Martin Misiak – McKeen's Hockey

MCKEEN’S 2024 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP GUIDE – Team Slovakia

Matej Deraj — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 16:26:27 +0000

Slovakia is possibly sending its best-ever World Juniors squad to Sweden. A total of eleven drafted players, highlighted by three first-round picks and four second-rounders, are surely going to do some damage and upset bigger teams. However, the absence of both Juraj Slafkovský and Šimon Nemec will hurt the team's chances to medal, but the Slovaks are definitely the dark horse of this tournament.

Slovakia is bringing fifteen players with previous WJC experience, including last year's Best Goaltender, Adam Gajan, who will be relied on heavily again. The highest-drafted goalie of the 2023 NHL Draft needs to be in the same form as his last World Juniors should Slovakia go past the quarterfinals.

Slovakia’s main weapon is on offense – Slovakia has nine drafted forwards selected in the last two drafts, including Dalibor Dvorský (#10 in 2023), Sam Honzek (#16, 2023), Filip Mešár (#26, 2022), Martin Mišiak (#55, 2023), or Adam Sýkora (#63, 2022). The unusual presence of star players and solid depth should help Slovakia score a lot of goals.

However, the defence is going to miss Šimon Nemec terribly. The Devils' young star was supposed to be the 1D, able to play tough minutes against all opponents and lead the first power-play unit. All of these roles should belong to Maxim Štrbák now, the Sabres' second-round pick (#45) in the last NHL Draft. Štrbák is probably the only standout defenseman on the Slovak blue line, except for, maybe,16-year-old Luka Radivojevič, who is going to turn some heads in the tournament. His role should be limited, but don't be surprised if he hops onto the second power-play unit. The 2025 eligible is a smart and extremely skilled offensive D-man but needs to polish his defensive game and overall strength.

The Slovaks open up the tournament on December 26th in a heated match versus their biggest rival, Czechia. The winner should have a strong chance to clinch the 2nd spot in Group B. Slovaks continue the round-robin stage with games against Switzerland (Dec 27), Norway (Dec 29), and the USA (Dec 31). An interesting fun fact is they play every group stage game at noon.

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK - DECEMBER 30: Dalibor Dvorsky #15 of Slovakia battles for position against Dans Locmelis #11 of Latvia in Preliminary Round - Group B action at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship at Avenir Centre on December 30, 2022 in Moncton, New Brunswick. (Photo by Chris Tanouye/IIHF)

10 to Watch plus a Sleeper

Filip Mešár, RW/C

After a mediocre D+1 season in the OHL, Mešár was already labelled as a bust by many impatient Canadiens fans. However, the 2022 first-round pick is having a fantastic D+2 season so far with 32 points (13 goals + 19 assists) in 20 matches with the Kitchener Rangers. Mešár is a quick and agile forward able to play both RW and C. He's smart, speedy, and has a sneaky good shot. The expected leader of the Slovak offense should be the biggest star and the team's best forward. Mešár led Slovakia in scoring at the last tournament with six points (2+4) and is expected to repeat in Sweden too.

Dalibor Dvorský, C

Dvorský had a tough start to the season in Sweden. He began the year with IK Oskarshamn in the highest division (SHL) but failed to score a point in ten matches and was quickly demoted to the 13th forward. The St. Louis Blues intervened and sent their most promising prospect to North America. Dvorský is currently tearing up the OHL with 34 points in 20 games. He has a lethal shot and continues to trouble goalies with it, scoring 18 goals so far. His goal per game ratio is the second highest in the OHL, trailing only Carson Rehkopf. Dvorský is another brilliant offensive weapon Team Slovakia has.

Adam Gajan, G

One of the best stories of the last World Juniors, Gajan wasn't initially invited to Team Slovakia's squad. Still, he later ended up on the roster as a last-minute call and the No. 3 goalie. However, the tournament went extremely well for him, and Gajan ended up taking the Best Goaltender award. He was the main reason Slovakia almost upset the gold-winning Canadian squad in the quarterfinals. Slovaks hope Gajan will be able to replicate last year's performance. If the Blackhawks prospect is in top form, it's quite likely Slovakia won't see another quarterfinals exit. His saves will be extremely important for the offensively minded team with a somewhat average defence.

Sam Honzek, LW/C

Honzek missed a significant part of the current season, having played only five games before the tournament. Moreover, the Flames prospect suffered a significant injury at the last World Juniors too, so he's looking for a rebound tournament this year. Honzek has a big body (6´4”) and plays the game with a ton of skill; he's very mobile for a player of his size and has soft hands. The first European captain of the Vancouver Giants in history also possesses decent leadership qualities. He's yet to score a point in his World Juniors career and should be very motivated to show his top performance.

Maxim Štrbák, D

The expected absence of Šimon Nemec means that Maxim Štrbák will have a lot of responsibility as the projected 1D for Slovakia. However, he is no stranger to that role – he led Team Slovakia as captain at the last U18 World Junior Championships and handled it pretty well. The Sabres prospect is a well-rounded, two-way defenseman who is able to play on both special teams and should run the first power-play unit. He plays hard, enjoys the physical aspect of the game, and makes opponents' forwards' lives miserable. Nevertheless, it will be a big test for him and the whole Slovak defence to see how they can keep up with top young offensive prospects.

Adam Sýkora, LW/RW

An energetic, agile forward whose engine never stops running, Adam Sýkora is a unique young forward, mainly due to his approach to the game. He loves blocking shots, throwing hits, and sacrificing his body for the team in general. His positive attitude makes him a great locker room presence. It'd be foolish to expect huge point production from Sýkora, who's more of a bottom-six forward than an offensive dynamo, but he's had a good recent streak in the AHL, scoring nine points in ten games. The Rangers prospect is having a solid rookie season in the A, and the call-up to the first team might come sooner than expected.

Martin Mišiak, W/C

Another Blackhawks second-rounder on the team, Mišiak is a confident and skilled forward who´s able to play all three positions. Mišiak has grown into an effective two-way player; he uses his size (6´2”) well, finishes his checks, and displays solid offensive skills. After a one-and-a-half-season in the Slovak top-tier league, Mišiak went to the USHL and contributed to the Youngstown Phantoms' title. This year, he's playing in the OHL with the Erie Otters, who selected him 1st overall in the 2023 CHL Import Draft. Mišiak should provide solid second-wave scoring for Team Slovakia. He's going to play in his third World Juniors.

Alex Čiernik, LW/RW

The expectations were higher for Alex Čiernik at his last World Juniors tournament, so the Flyers prospect is also looking for a bounce back this year. However, Čiernik suffered a concussion three weeks before the tournament, so don't be surprised if he isn't in top form. Either way, the skilled and nifty forward should help Slovakia with his offensive instincts and years-built chemistry with Dalibor Dvorský. Čiernik is mainly an offensively-minded undersized forward, who has a solid shot and provides great value on the power-play. He certainly doesn't love the physical game, and his form is questionable after the concussion, but the young Flyer will do anything to help his team win.

Juraj Pekarčík, LW/RW

The Blues' third-round pick in the last NHL Draft (#76) would have been a star on most Slovak U20 teams, but the current offensive strength might send him to a bottom-six role. Pekarčík was a player I'd been high on for his whole draft year, and he stood up to everyone at the U18 WJC. He's a big (6´2”), strong winger with solid speed and great playmaking abilities. He left for the WJC camp with a 10-game active point streak in the USHL and led the league in both PPG (1.5) and assists (22). The Blues might have found a true gem in Pekarčík.

Servác Petrovský, C/LW

Another drafted forward who should provide Slovakia with offensive qualities, Petrovský has already played at three different World Juniors (including one cancelled tournament) and is one of the most experienced Slovak players on this team. He's a versatile, two-way forward with an above-average shot who has a bit of an edge to his game. The Wild prospect will be important on both special teams. He´s been criticized in the past for not capitalizing on his scoring opportunities in the U20 National Team, so a revenge tour for Petrovský definitely wouldn't hurt Slovak chances to meet their higher expectations this year.

Sleeper: Peter Repčík, C

The only undrafted player who´s been able to get a top-nine role on this Slovak team. Peter Repčík has always played well in the National Team, and the expectations are quite high for the 19-year-old forward, who scored six points at the last tournament. However, he's flying under the radar for people outside of Slovakia since he hasn't been drafted and never been a true NHL prospect. On the other hand, another great tournament from him might change that. The expected 1C center is a feisty, two-way player who might play a much bigger role than more shiny names in the end. He´s been on a nine games point streak in the QMJHL and his game should translate well to a bigger stage.

2023 NHL DRAFT: A Review

Chase Rochon — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 14:10:53 +0000

Another long year of amazing hockey has come and passed as we oficially end the 2023 scouting season and shift from the star-studded offensive draft class to the defensive-heavy 2024 NHL draft. This year's class was super fun and had the potential to bring the big stars and deep depth that we saw in the 2015 draft. This makes it very difficult to rank the winners and losers as every team acquired some very talented athletes in their organization that should make an impact for many years to come. Some teams acquired some elite star players at draft positions they didn't think would be possible at lower picks and later rounds. Those picks make the difference between good and great drafting by ﬁnding those diamonds in the rough.

NHL hockey operations departments are made up of the best of the best in the industry and have been through more drafts and different case studies over more years than I have been alive, which creates some hesitation in handing out grades for teams that we felt drafted poorly or passed on talent or upside. It is important to remember that teams take into consideration so many intangibles and factors outside any eye test or analytics can tell us. They have considerable resources and information networks public scouting teams can only dream of.

Most importantly, people need to remember these young athletes are human beings that just had the best week of their lives and treating them disrespectfully and pre-judging a young man that has yet to fully develop mentally and physically is completely unfair. I think every fan base should be showing love and support for the future players that are going to put in blood sweat and tears for the team you cheer for and go to war against the opposition.

With all that in mind, here is how I think all 32 teams performed at the 2023 NHL Draft based on my own rankings as well as the wonderful team at McKeen’s that I have the pleasure working alongside.

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA - DECEMBER 29: Canada's Connor Bedard #16 backhands the puck while Austria's Tim Geifes #21 defends during Preliminary Round - Group A action at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship at Scotiabank Centre on December 29, 2022 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Photo by Matt Zambonin/IIHF)

#1 Chicago Blackhawks (A+)

1 Connor Bedard (F)

19 Oliver Moore (F)

35 Adam Gajan (G)

44 Roman Kantserov (F)

55 Martin Misiak (F)

67 Nick Lardis (F)

93 Jiri Felcman (F)

99 Alex Pharand (F)

131 Marcel Marcel (F)

167 Milton Oscarson (F)

195 Janne Peltonen (D)

It feels very ﬁtting that the number one ranked team had the number one pick this year in the generational talent of Connor Bedard, who is expected to make an immediate impact. Kyle Davidson clearly agrees by bringing in some veteran support this summer in Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno and Corey Perry. This pick was obvious. What makes the Blackhawks stand out is what might be my favourite selection of the entire draft in Oliver Moore at 19th overall, where I, alongside Davidson, was in shock this player was still on the board—followed by selecting one of if not one of the best goaltenders in Adam Gajan. We absolutely loved Nick Lardis at McKeens, and we ﬁnd this to be amazing value in the early third round. Roman Kantserov, Martin Misiak, Alex Pharand and Marcel Marcel are other great pickups to round out the real depth of this draft class for the Blackhawks as they build the next generation in Chicago.

#2 Columbus Blue Jackets (A)

3 Adam Fantilli (F)

34 Gavin Brindley (F)

66 William Whitelaw (F)

98 Andrew Strathmann (D)

114 Luca Pinelli (F)

156 Melvin Strahl (G)

194 Oiva Keskinen (F)

224 Tyler Peddle (F)

The Blue Jackets' dreams came true when Adam Fantilli was still waiting for them at third overall, as the rookie Hobey Baker winner would have been selected ﬁrst overall in any other draft. Followed up by his Michigan teammate Gavin Brindley who we at McKeens had ranked #26. William Whitelaw ranked at #39 by McKeen’s, and Andrew Strathmann, ranked #39 by me, are amazing values. I really like Luca Pinelli at #114 and thought it was a great move to trade for the last pick in the draft and select Tyler Peddle, who was in attendance and should have been selected much higher. This will be the draft that could really put the Blue Jackets over the top to be a future contender in the Metro.

#3 Philadelphia Flyers (A)

7 Matvei Michkov (F)

22 Oliver Bonk (D)

51 Carson Bjarnason (G)

87 Yegor Zavragin (G)

95 Denver Barkey (F)

103 Cole Knuble (F)

120 Alex Ciernik (F)

135 Carter Sotheran (D)

172 Ryan MacPherson (F)

199 Matteo Mann (D)

The Flyers got a player with arguably the highest upside in the class in 7th overall in Matvei Michkov alone, which is enough to rank them this high. Aside from whether there is any truth to rumours that he somehow orchestrated his way to Philadelphia, he was genuinely excited to be drafted by the organization. The possibility that he will be coming to play in North America perhaps sooner rather than later could completely alter the landscape of the rebuild for GM Daniel Briere. They followed up by selecting Oliver Bonk, who our Ontario scouts adore at McKeens, including myself. Bonk will continue to develop in London. The Carson Bjarnson pick could age very well as a good young goaltender with a long road of development ahead. Denver Barkey and Alex Cienik are great value picks at 95th and 120th.

#4 Seattle Kraken (A-)

20 Eduard Sale (F)

50 Carson Rehkopf (F)

52 Oscar Fisker Mølgaard (F)

57 Lukas Dragicevic (D)

84 Caden Price (D)

116 Andrei Loshko (F)

148 Kaden Hammell (D)

168 Visa Vedenpää (G)

180 Zeb Forsfjäll (F)

212 Zaccharya Wisdom (F)

Seattle has been consistently one of the better drafting teams since they entered the league, and they continued that streak in Nashville. Eduard Sale is very much a gamble with questions about his compete lvel and lack of production against pros. However, he possesses elite ﬁnishing ability and was dominant against players his own age. He has a very high ceiling that I believe can be developed properly in the OHL, followed by the development team in Seattle. At the end of the day, with such a great prospect pool, you can take a swing for upside at #20 overall and can add a true top-line ﬁnisher for Shane Wright or Matty Beniers. The Kraken continues to favour the CHL and loaded up with more players in Carson Rehkopf, Lukas Dragicevic and Caden Price in the late second round. They had all been viewed as late ﬁrst/early second round talents. Oscar Fisker Mølgaard has the potential to bring some real energy to the bottom six and PK and become a really good role player for the team. I had him ranked at #30th betting on his high motor and relentless pressure with some ﬁnishing ability.

#5 Carolina Hurricanes (A-)

30 Bradly Nadeau (F)

62 Felix Unger Sörum (F)

94 Jayden Perron (F)

100 Alexander Rykov (F)

126 Stanislav Yarovoy (F)

139 Charles-Alexis Legault (D)

158 Ruslan Khazheyev (G)

163 Timur Mukhanov (F)

190 Michael Emerson (F)

222 Yegor Velmakin (G)

Bradley Nadeau was the highest player selected from the BCHL after having a monster year. He was ranked #27 by McKeens, which makes for a good pick late in the ﬁrst. Where Carolina impressed us was how well they drafted in the later rounds picking up some of the biggest steals of the draft in Jayden Perron who we ranked 34th and Timur Mukhanov ranked 98th. As they typically do, Carolina drafted great to add to the loaded prospect pool.

#6 Buffalo Sabres (A-)

13 Zach Benson (F)

39 Anton Wahlberg (F)

45 Maxim Strbak (D)

86 Gavin McCarthy (D)

109 Ethan Miedema (F)

141 Scott Ratzlaff (G)

173 Sean Keohane (D)

205 Norwin Panocha (D)

Draft after draft Buffalo ﬁnds themselves selecting some great players but I think Zach Benson could be the final elite piece they need to take them back to the playoffs and end the long drought. Benson is the smartest player in the draft after Connor Bedard. They followed up with good picks in Anton Wahlberg and Maxim Strbak. I really like the value of Ethan Miedema and Scott Ratzlaff in rounds 4 and 5.

#7 St. Louis Blues (B+)

10 Dalibor Dvorský (F)

25 Otto Stenberg (F)

29 Theo Lindstein (D)

74 Quinton Burns (D)

76 Juraj Pekarcik (F)

106 Jakub Stancl (F)

138 Paul Fischer (D)

170 Matthew Mayich (D)

202 Nikita Susuyev (F)

Dalibor Dvorský and Otto Stenberg could be an amazing one-two punch down the middle in the near future as the Blues shift towards the future and away from the team that won them the 2019 Stanley Cup. I think Dvorsky and Stenberg both have been underrated as they tend to be looked at as “safe picks” - a term that I sometimes hate because it shouldn’t discount the true skill these players have. Because they are viewed as having lower ceilings than some other top names in the class they fell at the draft, and St. Louis took full advantage and selected the best player available. The rest of the Blues draft was very average, not making any poor selections but also not taking any swings on some big names with upside.

#8 Washington Capitals (B+)

8 Ryan Leonard (F)

40 Andrew Cristall (F)

104 Patrick Thomas (F)

136 Cameron Allen (D)

200 Brett Hyland (F)

206 Antoine Keller (G)

The Capitals may not have had the luck they had hoped for in having Michkov fall to them, but they were very quick to the podium to select the NTDP gritty winger in Ryan Leonard. He brings a hard game and that’s no slight on the raw skill this kid has. After this year’s playoffs, NHL teams are looking to mold their roster after the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights and Leonard ﬁts that profile. Many, including myself, expected Andrew Cristall to fall on draft day but to 40th overall was quite surprising and Washington took full advantage, taking some risk on a junior perimeter player. Going into the draft year we expected Cameron Allen to be the ﬁrst OHL player off the board, but after a brutal season his stock plummeted. It’s hard to believe this talented young player entirely forgot how to play hockey and I think the Caps were willing to take this bet at 136.

#9 Colorado Avalanche (B)

27 Calum Ritchie (F)

31 Mikhail Gulyayev (D)

155 Nikita Ishimnikov (D)

187 Jeremy Hanzel (D)

219 Maros Jedlicka (F)

The Avalanche wouldn’t have expected to select Calum Ritchie and Mikhail Gulyayev with these very late ﬁrst rounders who we ranked 19th and 24th. This is great value at these picks. I ﬁnd it very interesting that they went with a very smart player who has a low ceiling and a high ﬂoor in Ritchie but then took a bit of a gamble on Gulyayev who is the polar opposite with a high ceiling and low ﬂoor. Not having many picks, and not many high ones, they can consider it a win if Colorado can get a couple NHLers from such minimal selections.

#10 Los Angeles Kings (B)

54 Jakub Dvorak (D)

78 Koehn Ziemmer (F)

118 Hampton Slukynsky (G)

150 Matthew Mania (D)

182 Ryan Conmy (F)

Jakub Dvorak has been such an underrated player all season long because he hasn’t been playing due to injury and is not flashy and doesn’t have much of a highlight reel but he might be the best defensive defenseman to come from this draft class. Big frame players like Dvorak are rare and hard to ﬁnd and are typically viewed as underrated even in the NHL because they are never noticeable with the puck. Dvorak shut down all the top players in the U.S. NTDP top line, Dvorsky, Michkov and even Connor Bedard at international competitions. He makes life so hard for attackers and will be a nightmare for goal scorers in the NHL and people will wonder how he was selected so late. The Kings followed this up with good picks in Koehn Ziemmer and Matthew Mania.

#11 Florida Panthers (B)

63 Gracyn Sawchyn (F)

127 Albert Wikman (D)

159 Olof Glifford (G)

191 Luke Coughlin (D)

198 Stepan Zvyagin (F)

Florida was another team that capitalized on an underrated player who slid on draft day in Gracyn Sawchyn. He played on a star-studded Seattle Thunderbirds team and didn’t get the opportunity to play top minutes but that didn’t stop him from putting up over a point per game. He will continue to grow under a great development program as he gains more ice time and expect him to put up monster numbers in the WHL for the next two seasons.

#12 Dallas Stars (C+)

61 Tristan Bertucci (D)

79 Brad Gardiner (F)

125 Aram Minnetian (D)

157 Arno Tiefensee (G)

189 Angus MacDonell (F)

221 Sebastian Bradshaw (F)

Dallas had very minimal draft capital and made the absolute most of it to no one's surprise as they usually do. Amazing value in Tristan Bertucci and Aram Minnetian.

#13 Vegas Golden Knights (B-)

32 David Edstrom (F)

77 Mathieu Cataford (F)

96 Arttu Kärki (D)

192 Tuomas Uronen (F)

Vegas selecting David Edstrom almost felt destined to happen as the last pick of the first round as we expected him to be selected in the ﬁrst round. Great pick for the Stanley Cup winners. Arttu Karki was also my favorite Finnish defense this year and I think 96 is excellent value for a player of his skill.

#14 San Jose Sharks (B-)

4 Will Smith (F)

26 Quentin Musty (F)

36 Kasper Halttunen (F)

71 Brandon Svoboda (F)

123 Luca Cagnoni (D)

130 Axel Landén (D)

132 Eric Pohlkamp (D)

196 David Klee (F)

203 Yegor Rimashevsky (F)

The Sharks drafted the highly skilled forward Will Smith very high, and I know he has gained some real hype over the past few months to get into the top 5 but personally having him just outside the top 10 makes it very hard to justify so much talent and other options at pick 4. This is a take that really could come back to bite me but I just don't love what Smith and Musty bring to the table outside of the high offensive skill that they clearly both have. In terms of value picks I think Halttunen is the Sharks best pick. If he played in London last season, he would have been called on day one of the draft and still has the opportunity to come over next season and be one of the best players in the league right away. The Sharks drafted very well but 13 other teams just did better.

#15 Calgary Flames (B-)

16 Samuel Honzek (F)

48 Étienne Morin (D)

80 Aydar Suniev (F)

112 Jaden Lipinski (F)

176 Yegor Yegorov (G)

208 Axel Hurtig (D)

The Flames had a solid draft and got a player we can expect the be a safe NHLer in Samuel Honzek that was expected in this range. I think Etienne Mornin could be the steal for them. This is a player that is extremely intelligent, and I personally have a lot of faith will continue to have success in his own development each season and could be viewed as a late ﬁrst rounder in the near future. Aydar Suniev at 80th overall is also great value.

#16 Montréal Canadiens (B-)

5 David Reinbacher (D)

69 Jacob Fowler (G)

101 Florian Xhekaj (F)

110 Bogdan Konyushkov (D)

128 Quentin Miller (G)

133 Sam Harris (F)

144 Yevgeni Volokhin (G)

165 Filip Eriksson (F)

197 Luke Mittelstadt (D)

Montréal might be the most talked about team post draft for all the wrong reasons so being dead in the middle at 16 may come as a surprise to most. The dislike for me comes from picks 101-197 where they took seven guys they could have gotten in rounds 6 or 7, and unfortunately some of those picks were in rounds 4 and 5. Jacob Fowler is a good goalie that could be huge for them, with the organization having such little depth in that department. Now Reinbacher who is the talk of Twitter and unfortunately for terrible reasons. The only argument I can understand against him is that Michkov should have been the pick, but there were many question marks surrounding the Russian and his intentions, leaving the Habs in a situation with lots of uncertainty at pick #5. So, they understandably took a player with a lot of certainty in elite defenseman David Reinbacher. He has been the only player under 18 shutting down grown professional athletes and ex-NHLers for two years. If that's not impressive enough he didn't just defend, he also produced higher than anyone in their DY-2 and DY-1 ever.

David has a good head on his shoulders and will develop all the necessary skills to round out his game to become a high-end defenseman who will eat lots of minutes and make a huge impact. He may not put up great offensive numbers or make highlight reel plays. That's ok, he plays defense for a reason. Leave that for the loads of talented players you already have and let Reinbacher make the other team's life a living hell and win hockey games, because that's what it's all about.

#17 Arizona Coyotes (B-)

6 Dmitri Simashev (D)

12 Daniil But (F)

38 Michael Hrabal (G)

70 Jonathan Castagna (F)

72 Noel Nordh (F)

81 Tanner Ludtke (F)

88 Vadim Moroz (F)

102 Terrell Goldsmith (D)

134 Melker Thelin (G)

160 Justin Kipkie (D)

162 Samu Bau (F)

166 Carsen Musser (G)

Arizona may have not drafted our best player available in their slots, but they took an interesting strategy to this year's draft that might have been the best option based on the current state of the team. Dmitri Simashev was our number one ranked defenseman in the class while Danill But has displayed shades of Evgeni Malkin at times. Both played on the same team this past season. This put Arizona in a safer situation to swing on upside and internally develop them together and could very well be a big payoff. Hrabal is the pick that gives some extra value as my personal favorite goaltender in the class. Drafting all players over 6'0" is another interesting strategy that is hard to disagree with. Middle of the pack supports my mixed feelings on the drafting of the Coyotes.

#18 Winnipeg Jets (C)

18 Colby Barlow (F)

82 Zachary Nehring (F)

146 Jacob Julien (F)

151 Thomas Milic (G)

210 Connor Levis (F)

Winnipeg is facing a lot of potential turnover on their roster this season. Colby Barlow makes an excellent pick for the Jets, bringing in a character Canadian guy, on and off the ice, as a key piece to build upon. You can expect Barlow to score lots of goals in the near future. The rest of the picks are very average, so they receive an average grade.

#19 New York Rangers (C)

23 Gabe Perreault (F)

90 Drew Fortescue (D)

152 Rasmus Larsson (D)

178 Dylan Roobroeck (F)

183 Ty Henricks (F)

Gabe Perreault was good value at 23rd as I thought his production this season would lead to him going much higher than he should have and I think this was a good range for him. A smart player who can be a great complement to some high-end skill just like he did with the NTDP. The rest of the picks were not very average.

#20 Detroit Red Wings (C)

9 Nate Danielson (F)

17 Axel Sandin Pellikka (D)

41 Trey Augustine (G)

42 Andrew Gibson (D)

47 Brady Cleveland (D)

73 Noah Dower Nilsson (F)

117 Larry Keenan (D)

137 Jack Phelan (D)

147 Kevin Bicker (F)

169 Rudy Guimond (G)

201 Emmitt Finnie (F)

Detroit's draft was very interesting to me because I find it hard to criticize Steve Yzerman’s picks which have been excellent in the past with some home runs to show for it. Nate Danielson and Axel-Sandin Pellika are great players who will be NHLers and good ones. They just didn't strike me as the types of players Detroit has recently drafted with some hard nose battlers that are going to be warriors. I think it might take a while for either to become impact playoff players relative to some of the skill still left on the board, such as Oliver Moore at pick #9 and still available at #17. They pass with a C as most other picks were good, but just that they were good and not great, where teams ahead of them made some great picks.

#21 Edmonton Oilers (C)

56 Beau Akey (D)

184 Nathaniel Day (G)

216 Matt Copponi (F)

Beau Akey is a good pick that has a good path in front of him to reﬁne his offensive talents and become a threat from the point for the Colts over the next couple of seasons and get a real chance to make the Oilers. Hard to judge a team with such little options at the draft.

Leo Carlsson of Sweden at a practice session during the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on May 25, 2023 in Riga.
Photo: Joel Marklund / BILDBYRÅN /

#22 Anaheim Ducks (C-)

2 Leo Carlsson (F)

33 Nico Myatovic (F)

59 Carey Terrance (F)

60 Damian Clara (G)

65 Coulson Pitre (F)

85 Yegor Sidorov (F)

97 Konnor Smith (D)

129 Rodwin Dionicio (D)

161 Vojtech Port (D)

I think passing on Fantilli will be something that will haunt Anaheim for a long time and really hurts their grade even though they are getting a great talent in Leo Carlsson. Unfortunately, I have a hard time seeing Carlsson being the 2nd best player that comes from this class and when they are a top team in the league soon this selection might be the difference between a contender and a champion. Other than that, Myatovic, Terrance and Pitre are solid picks.

#23 Vancouver Canucks (D+)

11 Tom Willander (D)

75 Hunter Brzustewicz (C-)

89 Sawyer Mynio (D)

105 Ty Mueller (F)

107 Vilmer Alriksson (F)

119 Matthew Perkins (F)

171 Aiden Celebrini (D)

Willander was ranked 23rd by us at McKeens and is a great defenseman who happens to be in a star studded offensive heavy draft. I think the Canuks were guilty of drafting for need rather than best player available and that affected the grade. Other than that, there isn’t too much to like in the class other than Hunter Brzustewicz at 75 was a great selection.

#24 Nashville Predators (C-)

15 Matthew Wood (F)

24 Tanner Molendyk (D)

43 Felix Nilsson (F)

46 Kalan Lind (F)

68 Jesse Kiiskinen (F)

83 Dylan MacKinnon (D)

111 Joseph Willis (F)

121 Juha Jatkola (G)

143 Sutter Muzzatti (F)

175 Austin Roest

218 Aiden Fink

Nashville was the host of this year’s draft and advised by new GM Barry Trotz in an interview to take some swings on high upside to add some high-end skill to the prospect pool. Well, they just didn’t do any of that and delivered a mediocre draft outside of top prospect Matthew Wood. What makes their draft so disappointing is that after 10 consecutive picks, the next best value pick was David Poiles last pick in Aiden Fink in the 7th round. Expectations were high and far from reached.

#25 Tampa Bay Lightning (D)

37 Ethan Gauthier (F)

115 Jayson Shaugabay (F)

179 Warren Clark (D)

193 Jack Harvey (F)

211 Ethan Hay (F)

Tampa will ﬁnd a way to develop these players, especially Ethan Gauthier, because that’s what they do best within their system. I just believe they could have done it with the better options available and left talent on the table with every pick.

#26 New Jersey Devils (D+)

58 Lenni Hämeenaho (F)

122 Cam Squires (F)

154 Chase Cheslock (D)

164 Cole Brown (F)

186 Daniil Karpovich (D)

New Jersey was very inactive and didn’t take many swings this year and they are in a situation where they didn’t need to. Lenni Hameenaho was ranked 84 for us at McKeens and was a bit of a reach.

#27 Ottawa Senators (D)

108 Hoyt Stanley (D)

140 Matthew Andonovski (D)

204 Owen Beckner (F)

207 Vladimir Nikitin (G)

215 Nicholas VanTassell (F)

Ottawa did not have many picks and none very high. Hoyt Stanley is the only pick which has had some hype going into the draft and been noticeable this season. I wouldn’t expect anyone from the class to make the roster.

#28 Pittsburgh Penguins (D-)

14 Brayden Yager (F)

91 Emil Pieniniemi (D)

142 Mikhail Ye. Ilyin (F)

174 Cooper Foster (F)

217 Emil Järventie (F)

223 Kalle Kangas (D)

Another situation where good players were selected but when I look at this class, and Emil Jarventie is the best value pick in the 7th round, that is an issue for me. Yes, Brayden Yager is an excellent player with a deadly shot and a good head on his shoulders. It’s hard to give high grades when top 5-10 talents were still available where he was picked. This strikes me as more of a situation where the Penguins scouting staff were left to make the pick, more so than Dubas, and they went with the guy they targetted going into the draft rather than the best player available.

#29 Toronto Maple Leafs (D-)

28 Easton Cowan (F)

153 Hudson Malinoski (F)

185 Noah Chadwick (D)

The Easton Cowan pick is very difficult to grade because it really could go both ways. I understand the pick because you’re getting, debatably, the hardest working player in the class whose development is skyrocketing at a high pace under the teachings of the Hunters in London. You can expect this growth to continue over the next couple seasons. It woudl appear the Leafs aren’t selecting the 28th best player currently and are banking on Cowan being a ﬁrst round talent in 3-5 years, an approach I agree with. The issue I have with this pick is I really think you could have selected him later, and possibly much later. The 2nd round Is still a reach but at least you’re not leaving talent on the table in this deep draft and getting the maximum value out of each pick. I just think this was some poor asset management and the Leafs just focused on getting their guy. Time will be the true indicator.

#30 New York Islanders (D)

49 Danny Nelson (F)

113 Jesse Nurmi (F)

145 Justin Gill (F)

177 Zach Schulz (D)

209 Dennis Good Bogg (D)

Islanders drafted some good leadership in a pair of Captains in Danny Nelson and Zach Shulz. When that is the best thing to be said about the selections that is an issue.

#31 Boston Bruins (F+)

92 Christopher Pelosi (F)

124 Beckett Hendrickson (F)

188 Ryan Walsh (F)

214 Casper Nässén (F)

220 Kristian Kostadinski (D)

Beckett Hendrickson is the only reason they aren’t ranked 32nd.

#32 Minnesota Wild (F)

21 Charlie Stramel (F)

53 Rasmus Kumpulainen (F)

64 Riley Heidt (F)

149 Aaron Pionk (D)

181 Kalem Parker (D)

213 Jimmy Clark (F)

The Wild are the only team that gets an F grade. It’s not because I don't like the players in Charlie Stramel and Rasmus Kumpulainen because they are prospects I had on my personal board, but it’s very hard to justify these picks with the options still available on the board at the time of the picks. These are just too far off the board to not trade back and still get the player you want. We at McKeens ranked both these players as 3rd round talents.

MCKEEN’S 2023 NHL DRAFT GUIDE – Two Round Mock Draft

Brock Otten — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 22:05:22 +0000

First Round

1 - Chicago Blackhawks - Connor Bedard (Regina, WHL)

Regardless of whether you believe that the Hawks deserved to win the first overall selection…it did happen. And the timing for the Chicago organization couldn’t have been better as they transition from the Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews era to the Connor Bedard era. This is a game changer that should accelerate the Blackhawk’s rebuild.

2 - Anaheim Ducks - Adam Fantilli (Michigan, NCAA)

Talk about power down the middle. By selecting the University of Michigan star, the Ducks can now boast a one/two punch at center of Mason McTavish and Adam Fantilli. That likely pushes Trevor Zegras to the wing long term, which might not be a terrible thing considering his struggles at the faceoff circle and defensively. Fantilli is one of the most polished two-way forwards in the league and his speed and strength should allow him to jump into the NHL immediately.

3 - Columbus Blue Jackets - Leo Carlsson (Orebro, SHL)

This is where things get really interesting. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen doesn’t draft a ton out of Sweden (Finnish bias?...lol), however I believe that this would be the best pick for the organization. Carlsson is the most ready to make an immediate impact in the NHL and he would give the Jackets a potential two-way rock to build their forward group around. This is a team who wants to compete soon and turn their fortunes around.

4 - San Jose Sharks - Will Smith (USNTDP)

For the life of me, I just can’t see Mike Grier going with Michkov here. Smith would give San Jose a highly skilled playmaker to continue to build around. He could help to elevate the play of some of the team’s complementary players. He may take a few years in College with BC, but the end product should be a high-end offensive player. Question…would it be shocking to see the Sharks reach for a defender like David Reinbacher here?

5 - Montreal Canadiens - Ryan Leonard (USNTDP)

It really seems like the Canadiens would pass on Michkov should he be available to them. It could be smoke and mirrors, but all signs do point to that fact. So, who do they select? Lots of hype around Reinbacher. I think they’re happy with their defensive depth right now. IMO. I truly believe that Ryan Leonard could be their target. Here’s a forward who can make an impact in a lot of different ways and who plays the power game that Montreal really seems to want to play in the future. Obviously Dalibor Dvorsky could be an option here too.

6- Arizona Coyotes - Matvei Michkov (HK Sochi, KHL)

I just can’t see Michkov falling that far. Yes, there is inherent risk. But the reward is so great. Arizona wants to become relevant again, but they also want to have sustainability. They haven’t shied away from drafting Russians in recent years, and this is a big fish. The timing of his arrival in the NHL should be perfect for Arizona’s inevitable resurgence.

7- Philadelphia Flyers - David Reinbacher (Kloten, NL)

A big, right shot defender, it seems like a sure thing that he’ll be drafted in the top ten, even if he’s our third ranked defender. The Flyers seem like a really good fit for him. Reinbacher is a potential two-way force from the right side who could develop into an all-situations player for Philadelphia and would complement other young defenders like Cam York and Emil Andrae exceptionally well.

8 - Washington Capitals - Oliver Moore (USNTDP)

Would it be shocking to see Moore drafted ahead of Ryan Leonard? I don’t think so. NHL teams put such a premium on true centers and Moore is just that. Watching the Capitals in recent years, it’s obvious that they need to focus on upgrading the speed quotient of this team again and Moore is the best skating player available this year. The range of outcomes for him runs the gamut of Dylan Larkin to Andrew Cogliano, but Moore should play and would fit in well with this roster, perhaps better than some of the power wingers slated to go here. Nate Danielson could be an option here too, especially given Washington’s Western bias.

9 - Detroit Red Wings - Dalibor Dvorsky (AIK, Allsvenskan)

I think one thing Detroit proved at last year’s draft was that they wanted to focus on getting back to being difficult to play against in the future. There is a desire for the full rebuild to be over and it’s now time to focus on getting players who can be strong playoff performers. Dvorsky is raw, but as we have seen internationally, he is a big game player who can potentially grow into an all-situations type.

10 - St. Louis Blues - Axel Sandin Pellikka (Skelleftea, SWEJ20)

One of the top offensive defenders available this year, Sandin Pellikka proved at this year’s U18’s that he can defend too. The progression in his game over the course of the year should have teams lining up to select him given the weakness of the defense crop. St. Louis needs to inject new life into their blueline, specifically in the puck moving department.

11 - Vancouver Canucks - Nate Danielson (Brandon, WHL)

Lots to like here for the Canucks. Danielson is a strong candidate to be an all situations top six center for them in the future. And let’s face it, the center depth in the organization isn’t amazing right now. There is a need for a player like Danielson. He’s really the last player in this grouping of ranked players who is likely to stick down the center, so I’d expect all these guys to go high.

12 - Arizona Coyotes (via Ottawa) - Matthew Wood (UConn, NCAA)

Skating concerns be darned, someone is going to bite on Matthew Wood early in the first round. He’s just been too good the last few years. As we’ve seen with Jason Robertson, skating development can occur as conditioning improves. Wood has so many other good qualities and he would be the perfect complementary player for them in the future.

13 - Buffalo Sabres - Dmitri Simashev (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, KHL)

Our top ranked defender, can you imagine a future where the Sabres have both Owen Power and Dmitri Simashev? The massive defender skates well and should at least develop into a high end stay at home type. The Sabres haven’t been scared off by taking Russian players too. This seems like a great fit.

14 - Pittsburgh Penguins - Daniil But (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, KHL)

One of the things Pittsburgh needs to do at the draft this year is focus on selecting players with upside. For far too long, the focus was on safer prospects and the combination of that, plus a lack of first round selections, has left the system in disarray. Insert Daniil But, a big winger who could end up being an Evgeni Malkin kind of player thanks to his combination of power and skill. The Penguins have had some success drafting out of Russia, so I don’t see it scaring them off.

15 - Nashville Predators - Tom Willander (Rögle, SWE J20)

One of the draft's biggest risers, Willander was so good in the second half, and it has caused many (including us) to shift their opinion of his potential. He now looks like a lock to be a top four, right shot defender. I see Nashville looking at adding a potential defender at this spot and perhaps they go more offensively oriented with Gulyayev or Dragicevic, but the well-rounded profile seems to fit them more.

16 - Calgary Flames - Zach Benson (Winnipeg, WHL)

The fall for Benson ends here with Calgary selecting him. We love Benson, but there’s definitely some concern that NHL scouts are concerned with the fact that he’s undersized and not a dynamic athlete. However, his playmaking ability would really help the Flames moving forward and I think they need to gamble on his upside. I could also see Calgary opting for an offensively oriented defender here too.

17 - Detroit Red Wings (via New York Islanders) - Mikhail Gulyayev (Avangard Omsk, KHL)

One of the top skating defenders available this year, Gulyayev would be a great fit in the Detroit system. The Red Wings have a lot of solid young defenders in their system, but none have the skating ability, shot, and powerplay quarterbacking potential that Gulyayev possesses. Getting him and Ryan Leonard in the first round would be terrific for an organization trying to take that next step and sustain it.

18 - Winnipeg Jets - Colby Barlow (Owen Sound, OHL)

Obviously, there are a lot of different routes that the Jets could take here, but Barlow makes a lot of sense. The high-end goal scorer is also very versatile and plays a powerful North/South game. Maybe there are some similarities between him and Rutger McGroarty, but this Jets team wants to have multiple players of that ilk on their roster.

19 - Chicago Blackhawks (via Tampa Bay) - Gabe Perreault (USNTDP)

Where Perreault goes on draft day will be really interesting. His athletic tools aren’t terrific, but you can’t argue with the success he had this year. He’s just such an intelligent and creative player. With your new team identity forming around Connor Bedard, Perreault seems like an amazing fit to play with him in the future. Plus, Perreault is a bit of a local kid, having grown up as part of the Chicago Mission program.

20 - Seattle Kraken - Samuel Honzek (Vancouver, WHL)

The Kraken wouldn’t have had to travel far to get a good look at Honzek this year. After using their top picks on centers in their first two drafts, they opt for a big, skilled winger to play with them in 2023. Honzek’s upside is excellent, and he is actually someone who could go much higher than this.

21 - Minnesota Wild - David Edstrom (Frölunda, SWE J20)

Doesn’t this just scream a Minnesota Wild selection. Edstrom was a late season riser thanks to the progression he showed over the year from an offensive perspective. He has both a solid floor and a high ceiling and given the draft’s lack of true centers, I expect him to go pretty high on draft day.

22 - Philadelphia (via Columbus, via Los Angeles) - Eduard Sale (HC Kometa Brno, Czechia)

Philly is up for the second pick of the first round, acquired in the Provorov trade. After adding a defenseman to replace him with the seventh pick, they opt for the best forward available on the board. That is a quality playmaking winger with size in Eduard Sale, currently ranked #17 by McKeen's. Sale could definitely go higher than this too, so the value is terrific.

23 - New York Rangers - Cal Ritchie (Oshawa, OHL)

Cal Ritchie grew up playing for the Oakville Rangers, so this just seems like a great story. Tons of pictures of him wearing Rangers gear at a young age! But this would be a great pick for New York for a lot of reasons. Ritchie is one of the most intelligent forwards available this year and while his OHL season wasn’t outstanding, his international performances were.

24 - Nashville Predators (via Edmonton) - Brayden Yager (Moose Jaw, WHL)

Maybe Yager goes higher than this. We’re certainly lower on him than the consensus in the scouting community. However, he seems like the kind of player that Nashville would love to add into their system; the kind of player they’ve been drafting for the last decade or so, helping them to remain consistently strong.

25 - St. Louis Blues (via Toronto) - Quentin Musty (Sudbury, OHL)

We’ve got Musty outside of the first round because of concerns over his feet and wavering compete levels, but given his size and skill package, it seems unlikely that he falls out of the first. St. Louis would be a good place for Quentin, and I could see them being quite interested in him. There’s a need to inject new skill and life into the wing group in St. Louis and Musty has one of the higher offensive ceilings in the draft.

26 - San Jose Sharks (via New Jersey) - Bradly Nadeau (Penticton, BCHL)

The Sharks have focused on drafting some pretty good playmakers in recent years and they took Will Smith fourth overall earlier in this mock. So why not take a chance on a high-end finisher like Brad Nadeau. Nadeau also brings a strong compete level and is someone with a good upside, so long as you believe that the BCHL competition was good enough to truly challenge him this year.

27 - Colorado Avalanche - Ethan Gauthier (Sherbrooke, QMJHL)

A solid complementary goal scorer, Gauthier has a good motor too. There is a need for him to get quicker and consistency was an issue at times this year. However, the Avs are going to want a player who can jump into their lineup in a few years and help them win and Gauthier has a lot of strong pro level attributes already. He scores from between the dots and Colorado missed that a bit this year with so many injuries to those types of players.

28 - Toronto Maple Leafs (via Boston) - Gavin Brindley (Michigan, NCAA)

Kyle Dubas is no longer at the helm, but for now it looks like the scouting staff will remain the same under Brad Treliving. Brindley is the type of player that the Leafs organization has been targeting lately at the draft. His compete level and skating are at the top of this draft class and his offensive upside might be a tad underrated. This is someone who is going to play through the middle six for years to come.

29 - St. Louis Blues (via Dallas) - Oliver Bonk (London, OHL)

The Blues have the luxury of three first round picks this year and that gives them a ton of flexibility. So far in our mock they’ve taken Sandin Pellikka and Musty, so grabbing a safer defender like Bonk could make a lot of sense. A highly intelligent two-way player, Bonk has the bloodlines and the work ethic to help him improve.

30 - Carolina Hurricanes - Anton Wahlberg (Malmö, SHL)

The Hurricanes always seem to align their draft ideals with the amateur scouting community, often selecting independent scout darlings in recent years. Insert Anton Wahlberg. Much like Swedish teammate David Edstrom, he improved massively over the course of the year, learning to use his size and quickness to be a very effective player inside the offensive zone. The athletic tools are going to be very intriguing to Carolina.

31 - Montreal Canadiens (via Florida) - Riley Heidt (Prince George, WHL)

Coming into the year, this pick would have been seen as a steal, but this is sort of where Heidt is projected to go now. I could see Montreal being very interested in Heidt as he possesses similar qualities to other forwards they have drafted recently. How his game ultimately comes together at the pro level remains a mystery, but he has a lot of interesting tools.

32 - Vegas Golden Knights - Tanner Molendyk (Saskatoon, WHL)

Molendyk is not only one of the smarter defenders available this year, but he’s also one of the better skaters. That combination will be very intriguing to a team like Vegas. He’s way more athletic than the defenders they have been selecting the last five or so years and would give the organization a bit of a different look on the back end.

Second Round

33 - Anaheim Ducks - Michael Hrabal (Omaha, USHL)

If we don’t have a goalie taken in the first round, I would suspect that we see a huge run on them early in the second. The Ducks haven’t drafted a goalie since Lukas Dostal. He’s turned into a great prospect, but there’s a need to look further down the road. Hrabal is raw, but he might have the best upside of the goalies available.

34 - Columbus Blue Jackets - Carson Bjarnason (Brandon, WHL)

The goalie run continues with the Jackets taking Carson Bjarnason. He has number one upside as he continues to learn to harness his athleticism and he helps fill an organizational need in the future.

35 - Chicago Blackhawks - Lukas Dragicevic (Tri-City, WHL)

It could be surprising if Dragicevic drops out of the first round considering the talent he brings from the back end, but there are definitely concerns over how good he can become defensively. The Hawks are swinging for true upside here and hope that he can be a strong powerplay quarterback for them in the future.

36 - San Jose Sharks - Carson Rehkopf (Kitchener, OHL)

One thing that the Sharks really seem to be focusing on as a scouting team is drafting athletes. They’re looking for guys who can play fast, who bring size, and who have a large runway to improve. Rehkopf had a very inconsistent year, but the talent is there. With all the graduations in Kitchener this year, it’ll be his team to run moving forward.

37 - Montreal Canadiens - Trey Augustine (USNTDP)

We know how commonly the Canadiens have gone to the U.S. Development program in recent years and Augustine was the rock for that team in net, helping them capture gold at the U18’s. It seems likely that Montreal will look to draft a goalie fairly high this year because Primeau hasn’t really developed according to plan, and they let Dichow’s rights expire.

38 - Arizona Coyotes - Otto Stenberg (Frölunda, SHL)

I really like Stenberg. I think he’s a lot better than he showed in the SHL and when playing outside of international competition. Part of me doesn’t believe that he falls, but players with his profile have fallen outside of the first many times. This would be a great selection for Arizona, adding speed and skill to their forward group in the future.

39 - Buffalo Sabres (via Philadelphia) - Danny Nelson (USNTDP)

One of the most improved players in this draft class from start to finish this year, Nelson is an intriguing athlete. There’s a chance that he might not be more than an Adam Lowry type. But it will be interesting to see how his offensive game develops outside of the shadow of Smith and Moore. The Sabres system is stacked, but this type of center is something that they could focus in on.

40 - Washington Capitals - Adam Gajan (Chippewa, NAHL)

I fully expect someone to jump on Gajan pretty early. He was so good at the U20’s this year and he has the athletic tools needed to reach a high ceiling as an NHL starting netminder. The Capitals haven’t focused a ton of attention on goaltenders at the draft in recent years, but there is a need to add one into the system. Additionally, they have been an organization that does not shy away from drafting re-entry players.

41 - Detroit Red Wings - Kasper Halttunen (HIFK, Liiga)

The first of three consecutive selections for the Wings, look for variance in these selections. In Halttunen, the Wings get a high upside goal scoring winger who struggled playing against men this year, but who dominated his own age group. He could easily go higher than this.

42 - Detroit Red Wings - Maxim Strbak (Sioux Falls, USHL)

Strbak would be a great selection for the Wings in this area as a potential top four, defensively oriented defender. He is a fierce competitor, and his offensive skill set might be a tad underrated. If the feet can improve more at Michigan State, he could be quite the player.

43 - Detroit Red Wings - Charlie Stramel (Wisconsin, NCAA)

There is a significant chance that Stramel will go in the first round even after a poor year at Wisconsin. NHL teams love his profile; that big power center with middle six upside. For the Wings, I believe that this would be a no- brainer if he is still available. Stramel is a little more athletic than Rasmussen and has better physical tools than Veleno.

44 - Chicago Blackhawks (via Ottawa) - Nick Lardis (Hamilton, OHL)

One thing that the Hawks really focused on last year at the draft was adding speed and strong skaters to their prospect group. I’m sure that this was extremely intentional and there aren’t many better skaters than Nick Lardis available this year. His second half explosion has vaulted him up into this kind of territory thanks to his combination of speed and goal scoring ability.

45 - Buffalo Sabres - Andrew Cristall (Kelowna, WHL)

Quite the fall for Cristall, but there is real concern inside the NHL scouting community around his size and skating combination. He is so reliant on using his edges and lacks the linear quickness to gain separation against better skating defenders. But the upside is so significant because of his creativity, skill, and IQ. Well worth the risk in this area of the draft, especially for an organization with a deep talent pool.

46 - Nashville Predators (via Pittsburgh) - Nico Myatovic (Seattle, WHL)

This is the kind of player that the Predators have won with previously, that hardnosed, physical, strong two-way forward out of the CHL. Myatovic improved a lot in the second half with the Thunderbirds and he is the type of player that I believe NHL scouts are going to like a lot more than independent, amateur ones.

47 - Nashville Predators - Arttu Karki (Tappara U20, U20 SM-sarja)

After taking Willander in the first, the Predators take Karki, a strong puck moving defender who was excellent in Finland this past season. Lots to like about his skating ability and offensive upside. He’s almost like a more athletic version of Kulonummi, who they took last year.

48 - Calgary Flames - Beau Akey (Barrie, OHL)

After taking Zach Benson in the first round, the Flames opt for an athletic blueliner from the OHL in the second, taking Akey. He is one of the better skating defenders in the draft and is still learning how to use that mobility to his advantage at both ends. Shades of a young TJ Brodie here, waiting to be unlocked and that worked out well for the Flames in 2008.

49 - New York Islanders - Jayden Perron (Chicago, USHL)

This is the fourth straight year that the Islanders don’t have a first-round selection and their talent pool is hurting because of it. So, the focus needs to be on selecting a player with significant upside. The highest upside player remaining is probably Perron, an undersized, but skilled forward with the Chicago Steel. He excels playing with pace and would immediately become one of the better prospects in their system.

50 - Seattle Kraken (via Winnipeg) - Andrew Gibson (Sault Ste. Marie, OHL)

One of the better defensive defenders available in the draft this year, Gibson would give the Kraken a type of player that they haven’t really drafted yet in their two years of existence; a staunch, physical defender with reach. He had a really good U18’s for Canada and we know how much Seattle loves drafting from the OHL.

51 - Chicago Blackhawks (via Tampa Bay) - William Whitelaw (Youngstown, USHL)

This just seems like the type of player that Chicago scouts would really love. Again, we have the speed component. But we also have a competitive player who can score goals. There are concerns over his size and IQ, but he had a great playoff for Youngstown in helping them capture a Clark Cup.

52 - Seattle Kraken - Jacob Fowler (Youngstown, USHL)

Personally, I believe Fowler is the top goaltender in this class. But I think that because his physical/athletic tools aren’t quite as strong as the likes of Hrabal and Bjarnason, he probably ends up more in this range. His performance in the Clark Cup playoffs was a masterpiece. Yes, Seattle did draft Niklas Kokko early last year, but when you’re trying to build out a strong prospect group, you need good goaltending depth.

53 - Minnesota Wild - Coulson Pitre (Flint, OHL)

Pitre is exactly the kind of player that the Wild could use in their system; a competitive power winger who can play in all situations. Pitre is one of the most physical forwards available this year and he is that rare kind of power forward who also has good vision with the puck. He’s the perfect complementary piece.

54 - Los Angeles Kings - Oscar Fisker Mølgaard (HV71, SHL)

The second straight draft that the Kings don’t have a first-round selection and they have to be very happy to see Oscar Fisker Mølgaard still available here. The Kings love players like him. He’s a competitive two-way forward with versatility who can probably move through their system pretty quickly.

55 - Chicago Blackhawks (via New York Rangers) - Tristan Bertucci (Flint, OHL)

At this point, the Blackhawks have about half the picks in the first two rounds it seems like. Here they nab Tristan Bertucci, a player who improved substantially in the second half at both ends. He has intriguing physical and athletic tools and could project as a John Marino kind of player with the right development.

56 - Edmonton Oilers - Koehn Ziemmer (Prince George, WHL)

It seems like Edmonton has been searching for this kind of player at the draft for several seasons now. They took Reid Schaefer last year but then dealt him in the Ekholm deal. Ziemmer is a pure goal scorer, but he also brings a competitive edge. The only thing holding him back is a lack of dynamic skating ability.

57 - Seattle Kraken (via Toronto) - Carey Terrance (Erie, OHL)

Speed is the name of the game for Terrance. But versatile is a word that also fits. He showed at the U18’s with the U.S. team that won gold, that he can play a complementary role different from the play driving role that he fills in Erie. He is already a committed two-way player too. Lots to like here.

58 - New Jersey Devils - Gracyn Sawchyn (Seattle, WHL)

Definitely a bit of a fall for Sawchyn, at least compared to where a lot of independent scouting agencies have him ranked (including us). But there are concerns over his slight frame and lack of dynamic skating. That said, this is a great selection for a New Jersey team that doesn’t have a first this year. Sawchyn has great offensive upside and the Devils haven’t shied away from taking players with skating weaknesses in recent years.

59 - Anaheim Ducks (via Colorado) - Easton Cowan (London, OHL)

Have to think that there were quite a few NHL scouts impressed with Cowan’s playoff performance for London in the OHL playoffs where he transformed into a much more assertive offensive player. He has speed to burn and he’s tenacious to boot. This is a future high character, middle six guy for the Ducks.

60 - Anaheim Ducks (via Boston) - Aram Minnetian (USNTDP)

Pretty rare to see the first U.S. NTDP defender off the draft board this late, but it’s an odd group. Minnetian seems like the most likely to go in the second-round range (or Fortescue). This is a solid upside pick for the Ducks because of how well Minnetian skates. Consistency was an issue for him, especially in the defensive end, but he’ll be given time to grow.

61 - Dallas Stars - Martin Misiak (Youngstown, USHL)

It took some time for Misiak to adjust to the USHL, but as the USHL playoffs rolled around, he was firing on all cylinders along with Will Whitelaw. He was a huge piece of that Phantoms’ Clark Cup winning team. He plays a two-way power game and projects as a solid middle six option for Dallas in the future.

62 - Carolina Hurricanes - Jakub Dvorak (Bili Tygri Liberec, Czechia)

It wasn’t the easiest season for Dvorak, as he battled through injuries. However, he returned in time to play at the U18’s, giving scouts a taste of what he can bring to the table as a future top four, stay at home defender. The Hurricanes love raw, toolsy types like Dvorak and they’ve drafted players out of Czechia the last two drafts.

63 - Florida Panthers - Felix Nilsson (Rögle, SHL)

It was really unfortunate that Nilsson had to miss the U18’s due to a wrist injury. He was shooting up draft lists with his strong second half. Ain intelligent and high energy playmaking center, Nilsson fits the Florida Panthers MO at the draft and would be a great pick for a team without a first-round selection this year.

64 - Minnesota Wild (via Los Angeles) - Drew Fortescue (USNTDP)

No defender on the U.S. U18 team improved as much as Fortescue did this year. His athletic tools are through the roof and at the very least, he looks like he could be a solid #5, safe, stay at home type. But what if his game continues to improve at a rapid rate? The Wild have targeted similar kinds of defenders at the draft in recent years.

2023 NHL Combine: Part One – Fitness Testing Overview & Results

Chase Rochon and Joely Stockl — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 22:07:17 +0000

Another NHL Combine has come and gone in Buffalo, NY this past week. For the 106 invited players, it was a week full of 1-on-1 interviews with NHL teams, interviews with the media, and a variety of fitness tests. The fitness testing results mean more to some NHL executives than they do to others, but nonetheless it is always fascinating to see who finished atop the leaderboards in the fitness testing categories. The Combine is also the final opportunity for players to submit their height and weight, which is always an intriguing progression to monitor. The NHL Combine is the perfect precursor to the NHL Draft. It is some of these player’s first times meeting their competitors on the draft board, and it allows for these players to meet their future management of the team that drafts them in Nashville in just a few weeks.

Standouts

Nick Lardis of the Hamilton Bulldogs placed 1st in four categories: Vertical Jump, Squat Jump, No Arm Jump, & Pull Ups (15). This standout performance puts more eyes on the late riser, who arrived in Hamilton and tore it up through the second half of the season putting up 46 points in 33 games. Lardis has skyrocketed on many draft boards, including McKeen’s, as he finished 32nd overall and snuck his way into the tail end of the first round. He is a player that has certainly benefited from being the “go-to” player on the Bulldogs, and his success will hopefully lead into next season as the team moves to Brantford.

Another player from the OHL, Brad Gardiner also performed exceptionally well in the fitness tests. The two-way centre from the Ottawa 67’s finished in the top 10 in five of the categories completed on the weekend of the Combine, as well as in the Grip Strength test completed earlier in the week. Gardiner likely drew some more attention with this performance, as he was one of the later ranked players out of the 106 at the Combine (McKeen’s has Brad Gardiner ranked at 163rd).

Leading the results in the consensus “most difficult” category, the VO2 MAX, was Seattle Thunderbirds forward Nico Myatovic. In their media availability, nearly every player stated that the VO2 MAX was the hardest fitness test of them all. The VO2 MAX is a gruelling test of oxygen utilized during maximum effort. By winning in this category, Myatovic has likely gained some respect points from teams and players.

The tallest player at the Combine measured up at 6 '6.75”, and that was Czech goaltender Michael Hrabal. Hrabal is one of the top ranked goaltenders heading into the NHL Draft, and he was one of seven goalies invited to the Combine. Hrabal’s size is definitely a draw for some teams, as we see NHL goaltenders getting taller and taller each year.

Fitness Testing Results (excluding Functional Movement Screen & Grip Strength)

Top 10 from each category;

VO2 Max

Nico Myatovic
Brad Gardiner
Bradly Nadeau
Beckett Hendrickson
Noel Nordh
Easton Cowan
Aram Minnetian
Paul Fischer
Axel Sandin Pellikka
Hunter Brzustewicz

Wingate Test

Noah Dower Nlsson
Danny Nelson
Tom Willander
Hunter Brzustewicz
Cameron Allen
David Edstrom
Brayden Yager
Tanner Molendyk
Samuel Honzek
Jonathan Castagna

Pull Ups

Nick Lardis- 15
Danny Nelson- 14
Bradly Nadeau- 14
Cameron Allen- 14
Connor Bedard- 14
Brad Gardiner- 13
Jaden Lipinski- 13
Nate Danielson- 13
Oliver Moore- 13
Denver Barkey- 12

Pro Agility (Right)

Easton Cowan
Jonathan Castagna
Brady Cleveland
Samuel Honzek
Scott Ratzlaff
Brandon Svoboda
Brad Gardiner
Beau Akey
Andrew Gibson
Hunter Brzustewicz

Pro Agility (Left)

Easton Cowan
Jonathan Castagna
Oliver Moore
Brandon Svoboda
Jayden Perron
Brad Gardiner
Ethan Gauthier
Beau Akey
Andrew Gibson
Bradly Nadeau

Bench Press (50% of Body Weight)

Axel Sandin Pellikka
Charlie Stramel
Mathieu Cataford
Lukas Dragicevic
Ryan Leonard
Cameron Allen
Jonathan Castagna
Bradly Nadeau
Brad Gardiner
Nate Danielson

Standing Long Jump

Charlie Stramel- 118”
Samuel Honzek- 117.5”
Cameron Allen- 117”
Tom Willander- 116.5”
Beau Akey- 116”
Nick Lardis- 114.5”
Maxim Strbak- 112.8”
David Reinbacher- 112”
Nate Danielson- 111.5”
Jayden Perron- 111”

Vertical Jump

Nick Lardis
Cameron Allen
Colby Barlow
Caden Price
Charlie Stramel
Nate Danielson
Jesse Nurmi
Beau Akey
Oliver Moore
Ethan Gauthier

No Arm Jump

Nick Lardis
Oliver Moore
Samuel Honzek
Jesse Nurmi
Colby Barlow
Cameron Allen
Jayden Perron
Jonathan Castagna
Nate Danielson
Charlie Stramel

Squat Jump

Nick Lardis
Jesse Nurmi
Colby Barlow
Nate Danielson
Jonathan Castagna
Cameron Allen
Tanner Molendyk
Noah Dower Nilsson
Oliver Moore
Tom Willander

Heights & Weights

Name Height /Weight

Beau Akey 6’0”/175

Cameron Allen 6’0”/192

Trey Augustine 6’1.25”/190

Denver Barkey 5’8.75”/155

Colby Barlow 6’0.5”/195

Connor Bedard 5’9.75”/185

Zach Benson 5’9.75”/170

Tristan Bertucci 6’1.75”/175

Carson Bjarnason 6’3.25”/190

Oliver Bonk 6’1.5”/180

Gavin Brindley 5’8”/168

Hunter Brzustewicz 5’11.75”/190

Luca Cagnoni 5’9”/182

Jonathan Castagna 6’2.25” /195

Mathieu Cataford 5’11”/190

Alex Ciernik 5’10.25”/174

Brady Cleveland 6’4.75”//210

Easton Cowan 5’10.5”/170

Andrew Cristall 5’9.5”/175

Nate Danielson 6’1.5”/186

Noah Dower Nilsson 5’11.75 “/185

Lukas Dragicevic 6’1”/194

Jakub Dvorak 6’5”/210

Dalibor Dvorsky 6’1”/200

David Edstrom 6’3”/185

Paul Fischer 6’1”/200

Drew Fortescue 6’1”/176

Adam Gajan 6’2.75”/180

Brad Gardiner 6’1”/184

Ethan Gauthier 5’11.5”/183

Andrew Gibson 6’2.75”/202

Terrell Goldsmith 6’4”/220

Kasper Halttunen 6’3.25”/215

Lenni Hameenaho 6’1”/185

Riley Heidt 5’10.5”/180

Beckett Hendrickson 6’1.5”/174

Samuel Honzek 6’3.25”/195

Michael Hrabel 6’6.75”/215

Larry Keenan 6’3.25”/186

Jesse Kiiskinen 6’0.25”/190

Rasmus Kumpulainen 6’2.75”/190

Nick Lardis 5’11”/168

Ryan Leonard 5’11.75 “/190

Kalan Lind 6’0.5”/158

Theo Lindstein 6’0”/185

Jaden Lipinski 6’3.75”/210

Dylan MacKinnon 6’2”/190

Matteo Mann 6’5.5”/230

Gavin McCarthy 6’1.5”/186

Ethan Miedema 6’4”/208

Aram Minnetian 5’11”/195

Martin Misiak 6’1.5”/200

Tanner Molendyk 5’11”/181

Oscar Fisker Molgaard 5’11.75“/166

Oliver Moore 5’11”/195

Etienne Morin 6’0”/180

Carsen Musser 6’4”/212

Quentin Musty 6’1.5”/200

Nico Myatovic 6’2.5”/180

Sawyer Mynio 6’0.5”/163

Bradly Nadeau 5’10.25”/160

Zach Nehring 6’2.75”/182

Danny Nelson 6’3”/212

Felix Nilsson 6’0.5”/187

Noel Nordh 6’1.5”/200

Jesse Nurmi 5’11”/168

Tyler Peddle 6’1”/204

Gabriel Perreault 5’10.75”/163

Jayden Perron 5’9”/166

Alex Pharand 6’2.5”/205

Emil Pieniniemi 6’2.25”/175

Luca Pinelli 5’8.75”/167

Aaron Pionk 6’0.75”/173

Coulson Pitre 6’0.75”/170

Caden Price 6’0.5”/190

Scott Ratzlaff 6’0.5”/175

Carson Rehkopf 6’2.5”/195

David Reinbacher 6’2.25”/194

Eduard Sale 6’1.75”/175

Axel Sandin-Pellikka 5’11”/180

Gracyn Sawchyn 5’10.75”/155

Zachary Schulz 6’1”/197

Jayson Shaugabay 5’9.25”/165

William Smith 5’11.75 “/180

Jakub Stancl 6’3”/202

Otto Stenberg 5’11”/185

Charlie Stramel 6’3”/222

Andrew Strathmann 5’10.75”/185

Maxim Strbak 6’1.25”/198

Aydar Suniev 6’1.5”/192

Brandon Svoboda 6’3.25”/209

Carey Terrance 6’0.25”/178

Jordan Tourigny 5’11.25”/165

Anton Wahlberg 6’3.25”/192

William Whitelaw 5’8.75”/175

Tom Willander 6’1”/180

Matthew Wood 6’4”/197

Brayden Yager 5’11”/170

Koehn Ziemmer 6’0.25”/210

MCKEEN’S 2023 NHL DRAFT – FINAL RANKINGS – TOP 224 Plus Honourable Mentions

McKeen's Scouting Team - Director of Scouting, Brock Otten — Sun, 28 May 2023 16:20:45 +0000

It’s that time! The McKeen’s scouting staff has finalized our final rankings for the 2023 NHL Draft ahead of the release of our draft guide in a few weeks. As per usual, our list runs 224 players deep to match the number of selections in the draft, but we have included over 300 players when you include our Honorable Mentions.

Much to the surprise of no one, Connor Bedard remains our top ranked player, as he has been all season long. In fact, our top three remains unchanged from our midseason rankings with Adam Fantilli and Leo Carlsson holding down the second and third spots, respectively. There has been one change in our top five with Will Smith leapfrogging Matvei Michkov into the fourth position following his dominant second half and U18’s.

Russian defender Dmitry Simashev remains our top ranked blueliner but has now moved into the top ten. His combination of size, mobility, physicality, and improving offensive skill set is going to be alluring to NHL teams and we feel that his upside is the highest in a weaker crop for defenders.

A trio of Swedish players are among our biggest risers from our midseason list, with Tom Willander, Anton Wahlberg, and David Edstrom all jumping up into the first round. All three were excellent in the second half of the season, which culminated with strong performances at the U18’s. Willander, in particular, has a huge fan in our Director of Scouting, Brock Otten. “If you were to ask me who my favourite defender in the draft class is, I’d probably say Willander. He rarely makes a poor play and I believe that we are underappreciating his potential as an NHL defender because of how efficient and safe his game can be. I would be shocked if he does not become a quality second pairing guy at the NHL level and I don’t think the other defenders ranked in the first have that same assurance,” said Otten.

Another massive jumper in our list is Hamilton Bulldogs winger Nick Lardis. 98th on our midseason list, Lardis now finds himself ranked just inside of our first round. His play with Hamilton, following a trade from Peterborough has vaulted him up draft boards, including ours. His combination of quickness and scoring ability gives him a solid projection at the NHL level.

Despite having two goaltenders inside of our first round at midseason (Carson Bjarnason and Michael Hrabal), we ended the year with none. Trey Augustine is now our top ranked netminder, ranked in the mid second round. However, Augustine, Bjarnason, Hrabal, and USHL Clark Cup MVP Jacob Fowler are all closely ranked in that range.

Look for the release of our 2023 Draft Guide in the next couple weeks. It will include all of our rankings and reports, a mock draft, a preview of the 2024 NHL Draft, and much more.

As a subscriber, link to our full ranking with links to the player pages here - McKeen's Draft Rankings - You can download the ranking as an excel file as well.

RANK	PLAYER	POS	HT/WT	DOB	NATION	TEAM	GP-G-A-PTS
1	Connor Bedard	C	5-10/185	17-Jul-05	Canada	Regina (WHL)	57-71-72-143
2	Adam Fantilli	C	6-2/195	12-Oct-04	Canada	Michigan (B1G)	36-30-35-65
3	Leo Carlsson	C	6-3/200	26-Dec-04	Sweden	Orebro (SHL)	44-10-15-25
4	Will Smith	C	6-0/175	17-Mar-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	59-51-75-126
5	Matvei Michkov	RW	5-10/170	9-Dec-04	Russia	SKA St. Petersburg-HK Sochi (KHL)	30-9-11-20
6	Zach Benson	LW	5-9/160	12-May-05	Canada	Winnipeg (WHL)	60-36-62-98
7	Dalibor Dvorsky	C	6-1/200	15-Jun-05	Slovakia	AIK (HockeyAllsvenskan)	38-6-8-14
8	Ryan Leonard	RW	5-11/190	21-Jan-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	56-50-43-93
9	Dmitri Simashev	D	6-4/200	4-Feb-05	Russia	Loko Yaroslavl-Loko-76 Yaroslavl (MHL)	33-1-11-12
10	Matthew Wood	RW	6-3/195	6-Feb-05	Canada	Connecticut (HE)	35-11-23-34
11	Oliver Moore	C	5-11/185	22-Jan-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	60-31-43-74
12	Colby Barlow	LW	6-0/195	14-Feb-05	Canada	Owen Sound (OHL)	59-46-33-79
13	Nate Danielson	C	6-1/185	27-Sep-04	Canada	Brandon (WHL)	68-33-45-78
14	Axel Sandin Pellikka	D	5-11/180	11-Mar-05	Sweden	Skelleftea (Swe J20)	31-16-20-36
15	Daniil But	LW	6-5/200	15-Feb-05	Russia	Loko Yaroslavl-Loko-76 Yaroslavl (MHL)	32-18-14-32
16	David Reinbacher	D	6-2/185	25-Oct-04	Austria	Kloten (Sui-NL)	46-3-19-22
17	Eduard Sale	LW	6-1/170	10-Mar-05	Czech	HC Kometa Brno (Czechia)	43-7-7-14
18	Samuel Honzek	LW	6-3/185	12-Nov-04	Slovakia	Vancouver (WHL)	43-23-33-56
19	Mikhail Gulyayev	D	5-11/170	26-Apr-05	Russia	Omskie Yastreby (MHL)	22-2-23-25
20	Lukas Dragicevic	D	6-1/190	25-Apr-05	Canada	Tri-City (WHL)	68-15-60-75
21	Gabe Perreault	RW	5-11/165	7-May-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	62-53-79-132
22	Otto Stenberg	C	5-11/180	29-May-05	Sweden	Frolunda (Swe J20)	29-11-15-26
23	Tom Willander	D	6-1/180	9-Feb-05	Sweden	Rogle (Swe J20)	39-4-21-25
24	Calum Ritchie	C	6-2/185	21-Jan-05	Canada	Oshawa (OHL)	59-24-35-59
25	Andrew Cristall	LW	5-9/165	4-Feb-05	Canada	Kelowna (WHL)	54-39-56-95
26	Gavin Brindley	C	5-8/165	5-Oct-04	USA	Michigan (B1G)	41-12-26-38
27	Bradly Nadeau	LW	5-10/165	5-May-05	Canada	Penticton (BCHL)	54-45-68-113
28	Anton Wahlberg	C	6-3/195	4-Jul-05	Sweden	Malmo (Swe J20)	32-14-13-27
29	Riley Heidt	C	5-10/180	25-Mar-05	Canada	Prince George (WHL)	68-25-72-97
30	Brayden Yager	C	5-11/165	3-Jan-05	Canada	Moose Jaw (WHL)	67-28-50-78
31	David Edstrom	C	6-3/185	18-Feb-05	Sweden	Frolunda (Swe J20)	28-15-13-28
32	Nick Lardis	LW	5-10/165	8-Jul-05	Canada	Pbo-Ham (OHL)	69-37-28-65
33	Kasper Halttunen	RW	6-3/205	7-Jun-05	Finland	HIFK (Fin-Liiga)	27-0-1-1
34	Jayden Perron	RW	5-9/165	11-Jan-05	Canada	Chicago (USHL)	61-24-48-72
35	Oliver Bonk	D	6-2/175	9-Jan-05	Canada	London (OHL)	67-10-30-40
36	Quentin Musty	LW	6-2/200	6-Jul-05	USA	Sudbury (OHL)	53-26-52-78
37	Trey Augustine	G	6-1/185	23-Feb-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	28-1, 2.14, 0.925
38	Tanner Molendyk	D	5-11/185	3-Feb-05	Canada	Saskatoon (WHL)	67-9-28-37
39	William Whitelaw	RW	5-9/170	5-Feb-05	USA	Youngstown (USHL)	62-36-25-61
40	Ethan Gauthier	RW	5-11/175	26-Jan-05	Canada	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	66-30-39-69
41	Gracyn Sawchyn	C	5-11/160	19-Jan-05	USA	Seattle (WHL)	58-18-40-58
42	Carson Bjarnason	G	6-3/185	30-Jun-05	Canada	Brandon (WHL)	21-19, 3.08, 0.900
43	Aram Minnetian	D	5-11/190	19-Mar-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	61-7-24-31
44	Michael Hrabal	G	6-6/210	20-Jan-05	Czech	Omaha (USHL)	9-13, 2.86, 0.908
45	Jacob Fowler	G	6-1/215	24-Nov-04	USA	Youngstown (USHL)	27-9, 2.28, 0.921
46	Oscar Fisker Molgaard	C	6-0/165	18-Feb-05	Denmark	HV 71 (SHL)	41-4-3-7
47	Carson Rehkopf	LW	6-1/195	7-Jan-05	Canada	Kitchener (OHL)	68-30-29-59
48	Beau Akey	D	5-11/170	11-Feb-05	Canada	Barrie (OHL)	66-11-36-47
49	Danny Nelson	C	6-3/200	3-Aug-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	61-20-26-46
50	Etienne Morin	D	6-0/180	9-Mar-05	Canada	Moncton (QMJHL)	67-21-51-72
51	Felix Nilsson	C	6-0/175	22-Jun-05	Sweden	Rogle (Swe J20)	36-19-22-41
52	Maxim Strbak	D	6-1/205	13-Apr-05	Slovakia	Sioux Falls (USHL)	46-5-13-18
53	Jakub Dvorak	D	6-5/205	25-May-05	Czech	Bili Tygri Liberec (Czechia)	24-0-2-2
54	Carey Terrance	C	6-0/175	10-May-05	USA	Erie (OHL)	67-30-17-47
55	Jesse Kiiskinen	RW	5-11/180	23-Aug-05	Finland	Pelicans (Fin-U20)	31-20-23-43
56	Mathieu Cataford	C	5-11/185	1-Mar-05	Canada	Halifax (QMJHL)	68-31-44-75
57	Roman Kantserov	RW	5-9/175	20-Sep-04	Russia	Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk (MHL)	45-27-27-54
58	Tristan Bertucci	D	6-1/170	12-Jul-05	Canada	Flint (OHL)	63-11-39-50
59	Andrew Gibson	D	6-3/195	13-Feb-05	Canada	Soo Greyhounds (OHL)	45-7-14-21
60	Caden Price	D	6-0/185	24-Aug-05	Canada	Kelowna (WHL)	65-5-35-40
61	Charlie Stramel	C	6-3/215	15-Oct-04	USA	Wisconsin (B1G)	33-5-7-12
62	Coulson Pitre	RW	6-0/170	13-Dec-04	Canada	Flint (OHL)	59-25-35-60
63	Adam Gajan	G	6-2/165	6-May-04	Slovakia	Chippewa Steel (NAHL)	19-12, 2.57, 0.917
64	Hoyt Stanley	D	6-2/185	4-Feb-05	Canada	Victoria (BCHL)	53-4-34-38
65	Andrew Strathmann	D	5-10/190	27-Feb-05	USA	Youngstown (USHL)	56-3-35-38
66	Hunter Brzustewicz	D	5-11/185	29-Nov-04	USA	Kitchener (OHL)	68-6-51-57
67	Luca Pinelli	C	5-8/165	5-Apr-05	Canada	Ottawa (OHL)	67-29-34-63
68	Cam Allen	D	6-0/195	7-Jan-05	Canada	Guelph (OHL)	62-5-20-25
69	Tanner Ludtke	C	6-0/185	27-Nov-04	USA	Lincoln (USHL)	57-32-34-66
70	Theo Lindstein	D	6-0/180	5-Jan-05	Sweden	Brynas (SHL)	32-1-1-2
71	Koehn Ziemmer	RW	6-0/205	8-Dec-04	Canada	Prince George (WHL)	68-41-48-89
72	Carter Sotheran	D	6-3/195	26-Jun-05	Canada	Portland (WHL)	68-4-19-23
73	Arttu Karki	D	6-1/175	8-Dec-04	Finland	Tappara (Fin-U20)	36-13-26-39
74	Albert Wikman	D	6-0/190	10-Mar-05	Sweden	Farjestads (Swe J20)	43-2-10-12
75	Quinton Burns	D	6-1/180	14-Apr-05	Canada	Kingston (OHL)	54-2-27-29
76	Nico Myatovic	LW	6-2/180	1-Dec-04	Canada	Seattle (WHL)	68-30-30-60
77	Jeremy Hanzel	D	6-0/190	27-Feb-03	Canada	Seattle (WHL)	66-13-35-48
78	Easton Cowan	RW	5-10/170	20-May-05	Canada	London (OHL)	68-20-33-53
79	Juraj Pekarcik	LW	6-2/185	12-Sep-05	Slovakia	HK Nitra (Slovakia)	30-0-3-3
80	Denver Barkey	C	5-8/160	27-Apr-05	Canada	London (OHL)	61-22-37-59
81	Martin Misiak	RW	6-2/195	30-Sep-04	Slovakia	HC Nove Zamky (Slovakia)	29-1-9-10
82	Drew Fortescue	D	6-1/175	28-Apr-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	61-1-25-26
83	Felix Unger Sorum	RW	5-11/170	14-Sep-05	Sweden	Leksands (Swe J20)	42-10-36-46
84	Lenni Hameenaho	RW	6-0/175	7-Nov-04	Finland	Assat (Fin-Liiga)	51-9-12-21
85	Kalan Lind	LW	6-0/160	25-Jan-05	Canada	Red Deer (WHL)	43-16-28-44
86	Rasmus Kumpulainen	C	6-2/190	8-Aug-05	Finland	Pelicans (Fin-U20)	41-11-23-34
87	Alex Ciernik	LW	5-11/175	8-Oct-04	Slovakia	Sodertalje-Vasterviks (HockeyAllsvenskan)	25-3-9-12
88	Alexander Rykov	RW	6-0/175	14-Jul-05	Russia	Chelmet Chelyabinsk (VHL)	20-4-7-11
89	Scott Ratzlaff	G	6-0/175	9-Mar-05	Canada	Seattle (WHL)	25-8, 2.15, 0.918
90	Yegor Rimashevsky	RW	6-3/200	1-Feb-05	Belarus	MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)	29-13-13-26
91	Jesse Nurmi	LW	5-10/165	7-Mar-05	Finland	KooKoo (Fin-U20)	41-21-29-50
92	Kaden Hammell	D	6-1/175	12-Mar-05	Canada	Kam-Evt (WHL)	67-8-18-26
93	Jayson Shaugabay	RW	5-9/155	4-May-05	USA	Warroad (USHS-MN)	31-33-63-96
94	Noel Nordh	RW	6-2/195	25-Jan-05	Sweden	Brynas (Swe J20)	38-13-14-27
95	Gavin McCarthy	D	6-1/180	2-Jun-05	USA	Muskegon (USHL)	42-8-19-27
96	Tyler Peddle	LW	6-0/195	28-Jan-05	Canada	Drummondville (QMJHL)	64-24-17-41
97	Francesco Dell'Elce	D	6-0/165	23-Jun-05	Canada	St. Andrew's (CHS-O)	51-20-42-62
98	Timur Mukhanov	LW	5-8/170	17-Jun-05	Russia	Omskie Krylia (VHL)	31-4-4-8
99	Larry Keenan	D	6-3/185	15-Mar-05	Russia	Culver Academy (USHS-IN)	49-11-26-37
100	Emil Jarventie	LW	5-9/165	4-Apr-05	Finland	Ilves (Fin-U20)	21-8-11-19
101	Matthew Mania	D	6-1/180	11-Jan-05	USA	Sudbury (OHL)	67-10-28-38
102	Juha Jatkola	G	6-1/175	12-Sep-02	Finland	KalPa (Fin-Liiga)	20-11, 2.16, 0.903
103	Zach Nehring	RW	6-3/180	7-Mar-05	USA	Shattuck-SM (USHS-MN)	48-34-40-74
104	Austin Roest	C	5-9/175	22-Jan-04	Canada	Everett (WHL)	60-32-46-78
105	Hedqvist, Isac	C	5-10/165	22-Mar-05	Sweden	Lulea (Swe J20)	41-14-20-34
106	Stephen Peck	G	6-2/170	18-Jan-05	USA	Avon Old Farms (USHS-CT)	28GP, 1.26, 0.948
107	Yegor Klimovich	RW	5-9/160	14-May-05	Russia	Sibirskie Snaipery Novosibirsk (MHL)	36-19-30-49
108	Nikita Susuyev	RW	6-0/170	6-Feb-05	Russia	MHK Spartak Moskva (MHL)	38-11-17-28
109	Ethan Miedema	LW	6-4/205	22-Mar-05	Canada	Wsr-Kgn (OHL)	68-20-32-52
110	Luca Cagnoni	D	5-9/180	21-Dec-04	Canada	Portland (WHL)	67-17-47-64
111	Jakub Stancl	LW	6-3/200	10-Apr-05	Czech	Vaxjo Lakers (Swe J20)	35-11-6-17
112	Aydar Suniev	LW	6-1/200	16-Nov-04	Russia	Penticton (BCHL)	50-45-45-90
113	Ty Henricks	LW	6-4/205	28-Jun-05	USA	Fgo-Mus (USHL)	47-9-10-19
114	Yegor Vinogradov	C	6-2/180	17-Apr-03	Russia	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	53-7-10-17
115	Yegor Sidorov	RW	5-11/180	18-Jun-04	Belarus	Saskatoon (WHL)	53-40-36-76
116	Will Vote	RW	5-8/155	22-Feb-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	60-16-29-45
117	Brandon Svoboda	C	6-3/210	4-Feb-05	USA	Youngstown (USHL)	59-16-10-26
118	Axel Landen	D	6-1/185	29-Mar-05	Sweden	HV 71 (Swe J20)	44-10-6-16
119	Alexander Hellnemo	G	6-2/180	5-Jan-04	Sweden	Skelleftea (Swe J20)	15-8, 2.32, 0.916
120	Nikita Nedopyokin	C	5-10/185	22-Mar-05	Russia	SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (MHL)	37-14-18-32
121	Brady Cleveland	D	6-5/210	1-Apr-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	54-0-6-6
122	Ondrej Molnar	LW	5-10/170	8-Feb-05	Slovakia	Erie (OHL)	34-4-15-19
123	Noah Dower Nilsson	LW	6-0/175	25-Apr-05	Sweden	Frolunda (Swe J20)	37-26-28-54
124	Jordan Tourigny	D	5-10/165	28-Feb-05	Canada	Shawinigan (QMJHL)	67-6-35-41
125	Cole Knuble	C	5-11/175	1-Jul-04	USA	Fargo (USHL)	57-30-36-66
126	Erik Pahlsson	C	6-0/170	9-Apr-04	Sweden	HV 71 (Swe J20)	46-26-37-63
127	Eric Pohlkamp	D	5-10/200	23-Mar-04	USA	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	59-16-35-51
128	Dylan MacKinnon	D	6-1/185	12-Jan-05	Canada	Halifax (QMJHL)	61-6-17-23
129	German Tochilkin	LW	6-2/180	24-Sep-03	Russia	Kunlun Red Star (KHL)	21-4-2-6
130	Jake Fisher	C	6-1/180	27-Mar-05	USA	Cretin-Durham Hall (USHS-MN)	29-34-29-63
131	Damian Clara	G	6-6/215	13-Jan-05	Italy	Farjestads (Swe J20)	17-17, 2.79, 0.903
132	Aiden Fink	RW	5-9/155	24-Nov-04	Canada	Brooks (AJHL)	54-41-56-97
133	Bogdan Konyushkov	D	5-11/175	20-Dec-02	Russia	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	64-2-23-25
134	Yegor Zavragin	G	6-2/185	23-Aug-05	Russia	Mamonty Yugry (MHL)	11-6, 2.49, 0.920
135	Ty Halaburda	C	5-11/175	22-Apr-05	Canada	Vancouver (WHL)	66-21-16-37
136	Cole Burbidge	LW	6-1/160	26-Aug-05	Canada	Saint John (QMJHL)	68-19-31-50
137	Daniil Karpovich	D	6-3/210	6-Dec-04	Belarus	Avto Yekaterinburg (MHL)	47-10-25-35
138	Andrei Loshko	C	6-1/175	7-Oct-04	Belarus	Chicoutimi (QMJHL)	67-22-48-70
139	Beckett Hendrickson	C	6-1/175	24-Jun-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	51-13-21-34
140	Alex Pharand	C	6-3/205	1-May-05	Canada	Sudbury (OHL)	67-18-21-39
141	Zeb Forsfjall	C	5-9/170	16-Jan-05	Sweden	Skelleftea (Swe J20)	34-8-14-22
142	Joe Connor	C	5-9/170	31-Mar-05	USA	Avon Old Farms (USHS-CT)	28-21-23-44
143	Samuel Urban	G	6-1/195	1-May-05	Slovakia	Team Slovakia U18 (Svk2)	1-13, 4.51, 0.897
144	Mazden Leslie	D	6-0/195	15-Apr-05	Canada	Vancouver (WHL)	66-12-38-50
145	Maxim Fedotov	D	5-10/170	22-Jan-02	Russia	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	64-9-17-26
146	Joey Willis	C	5-10/170	14-Mar-05	USA	Saginaw (OHL)	68-15-29-44
147	Artyom Kashtanov	C	6-6/190	9-Dec-04	Russia	Avto Yekaterinburg (MHL)	43-15-25-40
148	Angus MacDonell	C	5-9/180	11-May-05	Canada	Sar-Mis (OHL)	64-29-12-41
149	Konstantin Volochko	D	6-0/170	19-Jun-05	Belarus	Dinamo-Shinnik Bobruysk (MHL)	46-8-12-20
150	Hannes Hellberg	LW	6-0/175	19-Jun-05	Sweden	Leksands (Swe J20)	42-34-23-57
151	Carsen Musser	G	6-4/215	19-May-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	14-6, 3.07, 0.890
152	Yaroslav Tsulygin	D	6-0/160	19-May-05	Russia	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)	44-0-2-2
153	Thomas Milic	G	6-0/180	14-Apr-03	Canada	Seattle (WHL)	27-3, 2.08, 0.928
154	Arno Tiefensee	G	6-4/190	1-May-02	Germany	Adler Mannheim (DEL)	13-10, 2.43, 0.910
155	Quinn Mantei	D	5-11/180	23-Apr-05	Canada	Brandon (WHL)	67-2-23-25
156	Matthew Soto	RW	5-10/180	31-Aug-05	Canada	Kingston (OHL)	54-15-27-42
157	Matt Copponi	C	5-10/165	3-Jun-03	USA	Merrimack (HE)	37-14-15-29
158	Vojtech Port	D	6-2/170	3-Aug-05	Czech	RD-Edm (WHL)	48-4-13-17
159	Michael DeAngelo	LW	5-11/180	19-Nov-04	USA	Green Bay (USHL)	52-11-24-35
160	Matteo Mann	D	6-5/225	31-Dec-04	Canada	Chicoutimi (QMJHL)	45-0-5-5
161	Paul Fischer	D	6-1/190	30-Jan-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	55-4-17-21
162	Hudson Malinoski	C	6-0/175	19-May-04	Canada	Brooks (AJHL)	44-16-53-69
163	Brad Gardiner	C	6-0/180	6-Mar-05	Canada	Ottawa (OHL)	68-19-20-39
164	Zaccharya Wisdom	RW	6-0/175	29-Apr-04	Canada	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	59-28-20-48
165	Jonathan Castagna	C	6-1/185	20-Apr-05	Canada	St. Andrew's (CHS-O)	50-29-43-72
166	Tanner Adams	RW	5-11/185	2-Sep-05	USA	Tri-City (USHL)	49-12-21-33
167	Grayden Siepmann	D	5-10/185	26-May-04	Canada	Calgary (WHL)	61-9-34-43
168	Axel Hurtig	D	6-3/200	10-Jun-05	Sweden	Rogle (Swe J20)	34-2-6-8
169	Ian Scherzer	C	6-0/180	3-Jul-05	Austria	Rogle (Swe J20)	30-3-4-7
170	Ryan Conmy	RW	5-9/190	23-Oct-04	USA	Sioux City (USHL)	60-33-29-62
171	Ethan Hay	C	6-1/190	15-Jan-05	Canada	Flint (OHL)	64-17-11-28
172	Rodwin Dionicio	D	6-2/205	30-Mar-04	Switzerland	Nia-Wsr (OHL)	50-15-35-50
173	Josh Van Mulligen	D	6-2/180	26-Jul-05	Canada	Medicine Hat (WHL)	68-1-8-9
174	Nikita Ishimnikov	D	6-3/195	21-Apr-05	Russia	Avto Yekaterinburg (MHL)	41-11-7-18
175	Justin Kipkie	D	6-4/190	28-Jul-05	Canada	Victoria (WHL)	67-8-25-33
176	Sawyer Mynio	D	6-1/175	30-Apr-05	Canada	Seattle (WHL)	68-5-26-31
177	Brady Stonehouse	RW	5-9/180	6-Aug-04	Canada	Ottawa (OHL)	68-37-20-57
178	Hunter Anderson	LW	5-9/175	28-Apr-05	USA	Shattuck-SM (USHS-MN)	48-52-47-99
179	Spencer Sova	D	6-0/185	10-Jan-04	Canada	Erie (OHL)	68-16-23-39
180	Oliver Tulk	C	5-7/170	19-Jan-05	Canada	Calgary (WHL)	68-24-36-60
181	Isac Born	C	5-11/165	7-Jul-04	Sweden	Frolunda (SHL)	36-2-3-5
182	Beau Jelsma	C	5-9/175	28-Apr-04	Canada	Barrie (OHL)	67-31-30-61
183	Carmelo Crandell	RW	5-11/170	2-Mar-05	Canada	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	49-17-37-54
184	Stanislav Yarovoy	LW	6-2/195	26-Aug-03	Russia	Vityaz Moscow Region (KHL)	45-9-7-16
185	Elliot Stahlberg	LW	6-0/185	29-Mar-05	Sweden	Farjestads (Swe J20)	35-9-12-21
186	Ivan Anoshko	C	5-11/170	7-Oct-04	Belarus	Dinamo-Shinnik Bobruysk (MHL)	53-21-32-53
187	Jake Livanavage	D	5-10/175	6-May-04	USA	Chicago (USHL)	48-6-30-36
188	Adrian Carnebo	D	6-2/185	1-May-04	Sweden	Djurgardens (Swe J20)	43-7-28-35
189	Jaden Lipinski	C	6-3/205	2-Dec-04	USA	Vancouver (WHL)	66-19-32-51
190	Ian Blomquist	G	6-2/185	29-Mar-03	Sweden	Vasteras (HockeyAllsvenskan)	4-11, 2.97, 0.904
191	Emil Pieniniemi	D	6-2/170	2-Mar-05	Finland	Karpat (Fin-U20)	31-1-12-13
192	Oskar Asplund	D	5-11/175	18-Nov-03	Sweden	Almtuna (HockeyAllsvenskan)	49-6-24-30
193	Daniil Davydov	C	5-11/165	6-Mar-04	Russia	MHK Dynamo St. Petersburg (MHL)	47-11-35-46
194	Victor Sjoholm	D	5-9/175	8-Jul-03	Sweden	HV 71 (Swe J20)	37-2-8-10
195	Aron Jessli	LW	5-11/185	29-Oct-04	Norway	Pickering (OJHL)	52-25-43-68
196	Adam Dybal	G	6-1/165	2-Sep-05	Czech	Karlovy Vary (Czechia U20)	29-15, 1.85, 0.942
197	Jonathan Fauchon	C	5-10/170	13-Jan-04	Canada	Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)	53-25-40-65
198	Luke Mittelstadt	D	5-11/175	22-Jan-03	USA	Minnesota (B1G)	38-5-16-21
199	Owen Beckner	C	6-1/175	27-Feb-05	Canada	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	53-17-33-50
200	Ilya Kanarsky	G	6-2/165	6-Dec-04	Russia	AKM-Junior Tula Region (MHL)	4-19, 3.59, 0.919
201	Braeden Bowman	RW	6-1/205	26-Jun-03	Canada	Guelph (OHL)	54-33-39-72
202	Luke Coughlin	D	5-9/170	11-Apr-05	Canada	Rimouski (QMJHL)	37-5-14-19
203	Norwin Panocha	D	6-1/185	24-Feb-05	Germany	Eisbaren Juniors Berlin (DNL U20)	34-6-16-22
204	Cole Brown	LW	6-2/180	27-Apr-05	Canada	Hamilton (OHL)	60-17-25-42
205	Tomas Suchanek	G	6-0/180	30-Apr-03	Czech	Tri-City (WHL)	27-14, 3.05, 0.912
206	Vadim Moroz	RW	6-2/185	20-Nov-03	Belarus	Dinamo Minsk (KHL)	39-5-9-14
207	Davis Burnside	RW	5-11/175	22-Sep-03	USA	Ohio State (B1G)	40-14-7-21
208	Maros Jedlicka	C	6-1/185	23-Oct-02	Slovakia	HKM Zvolen (Slovakia)	39-17-18-35
209	Gavyn Thoreson	RW	5-8/180	30-Oct-04	USA	Andover High (USHS-MN)	31-41-56-97
210	Austin Burnevik	RW	6-3/200	3-Jan-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	43-6-13-19
211	Elmeri Laakso	D	6-1/185	19-Jul-04	Finland	SaiPa (Fin-Liiga)	32-4-7-11
212	Frantisek Dej	C	6-4/200	28-Feb-05	Slovakia	HC Modre Kridla Slovan (Slovakia2)	24-8-13-21
213	Matvei Maximov	C	6-0/175	18-Jan-05	Russia	MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)	48-18-19-37
214	Connor Levis	RW	6-1/190	5-Oct-04	Canada	Kamloops (WHL)	68-27-40-67
215	Teddy Townsend	C	5-10/160	2-Sep-05	USA	Eden Prairie (USHS-MN)	27-14-25-39
216	Petter Vesterheim	C	5-11/165	30-Sep-04	Norway	Mora (Swe J20)	41-12-27-39
217	Justin Gill	C	6-1/190	27-Jan-03	Canada	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	68-44-49-93
218	Alex Weiermair	C	6-0/190	10-May-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	55-11-15-26
219	Jan Sprynar	RW	6-1/175	26-Feb-05	Czech	Rimouski (QMJHL)	60-23-17-40
220	Ty Higgins	D	6-0/185	26-Sep-04	Canada	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	68-13-28-41
221	Tom Leppa	C	6-0/175	31-Jul-05	Finland	Jokerit (Fin-U20)	45-19-12-31
222	Aaron Pionk	D	6-1/175	16-Jan-03	USA	Waterloo (USHL)	60-12-24-36
223	Hampton Slukynsky	G	6-1/180	2-Jul-05	USA	Warroad (USHS-MN)	28-1, 1.47, 0.941
224	Noah Erliden	G	5-10/170	9-Sep-05	Sweden	HV71 (Swe J20)	10-8, 2.93, 0.912
HM	Matthew Andonovski	D	6-1/200	14-Mar-05	Canada	Kitchener (OHL)	67-0-16-16
HM	Gleb Artsatbanov	G	6-2/170	2-Mar-04	Ukraine	Sparta Praha (Czechia U20)	13-10, 1.95, 0.938
HM	Cale Ashcroft	D	5-10/200	5-Aug-04	Canada	Tri-City (USHL)	62-8-29-37
HM	Alex Assadourian	LW	5-8/170	24-Jul-05	Canada	Sby-Nia (OHL)	66-12-29-41
HM	Arvid Bergstrom	D	5-11/160	12-Jun-05	Sweden	Djurgardens (Swe J20)	41-2-21-23
HM	Kevin Bicker	LW	6-0/175	29-Jan-05	Germany	Jungadler Mannheim (DNL U20)	20-10-11-21
HM	Philippe Blais-Savoie	D	6-0/185	10-Jun-05	USA	Tri-City (USHL)	61-2-9-11
HM	Linus Brandl	C	5-11/185	1-Apr-05	Germany	Jungadler Mannheim (DNL U20)	32-25-22-47
HM	Finn Brink	LW	5-9/180	6-Apr-05	USA	Maple Grove (USHS-MN)	31-31-38-69
HM	Yaroslav Busygin	D	6-3/185	14-Feb-03	Russia	Vityaz Moscow Region (KHL)	42-1-2-3
HM	Kalle Carlsson	C	6-0/175	2-Mar-05	Sweden	Orebro (Swe J20)	44-11-24-35
HM	Adam Cedzo	RW	5-10/165	23-Feb-05	Slovakia	HC Ocelari Trinec (Czechia U20)	39-23-23-46
HM	Aiden Celebrini	D	6-1/185	26-Oct-04	Canada	Brooks (AJHL)	47-5-16-21
HM	Andon Cerbone	C	5-8/150	13-Apr-04	USA	Oma-Yng (USHL)	64-24-39-63
HM	Chase Cheslock	D	6-3/210	25-Oct-04	USA	Rogers High (USHS-MN)	28-4-27-31
HM	Sam Court	D	5-10/180	7-Jan-04	Canada	Brooks (AJHL)	52-13-59-72
HM	Adam Csabi	LW	5-10/160	17-Feb-05	Czech	SaiPa (Fin-U18)	28-16-15-31
HM	Nathaniel Davis	D	6-1/185	15-Nov-04	Canada	Burlington (OJHL)	45-10-26-36
HM	Nathan Day	G	6-2/180	4-Feb-05	Canada	Flint (OHL)	17-10, 3.91, 0.874
HM	Kocha Delic	C	5-10/185	11-Mar-04	Canada	Sudbury (OHL)	46-22-30-52
HM	Tyler Duke	D	5-8/180	19-Jul-04	USA	Ohio State (B1G)	40-4-8-12
HM	Filip Eriksson	C	6-0/170	5-Nov-04	Sweden	Vaxjo Lakers (Swe J20)	11-5-5-10
HM	Jiri Felcman	C	6-4/190	17-Apr-05	Czech	Langnau U20 (Sui-U20-Elit)	40-10-21-31
HM	Samuel Fiala	C	6-1/170	9-Apr-05	Czech	Bili Tygri Liberec (Czechia U20)	44-19-9-28
HM	Mans Forsfjall	D	6-0/180	30-Jul-02	Sweden	Skelleftea (SHL)	52-2-12-14
HM	Cooper Foster	C	5-11/170	4-Jun-05	Canada	Ottawa (OHL)	63-19-17-36
HM	Salvatore Guzzo	RW	6-0/185	17-Apr-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	58-17-11-28
HM	Michael Hagens	D	5-11/170	18-Feb-05	USA	Chicago (USHL)	60-9-17-26
HM	Sam Harris	LW	5-11/190	14-Oct-03	USA	Sioux Falls (USHL)	56-30-26-56
HM	Jack Harvey	C	5-10/175	31-Mar-03	USA	Chicago (USHL)	62-40-34-74
HM	Bogdans Hodass	D	6-2/200	13-Apr-03	Latvia	Medicine Hat (WHL)	56-11-24-35
HM	Ryan Hopkins	D	6-1/180	15-Apr-04	Canada	Penticton (BCHL)	48-10-39-49
HM	Ewan Huet	G	6-0/170	8-Feb-05	Switzerland	Lausanne (Sui U20-Elit)	14-12, 2.73
HM	Gustaf Kangas	C	6-0/175	27-Jul-05	Sweden	Vasteras (Swe J20)	27-7-13-20
HM	Sean Keohane	D	6-3/180	4-Nov-04	USA	Dexter Southfield(USHS-MA)	32-4-12-16
HM	Oiva Keskinen	C	6-0/175	28-Feb-04	Finland	Tappara (Fin-U20)	38-20-21-41
HM	Ruslan Khazheyev	G	6-4/200	20-Nov-04	Russia	Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk (MHL)	8-8, 2.38, 0.923
HM	Matteo Koci	D	6-0/165	7-Jun-05	Czech	HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czechia U20)	36-7-13-20
HM	Ryan Koering	D	6-3/185	11-Feb-05	USA	Eden Prairie (USHS-MN)	27-6-10-16
HM	Cameron Korpi	G	6-2/150	26-May-04	USA	Tri-City (USHL)	13-4, 2.52, 0.911
HM	Sergei Kosovets	D	6-5/250	17-Jul-02	Russia	HK Sochi (KHL)	26-2-2-4
HM	Artyom Kudashov	D	6-0/160	10-Jan-05	Russia	MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)	42-2-7-9
HM	Roman Kukumberg	LW	6-0/185	21-Mar-05	Slovakia	HC Modre Kridla Slovan (Slovakia2)	33-5-6-11
HM	Emil Kuusla	LW	5-9/165	11-Jan-05	Finland	Jokerit (Fin-U20)	36-18-17-35
HM	Jani Lampinen	G	6-2/185	14-Feb-03	Finland	Kiekko-Espoo (Fin-Mestis)	15-6, 2.35, 0.902
HM	Charles-Alexis Legault	D	6-3/205	5-Sep-03	Canada	Quinnipiac (ECAC)	40-2-7-9
HM	Aiden Long	LW	6-3/190	13-Mar-05	Canada	Whitecourt (AJHL)	50-19-27-46
HM	Connor MacPherson	RW	6-0/170	2-Mar-05	Canada	Leamington (GOJHL)	43-28-35-63
HM	Matthew Mayich	D	6-2/185	21-Dec-04	Canada	Ottawa (OHL)	64-5-17-22
HM	Donovan McCoy	D	6-0/200	11-Oct-04	Canada	Peterborough (OHL)	65-2-11-13
HM	Cole Miller	C	6-4/175	4-Feb-05	Canada	Edmonton (WHL)	61-10-9-19
HM	Lucas Moore	D	5-9/180	7-Jun-05	Canada	Hamilton (OHL)	65-3-25-28
HM	Josh Nadeau	RW	5-7/145	22-Oct-03	Canada	Penticton (BCHL)	54-44-66-110
HM	Alexei Noskov	G	6-2/205	13-Nov-04	Russia	Taifun Primorsky Krai (MHL)	7-26, 3.86, 0.905
HM	Owen Outwater	LW	6-2/160	4-Jan-05	Canada	Kingston (OHL)	62-16-25-41
HM	Joe Palodichuk	D	6-0/165	26-Feb-03	USA	Fargo (USHL)	44-8-21-29
HM	Petr Pavelec	LW	6-0/200	10-Feb-05	Czech	HC Vitkovice (Czechia U20)	46-8-5-13
HM	Oliver Peer	RW	6-0/165	9-Mar-03	Canada	Windsor (OHL)	63-22-45-67
HM	Chris Pelosi	C	6-1/180	6-Mar-05	USA	Sioux Falls (USHL)	43-13-6-19
HM	Matthew Perkins	LW	5-11/175	21-Jan-04	Canada	Youngstown (USHL)	60-15-29-44
HM	Nico Pertuch	G	6-2/200	29-Jul-05	Germany	EV Landshut (DNL U20)	15GP, 3.57
HM	Dominik Petr	C	6-2/165	30-Apr-05	Czech	Lukko (Fin-U20)	18-1-0-1
HM	Chase Pietila	D	6-1/180	3-Mar-04	USA	Youngstown (USHL)	60-7-29-36
HM	Chase Pirtle	RW	6-2/185	8-Mar-05	USA	Mount St. Charles 18U AAA (USHS-RI)	47-20-24-44
HM	Benjamin Poitras	C	5-10/175	18-Jul-05	Canada	Sioux City (USHL)	61-14-24-38
HM	Connor Punnett	D	6-1/200	16-Jun-03	Canada	Barrie (OHL)	66-14-34-48
HM	Ivan Remezovsky	D	6-1/165	8-Feb-05	Russia	SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (MHL)	45-0-13-13
HM	Charlie Robertson	G	6-3/165	2-Apr-05	Canada	North Bay (OHL)	12-6, 3.17, 0.892
HM	Pier-Olivier Roy	D	5-9/175	5-Mar-04	Canada	Victoriaville (QMJHL)	68-6-62-68
HM	Rainers Rullers	C	6-4/195	11-Dec-04	Latvia	Zemgale (Fin-Mestis)	46-4-6-10
HM	Bennett Schimek	RW	5-11/180	15-Apr-03	USA	Providence (HE)	37-11-9-20
HM	Zach Schulz	D	6-1/195	14-Jun-05	USA	USN U18 (USDP)	51-1-9-10
HM	Magomed Sharakanov	D	6-1/200	11-Oct-04	Russia	MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)	44-7-25-32
HM	Cam Squires	RW	5-11/165	11-Apr-05	Canada	Cape Breton (QMJHL)	67-30-34-64
HM	Julius Sumpf	C	6-1/175	11-Jan-05	Germany	RB Hockey Juniors (AlpsHL)	23-9-9-18
HM	Alexander Suvorov	RW	5-9/160	30-Nov-02	Belarus	Severstal Cherepovets (KHL)	47-13-11-24
HM	Gabriel Szturc	C	5-11/185	24-Sep-03	Czech	Kelowna (WHL)	56-24-55-79
HM	Nikita Telegin	C	6-1/155	21-Jun-05	Russia	Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk (MHL)	22-6-4-10
HM	Patrick Thomas	C	5-11/160	21-Aug-04	Canada	Hamilton (OHL)	66-17-39-56
HM	Hudson Thornton	D	5-11/180	4-Nov-03	Canada	Prince George (WHL)	68-23-51-74
HM	Jiri Tichacek	D	5-9/170	30-Jan-03	Czech	Rytiri Kladno (Czechia)	39-0-6-6
HM	Djibril Toure	D	6-6/200	5-Jun-03	Canada	Sudbury (OHL)	57-5-11-16
HM	Tuomas Uronen	RW	5-11/180	19-Mar-05	Finland	HIFK (Fin-U20)	39-20-23-43
HM	Noa Vali	G	6-0/160	19-Apr-05	Finland	TPS (Fin-U20)	17-8, 2.38, 0.912
HM	Nicholas Vantassell	RW	6-4/195	18-Apr-04	USA	Green Bay (USHL)	62-19-18-37
HM	Visa Vedenpaa	G	6-2/170	11-May-05	Finland	Karpat (Fin-U20)	31GP, 0.886
HM	Evgeny Volokhin	G	6-3/170	6-Apr-05	Russia	Mamonty Yugry (MHL)	20-6, 2.12, 0.927
HM	Declan Waddick	C	5-10/170	24-Jan-05	Canada	Niagara (OHL)	64-28-21-49
HM	Saige Weinstein	D	6-0/180	30-May-05	Canada	Spokane (WHL)	57-4-14-18
HM	Ethan Whitcomb	LW	6-4/190	13-May-04	Canada	Muskegon (USHL)	53-24-24-48
HM	Raul Yakupov	RW	6-1/180	21-Jun-04	Russia	Reaktor Nizhnekamsk (MHL)	49-32-29-61

2023 NHL DRAFT: SLOVAKIA/USHL – Martin Mišiak, RW/C, Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)/HC Nové Zámky (Slovak Extraliga) – Scouting Report/Video Review

Matej Deraj — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 14:51:34 +0000

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA - JANUARY 2: Slovakia's Martin Misiak #23 skates with the puck while Canada’s Brandt Clarke #5 defends during Quarterfinal Round action at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship at Scotiabank Centre on January 2, 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Photo by Matt Zambonin/IIHF)

Martin Mišiak

2023 NHL Draft eligible

Position: RW/C, Shoots: L

H/W: 6´2“, 198 lbs

Date of Birth: 2004-09-30

Stats to Date: 27 GP, 6 G, 11 A, 17 PTS, 26 PIM (Youngstown Phantoms, USHL), 29 GP, 1 G, 9 A, 10 PTS, 10 PIM (HC Nové Zámky, Slovak Extraliga)

Mišiak started the year with HC Nové Zámky in the Slovak top tier league. However, his second season at the highest men´s level in Slovakia didn't go as planned, therefore he decided to make the move to the USHL. He left for the Youngstown Phantoms after the World Juniors and spent the remainder of the season in the United States Hockey League.

Mišiak mainly played on the right wing throughout his professional career in Slovakia, but he has also been tried at center in the USHL. He is a versatile forward able to play all three positions, but he projects best on the wing. A big bodied (6´2”, 198 lbs) forward with a decent frame, Misiak’s game has changed since coming to North America. It's not impossible he´ll become a true power forward at some point of his career as he has the right attitude, doesn´t mind an aggressive game, finishes his checks, and goes to the net.

All in all, Mišiak is indeed an interesting forward. He doesn't have a true weakness to his game, his frame, solid skating, soft hands and improved defense make him a player with a relatively safe floor. He may not have the explosive offense needed to be a true top-six forward, but he might become a solid middle-six winger at the NHL level. He has been labelled as underrated in recent years, since his numbers don´t scream great production, but his potential is clear. He was the #75 on our board in our mid-season rankings at McKeen´s Hockey and could find himself in a similar position in our final rankings.

Skating

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skating_clip1.mp4

Mišiak has a quick first step and is able to gain a decent speed with only a few strides, as it's shown in this clip. He´s hovering around the blue-line and waiting for an opportunity to get the puck. When an opposing defenseman takes the pass, Mišiak quickly puts pressure on him thanks to his quick feet and tries to steal the puck. His attempt is successful, since the defenseman makes a mistake and the puck gets loose. Mišiak retrieves it and immediately sends it towards the goal, but to no luck.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skating_clip2.mp4

Mišiak has a smooth skating style and is able to control the puck even at high speed. In this clip, he's able to take the puck from his own zone to the net in a couple of seconds. He might take too many short steps, but overall, he's quite mobile and shifty.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skating_clip3.mp4

There are clear signs of improvement in Mišiak´s skating style, as it's shown in this recent clip from the USHL. Mišiak is able to change directions quickly and easily and creates space for himself. This play ends up in drawing a penalty. The Slovak forward still does have room for improvement, mainly in terms of his top speed, but his skating is definitely above-average and one of his best traits.

Grade: 55

Shot

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_shot_clip1.mp4

Mišiak has a dangerous shot. He possesses a quick release, which makes him a solid power-play threat. His wrister is heavy and can surprise a goalie, but his shooting talent is not enough to be thought of as a future regular scorer at the NHL level. He doesn't have the accuracy to be a primary shooting threat on his team, the space selection should be better too. He does have the tendency to shoot from ineffective areas.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_shot_clip-2.mp4

The quickness of his release is definitely something Mišiak can build on. He's able to score from unexpected places due to his rapid shot. In this clip, Mišiak is not in a good spot to score from, he's turned away from the goal, but takes the puck and quickly shoots it at the net. The goalie doesn't respond so quickly and the puck ends up in the net.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_shot_clip-3.mp4

Nonetheless, he shoots a lot and has the confidence to finish plays on his own. Just like in this clip, Mišiak doesn´t even think of slowing the play or passing to a teammate. He doesn´t hesitate and shoots the puck, but doesn´t score.

Grade: 50

Skills

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skills_clip1.mp4

Mišiak has extremely soft hands and he doesn't mind getting flashy at all. In this clip, he retrieves the puck in the neutral zone, speeds up to skate away from the returning defensemen and finishes the breakaway with a nasty move. For such a well-built player, Mišiak is surprisingly skilled and likes to keep the puck on his stick.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skills_clip-2.mp4

This is another example of Mišiak´s silky hands as he scores a game-winning shootout goal with a brilliant move that requires extreme patience and skill.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skills_clip-3.mp4

He has quick hands and decent hand-eye coordination, which make him a solid option to tip the pucks into the net. As in this clip, he seems to be muscled out of position at first, but finds his way to tip the shot from the blue-line and scores. He works well in front of the net and already scored a couple of goals in the same way.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skills_clip-4.mp4

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skills_clip-5.mp4

Mišiak is not afraid of unexpected solutions and has a lot of confidence with the puck on his stick. As in this clip, he makes two quick turns to confuse the opposing player behind the net and gains the advantage of a few steps on him as a result.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_skills_clip-6.mp4

Once again, Mišiak avoids losing the puck with a surprising move. He escapes the pressure well at the blue line, protects the puck and sends it to an open teammate with an impressive pass between his opponent's legs.

Grade: 55

Smarts

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_smarts_clip1.mp4

Mišiak can be really sneaky and appear in a good shooting position out of nowhere. Just like in this clip, he sends a pass to his teammate behind the net and seemingly stays away from the play, but quickly realizes the mistake the defensemen made and skates into a great shooting position. However, he receives a pass that's far from perfect, therefore, he doesn't capitalize.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_smarts_clip2.mp4

He's started to play a simpler game in the USHL and sends the pucks away quicker, as he doesn't have as much time at the smaller ice. Nevertheless, Mišiak does like to keep the puck on his stick way too much from time to time. He was also guilty of being overconfident or not engaged enough. In this clip, he appears a bit sloppy while taking the puck behind his own net and doesn´t see the forechecking players as a threat. This appears to be a mistake and as a result, he loses the puck in a dangerous spot. He doesn't have a superb vision or passing game, yet it's not necessarily a weakness of his either.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_smarts_clip3.mp4

Even though he used to be a pure-offense forward, he has become a more balanced player, able to play a two-way game and kill penalties. He´s mainly valuable in short-handed situations due to two of his main strengths; forechecking ability and puck control. Both traits are on display in this clip. Mišiak puts pressure on the opposing players, who make a mistake and lose the puck. Mišiak quickly retrieves it, holds it for a couple of seconds and passes it to a teammate who can clear it.

Grade: 50

Physicality/Compete

Mišiak has a decent frame (6´2”, 198 lbs) for such a young player and can be used as a net-front presence to screen the goalie. He´s improved his physical play immensely in recent years and uses his body well. He's more active on the forecheck, finishes his checks and doesn´t mind throwing his body around to deliver solid hits.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_physicality_clip1.mp4

He's a decent forechecker and doesn´t mind playing aggressively. This is a textbook Mišiak play; he attacks the defenseman in the offensive zone, steals the puck from him and shows his great frame and power along the boards, as he withstands the pressure from another defenseman. Mišiak shows his great control, he keeps the puck on his stick and does not allow it to be stripped away from him. He ends his shift with a pass to a teammate at the blue line.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_physicality_clip-2.mp4

Mišiak´s improvement in the physical area of his game has been on display even more in the USHL. The North American style of play suits him well, he is used to playing quick and doesn´t mind a more intense game. Mišiak´s frame allows him to throw clean and solid hits. He uses his body well to strip the opponent from the puck in this clip. He's also able to take the hit and it can be quite gruelling to beat him in a board battle.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/martin_misiak_physicality_clip-3.mp4

Mišiak has the potential to be a solid physical forward. On the other hand, he needs to control his temper and stay away from taking unnecessary penalties. He's still a young forward who will learn to use his body more and more efficiently as he grows older and gains the valuable experience. In this clip, Mišiak takes a penalty he should avoid taking; he hits a guy who´s in a vulnerable position in the numbers while at a high speed. He made a couple more dangerous hits/boardings in the USHL as well, so there's definitely room for improvement.

Grade: 55

OFP: 53

A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.

2023 NHL DRAFT: MCKEEN’S MID-SEASON TOP 100 RANKING (SUBSCRIBERS)

Brock Otten — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 18:05:54 +0000

Connor Bedard. Photo by Candice Ward.

Many important scouting events have come and gone, such as the World Junior Championships, the World Junior A Challenge, the Biosteel All American game, and the CHL Top Prospect’s Game. That means it is time for McKeen’s Hockey to update our draft rankings for the 2023 NHL draft. Back in November, we released our preliminary top 50 (found here). This time around, we have expanded our ranking to a top 100 (plus 20 honorable mentions).

The first round of this list continues to be dominated by the Western Hockey League. Four of our top ten and nine of our top 32 (first round graded) are WHL players. The United States has a very strong presence in our first round ranking too, with eight players playing south of the Canadian border.

Positionally, forwards continue to dominate the vast majority of our first-round spots, with only six defenders and two goaltenders bucking that trend. Of particular interest, we do not have a defender ranked inside of our Top 13. Is it possible that no defender is drafted inside of the top 10 in Nashville this June? According to our scouts…yes. However, it is also important to note that this is exceptionally rare. The last time no defender was taken inside of the Top 10 was 1983 (Bobby Dollas at 14th overall to Winnipeg)!

Several players made huge leaps upward in our midseason rankings. Among them are Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Dmitri Simashev, Oliver Bonk, David Reinbacher, and Quentin Musty. Leonard is a strong two-way goal scoring winger with an athletic skill set. Oliver Moore is one of the best skating forwards available this year and also plays a mature two-way game. Both have stood out positively of late for the U.S. NTDP. Dmitri Simashev is a massive defender who brings physicality and mobility, but who is also gaining confidence in his offensive abilities. Oliver Bonk has emerged as one of the top defensive defenders in the OHL; a fact that was on display at this year’s Top Prospect’s Game. David Reinbacher continues to perform well in Switzerland and was a standout for an overmatched Austrian squad at the WJC’s. All three defenders are surging up our rankings and could finish the year even higher with continued strong play. Meanwhile, Quentin Musty has played very well in Sudbury post coaching change and his upside remains extremely intriguing.

Without further ado, here is our Top 100 (with 20 honorable mentions):

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB	GP-G-A-PTS
1	Connor Bedard	C	Regina (WHL)	5-10/185	17-Jul-05	34-42-43-85
2	Adam Fantilli	C	Michigan (B1G)	6-2/195	12-Oct-04	22-16-24-40
3	Leo Carlsson	C	Orebro (SHL)	6-3/200	26-Dec-04	31-5-13-18
4	Matvei Michkov	RW	HK Sochi (KHL)	5-10/170	9-Dec-04	14-4-2-6
5	Will Smith	C	USN U18 (USDP)	6-0/175	17-Mar-05	36-28-41-69
6	Andrew Cristall	LW	Kelowna (WHL)	5-9/165	4-Feb-05	36-26-36-62
7	Zach Benson	LW	Winnipeg (WHL)	5-9/160	12-May-05	41-25-41-66
8	Nate Danielson	C	Brandon (WHL)	6-1/185	27-Sep-04	45-23-33-56
9	Eduard Sale	LW	Kometa Brno (Cze)	6-2/175	10-Mar-05	34-3-5-8
10	Dalibor Dvorsky	C	AIK (Allsvenskan)	6-1/200	15-Jun-05	27-4-7-11
11	Ryan Leonard	RW	USN U18 (USDP)	5-11/190	21-Jan-05	34-25-27-52
12	Oliver Moore	C	USN U18 (USDP)	5-11/185	22-Jan-05	37-21-26-47
13	Brayden Yager	C	Moose Jaw (WHL)	5-11/165	3-Jan-05	48-20-35-55
14	Dmitri Simashev	D	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	6-4/200	4-Feb-05	15-0-0-0
15	Colby Barlow	LW	Owen Sound (OHL)	6-0/195	14-Feb-05	42-36-27-63
16	Lukas Dragicevic	D	Tri-City (WHL)	6-1/190	25-Apr-05	44-13-42-55
17	Axel Sandin Pellikka	D	Skelleftea (SHL)	5-11/180	11-Mar-05	19-2-3-5
18	Mikhail Gulyayev	D	Avangard Omsk (KHL)	5-11/170	26-Apr-05	12-0-1-1
19	Daniil But	LW	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	6-5/200	15-Feb-05	12-1-0-1
20	Carson Bjarnason	G	Brandon (WHL)	6-3/185	30-Jun-05	17-14-2, 2.90, .911
21	Calum Ritchie	C	Oshawa (OHL)	6-2/185	21-Jan-05	43-19-25-44
22	Gavin Brindley	C	Michigan (B1G)	5-8/165	5-Oct-04	26-3-14-17
23	Gabe Perreault	RW	USN U18 (USDP)	5-11/165	7-May-05	39-35-41-76
24	Matthew Wood	RW	UConn (HE)	6-3/195	6-Feb-05	27-9-16-25
25	Riley Heidt	C	Prince George (WHL)	5-10/180	25-Mar-05	44-19-41-60
26	David Reinbacher	D	Kloten (Sui-NL)	6-2/185	25-Oct-04	36-2-17-19
27	Caden Price	D	Kelowna (WHL)	6-0/185	24-Aug-05	44-5-19-24
28	Ethan Gauthier	RW	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	5-11/175	26-Jan-05	45-17-32-49
29	Quentin Musty	LW	Sudbury (OHL)	6-2/200	6-Jul-05	32-12-36-48
30	Kasper Halttunen	LW	HIFK (Fin-Liiga)	6-3/205	7-Jun-05	24-0-1-1
31	Otto Stenberg	C	Frolunda (Swe J20)	5-11/180	29-May-05	23-8-12-20
32	Michael Hrabal	G	Omaha (USHL)	6-6/210	20-Jan-05	6-9-3, 3.18, .899
33	Samuel Honzek	LW	Vancouver (WHL)	6-3/185	12-Nov-04	31-17-26-43
34	Jayden Perron	RW	Chicago (USHL)	5-9/165	11-Jan-05	37-16-18-34
35	Carson Rehkopf	LW	Kitchener (OHL)	6-1/195	7-Jan-05	42-19-18-37
36	Roman Kantserov	RW	Stalnye Lisy (MHL)	5-9/175	20-Sep-04	38-21-22-43
37	Oliver Bonk	D	London (OHL)	6-2/175	9-Jan-05	43-9-19-28
38	Beau Akey	D	Barrie (OHL)	5-11/170	11-Feb-05	42-7-29-36
39	Timur Mukhanov	C	Omskie Krylia (VHL)	5-8/170	17-Jun-05	28-3-4-7
40	Koehn Ziemmer	RW	Prince George (WHL)	6-0/205	8-Dec-04	44-26-36-62
41	Bradly Nadeau	LW	Penticton (BCHL)	5-10/165	5-May-05	37-31-42-73
42	Tom Willander	D	Rogle (Swe J20)	6-1/180	9-Feb-05	30-4-15-19
43	Luca Pinelli	C	Ottawa (OHL)	5-8/165	5-Apr-05	44-20-27-47
44	William Whitelaw	RW	Youngstown (USHL)	5-9/170	5-Feb-05	35-20-15-35
45	Trey Augustine	G	USN U18 (USDP)	6-1/185	23-Feb-05	14-0-2, 2.29, .925
46	Theo Lindstein	D	Brynas (SHL)	6-0/180	5-Jan-05	19-1-1-2
47	Mathieu Cataford	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	5-11/185	1-Mar-05	45-22-31-53
48	Charlie Stramel	C	Wisconsin (B1G)	6-3/215	15-Oct-04	23-5-4-9
49	Kaden Hammell	D	Kam-Evt (WHL)	6-1/175	12-Mar-05	45-6-10-16
50	Alexander Rykov	RW	Chelmet Chelyabinsk (VHL)	5-11/170	14-Jul-05	20-4-7-11
51	Maxim Strbak	D	Sioux Falls (USHL)	6-1/205	13-Apr-05	29-5-10-15
52	Tanner Molendyk	D	Saskatoon (WHL)	5-11/185	3-Feb-05	43-6-19-25
53	Anton Wahlberg	C	Malmo (Swe J20)	6-3/195	4-Jul-05	32-14-13-27
54	Carey Terrance	C	Erie (OHL)	6-0/175	10-May-05	43-20-11-31
55	Cam Allen	D	Guelph (OHL)	6-0/195	7-Jan-05	39-4-15-19
56	Tyler Peddle	LW	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-0/195	28-Jan-05	45-18-13-31
57	Gracyn Sawchyn	C	Seattle (WHL)	5-11/160	19-Jan-05	43-15-32-47
58	Jesse Nurmi	LW	KooKoo (Fin-U20)	5-10/165	7-Mar-05	35-19-27-46
59	Carter Sotheran	D	Portland (WHL)	6-3/195	26-Jun-05	45-3-16-19
60	Nikita Susuyev	RW	MHK Spartak Moskva (MHL)	6-0/170	6-Feb-05	34-9-16-25
61	Aram Minnetian	D	USN U18 (USDP)	5-11/190	19-Mar-05	38-5-18-23
62	Arttu Karki	D	Tappara (Fin-U20)	6-1/175	8-Dec-04	30-12-22-34
63	Noah Dower Nilsson	LW	Frolunda (Swe J20)	6-0/175	25-Apr-05	26-24-21-45
64	Scott Ratzlaff	G	Seattle (WHL)	6-0/175	9-Mar-05	17-5-0, 2.26, .917
65	Andrew Strathmann	D	Youngstown (USHL)	5-10/190	27-Feb-05	29-2-23-25
66	Kalan Lind	LW	Red Deer (WHL)	6-0/160	25-Jan-05	41-15-27-42
67	Jesse Kiiskinen	RW	Pelicans (Fin-U20)	5-11/180	23-Aug-05	27-17-21-38
68	Etienne Morin	D	Moncton (QMJHL)	6-0/180	9-Mar-05	43-15-31-46
69	Coulson Pitre	RW	Flint (OHL)	6-0/170	13-Dec-04	41-19-22-41
70	Felix Nilsson	C	Rogle (Swe J20)	6-0/176	22-Jun-05	26-16-17-33
71	Hunter Brzustewicz	D	Kitchener (OHL)	5-11/185	29-Nov-04	42-3-30-33
72	Jakub Dvorak	D	Bili Tygri Liberec (Cze)	6-5/205	25-May-05	24-0-2-2
73	Andrew Gibson	D	Soo Greyhounds (OHL)	6-3/195	13-Feb-05	38-7-11-18
74	Ondrej Molnar	LW	Erie (OHL)	5-10/170	8-Feb-05	16-2-7-9
75	Martin Misiak	RW	Nove Zamky (Svk)	6-2/195	30-Sep-04	29-1-9-10
76	Luca Cagnoni	D	Portland (WHL)	5-9/180	21-Dec-04	44-12-34-46
77	Lenni Hameenaho	RW	Assat (Fin-Liiga)	6-0/175	7-Nov-04	35-5-10-15
78	Alex Ciernik	LW	Sodertalje (Swe J20)	5-11/175	8-Oct-04	11-7-7-14
79	Denver Barkey	C	London (OHL)	5-8/160	27-Apr-05	43-12-28-40
80	Oliver Tulk	C	Calgary (WHL)	5-7/170	19-Jan-05	46-19-22-41
81	Oscar Fisker Molgaard	C	HV 71 (SHL)	6-0/165	18-Feb-05	28-4-1-5
82	Matthew Mania	D	Sudbury (OHL)	6-1/180	11-Jan-05	43-7-18-25
83	Gavin McCarthy	D	Muskegon (USHL)	6-1/180	2-Jun-05	20-4-14-18
84	Noel Nordh	RW	Brynas (SHL)	6-3/195	25-Jan-05	10-1-0-1
85	Jacob Fowler	G	Youngstown (USHL)	6-1/215	24-Nov-04	13-6-3, 2.63, .914
86	Aydar Suniev	LW	Penticton (BCHL)	6-1/200	16-Nov-04	33-26-31-57
87	Emil Jarventie	LW	Ilves (Fin-U20)	5-9/165	4-Apr-05	21-8-11-19
88	Danny Nelson	C	USN U18 (USDP)	6-3/200	3-Aug-05	38-12-16-28
89	Yegor Klimovich	RW	Sibirskie Snaipery (MHL)	5-9/160	14-May-05	28-9-21-30
90	Adam Gajan	G	Green Bay (USHL)	6-2/165	6-May-04	5-1-0, 2.48, .906
91	Quinton Burns	D	Kingston (OHL)	6-1/180	14-Apr-05	36-1-20-21
92	Grayden Siepmann	D	Calgary (WHL)	5-10/185	26-May-04	45-8-27-35
93	Yegor Zavragin	G	Mamonty Yugry (MHL)	6-2/185	23-Aug-05	9-6-1, 2.55, .919
94	Owen Beckner	C	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	6-1/175	27-Feb-05	36-12-21-33
95	Aiden Fink	RW	Brooks (AJHL)	5-9/155	24-Nov-04	43-30-50-80
96	Matthew Soto	RW	Kingston (OHL)	5-10/180	31-Aug-05	44-13-22-35
97	Eric Pohlkamp	D	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	5-10/200	23-Mar-04	31-12-20-32
98	Nick Lardis	LW	Pbo-Ham (OHL)	5-10/165	8-Jul-05	41-21-16-35
99	Jayson Shaugabay	RW	Warroad (USHS-MN)	5-9/155	4-May-05	18-22-39-61
100	Brad Gardiner	C	Ottawa (OHL)	6-0/180	6-Mar-05	45-17-11-28
HM	Ethan Miedema	LW	Wsr-Kgn (OHL)	6-4/205	22-Mar-05	45-12-22-35
HM	Brady Cleveland	D	USN U18 (USDP)	6-5/210	1-Apr-05	34-0-5-5
HM	Joey Willis	C	Saginaw (OHL)	5-10/170	14-Mar-05	44-9-17-26
HM	Juraj Pekarcik	LW	Nitra (Svk)	6-1/185	12-Sep-05	26-0-3-3
HM	Spencer Sova	D	Erie (OHL)	6-0/185	10-Jan-04	44-14-17-31
HM	Zeb Forsfjall	C	Skelleftea (SHL)	5-9/170	16-Jan-05	10-1-0-1
HM	Kalle Carlsson	C	Orebro (Swe J20)	6-0/175	2-Mar-05	34-6-21-27
HM	David Edstrom	C	Frolunda (Swe J20)	6-3/185	18-Feb-05	22-10-12-22
HM	Felix Unger Sorum	RW	Leksands (Swe J20)	5-11/170	14-Sep-05	32-9-30-39
HM	Alex Pharand	C	Sudbury (OHL)	6-3/205	1-May-05	44-16-14-30
HM	Tuomas Uronen	RW	HIFK (Fin-U20)	5-11/180	19-Mar-05	31-13-19-32
HM	Tanner Adams	RW	Tri-City (USHL)	5-11/185	2-Sep-05	27-8-10-18
HM	Mazden Leslie	D	Vancouver (WHL)	6-0/195	15-Apr-05	45-8-25-33
HM	Juha Jatkola	G	KalPa (Fin-Liiga)	6-1/175	12-Sep-02	16-10-6, 2.14, .909
HM	Connor Levis	RW	Kamloops (WHL)	6-1/190	5-Oct-04	43-11-25-36
HM	Owen Outwater	LW	Kingston (OHL)	6-2/160	4-Jan-05	39-10-18-28
HM	Easton Cowan	RW	London (OHL)	5-10/170	20-May-05	44-12-17-29
HM	Rasmus Kumpulainen	C	Pelicans (Fin-U20)	6-2/190	8-Aug-05	36-11-20-31
HM	Emil Pieniniemi	D	Karpat (Fin-U20)	6-2/170	2-Mar-05	26-0-10-10
HM	Austin Roest	C	Everett (WHL)	5-9/175	22-Jan-04	46-26-35-61

2023 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: 2023 NHL Draft Eligible Prospects Performance

Derek Neumeier — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 19:34:35 +0000

221230 Leo Carlsson of Sweden during a practice session on December 30, 2022 in Halifax.
Photo: Simon Hastegård / BILDBYRÅN / kod SH / SH0393

Any good scout knows that you can't form your opinion about a prospect based solely on that player's performance in one tournament.

At the same time, however, that's not to say that tournament performances are without value. Not only do scouts get to watch prospects play multiple games within a short time frame, providing extended looks at their skills and tools, scouts also get to see how prospects respond and adapt to different situations. Some players see much less ice time than they usually receive on their club teams and might have to transition from a scoring role to a checking role. Other players, such as ones from the weaker hockey nations, might see their ice time and role increase due to a lack of depth and talent on their rosters. And almost all of them have to adjust in best-on-best tournaments, facing a higher quality and quantity of opponents than they are used to. These are useful tidbits of information that can help form a more well-rounded understanding of a player.

The 2023 World Juniors just wrapped up, and like most years it provided a special opportunity for scouts to watch and analyze the draft-eligible prospects who took part. This year's edition of the tournament was extra special in this regard, because not only did it feature the generational talent of young phenom and projected 2023 1st-overall pick Connor Bedard, but it also showcased the two players expected to go second and third immediately behind him, as well as a host of other top prospects who are sure to get picked in the first few rounds.

Let's take a look now at the biggest draft-eligible names from this past World Juniors, with some words about how they performed and whether that might have changed anything about their status in the eyes of scouts.

Connor Bedard, F, Canada

To put this obviously and bluntly: what Bedard accomplished at this year's World Juniors was special. Very, very special. We may never see another edition of this tournament where a 17-year-old comfortably runs away with the scoring race and is an undisputed no-brainer for MVP. You could feel the electricity every single time he touched the puck, and his teammates were more than happy to defer, stand back, and let the lethal sniper do his thing. His overtime game-winning, single-handed tally against Slovakia in the quarterfinals will be used in highlight reels for decades, and his goal against the U.S. in the high-stakes semis felt almost inevitable. The brighter the spotlight, the bigger Bedard performs, and any discussion about someone else possibly, maybe overtaking him for 1st overall in the 2023 draft has been firmly put to rest.

Adam Fantilli, F, Canada

Fantilli's overall performance in this tournament was a little disappointing, especially considering his longstanding profile as a top prospect for the 2023 draft. That's now two tournaments in a row where he has underperformed in relation to expectations, following the 2022 IIHF U18s first, and that comes as a surprise because he's been such a dominant player recently otherwise, first in the USHL and now in the NCAA. There were flashes of high-end play at the World Juniors, both with and without the puck, but they were fleeting, and he found himself being moved up and down the lineup as Canada tried to find more chemistry. In the gold-medal game he logged just 9:55 of ice time. Scouts surely would have loved to have seen more of the put-the-game-on-his-shoulders version of Fantilli that has popped up frequently elsewhere, but that won't dent his reputation much, if at all.

Leo Carlsson, F, Sweden

Sweden's offense came and went in spurts all tournament and disappeared in a crippling way against Czechia in the semifinals, but Carlsson was one of their most consistent generators from start to finish. There was never any shortage of poise when he had the puck on his stick, using his reach and hands to confidently open things up for his team in transition and in the cycle. He found great chemistry with 2022 San Jose Sharks 1st-rounder Filip Bystedt and had his best game in the thrilling come-from-behind victory against his nation's longtime rival, Finland, in the quarterfinals. While Bedard separated himself even further in the race to go 1^st overall in the 2023 draft, the competition for second between Fantilli and Carlsson certainly got a lot closer and a whole lot more interesting.

Axel Sandin Pellikka, D, Sweden

Sandin Pellikka's draft stock had already been rising heading into the World Juniors, and his play in the tournament likely bumped him even further up on a lot of teams' lists. Even though he was held to just one assist on the score sheet he was still an instrumental player for Sweden, using his sublime skating to aid with breakouts, zone entries and driving possession overall. There were times that he was overpowered physically and had some lapses defensively, but that's not uncommon or unexpected for an undersized 17-year-old blueliner in this event. His coaches never stopped trusting him all the way to the bitter end (a loss in the bronze-medal game against the U.S.), and that speaks volumes about his maturity and how well he played.

Eduard Šalé, F, Czechia

One prospect who left the tournament having raised more questions than answers is Šalé. On one hand, he showed up on the score sheet pretty regularly, with six points in seven games, including a huge primary assist in the championship contest. But on the other hand, he just didn't drive a lot of possession or consistently do very much with his puck touches, and he finished the event with only seven shots on net, despite receiving an abundance of ice time and playing on a scoring line. Even though Šalé is only 17 years old it would have been nice to see more from him at the World Juniors, especially since he had been up in the Czech pro league and playing against men all season beforehand.

Charlie Stramel, F, United States

Stramel's draft stock has fallen a lot since the start of the season, and while he's no longer a contender to get picked quite high in 2023 he did, nevertheless, reaffirm at the tournament that he's a solid player with something substantial to offer teams. The big center was asked to provide checking, energy and defensive services for the Americans, and in that specific role he certainly did his job, and did it well thanks primarily to the strength and power that he plays with. He can be a real force of nature to contain when he's at his best, which hasn't happened enough thus far in his freshmen NCAA season. The hope now is that the World Juniors provided a reset of sorts for him as he now returns to the struggling University of Wisconsin and tries to finish the year on a higher note than he started it with.

Gavin Brindley, F, United States

Brindley was playing at the top of his game in this event, consistently displaying the speed and relentless tenacity that have become his trademarks. He's the type of player who is impossible to miss or not notice because it seems like he's always flying around and getting involved in the play somehow, both offensively and defensively. He spent most of his time on a checking line, but regularly took extra shifts when his team needed a little extra spark, and kept creating offensive chances out of small windows of opportunity. When the puck dropped against Canada he was primed and ready for the bigger challenge, and picked up a beautiful assist early on. The more you watch him, the more it seems like the points are eventually due to start coming for him a lot more frequently. There's no doubt that some NHL scouts will bang the table for the opportunity to draft Brindley.

Trey Augustine, G, United Stated

It's not often that a 17-year-old is the best under-20 goalie in America, but Augustine more than proved himself worthy of being his nation's starter in this tournament. His composure and technical understanding of the position are both superb, giving off the impression of a much older and more experienced netminder. He did his job and held his own in the semifinal against Canada but got let down by defensive breakdowns in front of him. He then seemed to run out of gas in the firewagon bronze-medal game against Sweden, getting pulled after 40 minutes played and five goals allowed. Regardless, Augustine had a great showing here overall, and will undoubtedly get a lot closer looks from NHL teams heading towards the 2023 draft.

Dalibor Dvorský, F, Slovakia

Dvorský had a solid, albeit unspectacular, tournament. While he didn't do anything to really boost his draft stock, he probably didn't hurt it, either. He was consistently competitive as Slovakia's second-line center, never looking out of place against the competition and chipping in with good work all over the ice, but he just couldn't quite get himself uncorked offensively, at least not to the degree that has been seen from him elsewhere. However, given his youth and the relative lack of firepower on his team, it's hard to find too much here to actually fault him for. All 32 NHL teams would surely love to add Dvorský to their organizations, though there might still be a lot of variety in how strong the interest is from team to team.

Samuel Honzek, F, Slovakia

It's a real shame that Honzek suffered a tournament-ending leg injury in the round robin game against the United States, because he's been on a tear in the WHL all season and had some great moments in Slovakia's opening contest against Finland. It's also hard to not wonder if him being in the lineup could have been a tipping point and helped his nation complete the near upset over Canada in the quarters. He's estimated to miss four to six weeks of action as he recovers.

Maxim Štrbák, D, Slovakia

If you watched much of Slovakia's tournament it was impossible to not come away impressed with Štrbák. Outgunned and outmatched, the Slovakian coaches kept throwing the 17-year-old defender into the heat of battle, and no matter how many bumps and bruises he accumulated he still kept coming back out, ready for more action. He did an admirable job of managing and moving the puck in all three zones and while going head to head against the best opponents, and when the play broke down around him and the pressure ramped up he was fearless about blocking shots or getting his hands dirty fighting for pucks. He's not the most purely skilled prospect, so he likely won't go overly high in the 2023 draft, but with his well-rounded game and his superlative resilience it's easy to imagine that some NHL teams would jump at the chance to add him to their prospect pools.

Adam Gajan, G, Slovakia

What an incredibly pleasant surprise Gajan was at the World Juniors, both for his home nation and for the scouts watching intently. He came into the event with very little fanfare or name recognition and left it with Best Goaltender honours and the newfound desire of scouts from probably all 32 NHL teams to watch a whole lot more of him. He's big, quick and athletic, though the most impressive thing about him in this tournament was his composure, making huge save after huge save after huge save to keep the plucky, underdog Slovaks competitive in their matches. The history of the World Juniors is littered with goalies who were flash-in-the-pan success stories, but Gajan looks like he has all the tools necessary to develop into a talented netminder with genuine long-term staying power.

Martin Mišiak, F, Slovakia

Mišiak didn't even dress for Slovakia's first two games of the tournament, but by the time the quarterfinals rolled around he was on their third line and making a consistent impact. The more shifts he took, the more future shifts he earned by forcing his coach's hand. He routinely used his speed, power and intensity to open up the ice for his team while also putting a lot of pressure on their opponents as a forechecker and puck hound. His lack of points don't tell the real story of just how well he played in his limited minutes.

Alex Čiernik, F, Slovakia

Even though Čiernik showed up on the score sheet a few times you can't really say that he left much of a mark for Slovakia, despite starting out with an important role on his team's second line. In fact, he was ultimately bumped down the lineup in the crucial quarterfinals match against Canada, barely seeing any ice time in the third period and then none in overtime. The puck skill and playmaking vision that he possesses are undeniable, but his short stature and middling foot speed make it difficult for him to create offensive opening for himself or for others.

David Reinbacher, D, Austria

Austria was held winless in the tournament and then eventually got relegated at the hands of Latvia, though it certainly wasn't for a lack of effort from Reinbacher. The best defenseman on that team by a country mile, he logged a lot of ice time in all situations and had plenty of impressive shifts, but could only do so much by himself on such an underpowered team. Austria's most important preliminary game was on December 30 against Germany, and he did a lot of heavy lifting in his 26:13 of ice time to keep that one close. He also bad to battle through illness, having to sit out the first relegation match. Considering the circumstances, his play helped maintain the momentum that has draft profile has been building all season long, especially getting to watch him compete outside of the highest Swiss pro league, which isn't exactly a hotspot for developing prospects.

Lenni Hämeenaho, F, Finland

Hämeenaho has burst onto the draft scene this season, earning a job on Ässät in the Liiga straight out of training camp and then chipping in13 points before heading to the World Juniors. Any momentum he might have had coming in didn't carry over, however, as his presence and impact were pretty muted and unremarkable. He didn't seem to find a role no matter what his Finnish coaches tried, and there weren't really any individual attributes to his game that shone through. An early Finnish negated any chance that he might have had to finally get the ball rolling and finish strong.

2023 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: MEDAL ROUND RECAP

Will Scouch — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 18:15:21 +0000

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA - JANUARY 5: Czechia vs Canada Gold Medal Game action at 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship at Scotiabank Centre on January 5, 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Photo by Matt Zambonin/IIHF)

2023 World Juniors Medal Round Recap

Ok now we can all exhale together, eh? What a tournament that was. The unpredictability of the round robin stage continues to upend expectations, leading to some remarkable quarterfinal matchups, exemplifying why performing at that early stage can help you immensely when elimination is on the line. To say we were spoiled with the quality of most of these matches is an understatement. As someone with many years of experience watching this tournament, this is as standard as seatbelts, but even I was on the edge of my seat watching this all go down all the way through the medal round.

Yes, some games were lopsided, and I do think that there are divides showing in junior hockey at the lower end of the current crop of teams in this tournament, but I’ll throw out that the Norwegian team probably should’ve been here, and we should be excited to see an exciting crop of young players from that country that dominated the Division 1A tournament with 16 eligible returnees. At the same time, I also have to commend the Swiss. They may have lost their quarterfinal 9-1 but winning three times in overtime in the round robin and dethroning great teams like Finland and Slovakia is no small feat. That team certainly outperformed my expectations and came together well. As always, this tournament was a heck of a meal, and the medal round was an excellent dessert to send us home happy about the whole experience.

Quarterfinal #1 - Finland 2 - Sweden 3

This game was a treat. I came in expecting a bit more output from Sweden, but the game, like a few others in this medal round, seemed to be a war of attrition until push came to shove in the 3rd period of the game. There were strong performances from Jani Lampinen and Carl Lindbom to keep the game close, with play that seemed to alternate between sloppy and tight. Leo Carlsson was a standout in this game, landing two goals, but I felt Ludvig Jansson and Filip Bystedt were pivotal for keeping Sweden in the game and driving offense. Originally, my expectation was to see a lot more out of the Djurgarden boys in Ostlund, Lekkerimaki and Ohgren as well as Fabian Lysell, who may have had the best (and at times not so best) zero-point tournament I’ve seen in a long, long time, but the physical skill that the previous names bring helped gain an advantage of the tight, physical play of the Finns.

The events of the last four minutes of the game were simply heartbreaking for one side, and completely unbelievable for the other. Heartbreak is nothing new in this tournament, and like the tying goal, it can come from absolutely nothing but a good player in Leo Carlsson being in the right place at the right time. The go-ahead that sealed it was an uncharacteristic bobble at the offensive blueline for Aleksi Heimosalmi and his feet just couldn’t challenge Victor Stjernborg enough, and just like that, with some late heroics from Lindbom, the Swedes pulled off the stunning victory to land in the semis. This game was largely the story of the Bystedt/Carlsson connection and Carl Lindbom continuing to do the thing he does, but to say the first couple periods were surprisingly underwhelming shouldn’t be a shock. The way it ended though? One for the long Finnish/Swedish sagas for sure.

Quarterfinal #2 - Czechia 9 - Switzerland 1

The Swiss showed that they could play as a unit and counterattack effectively to punch above their weight class in the round robin, but the mana seemingly completely depleted in this game against a top-class Czech team once the Swiss took the lead 20 seconds in. Louis Robin was a surprise for me in this tournament with his speed and hands in tight, and for a moment there, there were thoughts crossing my mind after what I had seen from the Swiss previously. Just a few minutes later however, the game was largely out of control with three goals in the next nine minutes from Jiri Kulich, Marcel Marcel, and Petr Hauser. The Czechs played physical hockey throughout the tournament, but their big players like Marcel, Hauser, David Jiricek, and others are all players that can really move as well with some strong finishing ability, and they all showed those traits off early and often.

As the 2nd period went on, my notes got a little less interesting as the Czechs continued to blast pucks into the net, but I did want to highlight Eduard Sale’s play a little bit, as I felt he’s been maligned in this tournament. He’s a player where his weaknesses were certainly exposed here, but his two points in the 2nd period really exemplified what he does bring to the game in the offensive zone. Simple, but excellent reads on play that draw himself into a bit more space or catch opponents a little off guard. He spotted his seam pass on the assist, executed quickly, and in it goes. On the goal, he showed great patience to create a clean look at the goaltender between him and Maximilan Streule, and there’s a great shot he can place well that landed the Czechs their 7th of the game. Perhaps he’s a player who you don’t notice much until he’s got two points on the night, and he didn’t have the best tournament, but I felt that there were good moments in this game that illustrate what makes him a high-end prospect, even if he doesn’t carry the same flash as other eligibles. The Czechs just kept overwhelming the Swiss with physical play, getting hard pucks on net from talented perimeter shooters, and they’re off to the semifinals.

Quarterfinal #3 - United States 11 - Germany 1

Well, the Germans were at least better than the Austrians, right? Like the Swiss quarterfinal matchup, within 10 minutes the game was out of hand as the US finished the period up 3-0. The Germans played hard and tried to keep up, but there’s only so much you can do when the States brought so many skilled players, some of whom specialize in shooting and others with passing and vision. It was a relentless onslaught driven by the usual suspects in Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud, Chaz Lucius and their bunch of merry men. I thought Nikita Quapp had a decent tournament, and then this game happened, but there’s only so much you can say on this one. The States scored 8 goals in 20 minutes which is a heck of an achievement in and of itself, especially when they all came at 5v5, save Red Savage’s shorthanded goal.

The States certainly could take away how much they gelled and came together as a team, attacking the net, supporting teammates in transition, pushing pace as much as they can, and bringing the physical edge they may need in the future against teams like Canada. I’ll also take this chance to throw some respect on Gavin Brindley’s name, who while he only landed a single point in this game, looked excellent all tournament and surpassed my expectations with his 200-foot energy level and transition skill to create for his linemates at high pace. The Germans? Well at least they haven’t been relegated and will be back next year?

Quarterfinal #4 - Canada 4 - Slovakia 3 (OT)

After this game I’m pretty sure I need to see a cardiologist. I honestly was thinking this game could be close, but not this close. The Slovak team brought a number of young players who are eligible to return that all bring a ton of size, skill, and intensity to the game and I knew they wouldn’t go into a game against Canada afraid or lying down. Adam Gajan was simply spectacular in what was most certainly the biggest game of his young career. I felt that Martin Misiak, an injury replacement, was out there every shift at some points and just laying the body on Canada at every juncture, exemplifying just how tightly the Slovaks wanted to squeeze the Canadians into submission and knock them off their game. An old late-round favourite of mine in Libor Nemec had a great performance in this tournament chipping in with his big frame and skill combination in the net area, and while overtime didn’t go his way, and Adam Sykora brought the physical edge I was hoping to see coming into the tournament.

The biggest story of this game with a few great stories was Connor Bedard. Slovakia was coming at him all night, and through it all, he found a way to sneak through defenses and magically string together passing and shooting sequences, culminating in one of the most spectacular overtime winners I can remember in this tournament. Even Connor Bedard’s ability to get under your skin with a few “yeah I’m Connor Bedard and you are not sir and do not forget” moments is always fun to see. He was simply sublime at times, even if a bit of a botched giveaway due to overhandling and terrible defensive play directly lead to Slovakia building some momentum going into the 3rd.

The tide seemed to shift a little bit as Adam Gajan continued to stand on his head and Slovakia landed themselves some great chances on Thomas Milic, culminating in a brutal positional mistake from Brandt Clarke left Libor Nemec in front for the tying goal. Going into overtime and leading up to Bedard’s winner, that game could’ve gone either way with Bedard nearly putting Canada up in regulation a few times, and Slovakia very nearly ending it with 10 seconds left. With some heroics from Thomas Milic, the stage was set, and Bedard danced the Canadians into the semifinals. This damn Canadian team at this damn tournament just cannot stop clawing their way through tough games, but they don’t ask how, they ask how many, and off Canada goes, leaving even broken hearts in their wake.

Semifinal #1 - Czechia 2 - Sweden 1 (OT)

In Swedish fashion at this tournament, this game was a big snoozer with just 29 total shots on goal through two periods, until the Czechs remembered what they were here to do, outshooting the Swedes 14-3 in the final 20 minutes, getting themselves back into the game in the last minute of the game. Carl Lindbom once again played well in a losing effort facing almost 50% more shots than Tomas Suchanek. Once again, Fabian Lysell had a game of ups and downs, and if “almost points” were a thing, he would probably have led the team in that regard. Could they have used a single 3v3 shift from Lysell? Perhaps, but hindsight is 20/20 and his performance throughout the tournament wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring in a tenuous game scenario. David Jiricek certainly showed his skill and shooting ability, culminating in the tying goal to send things to overtime. As is usual, this overtime could’ve gone either way. A tremendous zone entry from the Carlsson-Bystedt connection and a great chance from the Djurgarden boys nearly ended things relatively quickly, but the feisty Czechs came right back before a potential shootout as Jiri Kulich absolutely pilfered Fabian Wagner’s lunch money and did what he does best to get the Czechs through to their first gold medal game since 2001 and guaranteeing their first medal since 2005. A deserving and worthy result for this Czech team, and the Swedes go home with plenty of questions for next year in my opinion.

Semifinal #2 - United States 2 - Canada 6

This may have been the closest 6-2 game I’ve seen in a while. The story completely transformed on the disallowed goal from Jackson Blake and the game seemed to get away from the Americans as Canada relentlessly capitalized on multiple chances through the middle of the 3rd period. I was hoping for a heroic performance from Trey Augustine, but for a 17-year-old there’s often only so much you can ask for, and a tough outing had him pulled in the 3rd for Kaidan Mberenko which frankly surprised me a bit. Logan Cooley once again had a strong game, getting things started early capitalizing on a weird rebound, and once again Gavin Brindley did his thing with trademark pace and speed to create the 2-0 goal. Brindley exemplified a ton of traits even on that one play of what is necessary to deal with these Canadian teams. Push them around and counter attack well, and if you can’t push them around, push them back on their heels so their big physical defenders can’t touch you. I love Gavin Brindley’s game, in case you haven’t picked up on that.

The rest of the show was pretty much all Canada though, as Ryan Ufko couldn’t handle the Bedard Bot, Logan Stankoven got Stanky, Tyler Boucher and Luke Mittelstadt completely forgetting Adam Fantilli exists, Josh Roy being a coach’s dream going to the net and getting a lovely setup from Stankoven, and a mystifying giveaway from Luke Hughes leading to another belated Christmas gift for Josh Roy. It was another one for the ages, and I have to commend the States for how they played largely through this game. They were getting chances, and got penalized for being a bit too aggressive in the net area which will always be touchy in this tournament. The Canadian engine just kept rolling though, and off they went to yet another gold medal game.

Bronze Medal - United States 8 - Sweden 7 (OT)

What even is this Swedish team? Where was this offense all game long? Why did the last two games completely annihilate Trey Augustine’s solid performance in the round robin? Why!? How!? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game where 9 goals were scored in 20 minutes, let alone an 8-7 overtime game. Again, I felt Sweden came out lacking the pace and intensity that the States matched up with but settled into tactical mode and started chipping away at the American lead. Fabian Lysell again did not do himself any favours getting thrown out 8 minutes into the game, capping off a very, very frustrating few weeks I think he’ll want to forget quickly. I felt that the Djurgarden boys were better this game, with some great chances from Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Liam Ohgren, but sometimes when you’re good, your opponents are better, with Chaz Lucius, Cutter Gauthier and Rutger McGroarty creating and burying chances over and over again. Sweden did push the softer defenses of the United States onto their heels more and more as the game went on, leading to some of the absolutely insane lead changes and comebacks, but the States also did the same on a few occasions to keep the game close. Leo Carlsson and Filip Bystedt continued their great tournaments against a faltering Trey Augustine, whose brutal misplay with less than a minute left in the 2nd gave the Swedes life with a tie going into the third period.

There is just so much that happened in this game that either was a sudden ignition of the Swedish scoring forwards, or they massively regressed positively in a single game, but the trouble is that it came against a very talented US Team. A great resilient play from Luke Hughes helped make up for the brutal Josh Roy giveaway, together they are also an indicator of the confidence of Luke Hughes, almost to his detriment. He had a strange tournament of ups and downs, but those ups sure are something. I was stunned when Filip Bystedt buried a gift of a drifting puck on Kaidan Mbereko, and honestly just wanted the game to end because my aorta was poking out of both my ears at this point. Chaz Lucius ices it on a beautiful backhand that went completely unchallenged on a chance created by one Lane Hutson, and the States find a way to go home with some metalware. I hoped for more out of the Swedes, as they have the capability of playing with pace, they have the goaltending, and they have the skill, but struggling to meet expectations and drive consistent modern offense seems to be a bit of a worrying trend internationally over the last few years, and we’ll have to see if things change moving forward.

Gold Medal - Czechia 2 - Canada 3 (OT)

And so, we arrive at the gold medal game. La creme de la creme, as they say. The Czechs earned their way here through hard work, hard shots, and teamwork where the Canadians earned their way by having the best young scorer in the world and a loaded roster full of pure, raw talent that can drive results physically or with skill depending on who is on the ice. I definitely anticipated a close one so long as Tomas Suchanek kept the door closed, and well, he did. When he got hurt, I thought this might be it for the Czechs, but he hung in there and finished the game in excellent fashion in a losing effort turning away 35 of 38. A performance in line with his time with the Tri-City Americans, capping a remarkable tournament.

The Czechs did what they could to neutralize Connor Bedard, holding him off the scoreboard for just the second time this season outside of the first game of the year with Regina. Bonkers. A few silly penalties from the Czechs trying to pound Canada into submission breaks the cardinal rule of “do not take penalties against the 2023 Canadian junior team”, and they made them pay going up one before the period ended. Brennan Othmann definitely showed why the Rangers drafted him as high as they did with his combination of deep offensive zone playmaking and punishing physical ability. Shane Wright did a Shane Wright thing to put Canada up two with a beautiful skill play under double coverage burying one on a wonderful backhand. That’s the Shane Wright I remember seeing here and there over the years, and I’m hoping he gains a bit of confidence from this tournament as he heads back to the OHL to an unnamed team.

Tomas Suchanek continued to stand on his head, and the Czechs chipped away at the Canadian lead in the third period, and very nearly pulled off the upset as the clock wound down which I’m sure would have gone over extremely well considering the proximity of multiple hungry central European athletes slapping at a hockey puck to a Canadian goaltender sprawled out on the ice. As is tradition, Canada can’t just win this tournament. They have to take us to the brink of extinction and then give us moments we’ll see on highlights and have produced segments about until I’m 65 years old. This time? A wonderful sense of patience and good skill from Josh Roy added the extra play that gave Dylan Guenther the green light to etch his name into the history of this tournament with his second of the game. It was a phenomenal game, the Czechs deserve every ounce of metal in their medals, and my heart breaks for both them and the Slovaks based on the efforts they gave to the Canadians and just how close they came to turning this entire tournament upside down. The Canadians? Well, they were heavily favoured on paper as usual, and as usual, they accomplished the goal in the most painful way imaginable. Well done! I can finally breathe.

Biggest Surprises and Performers

I had high expectations for the Czechs and Slovaks, and they blew me away with how well they played against opponents that were heavily favoured against them. The Czechs won their group and the Slovaks scored more than enough to make Adam Gajan’s effort worth it. I still think Tomas Suchanek takes home my best goalie award, but if you want to talk about making a name for yourself, look no further than Adam Gajan. David Spacek and Marcel Marcel were nice surprises on the Czech side and seeing a growing role for Martin Misiak made me happy. Gavin Brindley, Axel Sandin Pellikka, Adam Fantilli, Leo Carlsson and Charlie Stramel all showed well to me for draft eligibles and I liked what Dalibor Dvorsky and Alex Ciernik brought to the table, but the biggest story was Connor Bedard. He surprised me with just how absolutely overwhelming he was in this tournament. Granted, Germany and Austria are meaningless opponents for him, but even still, he would well surpass scoring totals for all other draft eligibles this year for good reason. I thought Adam Fantilli played great, and there are things he does better, but Bedard has cemented himself as the top player available this year now that I’ve seen more of him outside of Regina. He’s a spectacular shooter with tremendous skill and confidence and I hope his NHL career keeps rolling along like his junior career has.

Biggest Disappointments

I have to say I expected better from Finland and Sweden. Sweden was too quiet for too long until their backs were against the wall. Finland was skilled without speed and agility, and tried to play slow, heavy hockey that just couldn’t match up against teams that should have been beneath them. I expected Fabian Lysell to lead the Swedes, and while he had moments where he felt like the only one willing to push opponents on their heels, he’d waste too many of those moments with overhandling and overthinking, and when he had bad moments, they were very very bad. I don’t think it’s that hot of a take to suggest that we may just need to lump the Czechs and Slovaks in with the Swedes and Finns at this level until we see a reason not to do so.

2023 WJC Preview: Top Draft Eligibles Take the Stage

Brock Otten — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 13:39:44 +0000

It is no secret; the World Juniors is a tournament that is largely dominated by 19-year-old players. The history of the storied event is proof of that. That said, standout performances do occur. Jaromir Jagr has the record for most points scored by a U18 player at the event with 18 in 1990. Since the start of the new millennium, 33 players under the age of 18 have averaged over a point per game at the tournament (with at least four games played). Last year, for example, we saw four “underage” players perform extremely well for their countries; Joakim Kemell, Jiri Kulich, Logan Cooley, and Connor Bedard. For the first three, it unquestionably helped to elevate their stock in the eyes of NHL scouts.

So, what draft eligible players have a chance to make a positive impression at this year’s tournament? Let’s go through each team to highlight some players to watch.

220815 Connor Bedard of Canada during the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship group stage game between Canada and Finland on August 15, 2022 in Edmonton.
Photo: Joel Marklund / BILDBYRÅN / kod JM / JM0360

Connor Bedard - Team Canada

The favourite to go first overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, Bedard is actually a returning player from the summer tournament, where he was a critical player for the gold medal winning Canadians. Now as they look to repeat, Bedard will be the focal point of the offensive attack. As mentioned, Czech great Jaromir Jagr holds the U18 record for tournament scoring with 18 points. Can the dynamic Bedard get close to that in Halifax/Moncton?

Adam Fantilli - Team Canada

The favourite to go second overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, Fantilli is in the midst of a remarkable freshman season in the NCAA with Michigan. While Bedard’s role as a prominent returning player seems set in stone, Fantilli’s is much more uncertain. Will he play down the middle in his natural position or be forced to shift to the wing? Will he play up in the lineup or be more of a supporting piece in the bottom six? His well-rounded game will make him a versatile chess piece for the Canadian coaching staff.

Trey Augustine - Team United States

At this point, Augustine’s role on this team remains a mystery. The variance of outcomes is vast. He could end up sitting in the press box as the team’s third netminder, or he could end up earning starts as the U.S.’ go-to netminder. The Michigan State commit has been excellent for the U.S. NTDP this year and was the U.S.’ starter at the U18’s this past April as an underager.

Gavin Brindley - Team United States

A freshman teammate of Canada’s Adam Fantilli at Michigan, Brindley is also a first-round candidate at this stage. He may not be the biggest, but he makes a positive impact on the ice in a lot of different ways. He plays with a lot of energy and has the skill to make things happen in transition. His agility and edgework stand out as he eludes checks in the offensive zone and his playmaking ability could be an asset for the United States in a supporting role.

Charlie Stramel - Team United States

Even though his NHL draft season hasn’t quite gone according to plan so far, NHL scouts still love this big, power center playing at Wisconsin. The Badgers have underperformed this year as a team/program, but Stramel has shown signs of improvement in the last month; perfect timing for this tournament. Stramel made this team in the summer but played sparingly. He will look to earn a more prominent role this time around. The key for him will be showing that he can provide physicality and energy without consistently finding the penalty box.

Leo Carlsson of Sweden and Luke Mittelstadt of USA during the friendly under-20 ice hockey game between Sweden and USA on December 21, 2022 in Moncton.
Photo: Simon Hastegård / BILDBYRÅN

Leo Carlsson - Team Sweden

A power center, Carlsson has rocketed up draft rankings early in the season with his strong performance in the SHL with Orebro. Likely to shift to the wing for the tournament, Carlsson should be a strong middle six option for the Swedes. His combination of size, speed, skill, and sense has NHL scouting staffs extremely intrigued, and it is why he is our third ranked draft prospect currently. It will be very interesting to compare his performance with that of Bedard and Fantilli at this event.

Axel Sandin-Pellikka - Team Sweden

At this point in the draft year, who the first defender taken in the 2023 draft will be is anyone’s guess. Sandin-Pellikka is one player who has emerged as a favourite. The 5’11, right shot, offensive defender has been excellent in limited SHL minutes and scouts love his mind for the game and puck management abilities. Making his debut with the Swedish U20 team, there is no guarantee that he gets significant ice time at this tournament. However, scouts will definitely be hoping to see the 17-year-old in some capacity.

Lenni Hämeenaho - Team Finland

A late born 2004, Hämeenaho is currently the highest scoring U19 player in Liiga, ahead of high NHL draft selections Joakim Kemell and Jani Nyman. This has him rising up many draft boards, including our own. Hämeenaho is a hardworking, high energy forward who is probably best suited to be a complementary piece at this stage of his development. As such, look for him to play a supporting role in Finland’s bottom six at the tournament. An average sized forward with average skating ability, scouts will be looking to see how Hämeenaho handles the increased pace at the WJC’s.

Martin Misiak - Team Slovakia

Misiak is an intriguing forward prospect eligible this year. He has positional versatility. He skates quite well for a 6’2 forward. He brings a physical element and plays a similar style to fellow Slovak and recent draft pick Adam Sykora. Misiak is returning from the summer tournament and will look to expand on his role with this upstart Slovak team.

Dalibor Dvorsky - Team Slovakia

This is a big tournament for Dvorsky, a big, power center with a great shot and scoring ability. He has had an up and down year playing in Sweden and will be counted upon to be one of Slovakia’s top scorers. Dvorsky enters the tournament inside the top ten of most scouting agencies (including ours) and he is receiving a prime opportunity to solidify that ranking.

Alex Ciernik - Team Slovakia

Making his debut at the WJC’s, Ciernik is another Slovak forward playing out of Sweden currently. He can attack the offensive zone with speed and skill, and he should play a supporting role in Slovakia’s middle six. A potential top 50 pick, a good tournament in Moncton/Halifax could do wonders for his draft stock.

Samuel Honzek - Team Slovakia

Perhaps the draft eligible player on this team that scouts will be watching the closest, even over Dvorsky. Honzek has been incredible in his first season in North America, excelling with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. The big forward protects the puck well and is tough to stop when driving the net. His vision and IQ are high-end, and he makes his linemates better. Slovakia will be looking for him to be a large contributor for them in his second WJC’s.

Maxim Strbak - Team Slovakia

After playing a prominent role for Slovakia in the summer tournament as one of the youngest players at the event, Strbak will look to be an even more integral component of Slovakia’s blueline. Strbak is an ‘05 who is also finding success in North America this year. He is playing a lot for Sioux Falls of the USHL and recently committed to Michigan State for next year. The 6’2, right shot defender is mobile, physical, and is gaining confidence in his offensive skill set.

Eduard Sale - Team Czechia

A talented offensive winger, Sale will be counted upon to be one of Czechia’s top offensive contributors at this tournament, even as a 17-year-old. The potential top ten selection in 2023 has had a difficult last few months playing in the Czech men’s league due to fluctuating ice time and responsibility, so he will be looking to use this tournament to regain his confidence and prove to scouts that he is indeed one of the best offensive players available for this year’s draft.

David Reinbacher - Team Austria

Returning to this tournament for a second time, the 6’2, right shot defender was already a prominent player for Austria at the summer tournament. This time around, more eyes will unquestionably be on him as he comes in as a major draft riser currently thanks to his strong performance in the Swiss NL this season. In fact, his meteoric rise has drawn some comparisons to Detroit Red Wings defender Moritz Seider. A strong two-way presence, Reinbacher will need to be Austria’s top defender for them to have a chance to earn a quarterfinal berth and with a strong tournament, he could put himself in contention to be the first defender off the board in 2023.