Aidan Dudas – McKeen's Hockey

MCKEEN’S 2022-23 NHL YEARBOOK – LOS ANGELES KINGS – Top 20 Prospects

Sun, 18 Sep 2022 18:37:35 +0000

SAN JOSE, CA - MARCH 12: Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jordan Spence (53) carries the puck during the NHL game between the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings on March 12, 2022 at SAP Center in San Jose, CA. (Photo by Matt Cohen/Icon Sportswire)

1 - Brandt Clarke D

The 8th overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, Brandt Clarke has continued to prove why he was deserving of a top 10 pick, consistently showcasing his high-end skill and hockey sense every shift. He’s able to create plays that others don’t think about trying and he consistently executes. The former 4th overall selection in the 2019 OHL Draft didn’t take long to make an impact and adapt to the league, finishing his rookie year with 38 points (6G,32A) in 57 games. During the 2020-2021 season as the OHL was shutdown due to Covid-19, Clarke elected to play in Europe like some other OHL players. Clarke played 26 games in the Slovakian league and was able to produce 15 points (5G,10A). Clarke also had the opportunity to play in the U18 World Championship and had a successful tournament, finishing with seven points (2G,5A) in seven games. In the 2021-2022 season, Clarke finished with 59 points (11G,48A) in 55 games, which was 2nd on the team in points, 1st on the team in assists and 5th in the league in points by a defenseman. A knee injury that required surgery unfortunately forced Clarke to miss the end of the season and also the playoffs. Clarke’s best assets are his playmaking and hockey sense. He has the ability to make others around him better by executing perfect passes and opening up space for teammates. He understands how to change the pace of the game, manipulate opponents with deception and find the best play possible consistently, making him a very useful asset. Going into the 2022-2023 season, Clarke should once again be one of the best defensemen in the league, if not the best. He’ll be playing heavy minutes, and in all situations, being a go-to player for the Colts. - DK

2- Jordan Spence D

Talk about an explosive pro debut. The Kings have one of the best groups of young talent in the NHL, one easy to get lost in. This is especially true of a later round draft pick like Spence, even if he had a quality run in the QMJHL. However, Spence was an immediate impact player in the AHL, which led him to be recalled by Los Angeles, where he finished out the season. Not only did Spence end up being named to the AHL First All-Star team, but he was highly productive in the NHL, positioning himself well for a full-time role this coming season. He is most at home in the offensive zone. He has great four-way mobility, and this allows him to walk the line well to open up lanes for exploiting. He has good vision and hands and the combination of all of these things makes him a potential powerplay quarterback. In fact, Spence could be the quarterback of Los Angeles’ first unit this season, something that could make him a Calder Trophy candidate (he is still barely eligible after playing 24 games last year, one short of the limit). How far up the lineup Spence ends up playing in the future will depend on the development of his defensive game. The 5’10 blueliner will need to keep getting stronger and improving in this area, otherwise he runs the risk of having his usage sheltered. However, there may not be a prospect in the NHL who improved their status more than Spence has in the last calendar year. - BO

3 - Alex Turcotte C

It seems like many in the industry have already forgotten about Turcotte, writing him off because of his laundry list of injuries the last few years. Obviously, his inability to stay healthy is concerning, especially given the aggressive way he likes to play. However, he should still be considered a top prospect because when he has played, his performance has been solid. He is still only 21 years old. Turcotte is impressive for the versatility he provides. He can attack the offensive zone with pace because of his quickness and silky hands. He can also excel when the pace slows because of the way he works the wall, crashes the net, and makes plays through traffic. A physical player, Turcotte is tenacious and skilled, a combination not many centers possess. That is why he was such a high pick in the first place. He still possesses the potential to be a top six player for the Kings in the future. Ultimately, he may have to change the way he plays a bit to avoid the injury bug, but even a less physical Turcotte should have a place in the NHL. Next season, the Kings would be wise to be more patient with his development. Given the depth the team has at the pro level, let him play out a full year in the AHL and show that he can stay healthy. Then give him a full time look to start 2023-24 with the main club in a key role. - BO

4 - Samuel Fagemo RW

A Los Angeles Kings 2^nd rounder in 2019, drafted as an overager, Fagemo has developed very impressively manner and is now coming his best professional season. The compact 5’11” forward enjoyed several strong seasons in the SHL, as well as an incredible 2020 WJC (13 points in 7 games) before beginning his North American venture at the tail end of the 20-21 season. If his initial introduction to the AHL wasn’t exciting enough, his sophomore effort has Los Angeles once again looking like they’re getting everything right with their plethora of recent draft picks. His offensive production improved to be one of the top contributors for the Reign. Consistently showing himself to be primarily a goal-scorer, Fagemo has very solid hands and a good bit of creativity. His drive to the goal and propensity to seek shooting options are the defining aspects to his game. His one-timer and wrister – both seen frequently on the power play – can be extremely accurate and tricky for goaltenders. His skating won’t hold him back from making the NHL, but it’s not his strongest suit. There are times he can be somewhat manhandled and faster players can make him a bit of a non-factor in certain situations. Los Angeles is loaded with prospects, but Fagemo will enter this season having a shot at a spot on the wing, even if LA’s transitioning of centers such as Gabe Vilardi will increase his competition for a spot in the show. – CL

5 - Jaret Anderson-Dolan C

This is a big year for Anderson-Dolan. It is time for him to prove that he is an NHL player and can stick in the league full time. After playing out the 2020-21 season with the Kings (in the pandemic year), he got caught in a numbers game last year and spent the majority of it in the AHL. This year, JAD is no longer exempt from waivers, something that could give him an advantage over other young Kings’ players when it comes to breaking camp with Los Angeles. The other thing that could give him a leg up is his versatility. Not only did he have a breakout offensive campaign at the AHL level last year, but he is also a well-rounded player who could play a variety of different roles for LA. He can play center or the wing. He can kill penalties. He is active on the forecheck and responsible defensively. His shot is still a weapon, and he can be used on the flank of the powerplay. There is still a safe projection with Anderson-Dolan as a middle six NHL forward. Will that be with the Kings or another organization? At some point, Los Angeles will have to figure out what to do with their depth. Even if his future might not be in L.A., Anderson-Dolan is a likely NHL roster player this season. - BO

6 - Helge Grans D

The 35^th overall in 2020, Grans is a well-built defenseman who brings a safe game and skill set to the table. The righty sticks out due to his combination of skill and mobility in a sizable package. Already a 26-game SHL veteran in his draft year, another full season in the SHL following his selection, chipping in 12 points over the course of 43 games. The Kings gave him an ELC and brought the 6’3”, 205-pounder over to the AHL. Despite missing a quarter of the schedule, this past season proved to be a resounding success for Grans. He nailed down a top four job and contributed at both ends. Unlike many of his LA King prospect brethren, Grans’ 22-23 season began early as held a first pairing role for Team Sweden at the summer edition WJC. He contributed nicely to the bronze-medal winners, with four assists and a +5 rating in seven games for what was a low-scoring, defensively adept Swedish club. Moreover, he played between 17.5 - 22 minutes per game, getting more ice time in the elimination games. Smothering at times, Grans excels at taking away space and working opponents to the outside until their plays die along the boards. His progress to date indicates the quality to be a second pairing defender for the Kings at some point in the near future, although he is expected to start the season back in the AHL. – CL

7 - Francesco Pinelli C

The 42nd overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, Francesco Pinelli had a good season as the captain of the Rangers and continued to show that he’s a very effective and creative player. The former 13th overall selection in the 2019 OHL Draft found success early in the league, quickly making an impact and finishing the season with 41 points (18G,23A) in 59 games. During the 2020-2021 season while the OHL was shutdown due to Covid-19, Pinelli made the trip to Europe like some others and played in the Alps Hockey League, producing 11 points (5G,6A) in 13 games. Pinelli also got the opportunity to play in the U18 World Championship. During the 2021-2022 season, Pinelli missed some games due to a lower body injury but was still able to finish the season with 60 points (22G,38A) in 55 games, which was 3rd on the team in points, 3rd on the team in goals and 2nd on the team in assists. Pinelli’s best assets are his hockey sense and playmaking. He reads and anticipates play very well in all three zones, having great positioning and awareness. He’s the type of player who seems to always know where everyone is on the ice, being so effective at making smart plays at high pace and while under pressure. Pinelli has the ability to make crisp and accurate passes to high danger scoring areas very consistently, making him a threat when he has the puck in the offensive zone. He combines great deception and creativity to open space up for himself and teammates. Going into the 2022-2023 season, Pinelli will be looked at again to be a leader for the Rangers and be a top points producer in the league. - DK

8 - Kirill Kirsanov D

Kirill Kirsanov is one of the most talented young defenders in Russia. He was selected at No. 84 overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2021 and played a large portion of last year in the KHL. The defenseman had offers from North America, but he chose to stay in Russia to try to become a full time KHL player this season. Kirsanov is a strong two-way defender. He is consistent with his defensive play, but also shows good ability to move the puck into the offensive zone. He is strong and difficult to play against as he rarely makes any mistakes, handles the forecheck well and keeps opponents to the outside. He has the potential to be a real general on the backend who can lead the breakout and his offensive upside does remain significant. Kirsanov is also a strong mover, something that he uses to his advantage in every zone. At the very least, he should become a quality defensive first player, given his good size, mobility, and awareness. How his offensive game develops will be the thing the Kings focus on most. Kirsanov's current contract in Russia ends after the 2022-23 season and there is a chance he comes to North America then. - DB

9 - Jack Hughes C

While Jack Hughes might only be known to some because he’s the son of Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes, he’s a talented prospect in his own right. A product of the U.S. National Team Development Program, Hughes chose to head to college earlier than some of his peers and spent the entirety of his draft season playing for Northeastern University. Hughes had a decent season, but it was far from the resounding endorsement of his merits as a first-round caliber prospect that some had hoped it would be, and as a result he saw his stock slip into second-round territory, where he was nabbed by the Los Angeles Kings 51st overall. Hughes’ season at Northeastern showed the positives and negatives in his profile quite well. On one hand, he showed that he could stick at a difficult competition level and function competently within a disciplined, structured game. He executed coach Jerry Keefe’s system well, and on a night-to-night basis he looked like the kind of player who could fit seamlessly into the professional ranks. But that pro-ready style could have also contributed to his fall from first-round consideration, as there was the feeling that Hughes consistently left scouts wanting a bit more. Just a bit more offensive flair, some more consistent production, some more creativity, et cetera. It is an open question if Hughes’ skill level is high enough for him to become an impact offensive player, but at the very least Hughes looks like a pretty safe bet to have an NHL career as a bottom-six player who pleases coaches and fans alike with safe, responsible two-way play. - EH

10 - Akil Thomas C

Evaluating Thomas’ sophomore pro season is fairly difficult. Surface level, one might look at his 13 points on the year and consider it a disappointment. But context is required. Thomas did not play until about the halfway point of the year, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Immediately upon returning, he was eased back in a light role. Slowly, he looked more comfortable, and he finished the year extremely well, moving up into the top six by the Calder Cup playoffs. That makes the coming season a very important one for him. The Los Angeles system is extremely deep, and Thomas needs to find a way to stand out. That means finally producing at a consistent clip in the AHL. While he is far from a one-dimensional player, his meal ticket to the NHL will be based on his ability to create scoring chances. A strong playmaker, Thomas has excellent hands and vision. His passing touch was his calling card as an OHL player, and it should be as a pro as well. The key for him this offseason will be to further improve his athletic tools. He needs to get stronger to be able to consistently play through traffic and contact. He also needs to get quicker to create separation from pro level defenders. A generous philanthropist, Thomas has a great head on his shoulders. Mature beyond his years, the hockey community will be cheering for him to take that next step as a pro. - BO

11 - Martin Chromiak

Even though Chromiak was one the OHL’s top goal scorers this past season with Kingston, his game may not have truly progressed all that much. He’s highly intelligent but there is still a need for him to improve his pace and physical intensity.

12 - Tyler Madden

Injuries have been tough on Madden so far at the pro level. The former Northeastern star badly needs to bulk up to handle the rigors of the pro level. However, it’s too early to give up on his high talent level and potential.

13 - Samuel Helenius

The Kings should get a better read on the massive center’s offensive upside after his first pro season with Ontario this coming year. Helenius owns an intriguing skill set, but can he handle the pace of the pro game in North America?

14 - Kasper Simontaival

The undersized winger has a blistering shot and excellent scoring potential. He will return to Finland this year and attempt to establish himself as a top six forward in Liiga before potentially crossing the pond.

15 - Kim Nousiainen

After establishing himself as a quality Liiga defender the last few seasons, Nousiainen will play for Ontario this season in the AHL. Nousiainen may be undersized, but he’s proven a capable two-way defender in Finland.

16 - Jacob Moverare

It’s been a long road for the former 2016 selection, but he has finally emerged as an option for the Kings on the backend. He plays a simple game, but his defensive zone effectiveness makes him a potential third pairing defender for Los Angeles.

17 - Aidan Dudas

There is definitely a path that brings Dudas to the NHL. The competitive forward excels as a forechecker and on the penalty kill and could be a long time fourth line option for the Kings.

18 - Jacob Ingham

The competition for playing time in net in LA’s farm system is extremely competitive due to their depth. Ingham may very well have to return to the ECHL for another season this year.

19 - David Hrenak

The Slovak netminder was a five-year standout at St. Cloud State (NCAA) before finally turning pro late last season. The highly athletic Hrenak will compete for time at the AHL level this season.

20 - Taylor Ward

The former UNO standout was an immediate impact player for Ontario after signing as a free agent late last season. The power winger is the son of former NHL’er Dixon Ward. He excels driving the net and playing near the crease.

2020 World Junior Championship Recap: Semi-Finals

Derek O'Brien — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 22:52:46 +0000

OSTRAVA, CZECH REPUBLIC - JANUARY 4: Russia's Yegor Sokolov #13 celebrates his first period goal against Sweden's with Alexander Khovanov #7 during semifinal round action at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship at Ostravar Arena on January 4, 2020 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. (Photo by Matt Zambonin/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Russia and Canada were the semi-final winners at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship and will meet in Sunday’s gold-medal game. Sweden and Finland, who lost the two games on Saturday, will renew another one of hockey’s great international rivalries in the bronze-medal contest. Both games are also rematches from the group stage.

The Sweden-Russia game was fantastic from an offensive perspective with Yegor Sokolov and Alexei Morozov scoring twice for Russia – the latter in overtime.

“He’s just a hero right now,” Sokolov said about Morozov. “When he scored, I tried to get to him, but I couldn’t because I fell three times because my legs were shaking so much. I couldn’t even skate.”

On what he wants to do in the final, Sokolov said, “Just go to the net, crash the net, shoot the puck, play my game, hit guys, play well defensively and bring my game to the next level.”

Sokolov, in his third year with the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles said, “When I got the puck for the first goal, I just shot it at the empty net and put it in. For the second, Alex Khovanov gave me a great pass and I just put it over the shoulder and then went crazy. It was probably the most important goal I’ve scored in my life.”

Down 2-1 in the first period, the Swedes were dealt a blow when leading scorer Nils Hoglander was assessed a major penalty for checking to the head and neck area and a game misconduct. The damage was relatively minimal as the Russians scored only once on the five-minute power play, and Sweden’s offence didn’t seem badly affected the rest of the way. Defenceman Rasmus Sandin added to his great tournament by figuring in on all four of his team’s goals – which happened to all come on the power play.

A prospect of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sandin leads all defencemen in the tournament with nine points in six games.

About how he played in the game and throughout the tournament, Sandin said, “Pretty good. It’s just too bad I couldn’t have done more to help the team win the game, but it is what it is. Maybe years from now I’ll appreciate it more but it’s disappointing to finish (his U20 career) this way.”

In the Swedish goal, Hugo Alnefelt had a shaky first period where all three goals against were probably preventable but rebounded to have an exceptional second period. In the Russian goal, Yaroslav Askarov was lifted for the second time in the tournament after Sweden took a 4-3 lead early in the third period. One would think that the Russians would lean to going back to Askarov in the final but it would not be a huge shock if the start went to Amir Miftakhov, who shut out Canada in the group stage.

The other semi-final wasn’t nearly as dramatic, as Canada scored three times in the first 3:55 and cruised to a 5-0 victory. After a solid group stage and coming off a brilliant shutout of the Americans in the quarterfinals, Finnish goaltender Justus Annunen looked a lot more human in this game. At the other end of the rink, Joel Hofer made 32 saves for the shutout.

“He’s a really composed guy,” Jamie Drysdale said of Hofer. “He’s my roommate and I think he’s so calm back there that it makes the whole team more relaxed when he does his thing back there.”

Alexis Lafreniere, Barrett Hayton, Connor McMichael and Aidan Dudas had two points each.

“The team getting off to a good start was pretty exciting for us,” said 17-year-old Drysdale, whose first goal of the tournament made it 3-0. “I think we’re pretty happy we came out the way we did and hope we can do the same in tomorrow’s game.”

On getting more comfortable as the tournament goes on, he said, “I think the confidence level’s gone up and with this team and this staff, it’s a really comfortable environment and they encourage you to do your thing out there, and that’s what I try to do out there.”

On the rematch with Russia, Drysdale said, “I think we’re all excited to play them again, but at the same time it’s a gold-medal game, so that’s the most important thing.”

In Game 2 of the relegation series, Germany had a chance to secure its place in the top division next season and was expected to do so but turned in a mostly uninspired performance against Kazakhstan and lost 4-1. The two teams will play the third and decisive game of the series before the medal games on Sunday.

Trailing 2-0, the Germans poured on the pressure in the last three minutes of the second period and came out for the start of the third strongly, but Stanislav Alexandrov’s second of the game – a brilliant individual effort in which he shielded the puck in the slot and then let go a perfect wrist shot – took the wind out of their sails. In the Kazakh goal, Vladislav Nurek stopped 43 of 44 shots but late in the third period went down and needed medical attention. He managed to finish the game, however.

Canadian World Junior Selection Camp Review

Brock Otten — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 13:26:02 +0000

On Monday, Team Canada’s selection camp for the 2020 World Junior Championships kicked off in Oakville, Ontario. The camp took place at the relatively new Sixteen Mile Creek Complex, home to the Oakville Blades of the OJHL and also to an International sized ice surface. This was obviously an important detail for Mark and Dale Hunter as they prepared to select their team; as the larger surface would test camp attendees and give them a better grasp of who was ready for the challenge of playing in the Czech Republic.

I was able to attend several of the practices and the Wednesday game against USports. I also caught the majority of the Thursday USports game through TSN’s stream. The following serves as my review of the camp, in addition to how I would have selected the final roster.

Goaltending

During the practice sessions, Hunter Jones was the best of the Canadian goalies. He does a great job of using his size to take away the upper part of the net from shooters by being aggressive in challenging their angles. He also fights through screens and did a great job on a screening drill by catching pucks clean or getting his pads on lower shots.

During the two USports games, Nico Daws was the standout. He may not have been tested as much as the other goaltenders based on shot volume, but there is a quiet composure to his game. He makes the hard saves look easy and he controls his rebounds well, tracking the puck and taking control of the play or covering up when needed. His confidence right now is extremely high.

Both Joel Hofer and Olivier Rodrigue had their moments, with both playing much better in the second USports game. Rodrigue struggled in the Wednesday game, especially when it came to fighting through traffic. On the other hand, Hofer’s rebound control was not as strong.

My Selections: Nico Daws, Hunter Jones, Olivier Rodrigue

Based on his play in the OHL this year and from what I have seen at camp, Nico Daws would enter the tournament as my starter. I would also would have had Hunter Jones as the backup/platoon partner. With Rodrigue’s experience Internationally, he would be the 3rd goalie that I would bring overseas because he has shown that he can handle the pressure.

Final Selections: Nico Daws, Olivier Rodrigue, and Joel Hofer

Defense

Throughout the week, there were several standouts from a defensive perspective.

Bowen Byram was the best defender at camp, showcasing his ability to be a factor at both ends of the ice. While some other defenders struggled with poor decision making due to forcing the issue offensively, Byram’s production was more natural to the flow of game play.

Kevin Bahl was another standout. He keeps things simple offensively, but was fantastic defensively. He swallows up so much ice with his reach and mobility. With Ottawa head coach Andre Tourigny being on the Canadian staff, and Bahl being a scratch in the Thursday game, his spot on the team never seemed to be in jeopardy.

The two youngsters at camp, Jamie Drysdale and Braden Schneider, really improved as the camp went on. Both struggled in a few of the odd man rush drills during practice sessions. And both looked nervous early on Wednesday. But by Thursday’s game, both had settled in as among Canada’s most effective players. Drysdale is so effective at using his skating ability to activate offensively, but not at the expense of his defensive responsibilities. On the other hand, Schneider was showing heart and grit by blocking shots and winning the majority of his board and net battles in the defensive end.

Thomas Harley had some great moments, and some weaker ones. He can be such an asset as an offensive player, but had a few bad pinches in Wednesday’s game, and some turnovers in his own end on Thursday. He would still have a place on my Team Canada because I believe in his skill set and I think that what he can bring from an offensive perspective is extremely valuable. Pairing him with someone like Kevin Bahl at even strength would have been ideal. Then again, I also understand why Hockey Canada went in a different direction.

A surprise for me was that Calen Addison cracked the final roster. I felt that he was the weakest of the defenders in those two USports games, struggling with turnovers, poor decision making, and defensive miscues. I know he is a 19 year old veteran, but I had higher expectations after liking his game previously at International competitions.

My Selections: Ty Smith, Jared McIsaac, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Bowen Byram, Kevin Bahl, Jamie Drysdale, Thomas Harley

My selections line up with nearly what Canada went with on the back-end. Ty Smith did not participate in either USports game, but he will be a go-to defender for Canada at this event and the likely first unit powerplay QB. The difference here is that I would have gone with Harley over Addison, but perhaps that is regency bias from my end as I am very familiar with Harley’s skill set and know the offensive talent he possesses. The other wildcard is whether Noah Dobson gets released by the New York Islanders. He would be an impact player for the team.

Final Selections: Ty Smith, Jared McIsaac, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Bowen Byram, Kevin Bahl, Jamie Drysdale, Calen Addison

Forwards

The biggest takeaway from camp, at any position, was how ready Quinton Byfield is to be an impact player at the World Junior Championships. This is not your average 17 year old, chalking in at 6-4”, and 215 lbs. Nearly every time on the ice, he was a difference maker against USports. He makes those around him better and was one of the few forwards who was able to generate consistent scoring chances at even strength.

Another standout for me was Alex Newhook. Again, Canada struggled to generate scoring chances against USports and Newhook was aggressive in using his speed to attack the middle of the ice to open up lanes for his linemates. Once Barrett Hayton was announced to be loaned to Canada, it seemed the writing was on the wall for Newhook because of the depth at center. He still would have made my team in an energy role.

Nolan Foote, Dylan Cozens, Akil Thomas, and Raphael Lavoie had their moments against USports. Ty Dellandrea, Liam Foudy, and Connor McMichael looked great in practice drills, but were not impactful in the games. Foote and Cozens only played on Wednesday. Thomas and Lavoie were much better on Thursday. Foote and Cozens showed nice chemistry with Quinton Byfield, especially Foote, whose work down low complemented Byfield well. I would like to see these two kept together on a scoring line.

The trio of 2020 draft eligibles (Perfetti, Holloway, and Mercer) were hit and miss. Perfetti and Holloway struggled in practice drills. Perfetti was having some difficulty with the cone drills, which can be attributed to his need to improve his skating further. Holloway had trouble on the breakout 2 on1 drills, making some poor decisions with the puck. Mercer showed well below the hash marks, bringing energy and physicality. Ditto for Holloway. Mercer showed more from an offensive, play creation standpoint, which could help him explain how he survived the cuts.

Alexis Lafreniere and Aidan Dudas did not play in either game. Lafreniere is nursing an ankle injury. Dudas has a hand injury. If Dudas proves able to play, one would assume that Dawson Mercer becomes the final cut. The fact that Dale and Mark Hunter kept him around speaks volumes as to what they think of Dudas’ character and potential to be an impact penalty killer and role player.

My Selections: Alexis Lafreniere, Dylan Cozens, Nolan Foote, Quinton Byfield, Connor McMichael, Akil Thomas, Raphael Lavoie, Ty Dellandrea, Liam Foudy, Joe Veleno, Barrett Hayton, Aidan Dudas (BO Groulx if Dudas could not go), Alex Newhook

Again, not too much difference between my selections and the final roster. The only difference being that I would have had Alex Newhook making the team at the expense of Dawson Mercer and BO Groulx (if Dudas goes). I would make sure that Lafreniere and Byfield are on separate scoring lines, as I see them as the two best play creators. I would also separate Veleno and Hayton because of their pro experience. If Dudas is able to go, he would be with Ty Dellandrea and Liam Foudy on my “shutdown” line.

Final Selections: Alexis Lafreniere, Dylan Cozens, Nolan Foote, Quinton Byfield, Connor McMichael, Akil Thomas, Raphael Lavoie, Ty Dellandrea, Liam Foudy, Joe Veleno, Barrett Hayton, Aidan Dudas, BO Groulx, Dawson Mercer (still one more cut to go depending on injuries)

Los Angeles Kings 2019-20 Prospect Review: Top 20

Sat, 14 Sep 2019 11:42:29 +0000

Before Rob Blake took over as the General Manager of the Kings, the Deam Lombradi/Darryl Lombardi era Kings were known primarily for two things: defensive hockey played by big men, and winning Stanley Cups despite lacking in abundant skill. But by the time that Blake was put in charge, after he had been in place as an assistant GM for four seasons, the writing for that style of hockey was on the wall. Big and lumbering were out and speed and skill were in.

The Kings had a few players able to cross over from style to style, such as Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar, and of course the stylistic changes would not have had a huge impact on netminder Jonathan Quick, but most of the roster would need a refresh. That was partly due to the carry-over players lacking the elements that were beginning to define the game more and more, but it was also partially due to the inevitable toll that age and long Springs have. The game had moved on and the Kings would have to catch up.

Looking at the 20 players listed below, as well as a number of those who were strongly considered but ultimately did not make the final cut, we can see how complete the turnover has been at the organizational level. Start with the fact that a full 14 of the 20 named below were drafted or signed after Blake was named the GM. Of the remaining six, only one, Russian forward Nikolai Prokhorkin, predates Blake’s executive career in Los Angeles.

Part of the turnover was due not only to a simple changing of the guard, but that the Kings, in a down portion of the success cycle, stopped trading away picks (they had six and four respectively in the two drafts prior to Blake’s being named GM) and last year went in with extras, making nine picks in seven rounds, including two first rounders.

Another aspect to the turnaround has been that the Kings are emphasizing speed and skill in their draft picks. That is not to say that the team has avoided bigger players (not even considering goalies). For every 6-5” Andre Lee (2019, 7^th round), there is a 5-7” Aidan Dudas (4^th round, 2018). For every 6-2” Arthur Kaliyev (2^nd round, 2019), or Gabriel VIlardi (1^st round, 2017) there are an abundance of 5-11” dynamos, such as Jaret-Anderson Dolan (2^nd round, 2017), Akil Thomas (2^nd round, 2018) or this year’s draft prize, Alex Turcotte (1^st round, 2019). Whereas they would formerly augment their system with big players like 6-5” Kurtis MacDermid or 6-3” Matt Luff, they know bring in 5-10” Sheldon Rempal and 5-7” Blake Lizotte.

The tear down is now more or less complete in LA, but the buildup is only getting started. Blake and company have been taking a slow route so far, not rushing prospects. In fact, of the first two Blake draft classes, only one player, Anderson-Dolan, has even played a single game in the NHL, and even he only appeared in five contests. (Gabriel Vilardi made have doubled that count, were it not for a devastating back injury that curtailed his 2018-19 season). The Kings now have a pipeline full of players in Blake’s preferred mold. The next step is to put them on the ice at the NHL level and see who sticks and how it comes together.

-Ryan Wagman

Los Angeles Kings Left Wing Carl Grundstrom (38) (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

1 Alex Turcotte, C (5^th overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) Despite missing a big chunk of the first half with a lower body injury, there was no doubt that Turcotte would be a top pick in this past June’s draft. The type of center whose success is partially attributed to near elite hockey IQ, he senses lanes of opportunity better, and more quickly than just about anyone in his age group. His puck skills are also at a very high level. He has a very sharp wrist shot with a lightning quick release and his hands are among the softest outside of the NHL, able to create havoc from in tight. Turcotte is a fantastically dynamic player when he rushes the net and, in fact, carries that dynamism with him for all assignments. He is a puck hound, constantly forcing turnovers and driving possession and scoring chance creation. He needs to beef up to help him increase his durability, but has first line center upside and should be ready as soon as 2020-21. - RW

2 Tobias Bjornfot, D (22^nd overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) Bjornfot has been looking great in the pre-season, both at the WJSS and in SHL pre-season games. He is expected to earn a full-time spot with one of the top SHL teams this year. He is an active, smart defenseman who can play both progressive as well as conservative when needed. His puck skills are strong and he rarely makes a bad play. His passing skills are also strong. He is physically strong for his age and moves well. He can push plays with his skating and be a dangerous fourth attacker. He can also shut down plays with strength and skating abilities. There aren’t any real flaws in his game. Bjornfot has a high probability top four potential and maybe even top pairing if his development curve will continue to be strong. The concern that could keep him from the top pair is that his offensive numbers probably won’t be that high. - JH

3 Rasmus Kupari, C (20^th overall, 2018. Last Year: 2) Kupari had a terrific season with Karpat in the Liiga and looks more than ready to leave Finland for North America. His greatest asset is, without doubt, his skating. Highly agile on his skates, he can make tight turns and cuts and he possesses strong edge control. He stops and starts well and has excellent top-end speed. He can maneuver with the puck in tight spaces and has a lot of puck skill as well. He improved his decision making last season, showing that his hockey sense is no longer as much of an issue as it used to be. He can be creative offensively and find his linemates with pinpoint passing. Kupari is defensively reliable and he uses his speed to close on opponents quickly. H has the potential to play on the Kings’ top two lines within a few years. - MB

4 Gabriel Vilardi, C (11^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 1) Vilardi played only four games for Ontario last year because of a lingering back injury that appears to be threatening his promising career. Still not cleared to return to the ice, he is currently in limbo. If you ignore the injury concerns, he is still a very promising prospect. He possesses a great size and skill package down the middle and is a terrific playmaker who thinks the game at a high level and really can dominate possession down low. He is just so strong and difficult to separate from the puck. On the other hand, his skating, especially his first few strides, really needed to improve and one would have to assume that this back injury has only decreased his skating ability further. Unfortunately, at this point, Vilardi’s career seems to be in serious jeopardy, giving Kings’ fans Scott Barney flashbacks. - BO

5 Arthur Kaliyev, LW (33^rd overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) One of the most polarizing prospects from the 2019 NHL Draft class, Kaliyev ended up sliding to the second round where the Kings selected him. Yes, there are some concerns over both his pace of play and his eagerness to involve himself physically and without the puck. That said, he is nearly the complete package on the offensive side of the puck. He possesses both a booming slapshot and a quick release wrist shot, which he can use while cutting in or driving wide. He operates best as a triggerman in the slot, but he can create his own chances. He is also an underrated playmaker whose poise and patience with the puck has improved greatly through his time in the OHL. There are warts, but there is also massive potential for Kaliyev to develop into a consistent 30 goal scorer in a top six role for the LA Kings. - BO

6 Akil Thomas, C (51^st overall, 2018. Last Year: 4) Recently named captain of the Niagara IceDogs for the upcoming 2019-20 season, Thomas is an elite playmaker. He uses both great hands and quick feet to exploit gaps in defenses, drawing defenders in before making a great pass to an open teammate for an easy goal. His vision is excellent. He is also a capable defensive player who shows hustle in all three zones. Where Thomas still struggles is in trying to play through traffic and driving the middle of the ice. He needs to get stronger on the puck and become more assertive to take his game to that next level. he profiles as a top six forward, likely as a winger and not a center where he currently plays, and he should be able to make an impact within a couple of years. - BO

7 Samuel Fagemo, LW (50^th overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) Fagemo turned many heads last season when he went from being snubbed at the 2018 NHL draft to one of the best junior forwards in the SHL. He is an attacking forward with a knack for goal scoring. He is good at finding open space for himself, and has a strong wrist shot which is dangerous from various distances. The knock on him earlier was a lack of speed in combination of him creating his chances at junior level with speed as a weapon. His feet have gotten quicker and he will probably get an even bigger role this season in the SHL and the Swedish WJC team. His hockey sense and defensive game will be red flags, though. Fagemo tends to try do too much by himself, rather than to play the team game. That element has improved and he processes the offensive game quickly and is often available for a pass. - JH

8 Carl Grundstrom, RW (57^th overall, 2016 [Toronto]. Last Year: 4 [Toronto]) Grundstrom is a hard-working, physical player. He gets in deep and gets the job done which often results in good production offensively as he never takes a shift off. The downside to a straight-lines player like this is the fact that his skillset is not the best, which can impact him in different situations. For instance, with the Toronto Marlies last season, he was an impact penalty killer always getting the puck deep and forechecking hard, but on power play his lack of technical finesse stood out and would lead to turnovers once the play slowed down and more pressure was applied. He will need to learn to play better under pressure and be more patient, not everything being done at top speed. Grundstrom will start the season with the LA Kings as a bottom six forward and will most likely stay a bottom six forward considering his classic dump and chase forechecking style and his hard work. - SC

9 Kale Clague, D (51^st overall, 2016. Last Year: 3) An intelligent, mobile defenseman, Clague had an up-and-down first full year in the Kings’ pro system. He finished in the top-10 in rookie defensive scoring in the AHL, using his immense skill, deceptive skating, and high-end vision to make an impact in transition and in the offensive zone. What plagued him most as a prospect tearing up the WHL over the last few years was his inconsistent defensive zone play, which is just what made his debut season with AHL Ontario a challenging one. Pushed into a top-pair role, the left-hander struggled to acclimate himself with the speed of the pro game, and had a number of difficult nights on defense. He had improved on his defensive game a little before a broken foot ended his season in March, but not to the point of being an NHLer. Expect him to return to an AHL top-pair role this year, though his overall ceiling speaks top-four potential. - TD

10 Jaret Anderson-Dolan, C (165^th overall, 2016. Last Year: 5) Anderson-Dolan had a tough season last year battling injuries, but managed to finish the season strong. After impressing at camp, he started the season playing five games for the Kings in which he managed a single assist. He was returned to Spokane where he was expected to dominate and put up some huge numbers. In only his second game back though, he suffered a broken wrist, putting him out for close to two months, affecting his play and status for Canada at the World Juniors. He managed to play through the tournament, but didn't have the impact that he would have otherwise. He finished the season by putting up 20 goals and 43 points in 32 games for the Chiefs, and 15 in 13 games in the playoffs, demonstrating that his multi-tool impact was still there. Anderson-Dolan will make another push for the Kings this year, and has a legit shot, although playing in the AHL is probably more realistic. - KO

11 Cal Petersen, G (129^th overall, 2013 [Buffalo]. Last Year: 6) It is hard to blame him entirely for a poor season, but Petersen’s stats tailed off big time from 2017-18 to last season, posting a 13-22-1 record with a GAA over four in the AHL. Ontario was horrid, winning fewer games (25) than any other team in the league, and all things considered, the 24-year-old netminder actually held up well. His athleticism, raw movement, and wild style was on display, and his mental side was tested but he did not crack often. His use of his hulking size and ability to read plays looked improved, even on a bad team. Petersen has fared well since signing with Los Angeles, but has been surpassed on the depth chart by the resurgent Jack Campbell. He will need to make a major splash soon to be considered for a long-term NHL tenure with LA, but he has the tools to be a lower-tier starter or high-end reserve goalie. - TD

12 Nikolai Prokhorkin, LW (121^st overall, 2012. Last Year: 17) After a career year in SKA, Prokhorkin decided to move to North America as he signed a one-year deal in California. A member of the Gold Medal winning team in 2018, he was trusted with top-line minutes in St. Petersburg and he delivered with 41 points in 41 regular-season games, posting career highs for both goals and assists. He is now much more mature compared with his first attempt in North America back in 2012 and shouldn’t have many problems in fitting into the Kings’ lineup considering his skills and skating abilities. He has a very good shot with a fast release, sees the ice well and doesn’t shy away from contact even if he is not a physical player. Considering the Kings’ last season, bringing Prokhorkin into the fold may have been a very good move for the franchise to rebound back after a bad 2018-19. - ASR

13 Mikey Eyssimont, C (142^ndoverall, 2016. Last Year: 7) Though his first full pro year did not go as anyone planned, Eyssimont showed just why he could pan out to be a potential fifth-round steal of a draft pick in the near future. The 20 points (10G, 10A) he scored in 63 games looks unimpressive, but he showed out well in a depth role with AHL Ontario, controlling possession with his blazing speed, sick hands, and developing wrist shot. His acceleration and balance are high-end, but his stick-handling is his biggest strength, as the 22-year-old exhibits incredible rhythm and deceptive stick language with the puck on his blade. His defensive game is not as mature as one would like it to be, especially for someone with three years of NCAA experience, but it is slowly coming along. He has solid energy line/depth scorer potential and could reach that ceiling soon. - TD

14 Mikey Anderson, D (103^rd overall, 2017. Last Year: 11) After a phenomenally decorated amateur career, including two NCAA championships with Minnesota-Duluth and accompanied by two runs with the American WJC squad, Anderson is joining older brother Joey as a professional. He is a consummate two way blueliner, equally comfortable pinching deep in the offensive zone as he is boxing out opposing forwards in front of his own goalie. He is not a blazer, but has good feet and will win his share of races for iced pucks. He lacks first power play unit upside offensively, but he protects the puck well at the offensive blueline and is skilled at passing the puck in deep to a teammate in a better position to create a scoring chance. His own zone smarts give him a chance to be a viable penalty kill option. He could use one to two seasons in the AHL to round off his game, but his upside is as a solid #4/5 defender at the highest level. - RW

15 Sean Durzi, D (52^nd overall, 2018 [Toronto]. Last Year: 9 [Toronto]) At the heart of Durzi’s game is his elite mobility. One of the key returns from the Jake Muzzin trade, he is a major asset offensively because of how well he can start the breakout. He is tough to pin down in his own end and can really create time and space with his feet. He is also a terrific powerplay QB who has great vision at the point and who is very adept at using that mobility to attack and open up lanes. Defensively, Durzi’s game will need to improve. He battled a shoulder injury this past year, but will need to get stronger to handle pro sized forwards down low and near the crease. He will have to learn to be more assertive if he wants to receive consistent 5 on 5 ice time. While he may be a few years away, Durzi could develop into a Torey Krug kind of player for the Kings. - BO

16 Aidan Dudas, C (113^th overall, 2018. Last Year: 8) A heart and soul offensive player, Dudas is an aggressive North/South attacker who also possesses a great release that gives him a lot of potential as a goal scorer. His skating has improved since being drafted, especially his top gear. His production was not terrific this past season, but he should be a breakout candidate this year given his skill set. Dudas profiles as a middle six scoring winger who will need to continue to improve his skating – especially considering his diminutive stature - improve his strength on the puck, and become more consistent playing through the middle of the ice in order to reach his potential. - BO

17 Markus Phillips, D (118^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 10) Even though his offensive game never truly developed the way that many had anticipated it would, Phillips is still a valuable prospect who could develop into a steady, third pairing NHL defender. He won an OHL championship with Guelph last year, playing a key role in helping to shut down the opposition’s best. He doesn’t have great reach with his stocky build, but he possesses great four way mobility and terrific defensive instincts that rarely sees him beat one on one or caught out of position. Phillips is also solid with the puck and is skilled enough to evade the forecheck and start the breakout, even if he is not aggressive in attacking the offensive zone. The upside is not high, but he looks like a safe bet to play an NHL role sometime down the road. -BO

18 Sheldon Rempal, LW/RW (Undrafted Free Agent, signed Mar. 30, 2018. Last Year: 12) With a lack of size or shooting skill, Rempal’s game has become one of the most refined and well-engineered in the Kings’ system. He knows what works for him, and he has all but mastered his own player-specific gameplay style; speed, tenacity, and scintillating hands being the front-end traits of that game. The undrafted forward out of Clarkson University had a solid first pro year, totaling 15 goals and 25 assists in 59 games in the AHL, though he was held scoreless in seven NHL contests. He is a dynamic playmaker with great vision, and a slippery skater who has impressive balance and body strength. His defensive inconsistencies will need major improvements, while his inability to carry his own line so far in pro hockey has hindered his development as well. Otherwise, he was a bright spot on a dim Reign club and might have a shot at the Kings bottom six out of training camp this season. - TD

19 Matt Roy, D (194^th overall, 2015. Last Year: Not ranked) A right-shot defenseman with a quiet but effective game, Roy is panning out as a steal of an overaged seventh-round pick in 2015. His 2018-19 season with AHL Ontario was great, displaying a high hockey IQ, narrow gaps, and a level of toughness against the boards not seen elsewhere on the Reign blueline, earning a recall to Los Angeles where he more than held his own in 25 NHL games. While not the most mobile or agile of skaters, Roy more than makes up for it in smarts and physicality, which has made him into a solid shutdown depth defenseman. He could contend for a spot on an open Kings blueline this season. - TD

20 Matt Luff, C (Undrafted Free Agent, signed Sep. 23, 2016. Last Year: Not ranked) With the Kings in a downward spiral last season, Luff was one of several depth forwards given an opportunity to succeed in the NHL, and he earned it. The shot-heavy winger was one of Ontario’s best last season (36-11-20-31) and added eight NHL goals with L.A. despite minimal ice time. Possessing a weighty wrist shot with a quick release and a lot of spin, Luff is a bit of a volume shooter for a depth, energy line forward. The right-hander has some untapped puck skills and decent speed, as well as formidable rink senses that make him a serviceable defensive player. He is tough with the puck, but he will need to grow further into his 6-3” frame to truly be an impactful offensive player, as he can and will be bumped off balance pretty easily. Expect him to spend some time with Los Angeles again next season. - TD

McKeen’s 2019 NHL Shadow Draft

Ryan Wagman — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 12:00:27 +0000

Before writing up our division by division draft reviews, I wanted to take some time to conduct the McKeen's Hockey Shadow draft and then share a few draft thoughts. As a reminder, for the shadow draft, we assume that we are picking 16^th in any given round and simply draft the top ranked player on our board at that point, with the only tweaks being that we cannot draft more than one netminder and that our shadow draft class needs at least two forwards and two defensemen.

For additional context, here are our shadow classes from the 2017 and 2018 drafts, including the slot, the player we would have chosen, where that player was actually selected (if he was selected at all), and the actual player selected at that slot.

Pick #	2017 Draft - Player	McKeens Rank	Actual Draft slot	Actual Pick
16	Kristian Vesalainen	9	24	Juuso Valimaki
47	Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	32	54	Alex Formenton
78	Keith Petruzzelli	37	88	Stuart Skinner
109	Adam Ruzicka	40	109	Adam Ruzicka
140	Sasha Chmelevski	61	185	Zach Fischer
171	Kirill Slepets	74	Undrafted	D'Artagnan Joly
202	Emil Oksanen	76	Undrafted	Filip Sveningsson

The positional rules went into effect after the 2017 draft saw us pick two goalies and zero defensemen. How did we do? I think we come out ahead for 2017. Vesalainen has yet to fully breakthrough in the NHL while Valimaki split last season between the NHL and the AHL. I still believe that Vesalainen has greater upside. Formenton and Luukonen both had tremendous final seasons of junior eligibility last year, but “our” guy looks like a potential number one netminder and Formenton still seems more likely to top off as a third line forward with exceptional speed. Petruzzelli and Skinner might be a wash as it is too early to tell on either and neither has really demanded attention.

Ruzicka was nailed in the fourth round while we crushed the NHL in both the fifth and sixth rounds. The NHL picks at those slots – Zach Fischer and D’Artagnan Joly – were both left unsigned and their NHL rights were surrendered. We drafted Sasha Chmelevski, who has since blossomed into a top CHL player while Slepets went undrafted until now, but Carolina took him this year, showing that we were definitely on to something. I will give the seventh round to the NHL as Svenningson is moving up the ranks in Sweden, having a solid first senior season in the Allsvenskan. He isn’t yet signed to an ELC, but our pick Emil Oksanen was not been drafted or signed anyway and his career hasn’t really taken off.

Pick #	Player	McKeens Rank	Actual Draft slot	Actual Pick
16	Joe Veleno	10	30	Martin Kaut
47	Akil Thomas	26	51	Kody Clark
78	Blake McLaughlin	40	79	Sampo Ranta
109	Aidan Dudas	52	113	Tyler Weiss
140	Alexis Gravel	67	162	Brandon Saigeon
171	Merrick Rippon	85	Undrafted	Nikolai Kovalenko
202	Danila Galenyuk	96	Undrafted	Shamil Shmakov

It is harder to yet judge the 2018 results, but we’ll give it a shot. The real #16, Martin Kaut, went right to the AHL and more or less held his own as a teenager while also impressing at the WJC. Our pick, Joe Veleno, also made Canada’s WJC roster and finished fourth in QMJHL regular season scoring. Veleno may have had more of an eye-popping season this year, but I will not discount Kaut’s accomplishments in his D+1 season. Let’s call it a wash for now even if I may yet prefer Veleno as bias might be present.

In the second round, I prefer our pick of Akil Thomas to Colorado’s selection of Kody Clark. If we are comparing fathers, Clark wins hands down, but Thomas finished eighth in OHL scoring this year while Clark had less than half as much production. In a nice little coincidence, the third-round picks both went on to play for the University of Minnesota. McLaughlin had a slightly more effective freshman season especially looking better over the season half of the season, but the gap is not enough to overcome the confidence interval. We’ll call it even for now.

In the fourth round, neither our pick (Aidan Dudas) nor the real pick (Tyler Weiss) had especially good seasons. Dudas essentially repeated his production from his draft year while Weiss struggled to impact in his first NCAA campaign. No winner. I am prepared to give McKeens a slight edge in the fifth round, as Alexis Gravel took a big step forward last year, and was a rock in the QMJHL playoffs, taking Halifax to the Q finals and keeping up the good work in the Memorial Cup. To be honest, Saigeon had a nice season as well, but he was an onverager, so his step forward was less noteworthy. Neither of our last two picks, Merrick Rippon or Danila Galenyuk were drafted. Rippon was basically the same guy this year while Galenyuk took a modest step forward and I think we should continue to keep our eyes on him.

The NHL easily wins the sixth round, as Nikolai Kovalenko spent the year in the KHL and played in the WJC. He is still a far ways from the NHL but he is still on the radar. The NHL seventh rounder, netminder Shamil Shmakov, took a step back while failing to get out of the Russian junior ranks. I prefer Galenyuk at this stage, but will call it a tie, because Shmakov at least has his NHL rights under control for now.

Track record established (pretty solid) let’s look at how our shadow draft for 2019 played out.

Pick #	Player	McKeens Rank	Actual Draft slot	Actual Pick
16	Peyton Krebs	8	17	Alex Newhook
47	Albert Johansson	26	60	Drew Helleson
78	Pavel Dorofeyev	31	79	Alex Beaucage
109	Marshall Warren	35	166	Marc Del Gaizo
140	Yegor Chinakhov	49	Undrafted	Sasha Mutala
171	Nikola Pasic	53	189	Luka Burzan
202	Oleg Zaytsev	66	Undrafted	Trent Miner

Once again, we are going up against the Colorado Avalanche scouts this year, who had the 16^th pick, although the fourth-round pick of Del Gaizo was actually made by Nashville following a pick swap.

If you look at where we had ranked the players drafted, we are clearly excited by how our shadow draft played out. Krebs was a top ten talent and may have fallen a few slots due to an achilles injury that will delay his 2019-20 season a touch but should have zero impact on his long-term prognosis. We had our second and third rounders also slotted as first round talents. Both Johansson and Dorofeyev have dynamic offensive skills and I especially feel that Johansson will make his real draft slot look laughable (in a good way) within two years. He was a late riser and capped his season with an impressive WU18 tournament. Dorofeyev has his warts, namely lack of interest in his own zone, but I am happy to bet on the skills here.

As much as I like those picks, I love getting Marshall Warren in the fourth round. His real-life fall to the sixth was the biggest shock of the draft for me. He is a truly dynamic puck moving defender and while he can play a risky game, having seen him extensively, I always got the sense that his risks were calculated. I have inquired around with some sources about why he might have fallen and received some speculative theories, but nothing definitive. One source simply stated that he had no clue. Our bottom three round picks were long term plays with European flavor, although Zaytsev spent this past season in the WHL. They are all tools bets and I am happy to take those in any draft, but especially in the back half.

I am happy to welcome these seven young men into the McKeen’s family. We will look back at these picks again next year to track everyone’s progress.

Now for some random thoughts about the draft

I had thought that all of the USNTDP U18 class, barring Danny Weight, would be drafted. As it turns out, Michael Gildon and Cam Rowe joined him in limbo. Gildon’s not being selected was especially surprising. He plays a heavy game, but with good wheels and good hands. He can play with talented players and keep the pace. He is going to a good program at Ohio State and will have a chance to play in a top six role right away as the Buckeyes have had a lot of turnover. Rowe is a very athletic netminder, but his technical game falters way too quickly. North Dakota has a good reputation for developing goalies and he could be a redraft with a bit of refinement to his game.
As I personally cover the USHL most fervently, the late seventh round pick of McKade Webster by Tampa was odd. In his first year of eligibility, I liked him enough with Green Bay, although not enough to consider him for our draft rankings. A decent future collegian basically. He went back to Green Bay for 2018-19 but has limited to six games due to injury. What did he do in six games that he didn’t show when healthy the year before? I have no clue.
There were 41 players drafted that we didn’t have on our expanded list, slightly better than the 44 we completely whiffed on last year. A good number of the 41 we didn’t rank were redrafts we didn’t feel had improved enough. Most of the rest were deep scouting cuts from Europe. Also, there was Cade Webber, who I think we meant to have in our top 217, but somehow omitted. I will take the blame on that one. He went higher than we would have ranked him, but I will not slam Carolina for taking him in the fourth round when completed by reviews in the coming days.
I mentioned Marshall Warren in the shadow draft above as being the biggest faller. The biggest risers were a quintet of second rounders who we had as much later picks. Shane Pinto was the first pick of day two and while his numbers were great and he is a late bloomer, I never saw him as a dynamic player and would have been more comfortable with him in the third round. Artemi Knyazev was similar. Dillon Hamaliuk was ranked in the fifth-round area, but with the caveat that he could have been graded considerably higher if not for a devastating knee injury which cut his season short. We are not privy to medicals, so I will presume that San Jose was fine with what they saw there. The final two who jumped were a pair of combine stars in Jayden Struble and Samuel Bolduc. We actually had Bolduc as an honorable mention player (218-325) and probably should have ranked him closer to the 150 range. Still would have been drafted too high for our tastes, but live and learn. The combine can boost some guys into the second tier.
I didn’t count how many, but teams are more and more willing to draft second- and third-year eligible players, even pretty high. If I’m not mistaken, three were taken in the second round (Kotchetkov, Fagemo, Leason), all roughly in line with where we had them ranked.
This means nothing but a few giggles from myself on the media riser on day two, but we ranked a few guys exactly where they were drafted after the top two. Going exactly in line with our rankings were Matthew Boldy (12), John Beecher (30), Vladislav Kolyachonok (52), Gianni Fairbrother (77), Sasha Mutala (140), Elmer Soderblom (159). 24 picks were made within two slots of where we had them ranked.
92 of our top 100 were drafted, one less than last year, but roughly on par with our expectations. I’ll be satisfied when we break 95, but our misses included players from Russia, the Czech Republic, OHL, WHL, and the USHL. No real patterns to glean lessons from but we will come back better and stronger next year. Ever onwards, ever upwards.

Los Angeles Kings Prospect System Overview

Tom Dorsa — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 18:22:44 +0000

The Los Angeles Kings enter the 2018-19 season with a chip on their shoulder. Having won just one postseason game since their last Stanley Cup championship, including being swept by the Western Conference-winning Vegas Golden Knights last season, L.A. has a lot to improve upon at the NHL level. What those disappointing results in SoCal can do, however, is quickly rebuild a farm system that had been drained in order to win the two Cups the Kings captured in the last decade.

Los Angeles has lucked into some high-quality guys via the NHL Draft in that elusive 10-20 spot in the draft order as a direct result of either narrowly missing the postseason or being eliminated early. They have not had to undergo a full-blown rebuild but remain competitive by drafting smarter than ever.

Remember, this is a new Kings team. General manager Rob Blake and head coach John Stevens are one year into their tenure at the helm of the 2012 and 2014 Cup champs, and in an evolving NHL, they know they can't win the same way they did under previous GM Dean Lombardi and former coach Darryl Sutter. They are beginning to take faster, higher-ceiling players with the tools to succeed in 2018's NHL -- rather than 2008's -- and the benefits will be obvious.

It's a beneficial blueprint especially with the core of aging stars locked up by the Kings in the long term, including Norris winner Drew Doughty, Hart finalist Anze Kopitar, and guys like Jonathan Quick, Dion Phaneuf, Jeff Carter, and Dustin Brown. To have NHL-ready, impactful, cheap prospects to use on a team chock-full of guys exiting their primes will help extend a Kings championship window that's starting to close.

Much like the Blackhawks, a side effect to winning is having to pony up egregious amounts of money to guys in their late 20s and early 30s, which causes unavoidable salary cap problems. If the Kings' top prospects can pan out to their projected ceilings, the support given to the Doughtys and Kopitars of the world could be enough to spark another Western Conference title.

Gabriel Vilardi

1 Gabriel Vilardi, C (11th overall, 2017. Last Year: 1st) If you closed your eyes and thought of the prototypical Kings player from their rough-and-tough Cup-winning teams, Gabriel Vilardi would be the exact vision you get. The power forward has been an offensive force in the OHL for years, using his bulky 6-3", 203lb frame to wear opponents down and get to tricky positions with relative ease. Vilardi's finesse game is coupled with a set of quick hands that make him a difficult player to defend in one-on-one situations, and in addition to his dangerous offensive capabilities, he is a smart and strong two-way player. His skating, the flaw that dropped him on the board from as high as number-three all the way to 11th overall, has improved mightily since draft day in 2017, but it's clear a lack of speed could hinder his ability to rack up points in the NHL. The big righty will almost certainly be a King in 2018-19.

2 Rasmus Kupari, C (20th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) Rasmus Kupari didn't exactly burn SM-Liiga up as a 17 and 18-year-old on a championship-winning Karpat squad, but his blistering speed, 65-grade edgework, and separation gear put him near the top of the Kings prospect rankings. The speedy center has an ever-improving sense of confidence and a willingness to experiment offensively, knowing he can always count on his wheels to bail him out. Though his wrist shot and rink senses need improvement for him to be an impact player at the NHL level, Kupari has the tools and the room to grow that justified Los Angeles using a first-round pick on the Finn. He can groom himself into a role as a fast third-liner with penalty skill potential, but with even the slightest step up in play-reading abilities, the right-hander can be much more. He will return to Karpat in 2018-19.

3 Kale Clague, D (51st overall, 2016. Last Year: 3rd) An offensive defenseman at heart, Kale Clague has been steadily improving the one thing that has ailed the former Brandon Wheat King and Moose Jaw Warrior; his defensive zone play. As soon as that area is at an NHL-ready level, the offensively-spectacular young gun can be an impact player with the Kings. Clague, who will fit perfectly in the offense-oriented John Stevens system, is a very smooth-skating, pass-first defenseman whose offensive skillset is unmatched at the WHL level. Clague took home the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the WHL's top defenseman in 2017-18, an honor given to guys like Ivan Provorov, Shea Theodore, and Tyson Barrie in the past. He's a very quick-thinking defenseman with great rink awareness and pro-like maturity. Clague will be under serious consideration for a spot on the Kings blueline this upcoming season.

4 Akil Thomas, C (51st overall, 2017. Last Year: IE) When we wrote that the Kings have lucked into some high-quality prospects, Akil Thomas was part of why that was necessary to say. Projected by many as a first-round draft pick, the elite playmaking center fell to the Kings at 51st overall, and L.A. made no mistake taking him. Thomas is an assist machine in any system with any linemates, as his vision, play-reading abilities, and overall hockey IQ allow him to slow the game down to his liking and create scoring chances from scratch. He was a penalty kill regular with Niagara last season and still had the second most (behind only Andrei Svechnikov) points per game in the OHL last year. It would help Thomas to be more creative and to improve off the puck, but the undersized righty plays such a smart and calm game that the Kings can trust him to grow through the junior ranks, to where he'll return in 2018-19.

Jaret Anderson-Dolan

5 Jaret Anderson-Dolan, C (41st overall, 2018. Last Year: 5th) Jaret Anderson-Dolan is a can't-miss prospect in an NHL trending faster and smaller. The undersized centerman has immense offensive capabilities and plays a highly-intelligent, versatile game, always processing the game well and competing to the highest possible level. He's capable of playing well with and without the puck, effectively sniffing out the puck and getting to quiet areas of the ice to keep chances flowing. After another successful year in the WHL with Spokane, Anderson-Dolan made a cameo with the AHL's Ontario Reign, and though there's not a huge chance he makes the Kings roster out of 2018-19 training camp, optimism that the left-hander will soon reach the NHL is still high. With a lot of defensive zone improvement still left to be done, it wouldn't hurt the 18-year-old to hold down the fort in Spokane for now.

6 Cal Petersen, G (Free Agent Signing: Jul. 1, 2017. Last Year: 8th) Cal Petersen's pure, raw skill and special dynamics scream future NHL goaltender. The former Notre Dame standout had a highly successful first year as a pro after signing with the Kings as a college free agent, stealing the Reign starting job and playing lights out hockey for the playoff-qualifying AHL club. Though his game is not as technically and fundamentally refined as that of other goaltenders his age, Petersen is freakishly athletic and mentally mature enough to improve over time. He gets into the right positions, read plays well, and competes with a tenacious, infectious snarl. With Quick and Campbell at the NHL level, Petersen has a high bar to clear, but can get there with time.

7 Mikey Eyssimont, F (142nd overall, 2016. Last Year: 14th) Fifth-round draft picks are supposed to be low-risk, potentially high-reward players with decent enough ceilings to give reason for a throw-away selection. Mikey Eyssimont, a point-per-game player this past season for St. Cloud State, is climbing up the Kings’ prospect rankings as someone that fits that description. A tremendous possession player who controls every part of the game when he has the puck, Eyssimont is smart, intense, and plays much bigger than his 6-0" frame. The lefty has a great wrist shot, is extremely creative, and has silky hands, making him a possible late-round steal if he pans out. He'll be playing with Ontario in 2018-19.

8 Aidan Dudas, C (113th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) With his 5-7", 165lb frame a major concern on draft day in Dallas, Dudas -- projected by McKeen's at 52nd overall -- fell over 60 spots down into the Kings' lap at 113. If you can look past his lack of size, Dudas is a steal. His offensive skill isn't Johnny Gaudreau-like, but those flashes of creativity and agility from Dudas last season at Owen Sound were almost Gaudreau-like. Never giving up on a play, he is able to generate scoring chances in a variety of ways, while displaying the multi-faceted gameplay style that allowed the Attack to play him on the PK and PP. He will likely stay at the OHL level for 2018-19.

9 Daniel Brickley, D (Free Agent Signing, Mar. 29, 2018. Last Year: IE) Daniel Brickley is one of several shrewd college free agent signings made by general manager Rob Blake in his brief tenure at the helm for the Kings. Brickley's excellence at Minnesota-Mankato earned him a contract last March, as his puck poise, patience, and smarts allowed him to total 35 points in 40 games last season and impress NHL teams. That calm demeanor is coupled with plus lateral movement and average hands. Although prone to the occasional defensive zone turnover, his offensive potential outweighs any mistakes he makes. Expected to play with Ontario in 2018-19 but could give the Kings roster a push out of training camp.

Markus Phillips

10 Markus Phillips, D (118th overall, 2017. Last Year: 11th) Markus Phillips' mental maturity shows on and off the ice. The fourth-rounder captained Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial in 2016-17 and showed his smarts as a dynamic two-way defenseman for Owen Sound for the past two seasons. He's not all brains, as he is an excellent skater with 60-grade lateral mobility, great edgework, and fabulous two-step acceleration. He won't be a franchise changer at the NHL level, but the stocky left-hander could play top-four and contribute to a power play and hold his own. He can get too aggressive and overly confident in his positioning at times, but his few flaws are teachable things.

11 Mikey Anderson, D (103rd overall, 2017. Last Year: 16th) Mikey Anderson is a textbook long-term project, but one worth taking the time on. The left-handed defenseman an excellent player in his own zone, with great gap control and stick-readiness that looks pro-like at just 19 years old. Anderson is calm and quick to get rid of the puck under pressure and has shown through the USHL and the NCAA levels that he's a very fast learner. He's not an explosive skater or a very lethal offensive defenseman despite being small and agile like a prototypical offensive blueliner but could be a good penalty killer and defense-first d-man at the pro ranks.

12 Sheldon Rempal, F (Free Agent Signing: Mar. 29, 2018. Last Year: IE) After attending several NHL development camps over his time at Clarkson University, scoring forward Sheldon Rempal signed with L.A. this past Spring. He's an offensive catalyst at the college ranks; despite his extremely light size (5-10", 165 lbs), he loves to take defenders one-on-one with the puck and head straight to the crease without it. His one-timer and wrist shot are electric, and he could turn out to be a power play triggerman in the future. A good skater, Rempal often bails on defense and relies far too much on his wheels to catch back up plays, something that will have to improve. The 23-year-old signed his ELC and will likely play in the AHL this season.

13 Bulat Shafigullan, F (82nd overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) Shafigullan didn't tear the KHL up in 2017-18, but terrorized opponents in the Russian minor leagues with his agility and gift of a wrist shot. He's a tremendous offensive player with skill to burn, reading plays exceptionally well, anticipating where defenders will be, and exploiting the defensive scheme of the opposing team better than most 18-year-olds should be able to. With limited time in the KHL (under five minutes per game) and few appearances internationally, many scouts were skeptical of the Shafigullan pick, but the skills are there. He could stand to further grow into his 6-0" frame but should do well enough at the KHL ranks next year despite having a subpar physical game.

14 Chaz Reddekopp, D (187th overall, 2015. Last Year: 13th) Aiming to be the rare seventh-round draft pick to become a Kings staple, Chaz Reddekopp has the necessary skillset and a set of serviceable wheels to play a variety of roles on the Kings' blueline. A massive d-man in stature, he moves well for his size, adding to an increasingly effective offensive game. He's smart with the puck and responsible without it, using his frame to make a difference physically and keep opposing forwards at bay. It wouldn't kill him to shoot harder, especially with the pure strength he possesses, but his unteachable qualities stand out. After playing his final WHL game this past Spring, it's likely Reddekopp -- on an entry-level contract -- will play with the Reign in 2018-19.

Matt Villalta

15 Matt Villalta, G (72nd overall, 2017. Last Year: 17th) With Matt Villalta in the system, Cal Petersen's transition into the Kings' goaltender of the future won't be a walk in the park. Villalta's easy-going demeanor stands out, as the former third-rounder can never be bested mentally; he'll always stay calm in the crease and work on improving himself constantly. His athleticism is a subpar for a goalie as light as he is, but his vision is tremendous, and his competitiveness continues to increase in intensity. Consider how far he has come since not being drafted at the OHL level, to winning the starting job for a power house Sault Ste. Marie squad and earning the acclaim of NHL scouts, he is the perfect guy to potentially light a fire under Petersen and do even more at that.

16 Alex Lintuniemi, D (60th overall, 2014. Last Year: unranked) Alex Lintuniemi is an extremely raw, skilled player with creativity, agile skates for a big man, and good hands that have impressed scouts since his 2014 draft year. The Reign defenseman recently re-upped with the Kings organization, indicating that he's still a part of their future plans. He could use some simplification to his game, including taking fewer risks with the puck and being easier to play alongside in his own zone, but the pure talent is there, and a more defensive defenseman with strong puck-moving capabilities is a reasonable NHL ceiling as he fills out.

17 Nikolay Prokhorkin, LW (121th overall, 2012. Last Year: unranked) Prokhorkin has not played stateside since the 2012-13 season and at 24 is the oldest player in the Kings’ top 20. Nonetheless, the otherwise forgotten forward has the skills that necessitate a further look. His shot is powerful, he's a fine skater, and is game is mature enough to make an immediate NHL impact given that he's older than the majority of prospects in the league. He would have to sign a new contract to play with the Kings organization again, however he's signed for one more year with SKA of the KHL.

18 Drake Rymsha, C (138th overall, 2017. Last Year: unranked) Drake Rymsha has the gameplay assets of a guy who could have been drafted two rounds earlier in 2017, but the Kings swiped the Sarnia Sting center in the fifth round. He has great vision, good speed, and a competitive element that's always looking for more. His shot has improved, and his goal-scoring is an indicator of that, chipping in 31 goals to a Sarnia team with the revered Jordan Kyrou. Rymsha needs to cut down turnovers, become better at protecting the puck with his body, and take fewer penalties, but the potential to be another late-round steal is there. Rymsha could be headed to the Reign this season.

19 Austin Strand, D (Free Agent Signing: Nov. 27, 2017. Last Year: IE) Directly after signing a free agent deal with the Kings, Strand exploded into a magisterial offensive defenseman whose point production increased with the snap of his fingers. He possesses the ideal Los Angeles Kings size (6-4", 216 pounds), but can skate like someone much smaller, and has simplified his game around his mobility and two-way excellence, putting up 64 points in 69 games last season. Strand, who is set to join Ontario next season, just needs to be more consistent, but his NHL future is more of a "when" than an "if."

20 Sean Walker, D (Free Agent Signing: Jul. 3, 2018. Last Year: IE) Walker, another free agent NHL contract signing, played with the Reign last season after making the squad on an AHL contract. He's a hard-nosed defenseman with a blazing slap shot that found its purpose on the power play this past season, but also has a decent pair of feet with the quickness to evade pressure in his own zone. Walker has a sturdy frame despite his unimpressive 5-10" height and can protect the puck against the boards well. It's not likely he makes the Kings roster out of camp, but he's got some skill to build upon.

2018 Draft in Review – Shadow Draft and Odd Thoughts

Ryan Wagman — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 11:53:38 +0000

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: The Montreal Canadians draft Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft on June 22, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire)

Over the next few days, we will be releasing assessments of the draft classes. As with last year, they will be rolled out division by division. Before then, I wanted to take a few minutes, of my time and yours, to run through the McKeens Hockey Shadow Draft as well as a few other odds and ends and stray thoughts about the 2018 NHL draft.

The concept of a shadow draft is not an original one by any means. Quickly, we assume that we hold the middle pick of each round and we then simply draft the top player on our board each time that pick comes up. In the era of 31 teams, the middle pick is #16.

Here is our 2017 shadow draft, showing who we picked, where we ranked him, where/if he was drafted and who was actually chosen in that slot.

Pick #	Player	MCKNS RANK	Actual Draft	Actual Pick
16	Kristian Vesalainen	9	24	Juuso Valimaki
47	Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	32	54	Alex Formenton
78	Keith Petruzzelli	37	88	Stuart Skinner
109	Adam Ruzicka	40	109	Adam Ruzicka
140	Sasha Chmelevski	61	185	Zach Fischer
171	Kirill Slepets	74	Undrafted	D'Artagnan Joly
202	Emil Oksanen	76	Undrafted	Filip Sveningsson

Joe Veleno (#90), player of Drummondville Voltigeurs, season 2017-18 of the QMJHL. Drummondville, Que., Dec. 30, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Ghyslain Bergeron

Looking back, I can sense the palpable irony in that we often advise against overdrafting goaltenders and yet here we are drafting two of them, and in the second and third rounds no less. Our final two picks were not selected at all, but that is normal as draft boards are over the place towards the end. Slepets had a decent season in the Russian junior ranks this year and was under consideration for the Russian WJC squad. Oksanen came to North America anyway and had a decent season with Regina in the WHL, gaining draft consideration once more and one more going undrafted. Vesalainen would likely go higher than 24 in a redraft, the two goalies had solid draft +1 years, in the Finnish Mestis (AHL-equivalent) and NCAA respectively. Calgary and ourselves were in perfect agreement with Ruzicka and Chmelevski proved that he was a great pick late, performing admirably with Ottawa this year and earning an ELC after a promising late season stint with the San Jose AHL affiliate.

In addition to having two netminders among our seven picks, our shadow draft was also notable for its lack of blueliners. To address that concern, for 2018, I added two rules. First, no more than one goaltender. Second, at least two forwards and two defenders must be drafted. How did we do?

Pick #	Player	MCKNS RANK	Actual Pick #	Actual Pick
16	Joe Veleno	10	30	Martin Kaut
47	Akil Thomas	26	51	Kody Clark
78	Blake McLaughlin	40	79	Sampo Ranta
109	Aidan Dudas	52	113	Tyler Weiss
140	Alexis Gravel	67	162	Brandon Saigeon
171	Merrick Rippon	85	Undrafted	Nikolai Kovalenko
202	Danila Galenyuk	96	Undrafted	Shamil Shmakov

Akil Thomas of the Niagara IceDogs. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Upon the conclusion of the 2018 draft, I noted that 93 of our top 100 ranked players were drafted. 44 players were drafted who were not in our top 300, including one second rounder and three third rounders. In some respects, I was pleased by that outcome, but by other measures, I was dismayed.I am just as pleased to get Veleno this year as I was to get Vesalainen last year. I am even more delighted to come away with playmakers Akil Thomas, Blake McLaughlin, and Aidan in the second, third and fourth rounds. The NHL largely agreed with not letting those guys slide much further than they did in our shadow draft as, in real life, Thomas was drafted four slots after we took him, McLaughlin only lasted one more pick, and Dudas lasted but four picks. The rule mentioned about making sure we get at least some positional balance was used as we would have drafted six forwards and one goalie without it. We had the undrafted Pavel Gogolev and Patrick Giles both ranked in the 70s. The drop in perceived talent to Rippon and Galenyuk is superficial, though, and I believe in both of their futures.

These results got me to thinking about the value of our lists and the seeming lack of anything approaching “consensus” among NHL clubs, in addition to the scouting services of which McKeens is a peer.

While we ranked 217 players this year (one for every slot) and threw in an additional 83 names in our honorable mention grouping (17 of whom were drafted), many NHL teams don’t rank much more than 100. And to be honest, they don’t need to. In both of the last years, we were able to stay within our top 100 in our shadow drafts.

After the top few players, consensus falls apart rapidly. We saw it this year at pick three. In addition to our own ranking, many other services, in addition to a number of NHL scouts of my acquaintance, did not have Kotkaniemi as the third best prospect. Many had Filip Zadina, others had Brady Tkachuk. Others may have gone in a different direction entirely. In fact, if John Chayka is to be believed, I suspect the Coyotes would have taken Hayton at pick three, but knew he would be there at five, making it easy for them to decline Montreal’s rumored overtures to trade down.

Shortly after the top ten, the talent bunches up considerably, and teams do not choose so much who they think is better, as no one can really project with accuracy to that many decimal places, but rather they begin to draft players who they believe would make for better fits within their organization. It might be Philadelphia liking the almost brash confidence of Jay O’Brien, who shocked most pundits when his name was called at pick 19. Or it might be San Jose, believing in the ability of Ryan Merkley to mature on and off the ice so that his sublime skills are all anyone talks about within a few short years, while other teams clearly did not have that comfort level.

So in short, teams are not just drafting the best player on their board whenever they pick. They are drafting the best player they are comfortable with from their board. Later on, they might also be trying to give candy to various regional scouts, allowing them to feel that their efforts, and the miles driven in white out conditions, bore fruit.

As I continued to ponder the results, I came to the conclusion that this outcome does not speak poorly to our efforts and the efforts of our public domain peers. We do not have to join hands with the players and do not need to worry about organizational fit, locker room culture, or any other intangible factor. We should, can, and do focus on skills.

Further, and perhaps more important, we must always remember that every team has scouts in every geographic region, as we do. But no one sees every single game. Our scouts pick and choose which games to focus on every week, and their scouts will have picked and chosen their games, for their own reasons. Even allowing for video scouting, no one sees every single game. So we get players that we saw at their best, or we only saw at their worst. And your favorite hockey team will also have possibly seen a given player only at his best or his worst.

To bring an example to that concept, I will touch upon my geographic home base in the USHL. I had many chances to watch the USNTDP this year and consequently became very familiar with what was a very strong draft class for the program (and it’ll be even stronger next year). I can recall a conversation I had with an NHL scout about Patrick Giles. I was scoffing at how CSS had him ranked in the top 30 in their midterm rankings.* He is a very good skater for a very big player, and he seems to have decent hands and a good sense of positioning. On the other hands, he lacks in creativity to any degree and had the worst numbers, bar none, of any forward in the development program. The scout I was talking to, on the other hand, raved about his style of play, saying that Giles could “play on my third line any time.”

*To clarify, I do not look at other rankings as rankings, per se, but I admire the breadth of coverage provided by CSS, and their lists are presented in a way that allows me to cross check my own lists to see if anything egregious was missed.

I had and have no reason not to take this scout at his word on that point. I was not completely there, but in the games I saw of the USNTDP, Giles did enough to make me see a potential NHLer inside. Bottom six maybe (bottom three, most likely), but clear NHL upside. I had no problem putting him in the 70 range. I still do not regret it, despite the fact that he was not drafted last weekend. I am positive that the organization of the scout I was talking to had him on their list, but they were never forced into a position where he was the top guy on their list.

Then we can look at Giles’ teammate Gavin Hain. I saw Hain exactly as often as I saw Giles, yet I never saw a clear NHL role for Hain. I saw a smaller player who moved around alright and had a decent knack for positioning, but nothing that screamed out at me that I would advise drafting him. We ultimately ranked him in our nebulous 218-300 range, the Honorable Mention blob. The Philadelphia Flyers scouts had seen other USNTDP games and saw Hain do things I did not see him do. They saw things that made them believe in Hain more than I could.

And we saw things in Joe Veleno that allowed us to believe in him more than close to 20 teams, which is why we ranked him 10^th. We also don’t know if most of the other teams ranked Veleno 14^th, but everyone disagreed on the players ranked in the first 13. There is the famous case of Mike Trout, the player many regard as the best currently active baseball player. He lasted until the 25^th pick of the 2009 MLB draft. Afterwards, as he quickly ran roughshod through the minor leagues and became an immediate MLB star, other GMs came out stating that Trout was actually third or fourth or fifth on their lists, but when it was their turn to draft, the player ranked second, or third or fourth, was still out there. How many teams can say that? How many teams was that true for in the case of Veleno?

It will take years before we know how much of what we saw will come to the fore at the NHL level, and that is both the beauty and the beast of scouting.

McKeen’s 2018 NHL Draft Ranking – April 2018 – Top 125

Ryan Wagman — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 14:25:48 +0000

With the CHL leagues now into the second round of their respective playoffs, the NCAA season completed (congrats to new champions Minnesota-Duluth!), European leagues beginning to wrap up and the USHL with only one more weekend remaining in their regular season, it is time for the penultimate McKeens Hockey Draft List. This list once again runs 125 players deep, with a few more names tacked on at the end to keep in mind.

Our final list will run deeper – and be more definitive – but know that the names you see below are the fruit of the combined labor of the full McKeens scouting team. Covering all of the leagues touched on in the first paragraph above, we have watched them all and players in most cases were also cross-checked by multiple team members.

While the size of our list has not changed from the previous iteration, much else is different. Yes, Rasmus Dahlin still heads the ranking (hint: barring a career-threatening tragedy in the next 10 weeks, he will lead our final list as well), but the next player who maintains the same position as last time is Joel Farabee, still sitting in 12^th. Alexander Alexeyev, at 29^th, is the only other player in the top 31 who is ranked the same today as he was in February.

Andrei Svechnikovof the Barrie Colts. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Looking at the top ten, the changes begin in the two/three slots, as we saw fit to bump Russian import Andrei Svechnikov past Czech import Filip Zadina. The latter has been strong all season long, but the two keys for us were a) he plateaued to an extent in the dying days of the regular season while Svechnikov has taken his production to a new level down the stretch. On a point per game measure, Svechnikov’s 1.64 points per game outshine Zadina’s 1.44, and the latter’s extra ten games played cannot explain away the discrepancy. The first round of the playoffs have seen this trend continue. Zadina has been very good. Svechnikov has been stellar. b) Svechnikov is four months younger than Zadina. In the grand scheme of things, that is not much. In a draft class, that is a full third of the way from one year of eligibility to the next. There is just that much greater likelihood that Svechnikov has more development potential. This factor is not destiny, but cannot be overlooked.

ANN ARBOR, MI - MARCH 03: Michigan Wolverines defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) passes the puck during the Michigan Wolverines game versus the Wisconsin Badgers in the BIG10 Hockey Tournament on March 3, 2018. (Photo by Steven King/Icon Sportswire)

Quinn Hughes and Adam Boqvist, both undersized (by traditional standards, if not by modern ones) and very mobile defenders have almost switched places. Hughes, whose game grew by leaps and bounds since playing a supporting role for the US Bronze winning WJC entry ended his season in the Frozen Four. He was the youngest player in the NCAA this year and tied for 16^th among all defensemen in scoring. Only one of the blueliners with more points is within even one year of his age. Through the second half of the year, he was consistently the best player on the ice whenever he stepped over the boards. He leaps from 9^th last time, to 4^th now. Boqvist, who dropped from 5^th to 8^th, is still an electrifying skater whose speed brings an extra dimension to his game. He is still highly coveted, but there is at least a hint of a red flag due to his dearth of production at the senior level in Sweden. He scored nearly one point per game in the SuperElit league, but has only one assist in 18 regular and post-season SHL games. The skill set is obvious, but his struggles against men highlight the greater gap between what he is and what he should become.

The one change to the previous top ten sees Spokane defender Ty Smith fall from 10 to 16. His offensive production in the WHL has been fantastic all the way through the Chiefs’ first round playoff exit. There have been some questions about his play off the puck, which were highlighted by a rough showing earlier in the year at the CHL Top Prospects Game. He should have another chance to boost his stock in the coming weeks as part of Canada’s entry to the World Under 18 Championships.

Joe Veleno (#90), player of Drummondville Voltigeurs, season 2017-18 of the QMJHL. Drummondville, Que., Dec. 30, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Ghyslain Bergeron

Taking Smith’s place in the top ten is former Exceptional Status player Joe Veleno. Huge things were expected of Veleno this year, not only due to his unique entry point into the QMJHL, but a three goal showing for Saint John at last year’s Memorial Cup certainly whetted the appetite for a huge draft season. Unfortunately, his previous team, the Saint John Sea Dogs were gutted by graduation and trades, and Veleno started off slowly, amid reports that he was taking the team’s struggles too much on his own shoulders. He scored only six goals in his 31 games in the Maritimes. A mid-season trade to Drummondville has allowed him to take off in a more competitive atmosphere, finishing the year with 48 points in 33 games for the Voltigeurs. He is also having another strong post-season, helping his team into the second round. In short, Smith has seen questions added about his projection, while Veleno has answered more of his, helping him jump up from 11^th to 9^th.

Without laboring over each change in the list, let us meditate briefly on the four subtractions (and four additions) to the top 31. Dropping into our second round are Jett Woo, B-O Groulx, Jack McBain, and Martin Kaut. Like Ty Smith above, none of these players necessarily did anything to harm their own standing, but were simply surpassed by some players who managed to end on a strong note. For each of the four, it can legitimately be said that there are open questions about their offensive upsides. Woo, Groulx, and Kaut may lack top half of the roster upside, while McBain did not score as much as his talent would suggest he should have in the OJHL. Like Smith, he is expected to play for Canada at the WU18 and his performance with CHLers should speak volumes about his draft standing.

Rasmus Sandin of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Replacing those four are a trio of small defensemen who have finished strong in Rasmus Sandin, Nils Lundkvist, and Calen Addison, and one ultra-talented German forward developing in Sweden in Dominik Bokk. These four players all carry a dynamic element to their games that the four players falling to the second round do not look to have.

The next six weeks, including the completion of the North American junior playoffs as well as the WU18 competition will see several more reputations made and others tarnished, as happens every year. We try to see the whole picture, and promise not to inordinately elevate the ranking of any player simply for getting hot at the right time. Our final list will reflect not just good or bad production at the right time, but the skill sets of the best draft-eligible talent in the hockey world, leavened by their ability and success rates of those skills in actualizing as performance.

We welcome your feedback on this list and look forward to seeing our draft list through to its completion in Dallas in late June.

To link to a player page, use the tags at the bottom of the page, or from our McKeen's Draft Ranking found here It is also downloadable to an excel file.

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB	GP-G-A-PTS
1	Rasmus Dahlin	D	Frolunda (Swe)	6-2/185	13-Apr-00	41-7-13-20
2	Andrei Svechnikov	RW	Barrie (OHL)	6-2/185	26-Mar-00	44-40-32-72
3	Filip Zadina	RW	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-0/195	27-Nov-99	57-44-38-82
4	Quinn Hughes	D	Michigan (B1G)	5-10/175	14-Oct-99	37-5-24-29
5	Brady Tkachuk	LW	Boston University (HE)	6-3/195	16-Sep-99	40-8-23-31
6	Evan Bouchard	D	London (OHL)	6-2/195	20-Oct-99	67-25-62-87
7	Oliver Wahlstrom	RW	NTDP (USHL)	6-1/205	13-Jun-00	54-40-43-83
8	Adam Boqvist	D	Brynas (Swe Jr)	5-11/170	15-Aug-00	25-14-10-24
9	Joe Veleno	C	SNB-Dru (QMJHL)	6-1/195	13-Jan-00	64-22-57-79
10	Noah Dobson	D	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	6-3/180	7-Jan-00	67-17-52-69
11	Isac Lundestrom	C	Lulea (Swe)	6-0/185	6-Nov-99	42-6-9-15
12	Joel Farabee	LW	NTDP (USHL)	5-11/165	25-Feb-00	54-27-37-64
13	Barrett Hayton	C	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-1/190	9-Jun-00	63-21-39-60
14	Jesperi Kotkaniemi	C	Assat Pori (Fin)	6-1/190	6-Jul-00	57-10-19-29
15	Bode Wilde	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-2/195	24-Jan-00	53-11-25-36
16	Ty Smith	D	Spokane (WHL)	5-10/180	24-Mar-00	69-14-59-73
17	K'Andre Miller	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-3/205	21-Jan-00	50-7-17-24
18	Akil Thomas	C	Niagara (OHL)	5-11/170	2-Jan-00	68-22-59-81
19	Jared McIsaac	D	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-1/195	27-Mar-00	65-9-38-47
20	Grigori Denisenko	LW	Loko Yaroslavl (MHL)	5-11/175	24-Jun-00	31-9-13-22
21	Serron Noel	RW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-5/200	8-Aug-00	62-28-25-53
22	Rasmus Kupari	C	Karpat Oulu (Fin)	6-1/185	15-Mar-00	39-6-8-14
23	Ryan McLeod	C	Mississauga (OHL)	6-2/200	21-Sep-99	68-26-44-70
24	Ryan Merkley	D	Guelph (OHL)	5-11/170	14-Aug-00	63-13-54-67
25	Mattias Samuelsson	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-3/215	14-Mar-00	50-9-19-28
26	Rasmus Sandin	D	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	5-11/185	7-Mar-00	51-12-33-45
27	Nils Lundkvist	D	Lulea (Swe)	5-11/180	27-Jul-00	28-2-3-5
28	Alexander Alexeyev	D	Red Deer (WHL)	6-3/200	15-Nov-99	45-7-30-37
29	Calen Addison	D	Lethbridge (WHL)	5-10/180	11-Apr-00	68-11-54-65
30	Jacob Olofsson	C	Timra (Swe 2)	6-2/190	8-Feb-00	43-10-11-21
31	Dominik Bokk	LW	Vaxjo Lakers (Swe Jr)	6-1/180	3-Feb-00	35-14-27-41
32	Vitali Kravtsov	RW	Traktor Chelyabinsk (KHL)	6-2/170	23-Dec-99	35-4-3-7
33	Martin Kaut	RW	Dynamo Pardubice (Cze)	6-1/175	2-Oct-99	38-9-7-16
34	Jett Woo	D	Moose Jaw (WHL)	6-0/205	27-Jul-00	44-9-16-25
35	Benoit-Olivier Groulx	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-1/195	6-Feb-00	68-28-27-55
36	Jesse Ylonen	RW	Espoo United (Fin 2)	6-0/165	3-Oct-99	48-14-13-27
37	Nicolas Beaudin	D	Drummondville (QMJHL)	5-11/175	7-Oct-99	68-12-57-69
38	Adam Ginning	D	Linkopings (Swe)	6-3/195	13-Jan-00	28-1-1-2
39	Jack McBain	C	Tor. Jr Canadiens (OJHL)	6-3/195	6-Jan-00	48-21-37-58
40	Jonny Tychonick	D	Penticton (BCHL)	6-0/175	3-Mar-00	48-9-38-47
41	Ty Emberson	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-0/195	24-May-00	53-4-18-22
42	Ty Dellandrea	C	Flint (OHL)	6-0/190	21-Jul-00	67-27-32-59
43	Allan McShane	C	Oshawa (OHL)	5-11/190	14-Feb-00	67-20-45-65
44	Blake McLaughlin	LW	Chicago (USHL)	6-0/165	14-Feb-00	52-23-28-51
45	Gabriel Fortier	C	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	5-10/170	6-Feb-00	66-26-33-59
46	Kevin Bahl	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-6/230	27-Jun-00	58-1-17-18
47	Sampo Ranta	LW	Sioux City (USHL)	6-1/195	31-May-00	53-23-14-37
48	Filip Hallander	C	Timra (Swe 2)	6-1/185	29-Jun-00	40-9-11-20
49	Jay O'Brien	C	Thayer Acad. (USHS-MA)	5-10/185	4-Nov-99	30-43-37-80
50	David Gustafsson	C	HV 71 (Swe)	6-2/195	11-Apr-00	45-6-6-12
51	Liam Foudy	C	London (OHL)	6-0/185	4-Feb-00	65-24-16-40
52	Filip Johansson	D	Leksands (Swe Jr)	6-1/175	23-Mar-00	29-4-5-9
53	Niklas Nordgren	RW	HIFK (Fin Jr)	5-9/170	4-May-00	18-8-18-26
54	Aidan Dudas	C	Owen Sound (OHL)	5-8/170	15-Jun-00	68-31-34-65
55	Jacob Bernard-Docker	D	Okotoks (AJHL)	6-0/180	30-Jun-00	49-20-21-41
56	Xavier Bernard	D	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-2/210	6-Jan-00	66-11-24-35
57	Martin Fehervary	D	Oskarshamn (Swe 2)	6-1/190	6-Oct-99	42-1-6-7
58	Jonatan Berggren	RW	Skelleftea (Swe Jr)	5-10/185	6-Jul-00	38-18-39-57
59	Alexis Gravel	G	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-2/225	21-Mar-00	20-11(3.38).890
60	Cole Fonstad	C	Prince Albert (WHL)	5-10/160	24-Apr-00	72-21-52-73
61	Xavier Bouchard	D	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	6-3/190	28-Feb-00	65-3-18-21
62	Cam Hillis	C	Guelph (OHL)	5-10/170	24-Jun-00	60-20-39-59
63	Marcus Westfalt	C	Brynas (Swe)	6-3/205	12-Mar-00	31-1-3-4
64	Pavel Gogolev	RW	Peterborough (OHL)	6-0/175	19-Feb-00	66-30-17-47
65	Alexander Khovanov	C	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-11/195	12-Apr-00	29-9-19-28
66	Scott Perunovich	D	Minn-Duluth (NCHC)	5-10/170	18-Aug-98	42-11-25-36
67	Giovanni Vallati	D	Kitchener (OHL)	6-1/180	21-Feb-00	65-3-23-26
68	Olivier Rodrigue	G	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-0/160	6-Jul-00	31-16(2.54).903
69	Oskar Back	C	Farjestads (Swe Jr)	6-2/195	12-Mar-00	38-10-22-32
70	Riley Sutter	RW	Everett (WHL)	6-3/205	25-Oct-99	68-25-28-53
71	Stanislav Demin	D	Wenatchee (BCHL)	6-1/190	4-Apr-00	57-9-36-45
72	Lenni Killinen	RW	Blues (Fin Jr)	6-2/180	15-Jun-00	38-13-28-41
73	Tyler Weiss	LW	NTDP (USHL)	5-10/160	3-Jan-00	50-10-17-27
74	Ruslan Iskhakov	C	Krasnaya Armiya (MHL)	5-8/155	22-Jul-00	33-6-24-30
75	Kody Clark	RW	Ottawa (OHL)	6-1/180	13-Oct-99	56-18-21-39
76	Patrick Giles	RW	NTDP (USHL)	6-4/205	3-Jan-00	54-10-9-19
77	Anderson MacDonald	LW	Moncton (QMJHL)	6-2/205	16-May-00	58-27-18-45
78	Jake Wise	C	NTDP (USHL)	5-10/190	28-Feb-00	30-9-27-36
79	Jakub Lauko	C	Pirati Chomutov (Cze)	6-0/175	28-Mar-00	42-3-6-9
80	Adam Samuelsson	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-6/240	21-Jun-00	54-4-20-24
81	Philipp Kurashev	C	Quebec (QMJHL)	6-0/190	12-Oct-99	59-19-41-60
82	Sean Durzi	D	Owen Sound (OHL)	6-0/195	21-Oct-98	40-15-34-49
83	Kirill Marchenko	RW	Mamonty Yugry (MHL)	6-3/190	21-Jul-00	31-8-8-16
84	Jakub Skarek	G	Dukla Jihlava (Cze)	6-3/200	10-Nov-99	21GP(2.41).913
85	Milos Roman	C	Vancouver (WHL)	6-0/190	6-Nov-99	39-10-22-32
86	Blade Jenkins	LW	Saginaw (OHL)	6-1/195	11-Aug-00	68-20-24-44
87	Danila Galenyuk	D	St. Petersburg (MHL)	6-1/200	10-Feb-00	20-1-5-6
88	Kyle Topping	C	Kelowna (WHL)	5-11/185	18-Nov-99	66-22-43-65
89	Tyler Madden	C	CIL-TC (USHL)	5-10/155	9-Nov-99	50-15-19-34
90	Jack Drury	C	Waterloo (USHL)	5-11/180	3-Feb-00	54-23-40-63
91	Alec Regula	D	London (OHL)	6-3/200	6-Aug-00	67-7-18-25
92	Ivan Morozov	C	Mamonty Yugry (MHL)	6-1/180	5-May-00	30-11-12-23
93	Jachym Kondelik	C	Muskegon (USHL)	6-6/225	21-Dec-99	43-16-16-32
94	Riley Damiani	C	Kitchener (OHL)	5-9/165	20-Mar-00	64-19-18-37
95	Samuel Fagemo	RW	Frolunda (Swe Jr)	5-11/195	14-Mar-00	37-19-11-30
96	Jack St. Ivany	D	Sioux Falls (USHL)	6-2/200	22-Jul-99	51-6-30-36
97	David Lilja	C	Karlskoga (Swe 2)	5-11/175	23-Jan-00	37-3-5-8
98	Curtis Douglas	C	Bar-Wsr (OHL)	6-8/235	6-Mar-00	66-22-24-46
99	Luka Burzan	C	MJ-Bdn (WHL)	6-0/185	7-Jan-00	72-15-25-40
100	Linus Karlsson	C	Karlskrona (Swe Jr)	6-1/180	16-Nov-99	42-27-25-52
101	Kristian Reichel	C	Red Deer (WHL)	6-1/170	11-Jun-98	63-34-23-57
102	Toni Utunen	D	LeKi (Fin 2)	5-11/175	27-Apr-00	28-2-10-12
103	Dmitri Zavgorodny	LW	Rimouski (QMJHL)	5-9/175	11-Aug-00	62-26-21-47
104	Samuel Bucek	LW	Chicago (USHL)	6-1/215	19-Dec-98	47-19-23-42
105	Nathan Dunkley	C	Kgn-Ldn (OHL)	5-11/195	3-May-00	60-21-36-57
106	Carter Robertson	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-2/180	15-Jan-00	57-5-13-18
107	Albin Eriksson	RW	Skelleftea (Swe Jr)	6-4/205	20-Jul-00	38-22-18-40
108	Ryan O'Reilly	RW	Madison (USHL)	6-2/200	21-Mar-00	42-20-12-32
109	Nando Eggenberger	LW	Davos (Sui)	6-2/185	7-Oct-99	36-3-2-5
110	Tyler Tucker	D	Barrie (OHL)	6-1/205	1-Mar-00	59-3-20-23
111	Axel Andersson	D	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	6-0/180	10-Feb-00	42-6-25-31
112	Alexey Polodyan	LW	St. Petersburg (MHL)	5-11/165	30-Jul-98	21-5-6-11
113	Jack Perbix	RW	Elk River (USHS-MN)	6-1/175	13-Sep-00	25-19-42-61
114	Nico Gross	D	Oshawa (OHL)	6-1/185	26-Jan-00	58-4-10-14
115	Declan Chisholm	D	Peterborough (OHL)	6-1/185	12-Jan-00	47-3-17-20
116	Ivan Prosvetov	G	Youngstown (USHL)	6-4/175	5-Mar-99	18-9(2.87).913
117	Kevin Mandolese	G	Cape Breton (QMJHL)	6-3/180	22-Aug-00	15-13(3.46).884
118	Vladislav Kotkov	RW	Chicoutimi (QMJHL)	6-4/205	8-Jan-00	61-21-28-49
119	Jonathan Gruden	C	NTDP (USHL)	5-11/175	4-May-00	53-25-26-51
120	Anthony Del Gaizo	C	Muskegon (USHL)	5-11/195	31-Jan-98	58-39-32-71
121	Justus Annunen	G	Karpat Oulu (Fin Jr)	6-4/215	11-Mar-00	26GP(2.31).907
122	Olof Lindbom	G	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	6-2/185	23-Jul-00	20GP(3.10).897
123	Matthew Struthers	C	OS-NB (OHL)	6-2/210	26-Dec-99	62-23-22-45
124	Alex Steeves	C	Dubuque (USHL)	5-11/185	10-Dec-99	53-18-36-54
125	Ben Copeland	C	Waterloo (USHL)	5-10/180	27-Apr-99	58-17-42-59

OTHER DRAFT CANDIDATES
Jett Alexander	G	North York (OJHL)	6-4/190	8-Nov-99
Yaroslav Alexeyev	LW	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	5-9/160	17-Jan-99
Justin Almeida	C	Moose Jaw (WHL)	5-9/160	6-Feb-99
Seth Barton	D	Trail (BCHL)	6-2/175	18-Aug-99
Justin Bergeron	D	Rouyn Noranda (QMJHL)	6-0/180	14-Sep-00
Erik Betzold	RW	Koln (Ger)	5-11/165	18-Jan-00
Brandon Biro	RW	Penn State (B1G)	5-11/165	11-Mar-98
Mikhail Bitsadze	C	Dynamo Moscow (Rus)	5-11/170	18-Nov-99
Shawn Boudrias	RW	Gatineau (QMJHL)	6-4/195	14-Sep-99
Jakob Brahaney	D	Kingston (OHL)	6-1/185	26-Mar-99
Justin Brazeau	RW	North Bay (OHL)	6-5/220	2-Feb-98
Dennis Busby	D	Flint (OHL)	5-10/190	6-Jan-00
Michael Callahan	D	Central Illinois (USHL)	6-2/195	23-Sep-99
Ryan Chyzowski	LW	Medicine Hat (WHL)	6-0/190	14-May-00
Powell Connor	D	Chilliwack (BCHL)	6-1/175	4-May-00
Connor Corcoran	D	Windsor (OHL)	6-1/185	7-Aug-00
Paul Cotter	C	Lincoln (USHL)	6-0/190	16-Nov-99
Angus Crookshank	LW	Langley (BCHL)	5-11/185	2-Oct-99
Max Crozier	D	Nanaimo (BCHL)	6-1/185	19-Apr-00
Ethan de Jong	RW	Prince George (BCHL)	5-10/170	12-Jul-99
Jack DeBoer	C	NTDP (USA)	6-2/190	17-Aug-00
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev	C	Peterborough (OHL)	5-10/160	15-Sep-00
Lukas Dostal	G	Kometa Brno (Cze)	6-1/165	22-Jun-00
Grigori Dronov	D	Magnitogorsk (Rus)	6-2/205	10-Jan-98
Justin Ducharme	LW	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	5-11/180	22-Feb-00
Daniel Dvorak	G	Hradec Kralove (Cze)	6-3/160	9-Jan-00
Jesper Eliasson	G	Troja/Ljungby (Swe)	6-3/200	21-Mar-00
Caleb Everett	D	Saginaw (OHL)	6-1/185	20-Jan-00
Christian Felton	D	Kimball Union (USHS-NH)	6-0/190	4-Feb-00
Trey Fix-Wolansky	RW	Edmonton (WHL)	5-8/185	26-May-99
Eric Florchuk	C	Saskatoon (WHL)	6-1/175	10-Jan-00
Carson Focht	C	Calgary (WHL)	6-0/180	4-Feb-00
Adam Gajarsky	RW	Kometa Brno (Cze)	5-10/175	4-Mar-00
Jeremi Gerber	RW	Bern (Sui)	6-1/185	1-Mar-00
Damien Giroux	C	Saginaw (OHL)	5-10/175	3-Mar-00
Jack Gorniak	LW	West Salem High (USHS-WI)	5-11/180	15-Sep-99
Matthew Grouchy	RW	Quebec (QMJHL)	6-1/190	19-Nov-99
Glenn Gustafsson	C	Orebro (Swe)	5-10/200	4-Sep-98
Curtis Hall	C	Youngstown (USHL)	6-2/195	26-Apr-00
Kevin Hancock	LW	Owen Sound (OHL)	5-11/185	2-Mar-98
Jordan Harris	D	Kimball Union (USHS-NH)	5-11/180	7-Jul-00
Reece Harsch	D	Seattle (WHL)	6-3/195	7-Jan-99
Brady Hinz	C	Peterborough (OHL)	5-9/150	3-May-00
Mitchell Hoelscher	C	Ottawa (OHL)	5-11/160	27-Jan-00
Mac Hollowell	D	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	5-9/170	26-Sep-98
Krystof Hrabik	C	Bili Tygri Liberec (Cze)	6-4/210	24-Sep-99
David Hrenak	G	St. Cloud State (NCHC)	6-2/190	5-May-98
Riley Hughes	RW	St. Sebastian's (USHS-MA)	6-1/175	27-Jun-00
Jere Huhtamaa	G	Blues (Fin)	6-2/190	10-Apr-00
Logan Hutsko	RW	Boston College (HE)	5-10/175	11-Feb-99
Jacob Ingham	G	Mississauga (OHL)	6-3/185	10-Jun-00
Jere Innala	LW	HPK (Fin)	5-9/175	17-Mar-98
Michal Ivan	D	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	6-1/185	18-Nov-99
Georgi Ivanov	C	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Rus)	6-0/190	25-Sep-98
Jan Jenik	RW	Benatky nad Jizerou (Cze)	6-1/165	15-Sep-00
Jack Jensen	C	Eden Prairie (USHS-MN)	6-0/195	31-Aug-00
Joey Keane	D	Barrie (OHL)	6-0/185	2-Jul-99
Brett Kemp	C	Edmonton (WHL)	6-0/165	23-Mar-00
Michael Kesselring	D	New Hampton School (USHS-NH)	6-4/185	13-Jan-00
Juuso Ketola	D	Assat Pori (Fin)	5-11/210	18-Mar-00
Patrick Khodorenko	C	Michigan State (B1G)	6-0/205	13-Oct-98
Liam Kirk	C	Sheffield (EIHL)	6-2/160	3-Jan-00
Semyon Kizimov	RW	Lada Togliatti (Rus)	6-0/175	19-Jan-00
Jordan Kooy	G	London (OHL)	6-2/185	30-Apr-00
Ivan Kosorenkov	RW	Victoriaville (QMJHL)	5-10/185	22-Jan-98
Demetrios Koumontzis	LW	Edina (USHS-MN)	5-10/185	24-Mar-00
Nikolai Kovalenko	RW	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Rus)	5-10/175	17-Oct-99
Filip Kral	D	Spokane (WHL)	6-1/170	20-Oct-99
Renars Krastenbergs	LW	Oshawa (OHL)	5-11/185	16-Dec-98
Cole Krygier	D	Lincoln (USHL)	6-3/195	5-May-00
Daniel Kurovsky	LW	Vitkovice (Cze)	6-4/215	4-Mar-98
Michal Kvasnica	RW	Frydek-Mistek (Cze)	6-1/190	7-Apr-00
Owen Lalonde	D	Guelph (OHL)	6-0/180	1-Feb-00
Jackson Leppard	LW	Prince George (WHL)	6-1/200	18-Jan-00
David Levin	C	Sudbury (OHL)	5-10/180	16-Sep-99
Mitchell Lewandowski	RW	Michigan State (B1G)	5-9/175	17-Apr-98
Adam Liska	C	Kitchener (OHL)	5-11/185	14-Oct-99
John Ludvig	D	Portland (WHL)	6-0/185	2-Aug-00
Brady Lyle	D	Owen Sound (OHL)	6-1/205	6-Jun-99
Guillaume Maillard	C	Geneve-Servette (Sui)	6-0/200	11-Oct-98
James Malm	C	Vancouver (WHL)	5-9/180	25-Jun-99
Anton Malyshev	D	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Rus)	6-0/180	27-Feb-00
Riley McCourt	D	Flint (OHL)	5-11/170	26-Jun-00
Aidan McDonough	LW	Thayer Academy (USHS-MA)	6-1/175	6-Nov-99
Nolan McElhaney	D	Cushing Academy (USHS-MA)	6-3/175	22-Apr-99
Jeremy McKenna	RW	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-10/175	20-Apr-99
Albert Michnac	LW	Mississauga (OHL)	6-0/180	18-Oct-98
Amir Miftakhov	G	Irbis Kazan (Rus)	6-0/160	26-Apr-00
Artyom Minulin	D	Swift Current (WHL)	6-2/200	1-Oct-98
Travis Mitchell	D	Muskegon (USHL)	6-2/195	25-Nov-99
Billy Moskal	C	London (OHL)	6-0/185	22-Mar-00
Nolan Moyle	RW	Green Bay (USHL)	6-1/185	13-Apr-99
Arttu Nevasaari	RW	Karpat Oulu (Fin)	5-11/180	23-Jan-00
Tristen Nielsen	C	Calgary (WHL)	5-9/180	23-Feb-00
Kirill Nizhnikov	RW	Sudbury (OHL)	6-2/190	29-Mar-00
Linus Nyman	RW	Kingston (OHL)	5-9/160	11-Jul-99
Andrei Pavlenko	RW	Edmonton (WHL)	6-1/175	4-Apr-00
Radovan Pavlik	RW	Hradec Kralove (Cze)	5-9/175	18-Feb-98
Ryan Peckford	LW	Moose Jaw (WHL)	6-0/190	4-Mar-99
Matej Pekar	C	Muskegon (USHL)	6-0/170	10-Feb-00
Ville Petman	C	Lukko Rauma (Fin)	5-10/180	18-Jan-00
Mathias Emilio Pettersen	C	Muskegon (USHL)	5-10/170	3-Apr-00
Jacob Pivonka	C	NTDP (USA)	5-11/200	28-Feb-00
Karel Plasek	RW	Kometa Brno (Cze)	5-10/155	28-Jul-00
Dylan Plouffe	D	Vancouver (WHL)	6-0/195	27-Apr-99
Martin Pospisil	C	Sioux City (USHL)	6-2/180	19-Nov-99
Josh Prokop	C	Vernon (BCHL)	5-10/175	30-Jan-00
Cole Purboo	RW	Windsor (OHL)	6-3/205	18-Jun-99
Vincent Purpura	G	Omaha (USHL)	6-3/195	29-Oct-98
Jacob Ragnarsson	D	Almtuna (Swe)	5-11/170	23-Sep-99
Jack Randl	LW	Omaha (USHL)	5-11/180	7-May-00
Connor Roberts	C	Flint (OHL)	6-4/210	22-Feb-00
Alexander Romanov	D	Krasnaya Armiya Moskva (Rus)	5-11/185	6-Jan-00
Nikita Rtishchev	RW	CSKA Moscow (Rus)	6-1/195	23-May-00
Merrick Rippon	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-0/190	27-Apr-00
Radim Salda	D	Saint John (QMJHL)	6-0/185	18-Feb-99
Santeri Salmela	D	KOOKOO (Fin)	6-1/195	10-Jun-00
Akira Schmid	G	Langnau (Sui)	6-4/165	12-May-00
Phillip Schultz	C	Rodovre (Den)	6-0/195	24-Jul-00
Zdenek Sedlak	RW	Karpat Oulu (Fin)	6-2/205	23-Mar-00
Peetro Seppala	D	KOOKOO (Fin)	6-1/175	17-Aug-00
Bulat Shafigullin	LW	Reaktor Nizhnekamsk (Rus)	6-1/165	29-Dec-99
Yegor Sharangovich	C	Dinamo Minsk (Rus)	6-2/195	6-Jun-98
Alexander Shepelev	D	Chelyabinsk (Rus)	6-2/185	17-Mar-98
Marsel Sholokhov	RW	Chelyabinsk (Rus)	5-10/170	12-Jan-98
Graham Slaggert	C	NTDP (USA)	5-11/185	6-Apr-99
Egor Sokolov	LW	Cape Breton (QMJHL)	6-3/225	7-Jun-00
Zach Solow	RW	Northeastern (HE)	5-9/185	6-Nov-98
Riley Stotts	C	Calgary (WHL)	6-0/175	5-Jan-00
Vladislav Syomin	D	SKA-Neva St. Petersburg (Rus)	6-3/215	17-Feb-98
Matt Thiessen	G	Steinbach (MJHL)	6-2/190	9-Jun-00
Michael Vorlicky	D	Edina (USHS-MN)	6-1/165	17-Jul-00
Pavel Vorobey	D	Kunlun Red Star (Rus)	6-3/195	10-Sep-97
Lukas Wernblom	C	MoDo (Swe)	5-9/170	22-Jul-00
Chase Wouters	C	Saskatoon (WHL)	5-11/180	8-Feb-00
Wyatte Wylie	D	Everett (WHL)	6-0/190	2-Nov-99
Vladislav Yeryomenko	D	Calgary (WHL)	6-0/185	23-Apr-99
Libor Zabransky	D	Kelowna (WHL)	6-1/190	26-May-00
Egor Zamula	D	Calgary (WHL)	6-3/170	30-Mar-00
Danila Zhuravlyov	D	Irbis Kazan (Rus)	6-0/165	8-Apr-00

2018 NHL Draft – McKeen’s Mid Season Rankings – Top 100 plus Honourable Mentions

Ryan Wagman — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 16:00:33 +0000

One of the first lessons I learned when I began scouting a number of years ago was that draft eligible prospects generally start to make their marks after Christmas of their draft year.

Around two months ago (Dec. 8), we released a snapshot of the 2018 draft class, walking through the 62 strongest prospects at the time. Since then, all of the 62 have had plenty of chances to make their marks. In addition to the weeks and weeks of regular season action they all had, some were also afforded the showcase of appearing in the World Junior Championships, while others fought to be included in the CHL and USHL Top Prospect Games or the World Junior A Challenge.

Some of the WJC combatants were already considered to be at or around the top of the draft class, including each of the top four of our Mid-Season ranking. Others found themselves in the spotlight by virtue of holding nationalities that do not have the depth of talent in their age 19 class as we found with the Gold Medal winners from Canada, from which the entire roster consisted of previously drafted players.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK - JANUARY 4: Sweden's Axel Fjallby Jonsson #22 and Isac Lundestrom #20 have words during semifinal round action against the U.S. at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship. (Photo by Matt Zambonin/HHOF-IIHF Images)

While an appearance at the WJC will only go so far for most of the prospects of Denmark, Switzerland, or Belarus, for players like the Czech Republic’s Martin Kaut (#31) and Kristian Reichel (#83), Slovakia’s Milos Roman (#57), Sweden’s Isac Lundestrom (#14), and others, players who came into the tournament with some expectations and managed to exceed them, they were able to ensure that they will be front of mind for scouting staffs through the end of the season. In fact, three of those players have seen their respective places in our rankings rise between December and now. The fourth, Milos Roman, did not fall all that much, and that can be explained largely with an injury that has limited him to a single game played since the tournament ended.

Speaking of movement in the lists, we can report that each member of the previous version of this list, which went 62 deep, is still in the mid-season top 100. Only four of those 62, Nando Eggenberger (#76), Olivier Rodrigue (#78), Marcus Westfalt (#86), and Adam Samuelsson (#95) are now lower than 75. Even though Eggenberger had a poor WJC and Rodrigue failed to impress in the CHL’s Top Prospect game, the midseason marquee event of Canadian Junior hockey, the current rankings of those four is more a reflection of other players making bigger moves than they have. All still profile as draftable prospects of note. If anything, they still have more to prove before late June in Dallas.

Evan Bouchard of the London Knights. Photo by Terry Wilson/OHL Images.

One of the two biggest jumps in the past two months belong to the aforementioned Kaut, who was fantastic at the WJC, showing a wide range of skills, plus hockey IQ and even a bit of a physical game to boot. He jumped up from 55 in December to 31 now and some in our scouting team felt that we may still be underrating him. Climbing only 21 spots, but more impressive as he started off at a higher level in December than Kaut is now, is London blueliner Evan Bouchard (#7). At the time, there were some concerns about his foot speed. Not only has he put those concerns to rest with steady displays of solid top end velocity, showing his ability to defend against rushes from some of the players long considered to be among the quickest in the OHL, but between his plus shot, advanced hockey brain and quarterbacking style, it is no real surprise that he is currently seven points clear as the highest scoring blueliner in the OHL.

The highest ranked newcomer to the list is Swedish defenseman Nils Lundkvist (#40), who had a scouting report from our own Jimmy Hamrin posted just last week. Although undersized, Lundkvist is mobile, moves the puck ably and has exceptional hockey IQ. Others debuting in the top 50 include Jakub Lauko (#44) a teammate of Kaut’s from the Czech WJC squad, Stanislav Demin (#45) a blueliner from the BCHL who impressed in the WJAC, and Niklas Nordgren (#49) an undersized, yet silky skilled winger who has been tearing up the Finnish junior ranks.

When I mentioned above that draft eligible prospects begin to make their marks after Christmas, that does not mean to suggest that we feel this present snapshot will be an accurate representation of how things ultimately shake out in June. There are some players who start the year hot and then slowly peter out. We may think we are viewing a rough mid-season patch and for some, they will never recover. Eggenberger is one. Xavier Bouchard (#62), who looked like a strong second tier draft prospect from the QMJHL two months ago, has contributed only two points since the calendar flipped to 2018. He is not an offensive blueliner, but more is expected.

Liam Foudy of the London Knights. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Other players started off very slowly and have been hot of late, getting themselves some mid-season recognition. One such player we debated at length was Liam Foudy (#82). When we released our December rankings, he had played 27 games and had put up a mere five points. Since then, in 23 games, he has 19 points, a period highlit by a strong showing at the CHL Top Prospect Game. In his case, it seems that London’s decision to sell off a large number of their regular top six forward options has given Foudy the chance to play in an offensive role and he has thus far flourished, to the extent that he was just named the OHL Player of the Week on the morning of this writing. He is a great skater and if he can keep this level of offensive production up for a few more weeks, showing that his recent play has not just been a flash in the pan, he will likely rocket up the list.

As we continue to scout the junior aged prospects of the world, this draft list will change again and again. In addition to extending our list to 100 as we pass the mid-season point for all leagues, we have also included a group of 25 others who had some fans about the McKeens scouting squad. As the intensity of the season rises with many teams and players jockeying for a post-season berth, some of the 125 players listed here will see their respective stocks go up and others will go down. Players who we may have skipped over in November and January will force us to pay attention in March and April. From now until draft weekend, we will continue to post scouting reports of the players you need to know about for the 2018 draft. We welcome your questions and comments and hope you enjoy the ride with us.

To link to a player page, use the tags at the bottom of the page, or from our McKeen's Draft Ranking found here It is also downloadable to an excel file.

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB
1	Rasmus Dahlin	D	Frolunda (Swe)	6-2/185	13-Apr-00
2	Filip Zadina	RW	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-0/200	27-Nov-99
3	Andrei Svechnikov	RW	Barrie (OHL)	6-2/185	26-Mar-00
4	Brady Tkachuk	LW	Boston University (HE)	6-3/195	16-Sep-99
5	Adam Boqvist	D	Brynas (Swe Jr)	5-11/170	15-Aug-00
6	Oliver Wahlstrom	RW	NTDP (USA)	6-1/205	13-Jun-00
7	Evan Bouchard	D	London (OHL)	6-2/195	20-Oct-99
8	Noah Dobson	D	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	6-3/180	7-Jan-00
9	Quinn Hughes	D	Michigan (B1G)	5-10/175	14-Oct-99
10	Ty Smith	D	Spokane (WHL)	5-10/180	24-Mar-00
11	Joe Veleno	C	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-1/195	13-Jan-00
12	Joel Farabee	LW	NTDP (USA)	5-11/165	25-Feb-00
13	Bode Wilde	D	NTDP (USA)	6-2/195	24-Jan-00
14	Isac Lundestrom	C	Lulea (Swe)	6-0/185	6-Nov-99
15	Grigori Denisenko	LW	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	5-11/165	24-Jun-00
16	K'Andre Miller	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/205	21-Jan-00
17	Barrett Hayton	C	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-1/190	9-Jun-00
18	Jared McIsaac	D	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-1/195	27-Mar-00
19	Akil Thomas	RW	Niagara (OHL)	5-11/170	2-Jan-00
20	Ryan McLeod	C	Mississauga (OHL)	6-2/200	21-Sep-99
21	Jesperi Kotkaniemi	C	Assat Pori (Fin)	6-1/190	6-Jul-00
22	Serron Noel	RW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-5/200	8-Aug-00
23	Rasmus Kupari	C	Karpat Oulu (Fin)	6-1/185	15-Mar-00
24	Jacob Olofsson	C	Timra (Swe 2)	6-2/190	8-Feb-00
25	Ryan Merkley	D	Guelph (OHL)	5-11/170	14-Aug-00
26	Jett Woo	D	Moose Jaw (WHL)	6-0/205	27-Jul-00
27	Benoit-Olivier Groulx	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-1/195	6-Feb-00
28	Alexander Alexeyev	D	Red Deer (WHL)	6-3/200	15-Nov-99
29	Mattias Samuelsson	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/215	14-Mar-00
30	Jack McBain	C	Toronto Jr Canadiens (OJHL)	6-3/195	6-Jan-00
31	Martin Kaut	RW	Pardubice (Cze)	6-1/175	2-Oct-99
32	Calen Addison	D	Lethbridge (WHL)	5-10/180	11-Apr-00
33	Jonny Tychonick	D	Penticton (BCHL)	5-11/175	3-Mar-00
34	Jesse Ylonen	RW	Espoo United (Fin 2)	6-0/165	3-Oct-99
35	Dominik Bokk	LW	Vaxjo Lakers (Swe Jr)	6-1/180	3-Feb-00
36	Blake McLaughlin	LW	Chicago (USHL)	6-0/165	14-Feb-00
37	Kevin Bahl	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-6/230	27-Jun-00
38	Vitali Kravtsov	RW	Traktor Chelyabinsk (Rus)	6-2/170	23-Dec-99
39	Ty Dellandrea	C	Flint (OHL)	6-0/190	21-Jul-00
40	Nils Lundkvist	D	Lulea (Swe)	5-11/180	27-Jul-00
41	Rasmus Sandin	D	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	5-11/190	7-Mar-00
42	Adam Ginning	D	Linkopings (Swe)	6-3/195	13-Jan-00
43	Allan McShane	C	Oshawa (OHL)	5-11/190	14-Feb-00
44	Jakub Lauko	C	Chomutov (Cze)	6-0/175	28-Mar-00
45	Stanislav Demin	D	Wenatchee (BCHL)	6-1/190	4-Apr-00
46	Filip Hallander	C	Timra (Swe 2)	6-1/185	29-Jun-00
47	Xavier Bernard	D	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-2/210	6-Jan-00
48	Ty Emberson	D	NTDP (USA)	6-0/195	24-May-00
49	Niklas Nordgren	RW	HIFK Helsinki (Fin Jr)	5-9/170	4-May-00
50	Sampo Ranta	LW	Sioux City (USHL)	6-1/195	31-May-00
51	Jay O'Brien	C	Thayer Academy (USHS-MA)	5-10/185	4-Nov-99
52	Jonatan Berggren	C	Skelleftea (Swe Jr)	5-10/185	6-Jul-00
53	Kody Clark	RW	Ottawa (OHL)	6-1/180	13-Oct-99
54	David Gustafsson	C	HV 71 (Swe)	6-1/195	11-Apr-00
55	Nicolas Beaudin	D	Drummondville (QMJHL)	5-11/175	7-Oct-99
56	Cam Hillis	C	Guelph (OHL)	5-10/170	24-Jun-00
57	Milos Roman	C	Vancouver (WHL)	6-0/190	6-Nov-99
58	Gabriel Fortier	C	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	5-10/190	6-Feb-00
59	Riley Sutter	C	Everett (WHL)	6-3/205	25-Oct-99
60	Martin Fehervary	D	Oskarshamn (Swe 2)	6-1/190	6-Oct-99
61	Philipp Kurashev	C	Quebec (QMJHL)	6-0/190	12-Oct-99
62	Xavier Bouchard	D	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	6-3/190	28-Feb-00
63	Giovanni Vallati	D	Kitchener (OHL)	6-1/185	21-Feb-00
64	Alexander Khovanov	C	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-11/190	12-Apr-00
65	Blade Jenkins	LW	Saginaw (OHL)	6-1/195	11-Aug-00
66	Filip Johansson	D	Leksands (Swe 2)	6-1/185	23-Mar-00
67	Alec Regula	D	London (OHL)	6-3/200	6-Aug-00
68	Jakub Skarek	G	Dukla Jihlava (Cze)	6-3/200	10-Nov-99
69	Nico Gross	D	Oshawa (OHL)	6-1/185	26-Jan-00
70	Anderson MacDonald	LW	Moncton (QMJHL)	6-2/205	16-May-00
71	Kyle Topping	C	Kelowna (WHL)	5-11/185	18-Nov-99
72	Oskar Back	C	Farjestads (Swe Jr)	6-2/200	12-Mar-00
73	Nathan Dunkley	C	London (OHL)	5-11/195	3-May-00
74	Patrick Giles	RW	NTDP (USA)	6-4/205	3-Jan-00
75	Jake Wise	C	NTDP (USA)	5-10/190	28-Feb-00
76	Nando Eggenberger	LW	Davos (Sui)	6-2/185	7-Oct-99
77	Alexis Gravel	G	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-2/225	21-Mar-00
78	Olivier Rodrigue	G	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-0/160	6-Jul-00
79	Tyler Madden	C	Central Illinois (USHL)	5-10/155	9-Nov-99
80	Lenni Killinen	LW	Blues (Fin Jr)	6-2/185	15-Jun-00
81	Filip Kral	D	Spokane (WHL)	6-0/170	20-Oct-99
82	Liam Foudy	C	London (OHL)	6-1/185	4-Feb-00
83	Kristian Reichel	C	Red Deer (WHL)	6-1/170	11-Jun-98
84	Danila Galenyuk	D	Mamonty Yurgy (Rus Jr)	6-1/200	10-Feb-00
85	Aidan Dudas	C	Owen Sound (OHL)	5-8/170	15-Jun-00
86	Marcus Westfalt	C	Brynas (Swe)	6-3/205	12-Mar-00
87	Jachym Kondelik	C	Muskegon (USHL)	6-6/225	21-Dec-99
88	Jacob Bernard-Docker	D	Okotoks (AJHL)	6-0/180	30-Jun-00
89	Carter Robertson	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-2/180	15-Jan-00
90	Kevin Mandolese	G	Cape Breton (QMJHL)	6-3/180	22-Aug-00
91	Ryan O'Reilly (2000)	RW	Madison (USHL)	6-1/205	21-Mar-00
92	Merrick Rippon	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-0/190	27-Apr-00
93	David Lilja	C	Karlskoga (Swe 2)	5-11/175	23-Jan-00
94	Alex Steeves	C	Dubuque (USHL)	6-0/185	10-Dec-99
95	Adam Samuelsson	D	NTDP (USA)	6-6/240	21-Jun-00
96	Linus Karlsson	C	Karlskrona (Swe Jr)	6-1/180	16-Nov-99
97	Jack Drury	C	Waterloo (USHL)	5-11/180	3-Feb-00
98	Albin Eriksson	LW	Skelleftea (Swe Jr)	6-4/205	20-Jul-00
99	Sean Durzi	D	Owen Sound (OHL)	6-0/195	21-Oct-98
100	Jacob Ingham	G	Mississauga (OHL)	6-3/185	10-Jun-00
HM	Curtis Hall	C	Youngstown (USHL)	6-2/195	26-Apr-00
HM	Toni Utunen	D	LeKi (Fin 2)	5-11/175	27-Apr-00
HM	Riley Damiani	C	Kitchener (OHL)	5-10/165	20-Mar-00
HM	Cole Fonstad	C	Prince Albert (WHL)	5-10/160	24-Apr-00
HM	Pavel Gogolev	RW	Peterborough (OHL)	6-0/175	19-Feb-00
HM	Jan Jenik	RW	Benatky nad Jizerou (Cze 2)	6-1/165	15-Sep-00
HM	Daniel Kurovsky	LW	Vitkovice (Cze)	6-4/200	4-Mar-98
HM	Luka Burzan	C	Brandon (WHL)	6-0/185	7-Jan-00
HM	Eric Florchuk	C	Saskatoon (WHL)	6-1/175	10-Jan-00
HM	David Levin	C	Sudbury (OHL)	5-10/180	16-Sep-99
HM	Chase Wouters	C	Saskatoon (WHL)	5-11/180	8-Feb-00
HM	Justus Annunen	G	Karpat Oulu (Fin Jr)	6-4/215	11-Mar-00
HM	Seth Barton	D	Trail (BCHL)	6-2/175	18-Aug-99
HM	Declan Chisholm	D	Peterborough (OHL)	6-1/185	12-Jan-00
HM	Paul Cotter	C	Lincoln (USHL)	6-0/190	16-Nov-99
HM	Caleb Everett	D	Saginaw (OHL)	6-2/185	20-Jan-00
HM	Johnny Gruden	C	NTDP (USA)	5-11/175	4-May-00
HM	Jordan Harris	D	Kimball Union (USHS-NH)	5-11/175	7-Jul-00
HM	Michael Kesselring	D	New Hampton School (USHS-NH)	6-4/185	13-Jan-00
HM	Juuso Ketola	D	Assat Pori (Fin Jr)	5-11/210	18-Mar-00
HM	Jackson Leppard	LW	Prince George (WHL)	6-1/200	18-Jan-00
HM	Scott Perunovich	D	Minn-Duluth (NCHC)	5-10/170	18-Aug-98
HM	Ivan Prosvetov	G	Youngstown (USHL)	6-4/175	5-Mar-99
HM	Tyler Weiss	LW	NTDP (USA)	5-10/160	3-Jan-00
HM	Dmitri Zavgorodny	LW	Rimouski (QMJHL)	5-9/175	11-Aug-00

2018 NHL Draft – McKeen’s Mid-Season Rankings

Ryan Wagman — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 15:53:52 +0000

One of the first lessons I learned when I began scouting a number of years ago was that draft eligible prospects generally start to make their marks after Christmas of their draft year.

Evan Bouchard of the London Knights. Photo by Terry Wilson/OHL Images.

Liam Foudy of the London Knights. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Here is our mid-season top 31 ranking for the 2018 NHL Draft. For subscribers the full list of 100 plus honourable mentions can be found here - Top 100 2018 NHL Draft - Mid Season. If you are interested in a subscription, you can learn more here - $9.99 for three months access, plus any downloads we release. We publish a 2018 NHL Draft Guide on June 1st, 2018 and our 24th anniversary of the McKeen's Hockey Pool Yearbook on September 1st, 2018.

RK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB	GP-G-A-PTS
1	Rasmus Dahlin	D	Frolunda (Swe)	6-2/185	13-Apr-00	35-6-11-17
2	Filip Zadina	RW	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-0/200	27-Nov-99	44-35-28-63
3	Andrei Svechnikov	RW	Barrie (OHL)	6-2/185	26-Mar-00	32-30-18-48
4	Brady Tkachuk	LW	Boston University (HE)	6-3/195	16-Sep-99	29-7-16-23
5	Adam Boqvist	D	Brynas (Swe Jr)	5-11/170	15-Aug-00	23-14-7-21
6	Oliver Wahlstrom	RW	NTDP (USA)	6-1/205	13-Jun-00	38-31-22-53
7	Evan Bouchard	D	London (OHL)	6-2/195	20-Oct-99	52-18-48-66
8	Noah Dobson	D	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	6-3/180	7-Jan-00	53-13-42-55
9	Quinn Hughes	D	Michigan (B1G)	5-10/175	14-Oct-99	27-3-15-18
10	Ty Smith	D	Spokane (WHL)	5-10/180	24-Mar-00	53-9-47-56
11	Joe Veleno	C	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-1/195	13-Jan-00	49-14-48-62
12	Joel Farabee	LW	NTDP (USA)	5-11/165	25-Feb-00	38-19-25-44
13	Bode Wilde	D	NTDP (USA)	6-2/195	24-Jan-00	38-7-17-24
14	Isac Lundestrom	C	Lulea (Swe)	6-0/185	6-Nov-99	35-6-9-15
15	Grigori Denisenko	LW	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	5-11/165	24-Jun-00	23-4-10-14
16	K'Andre Miller	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/205	21-Jan-00	38-6-12-18
17	Barrett Hayton	C	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-1/190	9-Jun-00	52-18-31-49
18	Jared McIsaac	D	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-1/195	27-Mar-00	53-7-30-37
19	Akil Thomas	RW	Niagara (OHL)	5-11/170	2-Jan-00	53-15-47-62
20	Ryan McLeod	C	Mississauga (OHL)	6-2/200	21-Sep-99	52-18-36-54
21	Jesperi Kotkaniemi	C	Assat Pori (Fin)	6-1/190	6-Jul-00	52-8-17-25
22	Serron Noel	RW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-5/200	8-Aug-00	48-21-19-40
23	Rasmus Kupari	C	Karpat Oulu (Fin)	6-1/185	15-Mar-00	31-5-5-10
24	Jacob Olofsson	C	Timra (Swe 2)	6-2/190	8-Feb-00	38-9-11-20
25	Ryan Merkley	D	Guelph (OHL)	5-11/170	14-Aug-00	50-12-44-56
26	Jett Woo	D	Moose Jaw (WHL)	6-0/205	27-Jul-00	30-8-15-23
27	Benoit-Olivier Groulx	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-1/195	6-Feb-00	55-21-20-41
28	Alexander Alexeyev	D	Red Deer (WHL)	6-3/200	15-Nov-99	37-6-25-31
29	Mattias Samuelsson	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/215	14-Mar-00	34-6-13-19
30	Jack McBain	C	Toronto Jr Canadiens (OJHL)	6-3/195	6-Jan-00	44-19-33-52
31	Martin Kaut	RW	Pardubice (Cze)	6-1/175	2-Oct-99	35-5-6-11