Jacob Olofsson – McKeen's Hockey

Montreal Canadiens 2019-20 Prospect Review: Top 20

Sat, 14 Sep 2019 12:04:55 +0000

In Marc Bergevin’s first year as the General Manager of the Canadiens, he was taking over an organization in disarray and in desperate need of a refresh. They were less than two months away from a draft that was expected to pivotal in the club’s future, what with having the third overall pick.

Given only six weeks or so to prepare, institutional knowledge would be pivotal and that first Bergevin draft class skewed conservative. That top pick was used on a mercurial talent by the name of Alexander Galchenyuk, who has since had a tumultuous career, but is still young and talented as he moves to his third NHL team this year in Pittsburgh. Of the other six picks made by the Habs, only fifth rounder Charles Hudon has played in the NHL. He has had his moments, but has yet to really establish himself in any significant way.

It was in his third draft that a Bergevin trait first emerged. That is, the Habs, perhaps more than any other team, are willing to draft players from far off the beaten path. By “the beaten path”, I refer to the CHL leagues, the USHL/USNTDP, the NCAA and leagues in Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Some would argue for the inclusion of Switzerland and the Czech Republic among beaten path sources of amateur talent, but Montreal hasn’t drafted a single player from those hockey federations since Bergevin took the helm, so I will stay on the fence about that.

Of course, Bergevin and the Canadiens do draft from the beaten path sources plenty. In fact, their first picks since 2014 have come from (sequentially): WHL, WHL, OHL, NCAA, Finland, and USNTDP. But he has also been sure to appease his notoriously hard working scouts who search far and wide for talent.

In 2014, out of six picks, Montreal selected a player from the AJHL in the fifth round, and the OJHL in the seventh round. The former looks like a ECHLer at best, but the latter, Jake Evans, just missed the top ten below. In 2015, with only five picks, Montreal stayed pretty traditional, with four players from the CHL leagues, and one from Sweden. The top two picks are both listed below and the latter three picks are no longer Montreal property.

Bergevin dipped back into the scouting wilds in 2016 , drafting Casey Staum from Hill-Murray high school in Minnesota. Staum spent the past three years in the USHL, failing to live up to his high school hype and the Habs’ rights to him expired. After an orthodox 2017 draft haul, Bergevin went off the deep in 2018. With 11 picks, Montreal used two middle rounders on high schoolers, including Jordan Harris (listed below) from New Hampshire, and Jack Gorniak from Wisconsin. They also drafted Brett Stapley from the BCHL with their last pick.

That was only a prelude to their most recent draft class, featuring four deep cuts. The high schoolers are already a bit old hat, but both prepsters are listed below anyway. It was the other two picks that really proved Montreal’s commitment to leave no stone unturned. In the fifth round, they selected goalie Frederik Dichow from the Danish second tier league. Players are rarely drafted out of Denmark, but it happens. The kicker came with Montreal’s last pick. Hulking defenseman Kieran Ruscheinski was drafted out of the Alberta Midget Hockey League, a AAA league that had never had a player drafted directly from its ranks before. I have no idea how Ruscheinski will develop (next stop, the BCHL), but I applaud the Canadiens for their efforts.

-Ryan Wagman

Montreal Canadiens center Ryan Poehling (25) (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)

1 Cole Caufield, RW (15^th overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) The comparison to Alex DeBrincat is obvious, but also pretty apt. Like the aforementioned, Caufield is mite-sized and has put the puck in the net at every stage of his development, including an awe-inspiring 72 times in 64 games for the USNTDP last year. He may be small, but he is built solid, with his leg strength serving as a springboard for the rest of his game. He can score from anywhere in the offensive zone and on a wide variety of shot types. He skates well, too, getting to a nice top speed and enabling him to sneak up on defenses. He has exceptionally soft hands for receiving passes and making them work and he reads opponents like my father reads the obits: figuring out at a glance if he has somewhere to go. Not every short goalscorer will be the next DeBrincat. Caufield might be better. - RW

2 Nick Suzuki, C (13^th overall, 2017 [Vegas]. Last Year: 2 [Vegas]) Suzuki went out on top in his final year of junior eligibility, helping the Guelph Storm capture an OHL championship. He is a crafty playmaker who can really keep the puck on a string in the offensive end. He is not the biggest, but he can put defenders on his back as he cuts to the net and with his processing speed, he rarely forces plays or commits turnovers. His shot is another underrated component to his game, which helps to keep defenders honest and makes him a multi-faceted offensive weapon. He is likely to see some action with Montreal at some point this coming year but may still need a year of development in the AHL first. The big question is whether Suzuki sticks down the middle as a pro or shifts to the wing. That will likely depend on how much further he can improve his skating and whether his intensity level without the puck increases. He is a potential building block for Montreal in the very near future. - BO

3 Ryan Poehling, C (25^th overall, 2019. Last Year: 2) There are two sides to Poehling’s game. The first side is seen most frequently; he is a high IQ, two-way center. This Poehling makes all of the little plays that lead to possession dominance. He gets the puck out of danger without fuss. He wins faceoffs. He kills penalties. He wins puck battles. Once in a while, he flashes slick stickhandling to help generate a scoring chance, but more of his points come from plays that won’t make the evening sports recap. The other Poehling comes out when the spotlight shines brightest. Witness his eight-point performance at the WJC last year, which included a performance for the ages against Sweden. Or look at his NHL debut in the final game of the year against Toronto. He only scored a hat trick before pitting the shootout winner. Which Poehling will Montreal get. Probably the former, but that still makes for a great middle six center. - RW

4 Jesse Ylönen, RW (35^th overall, 2018. Last Year: 5) Ylönen is an agile and fast skater with terrific acceleration. He has great quickness in his first three strides and generates speed through quick crossovers. A finesse player, he has quick hands, impressive stick skills, and a wide range of dekes in his repertoire. He can be deceptive, creative, and unpredictable with the puck. Ylönen is a precision shooter with an accurate, quick wrist shot and a goal-scorers blade. He has added lower-body strength and improved his board play since his draft year. He still must become more committed and tenacious defensively, as well as improve his defensive zone coverage, but the ceiling is high here and he could end up being a high-scoring winger in the NHL. - MB

5 Cayden Primeau, G (199^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 9) Prior to reaching Northeastern, Primeau was a big, talented, but terribly inconsistent netminder in the USHL. In two years with the Huskies, his save percentage was above .930 and he won the Mike Richter Award of the top collegiate goalie as a sophomore last year. A smart netminder who anticipates at a high level, he is comfortable playing above the paint and has a mature sense of positioning in the crease, helping him to limit rebounds and second chances. His legs are very strong, giving him great post-to-post coverage, while also being able to close the five-hole in a snap. A workhorse at the lower level, Keith Primeau’s son is going to be groomed for an NHL role behind Carey Price. He has the tools to be an NHL starter, but that upside is as much about opportunity and timing as skill. - RW

6 Alexander Romanov, D (38^th overall, 2018. Last Year: 17) Born to a hockey family, Romanov is a rock-solid defenseman with exciting two-way abilities who was awarded Best Defenseman honors at the last WJC despite being an underaged participant. He spent the whole season with Gagarin Cup champions CSKA Moscow, and even scored his first KHL goal. He is an adept defensive player, but he needs to be less passive offensively and be less scared of erring with the puck. He doesn’t have the strongest shot, but he has good instincts and can pass the puck well. At this point, he is a blue-chip prospect for the Habs, but he needs to bulk up and be more involved in the offensive part of his game. Romanov has top-pairing potential, but as with many other Russian prospects, he will need a bit more seasoning before crossing the Atlantic to join his NHL organization. - ASR

7 Josh Brook, D (56^thoverall, 2017. Last Year: 11) Brook had one of the more productive seasons for a blueliner in recent memory. He more than doubled his point production with an impressive 16 goals and 59 assists in just 59 games while playing top pairing minutes against many of the top lines in the WHL. He has a very nice offensive tool kit with a good hard slap shot, excellent passing skill and vision, and a collection of feigns and dekes that enable him to open up defenses from his position. He can take the puck down low and drive the net, and skates well enough that he is dangerous when joining the rush. He is an intelligent player who manages the puck well, particularly under pressure at the offensive blue line, where he makes smart reads on pinching and play along the wall. There has been enough development in his offensive game to think he can be an effective power play quarterback while also playing effective top four minutes in the NHL. - VG

8 Noah Juulsen, D (26^th overall, 2015. Last Year: 7) For a smooth skating defenseman who can shoot from just about anywhere on the ice, Juulsen has not had the same amount of success in the pro ranks as he had during his major junior days with Everett in the WHL. He has struggled to adjust to making the right plays at the professional level and often tries to do too much when he is without the puck, which makes him easy prey as he sometimes bites too quickly. He is not the most mobile defender and his actions seem even more stiff and mechanical when he begins to think too much. He will have to work on trusting himself with and without the puck and working on his timing a bit more. Juulsen has the skill to be a bottom four defenseman in the NHL but right now his game will just need to mature a bit more before returning back to the Canadiens. - SC

9 Otto Leskinen, D (Undrafted Free Agent, signed May 7, 2019. Last Year: IE) Leskinen put together an excellent season with KalPa in the Liiga and even got to represent the Finnish national team over the course of the season. A mobile defenseman, he skates well both backwards and laterally. He is light on his skates and there is little wasted motion in his stride. Leskinen has the abilities to be an impactful player offensively. He can make a crisp first pass or carry the puck up into the zone. He has a hard slap shot and a wrister with a very quick release. He is a purposeful shooter and can pick his spots well from the point. His main remaining issues are his overall defensive game and a lack of physical presence and toughness. However, he is a skilled, modern defenseman whose style of play suits today's NHL well. - MB

10 Mattias Norlinder, D (64^th overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) Norlinder’s chances of becoming a regular NHL defenseman are good, in fact very good for a third-round pick. He isn’t elite with the puck but makes nice plays. He reads the game well and has shown himself able to adapt to higher levels rather easily. His biggest tool is exceptionally strong skating. He skates fast and with ease. He can carry the puck quickly out of danger and create offensive attacks for his team. He came up late in Allsvenskan and impressed highly. He chose to stay in Allsvenskan for the full season this year, which could be a smart move. He will receive big minutes on one the best teams in the league and has a good shot to make Sweden’s WJC team. Norlinder’s potential stretches to that of a third or second pair NHL defenseman. - JH

11 Jake Evans, C (207^th overall, 2014. Last Year: 4) Evans is an elite level passer who can make crisp on-the-tape passes in the most difficult of situations. He is a really solid player and has a good jump to his stride and energy to his game. In his professional debut after completing a full four years at Notre Dame, he managed a good season, tallying 45 points in 67 games. The way he sees the ice is unique and a player of his caliber will certainly go far and could be considered a contender for a top nine spot in Montreal’s organization in the future. Evans has the full package, and he just needs to muster up more grit and stay consistent with his play and he will be set to dawn a Canadiens jersey soon. Getting more shots off would also help him to better prove his usefulness in offensive situations instead of always resorting to passing. - SC

12 Joni Ikonen, C/RW (58^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 10) Ikonen is a skilled and tenacious forward who can play both center and the wing. He can be a dual threat in the final third but is more of a shooter than a playmaker. He will take puck to the net and can score flashy goals. He has fantastic puck handling skills, offensive instincts, and can take advantage of any extra space and room that is given to him. He plays an intense and energetic game, hunts pucks and competes in every shift. On the downside, he is on the smaller side and has occasional troubles against bigger and stronger opponents, especially along the boards. Considering everything, Ikonen is an intriguing prospect with the skills and the will to be a difference maker in North America. - MB

13 Gianni Fairbrother, D (77^th overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) Last season was a comeback season for Fairbrother, as he battled his way back from a separated shoulder to have an impressive season with Everett. He is a solid two-way defender who logs a lot of minutes and plays in all situations. He skates really well, has a good shot, and moves the puck nicely. Aside from that, he has decent size, plays with an edge, and has a strong physical presence. He has been brought up in a strong, structured defensive system, and that is a real prominent element in his game. He plays a safe and steady game and seems to do all of the little things right. He projects to be a mid-range defender with the potential to move up. - KO

14 Jayden Struble, D (46^th overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) The first prepster drafted in 2019, Struble saw his stock rise drastically after a dominating performance at the Draft Combine. He brings a magnificent mix of two-way smarts and a booming shot from the blueline to the Montreal system. Taken out of St. Sebastian’s High School in Massachusetts, the left-hander displayed an exceptional all-around package in his senior year, noted by his insane vision and explosive playmaking skills. He is also as smart defensively as he is on offense, exhibiting tight gaps in zone entries and incredible timing and anticipation in one-on-one defense. He is a solid skater, and he could stand to use his muscular and stocky build more against the boards. As he transitions to NCAA hockey with Northeastern, he will begin to prune out his skilled but still very raw game. - TD

15 Cale Fleury, D (87^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 8) Fleury is solid defenseman whose offence takes much of the spotlight from his defensive play. He can shoot and pass with ease and has made a good transition to the positional play needed at the professional level, always seeming to be in good shooting position. Speed is lacking in his game as is his ability to adapt to changing pace, and often times he can be one of the last ones back due to his lack of awareness which can lead to odd man rushes. When pressured, he can make rushed passes to relieve himself of the puck- many of which he misses on. He will need to work on making better passes instead of throwing the puck away even if that means taking a hit to do so. Fleury has the offensive skill and shot to be a bottom four defenseman with Montreal, but he will have to cover his ice better and work on maintaining focus throughout the whole game. - SC

16 Jordan Harris, D (71^st overall, 2018. Last Year: Not ranked) Currently considered a top candidate to play for Team USA at the 2020 WJC, Harris is a fast skating, understated puck moving defenseman who spent the last season helping to keep the crease clear for Cayden Primeau. His defensive game is very advanced despite last year being his first playing high level hockey, having come to campus directly from a New Hampshire prep school. He shows flashes of offensive ability, but it has been rare enough to lead to questions about his upside. Those who like him think he will take over a bigger offensive role this year, after Jeremy Davies turned pro (Nashville). Those who are more bearish see a third pairing defender at best who might be hard pressed to establish himself in the NHL at his peak. This season will be telling. - RW

17 Jacob Olofsson, C (56^th overall, 2018. Last Year: 6) Olofsson took a step in his overall speed last season, but that was about all he improved. He played top six minutes in SHL but wasn’t able to impose himself on the game. He is a good puck transporter all the way up to the offensive blue line but he doesn’t seem to have the tools to create good things after the entry. He often loses control of the puck and doesn’t use his size to protect it. He is physically soft in a way that it hinders his overall game. At the WJC last year he was used as a winger and it became even more obvious that he had a hard time winning puck duels. Olofsson’s foundation as a player is good, but he will need to take big steps in many aspects to remain an interesting NHL prospect. He will play on a better SHL team this season and hopefully that will help him take the next step. - JH

18 Allan McShane, C (97^th overall, 2018. Last Year: 12) McShane is actually a very similar player to Suzuki. He excels as a playmaker down low because of how well he sees the ice and because his hands can create space for himself. He anticipates play in the offensive zone without the puck very well, again, pointing to his top-notch hockey sense. On the downside, the physical tools are rather limited at the moment. His skating will need to continue to improve and he still needs to be more aggressive playing through the middle of the ice and attacking traffic. He does not likely have the toolbox to be a bottom six player, so he will need to be a top six player in the NHL in order to carve out a career. - BO

19 Cam Hillis, C (66^th overall, 2018. Last Year: 13) Hillis is coming off of a tough season that saw him battle through injuries and miss Guelph’s lengthy playoff run. Even so, the Guelph Storm have already named him Captain for the 2019-20 season, which speaks volumes about his character. Like McShane, Hillis lacks top physical tools, such as high-end skating ability, size, and athleticism. Then again, he plays the game with his heart on his sleeve and excels as a playmaker because of his tenacity on and off the puck. As he gets stronger, his offensive production should jump greatly. With improvements to his skating, Hillis could develop into a quality third line center for Montreal, although not in the near future. - BO

20 Rhett Pitlick, LW (131^st overall, 2019. Last Year: IE) An undersized scoring winger, Pitlick is another example of the Canadiens opting to draft skilled long-shot players over their safer, lower-ceiling counterparts in recent seasons. He comes from a family rich in NHL talent and is primed to continue the tradition. An absolutely dominant skater, he is capable of blowing past defenders by merely gliding on his edges, while his acceleration does not lag at all, as his short legs generate a lot of quick power and stride speed. Though he can be outmuscled, he will never be outworked, as his determination is matched only by his scintillating puck skill and elusiveness. His only game-breaking flaw is his riskiness with the puck, but an imminent jump to the NCAA level with the University of Minnesota will help immensely and assist him in approaching his middle-six playmaking forward potential. - TD

2019 IIHF World Junior Tournament Review: Sweden

Jimmy Hamrin — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 16:18:44 +0000

Ah, what a disappointing finish to a promising start! Sweden started the tournament, like they always seem to do, by winning all preliminary games. This year they had both Finland and USA, later shown to be the two teams in the final, in their group and beat them both with impressive performances. Sweden were clearly the better team in both those games. Maybe there was some evidence of weakness when they drop a 4-0 lead to a 4-4 tie late in the third period versus USA after having outplayed the Americans for almost two and a half periods. Or, that’s just junior hockey being junior hockey.

After the win over USA, Sweden got in trouble when five players were hit by a stomach flu and needed to be quarantined, including some team leaders. In the last group game Sweden had an unimpressive win over Kazakhstan playing with only three lines. It set them back prior to the quarterfinal and they played poorly against Switzerland. The underdog Swiss didn’t just win with a heroic defense and goalie, they also created the best scoring chances and even led the shot clock after two periods. Sweden played better in the third but could not score, losing 2 – 0 in their first quarterfinal loss since 2006, which also happens to be the last time the tournament was held in Vancouver. In my preview, I was concerned for the offensive chemistry given that the defensemen are much more skilled than the forward group. That proved to be the case and that may be a more telling answer than the stomach flu. Swedish forwards only scored seven goals in five games and four of those goals were scored by Emil Bemstrom. In the deciding game against Switzerland it certainly showed in the third period when Sweden got desperate in their attack being down by two goals. The Swedes just couldn’t create enough down low and almost every good attack came through the top defensemen. When defensemen are in on the attack often all ten players are in one end of the rink which makes it harder to score with shots high from d-men having a lower percentage of success. The forwards simply did not show enough creativity or skill. That said, 19 shots on goal in just the third period surely could have bounced better, but with more skill and creativity from forwards the quality of those shots would have been better. Individually over the five games (four wins) there were obviously some good performances. I’ll slide the players into three different categories, the good, the okay and the poor (good, bad and ugly didn’t seem fair to use). Let’s start with…

The poor

As I mention, there were many forwards that did not provide enough on the scoreboard. Jacob Olofsson (MTL), Rickard Hugg (undrafted), Fabian Zetterlund (NJD) and Pontus Holmberg (TOR) were the biggest disappointments. Olofsson hasn’t had a good season so far and it did not get better by putting him on the wing while also playing defense(!) against Kazakhstan. He is a natural center and clearly showed that he isn’t strong enough in his board play and needs to improve his ability to cover the puck and to use his frame. His skating is looking better this season though and his best performance came when he played defense, which shows that the hockey sense is there. Skating is an issue with Zetterlund. He is a goal scorer that didn’t score and couldn’t create enough on his own due to his skating not being strong. To his defense, he just came back from a tough knee injury. Hugg isn’t a flashy player by any means but he produced well in the summer showcase and has been a leading player for this age group and was given a big role but wasn’t a difference maker at all in this tournament. Holmberg was supposed to be a creative force with smart plays, but he didn’t put up a single point in the tournament getting more and more invisible offensively over the course of the tournament. He has had a good season in Vaxjo though, and still looks like a promising late round pick by Toronto.

The okay

Samuel Fagemo (undrafted) has had a good season in Frolunda and looks like a player that is a sure bet to be drafted this summer, in his second year of eligibility. In this WJC he showed flashes and created chances with offensive drive but didn’t score. Isac Lundestrom (ANA) was okay in his 200-foot game and put up four points but he wasn’t as dominant as a player that has played in the NHL should be at this level. In the quarterfinal, he was no-show. Lucas Elvenes also scored four points and actually showed creativity with the puck but needs to play less on the outside and to shoot more, always seeming to seek a pass. The forwards who were deployed in defense-first roles were also okay. David Gustafsson (WPG) had the most impact, the big center worked hard at both ends of the ice and won big faceoffs among his contributions as a defensive role player in the making. Filip Hallander (PIT) also performed his role well, although I didn’t agree with the way he was deployed. He had about 80% defensive zone starts and played all the penalty kills and none of the power plays. As one of the top junior scorers in the SHL he should have been used more offensively, being strong on the puck and around the net. Other defensive role forwards were Johan Sodergran (LAK), Filip Svenningsson (CGY) and Oskar Back (DAL). None of those three stood out, neither for good nor bad. Philip Broberg (2019 eligible) was the seventh defenseman but got ice time in every game. He played well but couldn’t shine in that role. Nils Lundkvist (NYR) was a bit up-and-down in his performance. He was given a defensive role and played on the penalty kill although his strongest game is making smart plays with the puck. He was over-shadowed by the bigger names on the blueline. Adam Ginning (PHI) is a defensive defenseman and he was also inconsistent in his performance. He is big, strong and poised but was not as strong with the puck as expected - like he can be at his best. Filip Westerlund (ARI) had a somewhat quiet tournament but played simple and well.

The good

The best point producer on the Swedish team was Emil Bemstrom (CBJ) with six points. He showed that his success in SHL this season and his strong development is real. He was the best forward on the Swedish team. Bemstrom had better puck skills that I had previously given him credit for. His shot has always been strong but the way he controls the puck in tight areas is impressive. He looks like a solid top six prospect. Erik Brannstrom (VGK) is a very good hockey player. When he played, he tilted the ice for Sweden, pushing and driving the play. He had one of the more dominant performances I have seen in the first game against Finland. In total he scored four goals and got picked to the All-Star Team. Rasmus Sandin (TOR) is also starting to look like an NHL player already. Not as flashy as Brannstrom but very smart with the puck. He also drives the play well and doesn’t tend to over create. Adam Boqvist (CHI) was a stud in the game against USA. He is playing smarter both with and without the puck this year. He is an offensive force who also can tilt the ice for his team. His performances weren’t as strong after the USA game though. In the quarterfinal he got a bit over creative. Samuel Ersson (PHI) was my pick for net and he got the chance and took it. He had an all-over strong effort and couldn’t be blamed for those four quick goals by USA. He showed calmness, good hockey sense and puck control. He actually kept the Swiss lead down in the quarterfinal during the first two periods of that game to give Sweden a chance.

Montreal Canadiens Prospect System Overview

Ryan Wagman — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 18:12:12 +0000

If you have been reading my work for any length of time, whether here at McKeen's, or previously with Hockey Prospectus, you will know that one of my common refrains when it comes to the draft, right after “don’t draft goalies in the first round”, is to not draft for positional need.

Between trades, free agency, and the non-linear development paths taken by the vast majority of prospects, it is impossible to say what your NHL team will need once the players drafted today are ready for the NHL.

As only three to six players in any given draft class are ready to move directly to the NHL, it is beyond folly to presume what your weaknesses will be once they are ready. Include in the facts that most prospects never make it at all and that even the good ones generally need two or three more years of development after being drafted to have a handle on how they are trending, and the concept of drafting for need looks more and more ridiculous.

So here come the Montreal Canadiens, sour at having missed the postseason for the second time in three years, a feat of ignominy the franchise has not seen since the 2001-2003 stretch. Beyond the injuries to Carey Price (yes, he was taken with a high first round pick, and on balance, he has worked out), which prevented them from stopping goals, the team and the local media had long been harping on their lack of centers, both high end and depth, and their lack of size.

Thanks to their favorable results in the NHL Draft Lottery, the team was slated to draft third overall this past June. Everyone who had ever laced up skates knew that Rasmus Dahlin would go first overall, while everyone who had held a hockey stick in anger had pegged big Russian winger Andrei Svechnikov to go second. Pundits and other know-it-alls figured that Czech winger Filip Zadina would be the third pick, with a reasonable chance that the newest Tkachuk, Brady, could slip into the bronze spot.

Then again, rumors leading into the draft had connected Montreal with big Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who had impressed playing as a 17 year old in Liiga and then dominated at the WU18s, a talented player without doubt, albeit one with flaws. Canadiens’ brass was known to be enamored with the player who provided a solution to both of the club’s clearest weaknesses.

On the other hand, they also seemed to acknowledge that Kotkaniemi was not the best player likely to be available at third overall, as other whispers had them trying to trade down, hoping to gauge how low they could go with their favorite draft eligible player still on the board. I guess they never got a satisfactory answer, as we all know by know that the Habs kept the pick and drafted Kotkaniemi, who was signed to an ELC less than two weeks later.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi meets a need on the current Montreal roster. He is also talented enough, and physically mature enough, to have a strong case to spend the entire 2018-19 season in the NHL, likely in a third line role at least to start. By the time he hits his peak, however, the Canadiens will have different needs, and they may see other centers emerge that would make Kotkaniemi, if not superfluous, at least lead to questions about what if they had taken Zadina, or Tkachuk, or whoever is behind door #3.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

1 Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C (3^rd overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) Between his excellent hands, fantastic ability to protect the puck and advanced hockey sense, the Canadiens see their presumptive fist line center for the foreseeable future. If they are right, he will quiet all doubts about their selection of the big Finn with the third overall pick. The other side of the coin is the unmitigated concern about his lack of foot speed. While his first few steps are powerful, his top speed is around average. As the game gets faster and faster, that deficiency could bite into his overall effectiveness. OK speed can be mitigated if all of a player’s other attributes are high end, and, to his credit, Kotkaniemi is close in that regard. He performed exceptionally against men in Liiga and was dominant for Finland at the WU18s. He is an accomplished penalty killer and has a plus physical frame and game. If the sating issue gets in his way, there is still no reason why he could not end up a very good second line center.

2 Ryan Poehling, C (25^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 1^st) As a freshman, Poehling’s lack of offensive impact for St. Cloud State could be brushed away by his youth, as he was one of the youngest players in NCAA at the time. That was no longer the case as a sophomore, but he didn’t need any excuses anyway, as he was one of the offensive drivers for one of the best programs in the country. He is a very strong skater, with hands that can keep up with his feet for quickness. His two-way game was already advanced when he was drafted and has continued to impress as he can play a shutdown game in his own zone. His offensive game is not dynamic, but strong enough to be a factor and earn some power play time going forward. He projects as a middle six center on a very good team.

3 Nikita Scherbak, RW (26^th overall, 2014. Last Year: 4^th) In his third AHL season, Nikita Scherbak, Montreal’s forgotten first rounder from 2014, took a few significant steps forward in his game, proving for once and for all, that he has nothing left to gain in the minor leagues. The question remains how much he can produce in the NHL and how soon he can do it. He has good size and skates well. He has a strong shot and his puck skills show high level top end in the AHL, although he has not been as assertive in the NHL. He also plays a smart, composed game, which suggests that he will step up if given consistent ice time at the top level. Scherbak won’t be gifted a roster spot, but he has the tools to stick if he shows enough in camp.

4 Jake Evans, C (207^th overall, 2014. Last Year: 8^th) In Notre Dame’s long history on ice, the have appeared in the Frozen Four four times. The last two of those have come in Evans’ junior and senior seasons. He ends his collegiate career ranked third in scoring since the turn of the century. He will never be a dynamic skater, but has improved his pace significantly during his collegiate career. Good edgework helps his skating play up. The strength of his game is as a playmaker. The puck has a way of finding his stick and he has a way of setting up linemates with prime scoring chances with pinpoint accuracy. He has great anticipation, indicative of his ability to read what opponents are trying to do in all three zones. Almost without fail, he then makes it more difficult for them to execute. Evans might have to spend some time in Laval first, especially depending on his recovery from an offseason hernia surgery, but he has top six upside.

Jesse Ylonen

5 Jesse Ylonen, RW (35^th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) With a late 1999 birthdate, Ylonen’s chance to shine internationally was in the 2017 WU18 tournament. And he shone, with nine points in seven games on the way to a Silver Medal for Finland. Born in Arizona when father Juha was playing with the Coyotes, the young Jesse spent is first season playing against men last year, and was one of the only teenagers to accomplish anything at all in Mestis, Finland’s second league. A dynamic, smooth skater with magnificent puck skills, work well together to make him a constant threat when his team is on the offensive attack. One of his bigger development sin the last 12 months has been his willingness to play in a team structure and utilize his linemates more in the attack. He still has a ways to go physically, and will be moving on up to play in Liiga, with Pelicans, as his next stop.

6 Jacob Olofsson, C (56^th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) All the steak, half the sizzle. Olofsson is a mature young center drafted as part of Montreal’s concerted effort to beef up the system down the middle. A solid skater who plays with an impressive motor, he lacks dynamic puck skills, but is able to protect it from the sticks of defenders as he drives the net. Like Ylonen in Finland, Olofsson produced at a fine level in Sweden’s second division, the Allsvenskan before showing well at the WU18s. He features a tricky release on his wrist shot that allows him to generate scoring chances from the rush. As with most 17 year-olds playing senior hockey, one of his most impressive traits is his hockey sense. He reads the game very well and sticks to the team structure, with generally proper positioning in the defensive zone. With his team being promoted to the SHL, he is ready for a new challenge against better competition.

7 Noah Juulsen, D (26^th overall, 2015. Last Year: 2^nd) If only due to the 23 games he played at the NHL level last year, Juulsen is the most likely player from this list to graduate from consideration in the 2018-19 season. In his first professional season, he did not show any dynamic traits of the type that made him a first rounder and reliable source of offense from the blueline in his time n the WHL, but he was a steady presence on otherwise poor rosters in both Laval and Montreal. Juulsen is a strong skater, who has improved markedly in his game away from the puck since his draft year to the point that he could comfortably be used in defensive situations in the NHL. He still needs to fill out his frame, but he leans on his checks effectively. At this point, expectations for an offensive weapon from the blueline are diminished, but he should still be serviceable as a fourth or fifth defender.

8 Cale Fleury, D (87^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 14^th) As many had anticipated in his draft year, Fleury’s skills were being muted by playing for a bottom-feeding Kootenay club. The Ice traded their captain to Regine around mis-season and, with skilled forwards to get the puck to, his assist rate soared. He can survey the ice very well from the point, and is able to execute on passes of surprising difficulty. Fleury also has a mature frame and plays with an impressive amount of bite. He has above average mobility and it is fair to say that his horrid +/- numbers with Kootenay were more on the team than him, as that number went heavily the other way after the trade. Of the four blueliners selected by Montreal in the middle rounds in 2017, Fleury has the greatest likelihood of growing into more than a third pairing contributor.

9 Cayden Primeau, G (199^th overall, 2017. Last Year: not ranked) A goaltending project when drafted towards the end of the 2017 draft, Primeau had struggled to keep the starting job with Lincoln of the USHL, but raised eyebrows with a stellar performance at the World Junior A’s. He won a lot of believers when he stole the starting job with Hockey East side Northeastern from incumbent Ryan Ruck and proceeded to post the fourth best save percentage in the nation among starters. He stands out for his athleticism and composure and flashes high end potential in his ability to stick with the shooter. He likes to play the puck. One element he needs to show improvement in is tracking when the play is behind his net, to avoid needlessly opening up holes.

Joni Ikonen

10 Joni Ikonen, C/RW (58^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 7^th) A Finnish player drafted out of the Swedish leagues, Ikonen returned to his native land last year and finished sixth in Liiga among all U19 players. He also played a strong role for Finland at the WJC. Unfortunately, it seems highly unlikely that he will return to the WJC this year, as a knee injury suffered in a team-related practice session after the conclusion of the season is expected to keep him out of commission until December. Ikonen’s game is predicated on slipperiness with the puck on his stick, and a commitment to stay with the play across all three zones. He is strong for his size and respected for his speed, which tracks to an above average level, presuming the trait returns with health.

11 Josh Brook, D (56^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 6^th) It can be difficult to judge players on powerhouse teams, and their own contributions can be subsumed by those of their teammates. That said, it certainly does look like Brook took a step forward in his development last season, playing a smart, two-way game with a physical yet disciplined edge. He also continued to make the case that he is a very good puck distributor. After all, who is to say that Moose Jaw would have scored that much if Brook was not so adept at getting the puck to his teammates. Between his offensive production and the facets of his game that stand out well, the reason he is not ranked higher is that his mobility is middling on a good day. There is still the sense that his foot speed can be exploited at higher levels unless he adds some quickness.

12 Allan McShane, C (97^th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) One of several smaller centers selected by Montreal in the 2018 draft after taking their big center at the top, McShane lacks much I the way of physical tools, but more than makes up for it with high end playmaking and a gift for processing the game. He is a sluggish skater, lacking in his first few steps and not able to get to a promising top speed. That said, his is fairy agile and has a knack for sidestepping past defenders who don’t see it coming. While not a big shooter, he does like his wrap-around attempts, and generates a good number of rebounds that way. Thanks to his understanding of game play situations, he can be used in a variety of roles. He does need to gain another half step, but his vision and style lend themselves to maintain value further up the developmental ladder.

13 Cam Hillis, C (66^th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) Somewhat of a late bloomer, the undersized Hillis waited until he was 17 to debut in the OHL and came in swinging, with nearly one point per game in his rookie year at the level. Between his production and his superb skating, making him a threat in one-on-one situations, he earned the attention of Team Canada, eventually suiting up for his homeland at the WU18. He is also committed to the team structure in his own zone and is an impressive playmaker. He can try to overextend himself with the puck, leading to too many turnovers. If he learns to play more within himself, including the recognition of the limitations of his stature, he could be a decent middle six forward, with the ability to contribute on special teams.

14 William Bitten, C (70^th overall, 2016. Last Year: 11^th) Although Bitten never produced the offensive numbers in the OHL that his skillset suggested he could, he has continued to improve year-over-year and he moves to the professional game as a promising two-way threat. The son of two badminton Olympians, flashes very high end abilities with the puck and skates at an above average level. Just as often as he impresses with the puck, his game away from the puck is consistently worthy of acclaim. There is an open question whether a player with his clear size deficit can establish himself in an energy role as a pro, but with a little more assertiveness on offense, Bitten can open up a selection of paths to the NHL.

Cole Fonstad

15 Cole Fonstad, C/LW (128^th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) Skilled without being dynamic, Fonstad earned a spot on Canada’s WU18 roster thanks to a very good season with a middling Prince Albert team which he helped return to the playoffs. A fine skater with elusive puck skills and a promising two way game, his main drawback is his complete lack of size and strength. He forechecks strong and generally plays with admirable hustle, there is reasonable doubt that his style of play will be possible at higher levels. With much of the Prince Albert roster having turned over, Fonstad will be relied upon to fill a more leadership role with the Raiders this year. It will be interesting to note how, if at all, that impacts his game.

16 Scott Walford, D (68^th overall, 2017. Last Year: 15^th) Although injuries may have played a role – he missed both rounds of Victoria’s postseason run – it is fair to call Scott Walford’s first post-draft season a disappointment. He is a smooth skater who shows a keen understanding for the nuances of the game and is reliable away from the puck. He can make the basic passes and plays with the puck, but he is not a primary puck carrier or a genuine weapon from the blueline. He has decent size and while not a physical force, is not a pushover either. In sum, Walford is a quiet, competent blueliner who could probably play at the next level, but has yet to really show why he should play over other similarly skilled players.

17 Alexander Romanov, D (38^th overall, 2018. Last Year: IE) In a draft full of surprise picks, perhaps no pick was as out of left field as Montreal selecting Romanov early in the second round. An undersized defenseman from the Russian junior leagues, those who like him see a teenager who is fleet of foot, who keeps a tight gap when facing a zone entry against, and packs a nice slap shot from the point. They even see a player who punches above his weight class in terms of the physical game. The difference between those who like and those who don’t is not that substantial, but to prove a point about why his selection was surprising, all of those tools mentioned above, instead of being somewhat impressive, are somewhat meh. Like Kotkaniemi, his WU18 tournament helped his draft stock, but unlike Kotkaniemi, his pre-tournament performance was not really notable at all.

18 Charlie Lindgren, G (UDFA: Mar. 30, 2016. Last Year: 17^th) With superstar Carey Price on the roster, for now and evermore, the Canadiens have de-emphasized the drafting of netminders over the past few years. In fact, since the Price pick, they have only taken five goalies in 13 draft classes. To keep padded people between the pipes at the lower levels, the organization has taken to signing free talent at the position. Lindgren has been the best such free agent find. Signed out of St. Cloud State in 2016, he has worked his way into NHL appearances in each season since, including 14 games while Price was out last season. He is highly competitive and athletic with a strong puck handling game for a netminder. On the down side, he is a bit too prone to the juicy rebound to be more than a solid backup. If Antti Niemi’s bubble bursts again, he is primed to be the permanent backup in the NHL.

19 Matthew Peca, C (UFA: Jul. 1, 2018. Last Year: not ranked [Tampa Bay]) A clever playmaker who was too small even for Tampa, Peca, a former seventh round pick, was signed as a free agent with Montreal this offseason after appearing in 20 games total for the Lightning over the past two seasons. He is a skilled offense creator, playing with pace and getting his linemates into nice scoring chances. While those traits have not yet come to fruition in the NHL, the Habs have given him a two year contract and seem committed to giving Peca his chance in the sun. He has the speed and skillset that could make him a useful bottom six forward given limited and protected minutes, but the investment in him was not so great as to prevent the team from cutting bait if he can’t manage to produce points.

20 Lukas Vejdemo, C (87^th overall, 2015. Last Year: 18^th) A tremendous skater, Vejdemo rebounded from a down year in 2016-17 to post his best season yet in the SHL, convincing both the Canadiens and himself that it was time to come play in North America. Outside of his skating, the rest of his tools grade out around average, but the left handed center gets around fast enough to perhaps help those attributes play up. He has good size too, which would probably be of use to him in the AHL, especially considering the lack thereof of some of his probable future teammates. By this point, it is unlikely that he can grow into anything above a decent fourth liner, but considering the weakness of Laval last year, he should have plenty of chances to try to prove us wrong.

2018 NHL Draft Review: Atlantic Division

Ryan Wagman — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 12:35:46 +0000

The draft is over and 217 young players are newly affiliated with 31 different NHL organizations. Outside of three to six of those players, who could jump right into NHL lineups in the fall, we will not know whether the vast majority of those players are draft successes for two, three, four, or five years.

The lack of clear foresight aside, we should still be able to judge draft classes at least in terms of expected value. In some cases, we can look at strategy as well, although the way the board shakes out based on the picks that came before, we can rarely truly discern what a club was trying to do, but only what they were able to do.

I had hoped that we would be able to provide an average Overall Future Projection of the various draft classes, but there are a few picks from the high school ranks, the NAHL and a few European junior leagues for whom we lack enough information to give a full grade, so we will focus on where we had players ranked as we assess the draft haul of each team, as we run division-by-division through the NHL.

Here is the Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins
2 (57) Axel Andersson, D, Djurgarden J20 (SuperElit) - ranked 88th
3 (77) Jakub Lauko, C/LW, Pirati Chomutov (Czech) - ranked 83rd
4 (119) Curtis Hall, C Youngstown (USHL) - ranked 158th
6 (181) Dustin McFaul, D, Pickering (OJHL) - ranked Honorable Mention
7 (212) Pavel Shen, C, Mamonty Yugry (MHL) - ranked Honorable Mention

While the Boston Bruins 2018 draft class will not go down in infamy like their 2015 first round which saw them draft Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zach Senyshyn with consecutive picks, leaving players like Mathew Barzal and Kyle Connor on the board for others, that is only because the Bruins only had five picks all told this year, and none in the first round. In other words, if none of these five guys pan out, don’t expect to hear/read too much bad press about it. Now, I am not saying that none of these guys will pan out, but even if they do, none will have top half of roster roles. Second rounder Axel Andersson is mostly a stay-at-home type. He positions himself well and can kickstart the transition with smart and precise passes. A solid asset, but a #4 at best. The Bruins have already signed him to an ELC, but have seemingly loaned him back to Djurgarden for another year.

Third rounder Jakub Lauko turned some heads with an energetic performance for the Czechs at the WJC, and was productive for his country at the WU18, but was a bit player for most of the year among men in the Czech ExtraLiga. He is a fine skater and plays bigger than his measurables, at least when playing against peers. If he can continue to play a strong forechecking game and grow his offense just a touch, he could be a good fourth line fit. Fourth rounder Curtis Hall has a similar projection, but as a more natural center. Hall is big, can skate, and seems to understand the game, but his hands are very stiff. There are enough parts that he could find a niche role killing penalties and playing 7-9 minutes of 5-on-5 per game, but his offensive upside is pretty minimal. As he is heading to Yale, it is probably four years until the Bruins have to make a decision on him.

Sixth rounder Dustyn McFaul is more of a project, having performed admirably in his first year in the OJHL with Pickering. He has solid puck skills for a blueliner and no obvious glaring holes in his game. He might spend a season in the USHL before going to Clarkson. Finally, the Bruins picked up Russian forward Pavel Shen in his second year of draft eligibility with one of the last selections of the draft. He has been just shy of one point per game in the past two season in the MHL, Russia’s top junior level, although was ineffective in his first taste of the KHL last year. He has some playmaking skills, but needs to prove himself at higher levels first. With a system as stacked as the Bruins’ is, they can stomach a low upside draft haul such as this. Not too many of those, but one won’t hurt them too badly.

OFP - 52

Buffalo Sabres
1 (1) Rasmus Dahlin, D, Frolunda (SHL) - ranked 1st
2 (32) Mattias Samuelsson, D, USNTDP (USHL) - ranked 39th
4 (94) Matej Pekar, C/RW, Muskegon (USHL) - ranked 106th
4 (117) Linus Lindstrand Kronholm, D, Malmo J20 (SuperElit) - unranked
5 (125) Miska Kukkonen, D, Ilves U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) - unranked
7 (187) William Worge Kreu, D, Linkoping J20 (SuperElit) - unranked

The Buffalo Sabres won the draft well before the teams congregated in Dallas. They won it when the bouncing balls came up in their favor. By winning the lottery, they got to draft a defenseman in Rasmus Dahlin who is not only a future star in the mold of a Drew Doughty, who is not only ready to play a critical role right now, but who also happens to fit a need on this team that would not otherwise be filled. Dahlin will be among the favorites to win the Calder Trophy this year, and among the favorites to win many Norris Trophies down the line. Defensemen who can skate and stickhandle like Dahlin are few and far between. Those who also have high end hockey IQ are basically unicorns.

With the first pick of day two, the Sabres drafted another NHL defender in Mattias Samuelsson, son of Kjell and a monster on the ice. While he will never be fleet of foot, Samuelsson moves well enough for his size, and uses his size very effectively, whether to box out opponents, or to scare the hell out of them in the corners. He is not offensively gifted, but can add enough to the attack to not be a pure stay-at-home type. He is heading to Western Michigan, but I would expect his stay on campus to max out at two years. After sitting out the third round, the Sabres kicked off the fourth with Muskegon center Matej Pekar a Czech native who has been playing in the US since he was 15. Pekar is a versatile forward – which is good as he was the forward chosen by Buffalo in the draft this year – who skates well and creates nicely for others. He is heading to Miami (Ohio) this season.

With their last three picks, the Sabres went off the board to pick up three projectable young Scandinavian defenders who have mostly snuck under the radar due to injury and/or lack of international experience. Fourth rounder Linus Lindstrand Kronholm impresses with his hockey IQ, but does not for any physical attributes. He skates well enough and holds his own in the corners, but lack of skill with the puck gives him a low ceiling. Finnish defender Miska Kukkonen was limited to 12 games this year due to injury, but also has solid hockey sense and plays a simple, yet effective game with the puck. William Worge Kreu similarly lacks much in the way of hockey skills, but understands the game well enough and is a gigantic physical presence. He is taller, yet much, much slighter (6-6”, 172) than Mattias Samuelsson. Between Lindstrand Kronholm, Kukkonen, and Worge Kreu, the Sabres would be lucky to get one player who gets 200 games in the NHL in a third pairing role. Even if all three meet expectations though, none projects above that level, so there would be some redundancy. Then again, Rasmus Dahlin, so who cares what else happens, right?

OFP – 54

Detroit Red Wings
1 (6) Filip Zadina, LW, Halifax (QMJHL) - ranked 3rd
1 (30) Joe Veleno, C, Drummondville (QMJHL) - ranked 10th
2 (33) Jonatan Berggren, LW/RW, Skelleftea J20 (SuperElit) - ranked 28th
2 (36) Jared McIsaac, D, Halifax (QMJHL) - ranked 24th
3 (67) Alec Regula, D, London (OHL) - ranked 102nd
3 (81) Seth Barton, D, Trail (BCHL) - ranked 147th
3 (84) Jesper Eliasson, G, Troja-Ljungby J20 (J20 Elit)
4 (98) Ryan O'Reilly, C/RW, Madison (USHL) - ranked 84th
6 (160) Victor Brattstrom, G, Timra (Allsvenskan)
7 (191) Otto Kivenmaki, C, Assat U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) - ranked 211th

For many years, the Red Wings were known for having a Midas touch with the draft, regularly picking gems in the late round that grew up to be pivotal players on Stanley Cup championship teams. Think Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, and more. And then the Wings fell into a stretch where they seemingly believed that they were magical and anyone they drafted would turn up a winner. They were wrong. In the last 12 years, they have only drafted three players in the fifth round or later who have racked up 100 NHL games: Petr Mrazek, Nick Jensen and Alexei Marchenko. While it is too early to judge their last three draft classes, the other years in this time span seem very unlikely to add to that total. I can’t promise that either of the Wings’ last two picks here will break that trend, but I would be very surprised if this group as a whole does not have at least five players eclipsing 200 NHL games when all is said and done.

Common thought had the Red Wings focusing on Quinn Hughes with their first pick, a very talented blueliner who played under Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill at the World Championships prior to the draft. But when high scoring winger Filip Zadina was passed over by the Canadiens, Senators and Coyotes, the Red Wings did not hesitate to add a potential 35 goal winger. He grades out as high end for his skating, shooting (near elite there), puck skills, and hockey IQ. He is no shrinking violet, either, always up to battle for loose pucks and giving as good as he gets. Zadina is likely ready to play in the NHL this year, although he may get some brief interludes in the AHL first. He has clear star potential. It’s hard to get value in the top six, but the Wings did it. And then they did it again with their second first rounder, acquired from Vegas in the Tomas Tatar trade. Joe Veleno, the first and thus far the only player granted exceptional player status in the QMJHL was widely thought of as a mid-first round caliber player. Even more inexplicably then Zadina falling to #6, Veleno was still on the board at #30. The Red Wings were there to ensure that he would not fall to #31. A gifted skater with strong playmaking skills and high hockey IQ, he will be competing for a middle six within 12 months. Two first round picks, two speedy players with a knack for generating offense. Why not add a third? With the second pick of the second round, the Red Wings gobbled up Jonatan Berggren, a late riser up draft boards thanks to his electric wheels and goal scoring exploits in the SuperElit, but mostly due to a scintillating performance at the WU18s, as he put up five goals and 10 points in 7 games. He needs to bulk up and gain more experience playing against men, but his upside is clear top six.

Finally ready to draft a blueliner, the Red Wings once again struck gold, grabbing Zadina’s teammate with the Mooseheads, Jared McIsaac, once thought of as a sure-fire first rounder. Like the forwards taken, McIsaac is a very strong skater and all of his other attributes also project as above average. He can sometimes blend in, but he plays a strong 200 foot game and projects as high as a number three defender. Finally, the Red Wings were done taking top half of the lineup players, but they were not taken picking up talented players. With their first of three third rounders, they took another blueliner in Alec Regula, who helped the Chicago Steel win a USHL title in 2016-17, and moved to the OHL for his draft year, earning a regular role with the London Knights. He lacks a single stand-out trait, but does everything at a solid level, playing a quiet, poised game.

Finally, with the second of three third rounders, the Red Wings took a flier on a prospect, in the form of Seth Barton, a puck moving defender from Trail in the BCHL, in his second year of draft eligibility. He was easy to ignore in his first go-round, as he was still playing in Major Midget in BC. His instincts need to be honed, but there are some raw tools here in the UMass-Lowell commit. Detroit gambled again with their final third rounder, taking goaltender Jesper Eliasson, who was player in a second tier U18 league in Sweden. That league can be hard to scout due to the generally lower level of competition, but he has ideal size, and seems to read the play at an above average level.

The Red Wings found fantastic value again in the fourth round, with Ryan O’Reilly, a true Texan who showed high end goal scoring ability with Madison of the USHL. He is a strong skater with an NHL shot, but needs to smooth out the rougher spots in his game, such as eliminating the brain freezes that prevent him from fully earning the trust of his coaches. From a player in his first year out of Tier 1 hockey in Dallas, he was come a very long way and it looks like there is plenty more to come. The Wings added another goalie in the sixth, also the sixth netminder added to the organization in the last 24 months in fourth time eligible Swedish pro Victor Brattstrom. A towering figure in the crease, Brattstrom was near unbeatable in his first extended action in Swedish men’s hockey, helping Timra gain re-entry to the SHL. He lacks any true standout tools, but is gigantic and does most things (puck handling excluded) fairly well. With their tenth and final pick, the Red Wings selected Finnish forward Otto Kivenmaki. Raw like sushi and untested at the international level, Kivenmaki showed solid playmaking skills in the Finnish junior leagues and is a very good skater. In fact, taken as a whole, not only did the Red Wings obtain fantastic value up and down the draft class, but they also mostly drafted above average (or better) skaters, indicating that the franchise understands the direction the game is heading and is embracing the need for speed. Top to bottom, this is about as ideal a draft outcome as I could imagine in the 2018 draft class.

OFP - 55

Florida Panthers
1 (15) Grigori Denisenko, LW, Loko Yaroslavl (MHL) - ranked 27th
2 (34) Serron Noel, RW/LW, Oshawa (OHL) - ranked 22nd
3 (89) Logan Hutsko, C/RW, Boston College (Hockey East) - ranked 116th
6 (170) Justin Schutz, LW, Red Bull Hockey Akademie (Czech U18) - unranked
7 (201) Cole Krygier, D, Lincoln (USHL) - ranked 190th
7 (207) Santtu Kinnunen, D, Pelicans U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) - unranked

Not only did the Florida Panthers not take anything other than forwards until the seventh round – where they used both of their final round picks on blueliners – but all four of their earlier picks were used on wingers. Organizationally, this may hurt, as the system is not deep in centers after Henrik Borgstrom. That said, I do not, as a rule, advocate for drafting for positional need, but for talent, and on that front, the Panthers did alright considering the picks they had. Grigori Denisenko’s draft stock fluctuated a fair bit over the course of the year, but between his high end speed, and his near elite puck skills, he seemed a pretty safe bet to be selected in the back half of the first round at worst. At 15^th overall, he made sense. Although he was not always chosen by the Russian brain trust to represent his country at high-profile international events, much of that is down to politics. He can play a bit out of control and spend too much time in the box as a result, but his offensive tools are electrifying. He is expected to spend more time this year at the KHL level, but may not be too far removed from a chance to play in the NHL, presuming he bulks up a bit.

Bulking up a bit will not be a problem for the Panthers’ second rounder, OHL winger Serron Noel, who already measures in at 6-5”, 205 lbs. He would be nearly a prototypical power forward, but he has very soft hands and is unselfish with the puck, preferring to set up a linemate than to take a speculative shot himself. Looking at recent early round power forwards in the draft, he fits closer to Alex Tuch’s mold at this stage of his development than any other. He could easily have been gone on day one. Florida’s third rounder, Logan Hutsko, is one of the feel-good stories of the draft. After missing the bulk of his first draft eligible year due to a broken neck, he played with Boston College as a true freshman and led the team in scoring. He is slight, but has a lot of talent, and a full year removed from rehab, there should be more in store. Of the four forwards drafted by the Panthers, Hutsko is the only one with significant experience in the middle.

Sixth rounder Justin Schutz was mostly under the radar, playing with Red Bull Hockey Akademie in Austria, although competing in the Czech U20 league. Schutz, a German native, was their second leading scorer and tied for tenth in the league. He was drafted by Sioux Falls in the USHL, but at present is expected to spend next season playing for Salzburg in the Alps Hockey League, which combines organizations from Austria, Italy and Slovenia. Although twin brother Christian was selected a few slots higher, it says here that Cole is the more talented Krygier brother. He combines above average projections for hockey IQ and physicality with moderate mobility, although like his brother, his expected offensive output is minimal. The Panthers completed their draft class with the selection of Santtu Kinnunen, a rail-thin defender from the Finnish junior ranks. He moves the puck very well for a blueliner and projects for above average smarts as well but there is a question about how well his averagish mobility will hold up once he puts on much-needed weight. While the back half of their draft class comes with its share of question marks, the Panthers drafted enough upside in the first three rounds to ensure that they come away with a few NHL contributors out of their trip to Dallas.

OFP – 52.75

Montreal Canadiens
1 (3) Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C, Assat (Liiga) - ranked 13th
2 (35) Jesse Ylonen, RW, Espoo United (Mestis) - ranked 36th
2 (38) Alexander Romanov, D, Krasnaya Armiya Moskva (MHL) - unranked
3 (56) Jacob Olofsson, C, Timra (Allsvenskan) - ranked 33rd
3 (66) Cameron Hillis, C, Guelph (OHL) - ranked 73rd
3 (71) Jordan Harris, D, Kimball Union Academy (USHS - CT) - ranked 123rd
4 (97) Allan McShane, C, Oshawa (OHL) - ranked 43rd
4 (123) Jack Gorniak, LW, West Salem HS (USHS - WI) - ranked 144th
5 (128) Cole Fonstad, C/LW, Prince Albert (WHL) - ranked 89th
5 (133) Samuel Houde, C, Chicoutimi (QMJHL) - unranked
7 (190) Brett Stapley, C/RW, Vernon (BCHL) - unranked

One of the benefits of having 11 picks, as the Canadiens did this year, is that you have the luxury of blending your approach, going with your gut for some picks and selecting conservatively on others. The Canadiens did just that, and while I do not support every pick, on balance, this draft class has the potential to be a direction changer for the franchise. Let’s start with picks that combined both talent and draft value. Of their three second rounders, the first one, Jesse Ylonen put up very impressive numbers in the second men’s league in Finland. Equipped with high end skating and puck handling ability, and an above average shot, he projects as a top six scoring winger. Their third of three second rounder, Swedish center Jacob Olofsson, has a very advanced hockey IQ and is strong enough as skater, shooter or literally, in terms of effective hockey strength, that he could play anywhere in the middle six. His high motor will also make him a fan favorite in Montreal.

After taking European based players with each of their four picks in the first two rounds, Montreal’s first North American selection was Guelph center Cameron Hillis. Although undersized, Hillis is an excellent skater and a burgeoning playmaker. In terms of pure value, the best pick Montreal made at the draft was the fourth round pickup of Oshawa center Allan McShane. More a playmaker than a shooter, McShane is a 200 foot player and can be effective in all three zones. With even a half-grade improvement on his skating projections, he could be a real solid professional. After a solid performance for Team Canada at the WU18s (stronger than teammate Hillis managed), it is somewhat surprising he lasted until the fourth round. Finally, I like the thinking that went into taking Cole Fonstad, another CHL center, with an early fifth round pick. Fonstad fills a similar role as Hillis and McShane, as a slightly undersized center who excels at setting up linemates for scoring opportunities. His skating, puck skills and hockey IQ are all very good for his age peers, but he lacks any one standout skill. Still, he is great value in the fifth round.

With the value picks taken care of, let’s now look at picks where the Habs picked up good talent, but perhaps took them higher than their core talent suggested. With that, we start right at the top. With the third overall pick, Montreal ended the most suspenseful moment of the draft by selecting Jesperi Kotkaniemi, a big center who has near elite hockey IQ and excellent hands. He already has man strength and a strong shot to boot. Those who like him a lot (i.e. Montreal’s head scouts) see a first line center. Those who, like us, are more lukewarm, see a second line center. Where we see daylight between Kotkaniemi and a first line outcome is in his middling pace. He can get started well enough, but his top speed is only average at best. You can be a first line center with average speed, but for every Joe Thornton, there are countless AHLers. Kotkaniemi will probably be ready to play in the NHL by 2019-20, but I could say the same about more than a few players that Montreal passed over.

Jordan Harris is a talented, yet undersized, puck moving defender. He skated at a strong level and plays a much more physical game than his size suggests. He showed good reads at the prep school level, but his lack of high level experience adds some risk to his profile. He is expected to play at Northeastern next year, where he will be tested. Montreal took a second prepster one round later in Jack Gorniak from Wisconsin. The Wisconsin commit was one of the top scorers in the state, but like Harris, he has very limited experience (two games at the USHL level) at a higher level.

So far we have covered eight picks, a decent draft class in and of itself, but Montreal made three more picks, one in an early round, that we simply did not and do not think will provide any value to the organization, or at least as much value as they are hoping for. With the 38^th overall pick, Montreal selected Russian blueliner Alexander Romanov. He is small, but skates well and has a solid point shot. But there is nothing here better than solid, and many facets of his game fail to reach that moderate height. Montreal will give him chances to play, but he will be hard-pressed to be more than a third pairing defender at the highest level. The other two “contentious” picks were, at least, late rounders of less consequence. Fifth rounder Samuel Houde was a top pick as a bantam player, but never really met expectations with Chicoutimi, topping out at 32 points last year. He is an OK skater, and understands the game well enough, but lacks much in the way of tools. With their final selection, the Canadiens went to the BCHL for second year eligible forward Brett Stapley, who has been around or above one point per game for the past two seasons, increasing his output by close to 20% this year. He will be headed to Denver next season. Montreal does not everyone from this class to pan out to call the 2018 class a huge success, but they do need Kotkaniemi to be, at minimum, a very good second line center. They have baked in some redundancy among their picks, such as the similar styles played by Hillis, McShane and Fonstad, or even between Romanov and Harris. So even if they are successful, there will not be room for all of them down the line.

OFP – 52.75

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators
1 (4) Brady Tkachuk, LW, Boston University (Hockey East) - ranked 4th
1 (26) Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, Okotoks (AJHL) - ranked 56th
2 (48) Jonny Tychonick, D, Penticton (BCHL) - ranked 44th
4 (95) Johnny Gruden, LW, USNTDP (USHL) - ranked 53rd
5 (126) Angus Crookshank, LW, Langley (BCHL) - ranked Honorable Mention
6 (157) Kevin Mandolese, G, Cape Breton (QMJHL) - ranked 115th
7 (188) Jacob Novak, LW/C, Janesville (NAHL) - unranked
7 (194) Luke Loheit, RW, Minnetonka HS (USHS - MN) - unranked

You would be hard pressed to find a prospect analyst more sympathetic to the NCAA route than this author. For those young players who are later bloomers, especially in the physical sense, the collegiate path can be extremely beneficial. So I am understanding of the fact that of the Senators eight draft picks this year, only one came from the traditional CHL path. For their other seven picks, including both first rounders, they drafted players from the AJHL, BCHL, USHL, NAHL, Minnesota High School hockey and one prominent player who has already spent a season in the NCAA. The Senators draft class strayed so far from the beaten path, they must have been pandering only to the prospect hipsters.

With the fourth overall pick, the Senators could have surrendered to the Colorado Avalanche, to close off the Matt Duchene trade. Instead the Sens wisely chose to hold on to it, and surrender next year’s instead (it will probably be a high pick again, but odds are a few slots lower than 4^th). After Montreal selected Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the Senators could have taken the high end scorer in Filip Zadina, but I cannot fault them for taking Brady Tkachuk instead. Tkachuk is basically NHL ready and a touch more advanced now than his brother Matthew was in his draft year – and Matthew went right to the NHL as well. He is a strong skater for his size, and his offensive gifts and hockey IQ are all high end. His physical game is even better. Tkachuk should be able to take on a middle six role with the Senators right away and only continue to grow from there.

After this pick, things got funky for Ottawa. With a later first round pick, they selected Jacob Bernard-Docker, from Okotoks in the AJHL. After the success of Cale Makar and Ian Mitchell from the AJHL last year, that historically undervalued league has hit the spotlight. Bernard-Docker made himself the clear top dog in that league, particularly after a star turn in the WJAC for Canada West. He does everything well and profiles as a solid second pairing blueliner down the road. An overdraft, in our esteem, but a talented player nonetheless. So for an encore, the Senators drafted Bernard-Docker’s blueline partner from that WJAC tournament, Jonny Tychonick from Penticton in the BCHL. Tychonick is a better skater than Bernard-Docker, and maybe less of a threat from the point, but he is very skilled when his team has the puck. Tychonick also needs more beef on his bones than the more solidly built Bernard-Docker. Funny enough, both young blueliners will be heading to North Dakota in the fall, to get a head start on developing chemistry.

In the fourth round, Ottawa went to a more ell-worn path to the NCAA by drafting a player out of the hothouse USNTDP program in Johnny Gruden, whose father had recently coached the Hamilton Bulldogs to the OHL championship. Gruden has decent offensive tools, but plays a very smart, quick and energetic game and seems primed for a future middle six role after spending some time at Miami. When it came time for their fifth round pick, it seemed that Ottawa wanted to return to that fertile ground of the Canada West WJAC team, and drafted Angus Crookshank of Langley in the BCHL. A speedy winger with smooth hands and a quick release, Crookshank will play at the University of New Hampshire. The sole CHLer among Senators’ draft picks came next in the form of Cape Breton netminder Kevin Mandolese. He has great size and competes hard, but the results have not been there yet. If the performance can match the tools, he could be a keeper.

The NAHL is generally seen as a feeder league to the USHL and lower tier NCAA schools. Every year, one or two goalies of note are selected from that league and this year was no exception, but once in a while, an NAHL position player is also picked up. And that is just what the Senators did with their first of two seventh rounders, drafting NAHL leading scorer and MVP Jakov Novak from Janesville. Heading to the college coldbed of Bentley, he is a long shot, but he is big and gritty. Finally, the Sens ended their draft with a pick from the Minnesota high school ranks in Luke Loheit from Minnetonka. Although his name was bandied about in deep draft world, his numbers were not very impressive for a prepster and he was not a prioritized watch. He is expected to spend next season in Penticton in the BCHL before going to Minnesota-Duluth. A can applaud Ottawa for taking the slow road prospects over the more immediate gratification that usually comes from CHL picks, but a draft class so full of long(er) shots, after Tkachuk may end up hampering the organization’s future goals.

OFP – 52.75

Tampa Bay Lightning
2 (59) Gabriel Fortier, LW, Baie-Comeau (QMJHL) - ranked 81st
3 (90) Dmitri Semykin, D, Kapitan Stupino (MHL) - ranked 215th
4 (121) Alex Green, D, Cornell (ECAC) - ranked Honorable Mention
5 (152) Magnus Chrona, G, Nacka J18 (J18 Elit) - unranked
6 (183) Cole Koepke, LW, Sioux City (USHL) - unranked
7 (206) Radim Salda, D, Saint John (QMJHL) - unranked
7 (214) Ty Taylor, G, Vernon (BCHL) - unranked

Earlier, in discussing the Detroit Red Wings draft class, I mentioned a period where the team believed that they were magical and saw very little success outside of the top half of the draft for a prolonged stretch. The Tampa Bay Lightning, a team with deep ties to the Red Wings organization, may be following that path. For a few years, the Lightning added high end, talented players deep into the draft. Think Brayden Point or Anthony Cirelli in the third round, Ondrej Palat in the seventh, and a number of others whose profiles are not as high. Between the last draft and this one, the Lightning have made a number of odd picks. It doesn’t help that the Lightning did not have a first round pick, but the picks that they did have did not move the needle much.

At the back end of the second round, Tampa drafted Gabriel Fortier of Baie-Comeau. He is a very good skater with some finishing touch and good energy, but he is small and his best case scenario is as a third line winger. Next up was two way Russian (can play on the blueline or the wing) Dmitri Semykin. If you like him, you see a solid shot, a good hockey mind, and a very physical game. Basically, you see a poor man’s Russian Brent Burns. If you are not a fan, you see a player without the skills to play either position. In the fourth round, Tampa drafted third year eligible collegian defender Alex Green, from Cornell. After two nondescript USHL seasons, Green was an afterthought, but showed a mature game as a freshman in Ithaca and what he lacks in ceiling, he makes up for in floor.

I am not sure I can make that claim for any of Tampa’s final four picks. Magnus Chrona is a very big and very young Swedish netminder who was playing at a fairly low level. He has a sound technical game, but has never really been tested against top flight competition. Cole Koepke is another third time eligible pick, who led the mediocre Sioux City team in scoring this year. He is a decent finisher, but is very much a bottom six player at best. Seventh rounder Radim Salda has a lot of international experience for the Czech Republic, but has never stood out at that level. He offers a solid work rate and some positional attributes, but has little in the way of tools and suffers from untimely lapses in concentration. Finally, in Ty Taylor, they took a second goalie, one who led the BCHL in GAA in the regular season, and led in save percentage in the postseason, in his second year of draft eligibility. He has solid size and is committed to play at the University of New Hampshire. Organizational depth is important, especially after trading away a number of their best prospects for Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller, but I would hope to get more than good soldiers in the draft.

OFP - 50

Toronto Maple Leafs
1 (29) Rasmus Sandin, D, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) - ranked 23rd
2 (52) Sean Durzi, D, Owen Sound (OHL) - ranked 57th
3 (76) Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, C, Peterborough (OHL) - ranked 90th
3 (83) Riley Stotts, C, Calgary (WHL) - ranked 170th
4 (118 ) Mac Hollowell, D, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) - ranked 172nd
5 (149) Filip Kral, D, Spokane (WHL) - ranked 216th
6 (156) Pontus Holmberg, LW/C, VIK Vasteras (Swe. Div. 1) - ranked 154th
7 (209) Zachary Bouthillier, G, Chicoutimi (QMJHL) - ranked 175th
7 (211) Semyon Kizimov, RW, Lada Togliatti (MHL) - ranked Honorable Mention

The question going into the draft for Toronto was how much would be different with Lou Lamoriello gone and Kyle Dubas finally in charge. Based on the nine players taken, it looks like upside is the order of the day. They took some players who were very young and others in their second year of eligibility. Size was absolutely not a factor with no skaters listed above 6-1”. Also, as many expected, Dubas would not hesitate to trade down to get an additional pick. In fact, that was his first order of business, trading the 25^th pick for the 29^th pick and an extra third rounder. When they finally stepped to podium towards the end of day one, Dubas called out the name of Rasmus Sandin, the third Rasmus of the day and one he would have been very familiar with his roots in Sault Ste. Marie much discussed. Although not big, he is a bit stocky and excels in the role of puck mover. He plays a very mature game and can execute very tricky passes to set up teammates for scoring chances. As he was on loan with the Greyhounds, the Leafs can assign him to the AHL, or more likely, back to Sweden for a year.

In the second round, the Leafs drafted another puck moving blueliner from the OHL in Owen Sound’s Sean Durzi. The second year eligible defender battled injuries in two of his last three years with the Attack, but puts up a lot of points from the blueline. He sees the ice well and tends to make the right decision. Third rounder Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is the youngest player (tied with Jan Jenik) eligible for the draft, one day too old to be a 2019 draft pick. He is a very strong skater and a fantastic puck handler but needs to gain in mass and in consistency before he would be ready to turn pro. Seven picks later, the Leafs finally selected someone from outside of the OHL, going west for Calgary Hitman Riley Stotts. A former top ten bantam draft player, Stotts struggled to get out of a depth role with Moose Jaw, but took on a central offensive role after being traded to Calgary around midseason and produced close to a point per game the rest of the way. He skates well, and is a good playmaker with plus vision.

In the fourth round, Toronto went back to the Soo for another blueliner, taking Sandin’s teammate Mac Hollowell. Whereas Sandin was undersized, Hollowell is flat out small. But he is an excellent skater and has a fairly high hockey IQ. Like Sandin, his best role is as a puck mover. Toronto drafted a fourth defender in the fifth round in Filip Kral, from the Czech Republic, by way of Spokane in the WHL. Another plus skater, Kral has decent offensive tools, although or near the level of Sandin or Durzi. At present, he is better with the puck than without, although he is not a liability in his own zone at the junior level. With their seventh pick, the Leafs finally drafted a player from a non-North American league, taking Swedish winger Pontus Holmberg. A second year eligible skater who spent most of last year playing against me in Sweden’s third tier, he is another plus skater with above average puck skills. Moved to Vaxjo in the offseason, he will have the chance to play in the SHL next year.

Considering the long running success the Maple Leafs have had drafting out of Sweden, I would keep an eye on Holmberg. With two seventh rounder, the Leafs went back to the CHL, this time to Quebec, to add a goalie to the system. Zachary Bouthillier split the crease with Alexis Shank in Chicoutimi this year, but took over in the postseason and had a nice run before the Sagueneens were eliminated. He is a bit of a long shot, but he reads the ice well and moves decently. With their final selection, the Maple Leafs added a Russian prospect in winger Semyon Kizimov, yet another plus skater who also brings a fine shooting game to the ice. He is signed for two more years with the Togliatti franchise, so it will be a while before we can decide on his future in the North America game. If there are two things we can learn from the first year of the Dubas regime, it is that the Maple Leafs will scout the CHL heavily and slower players need not apply. There are a lot of pieces here with middle of the lineup upside and if even a few pan out, this draft will be a success.

OFP – 52.75

2018 NHL Draft Mailbag: Two days .. it’s the most wonderful time of the year

Ryan Wagman — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:21:18 +0000

As I sit down to respond to the following questions, we are less than 72 hours from a contingent of Buffalo Sabres stepping up to the podium and announcing that they have selected Rasmus Dahlin as the first pic of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. A few minutes after that, we expect the Carolina Hurricanes’ representatives to follow suit and announce the selection of Andrei Svechnikov. After that, who knows, really?

We don’t pretend to work for NHL clubs here at McKeens, but we spend a lot of time trying to figure out what is in their best interests. We don’t know what they will do, for the most part, but we have strong opinions on what they should do and why.

With that in mind, we asked you, our awesome readers, what you would like to know about the draft. A number of you replied on Twitter and I will do my best to satisfy your curiosity. Here goes:

(((Gary)))‏ @gshumu

Who do the Red Wings target with the 30th pick?

Ryan - McKeens: The simple answer, Gary, is best player available. It’s hard enough to know who they will have available for pick 6, much less pick 30. That said, I can point out that the Wings lack much in the way of high end talent up and down the organization. They have a big center in Michael Rasmussen and a few decent young defenders in Filip Hronek, Dennis Cholowski and Joe Hicketts, and I expect the latter group to grow by one with pick six. In fact, if he is still on the board, I strongly expect the Wings to select Michigan blueliner Quinn Hughes with their first pick. If that was not the case before, Hughes’ performance at the World Championships, under the watchful eyes of Blashill, should have convinced them. Assuming that Hughes is the first pick, I could easily see the Red Wings more focussed on forwards with their next pick. After Rasmussen and Yevgeni Svechnikov, the latter of whom is likely ready for a full time job in the NHL, there isn’t much left. In recent mock drafts I have put together, I had Ryan McLeod or Rasmus Kupari falling to the 30 spot. Both are speedy centers who would offer the Wings depth down the middle and both project for middle six roles at their peaks. Similarly ranked players who could be available at that spot and fit a similar future role are Jacob Olofsson and Benoit-Olivier Groulx.

FlyersFan‏ @OrangeBlack12

Most likely Player to drop unexpected in 1st Rd?

Ryan - McKeens: With the late rise in public perception of Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, someone we had ranked higher is bound to drop somewhat. There are rumors of Filip Zadina going later than expected, but I still don’t see him lasting past pick #5 at the latest. One who could drop out of the top ten, after beginning the season as a clear top five favorite is Swedish blueliner Adam Boqvist. It seems that more and more teams see him as fourth among the group of Hughes, Bouchard, Dobson and Boqvist. He probably does not get past the two Islanders picks, but on talent alone, the Isles should feel lucky to grab him. Another defender who might go later than expected is USNTDP blueliner Bode Wilde, who has been passed by teammate K’Andre Miller on a number of boards. I still see him as a first rounder but not as high as was once assumed.

James‏ @xsideshowfreakx

In a relatively deep draft, what position do see having the most value in the later rounds?

Ryan - McKeens: This is certainly a relatively deep draft with likely NHL contributors through the end of the third round. One consequence of not having any high end goalie prospects this year is that there are a number of project netminders who would make for good upside plays in the second half of the draft. We also see the blueline cohort to be especially deep this year and expect there to be a lot of value in stocking up on the blueline n the later rounds. On the other hand, the lack of high end centers is mirrored in the later rounds. There are some guys worth taking, but this is not a strong year up the middle.

Faber from Nanaimo ? ? ?‏ @ChrisFaber39

How many defenceman do you think will be drafted by the time the Canucks will pick at 7? And which guys do you think will go?

Ryan - McKeens: In the most recent mock draft I put together, I had three defensemen off the board within the first six picks. After the obvious Dahlin pick, I expect to see a small run on wingers over the next three picks before Arizona takes Evan Bouchard and Detroit drafts Quinn Hughes. That scenario allows the Canucks to draft Memoria Cup winner Noah Dobson at number seven, giving them two high end defensemen in the system, one from each side in Ollil Juolevi (left) and Dobson (right). If you believe in building from the backline on out, that’s a pretty good start.

Ted‏ @ThatGuy11920

What's your take on Marc Del Gaizo?

Ryan - McKeens: To be honest, I prefer his older brother, Anthony, who we have ranked at 181 in this class. Both Del Gaizo siblings played this year with Muskegon of the USHL. Anthony is in his third year of eligibility and finished off with a bang, reminiscent of Ross Colton a few years back, leading the USHL in goals (40) and points (72). He lacks great size, but plays a game worthy of the pest role, a-la Brad Marchand. He’s a tough customer. As for your question, Marc is a nice offensive defenseman, but in my viewings, I did not see any one tool that would sell him as a legit NHL prospect. His puck moving is a little above average, but I want smaller defenders to have more mobility than MDG has. He has a bit of his brother’s jam, but he can negate his best strength with some misguided puck decisions and/or sloppiness.

matt walker‏ @mattcwalker

Do you take any stock in the players age when evaluating I.E. Q Hughes (late birthday) ? being a late birthday compared to a earlier one ever play a factor in your mind or in your Rankings? Thanks

Absolutely we do, Matt. It has less of a role at the very top of the draft, where the differences in players is more clear. But further down the board, where the talent gaps are much smaller, it is a factor. As an example, a mid July birthdate helped us feel confident in ranking Jonatan Berggren in the first round. Being born on the last day before he would be pushed to the 2019 draft also helped is look more favorably on Jan Jenik. For the inverse, being born in late September 1999 did not help Ryan McLeod in our final rankings.

All of that said, none of the above moved a player very much one way or the other, but it is absolutely a factor to be considered.

oxman44‏ @bnittel44

Kupari, Kravtsov, and Denisenko. Whos got the best tools and whose got the most top line upside?

Ryan - McKeens: I sent this question to our Russian and Finnish scouts, and I will allow them each to answer.

Alessandro Seren Rosso:

To me, both Kravtsov and Denisenko are a good pick. Both are very talented, and have the good intangibles needed to be a first-round pick. Denisenko has more raw talent, and probably also the higher upside, but a few question marks on his character and his style of play make Kravtsov a safer option, even if he probably has less upside. In my opinion, however, both have first-line upside. In particular Kravtsov is a safer option, albeit less talented. His combination of shot and size, though, is very good.

Viktor Fomich:

I think Kravtsov's ceiling is higher and there is some gap. Again, purely in terms of the ceiling.

Probably I should elaborate a bit: I think that despite being a half-year older, Kravtsov has actually more space under the ceiling to fill out comparing to Denisenko. Denisenko already posesses the raw tools and even some decent muscles and we just hope that all that will be polished, put in a toolbox and, if everything is going smoothly, would result in a 60+ point Top6 LW, who would just exhaust the opposing D guys with his energy and explosiveness even if he is not picking up those points. With Kravtsov it is a bit different: it's pretty hard to evaluate the ceiling as there are things that can be added that could and should notably amplify his game: for example, both lower and upper body strength is just not there at the moment and it is not that hard to add it when you're 6'3" (takes time and some work, of course). Adding some more intensity and maturity is harder, but again, it is about toolboxes, almost everyone has to get through that. So in the end I don't think it is too optimistic to consider his ceiling at around 70+ points and the "too optimistic" mode can get the evaluation even higher.

About the tools, I think they are pretty comparable. Both got good hands: Kravtsov's hands look softer, but Denisenko looks better at dangles. Shooting department's level is comparable, yet different in terms of details: Kravtsov's shot is a continuation of his soft hands, as he hot a great release and precision on his wrist shot, Denisenko is not that precise at least at this point, but his right-handed slapper is a serious weapon. Currently I'd give a slight edge to Denisenko in the skating department due to his explosiveness, but Kravtsov should be able to potentially gain it too. Both are creative, but I'd clearly rank Kravtsov higher here. At the overall hockey sense both got a lot of work in front of them, but again I'd give a slight, but confident edge to Kravtsov as he has shown that he can play more or less disciplined game in the KHL play-offs, while Denisenko wasn't too impressive here even in the juniors. Physicality here is mostly defined by the frame: Kravtsov's 6'3" Vs. Denisenko's 5'11" gives Kravtsov a clear advantage long-term, but he needs to fullfill that, as currently Denisenko looks even stronger than him despite the height disadvantage. In terms of two-way game, both have a lot to learn here, won't give anyone of them an advantage.

Marco Bombino:

Kupari has the tools to be a first-line center but I wouldn't bet my money on it as there are some question marks surrounding his game. The combination of speed and skill is intriguing, but as the past season progressed, I started to have questions about his offensive vision and ability to make plays under pressure. The tools to become a strong three-zone player are there, however, to me he seems more destined for a second-line role.

Ryan - McKeens: Back to me now. When doing our rankings, we try to focus on projection more than anything. So our overall rankings can sort of answer your questions. We have Kravtsov ranked 16, Kupari 21, and Denisenko 27.

Bunks‏ @OttBunks Jun 17

Which team without a 1st round pick do you see making a deal to get into the first round ?

Ryan - McKeens: As of this writing, the teams without first round picks include Calgary, Pittsburgh, Boston, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg and Vegas. Nashville, in fact, does not draft until the third round. I have the hardest time seeing any of Calgary, Boston, Nashville. Tampa or Winnipeg, getting into the first round. That leaves Pittsburgh and Vegas. I think Pittsburgh could try to dangle Kessel for a first rounder and more and GM Jim Rutherford is a classic wheeler-dealer. Vegas has plenty of draft assets and many a few extraneous parts on the NHL roster. I believe that GM George McPhee would like to continue to build a roster that could compete long term for the Cup and could see him poking around looking for an extra high end pick to add to their 2018 trio of Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki, and Erik Brannstrom.

Luke‏ @JCLCommodities

Is Veleno's lack of goals concerning and does he project to be a better winger in the nhl? 2) I really like both Farabee and Berggren. They both seem very similar in talent and projection. Why is farabee a top 15 pick conversation and Berggren not?

Ryan - McKeens: First thing’s first. Veleno is a center. And a good one, but more of a second line guy who would not be expected to carry the offense for long stretches. He needs to play with finishers, but I see him as one of the better true centers in this draft class, up there with Barrett Hayton and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

As for your Farabee/Berggren question, we like them both, but they are not similar players. Breggren is speed and puck skills. Farabee has high end hockey IQ. Both are a little on the smaller sided as well, but Farabee has two older brothers who are both rather large. He could have a few more inches in him. Farabee also has substantially more high level experience – and success at those high profile events as well. Farabee is safer in the sense that there is less question about whether he can reach his projections. That isn’t to say that Berggren can’t have the more successful career in the long run, but it’s harder to see at this stage.

Rose Ford‏ @RoseColoredFact

Between Bouchard, Dobson and Boqvist who has the highest ceiling?

McKeens: Boqvist. The young Swedish defender is absolutely electric, comparable in some ways to Quinn Hughes. Boqvist, who was only born in August of 2000 is also much younger than the other two you asked about, giving him more room for potential growth.

That said, he also has the lowest floor of the big five defensemen. He is very much a one way guy and needs to learn how to play away from the puck.

Max Domi Lover‏ @TwoSteamies

Let's say the Habs draft a D with the 3rd overall pick, which D should they take?

Ryan - McKeens: They should just trade down a few spots and take whichever of Hughes, Bouchard, Dobson, or Boqvist that is left on the board. Not coincidentally, that is the order we rank the group of post-Dahlin defensemen in this draft class.

Thank you all for your patronage and your questions. I hope all of your teams leave Dallas on Saturday happy with the talent they have added to their respective organizations. Except for the Stars. They should probably stay where they are.

World U18 Team Preview: Sweden

Jimmy Hamrin — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 16:00:55 +0000

As a big hockey country but a small country otherwise, Sweden rarely wins gold at junior level. This age group of 2000-borns has been strong, with many players doing well for themselves at elite senior level already. I haven’t done the math, but I can’t remember an age group with so many players already playing senior hockey at this age in Sweden. Eleven 2000-born players played most of their games at elite senior level (SHL or Allsvenskan) this season.

As a national team they won the U17 WHC and won bronze at the Hlinka tournament. Obviously, they will miss their best player in Rasmus Dahlin who also did not play at the Hlinka or this tournament last year either because he played with men’s national team. They will also miss some other key players like Rasmus Sandin (OHL-playoffs) and Filip Hallander (knee injury).

POPRAD, SLOVAKIA - APRIL 22: Sweden's Jacob Olofsson #27 lets a shot go during semifinal round action against the U.S. at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. (Photo by Steve Kingsman/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Absences notwithstanding, this is still a strong team with five returning players from last year’s tournament. The big center Jacob Olofsson impressed in that tournament, especially with his highlight goal versus Canada in the quarterfinal. Adam Boqvist showed his skills that put him in the top of many early draft rankings for this years. The other returnees are big defenseman Adam Ginning and the big centers David Gustafsson and Oskar Back.

What stands out with this year’s Swedish team is the skills on their core of defenseman and the size of the centers. Those assets in the team will make Sweden a hard team to beat. I believe that Sweden will have a good chance of achieving good results at this tournament and probably are the best European team on paper.

The weakness may be in goal, where Olof Lindbom have been the only goalie to continually count on over the three years of international hockey for this age group. His development has been injury prone but he has delivered for the national team. He will most likely be the starter in this tournament. The biggest goalie talent in the roster is the late 2002 born Jesper Wallstedt who has impressed at every level he has faced. This year will probably be more of a see-and-learn experience for him, but who knows?

SPISSKA NOVA VES, SLOVAKIA - APRIL 16: Pavel Azhgirei #23 of Belarus plays the puck while Sweden's Adam Boqvist #3 defends during preliminary round action at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. (Photo by Steve Kingsman/HHOF-IIHF Images)

The defensive core has good balance between offensive defensemen, two-way defensemen and defensive defensemen. The standouts in the categories are Boqvist and Nils Lundkvist (offensive), Filip Johansson (two-way) and Ginning (defensively).

This year’s group of forwards have a very strong core of big centremen (Olofsson, Gustafsson, Back and Marcus Westfalt). All four will probably not play center though as they all are good enough to be big contributers. The wingers are speedy and creative (standout: Jonatan Berggren) and with some good goal scorers (standout: Samuel Fagemo and Lucas Wernblom).

TOP 10 to watch:

10. Nils Hoglander FW
- A potential surprise player with his individual skills. He has great balance and puck skills. He struggles a bit with consistency and can also be a non-factor depending on which role he gets.

9. Adam Ginning D
- Big with reach and sound positioning. He needs to be effective defensively for this team to win in the big games. He has mobility and okay puck skills as well.

8. Olof Lindbom G
- Lindbom was the MVP of the J18 playoffs in Sweden but can he deliver in the big games at this stage? He is big and plays a tight game, not a spectacular goalie.

7. Marcus Westfalt C
- Big and smart. He plays responsibly and can deliver both offensively as defensively. He has been a regular for his SHL team a big portion of the season. He has developed his skating this season.

6. David Gustafsson C
- Hard working two-way player that is strong in both power play and PK. He is strong physically and is a dangerous player in front of the goal on the power play.

5. Filip Johansson D
- A very smart and mobile two-way player who is a good puck distributor. He plays well positionally and has good control of the puck. Has been a regular for Leksand in Allsvenskan.

4. Jacob Olofsson C
- Center playing both power play and penalty kill for the best team in Allsvenskan. Steps up in big situations and tries to create offense. Sometimes sloppy and needs to cover the puck better but a very interesting prospect and an important tournament for him.

3. Jonatan Berggren FW
- Speed, creativity and smooth hands. The smallish forward is a very strong junior player that has been a point producer at all junior levels this season. He is the best point producer for this national team and was the top scorer in SuperElit.

2. Nils Lundkvist D
- A very smart player with strong puck control and skills. Has been charming his way into the SHL where he has been able to be an effective puck-mover. He likes to join the attack but rarely gets caught on the wrong side of the puck.

1. Adam Boqvist D
- His lack of defensive awareness has been keeping him out of regular minutes at senior hockey. His puck skills are tremendous though and he absolutely dominates at junior level, both in the Hlnika tournament as well as in the SuperElit. Needs to perform well here to keep his status as a high first round pick. Nobody doubts the potential but how much of a long-term project will he be?

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

McKeen’s 2018 NHL Draft Ranking – April 2018 – Top 31

Ryan Wagman — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 14:24:28 +0000

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

Quinn Hughes. Photo Courtesy of Rena Laverty/USNTDP.

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

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

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

Here is our penultimate top 31 ranking for the 2018 NHL Draft. Our final rankings will release June 1st, 2018. For subscribers the full list of the top 125 plus other noteworthy draft eligibles 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.

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

Scouting the U-18 Five Nations Tournament, Plymouth, Michigan

Ryan Wagman — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 13:50:07 +0000

Five Nations USA 2018 Champions

I had the privilege last week to attend the final day of the Five Nations tournament located in Plymouth, Michigan, home of the USNTDP. The tournament, won by the host nation, featured national U18 teams from Sweden, Finland, Russia, and the Czech Republic, including the American side.

While this event does not have quite the scouting cache of the year-ending World U18 championships, or the season opening Ivan Hlinka, it does serve as a useful benchmark for some of the talent, and the arena was generally full of scouts and hockey executives, including more than a few General Managers.

Noting that many of the scouts in attendance were European ones, I got to thinking that the tournament was a good opportunity for those in attendance to cross check their viewings with those from their organizational compatriots scouting in different lands. A way for the Moscow-based scout to compare notes with his colleague from Prague, and Helsinki and Minneapolis. Helping them all to see how the talent they have been watching regularly all season stacks up against the talent in other nations, giving them a way of comparing draft boards before the big team meetings in the spring.

During intermissions, I made it a point to ask a few in attendance what benefit they saw from packing their bags to cross an ocean and spend a week in Michigan in February. One North American-based scout essentially supported my hypothesis, noting it as an opportunity to watch players that he was not able to see with any regularity while also comparing notes with others from his organization. Another scout basically shrugged at the question, grinned and noted that there was not that much point really. As travel from one European nation to another is not as difficult as it may sometime seem from North America, he had already seen many of the players live on trips to the other nations, but conceded that it was a good opportunity to talk to others from his organization with more time on their hands.

The most interesting feedback I received was from an NHL General Manager, who, after noting that his scouts had already done plenty of cross checking throughout the first two-thirds of the season, particularly for the higher-rated players, there was value in the international events in weeding through the second and third tier of draft eligible prospects to see which ones were worth using a middle or late-round pick on. Without revealing an identity, this GM presides over a notedly deep system, which allowed me to take his comment at face-value (you may be surprised to found out how little face value one should usually give to scouts and executives when it comes to amateur player valuations). This is a GM who has practiced what he was now preaching.

He emphasized his comment by noting that talent is not only available at the top of the draft and that plenty of high end NHL players come from the tail ends of the draft, long after the TV crews had vacated the premises. This all made sense. It is not hard to watch these games and see how a pair of likely top 10 picks like Andrei Svechnikov (Rus) and Oliver Wahlstrom (USA) tied for the tournament lead in scoring with eight points in four games each. Fellow likely first rounders Bode Wilde (USA) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Fin) also featured prominently in the scoring charts, as did the likely front-runner for the 2019 draft in American phenom Jack Hughes.

In that light, the best way to review this tournament is to look at each of the five teams and mention a few of the lesser heralded players who may have helped push their names into an area where they now look draft worthy.

Czech Republic

The Czechs managed to upset the Americans by a 5-2 score in front of their backup netminder, but were otherwise clearly outmanned over the remainder of the event, especially in a 9-2 drubbing at the hands of Russia. Their star of the Five Nations was clearly Matej Blumel, who regularly plays for Waterloo of the USHL. He was unstoppable in the US game, scoring an incredible four times. Not a one-hit wonder, he added three assists over the other three games. Considering that he has only 12 points in 39 USHL games, needless to say that this output was unexpected. Fellow USHL player Matej Pekar, who is producing in league play, was less impressive, with only two assists on the week.

While not as impactful as Blumel, forwards Adam Gajarsky and Michal Kvasnicka represented themselves ably. Although none of the Czech blueliners particularly helped their stock, it was interesting to see their second string goalie, Daniel Dvorak, stop 44 of 46 shots taken by the US, while the presumptive starter, Lukas Dostal had an .846 save percentage over the other three games.

Russia

Team Russia was expected to be led by their first line, starring Andrei Svechnikov, ranked third in the McKeens Midseason Draft list, and ably supported by Grigori Denisenko (ranked 15^th) and Alexander Khovanov (ranked 64^th). The first two obliged, with four and three goals, respectively, but Khovanov, still recovering from the illness which kept him off the ice for much of the first half of the season, could only contribute a pair of assists. His play at the WU18 will carry more weight for him than for most.

The player who did the most to boost his draft stock was defender Danila Zhuravlev. Forget for a moment the four points at the event. Zhuravlev was just as strong in his own zone. A very good skater with strong edges and plus transitional ability, he played with poise, patience and advanced positioning. Linemates Ivan Morozov and Kirill Marchenko both stood out as well. Morozov, the center, scored four times, on the back of an impressive puck game and a hard, accurate wrist shot. Marchenko has more pace to his game, but probably also more puck handling skill. His 12 shots on goal on the week were second only to Svechnikov on the team.

Finland

Although they beat both the Czech Republic and Sweden, Finland was toothless in the games against Russia and the US. Justus Annunen, one of the top ranked European goaltenders, was a disappointment with a .883 save percentage in three games. While he reads the puck handler well, the rest of his game was rather raw. Without Rasmus Kupari on the roster, the star was expected to be Jesperi Kotkaniemi (ranked 21^st) and he tied for the team lead with four points. USHL sniper Sampo Ranta (ranked 50^th) was expected to supplement with Finnish attack, but despite being one of the team leaders in shots, he managed only two assists, although showed that he could be used to kill penalties.

One of the pleasant surprises for the Finns was left winger Niklas Nordgren (ranked 49^th), who barely qualifies as a surprise. A very good skater with plus skills, he is undersized but his playmaker game does not rely on physicality. Lenni Killinen (ranked 80^th) did not have any one carrying trait, but showed a little bit of everything. He plays with promising pace, sees the ice well and makes generally good decision. Another player who stood out was Ville Petman, whose younger brother Mikko will be one to watch next year. The elder Petman played a persistent game with good hands and skating that suggest a future bottom six two way forward. Linemate Arttu Nevasaari was similarly trustworthy in all situations, with maybe a touch more offensive upside than Petman.

Sweden

This year’s Swedish crop is deep and wide. Two of the three Swedish based Swedish nations in McKeens top 31 (Adam Boqvist – 5^th, and Jacob Olofsson – 24^th were in attendance. While neither dominated in Plymouth, both flashed their high end potential. Boqvist is an elite skater with a very mature game and high end puckhandling ability, while Olofsson is a prototype middle six, 200 foot forward. Swedish netminding was a bit hit and miss, with both Olof Lindblom and Jesper Eliasson, who split the tournament evenly, showing flashes of potential, even as their numbers underwhelmed.

The Swedish player who likely did the most to help his draft stock was right winger Jonathan Berggren (ranked 52^nd), who showed plus skating, along with fine puck skills and advanced hockey IQ. He is the type of player who can amass an impressive highlight reel clip. Undersized left winger Lukas Wernblom showed both creativity and responsibility. Blueliner Adam Ginning (ranked 42^nd) has a solid point shot and has a good stick game, making him tough to attack against. Adding to a solid blueline crew Nils Lundqvist and Filip Johnasson (ranked 66^th). Johansson was the stronger skater of the two, while Lundqvist experienced more success on the scoresheet and plays a more physical brand of hockey.

USA

The host American squad has as many as five first rounders, incuding the aforementioned Wahlstrom (ranked 6^th), Joel Farabee (12^th), Bode Wilde (13^th), K’Andre Miller (16^th) and Matthias Samuelsson (29^th). In all honestly, coming into this tournament, there were only one or two skaters who I did not think were worth at least a late-round draft pick. The goaltending is another matter, as Jonathan Mor has trouble stopping pucks while Drew DeRidder is very small and does not stop enough pucks to help me overlook that.

Among skaters who stood out aside from the Fab Five, Jake Wise (ranked 75^th) had a strong tournament, continuing a comeback from a lot of missed time over the first half. He is a gifted puckhandler who excels at setting up teammates. Tyler Weiss (Honorable Mention) also showed that he was a cut above in most aspect, getting to top speed very quickly, and showcasing some offensive dynamism. Although very small, he is willing to take a hit to make a play. Jacob Pivonka also showed more skating ability and physicality than I had previously seen from him. Patrick Giles (74^th) continued to show very good skating for a big man, able to create chances regularly, but lacks the creativity or puck skills to finish too many of them.

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