Team High: A Rundown
A list of the rationalizations behind every pick I've made for Team High since 2020
Scouting is a unique craft. It is all about hedging bets and taking calculated risks but every scout will value certain aspects more (or less) than other scouts. No two have identical philosophies. I hope that this write-up will help portray my personal scouting philosophy and paint its development trajectory since I first got started in this.
I will preface this by saying that I am not drafting to form a cohesive team with necessarily complementary pieces. Rather, I’m drafting for talent and value. I’d rather swing hard on an undersized potential top-six forward than a physical and dependable defender with more limited upper-echelon potential, as those players can often be acquired affordably via trade or free agency. I do believe that having a mix of physicality and skill is important, especially in playoff hockey, but I’d rather try to find alternative ways of filling those important roles, possibly by flipping some of my good undersized picks (whose values have often risen from their draft slot) to acquire a more sure thing on that front. I also don’t believe in drafting 18-year-olds to patch current holes in a lineup, as those needs evolve so quickly in the NHL, so I use position as more of a tie-breaker in specific scenarios such as my (lack of) RD depth this year.
Feel free to look through Team High and if you’re curious about how I personally got into scouting (and are curious about my recommendations on getting started in it) I made a dedicated post just for that. Now, without further ado, let’s get into it!
2020
Note: My 2020 picks were done based on my reading/listening to public scouts, as I hadn’t yet gotten started with scouting myself, so there’s a big asterisk next to this class.
16: Mavrik Bourque (C) — Kaiden Guhle (LD)
Bourque was the player I was eyeing for this pick. I valued intelligence, skill, and upside (some things don’t change) and really believed Bourque’s toolkit and high-end intelligence would propel him to a top-six NHL role. While he has yet to make his NHL debut, he has progressed well in the past few years and projects as a middle-six piece, which is good! It isn’t, however, as good as the pick the Habs made.
Guhle was second on my board at this point and I liked the selection, but I was very (overly) invested in Bourque. Since being drafted, Guhle’s decision-making in possession and passing ability have improved significantly, and these were two of his bigger weaknesses as a draft-eligible. I undervalued his potential with such a raw offensive game, and learned from it as a result.
47: Daniil Gushchin (RW) — Luke Tuch (LW)
Gushchin is as pure-skill of a player as you’re likely to find past the top-45. His DY in Muskegon was excellent, he was driving the offence, flashing creativity, constantly engaged, and surprisingly effective defensively. It was, however, his offensive tools that convinced me; his shot, playmaking, and handling were all plus-level. Since then, Gushchin lit up the OHL with Niagara, produced a lot as an AHL rookie, and is technically a career point-per-game player in the NHL with 2 points in as many games. He projects as a middle-six Swiss Army knife with an abundance of skill, which is excellent value for a pick in this range.
The same can’t quite be said about the Tuch pick, which struck me as a bunt at the time and hasn’t aged particularly well either. He’s an effective bottom-six NCAA guy, but the NHL upside is very slim at this point. He wasn’t a player I’d considered drafting, let alone this high.
48: Anton Johannesson (LD) — Jan Myšák (LW/C)
Johannesson was an electrifying undersized defenceman as a DY who produced exceptionally well in J20. He missed his entire D+1 season, however, and his development stagnated. After a good year in HockeyEttan (Sweden’s 3rd pro division), he got a deal with Brynäs in HockeyAllsvenskan for this upcoming year, which will shine a lot of light on just how much of his missed development he’s caught up on. While I’m not holding out too much hope of getting an NHLer from this pick, I hope he proves current me wrong and past me right.
Jan Myšák fell on draft day and this was a good pick for the Habs. Unfortunately, his development also took a big hit in his D+1 and his NHL potential is in doubt. I picked a different player than the Habs in this slot, but both are on the brink of losing out on their status as NHL prospects.
102: Sean Farrell (LW) — Jack Smith (C)
I loved Sean Farrell, I should’ve picked him at 48 and was close to doing so, but I nabbed him in the early 4th anyway, which was excellent value for my 35th top-ranked player. His combination of playmaking, intelligence, and intensity sold me on his profile, and his D+1 addition of a strong goalscoring game to complement that profile further raised his ceiling. The Habs got him a few picks later, but I’m glad I didn’t risk missing out on him, as he’s yet another undersized but skilled winger who projects as a middle-six player.
Smith, on the other hand, was as confounding a pick in 2020 as it is in hindsight. While he put up big numbers in Minnesota High School hockey, the toolkit lagged behind most other draft eligibles and made his transition to the USHL a really tough one.
109: Brett Berard (LW) — Blake Biondi (C)
I wasn’t as high on Berard in 2020 as I should’ve been, but he was among the fallers available in this slot and I decided to take the bet. He plays with suffocating intensity and could be a fan favourite bottom-six energy guy for a really long time. Even Team High needs some fun depth players!
Biondi was a reasonable pick in the 4th and was just crowned Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey, which the Habs probably liked a fair bit. After a good sophomore year at UMD with 17 goals and 28 points in 42 games, Biondin faced some injuries as a junior and didn’t develop very much. As of right now, I don’t expect him to get an NHL contract from the Habs and am quite happy with Berard.
124: Alexei Goryachev (LD) — Sean Farrell (LW)
Along with the next pick, this one here makes it the most obvious that I hadn’t really gotten into scouting yet at this point. Goryachev was a mean, physical defenceman who hit like a truck. He also hasn’t been drafted or come to North America yet, likely because of his limited toolkit beyond those aforementioned qualities. Obviously, Farrell is the better player between these two, but I snapped him up too, so it doesn’t sting.
136: Declan Carlile (LD) — Jakub Dobeš (G)
Carlile was, in a vacuum, not a bad pick at all for me. While he got passed over in the draft, he signed with Tampa Bay a year later and leveraged his sound defensive game into a trusted role with Syracuse in the AHL, where he produced impressively well for an undrafted rookie defenceman with 24 points through 69 games.
What hurts, however, has to do with a goalie. And as good as Jakub Dobeš is, and as well as that selection has aged, that isn’t what makes it sting. I was pretty high on Devon Levi, and was on the brink of picking him here, but thought: “Do I really want to draft the small goalie over the big defenceman?” and made the worst decision so far in Team High’s short run.
Back to Dobeš, though, he’s an athletic netminder who absolutely carried Ohio State for two seasons and now figures to be the Habs’ top goaltending prospect along with the recently-drafted Jacob Fowler. Dobeš will have two seasons to marinate in Laval before Jake Allen’s contract expires, which seems like the logical hopeful timeline for his transition to the NHL. He could become a fringe starting goaltender, which is excellent value at 136.
171: Ryker Evans (LD) — Alexander Gordin (RW)
I’m proud of this pick. I really liked Evans’ transition defending and puck-moving ability, and was of the mind that much of the reason for his lack of production and a high draft stock was the tough situation he was in on a bad Regina Pats team. A year later, he was picked 35th overall by the Kraken and following a 44-point rookie season in the AHL, projects as the organization’s top defensive prospect.
Alexander Gordin was a long shot at the draft and his development stagnated significantly from that point onward, but 7th-round picks aren’t exactly likely to hit.
Overall Thoughts
I wasn’t a scout when I made these picks, but I read the work of a whole lot of smart people who helped this class age just as well, if not better, than the Habs’ own. While Guhle is the best player from the two combined classes, I think that adding Bourque, Gushchin, Farrell, Berard, and Evans rivals the Habs’ haul of Guhle, Farrell, and Dobeš. While I’ve gone back and forth on keeping this class in Team High due to not having actively scouted the class, I’ve decided to keep it in, at least for the time being, to more clearly paint my own trajectory as a scout from extreme beginner to intermediate.
2021
31: Logan Stankoven (RW) — Logan Mailloux (RD)
I don’t believe Mailloux should have been drafted in 2021, so any player I picked over him would, at least in my mind, be a better selection, but Stankoven has only kept up his meteoric trajectory from his DY season. He can play any forward position, brings intensity, goalscoring, and skill, and I am confident that he will be a long-time valuable top-six contributor in the NHL. The only other player I would consider at this slot in retrospect is Olen Zellweger, so I think I did quite well.
Mailloux is a good OHL defenceman who I have many concerns about in terms of NHL translation. His defensive game remains a weakness in my eyes, and the decision-making both with and without the puck hasn’t progressed enough in the past two years. The Hughes/Gorton front office still clearly believes in him, having signed him to an ELC months before they needed to, and his rookie season in pro hockey will tell us a whole lot more than his final OHL year did, but I’m not of the belief that any of that matters in evaluating that selection. It would have been beneficial for everyone if Mailloux had simply been passed over in 2021 and picked in 2022.
62: Stanislav Svozil (LD) — Riley Kidney (C)
I liked Svozil for many of the same reasons that I liked Evans a year earlier. He was a strong transition defender with untapped offensive tools who was undervalued due to a pedestrian U18 performance. His move to Regina helped him unlock impressive offensive creativity and potential, and he now figures as a highly-valuable defensive prospect, having just graduated from the CHL, and scoring 3 points in 3 combined NHL and AHL games to finish the 2022-23 season. The Columbus blueline, just like Team High’s LD depth, is packed to the brim, but Svozil is too good to suffer from it; he will either crack the CBJ blueline in the next 1-2 years or get traded to a team that will play him.
I wasn’t all that high on Kidney at the draft, and it wasn’t until this past season that I’ve become hopeful for his NHL upside. He was a very skilled but strictly perimeter playmaker whose style worried me a fair bit. I did, however, underrate his intelligence and ability to adapt his style, because a single offseason with the Habs’ new development staff has transformed him into a skilled, pacy, and middle-driven playmaker. I still think he tops out as a 3rd liner, but this is looking like a strong pick in hindsight.
63: Simon Robertsson (RW) — Oliver Kapanen (C)
Robertsson was another player whose stock took a big hit at the U18s, and I didn’t think it deserved to. His tools were solid across the board and his shot was really impressive. His progression hasn’t been as strong as Svozil’s, however, and barring a breakout season this year, he likely tops out as a versatile but unspectacular bottom-six piece, which is a rather similar projection to Oliver Kapanen, who plays a more premium position and a more reliable game than Robertsson. Neither of these selections has aged particularly well, and both were players I liked a fair bit in 2021, so that makes for a good learning experience for me as a scout.
87: Dylan Duke (C) — Dmitri Kostenko (RD)
I was surprised by how far Duke fell at the draft. He was the best net-front presence available in 2021 and had untapped potential with his raw tools and weak skating. His time at the University of Michigan has seen him develop into the projected 3rd liner I hoped he could become, making this selection age pretty well. He was the last player available in this class that I was really high on.
Kostenko is skilled but does not play a very refined game, and his development didn’t take the leap it needed to in order to justify a top-90 selection. I’m pretty happy with Duke in my depth chart over the Russian defender.
113: Peter Reynolds (C) — William Trudeau (LD)
This one’s aged poorly. Reynolds was a really fun defensive centre on a bad St. John team in 2020-21, and I was willing to bet on his playmaking game taking some steps once he was surrounded by more talent. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, even with the Sea Dogs winning the Memorial Cup as hosts in 2021. He was never drafted into the NHL.
Trudeau, on the other hand, continued his positive trajectory after being picked and has become a key cog in the Laval Rocket defence as a 20-year-old. His ceiling isn’t the highest, but he could become a dependable bottom-pairing piece, which is great value outside the top 100.
142: Kirill Gerasimyuk (G) — Daniil Sobolev (RD)
I’ll be patient with Gerasimyuk, the only goalie I have drafted for Team High. He was a dominant MHL goalie as a draft-eligible and remained a dominant MHL goalie this past season, two years onward, as the SKA system is logjammed in net. This season, he should play full-time in the VHL, which will be an important jump in competition to help evaluate his progression. Either way, I’m happy with him over Sobolev, who has been a fine bottom-four OHL defenceman in the past few years and won’t get a contract from the team.
150: Lukas Gustafsson (LD) — Joshua Roy (C/RW)
I really like Gustafsson, he’s a smart defenceman with strong passing ability and composure under pressure. He only hit the NCAA as a D+2, but he looked great as a freshman with Boston College, putting up 19 points in 35 games. That lineup will be infused with skill and high-end talent next season (Smith, Leonard, Perreault, Minnetian, Fowler) which will either see his role diminish or him rising to the occasion when surrounded by skill, I’m still one to bet on the latter. That said, I can’t make an argument for him over Roy at this point. He was the best selection in the Habs’ class and projects as a versatile 3rd line piece.
191: Jiri Tichacek (LD) — Xavier Simoneau (C/LW)
Here’s one that’s also aged less nicely. Tichacek is intelligent, but I was too high on his NHL upside, it’s more clear to me now, with many D+2/3 viewings that he projects best as a high-end European defenceman, the NHL game just isn’t tailored to his abilities. Simoneau, on the other hand, has become one of the hidden gems in the Habs’ pool. He’s an excellent playmaker, highly tenacious, and built like a tree trunk, which facilitates his style as a buzzsaw around the crease. Easy win for the Habs on this pick and another learning experience for me.
214: Jake Martin (RD) — Joe Vrbetic (G)
Until recently, Martin was the only RD in my system, so the fact that he remains undrafted wasn’t great for me. His development hasn’t gone smoothly and he doesn’t project as an NHLer at this point in time, but few 7th-rounders do. Vrbetic was a better selection here, as a huge and raw goaltender who most expected to go higher. That said, his future in the organization is likely quite short, especially with the Habs spending a third of their 9 picks in 2023 on netminders.
Overall Thoughts:
I’m really happy having landed Stankoven, Svozil, and Duke, but the rest of this class hasn’t aged the best. Since this was the first year I made picks based on my own viewings of the players, it’s to be expected that it would be a weaker class, and the lack of game tape around with this being the most impacted class by the pandemic didn’t help either. That said, Stankoven is a slam dunk at 31 and he’s by far the best prospect from the two combined 2021 classes.
2022
1: Shane Wright (C) — Juraj Slafkovský (LW)
This wasn’t the draft in which the Habs (nor myself) wanted the 1st overall pick. While I was happy to add Wright, he is not the franchise-calibre player you expect to add with the 1st overall pick. A year onward, he would remain one of my top options at 1st overall in a re-draft but would be joined in that top tier by David Jiricek and Logan Cooley, both of whom would have legitimate cases for #1. Wright’s D+1 wasn’t great, but his intelligence and refined toolkit make him a high-likelihood top-six centre, which remains a highly-valuable asset.
Slafkovsky was a swing for the fences who I believe the Habs rushed to the NHL. A year in a professional league where he could truly dominate would have done him a lot of good, whether it be the AHL or Liiga. That said, he projects as a top-six LW with a unicorn toolkit, which is really fun and I expect him to surprise many with his development in the next 2-3 years. He’d be just a tier below that top-3 for me in a re-ranking, likely in the 6-8 range, which is close to where I had him ranked originally at #5.
26: Brad Lambert (C) — Filip Mešár (C/RW)
I had Lambert ranked 3rd overall. Despite a very strong D+1 season following his transfer to the WHL, he’d drop down a few spots if I were to re-rank the class. That said, I’d still be sprinting to the podium to pick him at 26. His skill and creativity is quite special and his ceiling remains one of the very highest of the 2022 class. I still hope he gets developed down the middle, as I think it’s where he’s most effective, but either way, he was an easy swing for me at 26.
I also really liked the Mešár pick, who I had ranked 18th overall. While his D+1 season was underwhelming, he was among the OHL’s most prolific analytical playmakers and he has seemingly been written off by the entire fanbase already, which strikes me as overly reactionary. That’s not to say I’d pick him over Lambert, though, I’m quite happy with how this pick has aged in a year.
33: Jagger Firkus (RW) — Owen Beck (C)
This was the biggest risk I’ve taken with Team High so far — I spent half a day between Days 1 and 2 debating if I’d do it —and I really lucked out with how it paid off. I really wanted to land both Hutson and Firkus and was expecting to do so at 26 and 33, but Lambert falling threw a beautiful wrench into that comfortable plan. Hutson was the player I was most bullish on relative to consensus and I really, really, really didn’t want to miss out on him. But Firkus was almost as valuable in my eyes and projects as a top-six goalscorer with high-end IQ, playmaking, and handling. The risk I took wasn’t swinging on Firkus, but rather passing on Hutson in the hope (or calculated risk) that he’d still be around at 62, which he was… barely. In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t take the same risk again, considering how Hutson has progressed better than even I expected, but I’m so glad I did.
The Habs also did great work with this pick. Beck doesn’t have the same upside as Firkus, but he’s way safer, and projects as a strong and versatile 3C who could play competent NHL minutes as early as 2023-24. The Habs did excellent work with their first 4 picks, but I still think my picks project a bit better. Time will tell.
62: Lane Hutson (LD) — Lane Hutson (LD)
Do I even need to write anything here? My stance on Hutson is pretty well-known as he made me look smarter than I am with a huge D+1 season after I had him ranked 11th overall. As of now, I think his upside is near Quinn Hughes’ level, but his skating and transition defending will need to take some steps in the upcoming years for that to remain the case. He good.
75: Isaiah George (LD) — Vinzenz Rohrer (C)
George is among the most fluid skaters and strongest players in the OHL. He pairs this fun combination with calculated distribution and stellar defensive play. He’s the most physical legitimate NHL prospect I have in my Team High system, but I picked him for his upside. While his production has yet to pop, he is an elite OHL defenceman and continued to impress me through every London viewing I had in the past year.
I haven’t watched any player mentioned in this article more than Rohrer, having logged 40+ live viewings over the past two years in Ottawa, where I’m based. I was skeptical at the time, but his progression over the last offseason was incredible and the longer runway his late birthday provided helped the Habs’ risk to really pay off. He plays with violence and embodies heart. He’s a general on the ice, commanding his teammates in all three zones (I could hear him from the nosebleeds), and he’s significantly improved his small-area playmaking, especially on the man advantage. While I’m sad to no longer have him nearby with the 67s, I’m very curious to see how he does vs. pros, as I think he’ll do excellently and rise up the prospect depth chart by next offseason.
92: Vladimir Grudinin (LD) — Adam Engström (LD)
I love Vladimir Grudinin as a prospect, he’s a tremendous skater, a methodical and effective defender, and an underrated passer in transition. His offensive upside isn’t the highest, but I think he will be a great value pick for both myself and the Canes as a potential #4 with continued good development.
He doesn’t project as well at this point in time as Engström, however, who was a tremendous selection for Montreal. As a D+1 he not only showed more skill, creativity, and dynamism than in his draft year but did so while playing 2nd pairing SHL minutes (which will grow to 1st pairing minutes next season). He has solid second-pairing potential as a puck-mover and potentially even a playmaker from the blueline.
127: Tyler Duke (LD) — Cédrick Guindon (C/LW)
Duke went undrafted yet again in 2023, and I’m hoping his transfer to UMichigan helps improve his skating and gives more room for his offensive tools to grow, as they did for his brother, Dylan. In hindsight, this was higher than I should’ve selected him (again, a constant learning process) but I’m glad to have him in my system and still see bottom-pairing NHL potential.
Guindon was a slightly better pick in my eyes. He’s really intelligent and elevated Colby Barlow whenever he played with him. He has solid bottom-six potential, but I’m not sure if there’s a path for such a role in Montreal for him, as they already have so many players with similar projections. Either way, this was a solid pick for the Habs.
130: Jeremy Wilmer (C) — Jared Davidson (C)
Wilmer is a swing for the fences with a low chance of success, but if he hits, he’ll be awesome. He’s the smallest player I’ve picked, which is saying something and remains quite perimeter based as a playmaker a year later, but his NCAA production was strong and I still think he has a slim chance. While this is not likely a pick I’d make again (I had Wilmer ranked 87th in 2023 and only reached 65 on my board by the Habs’ final pick) Wilmer is among my favourite NCAA players to watch and is therefore a prospect I’m glad to have planted my flag in, the skill and passing ability are both excellent, but he’s not very projectable.
Davidson had a good year and is getting some hype from Habs fans, but I think he tops out as a great WHLer and middle-of-the-lineup AHLer. The jump to pro hockey is a big one, and his skating and lack of high-end tools will make it all the more challenging. I’m curious to see how the Habs approach his development but don’t see an NHL player here either.
162: Cole Knuble (RW) — Emmett Croteau (G)
Knuble didn’t get picked in 2022, but he did in 2023, which makes this Team High selection look quite a bit better. He was always a hard-working and middle-driven player, but his pace and passing games have progressed a ton since I made this selection, and he was even more worthy of a pick this year than last. He could be a bottom-six energy guy who can play effective hockey with just about any linemates.
Croteau was a bit of a weird swing to me at the time, but goalies are the most erratic prospects, both in terms of draft stock and development. Considering the Habs picked 3 goalies just a year after this pick, I doubt they’ve remained as high on him as they were, despite a big jump in his USHL SV%. He’s off to Clarkson University next season, so we’ll see how he fares against college competition. As of right now, I’m really happy with Knuble here.
194: Ilya Kvochko (C) — Petteri Nurmi (LD)
Kvochko is a skilled playmaker, who I thought would get picked in 2022. He didn’t and his development has stagnated. Picks like this one are ones I can learn from. While he could bounce back, I think it’s more likely that he’s a skill guy in the MHL who I overvalued by not fully acknowledging the importance of context and league quality.
That said, I’d rather miss on a swing on a skilled first-time draft eligible than on an overage defensive defenceman. Nurmi still projects best as a shutdown D in Liiga, but maybe if he comes over he could be a useful piece for Laval.
216: Alexis Gendron (C) — Miguël Tourigny (RD)
Gendron is a really intense forward who flashed good goalscoring in the QMJHL as a draft-eligible. I loved his style of play and figured I would follow the Habs’ lead by picking fun high-intensity Québecois forwards in the 7th (eg. RHP, Simoneau), but I didn’t expect him to break out the way he did as a D+1. He was one of the better players in the league and once he got settled in Gatineau, began to score at a really impressive clip (47 goals in 47 combined regular season and playoff games for Gatineau). My live viewings of him only further entrenched him as a future bottom-six piece in the NHL in my mind.
Tourigny was a fun selection and he really deserved to get picked after being passed over twice already. He’s a goalscoring offensive defenceman who probably tops out as Laval’s #1 and potentially their captain, but could maybe play a Chris Wideman role in his prime. He’s a solid pick here, but especially with Gendron’s progression over the past 12 months, I’m happy with who I got.
Overall Thoughts
It’s a whole lot tougher to evaluate a draft class based on a single year of post-draft progression, but as of the time of writing (June 30, 2023) I’m feeling really good about the high-end players I got. While I’d definitely consider Cooley and Jiricek at 1 with hindsight, I don’t yet feel the need to switch any of my first 4 selections in this class. While I ended up with way too many players who went undrafted, which lowers the class’ value, I’m still really happy with my overall drafting even if Duke, Wilmer, and Kvochko never touch the NHL.
2023
Note: The Habs frustrated me a bit by picking 5 players I have yet to actively scout, which is not what I was expecting considering that I surveyed well over 200 players in this class. As such, I will only provide analysis on those selections once I get around to watching them, hopefully soon.
5: Matvei Michkov (LW) — David Reinbacher (RD)
Oh boy, I’ll choose my words very carefully here and will preface the analysis by condemning any fan personally reaching out to any player, let alone an 18-year-old, with the purpose of attacking and denigrating them; fans must separate their frustration about the pick from the player — and person — themself.
Michkov has been the player I’ve been pretty confident I’d pick in this slot since January. I don’t believe that the “Russia factor” or the contract situation are nearly as “risky” as they’ve been made out to be by media and NHL teams alike. Over the past two drafts, no top Russians really fell much from their consensus ranking, but Michkov was treated as an exception, for whatever reason. While the contract likely will see him remain in Russia for 3 years, teams picking high in 2023 aren’t likely to be competitive before his arrival anyway. Plus, once he does come to North America, he will be signed on a full 3-year ELC which will be an incredible luxury for a team entering its competitive window.
From an on-ice perspective, Michkov was a clear top-3 talent in this class in my eyes. His goalscoring, playmaking, handling, and intelligence are all slam-dunk elite. He has the potential to win multiple Richard trophies. While it’s clear that you can’t play 20 Michkovs and win a cup (not sure he’d save many pucks) and there are other components to forming a cup-winning team, elite skill is always among the very main ones, and Michkov has it in spades. The defensive game needs work, but he’ll need to progress on that front to earn big minutes with SKA so the incentive is certainly there. While he’s not the tallest, his physical game isn’t a weakness and has progressed significantly in the last calendar year, as has his defensive engagement (the reads and consistency need work). In other words, I am absolutely elated to add him to my prospect cupboard.
Reinbacher, for his part, is an excellent prospect. My closest NHL comparable for him all season was Kaiden Guhle (but with worse handling and better passing) which I stand by. Habs fans should be excited to add a player of that profile, it’s not fair to him to compare him to Michkov for the next 15 years. He’s a strong skater, excellent rush and in-zone defender whose passing ability could possibly be leveraged into an improved playmaking game, which would require some significant steps in his creativity and dynamism to truly unlock. I’m quite confident that he will be a strong 2nd pairing contributor, and if there’s any player who could perfectly complement him to form a strong 1st pairing (which would require some big progression in Reinbacher’s game) it would be Lane Hutson.
I was peeved by the Newhook trade not because I’m low on him as a player — I like him more than most public scouts — but because it meant that I wouldn’t be able to use picks 31 and 37 to add to Team High. Those two players would have been Gavin Brindley and Andrew Cristall, two more swings on undersized and — in my opinion — undervalued players.
69: Jayden Perron (LW) — Jacob Fowler (G)
In all honesty, I was pretty stressed from picks 60 to 68 that I would just miss out on adding Perron, but he ended up falling all the way to 94. He is among the most intelligent players in the class and blends this trait with good skating, high-end intensity, good defensive involvement, elite playmaking, and improving goalscoring. While I could understand the hesitation of picking him in the first round as his production wasn’t great and he’s undersized, I sprinted to Twitter to announce him as my Team High pick here in the 3rd. The upside is really high, and I am always one to bet on the combination of intelligence, intensity, and plus-level tools. The Canes got a good one.
Fowler was an awesome pick, however, my favourite of the Habs’ 2023 class. He’s really raw and he’s quite unconventional, but he seems to agree that a full 4 years at Boston College would be good for his development. He’s an intelligent goaltender who stopped far more pucks than USHL goaltenders typically do, let alone among 18-year-olds. He has the raw potential to become an NHL starter and was my second favourite netminder in the class behind Augustine.
101: Aram Minnetian (RD) — Florian Xhekaj (LW)
Before this pick, Jake Martin was my only natural RD, which wasn’t exactly ideal. Minnetian, however, is a swing for the fences. At his best this season, he reminded me of Seamus Casey in his offensive dynamism, mobility, creativity, and quick OZ distribution. Now, that wasn’t the most consistent, but the flashes of upside were bright enough for me to get excited about his potential. He’s off to Boston College along with his entire NTDP top line, which will hopefully further facilitate translating his game to the NCAA. If he hits, I think he could become a second-pairing offensive defenceman.
Florian Xhekaj isn’t a player I expected to get picked this year. I watched him a few times live with Hamilton, and unlike Arber’s OHL days, my eyes weren’t glued to him whenever he was on the ice. He’s a solid depth OHLer at this point in time who could maybe reach a Micheal Pezzetta ceiling, but I remain skeptical. If he has the same development curve as his brother though… who knows.
110: Alex Ciernik (LW) — Bogdan Konyushkov (RD)
Ciernik plays a game of pure finesse. He’s a mechanically excellent skater with good handling skill, but it’s his playmaking that really stands out. He created chances at a very high rate in HockeyAllsvenskan this year and blends deception into every action. That said, he remains quite perimeter-based and he’s not a surefire NHLer, but his legitimate 2nd line NHL upside was far too enticing to pass on outside the top 100.
Konyushkov is not a player I’ve watched (yet) but I’ve been hearing really positive things about him from public and NHL scouts alike in the past few days. High-end KHL production in top-pairing minutes as an undersized 20-year-old defenceman is a unique profile, and his transition metrics (I believe in generating exits) were elite. Some pretty good NHL scouting departments had him quite high on their board but hoped he’d fall to the last two rounds, and were disappointed when the Habs nabbed him in the 4th. I’m really looking forward to getting in some viewings on him, I have a sense I’ll like him quite a bit.
128: Cam Allen (RD) — Quentin Miller (G)
I was surprised that Allen fell outside the top 100 and really didn’t expect to add him to Team High (at any point in the season), but here we are! Canada’s 2023 Men’s U18s captain may have some decision-making issues, especially in his shooting habits, but I believe that this was an overcorrection to his falling draft stock, not unlike Aatu Raty or Brad Lambert but to a lesser extent. He’s a mobile right-shot defenceman who flashes defensive aggression and has intriguing upside in transition as a puck carrier. His season wasn’t very good, but he was being force-fed a role far exceeding the minutes he should have been tasked with, and I’m willing to bet that his stock will have risen back up a fair bit in a year’s time.
I’ve only seen Miller in passing, which I don’t count as scouting, and he looked decent. I have, however, heard some pretty good things about him and there were quite a few NHL scouting departments who liked him a lot. While I am skeptical of drafting 3 goalies in a single class, history has shown that just picking the netminders with abnormally high save percentages usually works out pretty well.
133: Timur Mukhanov (C) — Sam Harris (LW)
I cooled a bit on Mukhanov as the year went on but still expected to add him in this range before the Canes would inevitably snag him, which they did… obviously. He has one of the best motors in the class, plays a strong defensive game, and has room to grow as a playmaker. He was trusted significantly in the VHL already as a 17-year-old, and will likely play in the KHL next season. His ceiling projects as a 3rd liner who can play all 3 forward positions, which is versatility any team, including Team High, can appreciate. At this stage in the draft, few players excited me more than Mukhanov.
Sam Harris is one I’m not at all familiar with as of yet, so TBD on that.
144: Matthew Mania (RD) — Yevgeni Volokhin (G)
And I got to complete my trio of fun right shot defencemen (Akey was the one I was hoping to add at 69 if Perron was picked before then, but he didn’t last long on day 2). Mania, as his name would suggest, plays a chaotic style but has really impressive upside. In flashes this season, he went end-to-end, using high-skill maneuvers to weave through defences on his way to a high-danger scoring chance. His composure is another trait I liked more and more as the year progressed. While I have him ranked over Allen and Mukhanov, I thought he’d be available later than the other two, and while the risk paid off, he was picked at 150, so I cut it close. I’m very glad to have landed him. No player in this class that I was eyeing for Team High picks got taken right ahead of my selections, which was fortunate and unexpected.
Volokhin is not a netminder I’ve scouted yet, but similar to Miller, there are many worse strategies than swinging on exceptional SV%.
165: Tyler Peddle (LW) — Filip Eriksson (C)
I didn’t expect Peddle to be available this late, especially with the amount of — in my opinion — less promising QMJHL players selected ahead of him. His D-1 to DY progression really, really impressed me and I believe that his production this year doesn’t at all reflect his upside as a goalscorer. His release is deadly from medium range, and likely top 20 in the class, but what makes it more intriguing to me is its combination with the consistent ability to find space offensively. His motor and defensive engagement have come a really long way in the past 12 months, and he’s one of the more projectable professional goalscorers in the ‘Q. Getting a player with middle-six upside if the scoring hits the level I think it can is awesome value at this stage, and he was my final top 64 player available at the draft. His getting picked with the final selection that Columbus specifically traded for and getting to celebrate with his family was one of the nicest moments in the draft. They also continued the trend of the loudest day 2 family celebrations almost exclusively coming from QMJHL picks.
Eriksson is another player I need to watch before commenting on.
197: Gavyn Thoreson (LW) — Luke Mittelstadt (LD)
Thoreson was my only undrafted player in the 2023 Team High class, but I wasn’t expecting him to get selected this year. This is a bet on his point-per-game USHL production continuing in a larger sample next season and him getting picked higher than 197 in a year’s time. His skill, tenacity, intelligence, and playmaking are all legitimate strengths, and his transition from High School to USHL hockey was a very smooth one, which bodes well.
Mittelstadt is a nice pick in the 7th, and he deserved to finally have his name called at the draft. While his potential likely doesn’t exceed that of a third-pairing guy, he could possibly reach that level within 2 years if his transition to pro hockey goes a bit more smoothly than his transition to the NCAA went. He’s smart and effective at most things, but I’m not yet convinced that he has the stand-out skill to cement himself as an NHLer, which is perfectly fine in the 7th.
Overall Thoughts
Fewer players from my top 32 fell than I’d expected, though I’m not entirely sure if that is because my rankings are becoming less contrarian the more I do this, or simply by chance. Only Jayden Perron and Alex Ciernik fell past 64, and both were subsequently added to Team High. I’m very glad to have added to my previously non-existent RD pool with players I’m genuinely excited to add. All three of Minnetian, Mania, and Allen have some form of top-four potential, and if one of the three hits the upside I see in them, I’ll be happy. Most of all, however, I added a lot of raw skill. Michkov may have the most of that asset out of all 2023 eligibles not named Bedard, and Perron was a top 13 talent in my eyes and has significant potential. Those two, along with Ciernik and Peddle reinvigorated my LW pool as well, which had previously been headlined by Sean Farrell and Brett Berard, both of whom are good, but lack elite upside. The Habs’ 2023 class is tough for me to evaluate as of yet, but I’m quite curious to check out the players I’ve yet to watch, and I do think that the class as a whole is better than I first thought it was. Koyushkov, Fowler, and Miller are interesting swings and Mittelstadt could maybe become an NHLer. I obviously still prefer my class over the Habs, but we shall see how — or if — that shifts with time.
Conclusion
I hope that this write-up conveys why I’ve picked the players I have for this fun imaginary team and sheds some more light on my drafting philosophy. I’ve gotten some criticism for overwhelmingly picking undersized players, but I really do want to make clear that I’m not trying to build an entire lineup from top to bottom here. Rather, I’m trying to maximize the value of every selection, which could in the future be leveraged to acquire players to plug specific holes. I’m just not a believer in selecting 18-20-year-old players with the intention of plugging a current hole in a lineup, as needs shift far more quickly than players (especially later-round selections) can develop. I’d far rather miss on a swing on a player I’m very enthusiastic about than one I felt pressured to select for any specific need. Fortunately, two of the three RD picks I made were my BPAs at the time, and I took the risk of taking Minnetian over Ciernik in the hopes that the latter would fall to my next pick, which he did.