrier. This adaptability and versatility is, for me, the foundation of his entire game. If he’s able to translate it into the offensive zone and gain a little deceptive ability in his handling and weight shifts, he could even have some upside on a second PP unit.
68. Jordan Gustafsson, C
Gustafsson is a very intelligent centreman whose game is structured upon his anticipation, defensive responsibility, and on simple but effective plays. He lacks the dynamism, adaptability, and skill that could elevate him to a top-six role, but he has more than enough tools to carve out a role in an NHL bottom-six. He supports his defencemen by coming down very low in the defensive zone and blocking passing lanes with a purposeful and active stick. This sense of purpose translates to his play with the puck, as well. He picks his routes in transition with forethought and consciously skates into space where his hands can be effective, as they aren’t nearly as effective in tight. Offensively, Gustafsson plays well under pressure, makes intelligent simple passes to extend possession and is a credible shooting threat from in tight.
67. Matthew Seminoff, RW
Seminoff is just a fun WHL player to watch. His big limitation is a ridiculously shallow stride, which genuinely can look comical at times. Apart from this quirk that could prove to be his Achilles heel and prevent his ascent to the NHL, Seminoff is a highly intelligent offensive mind who has as good an understanding of timing and defensive structures and their weaknesses as you’re going to find outside the top-50. To pair with this high-end offensive sense, Seminoff has a decent shot and, more importantly, passing ability which allows him to exploit the weaknesses he identifies in defensive structures. As a result, he is a strong complement to talented goal-scorers, which was valuable for Kamloops this season, as Seminoff played a lot with Logan Stankoven. His intelligence translates to his defensive play, as well, as his positioning is sound and he knows when to pressure his opponents.
66. Tristan Luneau, RD
This may be controversial as Luneau is generally regarded as a late first-round talent, but I almost ranked him lower than this. If Luneau goes in the first round, he’s the ultimate high-floor and mobile combo that inflates certain players’ draft stocks. This mobility is mainly down to his agility and deception in motion with the puck, which makes him a decent carrier through the neutral zone when he’s able to build up his speed through the defensive zone, as his acceleration is subpar. Luneau will probably be an NHL defenceman, but I don’t think it’s very likely he holds down a spot on a second — let alone first — pairing without significant development in his skating ability, composure, and playmaking execution. He can panic under pressure on retrievals and is not the gifted playmaker some have portrayed him as, despite his ability to be a decent distributor from the point. He just lacks high-end awareness and individual tools. He’s all around decent, but lacks a signature component to his game that would elevate him beyond a depth role in the NHL and that really spooks me.
65. Kent Anderson, RD
Anderson is really interesting to me, because I forced myself to drop him in my rankings despite really enjoying watching him play because he reminds me of Luneau in a lot of ways but because he doesn’t come with all the first-round hype, I took a liking to him. He’s another average-sized RD who is solid at a bunch of things without standing out in a single aspect. Anderson may lack speed, quick pivots, and above-average mobility, but he compensates for this with an impressive degree of composure, and good intelligence and awareness. He keeps the puck away from opponents, is a good breakout passer, can QB a PP with good puck movement and pass accuracy, and he gets the job done defensively. He isn’t afraid to engage physically, but he needs to work on boxing out forwards and puck-watch less frequently. He’s a player I’d be interested in in the mid-to-late rounds and his upside would cap out as a good 4th D on a good team, but I think he has all the tools to be impactful at the pro level.
64. Elias Pettersson, LD
No, not that one. Pettersson is the first of two players on my board to share a name with an established borderline-superstar first-line NHL centreman. This Pettersson is a reliable defensive defenceman who closes his gaps quickly and can be consistently relied upon in his zone with his decent level of awareness and functional physicality. His skating ability and constantly moving feet allow him to cover a large area defensively and his frequent scanning helps his positioning as well as his ability on retrievals. His hands are good enough to be a capable carrier through the defensive zone and into the neutral zone before deferring to his forwards to gain zone entries. His offensive ceiling is limited, but the mobility, scanning, and handling ability give him some upside as a puck-mover.
63. Alexis Gendron, C
Gendron will likely be available when the start of the 6th round rolls around, and I think he’s a great swing to make late in the draft. He’s undersized and lacks strength, but he’s skilled and looks to attack the slot with his off-puck movement and his passes. He’s a quick and deceptive skater who can get QMJHL defenders to bite on his feints and subsequently cut to the middle, which is in itself a valuable instinct. Despite this speed, his skating lacks refinement as he is very upright and rigid in his stride. However, his combination of inside-game, shooting ability, quick hands, and intelligence could take him far. He brings a decent amount of tenacity to the table and digs after pucks in the dirty areas. While his defensive value is limited, he has significant upside in transition as a puck manager and carrier. His production was a bit limited this year, but he was the heartbeat of Blainville-Boisbriand’s offence and I believe he is worth a draft pick this season and has the potential to light up the ‘Q next season.
62. Cam Lund, C
Lund is the highest-profile and my highest-ranked Green Bay Gambler, his teammates Ryan Greene and Kent Anderson play steadier high-floor games, but their upsides don’t quite compare to Lund’s, who is skilled, has a very good shot, has added a playmaking aspect to his game in the last year, and has real upside as a puck carrier in transition. His acceleration is a clear weakness and will need to be improved to allow the rest of his game to pop, and his defensive work rate and positioning were inconsistent in my viewings. In sustained offensive sequences, Lund can fail to recognize soft ice available for him to drift into and use his shooting skill, and he is too often comfortable with staying along the perimeter as a distributor. Adding a consistent inside game is crucial for his NHL projection.
61. Jordan Dumais, RW
Dumais cracked my second round, which is higher than he is on most public boards. I know a lot of fans that haven’t gotten a chance to watch him play are skeptical about scouts consistently ranking him as a third-round talent due to his monstrous production, but the complexity in projecting his play to the NHL is clear to see in the first viewing when really focused on him. He has skill and is a high-end perimeter playmaker — one of the better ones in the class. His hands are good in space, but he lacks pace and fails to execute plays at high speeds. This lack of pace, his inability and lack of desire to drive the middle lane or the slot, lack of size, and his choppy skating stride make for a complex projection to the NHL. Undersized players need to be able to play under pressure and Dumais can struggle to do so. However, despite these significant and valid concerns, I couldn’t justify ranking a player with Dumais’ elite playmaking and vision — even if it is limited to the perimeter in the offensive zone — outside the second round in a draft class that lacks talent outside my top 54 in my view.
60. Jani Nyman, LW
Similar to Dumais, this is another bet on outstanding ability over concerns over projection to the NHL for me, as the players I covered previously have limited upsides. Let’s get the negative out of the way first. His stride is bad… like really bad. His mechanics are ugly and his top speed is very slow. This is accompanied by a real lack of agility, and therefore, deception. These skating deficiencies make him a mediocre puck carrier. However, three aspects of his game make him an interesting prospect in this class: his birthday, excellent shot, and offensive awareness. Nyman is the eighth youngest player I have ranked (Rohrer is the youngest) and has more time to develop, as a result. His shot is a legitimate weapon and terrorized the second men’s division in Finland, as he scored 18 goals in 34 games. His awareness of offensive spacing and defenders’ positioning as well as his sense of timing to attack soft ice at the right moments pair to allow him to use his powerful and precise shot from high-danger areas with regularity. However, his value is severely truncated outside the offensive zone due to his skating weaknesses, which could keep him from making the NHL. If he does improve it significantly, though, and makes the NHL, he could turn into a middle-six sniper with upside as a PP1 bumper.
59. Hugo Hävelid, G
This is the first and last goalie you’ll encounter on my rankings. I know Tyler Brennan and Topias Leinonen are more widely regarded as the better goalie prospects available this season, but Hävelid is the one that stood out the most in my viewings for good reasons. I should also preface this by noting that scouting goaltenders is very much still a work in progress for me, but I’m getting there. The lower-ranked Hävelid twin is controlled with his movements and demonstrates impressive confidence in the crease, especially when the stakes are high, as they were at the U18 gold medal game. He can be overly aggressive when playing the puck and opt for unnecessarily risky passes to the neutral zone rather than leaving the puck for a teammate, he doesn’t yet have the passing ability to justify such plays. However, he reads play well, especially against odd-man rushes, where he reads the puck carrier’s hips and feet to anticipate pass or shot quite effectively. He’s also a very athletic goaltender, which I believe forms the basis for an interesting project selection in the mid-to-late rounds.
58. Cole Knuble, RW
Knuble is a player I’ve really appreciated whenever I’ve watched him play. He’s a shifty player who plays the role of his line’s facilitator very effectively. He stitches plays together, regularly carries the puck out of the defensive zone and sends a smart pass to a teammate for a zone entry. He constantly has his head up and stick on the ice as an outlet option when his teammate carrying the puck is pressured. Inside the offensive zone, he plays a hard-nosed style, heading to the dirty areas. He projects more as a playmaker than a goalscorer, as his shot isn’t the biggest threat and his consistent scanning enables him to make a high-danger pass as soon as the puck touches his stick at times. He has soft hands, but don’t expect him to dangle through an entire defence. If Knuble can improve his acceleration and top speed — he’s shifty but not quick — and improve his defensive involvement and reads, I think he could be a very effective third-liner who excels in transition as a play connector, is a viable playmaking threat, and who can do the dirty work on retrievals for his line.
57. Ilya Kvochko, C
Kvochko is an intelligent undersized playmaking centreman. His selling point really is the playmaking ability. Kvochko’s scanning ability gives him a good understanding of his teammates’ positioning at all times, and he can pull off highly-manipulative no-look cross-seam passes in the offensive zone as a result. He can shift his weight very quickly and is an above-average puck-handler, which allows him to sell the shot and slip and quick pass to a teammate instead, fooling defenders consistently. His skating is also a strength, but it will need to further develop, especially in terms of speed generation and agility, for him to escape physical pressure at the professional level. Defensively, Kvochko is very active and has some upside on the penalty kill due to his flashes of intensity, active stick, and positional awareness. While his shot isn’t overly threatening on its own, he is able to use his skill to access the slot and can score from close range. While I think it’s more likely that Kvochko doesn’t make the NHL than that he does, if he is able to, I see his ceiling as a middle-six playmaking centreman who plays the role of skilled facilitator on his line.
56. Lukas Gustafsson,* LD
Gustafsson is a player I picked to add to Team High last year, but he went undrafted. I’m really hoping he gets picked this time around because he’s just a damn good defenceman. The basis of his game is his ability to read play quickly and make good decisions on both sides of the puck. Defensively, he’s not afraid to play physically to separate the carrier from the puck, and he’s consistently positionally sound. But his value shines brightest with the puck on his stick. He’s an above-average handler who is a very effective passer in transition. He prefers to carry the puck into the neutral zone and then sending a quick accurate pass to a forward for an entry. He’s also an able playmaker and has PP2 upside. He manages the puck well, uses weight shifts and simple feints to get around forecheckers, keeps his head up, and attacks the slot, from where he’s a viable shooting and passing threat. He’s off to Boston College next year, and I think that with the right development, he could develop into a puck-moving #4.
55. Jeremy Wilmer,* C
Wilmer may be an overager, but that’s barely the case as he’s a mid-August birthday. He led the USHL in points this season, and was the youngest player amongst the top-5 in that category. Size is the main concern with Wilmer, as he’s tiny, and that alone could keep him from making the NHL and could even keep him from being drafted by a team other than the Carolina Hurricanes this year. While defence is hardly his selling point, Wilmer has good scanning habits that enable him to be generally positionally sound in his own end. Pair that with a high-end motor and the desire to pressure opponents, and Wilmer is a positive-value defensive player. He’s a very shifty and agile player with the hands and edgework to match, and is quite quick, though this will need to further improve for him to project to the NHL. Offensively, Wilmer is a patient playmaker who out-waits his opponents and has an excellent sense for space and timing. He drifts into soft ice and isn’t afraid to attack the middle lane. Most importantly, however, Wilmer is able to play under physical pressure. He can get rag-dolled around the ice, but due to his agility, this has become a rarer and rarer occurrence. He’s composed with the puck and makes the right play, even when a 6’4”, 225 lbs defender is narrowing in on him. His dynamism, high pace of play, and anticipation all worked together to convince me to rank him this high, and I think if he does make the NHL, he could turn into a dynamic second-liner, even if his certainty of making it isn’t the highest.
Tier 7: This is where the value lies
As long as players from this tier — or higher — are available, I would consider trading up in the mid-rounds to grab them, I really think that the gap between this tier and the one beneath it is the second widest in the class, apart from the gap between 1 and 2, which is barely bigger in my view.
54. Elias Salomonsson, RD
A year ago, Salomonsson’s name was a staple in 2022 top-10 boards due to his high-end mobility and offensive tools. Much has changed since then. Salomonsson is likely a day-2 selection now, and could conceivably fall to the third round. This is because the Salomonsson of this year and the Salomonsson of last year are two different players. While he flashed offensive skill last year, he played an extremely conservative offensive zone game this season, often stapled to the blue-line. But it is his lack of processing of his scans and awareness that has really plummeted his stock. His tools are very good, but the hockey sense is inconsistent at best. He also has a tendency of making odd and unwise reads when defending transition, such as going out of his way to block a lane his partner is already covering, thereby exposing the entire side of the ice that was his responsibility. However, I am a big enough believer in his elite skating ability, handling skill, passing ability — especially in transition — and physicality to rank him inside this tier that has set itself apart. He may fall further than he should due to an overcorrection in draft stock, as Aatu Raty did last year.
53. David Goyette, C
David Goyette may have gone a goalscoring heater to end the season, and this aspect of his game saw real progression over the course of the year, but it is his playmaking that is a genuinely projectable offensive skill. His combination of vision, passing ability, deception, and creativity makes Goyette one of the best playmakers in the draft class. He finds passing lanes few others in junior hockey can, and he can execute upon them with creative stick-handling and skill moves — such as a spin-o-rama. While his skating and shooting ability aren’t much better than average, if at all, his handling and passing ability are stand-out skills and give him a real identity as a player, as he knows how to best use them to carve up defences. Despite this, he’s a little bit lower on my board for a few reasons. First of all, his defensive game is unrefined and he rarely helps out his defenders as he stops moving his feet when defending the cycle and typically just glides around a bit aimlessly. Second, he lacks quickness and is very rarely the primary carrier in transition, which limits a rush playmaking game which could really elevate his offensive value. Last, he is routinely outmuscled and lacks the physicality and ability to play through pressure to attack the slot himself with any regularity. However, if he can build up a significant amount of lower body strength and heighten his defensive involvement and work on his defensive reads, he has the ceiling of a middle-six playmaker.
52. Danny Zhilkin, C
My view of Zhilkin seemed to vary drastically with each viewing. After my first viewing I thought he was late first-round calibre, after the second I questioned whether he’d even crack my second round. In the end, I opted for a safer middle ground in my ranking of him. Zhilkin’s flashes of high-end skill and intelligence were excellent. At his best, he anticipates play at a high-level, sends consistent passes on the tape to a teammate in the slot, and shoots from high-danger areas with great power and precision. The tools are there. However, I saw far too much aimless drifting around and, well, droughts between these flashes, to be particularly high on him. He has a choppy stride and far too often opts for a low danger lob on net from the point, even when noted skilled goalscorer, Sasha Pastujov, was an open passing option from a far more threatening position. Zhilkin’s defensive play was similarly inconsistent. At times, he anticipates the play well ahead of most players and cut off passing lanes, playing a very active brand of defence, while at others, he’d content himself with remaining quite static in his own end. A strong development team would have a lot to work with in Zhilkin, and could mould him into a well-rounded middle-six centreman with upside on both special teams, but the red flags and consistency issues should be enough for him to fall to day two of the draft.
51. Ty Nelson, RD
It was a tale of two seasons for Ty Nelson, the skill, offensive involvement, and defensive ability he demonstrated in the first half seemed to cement him as a can’t-miss first-round talent, I myself had him ranked just outside the top-10 into January. He carried the puck up the ice with confidence and was the fulcrum of the North Bay power-play, distributing the puck with crisp passes and being a constant shooting threat. But the second half of the season saw a far more reserved and conservative player, who lacked the flair that had made Nelson so special. He dumped the puck in almost every time he crossed centre ice, and he shot the puck whenever it touched his stick inside the offensive zone. He may very well have been limited by the system North Bay plays, which gives the forwards the entire responsibility of carrying the puck in transition, and Nelson is far more effective when carrying the puck up the ice than he is when passing it. One thing that did remain consistent, however, was his transition defence. Nelson keeps a very tight gap, matches the footwork of the forward, and extinguishes entries within ten feet of the puck crossing his blue-line by forcing the attacker to the outside and pinning him against the boards. He is very skilled at steering play away from the middle lane, and he protects the slot quite well. While he is an undersized defenceman, he is built like a tank and you will not find a defenceman more sturdy per inch in the draft class. There is risk in selecting Nelson, as his development could really stagnate in North Bay, but the offensive skill, shooting ability, and transition upside, both offensively and defensively, make him a worthwhile swing in the second round.
50. Noah Warren, RD
Warren is one of my favourite players in this class, and I really wanted to rank him higher than 50, but his limited upside of #4 defenceman kept me from doing so. Warren will never be an offensive defenceman. But his defensive game and his upside as a puck-mover are so significant that I have ranked significantly higher than other players who play with somewhat-comparable styles. Warren is one of the draft’s youngest players and already plays a very projectable game, to the point where I’d be genuinely surprised if he didn’t carve out a long-time NHL career for himself. He is physically dominant but uses this advantage with real purpose, he doesn’t chase hits. His four-way mobility is also high-end, he gets around the ice with impressive fluidity, and can cover a huge area defensively and closes his gaps intelligently and aggressively. His entire brand of defence is based on his skating, physicality, and positional awareness, he’s a very intelligent defender. He also manages the puck well, which gives him real upside in transition as a carrier and passer alike. Offensively, he mainly patrols the offensive blue-line and distributes from there, but when he does step up into the high slot he can flash deception and send a high-danger pass or unleash a powerful slapshot, but don’t expect him to ever be a big producer from the blue-line. He’s just a violently effective defensive player who I’d love to see in a Habs jersey. With offensive significant development, he could possibly turn into a K’Andre Miller-type defenceman, who he models his game after.
Noah Warren: God amongst men. Makes Cale Makar look like William Lagesson. Makes grown men cry in awe of his skill. Truly and utterly makes me a better person just to know of his existence.
- Aaron Itovich (president of the Kirill “Giraffe” Dolzhenkov fan club)
49. Christian Kyrou, RD
Placing Kyrou immediately ahead of Warren makes for a fun juxtaposition, as they are basically opposites. Kyrou is a pure offensive defenceman whose skating is a weakness, plays without much physicality, has a low floor and high ceiling, and is one of the oldest draft-eligible players — he’s just a month younger than Jeremy Wilmer. Drafting Kyrou is a veritable swing for the fences and could be done later than he should probably go, with Bob McKenzie having him ranked at 78. His shot is the second best and most diverse I’ve seen from a defenceman in this class, trailing only Simon Nemec, and he has the playmaking ability to match. Kyrou is a tremendous offensive distributor who activates liberally and has a good sense of space and timing, spotting soft ice and open passing lanes before they materialize. He is the focal point of Erie’s PP1 and has real upside as a PP piece if he makes the NHL. However, his risk tolerance is a bit too tolerant, let’s say. He routinely attempts things that just aren’t feasible, and is the cause of many odd-man rushes against. In his own zone, his awareness translates to sound positioning, but he can often stand in passing lane without really blocking them and allowing passes to get through him. He also doesn’t protect his own slot particularly well. In transition, he goes for the hail mary pass far too often, which leads to many turnovers. If he can work on his separation gear, edgework, defensive activity, and puck management in transition, he could very well become an offensive #3 defenceman, which is tremendous value if available in the late-second or early-third round, but there are enough question marks in his game to keep him well outside my first round.
48. Nathan Gaucher, C
As the top QMJHL prospect in this class — both in my ranking and in the consensus — Gaucher has long been rumoured to be a potential target for the Canadiens, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing, by any means. Gaucher plays a highly-projectable and complete game. He plays hard. He’s a very physical player who finishes his checks, plays with intensity, and is a strong puck-protector. He could certainly play the puck more defensively rather than chasing hits, but his defensive play is solid nonetheless due to good scanning habits and decent positioning. He also has a clear identity as a playmaking powerforward. He drives the net hard and consistently and he has a refined inside-game, playing at his best when under pressure. His playmaking ability shines brightest off the rush, where he can execute at high speeds. He’s also a decent skater and quite agile for his size, which helps him play such an effective brand of hockey in transition. He’s also an able net-front presence, as he has the size to screen goalies the hand-eye to deflect pucks, the tenacity to battle defencemen, and the playmaking to feed teammates when he pounces on rebounds. While he might be a RW at the NHL level and lacks true top-six upside, his chances of becoming an impactful bottom-6 contributor are very high.
47. Tyler Duke, LD
I’ve loved Tyler Duke’s game from the moment I first watched this year’s USNTDP team. He’s undersized but he’s fairly stocky and strong on his feet, so I have less concern over his lack of size than I do with Lane Hutson… and even that isn’t a huge concern of mine as you’ll soon see. Duke is a very intelligent player who plays a game of anticipation and possession. He’s a frequent scanner and makes a mental map of the ice to consistently know where everyone is. His transition defence may be his best trait. He protects the slot at all costs and is very effective at steering play toward the perimeter when he’s not able to force a turnover. An active stick to pair with his positional awareness also goes a long way to limit high-danger chances against. He is decently mobile but really lacks a quick top-gear which will need to be a real focus in his development from this point onward if it isn’t already. In transition, Duke has the ability to flash dynamic and deceptive ability, but this isn’t particularly consistent. Offensively, Duke activates from the point regularly and is an effective facilitator. He may not have the vision of Lane Hutson, but he does demonstrate flashes of playmaking skill. His shot is a real threat when he jumps up into the high slot, however. As a whole, Duke projects as a strong possession defenceman if he makes the NHL, who analytics fans will adore, likely on a bottom pairing, but with some upside as a second pairing guy if his development really hits a next gear.
46. Sam Rinzel, RD
Rinzel is about as raw a prospect as you’re going to see this high on my list. He is nowhere near the 46th best draft-eligible player right now, but his potential really is quite high, he just needs a ton of development to get there. He’s a player you only pick high if you trust your development team. He needs a lot of refinement and will likely not touch the NHL for four or five seasons. Rinzel dominated the Minnesota High School circuit this season, and in his 27 USHL games demonstrated that he has tremendous tools and very good upside, but he also continuously tried and failed to do the things he got away with against the weaker competition he was used to. He is a big offensive defenceman who will be well and truly imposing once he fills out his frame. Rinzel also knows how to use his physicality, he clears the net-front effectively, likes to go for a big hit when he has the option to and uses his strength and length to protect the puck. And it’s with the puck when his value really shines. Rinzel is deceptive and skilled; when carrying the puck up ice, he easily gets around the first defender, and in the offensive zone, he can create high-danger chances when he chooses to activate. He is also an excellent skater. He’s highly mobile in all four directions, has strong edgework, and uses crossovers well to build up speed when he has a runway; but his acceleration still needs improvement. Rinzel’s defensive game remains a work in progress. His gap control is inconsistent and he has a tendency to get burned by the USHL’s more skilled players in transition by biting on their moves and giving them the inside lane. In his own zone, his scanning habits need quite a bit of work, he gets caught puck-watching a fair amount, but his stick is active and the net-clearing ability is projectable. While his defensive game may never be his strength, Rinzel’s skill and deception make him a high-upside player in transition and offensively.
45. Viktor Neuchev, LW
I’ve been on the Neuchev hype-train since January and even succeeded in dragging my friend Hadi Kalakeche on board with me, who even ranked Neuchev two spots higher than me in his final rankings. Neuchev will almost certainly be picked in the last three rounds of the draft if he’s picked at all, but his dynamic ability, high pace of play, shooting skill, and flashes of complex playmaking and problem-solving are enough to cement him well inside my top-50. On top of these high-end flashes, Neuchev has a solid fall-back game as a high-activity forechecker. He is consistently the F1 and he takes this role in stride, pressuring the puck-carrier relentlessly. This intensity really dissipates in the defensive zone, but as he already has the intensity in other areas of the ice, this should be a relatively easy patch with good coaching. He is also a volume shooter who throws just about everything on net even when passing the puck seemed to be the objectively better and obvious play, but I do think that some of this is due to the utter lack of scoring support he got from his teammates this year and that once he gets line mates he trusts this won’t be as significant a concern. In transition, he uses diverse and creative rush patterns, which keeps defenders on their heels. He does needs to work on his skating, however. He can build up quite a bit of speed and has demonstrated impressive edgework, but his acceleration and agility really need to develop for his game to properly translate to the NHL, and I think that a lack of ankle flexion is a primary factor in these current limitations. If he makes the NHL, he could top out as a second-line scorer, but if that doesn’t occur, a role as a skilled bottom-six forechecker and shooter seems well within reach.
44. Devin Kaplan, F
Kaplan is a big playmaking winger with a decent level of skill — I’ve seen him pull off some very impressive moves — who lacks refined skating mechanics. His stride isn’t very powerful as it is fairly shallow and pushes out at times rather than back. He is an intelligent problem-solver in transition with significant composure with the puck and a refined give-and-go game. He’s constantly scanning whether he has the puck or not to map out the positions of all the players on the ice, which is crucial for a player who lacks speed as Kaplan does. His defensive play is decent but not the selling point. That would be his play in the offensive zone. He has a constant knowledge of his passing options when the puck is on his stick and regularly springs teammates on odd-man rushes or hits them when they’re driving the net. He’s also flashed a delay game with the puck which would unlock even more potential in transition — which is already a strength — if he can do so more consistently. As a whole, Kaplan is a really interesting project pick, who will need a good few years to develop but could become a skilled and efficient middle-six playmaker who drives excellent transition results.
43. Jack Hughes, C
Again, not that one. This Jack Hughes is the son of Kent and will likely not be a Habs pick for that very reason, unless he really slips in the draft. Hughes may not have racked up the points in his freshman season at Northeastern, but he plays a very projectable game and is easy to slot in as a future third line centre who plays a responsible defensive game and flashes some skill from time to time. He plays an intelligent and diligent 200-foot game which is built upon the quickness of his reads, processing, and execution. Hughes understands the game very well, and this allows him to make his plays very quickly; he makes fast passes in transition, he quickly finds soft ice in the offensive zone, and he quickly attacks the gaps defenders give him. While he may not get around the ice all that quickly, this high-paced brain and the quick execution of the reads gain him the trust of his coaches very quickly, especially when paired with his defensive work rate and intelligence. Hughes is more of a playmaker than a shooter and he prefers to drive the net off-puck to drive defenders back and create space for his teammates than to drive the net with the puck. He does have the ability to pull off highlight-reel plays, often due to his creativity and handling ability, but he is not an offensive dynamo. Hughes will likely make the NHL someday, but it will most likely be in a bottom 6 capacity.
42. Luca Del Bel Belluz, C
DBB may have been Mississauga’s first line centre this year, but I have their second-line centre ranked a fair bit higher. DBB is a skilled centre with a high ceiling and a low floor. He consistently attacks high-danger areas, where his very good shot and soft hands shine brightest. He’s also quite creative in the offensive zone with the puck on his stick, not hesitating to try new things to get the puck on net or onto a teammate’s stick. On top of this, he has good anticipation and offensive awareness, so he drifts into soft ice at the right moments and finds creative passing lanes to prolong offensive possessions, though I wouldn’t label him as a skilled playmaker. However, his skating is a real limiting factor. His stride is sluggish and he skates and executes slowly, this lack of pace is a real concern. Without an overhaul of his skating, he will have a difficult time getting to the slot at the NHL level, which would inhibit him from playing the game that makes him so effective in junior hockey. Despite this risk, the upside of middle-six centre is too high for me to drop him much further than 42.
41. Ryan Chesley, RD
Chesley is going to go higher than I have him ranked, probably by a lot, and I understand why. He’s a mobile and physically-involved two-way defenceman who can really shut down play in his own zone. He uses his physicality to protect the slot and was very effective at limiting high-danger scoring chances in all of my viewings. His skating is a real selling point, as well. It’s mechanically refined and his use of crossovers to build up speed within three steps is very impressive and could serve as the basis of a valuable transition game at the NHL level, especially when paired with his decent puck management and passing ability. He’s not flashy and his offensive value is limited to being a decent distributor with a cannon of a shot, which limits his ceiling for me, but I really like his chances of developing into a #4D and he could become a #3 with significant development of his offensive reads and habits. I wouldn’t be against drafting him as high as 20 — obviously depending who is left on the board -- if my team really needed depth at RD in the prospect pool.
40. Paul Ludwinski, C
Ludwinski has consistently fallen down Bob McKenzie's board this season and I just don't understand why, as his play consistently improved as the year went on. He played second fiddle to Shane Wright up the middle, and that role suited him quite nicely, though he did shine when given more ice time. Ludwinski's motor and speed combination is matched by almost no player in this class. While his edgework isn't the best, I would still rate his skating as very good, because it suits his style of play very well. He's very much a North-South player with the puck and his speed allows him to excel with that style. His hands keep up with his high pace of play and his playmaking is a greater strength than his goalscoring is, especially off the rush, where his offence is at its best. he would benefit from learning to not go at 100% all the time, as it would add a layer of deception to his game. His defensive play is a strength as well. He reads play and anticipates well, which makes him a real threat on the PK as he has the wheels to get a clean breakaway when he intercepts the puck. His defensive game is also marked by intensity and physicality, which he uses to consistently pressure the puck-carrier. As a whole, Ludwinski projects as a third-line centre who contributes in every facet of the game and gains the trust of his coaches and the love of the fans through his style of play.
39. Adam Ingram, LW
I could have ranked Ingram as low as 54 and it wouldn't have felt wrong, but this is a swing on upside and tools for me. The big red flags with Ingram are his subpar skating ability and inconsistent activity rate. However, his anticipation, awareness, power, vision, handling, and shooting skill are enough to give him second-line upside if he really hits. These abilities intertwine for genuinely impressive flashes of projectable skill, but they were far more common early in the season than they were since February, which will cause him to drop a bit on draft day. He's also one of the oldest players in the class which is important to note. While he's lanky now, he'll be a freight train once he fills out his frame. I think this excerpt from one of my game reports on Ingram best captures the upside and skill-level: "He cuts straight up the middle of the ice at the end of his shift, exploits Hutson’s poor pivoting ability, uses his long reach to keep it away from Hutson, and cuts across the crease to slide the puck in five-hole. Just an incredible individual effort. He picked up some solid speed, too, since he had some runway, and demonstrated his soft hands and intelligence." He can pick up good speed, but his acceleration, agility, and maneuverability all need significant work. As a whole, this is a high-upside swing on tools, which has a large range of possible outcomes.
38. Julian Lutz, LW
Julian Lutz is one of those players that will have people asking themselves how he fell as far as he did in a year’s time, and it will be a result of the injury that kept him out for most of the season and his solid but not flashy performance at the U18s. He is a strong 200-foot player whose defensive value comes from his excellent scanning habits. He is constantly surveying the ice with and without the puck, making a mental map of the positioning of his teammates and of opponents, which serves him very well in his defensive positioning. This is also very valuable on retrievals, as he knows where pressure is coming from and uses weight shifts and lowers his centre of gravity to be deceptive and explode into one direction or another. Lutz’s skating is a real strength, he is very quick and his acceleration is a valuable asset in small-area situations like pressured retrievals and in open ice to explode through the neutral zone to force a zone entry. And when Lutz picks up speed, he’s a freight train with soft hands. He was up to the task of pro hockey’s physicality this year and outmuscled most of his opponents, who are grown men. Lutz’s motor, skating, and physicality ensure that he won’t drop too far on draft day, but a team that pounces on him early could be rewarded with a future middle-six winger with playmaking upside, high-end defence, reliable play, and intensity. That’s the exact mould of player an NHL team would adore to have on a third line in a few years, and Lutz’s floor is quite a high one, I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t become an NHL regular.
Tier 6: Low-End First-Round Talents
37. Rutger McGroarty, C
If it weren’t for his poor skating and painfully bad stride mechanics, McGroarty would be ranked in my 20s. But that deficiency is a significant one. He skates with a wide stance, which makes each stride inefficient and ugly. This inhibits him from excelling in his powerforward game, with which he drives the middle lane consistently. With better mechanics and a better top speed, he’s a veritable freight train with the puck. He’s a volume shooter, which will need to change a bit as well, but damn, his shot is good and it’s easy to understand why he’s trigger-happy with such a powerful release. He plays a refined inside game, constantly attacking the slot by camping in it, cutting toward it, and passing into it. He plays an extremely physical brand of hockey; he certainly hits hard, but this is most notable in his offensive zone play, where he gets open in the slot through his physicality and protects the puck with his strength. On top of all this, McGroarty is one of the smartest players in this year’s NTDP crop. His off-puck movements are extremely well-timed and his understanding of defensive spacing is second-to-none. He’s also one of the better and most engaged defensive forwards in the class. This well-rounded game which really only lacks high-end playmaking ability is jeopardized by his weak skating mechanics. However, he is headed off to Michigan for his college career, and if any NCAA team can turn him into an average skater and unlock top-6 potential, it’s Michigan. That sole detail almost got me to rank McGroarty inside my first round.
36. Jimmy Snuggerud, RW
Again, this feels a bit too low for Snuggerud for me, but all the players I have ranked between 37 and 21 are almost interchangeable, and it was a really difficult tier to rank for me; other players just won my heart over Snuggerud. He’s a great compliment to skilled linemates and could find himself in a top-six NHL role as a valuable passenger rather than the offensive driver if his development goes very well. If not, he’d still be a great player on a third line. This is due to his combination of awareness, defensive responsibility, and playmaking ability. For some reason, I’ve seen his shot lauded by some outlets as the jewel of his offensive game, which I just don’t understand. His shot is decent, but not particularly noteworthy for a likely first-round pick, it’s his playmaking and its genuinely elite flashes of brilliance that really stands out. He made some of the most impressive passes I’ve seen from this year’s crop, through two or even three layers of defence and onto the tape of a teammate at the backdoor. There was little consistency to this level of playmaking, but its presence at all is beyond notable. His defensive intelligence is what makes him a guaranteed NHLer in my mind, though. If nothing else, he will be able to play on a team’s fourth line.
35. Ivan Miroshnichenko, LW
Evaluating Miroshnichenko’s play this season is a bit difficult. On the one hand, his overall level of play and especially his awareness and processing were disappointing, while on the other hand, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, in the spring, which undoubtedly will have affected his play prior to the diagnosis. The terrific news is that he’s finished his treatments and could be able to play hockey next season. Miroshnichenko is an extremely toolsy player. He’s a powerful and smooth-skating sniper, a profile just about every team will be interested in. He even has smooth hands in tight areas. He may not be a playmaker, but he really doesn’t need to be. His shot is one of the better ones in the class: precise and powerful, especially when he gets off his one-timer. He struggles a bit more to find soft ice in the offensive zone, which should be his primary focus in development once he is fully recovered and able to re-focus his attention to hockey. His defensive play and motor were lacklustre this season, but at the very least the latter was realistically caused by fatigue due to the cancer, before it was diagnosed. As a whole, Miroshnichenko is a home-run swing to be had between picks 20 and 50. The difficulty in evaluating his play and the big asterisk that accompanies every draft-eligible Russian player this season make him a risky player to pick high, but it could pay off tremendously.
34. Lian Bichsel, RD
Bichsel is a violent and effective defenceman who will play above 20 minutes a night in the NHL, I’m almost certain. My question with his projection is what kind of defenceman he will be. His floor, in my view, is a Ben Chiarot. A player who plays a physical brand of defence, plays more minutes than he should, is very mobile but lacks acceleration, and who clears the net net-front violently, while lacking proper scanning habits and routinely panicking upon retrieving a puck in the defensive zone when pressured. Bichsel’s ceiling, however, is far more interesting to me than a Ben Chiarot. Bichsel has shown flashes of very good scanning habits off-puck in the defensive zone, but they’ve been inconsistent. He also has the hands to evade forecheckers when pressured, which is a tool Chiarot lacks. Furthermore, Bichsel projects as being more composed with the puck than Chiarot, despite panicking at times (against SHL competition, it should be noted) and he has an interesting ceiling in transition, both offensively and defensively. He closes his gaps with haste and ferocity, something Chiarot does not. He is also a capable puck-mover; his mobility paired with his awareness and hands make him a decent puck carrier once he picks up speed, and he consistently makes intelligent simple passes to progress play up the ice. He does know his limitations, though, and he rarely pinches up further than the hashmarks in the offensive zone, he’s not an offensive defenceman, but a role as a shutdown #3 with transition upside should be within reach.
33. Mattias Hävelid, RD
Hävelid is an offensive dynamo, and I went back and forth between ranking him around 20, and the top of my second round, because there are real question marks about his projection that I’m not as confident he can overcome as I am with, say, Lane Hutson. Hävelid has an excellent shot, which was on full display at the U18s, and his hands may be even better, which he uses in tandem with his mobility to open up passing and shooting lanes in the offensive zone and to cut to the middle when he activates. In transition, I think he could make more use of these abilities to be a more frequent carrier, but he typically defers to his passing in this aspect of his game, and he is an accurate passer in the breakout, aiming to spring a quick counter-attack. Defensively, he scans frequently and is positionally sound, but his lack of size and physicality are genuine concerns of mine in this aspect of his game, mainly because he isn’t the most effective at blocking passing lanes with his stick, despite his good positioning. He is a regular and easy target to attack in transition as his ability to suffocate play upon entry is subpar. He also needs to add some quickness to his agility and mobility to help compensate for his lack of size. However, if he can shore up these few areas of his game, a team could be able to acquire their future #3 offensive defenceman in the late-first or early-second round.
32. Adam Sykora, RW/LW
I wish I could build an NHL team and have a third line comprised of Adam Sykora and two of his clones. He’s just an awesome player with a very high floor and, perhaps, a second-line ceiling. I could watch him play all day long and love every second of it. Sykora has the best motor in the class for me, and only Marco Kaspar comes close. He’s an extremely high-intensity player who excels as a forechecker and when pursuing loose pucks. He’s an excellent skater and one of the faster players in the class, and he already plays a very physical game. He overwhelms defenders regularly with his intensity. He’s also one of the best defensive forwards in the class. His positioning is consistently sound, his scanning frequent, and his intensity high. I’d call him above average defensively among NHL forwards already at this stage in his career, it’s a highly-projectable component of his game. His scanning also helps him be a very aware player offensively, with consistent knowledge of the positioning of his teammates and opponents alike. This also enables him to attack soft ice with great timing, which allows his to use his shot, which is above average with a mechanically sound quick release. He drives the middle lane consistently and is at his best offensively when roving around the crease.
31. Conor Geekie, C
I like Conor Geekie, even if my ranking may not convey that to readers who expected him to be higher on this list. Two of his subpar tools/abilities make his projection a question mark for me: his skating and his pace. Geekie is slow, there’s no way around that fact, and that lack of speed has impacted his ability to really develop his ability to play at a high pace. Despite this lack of speed, Geekie is an intelligent player who knows how to be very effective in junior hockey. He exploits soft ice very well, and while he lacks a threatening shot, he has excellent hands in tight spaces and high-end playmaking ability, which excels when he has a bit of space to work with, so it’s important that he’s able to seek out that space proactively. Geekie consistently passes into high-danger areas and his playmaking is truly the basis of his value as a prospect. He’s also very big and his ability to use his physicality as an advantage improved throughout the year. He’s also an effective defensive player who understands very well how to use his reach to disrupt the cycle. Without major work on his skating, I think Geekie tops out as an intelligent playmaking 3C, but second-line upside is well within reach if he can improve his pace and skating to NHL average.
30. Kevin Korchinski, LD
This may be the first really surprising ranking you encounter in this article — warning, there are many more to come. Korchinski produced at near a point-a-game pace in the WHL this year through 67 games despite scoring only 4 goals, which should clue you in on his playmaking ability. He consistently targets high-danger passes and uses his deception and excellent puck-handling ability to activate to the hashmarks regularly, but he’s by no means a high-end activator like Denton Mateychuk. He’s brilliant in transition — despite the many turnovers that result from his aggressive passing — and draws in pressure to attack the middle lane with great regularity and effectiveness. Despite this skill and ability, he’s relatively low on my board because I have a ton of questions of his defensive awareness and activity. He’s frequently caught puck-watching and is regularly passive in his own end. The skating ability is another question mark of mine, he lacks explosiveness and a powerful stride, which could make his style of play in transition difficult against professional competition. He’s also highly dependant on the cutback when drawing in pressure upon retrieving the puck in his own end, and it’s an unrefined skill, as Mitch Brown breaks down in this EP Rinkside video-room. As a whole, I think the Jake Gardiner comparable that has floated around is a good one, and despite the offensive and transition upside, I have enough doubts in his translatability to the NHL to push him near the basement of my first round.
29. Jiri Kulich, C
I’ve been a fan of Kulich’s game since I first watched him play in February, and he was one of my candidates to be a steal in the second or third rounds, but a dominant power-play scoring performance at the U18 tournament has nearly cemented his fate of being selected on day 1 of the draft. Kulich’s one-timer is phenomenal and his shot that was quietly one of the better ones in the class is now widely regarded as such in the scouting community. He is also able to get open to use it at even strength. He plays a powerforward’s game but lacks the strength to really excel in that role at the men’s level, which he will really need to address in the coming years to translate to the NHL. He’s also one of the best defensive players available in this class, his intensity, scanning, and positioning are all strong, but he’s at his best when pressuring rushers from behind and forcing turnovers before the puck even reaches his defensive zone. This intensity and speed is a staple of his game. His skating is also a real strength, with good power generation and sophisticated edgework. As a whole, Kulich projects as a perfect 3C to me, if he’s developed properly, with significant goal-scoring, special teams, and defensive upside.
28. Isaiah George, LD/RD
Isaiah George is a highly-underrated defenceman who will make for a tremendous pickup in the late-second or early-third round by an astute organization, he’s ranked at 69 my Bob McKenzie. George can do just about everything one can ask from a defenceman at an above-average level. He’s one of the most mobile and fluid-skating defencemen in the class. He’s one of the most physical defencemen in the class. He has excellent hands, and not just by the standard of defencemen. He is valuable in the breakout as a quick passer and can carry the puck himself as well. He has a significant amount of untapped offensive potential both as a shooting threat and a playmaker. He is one of the better transition defenders, keeping a very tight gap, and poised in-zone defenders available. He’s even a capable RD despite being a left-shot. And honestly, while writing this, I feel as though he may be too low on my board despite my bullish stance on his potential. He is just so well-rounded, his projection to the NHL game is a simple one, he has a great fall-back game and will undoubtedly turn into a bottom-pairing defender at minimum barring injuries, and has significant upside as a second-pairing guy. However, the offensive tools have yet to result in significant production, and he can miss reads sometimes, which is honestly really nit-picky as it’s not a big concern for me at all. I mainly don’t see first-pairing upside and that the one thing keeping him from the top-20 on my board.
27. Owen Pickering, LD
Pickering is the rawest player in my first round. He has tremendous tools but they haven’t formed a cohesive package just yet. He had a massive growth spurt in his mid-teens and hasn’t gotten used to the length of his limbs just yet. This makes him a bit of an awkward skater who flashes impressive backward mobility and skating skill. I think that with time, as he grows accustomed to the pros and cons of being 6’5”, he will become a plus-level skater. Offensively, Pickering is a volume shooter with a good release. While he often shoots before scanning for passing options, when he does scan, he can hit his target with a really accurate and quick feed while selling the shot. His defensive game is sound but unspectacular as of yet, but as he fills out his frame, he could learn to use his physicality to dominate the slot as Lian Bichsel does. His most impressive trait, is his play in breakouts. He’s highly deceptive on retrievals and springs the counter-attack with accurate breakout passes after getting around the F1 with relative ease. His entire value as a prospect comes in his projection, much like Sam Rinzel’s, but the ceiling could be really high — #2 defenceman — and that could make me regret having him this low in my rankings. He’d be a good pick in the late teens and early twenties, and he’d be a great pick if he falls to the early second round due to his lack of production.
26. Jonathan Lekkerimäki, RW
This may be the most shocking ranking for many. I spent a ton of time debating over his spot on this list with myself, and this is where I was most comfortable placing him. What gives me the most pause with having him so low is his late birthday, he’s one of the younger players in the class and if those extra few months of development allow him to diversify his offensive game and threat-level, I’ll be made to look a right fool. Lekkerimäki has a tremendous shot, probably the best in the class, at least in a vacuum. His shooting mechanics are well above NHL average and the accuracy and power he generates help his shot to project as elite in the NHL. His hands are his other high-end skill, he can stickhandle through multiple layers of defence and execute at high speeds. But that’s where it kind of stops with Lekkerimäki’s positive attributes for me. He doesn’t find soft ice particularly well in the offensive zone to unleash his shot. He’s a volume shooter who misses clear high-danger passing opportunities. His defensive value is extremely limited. His play in transition is often individualistic and perimeter-based. All of these things are concerns for his actual impact at the NHL level. There’s no doubt he’ll play and score at least 20 goals a year in his prime, but without significant development, I don’t see much more value than that. He reminds me a lot of Mike Hoffman, and after having watched a full season of Hoffman playing — albeit past his prime — that profile isn’t exactly what I want to rank inside my top-15. There is a chance that Lekkerimäki develops into a regular 35-goal winger with dynamic ability, and if that occurs, I’ll happily be proven wrong, but I think it’s far more likely that his true NHL impact and analytics end up as mediocre.
25. Gleb Trikozov, RW
Beyond having the joint-best name in the class — with fellow skilled RW Jagger Firkus — Gleb has phenomenal skill and will likely be available into the third or fourth round, largely due to his Russian passport. His puck-handling and deception were consistently high-end in my viewings, as was his shot. He gets to high-danger areas and is not afraid to attack the middle. Pair that with his late birthday and you have yourself a high-ceiling player. He is a non-factor defensively, however; he doesn’t move his feet much at all and mostly waits passively for his defenders to regain possession, but it should be noted that his pressuring of the puck-carrier improved significantly from the start of the season. He’s also an intelligent player. He gathers information through frequent scans and takes efficient routes to loose pucks, beating out faster opponents in races surprisingly often. When play is in front of him, he has a good sense of timing and pressure, evading defenders who play the puck with ease. He struggles more when a back-checking forward catches up to him and plays the puck. He keeps his head up and is a dual threat offensively, as his passing is accurate at both medium and long-range and his spotting of playmaking options is decent. There’s a chance that Trikozov puts it all together and turns into a 1RW, but I think a middle-six role as a skilled goalscorer is more realistic as a projection if he comes over to North America at all.
24. Cutter Gauthier, C/LW
Here’s another ranking that is significantly lower than consensus, but I do like Gauthier as a player and appreciate what he brings, I just think that others have more significant upsides as drivers of their lines/pairings, while Gauthier projects as a complementary piece on a second line. He lacks dynamism but brings a ton to the table offensively as a powerforward. He plays physically and with intensity, drives the middle, and is a strong forechecker. He’s an average skater and a below-average defensive player who contents himself with half-hearted whacks at sticks in the defensive zone. Offensively, however, Gauthier demonstrates soft hands in tight areas, a refined inside game, and a cannon of a shot. He generates a ton of power on his release and points his front foot toward his target to maximize accuracy. He also flashes creativity as a playmaker near the crease. Gauthier is an intelligent and powerful player who will be a useful NHL piece for a long time, but due to his limitations in dynamism and offensive driving, he find himself lower on my board relative to consensus.
23. Owen Beck, C
Beck is a tremendous two-way centre, and I expect him to slip into the second round due to his unspectacular production, especially relative to teammate Luca Del Bel Belluz. His game is impressively refined for a first-time draft-eligible, and especially for one who played junior hockey this year. He supports play low in the defensive zone, displaying strong defensive instincts and intensity. He’s also a premier faceoff-taker, which will ease his transition to a defensive role in the NHL. In transition, Beck is an excellent play-connector, who always opens himself as an outlet option in case the puck carrier is pressured. When he has the puck, he uses his tremendous speed and composure to blow past defenders and always looks to attack the middle once he enters the offensive zone. He’s a good enough handler to get past multiple layers of defence and scans continuously to know where his passing options lie. While he’s not a high-end playmaker or overly deceptive, he is a capable distributor in the offensive zone and has the awareness to attacks soft ice and be a shooting threat. And his shot is significantly better than his goal tally this season would indicate. Beck has a high-likelihood of developing into a 3C and has the upside to become a dependable 2C with terrific possession metrics.
22. Marco Kasper, C
From one responsible and intelligent centreman who seems a near lock for at least a 3C role to another, Kasper has consistently risen up draft boards this season and could be selected inside the top-10. Kasper’s motor is only equalled in this class by Adam Sykora’s. He’s consistently intense, which makes him an extremely effective fore-checker, allows him to violently win his position in the slot, and is key to his effective defensive game. His physical play is a real positive as well; he plays through pressure very well, can lay hard hits, and can protect the puck against adult competition. While he lacks dynamism and high-end skill, he plays a very effective game and has his fair share of practical and small-area skills. In transition, he uses his decent skating stride and great awareness and scanning frequency to attack open lanes and force his way into the offensive zone; he reads the flow of play well and has diverse rush patterns to add a layer of unpredictability to his game. He is at his best offensively when camped in the slot and physically engaged, he could score more goals in the NHL than many expect due to his skill as a net-front presence and shooting skill from close range. I doubt any player in this class will score more greasy goals/60. Kasper has a clear identity as a player, is tremendously projectable to the NHL, and plays at a high pace, which make him a safe pick to develop into a middle-six centre in just a few years.
21. Isaac Howard, LW
Isaac Howard plays a game marked by high speed and high skill, and while he started the year around 45 on my board, he’s been a consistent riser as I’ve spotted more and more projectable elements in his game. As a puck carrier in transition, Howard has deception in spades and can go end to end when he has some runway, getting around both USHL and NCAA defenders with ease when he’s on his game. Howard is a strong skater, constantly employing crossovers to gain speed, and he has the hands to keep up with his feet as well. Despite this speed and skill, inside the offensive zone, Howard is at his best off puck, he’s far more a finisher than a playmaker, and his ability to sneak into defenders’ blind spots and find soft ice in and around the slot as a shooting threat is among the best in the draft class. That shot is a really good one, while it lacks the power of the best shots in the class (think of Lekkerimäki, Kemell, Wright, and Öhgren) he gets it off quickly and can really pick his corners. He does need to work on improving his scanning habits for passing options, as he often shoots the puck when the better play would have been the pass, but the passing tools are there for him to develop into a good playmaker. His passes are quick and accurate, much like his shot, but it is his one-touch game that is most impressive in this regard. While Howard lacks the defensive ability of some of the other USNTDP forwards, the transition and offensive upside more than make up for this weakness and cement him well inside our first round. Howard may not have much of a fall-back game, but if he’s developed correctly, he could become an impactful top-6 scorer who complements high-skilled linemates very well.
Tier 5: Clear Second Line and #3D Upside
20. Danila Yurov, RW
Yurov may have started the season as a consensus top-10 pick, but there’s almost no chance he goes there now due to his limited usage in the KHL (played around 2 minutes a game) and because selecting a player based in Russia comes with significant risk this year. Yurov is an excellent NHL prospect, however. He moves around the ice with great fluidity, both on and off the puck due to his excellent skating and hands. With the puck on his stick, he also plays a game predicated on his awareness and skill, with an active delay game to keep defenders on their heels. His offensive movements and patterns are refined, and while he isn’t the flashiest or most deceptive player in the class, his offensive game is very effective. He has more upside as a playmaker than he does as a goalscorer. His defensive game is very strong as well. He uses his intensity and speed to consistently pressure the puck carrier as a forechecker, and his awareness in his own end is as good as it is offensively. His consistent scanning is one of his best habits. He’s a very well-rounded player with real second-line upside.
19. Joakim Kemell, RW
Here’s another relatively-low ranking of a sniper that I might get heat for. Kemell started off the season on an absolute heater, scoring on over 25% of his shots, which was always unsustainable, especially since he scored on a handful of soft lobs on goal from the point, a low-danger shot he attempted far too often for my liking this year. I think Kemell forges himself a role as a physically-involved sniper in an NHL middle-six, but I think he lacks the dynamism, creativity, and playmaking to play a top-line role. He’s also not the most involved player defensively or in transition. Offensively, though, he excels. He’s a good skater who scans well and knows how to get in position to fire off high-danger shots, though he shoots whether or not he’s gotten to a high-danger position, a tendency that will need to decrease in frequency. His shot is wicked though, he generates more power than any other player in the class, and will be a PP1 shooting threat no matter how high up in an NHL lineup he plays at 5v5. However, he will need to learn to be more adaptive under pressure; he too often panics and sends a blind pass that is easily picked off. However, he has shown upside as a forechecker and as a physical player along the boards, which gives him an identity and fall-back game beyond his shot. That, paired with his ability to find soft ice to shoot from are the factors that got me to rank him seven spots ahead of Lekkerimäki.
18. Filip Mešár, C/RW
Mešár could be a tremendous get in the second round, where he is projected to be picked. His game is one of speed, skill, and pace, which I believe can translate to the NHL. Few players in this class can match his speed, agility, acceleration, and motor, and he has the handling ability, scanning, and awareness to keep up with his feet which makes him a real threat in transition. His scanning ability also makes him a highly-effective player on retrievals both offensively and defensively, especially when he makes a series of deceptive weight shifts before exploding in one direction. The defensive work rate is consistent, as well. He tilts the ice in his team’s favour, plays intelligently and is dangerous offensively and effective in transition. One area of improvement as a transporter would be to employ more East-West movement in transition, as he is almost exclusively a North-South guy at this point, which makes him a bit predictable. His wrist shot is really quick, but he projects as more of a playmaker than a goalscorer in the NHL. The key for Mešár is to become more resilient to physical pressure. He’ll never be a physical player, but being able to bounce off defenders rather than being taken out of play by a hit would help his chances of sticking in the NHL. If he does this, I think he could become an extremely fun high-pace second-line winger with tremendous upside in transition.
17. Vladimir Grudinin, LD
Not very many boards have a defenceman as the highest-ranked Russian-based player, but my ranking of Grudinin comes with the biggest asterisk of any player I have ranked. In a vacuum, this is where I’d feel comfortable selecting him, but the situation in Russia, and especially the recent detainment of Ivan Fedotov changes things dramatically. Fedotov is CSKA Moskva’s starting goaltender and a Flyers prospect, who wanted to come over to North America next season. CSKA’s owners did not want this to happen and as a result, he’s been detained for “avoiding military service” and could be subjected to enrolment in the military as punishment for wanting to leave Russia. It’s the first concrete example of such a situation since the Cold War. Grudinin also plays for CSKA, along with fellow draft-eligibles Kirill Dolzhenkov and Artyom Duda. The chances of them coming over to North America, at least within the next five years seems extremely low at the moment, and they could all go undrafted as a result, which may also protect them from their own government and team’s owners. But, for my ranking, I decided to just evaluate the players themselves rather than the circumstances teams have to take into consideration, because there are also many behind-the-scenes things that I am unable to weigh in my evaluation, such as character.
As a player, Grudinin is electrifying. I haven’t watched a player in the 2022 class who can match his four-way mobility, Grudinin’s skating is smoothness exemplified. His skating is mechanically refined and he uses crossovers to great effect to build up speed. Grudinin is an excellent puck-mover with a strong sense of space and timing. He doesn’t just play well when pressured by opposing defenders, he thrives off of it, drawing them in and exploiting the space they vacated to send a pass onto the stick of a teammate. His hands and brain more than keep up with his feet, as well. He is an able activator from the blue-line, where he uses his playmaking ability to cut through defences. His primary value comes in transition and in the defensive zone, however. The breakout ability is built upon the skating and passing abilities I outlined, while his defence is built upon his aggressiveness and intelligence. He maintains a suffocating gap in transition and his understanding of spacing and timing translates to the defensive side of the puck, with a high degree of defensive awareness. While much of this skill was displayed in the MHL, which is a league notorious for its lack of defensive systems and ability, his style of play remained relatively consistent and effective in his KHL appearances this season.
16. Seamus Casey, RD
Ranking Casey this high is, for me, a swing on offensive upside and development. Casey is a talented playmaker and consistently activates offensively, demonstrating significant skill and awareness, he really is at his best with the puck on his stick. He spots passing options before they’re open and creates passing lanes by changing his speed, drawing in defenders, and slipping the puck around them. He creates a lot with his feet, which are constantly moving and his agility and edges allow quick turns and deceptive feints. Defensively, he protects the slot at all costs. His positioning is sound, he is active in defending transition, and his mobility allows him to continuously adapt to defend changing angles of attack. While he may not win a Norris for his defensive play, he effectively limits high-danger chances against. In transition, Casey excels with his mobility, puck-moving skill, and excellent handling ability. While he needs a lot of development to form a cohesive and projectable package, he is heading to the University of Michigan, which will maximize his chances of reaching the ceiling I know he has.
15. Calle Odelius, LD
Calle Odelius is among the draft class’ most mobile and best skating defensemen. He moves around the ice effortlessly, and this mobility is the foundation for the rest of his game. He is talented in the breakout, especially as he can both carry the puck up ice himself or hit short and long-range passing options with great accuracy. This passing ability is equally valuable in the offensive zone, as he is often Djürgardens’ main distributor in possession, especially on the power-play. Pair this quarterbacking ability with his skill while walking the blue-line, and you have yourself a defenceman who can do just about all you want on the power-play other than shoot, as his shot isn’t much of a threat since it lacks real power. Playing on the power-play alongside players as skilled as the Djürgardens trio for so long has certainly helped Odelius develop high-end vision, learn how to create space for them on the man advantage, and how to hit them with perfect passes when they’re ready to shoot. Odelius is generally a strong defensive player, but there were some consistency issues that came up throughout the season. His mobility allows him to close gaps quickly and cover a large area in the defensive zone, but he also missed some key reads, especially in his SHL play. His physicality was another inconsistent ability. There were moments when he leveraged his weight to win puck battles, and looked like a fairly physical defenceman, but there were others where he was really overwhelmed by more mature opponents. We still see this as a long-term asset, however, as he has shown the willingness to play physically and will be increasingly able to do so with every year he fills out his frame. All in all, Odelius projects as a two-way second-pairing defenceman with upside on the power play.
14. Liam Öhgren, LW
Öhgren is just too easy a projection to a second-line goalscoring winger who drives excellent possession metrics for me not to rank him in my top-15, and it was only later in the season that I really realized this potential, which makes him one of my biggest late risers. His defensive game is a real strength. He pairs refined scanning habits with sound positioning and a desire to be implicated in defensive play. One trait that helps him project so well to the NHL is his ability to make quick and progressive plays under pressure in all three zones. This simple style paired with his North-South style and powerful skating stride make him an able play-connector in transition, even if he lacks the skating flair of his line-mates in Östlund and Lekkerimäki. In the offensive zone, Öhgren is constantly moving his feet and rotating positions. He’s an able playmaker from beneath the goal-line, as he keeps his head up and plays so well under pressure. His biggest offensive tool, however, is his shot, which is one of the best and most underrated in the class. He generates excellent power consistently, shoots accurately, and gets into position to use it. He also plays a good physical game, he doesn’t just make smart plays when under pressure, he’s able to play through pressure and retain control of the puck.
Tier 4: Top-Line/Pairing Upside
13. Jagger Firkus, RW
Firkus is a home-run swing, and I’m aware that my ranking of him is particularly bullish, but his upside of a 40-goal, 85-point first liner is just too high for me to rank him any lower, even if there are key areas for him to address in order to project to the NHL. His skating is about average, which is just not good enough for a player weighing 154 lbs, which should hit at least 180 by the time he enters the league as he is 5’10” and his physicality is obviously subpar at this point in time. His defensive implication and awareness also projects as subpar in the NHL, but that’s where the negatives end. Firkus is a dynamic and high-pace offensive dynamo. His shot is one of the three best in the class with Kemell and Lekkerimäki, and it could surpass them both once he adds some muscle. His playmaking is criminally underrated, he can find and execute passes through 2 and sometimes even 3 defensive layers that only 10 or so others in this class are able to. And Firkus is one of the smartest players in the class. He has a keen understanding for space and timing, which is how he accesses high-danger scoring areas consistently against good WHL defences. Even his puck-handling is among the very best in the class. That is just too much skill, versatility, and adaptability for me to bet against, despite his diminutive stature.
12. Matthew Savoie, C
Savoie barely keeps his spot as my top-ranked WHL forward, which is primarily due to his physical maturity and more projectable inside game. His skill level is very high, but he has a tendency to panic under multi-variable pressure, which first-line players shouldn’t do. He’s an excellent goalscorer with refined shooting mechanics, but he’s a volume-shooter who often shoots as a first-resort. These little quirks are enough for me the question his true upside and led to him dropping outside my top-10. But don’t get me wrong, Savoie is electrifying and extraordinarily toolsy. He can make defenders look really bad with his quick hands and quick feet, which both comfortably projects as above NHL-average. He has a delay game, a good sense of timing, and a high motor, which all make him a potent threat off the rush. He could very well make this low ranking look dumb in a few years’ time, but due to his limitations and lack of adaptability, I’m not comfortable placing him any higher than 12.
11. Lane Hutson, LD
I don’t think you understand just how close to ranking Hutson in my top-10 I was, he held on to #9 for over a month in May/June, but in the end, I had to acknowledge the extra risk that comes with selecting Hutson and I couldn’t justify placing two other high-upside defencemen with significantly higher floors behind him, as much as I’ve fallen in love with Hutson’s play this year. There may be no defender available in the 2022 draft class more dynamic than Lane Hutson. The undersized defenceman plays with high-end deception, skill, and planning. He reads the ice offensively extremely well, processes those reads quickly, and executes upon them with his smooth hands and crisp passes, his shot is a real tool as well, despite his stature. Hutson activates in the offensive zone more often than any defender in the class not named Denton Mateychuk, and he has the patience and vision to create dangerous scoring chances from these plays. He is also a valuable player in offensive transition, he manages the puck well and creates zone exits and entries both by passing and carrying the puck, though he can try to do a little bit too much at times. His defensive game isn’t poor, as his positioning is sound, gap tight, and his active stick blocks passing lanes. However, his entire projectability rests on his ability to play under physical pressure. Undersized defensemen need to be able to retain the effectiveness of their games under increased pressure and physicality at the professional level. Lane Hutson is as slight of a player as you’ll find in the NHL draft, and this obstacle is a large one, but if he can surmount it and keep improving the things that make him one of the most entertaining players available, he could turn into a real steal. He is the definition of a boom or bust prospect, if he cracks an NHL top-4, I believe he will nail down a top-pairing role, but if he doesn’t, he won’t be an NHL’er at all. The risk will put off a lot of teams, but he could be a high-value selection on day two of the draft.
10. Simon Nemec, RD
This is another real hot take, and I know I’m betting against NHLe here. Nemec’s production in the Slovak professional league as a draft-eligible defenceman is unprecedented, and he has quite a few refined tools, but I still am a little bit lower on him than the consensus is. Nemec is a very mobile defenceman with decent puck-protection mechanics and real upside in transition, both as a carrier and a passer. He diffuses pressure well with the puck and attacks defenders’ triangles — triangle between their hand, skate and stick blade — which forms the basis of his effective transition game. Offensively, Nemec is an excellent distributor with a good sense for pressure, and his cannon of a shot will translate to NHL goal-scoring. Basically, his play with the puck ranges from very good to excellent, but it’s his defensive play that knocked him down my board. Nemec is a relatively poor and infrequent scanner, whose backward mobility is more easily-exploitable than his forward skating. He’s also not the most effective player at actually blocking the passing lanes he occupies, which led to quite a few passes to the slot getting through him. Add to this a subpar ability to clear the net-front and his tendency to get caught puck-watching and I have a lot of concerns with his defensive projection to the NHL. He needs a lot of development in this area. If he can become a plus-level defender, he could be a really solid #2D, but if he doesn’t, a role as a second-pairing transition and offensive defenceman seems more realistic.
9. Pavel Mintyukov, LD
Mintyukov is a dynamic playmaking defenceman with a high ceiling. He is very mobile, which enables him to play the style of consistent activation and elusiveness that he does. His handling ability is among the best in the class, no defenceman in the draft has better puck skills than Mintyukov, and he uses that ability to be a consistent offensive threat and to carry the puck into the offensive zone himself. But it is his intelligence and playmaking that shine brightest. His vision is top-5 in the class for me, with only Shane Wright, Denton Mateychuk, Lane Hutson, and Logan Cooley being comparable or better. His playmaking game is refined and he can hit passes that no other defenceman available can. His shot is his only weak offensive tool, but he’ll still manage to score some goals in the NHL due to his intelligence on and off the puck, he cuts to the middle with the puck and shoots from dangerous areas, and he exploits defenders’ blind spots to drift into soft ice around the slot off puck. His reading of the play is very high-end. This translates to solid defensive play, as well. Mintyukov closes his gaps quickly, has an active stick, and blocks passing lanes to the slot very effectively. His confidence and lack of hesitation with the puck help give him a high ceiling. Projecting him as a #2 or #3 defenceman with high-end offensive tools, playmaking upside, and PP1 QB upside is fair, in my view, with the right development.
8. Denton Mateychuk, LD
Mateychuk is a highly-contentious prospect this year, but I’m a big fan and despite his status as a unicorn — no NHL player really plays the way he does — I am a big enough believer in his well-rounded game and high-end tools to rank him well within my top-10. While his offensive game is the real selling point, let’s look at his defending first. He is a frequent scanner who is always aware of the location of the biggest threats. He’s one of the most agile and mobile defencemen in the class despite lacking an impressive top-speed. He also has one of the highest motors amongst defencemen in the class, which he uses to close his gaps with great intensity, especially once the puck carrier has crossed the blue-line, he prefers to snuff out rushes in the defensive zone than the neutral zone to minimize the risk of his aggressive play. He’s not the strongest player, but he uses his physicality very effectively with a low centre of gravity to really leverage his weight. He also protects the slot at all costs. But the real value with Mateychuk comes in the form of his constant, and I mean constant, offensive activations. He plays like a forward in the offensive zone and really benefits from the highly-fluid offensive system that Moose Jaw plays. He plays as the F1 at times. His playmaking ability when he has the puck and activates from the blueline is something special. He constantly scans for passing lanes and his constant movement and agility opens a ton of options up for him. His rate of passes to the slot is ridiculous. He even has a decent shot which he’s not shy to use. His play in transition with the puck makes full use of his scanning, mobility, and passing skill too. I like his chances of developing into a 200-foot playmaking defenceman as either a #2 or #3.
7. Noah Östlund, C
My highest ranked of the Djurgårdens line is its centreman, Noah Östlund. Few centres in this class can match Östlund dynamism and skill. With the puck on his stick, Östlund leverages his high-end skating, awareness, and playmaking to pick apart defences. Östlund is also one of the smartest players in the class. His awareness of space and his sense of timing are elite. While his playmaking is his main threat in the offensive zone, his one-timer is impressively powerful and accurate, though his wrist and snapshots are about average. On top of all this, Östlund is a dependable defensive pivot who uses his skating and anticipation to pressure the puck carrier and clog up passing lanes. The one thing he lacks is physicality, which isn’t even a huge concern of mine due to his composure with the puck and his adaptability which allow him to play well under pressure. However, he loses most of his board battles and is outmuscled by junior competition. His conditioning is beyond reproach though, he performed extremely well at the NHL combine, and he should be able to add 25 or so pounds onto his 163 lbs frame since he is 5’11”.
Tier 3: Definite Top-Line/Pairing Upside
6. David Jiricek, RD
Jiricek is my top-ranked defenceman in this class and has been since January. His combination of floor, upside, and physicality is unmatched this year. His in-zone defensive play is a work in progress but he has good tools and habits to build upon. He’s an excellent skater — which should be the case again once he gains back flexibility and strength in his knee following a surgery. His frequent scanning is a great habit, but he still needs to learn to better process the information he collects. Jiricek is quite raw defensively, despite his overwhelming physicality, but I think he could develop into a very strong player in his own end. His defending against the rush is another matter entirely, his gap is tight, his hits hard, and he allows very few entries with control on his side of the ice; projecting this element of his game as elite is fair. His high upside, however, comes from his offensive play. With the puck on his stick in the offensive zone, Jiricek is not afraid of activating. He keeps his head up and reads play and pressure very well. He’s equally a threat as a shooter as he is as a playmaker, and this dual-threat capability make him an adaptable offensive threat. His aggressiveness is present in every facet of his game. He also flashes creativity on retrievals, both offensively and defensively. Jiricek could develop into a versatile first-pairing defenceman but has a lot of development left, his floor of second-pairing defenceman is valuable as well.
5. Juraj Slafkosvsky, LW
As a Habs fan and member of Habs twitter, no player in this class has been even 10% as contentious as Slafkovsky. You have certain scouts ranking him at #1, calling him the second-coming of Mikko Rantanen while going on a smear-campaign of Shane Wright while also trying to play diplomat to cover his ass, while others have over-compensated their desire for the Habs to go Wright at 1 by labelling Slafkovsky a low-ceiling bust. Neither of these extremes is fair or analytical. Slafkovsky has a first-line ceiling, that is beyond doubt at this point in time, but projecting a player who shone internationally but only produced 10 points in 31 Liiga games on a good team in a top-9 role as the next Rantanen is ignoring the 90% chance that Slafkovsky doesn’t hit that level. Slafkovsky’s physicality is dominant, he throws grown men from his back as if they were mosquitoes. He also uses the puck protection his physicality enables to great effect, especially when attacking the slot from the boards. His hands are also really quick and soft. While he lacks acceleration, he picks up impressive speed with some runway and his hands keep up at those high speeds. In tight spaces, the puck can be seemingly glued to his stick. While his goal-scoring is being framed as his offensive strength due to his 7-goal, 0-assist performance at the Olympics, he projects far more as a playmaker in the NHL than a goalscorer. His one-touch game is very strong, and his passing ability to the slot from behind the net and along the boards shines brightest. He’s a more dangerous player in the offensive cycle than he is off the rush. His shot is mechanically refined and powerful, but he lacks the instincts to find and regularly seek out soft ice in the offensive zone to make use of it. His defensive game is limited to his physicality and reach, but plop him next to a defensively responsible centre and he’ll be just fine.
4. Logan Cooley, C
Cooley is just fun to watch. He’s a dynamic offensive player with excellent hands and elite playmaking and creativity. He reminds me a lot of Matt Barzal, well apart from his lack of an elite top-speed. He is extremely shifty and agile, though, and he accelerates to his top-speed within three steps. His creativity is the best in the class and he uses it regularly, not to look skilled but as a problem-solving tool. He regularly pulls of extremely creative passes that are very functional as they wouldn’t have been open lanes were it not for his creative move. His playmaking and his transition skill are his strongest attributes. he gains zone entries at a ridiculous rate due to his combination of passing ability, agility, deception, creativity, scanning, pace, and diverse rush patterns. His shot is decent and quick, but not at the same level as the rest of his offensive toolkit. The defensive game is a big question mark for me with Cooley. He shows flashes of the high-end anticipation he has offensively in the defensive zone, but his level of defensive engagement and the effectiveness of his pressure on the puck-carrier are subpar. I see Cooley as a future offensive top-six centreman.
3. Brad Lambert, C
This is a hot take, but I’ve stood by it all year. I really struggled in deciding who I’d rank higher out of Lambert and Cooley, but Lambert edged it out by just a bit. His combination of stick-handling and speed is unmatched in this class. He plays at a high pace, has a ton of dynamic ability, and is elite in transition, especially as a puck-carrier. I realize that his production was really bad in the Liiga, but he was surrounded by line-mates that just couldn’t keep up with his pace, skill, or thought processes, and Lambert needs line-mates that are on his wavelength. His playmaking ability is a standout skill as well. He is able to execute on just about every pass he sees, and when he keeps his head up and continuously scan for options, which is inconsistent, he’s able to make really high-end play. He’s a better playmaker than he is a goalscorer, but he is very efficient with his shooting, he gets to high-danger areas to shoot, but won’t gift away possession by lobbing a puck on net from afar. His defensive intensity is also quite impressive, he sprints for loose pucks and will engage the puck-carrier physically even if he’s not the strongest. I see 1C upside with Lambert, but there’s a wider range of possible outcomes than with Cooley. Still, Lambert is my #3 ranked player in this year’s class.
Tier 2: The Tank
2. Frank Nazar III, C
Frank Nazar was my favourite player to watch this season. His constant driving up the middle lane and refined inside game set him apart from the other high-speed, high-skill guys in my top-10. He plays at a breakneck pace and speed and is equally a natural goalscorer as he is a refined playmaker. His ceiling may be the very highest in the entire class, in my view. When he’s not driving up the slot or passing into it, Nazar looks to drift into it when he has a chance to get open as a passing option in the slot, and when he gets the puck in high-danger areas, he’s an excellent finisher. But what makes Nazar such a special offensive piece is his versatility and adaptability, he can score off the rush, he can create with his passing off the rush, he can score during sustained offensive presences, and he can take on the role of playmaker as well. He plays with an intensity none of my other top-ranked forwards can match, and this translates to his defensive game, where he pressures the carrier consistently. His entire game projects extremely well to the NHL and that makes it all the more astounding and confusing that he’s ranked #15 of Bob McKenzie’s board. Whoever snaps him up in the teens — or even later — will make out like bandits real quick.
Tier 1: The Wright Choice
1. Shane Wright, C
It was only ever going to be Shane Wright at 1 for me, as much as I love Frank Nazar and his inside game and offensive versatility. Wright is just, by far, the most calculated and intelligent player available in this class. While he lacks the Bergeron-esque defensive quality that some have claimed, in my view, his defensive game is decent and based upon his spacial awareness and sound positioning. Wright is the ultimate play-connector, he supports his teammates at all times, serving as an outlet option in transition. He’s routinely the third forward into the offensive zone, as a result — since his transition upside comes more in the form of passing than carrying — and he uses this to drift into the slot and serves as a prime passing option from a high-danger area. Wright just has all the little details down. He drives the middle lane off puck to push defenders back and gift his line-mates a lot more space to work with. His top speed isn’t the greatest, but he rarely ever uses it as his entire game is based on scanning and anticipation. His edgework, on the other hand, is very strong and helps him remain adaptable at all times. He lacks the dynamism most forwards who go first overall possess, but his impact on the game is tremendous. he’s a high-end puck-mover, has the best vision in the class, possesses a devastating shot that he should use more often, and he’s extremely strong on the puck. All of this works together to give Shane Wright the ceiling of 1C, and the floor of highly-impactful 2C. I don’t think any player should be selected ahead of Shane Wright this year, and if a team — my team — chooses to pass on Wright, they’re more likely than not going to come to regret that decision.