Nando Eggenberger – McKeen's Hockey

EUROPEAN PROSPECT ROUNDUP

Chapin Landvogt — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 19:51:45 +0000

210521 Juraj Slafkovsky of Slovakia ahead of the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship game between Belarus and Slovakia on May 21, 2021 in Riga.
Photo: Simon Hastegård / BILDBYRÅN / kod SH / SH0105

The 21-22 season has been underway for over eight weeks now, with the KHL having kicked off the fun already at the end of the summer. This past weekend marked a basically European-wide break in regular season action so that just about everybody’s national team can participate at a number of tournaments across the continent. This applies not only to the men’s teams, but also the U20, U18, and in some cases, U17 sides.

This also serves as an excellent time to take a look at a number of drafted and yet undrafted prospects throughout the continent and fortunately for the hockey world, there’s been a ton of interesting news on the prospect front!

One of the most interesting developments of the season can be seen in the KHL, where Winnipeg Jets 5th round draft pick, Dmitiri Rashevsky, taken as an overager in his third year of eligibility, has exceeded many expectations in popping in 14 goals and 24 points over 27 games thus far. That’s good for 19th in scoring throughout the entire league. He’s also sporting a strong +13 rating and thanks to some real good offensive company playing for Dynamo Moscow, there’s really little reason to think he’ll slow up all that much this season. It’s safe to say he’s the highest scoring 21-year-old in the KHL just now.

Making less noise in the KHL this season is Yaroslav Askarov (NAS), who has a very respectable 2.01 GAA and .904 save percentage in five KHL outings with SKA, but only a 1-1-2 record to show for it. That he’s spent four games with the club’s VHL affiliate, putting up a 2-2 record with almost identical stats doesn’t have to mean anything in the long term, but it also means he’s not quite at where recent star Russian goaltending prospects like Igor Shestyorkin and Ilya Sorokin were at his age. Alas, there is still some hockey to be played this year.

The KHL is naturally chock full of recent or older NHL draft picks, but few are looking as good at the moment as Arseni Gritsyuk (NJD). The mid-sized lefty shot has shown that his bursts of speed are effective against Russia’s best at the men’s level and he’s currently got five goals and 10 points in 18 games, having often received sheltered minutes along the way this season. Another Devils draft pick doing fine in the KHL is 2020 first rounder Shakir Mukhamadullin who is taking a regular shift for traditional power Salavat and has three goals and seven points in 27 games. He had just as many goals last season in 39 games, but it’s the overall comfort and wherewithal of his defensive game that’s sticking out. There’s routine there, and a calmer sense of urgency.

Of course, this is and continues to be the eventful year of the Matvei Michkov watch. Being 16 and getting into 10 KHL games (3 points) is a feat in and of itself, but his 11 goals and 18 points in seven games in the junior level MHL went to show that he’s ready for much more daunting tasks. He’s debuting in the Russian national team this weekend, where he’s got the hockey Twitterworld jumping out of the seats over his “Michigan goal” against Sweden. Getting phone calls from Alex Ovechkin is the icing on the cake for now and the hockey world is simply praying that the soon-to-be 17-year-old will be part of the WJC-fun in Edmonton next month.

And while the prospect talked is covered in kind by Michkov, Alexander Perevalov is quietly tearing apart the top junior league with 17 goals, 33 points, and a +21 in 22 games while fellow top 2022 prospect Ivan Miroschnichenko continues to turn heads with his nine points in 20 VHL games, meaning the 17-year-old is playing a solid role against men in Russia’s second highest pro circuit.

Nordic bliss

Next door in Finland, there’s no less noise being made by a few of the nation’s top youngsters. The biggest news in Liiga is Toronto Maple Leafs pick Topi Niemela, a defenseman taken in the 3rd round of the 2020 NHL Draft, is fifth overall in league scoring with four goals and 18 points in 20 games. We are talking about a 19-year-old kid who’s barely 170 pounds soaking wet. He was already a sensation for Finland at last winter’s WJC and he’ll be looking to return to Edmonton as Suomi’s go-to guy on the blueline.

He may very well be joined on the team by the OTHER biggest sensation in Liiga play this year, namely the just now draft-eligible Joakim Kemell and boy, has this kid been something special. His 12 goals lead the league, and his 18 points have him tied for second overall in league scoring, one point behind the league leader. More amazingly is that he’s done it in just 16 games, five less than the league’s top point producer. Some hockey people knew he’d be a player this year after no less than his five goals and six points in five Hlinka Gretzky Tournament games, but his season has been off the charts. There’s no other way of putting it.

Also doing well for themselves are a couple of smaller, offensively oriented defensemen. Anttoni Honka (CAR) has already got 13 points in 20 games after a fantastic 31 in 58 games last season. He’s really done nothing less than steadily produced since Carolina drafted him. Then there’s former Detroit Red Wings 2015 pick Vili Saarijarvi. Yes, of course, he had plenty of time in North America and now his rights belong to Arizona, but after 36 points for Lukko in 50 games last season, he’s currently chugging away with four goals and 15 points in 20 games this season. In short, it’s looking like a career year for the 24-year-old who was in action this past weekend for his national team.

Speaking of offensive defensemen, when directing our eyes towards the future, there’s no getting around Kasper Kulonummi, a 17-year-old who currently has 15 points in 19 games for Jokerit’s U20 program. It is of note seeing as how he had six assists at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and had a point in every game for his nation at a U18 outing this weekend.

As we continue looking westward, Sweden is once again providing the world with plenty to talk about at the U21 level. No team is more aware of this than the Detroit Red Wings. To begin, defenseman Simon Edvinsson has basically been the best U21 player in the country. Sure, his nine points and +7 in 16 games for Frolunda, a team always in the hunt for the championship, has been sweet, but we just can’t emphasize enough how solid he’s been in an all-round capacity. His understanding of his position and how to use his enormous body to his advantage is clearly beyond his years.

His teammate Elmer Soderblom is a giant at 6’8”, 238 lbs., and has seen his development take a considerable boost after what was already a strong 20-21 showing. He’s been getting first line minutes on a term with four solid lines, and it’s resulted in eight goals and 11 points in 19 games. There’s also first year SHLer Theodor Niederbach who has managed to stick with the big club through 19 games. His four points are nothing to write home about, but he’s showing a keen sense of doing what’s necessary to stick in the line-up and assume the role necessary in a line-up that is full of established offensive players.

And keeping in line with Frolunda, the Red Wings also drafted Liam Dower Nilsson, who has gotten into seven games (zero points) with the big club but has also chipped in 17 points in 14 U20 league games, so he too is right on track with his progression as he still looks to throw his name into the WJC team hat.

Then there are defensemen William Wallinder and Albert Johansson. Both are playing top four minutes of late for their SHL clubs Rögle and Färjestad, respectively. Wallinder has been very hot of late, having chipped in three goals and eight points in 16 games while Johansson has nine points in 17 games. Both have been showing plenty of the attributes that got them drafted and their upwards projection continues to have experts in the business looking at these guys as viable future NHLers.

That’s a lot of Swedish for one club, especially considering the Red Wings also have Jonatan Berggren doing just fine in his first season with the team’s AHL club (seven points in 10 games thus far).

But both the SHL and Allsvenskan are filled with plenty of other draftees and young men the NHL teams have their eyes on. Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Pontus Holmgren (12 points) continues to be a strong contributor for Växjö, for whom he was the playoff MVP in last season’s championship run. Filip Cederqvist (BUF) and Linus Karlsson (VAN) are chugging along just fine with 11 points apiece, both having larger SHL roles than ever before. The same can be said for Calle Själin (NYR) and Ole Lycksell (PHI), but their 11 points are a little more special, as Själin is a defenseman and Lycksell has collected his in just 14 games.

When it comes to the Allsvenskan, we’d like to mention two defensemen in particular. One is Emil Andrae, a Flyers second rounder who is playing for HV71 this season, a team that has won 14 of 15 games and is on a concrete mission to gain its way back into the SHL. Andrae’s 13 points in 12 games has contributed to this endeavor thus far, even if Philadelphia would ideally like to see him suiting up for an SHL club. Then there’s Axel Bergkvist, who is playing for Mora and who’s rights belong to Arizona. He’s still just 21, has 13 points in 14 games, and is only two seasons removed from a 52-point year with Kitchener. He’s not tall, but well-built and we all know some guys are just late bloomers, so Bergkvist is one we’ll watch throughout the season.

Sweden’s 2022 draft watch has become very exciting as well, as just about all eyes have been on Djurgarden. Top prospects Liam Öhgren, Noah Östlund, and Jonathan Lekkermäki all did some major damage at the nation’s U20 level before getting a shot with the SHL club. Öhrgren has spent the most time in the bigs, collecting two points over 14 games. Östlund has gotten into seven games and Lekkermäki into three, both remaining pointless, but the latter has an impressive 16 goals and 25 points in just 16 U20 league games. Each is just 17-years old, and health and injuries will continue to play a role in just how much they play in the SHL, but that’s not looking like an issue for fellow 17-year-old Marco Kasper, the super Austrian who has four goals and six points in 16 contests for Rögle. His feat is quite impressive in light of the team’s role as a championship contender and in that it features a U20 outfit chock full of impressive players, including several who have already been drafted. We’d also like to mention that Kasper has six points in six CHL games for Rögle as well.

Not to be forgotten in all the hoopla around the 2022 prospects is the fact that 6’2”, 185 lbs. Leo Carlsson of Örebro has chalked up four points in 14 SHL games. He’s just 16 and first eligible for the 2023 draft. Will we see him suiting up for Sweden at the U18 worlds? His chances of being part of that outfit are very high.

Slavic revival

The Hlinka Gretzky Tournament this summer was a “case in point” in what some had been saying was on the way, namely that the Slovakian program had a special wave of players on the way up. Indeed, it’s looking so good that some in the region are reminiscing about the days when Peter Stastny and Zdeno Cigar were ushering in the Zigmund Palffys, Miro Satans, and Peter Bondras of the world, with the Marians Hossa and Gaborik soon to follow. There are several key reasons for this.

To begin, the 6’4”, 225 lbs. Juraj Slafkovsky has been trucking down a road to a top 10 selection for well over a year now. Sure, he’s got but three points in 14 Liiga games this season, but his 17 points in nine U20 league games as well as his six goals and nine points in five Hlinka Gretzky Tourney outings have shown him to be among the best anywhere in his age group. Scouts naturally love his size and jam, as Juraj isn’t one to take anyone’s crap. And why should he with a body like his? That he can do some playmaking and rocket off shots has got more than a few just licking their chops about the possibilities.

Behind him, albeit not all too far, are defenseman Simon Nemec, likely one of the top five defensemen available in this draft class, and forward Filip Mesar, who debuted for the Slovakian men’s team this past weekend at the Deutschland Cup. Both are 17, both are playing in Slovakia’s top men’s league, and both scored at over a PPG pace at the Hlinka Gretzky event. Also getting a long look this winter are Jakub Krizan, a left wing who is clipping at more than a PPG pace in the U18 and U20 leagues while having collected five points in nine second league games, and Alex Sotek, a right winger who has suited up for five different clubs in four different leagues but sticks out thanks to his nine goals and 34 points in just 18 U20 league games. Then there’s Adam Sykora, who hasn’t put up a whole lot of points this season (just four) but takes a fairly regular shift in Slovakia’s top league and is expected to make the WJC squad as a part of its defensive conscious.

All this is without even spending time on defenseman Jozef Kmec (Prince George Cougars) and center Servac Petrovsky (Owen Sound Attack), both of whom are doing just fine for their CHL clubs.

The fun naturally doesn’t stop there as the group of boys establishing themselves for the 2023 draft may even be more impressive. Defenseman Maxim Strbak is just 16 but honing his craft as a regular contributor in Finland’s U20 league. Winger Frantisek Ridzon has seen two games of action in both of Slovakia’s two highest pro circuits, but at 16 is making a laughingstock of the nation’s U20 league with 25 points in 16 games. One of his Nitra colleagues is Ondrej Molnar, who had six points at the Hlinka this summer, and has been the driving force of the Slovakian U18 squad that also plays in Slovakia’s second highest men’s league. Questionable is if any of them can really compare to Alex Ciernik, son of former part-time NHLer Ivan Ciernik, who is making serious noise with Södertälje’s U20 team, for which he’s got 21 points in 19 games. He too was a prime contributor at the Hlinka Gretzky Tournament (seven points) and has been playing in Sweden for the past four seasons.

Now, for the really astute among our readers, you’ll probably have noticed that nearly a dozen names have been provided here without a word about the most exciting, up-and-coming Slovak out there, namely Dalibor Dvorsky. Yep, we’re talking about the 16-year-old who had 12 points at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He’s the same kid who is second in scoring in Sweden’s U20 league with 27 points in 18 games. By the way, the leading scorer has two more points in two more games. Dvorsky’s feats have also led to two appearances with AIK’s men’s team, which plays in the Allsvenskan. This season is still young, so we really don’t know just what accomplishments Dvorsky will be capable of, but if he’d manage to lead the “J20 Nationell” in scoring, he’d be the youngest player ever to do so.

In light of all this, it’s a true shame that Slovakia’s U18 team isn’t even in the top IIHF group. Yep, the opportunity to gain promotion has been squashed two springs in a row by the worldwide pandemic. Nonetheless, insiders are already contemplating what Slovakia may be capable of doing at next spring’s D1A U18 event.

Some fans out there may be wondering what the big brother Czechs think of all this, considering they’ve continued to have the upper hand internationally for the better part of this decade. What we can definitely say is that righty shot defenseman David Jiricek is doing all he can to get himself into top 10 draft consideration. At 6’3”, the two-way rearguard has four goals and nine points in 20 games at the highest level in the Czech Republic. He’ll be returning to the WJC, probably with a letter on his chest, and one’s got to think that it’s a prime goal of his to outshine Nemec in gaining the better draft position. He’s certainly making that case in pro play this fall.

Tidbits from elsewhere

In Austria, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors (a U23 outfit) have started to pick things up in the professional league AlpsHL, where the kids for several nations - predominantly Austria and Germany - play against grown men. The start was a rough one, but there’s been an upswing in recent weeks and one of the highlights of this move up the standings has been 17-year-old Austrian Luca Auer, a righty shot forward who has 10 goals, 25 points, and a +18 in 18 games. For perspective, Danjo Leonhardt led the team in scoring last winter with 35 points in 32 games while Julian Lutz made headlines with his 13 goals, 26 points, and +13 in 31 games, granted as a 15- and 16-year-old. Auer has a motor and loves to drive the net. He’s also got a mid-July birthday, so you know where he's at draftwise.

It’s also been a while since Slovenia has provided the NHL world with a legitimate prospect, but one young man who is playing in Germany is doing his darndest to change that. Currently leading the Krefeld U23 side that plays in the Oberliga Nord, Germany’s third pro circuit, in scoring is forward Marcel Mahkovec. He’s got an impressive 5-12-17 in just 13 games and has also chipped in 6-9-15 in 8 games for the club’s DNL team. That he’s just 17 is what has many wondering just how high his prospects are? Compact and creative, Mahkovec has suited up 23 times for Slovenia’s U19 selects for various test games and tournaments, putting up 23 goals and 44 points in the process. Also look to see him on the nation’s men’s team, even if only at lower levels of international play.

Finally, we don’t spend a whole lot of time looking at overagers, or more specifically, kids who just aged out of the draft picture entirely, but we’d like to throw some light on two young men in Switzerland’s NL who you may want to keep in the back of your mind for down the road. One is 21-year-old defenseman Mika Henauer who is in his fourth season of pro hockey. He already gained our attention last year by becoming a top four option for Bern basically out of nowhere, putting up 3-14-17 in the process. He was one of the youngest regular blueliners in the league. After 22 games this season, he’s already collected 3-8-11 and continues to grow in importance for his team.

The other name we’d like to bandy about is that of Nando Eggenberger. Yes, you know it. The former Oshawa General once looked like a possible up-n-comer but fell off the map completely after a terrible 19-20 season. Now 22, he’s coming off his best season to date (12 goals in 50 NL games) and looking to put a whole new spin on things, already collecting 16 points in 21 games. To be certain, Eggenberger has a power forward body and can be difficult to handle along the boards and in the corners. The question has always been whether he’s going to start scoring at some point. He is on pace to blow away career highs and place his name into World Championship consideration for the Swiss side.

The 2019 NHL Draft: Draftee Perspectives on the First Step to the NHL

Shaiyena Cote — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 18:03:08 +0000

The end of June signifies a time of growth and development in the elite hockey world as the National Hockey League’s general managers along with coaching staff, scouts, owners, players, parents/families and fans get to see the fruition of all the hype of a season long observation of eligible prospects get drafted in the most prestigious event in the hockey world, the NHL Entry Draft. This year 31 teams picked 217 players over two days.

I attended last year’s draft in Dallas as a spectator but this year I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend for the first time with full credentials allowing me an excellent learning experience. Although not a research project, my perspective as a student offered me many different opportunities to observe the draft process first hand.

The draft took place over two days in Vancouver, hosted by the Vancouver Canucks with round one taking place on day one with team staff, players, families, and of course all of the curious fans paying close attention to who would go in the 31 spots of the first round. Day two consisted of rounds two through seven and although day one is stressful, many of the players who will be chosen in the first round have an idea that they will be drafted. The top five picks have been speculated about for months, however this year the one and two spots were undecided for many people until the first overall pick going to New Jersey was announced, which ended all the speculation as to the very top of the draft class.

VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 21: Kaapo Kakko, Jack Hughes, and Kirby Dach pose for a photo onstage after being selected in the top three in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

Speculation over Kaapo Kakko and Jack Hughes had been raging for months, with both competing in both the World Junior and later the World Men’s Championships, Kakko for Team Finland and Hughes for the US. It so happened that Finland won both events, thereby giving Kakko the distinction of winning world gold at every level of the IIHF world championships all by the age of eighteen (he also won gold at the 2018 WU18 tournament). Jack Hughes meanwhile had impressive numbers with both the U18 and U20 US teams and had a good showing at the IIHF World Championship as well. Debates were ongoing and heated as to which order they would be drafted right up until the New Jersey Devils put an end to all the speculation by picking Hughes first over all, leaving the New York Rangers to select Kakko from TPS of the Liiga as the second overall pick.

This year’s draft was far less diverse than last year’s where the top six of the first round were from six different countries, as this year saw 22 North American players being selected in the first 31 picks. With the high likelihood that Hughes and Kakko will start with their respective big clubs, it should still be noted that the number of players to start in the NHL has slowly been decreasing over the years with many of the draftees moving on to the AHL, returning back to their countries to fulfill contracts, returning to their respective major junior teams, completing a pro year in another league in preparation for the NHL or committing to an NCAA school.

All that being said, I do not want to take anything away from the excitement and energy the draft brings to the hockey world, especially to the prospects with a firmly realistic look at the work that lays in front of them once they are drafted in order to make a successful jump to the NHL. In fact, I want to focus on the positivity and optimism that I encountered with the many prospects that I had the opportunity to interview about their draft experience. Over the course of three days I had the chance to speak with many prospects and draftees about their draft experience, ranging from first rounders to fifth rounders, including four of the top five picks.

I spoke with both Jack Hughes, (1st overall, New Jersey) and Alex Turcotte, (5th overall, LA) the day before the draft, after they participated in an informal instructional skate with local minor hockey players. Hughes came across as laid back but seemed confident that he would go first overall. “Today was a lot of fun (skating with kids), it was like being out on the ice with my brothers when we were younger.” Brother Quinn Hughes, (7th overall 2018, Vancouver), along with Jake Virtanen (6th overall 2014, Vancouver) joined the 2019 top six rated prospects minus Kakko on the ice with the kids.

Most of the attending prospective draftees toured Vancouver with their families and were able to travel freely around the city. Unfortunately for both Hughes and Kakko, being so easily recognized meant traveling with handlers and not being able to explore Vancouver like many of the other draftees did. In fact, other than the top 31 picks many of the draftees are unknown to fans, so they were free to sight see and shop with family or in small groups.

“I look up to Jack which sounds funny, being the older brother and looking up to your younger brother, it’s not usually what older brothers do. I’m excited for him, having been there myself a year ago, I know some of what he’s feeling, except he’s going higher than I did”, stated Quinn when asked about Jack and the possibility of his younger brother going first overall.

“I think it was cool to be drafted in the city where my brother plays,” stated Jack after he was drafted, who seemed to take the whole draft experience in stride. If Jack was nervous it didn’t really show, as he is cool, calm, and collected with the press, laid back with his buddies and fellow draftees and accommodating with people like myself who he just seemed to enjoy engaging in small talk about sharing a birthday one day apart from mine and playing hockey.

I had worked for Alex Turcotte’s grandfather, Rheal, as a coach with his Turcotte Stickhandling North American hockey school for four years, which, when I told Alex, he was excited to hear as he has also worked at his grandfather’s hockey school. Turcotte was engaging and excited the day before the draft but said he was “a little nervous” about being drafted. “Being told you’re going high and actually waiting to see the outcome is nerve wracking”, he concluded.

Dylan Cozens (7th overall, Buffalo) had similar feelings to Turcotte as he was actually slated to go higher than he did. Cozens is from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and is the first draftee from the Yukon to ever go in the first round, “I didn’t really set too many expectations, just was excited and wanted to enjoy the moment and just take it all in. You know it’s something that I’ve worked towards my whole life, so I just wanted to enjoy it as much as I could.”

When asked about his overall experience in Vancouver, Cozens stated, “it was a great experience, I got to walk around the city lots and you know I was just trying to enjoy it as much as I could. It’s a stressful time but it’s the best day of my life so I’m just enjoying it all.” I joked with Cozens that he had his answers memorized due to doing so many interviews and being asked similar questions. At this writing Cozens is rehabbing a thumb injury sustained in development camp and will be returning to the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL.

VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 21: Ryan Suzuki shakes hands with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman after being picked twenty-eight overall by the Carolina Hurricanes during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

I interviewed Ryan Suzuki (1st round, 28th overall, Carolina) on day one when he’d finished his press gallery interviews. Suzuki had been ranked at the 22^nd spot going into the draft, “I think I was just hoping to go first round somewhere and I mean the Hurricanes believed in me and they selected me so I’m just super excited to be drafted to them and get started with them.” When asked about his overall experience in Vancouver, Suzuki stated, “Uh, it was a little nerve wracking at the start but um, I think once you’re drafted, it’s a big sigh of relief and I’m just super excited right now.”

I know both the Suzuki brothers and I was fortunate to catch up with both Ryan and older brother, Nick (13th overall, 2017 originally to Vegas, currently with Montreal) on day two of the draft as they watched to see where friends and former teammates would be picked in rounds two through seven. Nick had hoped for Ryan to go to Montreal but overall was happy that his brother was chosen in the first round. “I was hoping that Ryan would go higher but I’m glad Carolina picked him. Now we’re off to our development camps in a couple of days and we’ll see where we end up at the end of camp, I don’t think we’ll be playing each other any time soon.” stated Nick. Following development camp Ryan will be returning to the Barrie Colts of the OHL while Nick is rostered to Laval of the AHL as of this writing, so Nick is right that they won’t be playing each other any time soon.

The last first rounder that I interviewed was Brayden Tracy (29th overall, Anaheim), I asked him about his draft experience and he replied, “Yeah, I kinda knew where I was going, ah a little bit late first so I was just kinda sitting there relaxing and then pick 25, I kinda got a little bit nervous and then luckily I got my name called. It’s words you can’t describe, honestly I think it’s just a bunch of nerves going through your body but other than that (I feel) super excited and I’m very honored to be picked by such a great organization.” As of this writing Tracy will be returning to the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL.

I conducted only two interviews with second rounders and they both happened to be goalies. I caught up with Pyotr Kochetkov, (2nd round, 36th, Carolina), as he was shopping for draft souvenirs at the Canucks store. Kochetkov was friendly and all smiles but wanted to keep it short and sweet while speaking through his interpreter so I just asked how he felt about being drafted, “I just wanted to go before the third round” he replied. I practiced my limited Russian by replying, “spasibo” (thank you). Kochetkov is listed on Elite Prospects as returning to SKA-Neva, St. Petersburg of the KHL next season.

(editor’s note – when I caught with Kotchetkov and his agent/interpreter before the start of the second round, he was pretty sure that his name would be called in the second round).

Hunter Jones, (2nd round, 59th, Minnestota), was the second goalie I interviewed. Jones was outgoing and excited to share his draft experience, “I didn’t really have like, a lot of expectations going into it. I was obviously ranked pretty high for the draft, so, um, starting the day off I was pretty eager to get things going but, you know, I kinda knew where teams had me in their depth of drafting so, it was as I hoped, I finished with a second round selection. So, an unbelievable experience so far. It’s been amazing.” When asked about his family experience in Vancouver he replied, “Ah, it was great, I flew in on Thursday morning and I went to go sight see a little bit and you know see the town, go for a little walk and I love it here, it’s great, great city and yeah I’m sure the away games will be a lot of fun.” Jones, at this writing, is returning to the Peterborough Petes of the OHL.

Alex Campbell, (3rd round, 65th, Nashville) is from Chateauguay, Quebec, was drafted out of the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL along with teammate and first rounder Alex Newhook (16th, Colorado). I asked Campbell the same question about his draft experience and he replied, “Nah, I mean for the draft, even before the season I realized I wasn’t really on any of the lists so coming to this, it’s kinda, just here for the experience” I asked, “just happy to be here?”. Campbell replied, “Yeah, exactly.” When asked about his Vancouver experience Campbell said, “Yeah well I played in Victoria so it’s not too, too far. I kinda knew the west coast a bit but I just kinda visited around. (I’m from) Montreal.” I speak French so I asked him if he spoke French, “Yup, lots of French actually,” When I mentioned the fact that there’s not a lot of French spoken in Nashville he replied, “Nope, nope, but a lot of country music.” It turns out that Campbell is a country music fan, “Yeah a country boy, so there we go.” Campbell will be playing for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL for the 2019-2020 season prior to starting his commitment to Clarkson University of the NCAA. (Side note: teammate Newhook is committed to Boston College, NCAA)

BROSSARD, QC - JUNE 28: Montreal Canadiens prospect Gianni Fairbrother (59) tracks the play during the Montreal Canadiens Development Camp on June 28, 2019, at Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)

When I asked Gianni Fairbrother, (3rd round, 77th, Montreal) if he’d had any expectations he told me, “No, I didn’t really know what to expect obviously I thought that there’d be a chance or a possibility so uh, I just kinda came with an open mind and thankfully it happened”. I asked Fairbrother how his French was considering he was drafted to Montreal, “(Laughing), I haven’t done it in a couple of years.” Asked about his family experience he replied, “Well I’m actually from here so it’s my home town so it’s definitely cool for it to be here. Ten minute drive (from home).” Fairbrother will be back playing for the Everett Silvertips of the WHL for the upcoming season.

I had the pleasure of conducting my first French interview with Rouyn-Noranda Husky and 2019 Memorial Cup winner Alex Beaucage, (3rd round, 78th, Colorado) who hails from the small Québec town of Trois-Rivières. I asked Beaucage if he had any draft expectations he replied, “Yes, but I knew not to have too many, it doesn’t matter what round and it didn’t bug me too much (going 3rd round) as long as they called my name, (the rest) it wasn’t important.” Asked if his family was with him and what his experience in Vancouver had been like, Beaucage told me that “Yep” his family was with him, “It’s been great, it’s very different from Trois-Rivières, it’s a lot bigger but it’s a super nice place. It’s so much fun (here) and it’s different from where I’m from but it’s been so much fun.”

This interview was fun for me as French is my second language and I speak Ontario French which is different from Quebecois French but I liked challenging myself to interview Beaucage in his native language which seemed to surprise him but also made him comfortable in speaking with me. It’s undeclared at this writing where he’ll be playing next season.

Version française de l’interview:

(Moi) Est ce que tu avais des expectations avec la Draft?
(Alex Beaucage) Uh, oui mais je sais de ne pas mal faire trop uh, c’est peu importe la ronde ça me dérangeait pas trop trop tant qu’ils me faisaient l’appel c’est pas important.
Et est-ce que ça c’est ta famille?
Ouais
Comment est-ce que tu as trouvé Vancouver?
C’est super, c’est différent de chez nous, c’est beaucoup plus gros mais c’est une super belle ville.
Et tu viens d’où?
Trois-Rivières, Québec. Mais ça c’est super de la fun, c’est différent de chez nous mais c’est super de la fun!

I asked Anttoni Honka, (3rd round, 83rd, Carolina) if his draft experience had met his expectations, “Yeah, of course, I talked at the Combine with maybe twenty teams about a contract.” I asked Honka how he had liked Vancouver and his experience in the city, his reply was, “Yeah it is a nice city, it was lots of fun to be here with family and my brothers and mum and dad, so it was fun.” As of this writing Honka will be playing for JYP Liiga in Jyväskylä, Finland.

I caught Aliaksei Protas, (3rd round 91st, Washington) as he was in between phone calls. I asked the Belarus native about his expectations for the draft, “No, I didn’t have nothing, I just was here hoping somebody would draft me.” I then asked him about his experience in Vancouver, “Oh yeah, it’s pretty good city. No, I’m here without family, yeah, they stayed at home, but I was in Vancouver not too long ago, I was in Langley about two months ago. Yeah, it’s a very nice place.” At the time of this writing, Protas is going back to the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL for the upcoming season.

**
Jordan Spence, (4th round, 95th, LA), was born in Australia, has both Canadian and Japanese citizenships and was drafted into the QMJHL out of the Maritime Junior Hockey League. I asked him if he had any expectations, “Not really, I’m happy to be here. I’m just happy to be drafted.” About his experience in Vancouver, “I’m just happy to be here with family.” Spence seemed a little overwhelmed at being drafted fourth round. Spence is expected to return to the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL next season.

The Finns had a solid showing at this years’ draft with Matias Maccelli, (4th round, 98th, Arizona) being one of several selected. I asked Maccelli about his draft expectations, “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, I was excited and happy to be here.” About his experience in Vancouver he replied, “Yeah we had fun, I think they (family) had fun too,” Maccelli is expected to be playing with Ilves of the Liiga in Tampere, Finland for the upcoming season.

I found Hunter Skinner, (4th round, 112th, Rangers) standing with his family, I asked him about his draft expectations, “I mean I was just hoping to get drafted, I mean it’s a dream come true.” I followed that up with asking him if he had enjoyed his time in Vancouver, “Yes, I got here Friday morning, toured all around, got some food. My mum had a little difficulty getting here but, yeah, we toured around, we came and watched the first round, enjoyed that and now I’m back here today.” I ended with asking him if he was related to Jeff Skinner (7th overall, 2010, Carolina now with Buffalo), “I don’t know, I’ve never looked into whether we’re related. That would be cool though.” Skinner has recently left the USHL and the NCAA track to play for the London Knights of the OHL for the coming season and ironically has been assigned number 53 for the New York Rangers (Jeff Skinner wears number 53).

Leevi Aaltonen, (5th round, 130th, Rangers) was the last Finn that I interviewed. I asked him if he had been disappointed to not be drafted until the fifth round, “Yeah, a little bit, we expect maybe second to fourth round but now fifth round, but it’s all good and I’m very excited.” I asked Aaltonen if he had family there to experience Vancouver with, “No family, just my agent and my Finn friend Mikko. Yeah, this has been an unbelievable trip.” (Mikko is Mikko Kokkonen 3rd round, 84th, Toronto). Aaltonen will be playing for KalPa of the Liiga in Kuopio, Finland this coming season under head coach Sami Kapanen, father of Kasperi Kapanen (22nd overall, 2014, Pittsburgh now Toronto). (Side note: Mikko Kokkonen will be playing for Jukurit of the Liiga in Mikkeli, Finland).

Czech player Martin Hugo Has, (5th round, 153rd , Washington) did not have any expectations about the draft, “No, not really, I just went here and hoped for the best.” I asked Has about his experience in Vancouver, “Yeah, my dad is here with me, yeah. It’s my seventh time in Vancouver, (most recently the) World Juniors. It’s been good, this is a nice city.” Has was drafted by the North Bay Battalion of the OHL in the 2019 import draft but is planning to return to Tappara of the Liiga in Tampere, Finland for the 2019-2020 season.

It’s great to see that many of the draftees are finding the positives in the cities/teams that have drafted them, such as Alex Campbell being excited about being a country music fan drafted to Nashville, known as Music City. Cole Caulfield (15th overall, Montreal) used French in his social media post thanking Montreal for selecting him even though he had stated in a TV documentary that he had had four years of French in school but had not had to use it. As an American, French is not an official language. Seeing Caufield make the effort to reach out to his new fans in their language is heartwarming and shows the effort that these guys are willing to make to connect with their new fanbase in order to make the transition to the NHL easier.

Team development camps started within 2-3 days of the conclusion of the draft and all the new draftees were heading out all over Canada and the United States to their prospective new teams.

They were all excited to attend their first NHL development camps and start the process of making it to the NHL.

For some of these draftees the transition will be way easier than for others. For some there are of course the obvious language barriers, more subtle and less obvious adjustments are things like ice surface size, (Europe has larger ice surfaces compared to NHL size ice pads), training regiments, playing with men, going from being a billeted player and having things done for you to being the youngest player on a professional men’s team and having to do everything on your own. Then there is homesickness and adjusting to so many changes all at once; city, team, living arrangements, coaching style, demands of being in the NHL, and for many a new country and for some a new language (English or French) to learn all while still being a teenager.

In interviewing a selection of players; forwards, defense and goalies from Canada, Russia, Finland, the Czech Republic, Belarus, and the United States, I was really able to see the diversity of players. All the players were excited to learn about the cities they had been drafted to, although some were far more nervous about it than others. It was a little disconcerting speaking with the guys who did not have family with them. That was sad because the draft is the biggest day in their hockey lives up to that point and it must be difficult to not have family there to share it with. I did find all of the guys that I interviewed and all the others that I spoke with, to be accommodating and willing to talk. They all seemed genuinely excited to be drafted although some were a little miffed at not being selected in the round they thought they would be drafted in. Every single player, despite whether they were disappointed in where they went in the selection or not, still shared an overall excitement and happiness to be drafted, many said that although the process was nerve wracking it was still a dream come true no matter what round they were drafted in.

I would be neglectful in ending this article on the success of the draft for so many players without honorable mention about a few prospects that I was surprised to see not get drafted, especially the ones that I wrote prospect reports about and who I had watched play this past season. The first player that comes to mind is Billy Constantinou, a player that I watched play for the whole first half of the season with the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL and who was invited to play in the Sherwin-Williams CHL Top Prospects game held this year in Red Deer in March as well as being invited to the NHL Combine in Buffalo in June.

Pavel Gogolev and Keegan Stevenson were also a pair of OHL Championship winning Guelph Storm forwards that were also possible draftees who were overlooked. Additional mention also goes to a pair of Oshawa Generals (OHL) wingers, Danil Antropov and Nando Eggenberger (note that Nando will be returning to Switzerland to play pro in the NLA for his former club team HC Davos) who were also skipped over. However, to take the disappointment of being passed over in the draft and to turn it into a positive, one only has to look at Brett Leason, (2nd round, 56th, Washington) who had been passed over in the previous two drafts but proved that if you work really hard and persevere you can still end up being drafted even years after you first gain eligibility. I guess the biggest lesson about making the NHL is to remember that everything takes time. Copyright © Shaiyena Cote 2019

MCKEEN’S 2019 NHL DRAFT GUIDE: Final Rankings – Top 217 Plus 100 Honourable Mention

Iain Morrell — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:52:23 +0000

MCKEEN'S RELEASES FINAL 2019 NHL DRAFT RANKINGS

KOSICE, SLOVAKIA - MAY 13: USA's Jack Hughes #6 and Finland's Kaapo Kakko #24 shake hands following a 3-2 overtime win for team USA during preliminary round action of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship at Steel Arena on May 13, 2019 in Kosice, Slovakia. (Photo by Matt Zambonin/HHOF-IIHF Images)

American center Jack Hughes or Finnish Winger Kaapo Kakko?

That is the decision facing the New Jersey Devils who won the draft lottery for the second time in the past three seasons and hold the top pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Hughes (5-foot-10, 170 pounds) led the USA Hockey National Team Development Program under-18 team in scoring while setting the NTDP career record for assists (154) and points (228) in two seasons (110 games) with the program.

He earned the highest Overall Future Projection (OFP) score of 64.50, as per the 20/80 grading system developed by McKeen's Director of Scouting Ryan Wagman.

Skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ, physicality - these are the attributes measured for skaters using the 20/80 grading system to arrive at an Overall Future Projection (OFP) score.

Six areas are assessed for goalies: athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling.

BROADWAY KAAPO

Kakko (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) earned the next highest OFP score at 64.00.

The Turku, Finland native will go to the New York Rangers with the second pick, their highest draft position since taking Brad Park in 1966 before expansion (1967-68).

Kakko led Finland with six goals while winning gold at the 2019 World Championships at just 18 years, 102 days old to become the youngest player in IIHF history to win gold at the Under-18, Under-20, and WM (World Men) levels, supplanting Connor McDavid of Canada (19 years, 130 days) from the record books.

The Chicago Blackhawks have the number three pick with the top defenseman Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants next on the McKeen's OFP scale (63.40).

Seven players in total received OFP scores of at least 60.00 this season, up from five in 2018 - and just two in 2017 when the Devils selected Nino Hischier first overall.

The next five spots in the rankings are all centers - Kirby Dach of Saskatoon (63.20 OFP), Dylan Cozens of Lethbridge (61.40), the NTDP duo of Trevor Zegras (61.25) and Alex Turcotte (60.00), and Peyton Krebs of Kootenay (59.65).

ALL AMERICAN

Spencer Knight. Photo courtesy of the USNTDP.

Spencer Knight of the NTDP is the top-rated goaltender available (55.75 OFP) at No. 32 in the McKeen's rankings.

Knight will likely go in the opening round of what will be a record haul for the U.S. National Team Development Program as upwards of eight players could be taken in the top 31 selections.

As for past records, the Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) had four players taken in the opening round of the 1979 NHL Draft - as did the Toronto Marlboros (OHA) in 1972 and the Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA) in 1969.

Along with Hughes (1st), Zegras (6th), and Turcotte (7th), wingers Matthew Boldy and Cole Caufield are ranked at No. 12 and 13 on the McKeen's list, with defenseman Cam York at No. 17 and center John Beecher at 30th.

Caufield (5-foot-7, 165 pounds) scored 14 goals at the U18 World Junior Championship, tying Alex Ovechkin's single-tournament goals record. However, the United States lost in a shootout to Russia in the semi-finals.

There are also four others in the program ranked in the 32 to 62 range (second round) - all defensemen - Marshall Warren (35th), Alex Vlasic (54th), Henry Thrun (58th) and Drew Helleson (62nd).

In total, 16 players from the NTDP are ranked among the top 100.

SWEDE GOLD - SWEET SEIDER

ORNSKOLDSVIK, SWEDEN - APRIL 23: Swedens Philip Broberg #4 makes a pass during preliminary round action against Russia at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship at Fjallraven Center on April 23, 2019 in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. (Photo by Steve Kingsman/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Sweden won a first-ever gold medal at the U18 World Juniors.

Four blueliners on that Swedish team are first-round candidates led by Philip Broberg of AIK, named 'Top Defenceman' at the U18 tournament, and Victor Soderstrom of Brynas, ranked No. 9 and 10 respectively on McKeen's.

U18 captain Tobias Bjornfot of Djurgardens is ranked 19th and Albert Johansson of Farjestads is 26th.

Following Dominik Bokk's selection in 2018 (25th to St. Louis), Germany will produce another first-round pick this year in Adler Mannheim defenseman Moritz Seider.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound, right-shot blueliner displayed impressive skills and maturity for his age while appearing at the 2019 World Championships (5-2-0-2).

Seider earned an OFP score of 57.50 and is ranked No. 15.

He will become the highest-selected German-born player at the NHL Draft since the Edmonton Oilers took Leon Draisaitl third overall in 2014.

Here are our final 2019 NHL Draft Rankings. They are a culmination of a season’s worth of prospect analysis and coverage on mckeenshockey.com and the tremendous work put in rinks and looking at screens and numbers from our committed team. Enjoy!

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB	Nation
1	Jack Hughes	C	NTDP (USA)	5-10/170	14-May-01	USA
2	Kaapo Kakko	RW	TPS Turku (Fin)	6-2/195	13-Feb-01	Finland
3	Bowen Byram	D	Vancouver (WHL)	6-0/195	13-Jun-01	Canada
4	Kirby Dach	C	Saskatoon (WHL)	6-3/200	21-Jan-01	Canada
5	Dylan Cozens	C	Lethbridge (WHL)	6-3/185	9-Feb-01	Canada
6	Trevor Zegras	C	NTDP (USA)	6-0/170	20-Mar-01	USA
7	Alex Turcotte	C	NTDP (USA)	5-11/185	26-Feb-01	USA
8	Peyton Krebs	C	Kootenay (WHL)	5-11/180	26-Jan-01	Canada
9	Philip Broberg	D	AIK (Swe 2)	6-3/200	25-Jun-01	Sweden
10	Victor Soderstrom	D	Brynas (Swe)	5-11/180	26-Feb-01	Sweden
11	Vasili Podkolzin	RW	SKA-1946 St. Pete. (Rus Jr)	6-1/190	24-Jun-01	Russia
12	Matthew Boldy	LW	NTDP (USA)	6-1/190	5-Apr-01	USA
13	Cole Caufield	RW	NTDP (USA)	5-7/165	2-Jan-01	USA
14	Raphael Lavoie	RW	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-4/195	25-Sep-00	Canada
15	Moritz Seider	D	Adler Mannheim (DEL)	6-3/185	6-Apr-01	Germany
16	Simon Holmstrom	RW	HV 71 (Swe Jr)	6-1/185	24-May-01	Sweden
17	Cam York	D	NTDP (USA)	5-11/175	5-Jan-01	USA
18	Alex Newhook	C	Victoria (BCHL)	5-10/195	28-Jan-01	Canada
19	Tobias Bjornfot	D	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	6-0/200	6-Apr-01	Sweden
20	Philip Tomasino	C	Niagara (OHL)	5-11/180	28-Jul-01	Canada
21	Arthur Kaliyev	RW	Hamilton (OHL)	6-2/190	26-Jun-01	USA
22	Ryan Suzuki	C	Barrie (OHL)	6-0/180	28-May-01	Canada
23	Samuel Poulin	LW	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	6-1/205	25-Feb-01	Canada
24	Thomas Harley	D	Mississauga (OHL)	6-3/190	19-Aug-01	Canada
25	Ryan Johnson	D	Sioux Falls (USHL)	6-0/175	24-Jul-01	USA
26	Albert Johansson	D	Farjestads (Swe Jr)	5-11/165	4-Jan-01	Sweden
27	Robert Mastrosimone	LW	Chicago (USHL)	5-10/160	24-Jan-01	USA
28	Connor McMichael	C	London (OHL)	5-11/175	15-Jan-01	Canada
29	Matthew Robertson	D	Edmonton (WHL)	6-3/200	9-Mar-01	Canada
30	John Beecher	C	NTDP (USA)	6-3/210	5-Apr-01	USA
31	Pavel Dorofeyev	LW	Magnitogorsk (KHL)	6-1/170	26-Oct-00	Russia
32	Spencer Knight	G	NTDP (USA)	6-3/195	19-Apr-01	USA
33	Bobby Brink	RW	Sioux City (USHL)	5-10/165	8-Jul-01	USA
34	Brett Leason	RW	Prince Albert (WHL)	6-4/200	30-Apr-99	Canada
35	Marshall Warren	D	NTDP (USA)	5-11/170	20-Apr-01	USA
36	Egor Afanasyev	RW	Muskegon (USHL)	6-3/205	23-Jan-01	Russia
37	Ville Heinola	D	Lukko Rauma (Fin)	5-11/180	3-Feb-01	Finland
38	Nolan Foote	LW	Kelowna (WHL)	6-3/190	29-Nov-00	Canada
39	Samuel Fagemo	RW	Frolunda (Swe)	6-0/195	14-Mar-00	Sweden
40	Nick Robertson	LW	Peterborough (OHL)	5-9/160	11-Sep-01	USA
41	Nils Hoglander	RW	Rogle (Swe)	5-9/185	20-Dec-00	Sweden
42	Jamieson Rees	C	Sarnia (OHL)	5-10/175	26-Feb-01	Canada
43	Jakob Pelletier	LW	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-9/165	7-Mar-01	Canada
44	Antti Tuomisto	D	Assat Pori (Fin Jr)	6-4/190	20-Jan-01	Finland
45	Lassi Thomson	D	Kelowna (WHL)	5-11/190	24-Sep-00	Finland
46	Michal Teply	LW	Bili Tygri Liberec (Cze)	6-3/185	27-May-01	Czech
47	Brayden Tracey	LW	Moose Jaw (WHL)	6-0/175	28-May-01	Canada
48	Arseni Gritsyuk	RW	Omskie Yastreby (Rus Jr)	5-10/170	15-Mar-01	Russia
49	Yegor Chinakhov	RW	Omskie Yastreby (Rus Jr)	6-0/175	1-Feb-01	Russia
50	Mattias Norlinder	D	MoDo (Swe Jr)	5-11/180	12-Apr-00	Sweden
51	Karl Henriksson	C	Frolunda (Swe Jr)	5-9/165	5-Feb-01	Sweden
52	Vladislav Kolyachonok	D	Flint (OHL)	6-1/185	26-May-01	Belarus
53	Nikola Pasic	RW	Linkopings (Swe Jr)	5-10/185	16-Oct-00	Sweden
54	Alex Vlasic	D	NTDP (USA)	6-6/200	5-Jun-01	USA
55	Pyotr Kochetkov	G	HK Ryazan (Rus 2)	6-1/175	25-Jun-99	Russia
56	Albin Grewe	RW	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	5-11/190	22-Mar-01	Sweden
57	Trevor Janicke	C	Central Illinois (USHL)	5-10/195	25-Dec-00	USA
58	Henry Thrun	D	NTDP (USA)	6-2/190	12-Mar-01	USA
59	Yegor Spiridonov	C	Stalnye Lisy Mag. (Rus Jr)	6-2/195	22-Jan-01	Russia
60	Patrik Puistola	LW	Tappara (Fin Jr)	6-0/175	11-Jan-01	Finland
61	Ilya Nikolayev	C	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	6-0/190	26-Jun-01	Russia
62	Drew Helleson	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/195	26-Mar-01	USA
63	Graeme Clarke	RW	Ottawa (OHL)	5-11/175	24-Apr-01	Canada
64	Ronnie Attard	D	Tri-City (USHL)	6-3/210	20-Mar-99	USA
65	Mads Sogaard	G	Medicine Hat (WHL)	6-7/195	13-Dec-00	Denmark
66	Oleg Zaitsev	C	Red Deer (WHL)	6-1/185	7-Jan-01	Russia
67	Isaiah Saville	G	Tri-City (USHL)	6-1/190	21-Sep-00	USA
68	Kaedan Korczak	D	Kelowna (WHL)	6-3/190	29-Jan-01	Canada
69	Adam Najman	C	Benatky nad Jizerou (Cze 2)	5-11/175	23-Jan-01	Czech
70	Mikko Kokkonen	D	Jukurit (Fin)	5-11/200	18-Jan-01	Finland
71	Michael Vukojevic	D	Kitchener (OHL)	6-3/210	8-Jun-01	Canada
72	Patrick Moynihan	RW	NTDP (USA)	5-11/185	23-Jan-01	USA
73	Michael Gildon	LW	NTDP (USA)	6-1/195	21-Jun-01	USA
74	Judd Caulfield	RW	NTDP (USA)	6-3/205	19-Mar-01	USA
75	Vladislav Firstov	LW	Waterloo (USHL)	6-1/180	19-Jun-01	USA
76	Hugo Alnefelt	G	HV 71 (Swe Jr)	6-3/195	4-Jun-01	Sweden
77	Gianni Fairbrother	D	Everett (WHL)	6-0/195	30-Sep-00	Canada
78	Jackson Lacombe	D	Shattuck-St. Mary's (USHS-MN)	6-1/170	9-Jan-01	USA
79	Ethan Keppen	LW	Flint (OHL)	6-2/210	20-Mar-01	Canada
80	Anttoni Honka	D	JyP Jyvaskyla (Fin)	5-10/180	5-Oct-00	Finland
81	Roman Bychkov	D	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	5-11/160	10-Feb-01	Russia
82	Ryder Donovan	C	Duluth East (USHS-MN)	6-3/185	4-Oct-00	USA
83	Nathan Legare	RW	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	6-0/205	11-Jan-01	Canada
84	Billy Constantinou	D	Kingston (OHL)	6-0/185	25-Mar-01	Canada
85	Vojtech Strondala	C	Slavia Trebic (Cze 2)	5-7/155	17-Dec-00	Czech
86	Case McCarthy	D	NTDP (USA)	6-1/195	9-Jan-01	USA
87	Simon Lundmark	D	Linkopings (Swe)	6-2/200	8-Oct-00	Sweden
88	Zac Jones	D	Tri-City (USHL)	5-10/175	18-Oct-00	USA
89	Erik Portillo	G	Frolunda (Swe Jr)	6-6/210	3-Sep-00	Sweden
90	Daniil Misyul	D	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	6-3/180	20-Oct-00	Russia
91	Daniil Gutik	LW	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	6-3/180	31-Aug-01	Russia
92	Hunter Jones	G	Peterborough (OHL)	6-4/195	21-Sep-00	Canada
93	Michael Koster	D	Chaska (USHS-MN)	5-9/175	13-Apr-01	USA
94	Aliaksei Protas	C	Prince Albert (WHL)	6-5/205	6-Jan-01	Belarus
95	Blake Murray	C	Sudbury (OHL)	6-2/190	5-Jul-01	Canada
96	Cole MacKay	RW	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	5-10/190	13-Jun-01	Canada
97	Trent Miner	G	Vancouver (WHL)	6-0/185	5-Jan-01	Canada
98	Semyon Chistyakov	D	Tolpar Ufa (Rus Jr)	5-10/170	7-Aug-01	Russia
99	Leevi Aaltonen	RW	KalPa (Fin Jr)	5-9/175	24-Jan-01	Finland
100	Antti Saarela	C	Lukko Rauma (Fin)	5-11/185	27-Jun-01	Finland
101	John Farinacci	C	Dexter (USHS-MA)	5-11/185	14-Feb-01	USA
102	Marcus Kallionkieli	LW	Sioux City (USHL)	6-2/195	20-Mar-01	Finland
103	Andre Lee	LW	Sioux Falls (USHL)	6-4/200	26-Jul-00	Sweden
104	Kirill Slepets	RW	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	5-10/165	6-Apr-99	Russia
105	Shane Pinto	C	Tri-City (USHL)	6-2/190	12-Nov-00	USA
106	Jordan Spence	D	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-10/165	24-Feb-01	Canada
107	Keean Washkurak	C	Mississauga (OHL)	5-10/185	16-Aug-01	Canada
108	Owen Lindmark	C	NTDP (USA)	6-0/195	17-May-01	USA
109	Matej Blumel	RW	Waterloo (USHL)	5-11/200	31-May-00	Czech
110	Jack Malone	RW	Youngstown (USHL)	6-1/190	13-Oct-00	USA
111	Jayden Struble	D	St. Sebastian's (USHS-MA)	6-0/195	8-Sep-01	USA
112	Artemi Knyazev	D	Chicoutimi (QMJHL)	5-11/180	4-Jan-01	Russia
113	Maxim Cajkovic	RW	Saint John (QMJHL)	5-11/185	3-Jan-01	Slovakia
114	Matvey Guskov	C	London (OHL)	6-1/180	30-Jan-01	Russia
115	Nikita Okhotyuk	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-1/195	4-Dec-00	Russia
116	Valeri Orekhov	D	Barys Astana (KHL)	6-1/190	17-Jul-99	Kazakhstan
117	Zdenek Sedlak	RW	Karpat Oulu (Fin)	6-2/205	23-Mar-00	Czech
118	Alexander Yakovenko	D	Muskegon (USHL)	5-11/175	22-Feb-98	Russia
119	Yannick Bruschweiler	C	GC Kusnacht Lions (Sui 2)	5-10/175	29-Aug-99	Switzerland
120	Ilya Mironov	D	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	6-3/200	15-Mar-01	Russia
121	Albert Lyckasen	D	Linkopings (Swe Jr)	5-10/180	29-Jul-01	Sweden
122	Keegan Stevenson	C	Guelph (OHL)	6-1/185	31-Dec-00	Canada
123	Ilya Konovalov	G	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	6-0/195	13-Jul-98	Russia
124	Cole Schwindt	RW	Mississauga (OHL)	6-2/185	25-Apr-01	Canada
125	Domenick Fensore	D	NTDP (USA)	5-7/155	7-Sep-01	USA
126	William Francis	D	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	6-5/210	16-Nov-00	USA
127	Simon Gnyp	D	Kolner (Ger Jr)	5-11/180	10-Sep-01	Germany
128	Tuukka Tieksola	RW	Karpat Oulu (Fin Jr)	5-10/150	22-Jun-01	Finland
129	Ethan Phillips	C	Sioux Falls (USHL)	5-9/150	7-May-01	Canada
130	Linus Pettersson	RW	MoDo (Swe)	5-7/145	11-Apr-00	Sweden
131	Matias Maccelli	LW	Dubuque (USHL)	5-11/170	14-Oct-00	Finland
132	Anthony Romano	C	Sioux Falls (USHL)	5-11/185	7-Oct-00	Canada
133	Nikita Alexandrov	C	Charlottetown (QMJHL)	6-0/180	16-Sep-00	Germany
134	Arturs Silovs	G	HS Riga (Lat)	6-4/205	22-Mar-01	Latvia
135	August Hedlund	G	AIK (Swe Jr)	6-4/185	7-Jan-00	Sweden
136	Nicholas Porco	LW	Saginaw (OHL)	6-0/175	12-Mar-01	Canada
137	Joe Carroll	C	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-2/200	1-Feb-01	Canada
138	Alex Beaucage	RW	Rouyn Noranda (QMJHL)	6-1/195	25-Jul-01	Canada
139	Luke Toporowski	C	Spokane (WHL)	5-11/180	12-Apr-01	USA
140	Sasha Mutala	RW	Tri-City (WHL)	6-0/200	6-May-01	Canada
141	Harrison Blaisdell	C	Chilliwack (BCHL)	5-11/180	18-Mar-01	Canada
142	Valentin Nussbaumer	C	Shawinigan (QMJHL)	5-11/165	25-Sep-00	Switzerland
143	Dustin Wolf	G	Everett (WHL)	6-0/155	16-Apr-01	USA
144	Ondrej Psenicka	RW	Sparta Praha (Cze Jr)	6-5/195	7-Jan-01	Czech
145	Juuso Parssinen	C	TPS Turku (Fin Jr)	6-2/205	1-Feb-01	Finland
146	Mitchell Brewer	D	Oshawa (OHL)	6-0/205	20-Mar-01	Canada
147	Lukas Parik	G	Liberec (Cze Jr)	6-4/185	15-Mar-01	Czech
148	Grant Silianoff	RW	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	5-11/170	4-Jan-01	USA
149	Josh Nodler	C	Fargo (USHL)	5-11/195	27-Apr-01	USA
150	Bryce Brodzinski	RW	Blaine (USHS-MN)	6-0/195	9-Aug-00	USA
151	Colten Ellis	G	Rimouski (QMJHL)	6-1/190	5-Oct-00	Canada
152	Rhett Pitlick	LW	Chaska (USHS-MN)	5-9/160	7-Feb-01	USA
153	Dillon Hamaliuk	LW	Seattle (WHL)	6-3/190	30-Oct-00	Canada
154	Aleksei Sergeev	C	Quebec (QMJHL)	5-9/185	22-May-00	Russia
155	Jack York	D	Barrie (OHL)	6-0/190	17-Sep-00	Canada
156	Jacob LeGuerrier	D	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-1/200	22-Nov-00	Canada
157	Zach Uens	D	Wellington (OJHL)	6-1/180	13-May-01	Canada
158	Josh Williams	RW	Edmonton (WHL)	6-1/195	8-Mar-01	Canada
159	Elmer Soderblom	RW	Frolunda (Swe Jr)	6-6/220	5-Jul-01	Sweden
160	Kyle Topping	C	Kelowna (WHL)	5-11/185	18-Nov-99	Canada
161	Albin Sundsvik	C	Skelleftea (Swe Jr)	6-1/185	27-Apr-01	Sweden
162	Cameron Rowe	G	NTDP (USA)	6-2/200	1-Jun-01	USA
163	Filip Lindberg	G	Massachusetts (HE)	6-0/180	31-Jan-99	Finland
164	Liam Svensson	C	Frolunda (Swe Jr 18)	6-3/195	2-Feb-01	Sweden
165	Xavier Simoneau	C	Drummondville (QMJHL)	5-6/170	19-May-01	Canada
166	Pavel Gogolev	RW	Guelph (OHL)	6-0/175	19-Feb-00	Russia
167	Danil Antropov	LW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-1/185	20-Dec-00	Canada
168	Daniel D'Amico	LW	Windsor (OHL)	5-9/185	26-Jan-01	Canada
169	Vladimir Alistrov	LW	Edmonton (WHL)	6-2/175	12-Feb-01	Belarus
170	Reece Newkirk	C	Portland (WHL)	5-11/175	20-Feb-01	Canada
171	Sergei Alkhimov	LW	Regina (WHL)	6-0/210	3-Jul-01	Russia
172	Adam Beckman	LW	Spokane (WHL)	6-1/170	10-May-01	Canada
173	Alexander Campbell	LW	Victoria (BCHL)	5-10/150	27-Feb-01	Canada
174	Taylor Gauthier	G	Prince George (WHL)	6-1/195	15-Feb-01	Canada
175	Max Crozier	D	Sioux Falls (USHL)	6-1/195	19-Apr-00	Canada
176	Santeri Hatakka	D	Jokerit (Fin Jr)	6-0/175	15-Jan-01	Finland
177	Kalle Loponen	D	Hermes (Fin 2)	5-10/185	13-Mar-01	Finland
178	Eric Ciccolini	RW	Toronto Jr Canadiens (OJHL)	5-11/160	14-Jan-01	Canada
179	Aku Raty	RW	Karpat Oulu (Fin Jr)	5-11/170	5-Jul-01	Finland
180	Arvid Costmar	C	Linkopings (Swe Jr)	5-11/180	7-Jul-01	Sweden
181	Matt Brown	LW	Des Moines (USHL)	5-9/180	9-Aug-99	USA
182	Sven Leuenberger	C	Zug (Sui)	5-10/185	18-Feb-99	Switzerland
183	Jasper Patrikainen	G	Pelicans (Fin)	6-0/175	1-Jul-00	Finland
184	Jack Williams	G	Springfield (NAHL)	6-3/175	21-Jun-01	USA
185	Mikhail Abramov	C	Victoriaville (QMJHL)	5-10/160	26-Mar-01	Russia
186	Ben Brinkman	D	Minnesota (B1G)	6-0/215	4-Oct-00	USA
187	Chris Giroday	D	Green Bay (USHL)	6-1/175	13-Dec-00	Canada
188	Petr Cajka	C	Erie (OHL)	6-0/170	11-Dec-00	Czech
189	Mark Kastelic	C	Calgary (WHL)	6-3/215	11-Mar-99	USA
190	Kevin Wall	RW	Chilliwack (BCHL)	6-0/190	1-Feb-00	USA
191	Lucas Edmonds	RW	Karlskrona (Swe Jr)	5-11/175	27-Jan-01	Sweden
192	Carter Gylander	G	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	6-5/175	5-Jun-01	Canada
193	Ethan de Jong	RW	Quinnipiac (ECAC)	5-10/170	12-Jul-99	Canada
194	Wiljami Myllyla	RW	HIFK Helsinki (Fin Jr)	6-0/170	9-Apr-01	Finland
195	Yaroslav Likhachyov	RW	Gatineau (QMJHL)	5-10/170	2-Sep-01	Russia
196	Layton Ahac	D	Prince George (BCHL)	6-2/195	22-Feb-01	Canada
197	Alfred Barklund	D	Orebro (Swe Jr)	6-2/200	21-Oct-00	Sweden
198	Radek Muzik	LW	Lulea (Swe Jr)	6-3/180	25-Mar-01	Sweden
199	Marcus Pedersen	RW	Linkopings (Swe Jr)	6-2/165	25-May-01	Sweden
200	Filip Koffer	RW	Pardubice (Cze Jr)	5-11/175	4-Mar-01	Czech
201	Henri Nikkanen	C	Jukurit (Fin Jr)	6-3/200	28-Apr-01	Finland
202	Marc Del Gaizo	D	Massachusetts (HE)	5-9/190	11-Oct-99	USA
203	Tag Bertuzzi	LW	Hamilton (OHL)	6-0/200	18-Feb-01	Canada
204	Martin Hugo Has	D	Tappara (Fin Jr)	6-4/190	2-Feb-01	Czech
205	Jet Greaves	G	Barrie (OHL)	5-11/165	30-Mar-01	Canada
206	Mason Millman	D	Saginaw (OHL)	6-1/175	18-Jul-01	Canada
207	Janis Jerome Moser	D	Biel-Bienne (Sui)	6-0/160	6-Jun-00	Switzerland
208	Nick Abruzzese	C	Chicago (USHL)	5-9/160	4-Jun-99	USA
209	Logan Barlage	C	Lethbridge (WHL)	6-4/200	7-Jan-01	Canada
210	Carter Berger	D	Victoria (BCHL)	6-0/200	17-Sep-99	Canada
211	Nando Eggenberger	LW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-2/205	7-Oct-99	Switzerland
212	Tyce Thompson	RW	Providence (HE)	6-1/180	12-Jul-99	USA
213	Nolan Maier	G	Saskatoon (WHL)	6-0/175	10-Jan-01	Canada
214	Massimo Rizzo	C	Penticton (BCHL)	5-10/180	13-Jun-01	Canada
215	Matthew Steinburg	C	St. Andrew's (CHS-O)	6-1/185	7-Oct-00	Canada
216	Jake Lee	D	Seattle (WHL)	6-1/215	13-Jul-01	Canada
217	Luke Bast	D	Brooks (AJHL)	5-9/170	20-Nov-00	Canada

100 HONOURABLE MENTION IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB	Nation
HM	Nathan Allensen	D	Barrie (OHL)	5-11/180	3-May-01	Canada
HM	Ethan Anders	G	Red Deer (WHL)	6-1/175	26-Sep-00	Canada
HM	Nicklas Andrews	D	Des Moines (USHL)	5-10/185	6-Jul-01	USA
HM	Tyler Angle	C	Windsor (OHL)	5-9/165	30-Sep-00	Canada
HM	Marcel Barinka	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-0/165	3-Jan-01	Czech
HM	Roman Basran	G	Kelowna (WHL)	6-1/195	26-Jul-01	Canada
HM	Luke Bignell	C	Barrie (OHL)	6-0/170	3-Nov-00	Canada
HM	Mathieu Bizier	C	Gatineau (QMJHL)	6-1/185	13-May-01	Canada
HM	Oscar Bjerselius	C	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	5-11/185	18-Feb-01	Sweden
HM	Kaden Bohlsen	C	Fargo (USHL)	6-3/190	10-Jan-01	USA
HM	Samuel Bolduc	D	Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)	6-3/210	9-Dec-00	Canada
HM	Jakob Bondesson	D	Rogle (Swe Jr)	6-1/185	22-May-00	Sweden
HM	Cole Brady	G	Janesville (NAHL)	6-5/165	12-Feb-01	Canada
HM	Alex Brannstam	D	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	5-11/170	3-Jun-01	Sweden
HM	Lynden Breen	C	Central Illinois (USHL)	5-9/165	31-May-01	USA
HM	Jonas Brondberg	D	Vaxjo Lakers (Swe Jr)	6-4/190	26-Jan-01	Sweden
HM	Jeremie Bucheler	D	Victoria (BCHL)	6-4/200	31-Mar-00	Canada
HM	Brett Budgell	LW	Charlottetown (QMJHL)	5-11/190	1-Jun-01	Canada
HM	Luka Burzan	RW	Brandon (WHL)	6-0/190	7-Jan-00	Canada
HM	Felix Carenfelt	LW	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	5-10/185	13-Feb-00	Sweden
HM	Luke Cavallin	G	Flint (OHL)	6-1/190	29-Apr-01	Canada
HM	Filip Cederqvist	LW	Vaxjo Lakers (Swe)	6-1/185	23-Aug-00	Sweden
HM	Cole Coskey	RW	Saginaw (OHL)	6-0/190	1-Jun-99	USA
HM	Braden Doyle	D	Lawrence Academy (USHS-MA)	5-11/170	24-Aug-01	USA
HM	Justin Ducharme	LW	Chicoutimi (QMJHL)	5-10/180	22-Feb-00	Canada
HM	Nathan Dunkley	C	London (OHL)	5-11/195	3-May-00	Canada
HM	Pontus Englund	D	Timra (Swe Jr)	6-3/205	15-Jul-00	Sweden
HM	Lucas Feuk	LW	Sodertalje (Swe Jr)	6-0/185	19-Feb-01	Sweden
HM	Parker Ford	C	Sioux City (USHL)	5-8/170	20-Jul-00	USA
HM	Ethan Frisch	D	Fargo (USHL)	5-11/190	29-Oct-00	USA
HM	Maxim Golod	LW	Erie (OHL)	5-11/175	18-Aug-00	Canada
HM	Jacob Gronhagen	C	HV 71 (Swe Jr)	6-6/215	18-Jan-01	Sweden
HM	Maxence Guenette	D	Val d'Or (QMJHL)	6-1/180	28-Apr-01	Canada
HM	Hugo Gustafsson	C	Sodertalje (Swe 2)	5-10/160	23-Feb-00	Sweden
HM	Mack Guzda	G	Owen Sound (OHL)	6-4/215	11-Jan-01	USA
HM	Aidan Harper	G	Skipjacks HC 18U (USPHL)	6-2/170	28-May-01	USA
HM	Ludvig Hedstrom	D	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	5-11/175	14-Apr-01	Sweden
HM	Konsta Hirvonen	LW	HIFK Helsinki (Fin Jr)	5-11/165	1-Nov-00	Finland
HM	Eric Hjorth	D	Linkopings (Swe Jr 18)	6-3/190	8-Jan-01	Sweden
HM	Samuel Hlavaj	G	Lincoln (USHL)	6-4/185	29-May-01	Slovakia
HM	Krystof Hrabik	C	Tri-City (WHL)	6-4/220	24-Sep-99	Czech
HM	Rickard Hugg	C	Kitchener (OHL)	5-11/190	18-Jan-99	Sweden
HM	Aaron Huglen	RW	Roseau (USHS-MN)	5-11/165	6-Mar-01	USA
HM	Aarne Intonen	C	TPS Turku (Fin Jr)	5-11/180	17-Jul-01	Finland
HM	Michal Ivan	D	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-1/185	18-Nov-99	Slovakia
HM	Dylan Jackson	RW	Dubuque (USHL)	5-9/175	6-Sep-01	Canada
HM	Ty Jackson	C	Dubuque (USHL)	5-7/150	6-Sep-01	Canada
HM	Taro Jentzsch	C	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	6-1/155	11-Jun-00	Germany
HM	Samuel Johannesson	D	Rogle (Swe Jr)	5-11/175	27-Dec-00	Sweden
HM	Wilson Johansson	RW	Farjestads (Swe Jr)	5-11/175	11-Oct-00	Sweden
HM	Brooklyn Kalmikov	C	Cape Breton (QMJHL)	6-0/165	21-Apr-01	Canada
HM	David Karlstrom	C	AIK (Swe Jr)	6-1/185	12-Mar-01	Sweden
HM	Mans Kramer	D	Frolunda (Swe Jr)	6-2/180	6-Mar-01	Sweden
HM	Jami Krannila	C	Sioux Falls (USHL)	5-10/160	3-Oct-00	Finland
HM	Grayson Ladd	D	Windsor (OHL)	6-1/175	1-Mar-01	Canada
HM	Martin Lang	LW	Kamloops (WHL)	5-11/170	15-Sep-01	Czech
HM	Oscar Lawner	LW	Farjestads (Swe Jr)	5-11/185	13-Feb-01	Sweden
HM	Jonathan Lemieux	G	Val d'Or (QMJHL)	6-0/185	8-Jun-01	Canada
HM	Hugo Leufvenius	LW	Sarnia (OHL)	6-3/230	26-Mar-99	Sweden
HM	Ethan Leyh	LW	Langley (BCHL)	6-0/190	7-Sep-01	Canada
HM	Josh Lopina	C	Lincoln (USHL)	6-1/175	16-Feb-01	USA
HM	Emil Malysjev	D	Saskatoon (WHL)	6-3/190	1-May-01	Sweden
HM	Matias Mantykivi	C	SaiPa (Fin Jr)	5-11/160	21-Jun-01	Finland
HM	Jeremy McKenna	RW	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-10/175	20-Apr-99	Canada
HM	Billy Moskal	C	London (OHL)	6-0/185	22-Mar-00	Canada
HM	Derek Mullahy	G	Dexter (USHS-MA)	6-0/180	20-Mar-01	USA
HM	Kim Nousiainen	D	KalPa (Fin Jr)	5-9/170	14-Nov-00	Finland
HM	Zachary Okabe	RW	Grande Prairie (AJHL)	5-8/165	4-Jan-01	Canada
HM	Oliver Okuliar	LW	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	6-1/190	24-May-00	Slovakia
HM	Quinn Olson	LW	Okotoks (AJHL)	5-10/170	9-May-01	Canada
HM	Xavier Parent	LW	Halifax (QMJHL)	5-8/170	23-Mar-01	Canada
HM	Tommy Pasanen	D	Sioux City (USHL)	6-3/220	30-Jul-01	Germany
HM	Thomas Pelletier	D	Drummondville (QMJHL)	6-2/195	23-Aug-01	Canada
HM	Andrew Perrott	D	Owen Sound (OHL)	5-11/205	24-Aug-01	USA
HM	Kari Piiroinen	G	Windsor (OHL)	6-0/175	1-Jul-01	Finland
HM	Lukas Pilo	D	Orebro (Swe Jr)	6-1/185	7-Sep-99	Sweden
HM	Garrett Pinoniemi	C	Holy Family Catholic (USHS-MN)	5-11/150	15-Jun-01	USA
HM	Mason Primeau	C	North Bay (OHL)	6-5/205	28-Jul-01	Canada
HM	Kirby Proctor	D	Des Moines (USHL)	6-3/190	19-Apr-01	Canada
HM	Liam Ross	D	Sudbury (OHL)	6-2/195	13-May-01	Canada
HM	Henrik Rybinski	RW	Seattle (WHL)	6-0/175	26-Jun-01	Canada
HM	Nikita Sedov	D	Regina (WHL)	6-1/185	5-May-01	Russia
HM	Egor Serdyuk	RW	Victoriaville (QMJHL)	5-10/160	3-Jun-01	Russia
HM	Nikita Shashkov	LW	Sibir Novosibirsk (KHL)	5-11/180	26-Mar-99	Russia
HM	Ryan Siedem	D	Central Illinois (USHL)	6-2/190	25-Feb-01	USA
HM	Samuel Sjolund	D	AIK (Swe Jr)	6-1/175	19-May-01	Sweden
HM	Hunter Skinner	D	Muskegon (USHL)	6-2/175	29-Apr-01	USA
HM	Dominik Sojka	C	Banska Bystrica (Svk Jr)	6-5/210	16-Feb-01	Slovakia
HM	Kyen Sopa	RW	Niagara (OHL)	5-9/185	30-Sep-00	Switzerland
HM	Tyler Spott	D	Green Bay (USHL)	5-10/170	17-Jun-00	Canada
HM	Matthew Struthers	C	North Bay (OHL)	6-2/210	26-Dec-99	Canada
HM	Roope Taponen	G	HIFK Helsinki (Fin Jr)	6-0/165	14-Mar-01	Finland
HM	Jacob Tortora	LW	Barrie (OHL)	5-6/165	25-Jul-99	USA
HM	Bobby Trivigno	LW	Massachusetts (HE)	5-8/155	19-Jan-99	USA
HM	Eric Uba	RW	Flint (OHL)	6-0/195	17-Dec-00	Canada
HM	Max Wahlgren	RW	MoDo (Swe)	6-1/185	9-May-01	Sweden
HM	Carl Wang	D	Sodertalje (Swe Jr)	6-2/195	28-Mar-01	Sweden
HM	Matteus Ward	G	Linkopings (Swe Jr)	6-0/170	7-Mar-01	Sweden
HM	Lukas Wernblom	C	MoDo (Swe 2)	5-9/170	22-Jul-00	Sweden
HM	Jonathan Yantsis	RW	Kitchener (OHL)	6-2/210	28-Apr-99	Canada

OHL: Nando Eggenberger, LW/RW, Oshawa

Shaiyena Cote — Sun, 26 May 2019 21:00:22 +0000

Nando Eggenberger shows a lot of potential when it comes to having the skill set and the ability to play in higher leagues. He specifically shows promise with his overall team play as well as his shooting. Although not the quickest or most agile of forwards, he has the hands and the shot to be a similar player in style to Evgeni Malkin.

He is a great playmaker and his passing skills really allow for his teammates to move the puck quickly as he also does a good job at finding space and driving the play forward up the ice. He is confident in his abilities and he likes to carry the puck.

If Eggenberger can find a way to boost his speed more and develop his stamina enough to sustain his stop and go game then he will have very little problem continuing his progress through the next levels.

Nando Eggenberger	2019 Draft Eligible
Position: LW/RW	H/W: 6'2, 203lbs
Starts to Date (GP-G-A-TPS-PIMS)	Oshawa Generals, OHL (59-25-22-47-16)
	Switzerland U20, WJC (7-1-3-4-2)

Forward #25 Nando Eggenberger of the Oshawa Generals

Skating: For a big body Eggenberger moves well, he is not an exceptional skater but he is still able to get to the net. However, he does not seem to have any really explosive speed nor is he grabbing as much ice as he could be with his crossovers. It is safe to say that his skating remains his weakest attribute and that there needs to be more progress over all with his movement on the ice. The one positive he brings to his skating game is his edge work. He rarely loses balance or falls when turning quickly to lose opponents. He uses his strength well when digging into the ice in the corners, if he could only keep up his low centre of gravity and transfer that into his regular stride it would help him generate more power in every push and build his speed. He has potential to be a big threat if he works on improving his explosiveness in stop and go situations. Grade: 50

Shot: Having finished with a 25 goal regular season it is safe to say that Eggenberger is a born shooter. He can shoot from all angles and from close in or far out. He is a big, dominant player especially when in the slot with the capability of shooting hard and staying true to his aim. He has scored many goals from the slot and off of rebounds where he rarely misses the net. He does well at shooting on both the forehand and the backhand. Essentially there is nothing wrong with his shot but still room for improvement as he will continue to get stronger and his shot will keep getting faster. He has all the tools necessary to be a natural scorer in the next level but perhaps he can develop more tricks up his sleeve and work on stick speed to really be able to compare his release to some of the top NHL shooters. Grade: 55

Skills: Eggenberger is a skilled player, the type of guy you notice once he has made several moves past three or four defenders but who also slips under your radar until he has the puck. He is a creative player with good hands. His stick handling ability is mostly demonstrated when he takes the puck deep and wide or before he makes a breakout pass. He is not particularly showy and he knows when to pass the puck and when he has skated himself into no man’s land. However his hands are still a tiny bit choppy and could use a little more polish despite the fact that he does fine regardless of the robotic nature in which he sometimes maneuvers the puck. As a passer he is good at feeding shorter passes and seems to lean on those short passes rather than stretch passes. A quick note on his ability to make boards passes; he can both make a good boards pass and handle one with ease which helps demonstrate his awareness, skill and creativity when moving the puck. Overall his skill is good but his hands would do well with some more development and encouragement should come when making stretch passes so he can gain more confidence with long passes. Grade: 55

Smarts: He is a player you want on your team, as he is creative and smart enough to read whether or not he should be going hard to the net or waiting off to the side for a backdoor pass. Eggenberger is patient and a lot of his play is offensively focused. He made his presence known on both the power play and penalty kill for the Oshawa Generals this year. The way he moves the puck patiently and methodically up the ice either by skating it or with a short breakout pass is evidence of the maturity that playing for HC Davos in the NLA has given him. He possesses the ability to see plays developing around bodies and has great awareness when with the puck. His head is up and his vision is good, and paired with his ability to give and receive passes makes him a dangerous player. Also, an important aspect to make note on is his timing when cutting across the ice and how well he makes himself available for stretch passes. He gives himself a lot of time to set up, never panics and knows how to create space which is what sets him apart from other players. Grade: 60

Physicality: Despite having a big frame Eggenberger is a clean player who still plays a very European style of play. Throughout the season he made a positive adjustment to the North American ice size as well as the physical play all the while keeping his penalty minutes low. There are still times when he misses checks and his timing is slightly behind but overall, he forechecks and separates the player from the puck effectively enough to take possession of the puck and create opportunities. He is not a player that gives up the puck along the boards and for the most part he wins out physically in those situations. On the other hand, he has trouble in open ice where his centre of gravity is not as low and he is easy to knock off the puck. In that area he needs to get stronger and adopt a more physically ready presence on the ice if he wants to play at a higher level. Grade: 55

Overall Future Projection (OFP): 54.5

McKeen’s Mid-Season 2019 NHL Draft Ranking – Top 62

Ryan Wagman — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:41:05 +0000

It has been a little over two months since we debuted the 2019 draft rankings on McKeen’s. Much hockey has been played since that time and our views on the 2019 draft class have naturally been refined as well.

Most notably, while we were only comfortable ranking a first round of talent last time, with the increased information, we have also doubled our ranking to now show two rounds worth of players, lined up in the order of their expected future value, roughly through age 26.

In addition to the 62 named we have ranked here, we have thrown in 38 more as unranked “Honorable Mention” players as others whose chances we like of hearing their names called in Vancouver in June.

So with a little over half of the hockey season behind us, what can we say about the Class of 2019?

CHELYABINSK, RUSSIA - APRIL 19: Finland's Kaapo Kakko #33 plays the puck while while Slovakia's Nicolas Ferenyi #11 looks on during preliminary round action at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. (Photo by Andrea Cardin/HHOF-IIHF Images)

We have a top tier of three forwards, all of whom shone to some extent at the recent WJC. It is hard at this stage to see any other players bumping any of Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko, or Vasili Podkolzin from the top three, even knowing that Podkolzin is reportedly unlikely to leave Russia in the next few years.

None of these three project to reach the heights of recent top-of-class talents such as McDavid, Matthews, Laine, or Eichel, but all stack up nicely with most recent class leaders.

After that very top, the draft class is heavy with WHL and USNTDP talent. We have four WHLers ranked in the top ten including the four through six slots (Dylan Cozens, Kirby Dach, Bowen Byram), with Peyton Krebs figuring in at #8. Three more WHLers are ranked in the first round while Alex Newhook (#15) from Victoria of the BCHL gives scouts yet another reason to spend ample time along the West Coast.

MAGNITOGORSK, RUSSIA - APRIL 19: USA's Jack Hughes #6 stickhandles the puck up the ice during preliminary round action against Canada at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. (Photo by Steve Kingsman/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Looking at the USNTDP, after top man Hughes, we have seven others ranked in the first round alone, including a run of four in a row between 10 – 13, of Trevor Zegras, Matthew Boldy, Cam York, and Alex Turcotte. The U18 team this year is likely better than any other in recent memory and Jack Hughes is merely one of many standouts. In fact, as this article is written, Hughes is on the sidelines on a day-to-day basis with a nebulous lower body injury. No matter, as his teammates took down Central Illinois by an 11-3 score and then defeated top USHL team Muskegon 4-1 the next day. Before we come to our final ranking, there will be other USNTDP players considered for the first round who we do not have ranked there now, but regardless of the names, it would not surprise in the least to see between 7-10 from the program go on the first day of the draft.

And just like the WHL also calls for an honorable mention with Newhook of the BCHL, as the USNTDP plays most of its games in the USHL, scouts have a few other high profile targets to view there in Chicago’s Robert Mastrosimone (#31) and Sioux City’s Bobby Brink (#34) once the latter returns from an injury sustained at the WJAC in December.

Beyond the inevitable shuffling that goes on in draft lists from month to month, we have added in six names who were not in the top 31 at the first look, all in the back third of the first round. From the OHL, we believe that the scouting reports back up the statistical profiles of London’s Connor McMichael (#22) and Niagara’s Philip Tomasino (#23). Overager Brett Leason (#24) from the WHL’s leading Prince Albert squad is making a great case to join the likes of Tanner Pearson and Henrik Borgstrom as recent second/third year eligibles to have made such leaps in their game as to be first rounders. Finnish blueliner Ville Heinola (#25) had a strong performance at the WJC on route to a Gold Medal for Finland, improving his stock considerably.

Another strong WJC performance helped German defender Moritz Seider sneak on near the back of our first round, although in his case, he played in Division 1A of the WJC tournament, captaining Germany to a championship and a return to the top tier of international U20 hockey.

Finally, our last newcomer to the first round, as we hinted could be the case last time, is a rare elite netminder, in Spencer Knight (#26), naturally from the USNTDP. While Knight was at the recent WJC, he was the third string netminder for the silver medalist Americans and did not suit up for a game. He is simply a prototype of the modern big, athletic netminder and he keeps the puck out of the net. We could attribute his placement towards the end of the first round on the failure of more skaters to assert themselves as first round talents, and there is some truth to that as there is a relatively sharp decline in talent after around the 21^st player on the list below. But that isn’t all. Knight has no red flags on his scouting report outside of his position.

The average first round is a hair over 6-0”, 180 pounds, with none taller than Brett Leason at 6-4”. The top of the class is also very heavy in forwards, with 22 ranked in the top 31 and another 17 in the second round.

With all of this said, I am reminded of what an old scout once told me about how draft classes are made off of what happens after Christmas. That time has only really just begun and there are still three months of regular season play for these young men to complete filling out their resumes for the draft. We fully anticipate that more players will make “The Leap” in the next while and for there to be pop-up players who we may be dismissive of now but for whom by April we will swear MUST be taken on day one. There will be others whose current upward trajectories will stall out and find themselves falling down draft boards. There is a lot of hockey still to be played. The list that follows is our snapshot of where things stand today. Enjoy.

Please hit us up on twitter @mckeenshockey, with any questions/comments about the list.

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB	GP-G-A-PTS
1	Jack Hughes	C	NTDP (USHL)	5-10/170	14-May-01	28-13-43-56
2	Kaapo Kakko	RW	TPS Turku (Fin)	6-2/195	13-Feb-01	29-11-11-22
3	Vasili Podkolzin	RW	SKA-1946 St. Pete. (Rus Jr)	6-1/190	24-Jun-01	12-6-2-8
4	Dylan Cozens	C	Lethbridge (WHL)	6-3/185	9-Feb-01	47-27-33-60
5	Kirby Dach	C	Saskatoon (WHL)	6-3/200	21-Jan-01	45-18-34-52
6	Bowen Byram	D	Vancouver (WHL)	6-1/195	13-Jun-01	45-17-27-44
7	Philip Broberg	D	AIK (Swe 2)	6-3/200	25-Jun-01	32-1-7-8
8	Peyton Krebs	C	Kootenay (WHL)	5-11/180	26-Jan-01	45-16-38-54
9	Victor Soderstrom	D	Brynas (Swe)	5-11/180	26-Feb-01	27-2-2-4
10	Trevor Zegras	C	NTDP (USHL)	6-0/165	20-Mar-01	35-13-38-51
11	Matthew Boldy	LW	NTDP (USHL)	6-1/185	5-Apr-01	36-21-19-40
12	Cam York	D	NTDP (USHL)	5-11/170	5-Jan-01	35-6-23-29
13	Alex Turcotte	C	NTDP (USHL)	5-11/195	26-Feb-01	14-11-11-22
14	Raphael Lavoie	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	6-3/195	25-Sep-00	44-21-24-45
15	Alex Newhook	C	Victoria (BCHL)	5-10/195	28-Jan-01	42-25-49-74
16	Cole Caufield	RW	NTDP (USHL)	5-7/155	2-Jan-01	36-33-18-51
17	Arthur Kaliyev	RW	Hamilton (OHL)	6-1/190	26-Jun-01	47-33-36-69
18	Matthew Robertson	D	Edmonton (WHL)	6-3/200	9-Mar-01	35-6-16-22
19	Tobias Bjornfot	D	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	6-0/200	6-Apr-01	27-9-7-16
20	Jakob Pelletier	LW	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-9/165	7-Mar-01	45-25-37-62
21	Ryan Suzuki	C	Barrie (OHL)	6-0/180	28-May-01	43-15-31-46
22	Connor McMichael	C	London (OHL)	5-11/175	15-Jan-01	44-28-26-54
23	Philip Tomasino	C	Niagara (OHL)	6-0/180	28-Jul-01	45-23-25-48
24	Brett Leason	RW	Prince Albert (WHL)	6-4/200	30-Apr-99	41-31-42-73
25	Ville Heinola	D	Lukko Rauma (Fin)	5-11/175	3-Feb-01	23-1-5-6
26	Spencer Knight	G	NTDP (USHL)	6-3/195	19-Apr-01	14-2, 2.42, .920
27	Marshall Warren	D	NTDP (USHL)	5-11/170	20-Apr-01	30-5-12-17
28	Nolan Foote	LW	Kelowna (WHL)	6-3/190	29-Nov-00	45-25-20-45
29	Moritz Seider	D	Adler Mannheim (Ger)	6-3/185	6-Apr-01	25-1-3-4
30	Pavel Dorofeyev	LW	Stalnye Lisy Magn. (Rus Jr)	6-1/170	26-Oct-00	16-13-12-25
31	Robert Mastrosimone	LW	Chicago (USHL)	5-10/170	24-Jan-01	28-16-12-28
32	Samuel Poulin	RW	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	6-1/205	25-Feb-01	46-19-30-49
33	Mikko Kokkonen	D	Jukurit (Fin)	5-11/200	18-Jan-01	41-1-14-15
34	Bobby Brink	RW	Sioux City (USHL)	5-10/165	8-Jul-01	19-15-18-33
35	Lassi Thomson	D	Kelowna (WHL)	6-0/190	24-Sep-00	46-11-19-30
36	Thomas Harley	D	Mississauga (OHL)	6-3/190	19-Aug-01	47-10-33-43
37	John Farinacci	C	Dexter (USHS-MA)	5-11/185	14-Feb-01	NA
38	Egor Afanasyev	RW	Muskegon (USHL)	6-3/205	23-Jan-01	35-18-22-40
39	Patrik Puistola	LW	Tappara (Fin Jr)	6-0/175	11-Jan-01	18-9-8-17
40	Ilya Nikolayev	C	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	6-0/190	26-Jun-01	35-8-11-19
41	Nils Hoglander	LW	Rogle (Swe)	5-9/185	20-Dec-00	33-6-4-10
42	Albin Grewe	RW	Djurgardens (Swe Jr)	5-11/190	22-Mar-01	19-11-17-28
43	Anttoni Honka	D	JyP Jyvaskyla (Fin)	5-10/170	5-Oct-00	16-1-3-4
44	Case McCarthy	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-1/195	9-Jan-01	35-4-12-16
45	Simon Lundmark	D	Linkopings (Swe Jr)	6-2/200	8-Oct-00	25-2-15-17
46	Nick Robertson	LW	Peterborough (OHL)	5-9/160	11-Sep-01	33-17-17-34
47	Jamieson Rees	C	Sarnia (OHL)	5-10/170	26-Feb-01	25-9-15-24
48	Simon Holmstrom	RW	HV 71 (Swe Jr)	6-0/185	24-May-01	13-6-3-9
49	Artemi Knyazev	D	Chicoutimi (QMJHL)	5-11/180	4-Jan-01	37-9-13-22
50	Nathan Legare	RW	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	6-0/205	11-Jan-01	47-34-31-65
51	Daniil Gutik	LW	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	6-3/180	31-Aug-01	31-5-8-13
52	Oleg Zaitsev	C	Red Deer (WHL)	6-1/185	7-Jan-01	44-8-21-29
53	Valentin Nussbaumer	C	Shawinigan (QMJHL)	6-0/165	25-Sep-00	38-10-13-23
54	John Beecher	C	NTDP (USHL)	6-3/205	5-Apr-01	35-6-16-22
55	Jordan Spence	D	Moncton (QMJHL)	5-10/165	24-Feb-01	48-3-35-38
56	Billy Constantinou	D	Kingston (OHL)	6-0/185	25-Mar-01	45-6-19-25
57	Vladislav Kolyachonok	D	Flint (OHL)	6-2/180	26-May-01	35-3-21-24
58	Nikita Alexandrov	C	Charlottetown (QMJHL)	6-0/180	16-Sep-00	44-21-21-42
59	Kaedan Korczak	D	Kelowna (WHL)	6-3/190	29-Jan-01	47-3-16-19
60	Antti Tuomisto	D	Assat Pori (Fin Jr)	6-4/190	20-Jan-01	38-7-23-30
61	Henry Thrun	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-2/190	12-Mar-01	36-7-17-24
62	Hunter Jones	G	Peterborough (OHL)	6-4/195	21-Sep-00	21-18, 3.36, .905

HM (ALPHABETICAL)
Hugo Alnefelt	G	HV 71 (Swe Jr)	6-3/195	4-Jun-01	19GP, 2.89, .898
Alex Beaucage	RW	Rouyn Noranda (QMJHL)	6-1/195	25-Jul-01	49-28-30-58
Adam Beckman	LW	Spokane (WHL)	6-1/170	10-May-01	46-19-17-36
Mitchell Brewer	D	Oshawa (OHL)	6-0/205	20-Mar-01	47-3-9-12
Maxim Cajkovic	RW	Saint John (QMJHL)	5-11/185	3-Jan-01	41-15-19-34
Joe Carroll	LW	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-2/195	1-Feb-01	43-8-16-24
Graeme Clarke	RW	Ottawa (OHL)	5-11/175	24-Apr-01	34-16-7-23
Nando Eggenberger	LW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-2/205	7-Oct-99	38-16-17-33
Samuel Fagemo	LW	Frolunda (Swe)	6-0/195	14-Mar-00	20-7-7-14
Vladislav Firstov	LW	Waterloo (USHL)	6-0/180	19-Jun-01	38-18-21-39
Taylor Gauthier	G	Prince George (WHL)	6-1/195	15-Feb-01	12-18, 3.04, .906
Michael Gildon	LW	NTDP (USHL)	6-1/195	21-Jun-01	33-11-11-22
Matvey Guskov	C	London (OHL)	6-1/175	30-Jan-01	36-8-14-22
Dillon Hamaliuk	LW	Seattle (WHL)	6-3/195	30-Oct-00	31-11-15-26
Drew Helleson	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-2/180	26-Mar-01	36-5-11-16
Karl Henriksson	C	Frolunda (Swe Jr)	5-9/165	5-Feb-01	34-11-28-39
Ryan Johnson	D	Sioux Falls (USHL)	6-0/165	24-Jul-01	28-4-10-14
Marcus Kallionkieli	LW	Sioux City (USHL)	6-1/175	20-Mar-01	32-17-10-27
Ethan Keppen	LW	Flint (OHL)	6-2/220	20-Mar-01	49-17-20-37
Pyotr Kochetkov	G	HK Ryazan (Rus 2)	6-1/175	25-Jun-99	13GP, 1.91, .937
Jake Lee	D	Seattle (WHL)	6-2/215	13-Jul-01	44-2-17-19
Ilya Mironov	D	Loko Yaroslavl (Rus Jr)	6-3/200	15-Mar-01	28-1-5-6
Blake Murray	C	Sudbury (OHL)	6-2/190	5-Jul-01	45-20-14-34
Sasha Mutala	RW	Tri-City (WHL)	6-1/195	6-May-01	43-12-14-26
Mattias Norlinder	D	MoDo (Swe Jr)	5-11/180	12-Apr-00	30-5-16-21
Nikola Pasic	RW	Linkopings (Swe Jr)	5-10/185	16-Oct-00	25-15-16-31
Shane Pinto	C	Lincoln (USHL)	6-1/190	12-Nov-00	30-17-15-32
Antti Saarela	C	Lukko Rauma (Fin)	5-11/185	27-Jun-01	15-1-5-6
Isaiah Saville	G	Tri-City (USHL)	6-1/190	21-Sep-00	16-3, 1.76, .934
Nikita Shashkov	LW	Sibir Novosibirsk (Rus)	5-11/180	26-Mar-99	18-3-0-3
Xavier Simoneau	LW	Drummondville (QMJHL)	5-7/175	19-May-01	34-15-22-37
Kirill Slepets	LW	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Rus)	5-10/165	6-Apr-99	9-1-0-1
Mads Sogaard	G	Medicine Hat (WHL)	6-7/195	13-Dec-00	11-4, 2.43, .930
Yegor Spiridonov	C	Stalnye Lisy Magn. (Rus Jr)	6-3/195	22-Jan-01	36-14-22-36
Luke Toporowski	C	Spokane (WHL)	5-11/180	12-Apr-01	45-13-19-32
Alex Vlasic	D	NTDP (USHL)	6-6/195	5-Jun-01	34-3-12-15
Cade Webber	D	The Rivers School (USHS-MA)	6-6/195	5-Jan-01	NA
Josh Williams	RW	Edmonton (WHL)	6-1/195	8-Mar-01	47-11-15-26

Second Chances Part One: Promising CHL prospects re-entering the 2019 NHL draft

Brock Otten — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 22:51:26 +0000

The art of scouting is an imperfect science. For various reasons, players get missed. Maybe said player was on a bad team and was subsequently under scouted. Maybe said player worked through injuries in his draft year and as a result could never fully show what he was capable of. Or maybe said player did not get the ice time required to shine.

On the other hand, players can be skipped over because scouts felt that they just were not good enough. But teenagers are far from a finished product on the ice. Their games mature just as their minds and bodies do. That is why it is critical to track players as they move through their second and third years of draft eligibility. For North American players with birth dates from January 1st to September 15th, they will be eligible for three NHL drafts. For players with birth dates from September 16th to December 31st, they will be eligible for two NHL drafts. And for European players (in European leagues), extend that eligibility by one year in both cases.

In recent years, we have had a major shift in drafting philosophy, with more teams selecting players in their second and third years of eligibility. For one, these players are finding success at the NHL level, such as we have seen with Cam Atkinson, Mike Hoffman, Ryan Dzingel, Brandon Montour, and Connor Hellebuyck, to name just a few. Secondly, teams can draft more polished products who have shown a steep progression curve. And thirdly, in the case of draft and follow NCAA bound players, NHL teams will have a few years longer to decide whether they want to sign said players to one of their precious 50 contracts inside the limit.

Last year, seven “re-entry” candidates went in the first three rounds alone; Scott Perunovich, Sean Durzi, Seth Barton, Joey Keane, Logan Hutsko, Nathan Smith, Connor Dewar. And a total of 46 were taken in the draft overall. That is just a shade over 20% of all players drafted; one fifth were outside of their first year of eligibility.

In 2019, we have several high-profile re-entries who look poised to be NHL draft selections. This includes Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders (and Team Canada at the WJC’s) who could even be a first round pick come June. This series of articles intends to highlight some of the candidates who could be part of that 20% this year broken into the CHL, US based and Europe based prospects. We start with the CHL.

Western Hockey League

Brett Leason. Photo by Robert Murray/WHL.

Brett Leason - Forward - Prince Albert Raiders

There is a reason why the 6’4, 200 pound forward is receiving consideration for the first round at this point in the year. He has been at or near the top of the WHL scoring race all season long. His Prince Albert Raiders are the best team in the CHL. And he just suited up for Canada at the WJC’s.

“There were a couple of things about Leason I thought were promising last year but there were two major draw backs, his skating and his consistency. First his skating stride is still choppy, but he generates enough power that it doesn’t hold him back with his North/South style of game. He handles the puck pretty well for a man of his size and he has a great shot. His release is so quick, and he can drive a slap shot hard, low and accurately towards the net. One on one he drives the net hard and can create his own space with his size and frame. He is shooting at triple the rate of his previous seasons well over five shots per game. This season he has been remarkably consistent offensively with only one pointless game and 21 multi-point games. He has pretty good vision from below the dots and quickly gets pucks out while working hard down low. He follows his shot to the net and often keeps rebounds alive with his active stick. Defensively he can be physically imposing and can end the other team’s cycle by effectively pinning guys along the wall. He rarely is on the ice for sustained defensive zone time because of this.” (Vince Gibbons)

Luke Burzan. Photo by Robert Murray/WHL

Luka Burzan - Forward - Brandon Wheat Kings

Many were surprised when Burzan went undrafted last year after being ranked inside the top four rounds by most publications (he was 127th at McKeens). The former gold medalist with Canada’s Hlinka team has bounced back incredibly well this year and is one of the highest scoring 2000 born players in the WHL. Many credit that to a strength increase this offseason as he put on ten pounds and is controlling the play more (stick tap to Vince Gibbons).

“Burzan is a strong skater who plays with speed and energy. He hustles all over the ice, is very aggressive in the offensive zone, likes to forecheck and dictate the play.He has grown in to a much more prominent role offensively and is playing with a whole lot more confidence and determination this year. he has developed his two-way game, and with an increased role and ice time seems to have figured things out. he has good scoring instincts as he has shown throughout his career and is second on his team in offensive stats behind only Stelio Mattheos. He has good puck skills as he carries and distributes the puck well, and he isn't afraid to drive and go to the net. He has a good wrist shot with a quick release and is shooting a lot more this season.” (Kevin Olexson)

Brett Kemp - Forward - Medicine Hat Tigers

Kemp is another 2000 born player who has taken a huge step forward in the WHL this year, as he finds himself near the top of the goal scoring race, playing alongside undersized star Trey Fix-Wolansky. In fact, Kemp has more goals in this half a season than he did the prior two seasons combined. However, a recent deal has him in Medicine Hat now (part of a trade for Josh Williams), where he has continued to put the puck in the net.

“His best asset is his shot. He has a quick release and can elevate from in close. His one-timer is particularly lethal which coupled with playing (previously) with a high-end passer in TFW (Trey Fix-Wolansky) has generated some buzz around him. He can read the play pretty well and had great chemistry with TFW as he is always ready to shoot. I am not sure that his skating or physical tools help him become anything more than a bit of farm team depth in the years ahead, but that remains to be seen.” (Vince Gibbons)

Mark Kastelic. Photo by Candice Ward/Calgary Hitmen

Mark Kastelic - Forward - Calgary Hitmen

Speaking of players near the top of the goal scoring race, Kastelic, a hulking 6’3, 220 pound center, has already matched last year’s goal total in less than half the games. He also serves as the captain of the Hitmen. With his size and overall game, he will be alluring to NHL scouts.

“Mark Kastelic is a big man who, this year, has been more physical and is imposing his will. He is consistently in the fabric of the game. His production is not bloated by secondary assists as 86% of his point are either goals or primary assists (Prospect-stats.com). He controls the wall in both zones and generates offense from cycling the puck. There isn’t a ton of puck handling skill, but he knows how to get the most out of his physical tools and when they are most effective. He is good around the net creating screens and chaos around the crease. He has a knack for getting his stick on the puck, particularly loose pucks around the crease. His defensive game has come around and he is consistently goal side of his man. He doesn’t cheat in his own zone and makes sure pucks get out over the blue line. Faceoff skills are some of the best in the WHL this season.” (Vince Gibbons)

Ontario Hockey League

Forward #25 Nando Eggenberger of the Oshawa Generals

Nando Eggenberger - Forward - Oshawa Generals

Once touted as a potential first round pick, Eggenberger had a pretty large fall from grace in 2018. He struggled to improve his numbers in the NLA and, coupled with a lackluster showing at the 2018 WJC, was subsequently not drafted. Even with his struggles, it was still a surprise as most publications had him inside their top 100 (McKeens had him at 100 exactly). So, the 6’2 power winger moved to the CHL this year to try and impress scouts by taking on a new challenge. He has tackled that challenge head on, emerging as one of Oshawa’s top offensive players and putting himself back on the map for the draft this year. A much stronger World Juniors performance also helps his cause.

“The first thing that I noticed this year about Eggenberger was that his skating was much better than I had remembered, having seen him internationally previously. He is very much a North/South type of player who uses his size well to drive the net and play below the hash marks. He possesses impressive hands in tight and has developed terrific chemistry with Jack Studnicka and Serron Noel on Oshawa’s top line. I have also been impressed with his physical engagement and commitment in all three zones. This was something that I thought had been lacking on the international stage. The progression that he has shown leads me to believe that he could end up hearing his name called this time around in June.” (Brock Otten)

Matthew Struthers of the North Bay Battalion. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Matthew Struthers - Forward - North Bay Battalion

A mid-season trade last year brought Struthers to North Bay, where he averaged nearly a point per game. But it was not enough to get the late ‘99 born center drafted. Now in his second year of eligibility, Struthers has exploded alongside Justin Brazeau (one of the OHL’s top performers this year). At 6’2, 200 pounds, he possesses the size/playmaking package that NHL scouts find alluring.

“I have always appreciated Struthers’ game, going back to his rookie season in Owen Sound; a year in which he won gold at the U17’s. The lack of power in his stride has probably kept him from back drafted, but I do think that there have been improvements made to that area this year. He has been more powerful in driving the net and has developed great chemistry with Justin Brazeau. His vision is perhaps the most impressive part of his game, as he rarely turns the puck over in the offensive zone, showing impressive patience while working the cycle. If he can maintain one of the higher point-per-game averages in the league this year, he should be a guy that NHL teams look at for a later round selection this June.” (Brock Otten)

Cole Coskey of the Saginaw Spirit. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Cole Coskey - Forward - Saginaw Spirit

Coskey is a hard-nosed forward who just continues to improve his game, year after year. That type of progression is what impresses NHL scouts. He plays in all situations for Saginaw, one of the OHL’s top teams and was a late cut of the U.S. World Junior team this year. Currently leading the Spirit in scoring, Coskey will be integral to their playoff success this year, even after they loaded up at the trade deadline by bringing in Owen Tippett and Ryan McLeod.

“The straw that stirs the drink in Saginaw. This kid plays the game hard, always engaged in all three zones. One of the better players in the league working the wall, as he is so good at getting inside position on defenders and extending possession time in the offensive zone. Skates well. Plays physical. Coskey is a prototypical checking line player for today’s NHL game. He can be a bit turnover prone with the puck on his stick, especially when operating off the rush. Coskey is at his best when he keeps things simple. But I feel that he is a very safe pro prospect who has a high chance of finally hearing his name called this year in his final year of draft eligibility.” (Brock Otten)

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

Jeremy McKenna. Photo courtesy of the QMJHL.

Jeremy McKenna - Forward - Moncton Wildcats

McKenna certainly has not taken the typical path to the QMJHL. The PEI Native played in the prestigious Notre Dame program before going to Austria to play in EC Salzburg program. Upon coming to Moncton, McKenna originally struggled. But he continues to get better every year. Last year, he led the league in shots and currently leads the entire CHL in shots by a significant margin this year. He has also been among the league leaders in goals and points in the QMJHL, helping Moncton to be one of the best teams in the league.

“He has an elite shot for this level, and has really improved his release from a slow load time to one of the quickest in the Q. His shot will get him in the door. His skating has improved well in his Q career, but he won't be a speedster as a pro. He has some potential as a distributor, but his future is as a sniper. His hockey sense, especially with getting open and shooting the puck, is top-notch.” (Mike Sanderson)

Justin Bergeron - Defense - Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

One of the youngest players available last year (September 14th birth date), Bergeron was passed over at the NHL draft despite putting up some nice stats for Rouyn-Noranda. This year, he has exploded offensively for the best team in the QMJHL, and one of the best in the country. He happens to be one of the highest scoring defenders in the entire CHL for the 2000 birth year, in addition to having one of the highest +/-’s. At 6’1, he also has the size NHL scouts look for in offensive defenders. As such, he seems like a slam dunk to have his name called this time around.

“Bergeron is a very well-rounded defender with excellent skating ability. He is very agile and has the ability to make quick lateral movements. He is also really hard-to-beat on a 1-on-1 rush situation because of his excellent backward skating. Bergeron is able to pass the puck really well, in breakout situations or in offensive zone possession. But I also really like the control of his wrist shot. His wrister is accurate, hard and deceptive, as he releases it quickly and effortlessly. Bergeron’s hockey IQ is terrific. He plays well defensively, his stick is highly active and poke checks are timed without putting him at risk of getting caught flat footed and exhibits good gap control on 1-on1 situations. He makes the proper reads with or without the puck and always looks to either join the rush or create a breakout by himself. The improvement in his game over the last three years has been extremely encouraging.” (Benoit Belanger)

Taro Jentsch. Photo courtesy of the QMJHL.

Taro Jentzsch - Forward - Sherbrooke Phoenix

Ironically, Jentzsch is a fellow graduate of the EC Salzburg, like the aforementioned McKenna. The first-year German import has been excellent for Sherbrooke this year and is fresh off helping Germany advance to the main draw at the World Junior Championships next year. At the Division 1 Championships, he led a German team in goals that included 2018 first rounder Dominik Bokk.

“Taro Jentzsch is drawing the attention of numerous NHL scouts in the midst of a superb rookie season with the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the the QMJHL. The versatile two-way forward’s exceptional skating ability matched with his brilliant hockey sense allows his coach to use him in all situations. He has a knack for the net offensively, while remaining responsible in the defensive zone, earning him a spot on the power play as well as time on the penalty kill. His scoring ability is equally as dangerous as his strength in distributing the puck, leaving the German winger as an unpredictable threat in offensive zone. Jentzsch’s near point per game average and +9 rating has him ranked in the top 5 among rookie forwards in the Q, in those respective domains. The European prospect looks to carry his momentum into the second half of the season when he returns to the Phoenix lineup after a stint with the German U20 national team.” (Evan Milner, writer with the Sherbrooke Phoenix)

*Special thanks to Evan Milner, Jiri Vitek, Thomas Roost, Tom Kowal, Steve Kournianos, and the entire McKeen’s scouting team for their contributions to this series of articles.

2019 IIHF World Junior Championship Guide now available for Download!

McKeen's Hockey — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 15:36:10 +0000

We are proud to be releasing our second annual World Junior Guide prior to the start of the tournament

It will include analysis, player profiles, and feature articles. Included in your McKeen's subscription it will be an invaluable resource throughout the tournament.

Prospect coverage included in your subscription includes:

Learn more by linking here!

Insight from our team of scouts located around the world and are our eyes in the rinks providing detailed scouting reports throughout the season. We have a deep and extensive database of thousands of prospect scouting reports and profiles.

We have made available our player pages (usually behind a paywall) on key players in the World Junior Tournament to show the depth available on the site

Click on the players name to link to his page

Jack St. Ivany, United States

Quinn Hughes, United States

Erik Brannstrom, Sweden

Isac Lundestrom, Sweden

Noah Dobson, Canada

Evan Bouchard, Canada

Martin Kaut, Czech Republic

Vitaly Kravtsov, Russia

Nando Eggenberger, Switzerland

Jonas Rondbjerg, Denmark

Rasmus Kupari, Finland

Milos Roman, Slovakia

Scouting reports and profiles of prospects eligible for the 2019 NHL Draft are being added all season long. We will cover over 125 prospects by seasons end.
Exclusive 2019 NHL Draft Rankings.
Featuring all of the scouting profiles and articles from McKeen’s 2018 NHL Draft Guide and NHL and prospect profiles from McKeen's Hockey Pool Yearbook.
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OHL 2018-19 Season Preview

Brock Otten — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 18:24:24 +0000

The 2018/19 OHL season is underway but it is still early enough to preview the league and converse about some potential season highlights. Who are the contenders? Who are the pretenders? Who are some of the top NHL prospects to keep an eye on? And who are the top NHL draft prospects for 2019?

The Contenders

London Knights

Liam Foudy

Currently the top ranked team in the OHL in the weekly CHL rankings, the Knights also happen to be the top preseason favorite of most in the media. This team has it all; top end scoring talent; a strong defense; quality goaltending. After getting Adam Boqvist (Chicago) from Blackhawks camp, London is still waiting on a few other stars to be assigned; Evan Bouchard (Edmonton), Alex Formenton (Ottawa), and Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa). All three seem likely to start the year in the NHL and late October is probably a more likely arrival date, if it happens at all. A safe assumption would be that London gets at least one of the above. Until then, stars like Liam Foudy (Columbus), Alec Regula (Detroit), and Boqvist will need to pace the offense. In net, overager veteran Joseph Raaymakers and Jordan Kooy (Vegas) should combine to provide quality goaltending. As with any London team, depth is a serious strength. Once the situation surrounding their top players has been given closure, look for the Knights to use their depth to acquire a few big fish to put them over the top.

Oshawa Generals

This is a veteran squad that should be considered among the favorites in the Eastern Conference. Team defense and goaltending are major strengths. At 6-1”, Nico Gross (NY Rangers) is the smallest defender who sees regular playing time, and Kyle Keyser (Boston) is a top contender for goaltender of the year. Up front, Jack Studnicka (Boston) is a serious candidate for the Red Tilson and the scoring title now that he has returned from a long stay at Bruins camp. Swiss import Nando Eggenberger (2019) is another player everyone has their eye on. Overager Matt Brassard (Vancouver) returned this past weekend too, and he should be one of the top defenseman in the OHL this season. The Generals are just a well balanced squad.

Niagara IceDogs

Along with Oshawa, the IceDogs are a preseason favorite to take home the Eastern title. Niagara has a very strong nucleus at forward with Akil Thomas (Los Angeles), Kirill Maksimov (Edmonton), Ben Jones (Vegas), and Ivan Lodnia (Minnesota), which should help them score a ton of goals. They also have a very mobile blueline, which may lack size, but makes up for it with speed, puck skill, and heart. Billy Constantinou (2019) is a player to watch here as one of the most dynamic young defenders in the OHL.

Saginaw Spirit

The Spirit received a bevy of media attention this off-season due to their recruiting efforts. The team brought in Bode Wilde (NY Islanders), Ivan Prosvetov (Arizona), and Cole Perfetti (2020). This was after they were able to bring Blade Jenkins (NY Islanders) into the fold last year. This team has a lot of depth and fans should be excited about the fact that this team is the favorite to take home the West Division. Cole Coskey (2019) is a player to watch as one of the most underrated players in the OHL. Perfetti is an electrifying offensive player and one of the top players in his age group in Ontario, as well as a potential lottery pick in 2020.

Ottawa 67’s

Sasha Chmelevski of the Ottawa 67's. Photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images

Maybe a year early to talk about the 67’s as a potential Memorial Cup contender, but make no mistake, this team is insanely talented. Not only do they have five NHL draft picks already, but they have several top prospects for the 2019 and 2020 drafts as well. Sasha Chmelevski (San Jose) is a top contender for the Red Tilson this year after a breakout last season. The progression he has shown as a prospect has been extremely encouraging. Austrian Import Marco Rossi (2020) is another name to watch. The recent import selection is currently touted as a potential top 5 pick in 2020 and he could have a Nico Hischier type impact for the 67’s. The only thing that this team is missing is a top flight goaltender. Look for them to go out and find one at some point. Worth noting that the 67’s currently have 12 second round picks over the next four OHL priority selections. That is some serious trade ammunition.

The Pretenders

Kingston Frontenacs

The Frontenacs loaded up last year to make a run at an OHL title that ultimately fell short. The cyclical nature of the CHL means that this team could struggle this year due to numerous high end graduations. Star Jason Robertson (Dallas) is still around, but he will be a top trade target at some point. The future of injured playmaker Gabe Vilardi (Los Angeles) also hangs in the balance as Kingston waits to see if they will get him back once he is healthy. But depth is an issue, as is goaltending. Kingston has to capitalize on a few solid trade assets to recoup what was lost previously.

Erie Otters

After an impressive four year run that saw the Otters compete for and win an OHL Championship, the time has come for this team to rebuild. There are still some solid veteran pieces in place that could keep the team afloat, like star overager Kyle Maksimovich. But this team does not have a single NHL affiliated player and that hurts. Hayden Fowler (2020), and Petr Cajka (2019) do give this team hope for the future.

Mississauga Steelheads

Another team that now lacks serious depth after some serious runs the previous years. Graduations and failed draft picks (like Jack Hughes) have left this team pretty sparse in a lot of areas heading into the year. They do have Owen Tippett (Florida) and Ryan McLeod (Edmonton) back in the fold and they should both be among the best players in the league this year. However, just how long they remain Steelheads remains to be seen.

North Bay Battalion

Like Erie, North Bay does not have a single NHL affiliated player. There is some solid firepower up front with overager Justin Brazeau, Brandon Coe (2020), and Matthew Struthers (2019), but depth is an issue. This is especially true on the back-end. The lack of experience on the blueline could mean that this North Bay team gives up a ton of goals. No Stan Butler coached Battalion team has ever given up 280+ goals against, but this year’s edition may be the first. And speaking of Butler, he is currently taking a leave of absence from behind the bench and that may be bad news for Battalion fans.

Flint Firebirds

Disastrous start to the year for the Firebirds. As of the creation of this article, Flint has yet to win and has given up an ugly 24 goals in 4 games. This team has talent, like Ty Dellandrea (Dallas), Fedor Gordeev (Toronto), and Dennis Busby (Arizona). But missing on the 6th overall Import selection this year (Jan Jenik) is a big black mark and the team just cannot seem to separate itself from the drama of their ownership under Rolf Nilsen.

Five Candidates for the Red Tilson

Nick Suzuki

Fresh off being the centerpiece of the Max Pacioretty deal, the new Montreal Canadiens prospect returns to the OHL and will look to the hit the 100 point plateau for the second year in a row. He is bound to miss some time for the WJC, but Suzuki only needs 92 points to pass Bobby Ryan as the Attack franchise’s all-time leading scorer.

Morgan Frost

Highest returning scorer from last year, the Flyers’ prospect should be a shoe-in for a spot in the top 5 in scoring. There were some who felt that Frost should have been the Red Tilson winner last year so maybe this is the year he takes it home. The Hounds offense has lost some talent to graduation, but there is enough remaining to give Frost the supporting pieces he needs.

Michael DiPietro of the Windsor Spitfires. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Michael DiPietro

Reigning OHL Goaltender of the year, the Canucks prospect returns to Windsor to help a young team improve. DiPietro will likely be Canada’s starter at this year’s WJC. He is also a likely trade candidate, unless Windsor is pushing for the division. The talented netminder is one of the few gamebreakers at the position in the league.

Jack Studnicka

Nearly earned the 3rd line center spot in Boston with a strong training camp performance, but the Generals captain returns for a final OHL season and should be one of the league’s elite offensive catalysts. If the Generals are as good as many think they will be, he will be a top candidate for player of the year. His strong two-way play allows him to impact the game on so many different levels.

Sasha Chmelevski

It seems like so long ago that Chmelevski fell at the draft after a very poor draft year showing. He bounced back in a big way last year, re-inventing his game under new head coach Andre Tourigny. Now a committed player away from the puck, Chmelevski will look to lead a young Ottawa team to a championship, perhaps a year ahead of schedule.

Five Draft Eligibles to Monitor

Ryan Suzuki of the Barrie Colts. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Ryan Suzuki (Barrie Colts)

After a strong Hlinka performance, Suzuki is off to a blazing hot start as one of the early leaders in OHL scoring. Suzuki, brother of Nick, is an exceptionally talented playmaker whose vision and puck skill are game breaking qualities. As of right now, Ryan looks like the lone potential candidate for the top 10 from the OHL.

Arthur Kaliyev (Hamilton Bulldogs)

Another of the early scoring leaders is also a draft eligible forward. Kaliyev had one of the best 16 year old seasons in recent memory after scoring 30+ goals last year. He looks to round out the rest of his game in Hamilton, improving his playmaking ability and play away from the puck to match his strength on the puck and NHL quality shot.

Matvey Guskov (London Knights)

An import selection by the Knights this year, Guskov has matched the high expectations thus far, averaging over a point per game. Guskov was one of only three OHL players mentioned on Bob McKenzie’s preseason draft ranking and the playmaking Russian forward looks like a serious first round candidate come June.

Blake Murray (Sudbury Wolves)

A big, power center who is being overshadowed a bit due to the arrival of top 2020 prospect Quinton Byfield. Murray possesses all the qualities that NHL teams look for in centers these days, with size, skating, and finishing ability. Murray has the potential to be that complete package.

Michael Vukojevic (Kitchener Rangers)

Vukojevic may not be the sexiest of defenders at this point. He is not yet a truly dynamic player, but he is as steady as they come and plays the game with the composure of a five year OHL veteran. His defensive acumen projects him to be, at the very least, a terrific stay at home top four defender at the NHL level. The question is, just how much offensive ability does he possess?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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