Ondrej Molnar – McKeen's Hockey

2023 NHL DRAFT: Round by round review – Brock Otten’s favourite picks and questionable selections.

Brock Otten — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 15:19:13 +0000

NASHVILLE, TN - JUNE 28: An NHL microphone setup for press conferences during the Upper Deck NHL Draft, June 28, 2023 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire)

The 2023 NHL Entry Draft has come and gone. I was fortunate enough to be in Nashville for the event, representing McKeen’s. Covering the draft is always such a whirlwind, as you try to balance conversations and social media analysis, while paying attention to each and every selection. Every year, when I reflect back on the draft, especially day two, it seems like I come across a few players that make me say, “wait…they got drafted!”

The draft itself also represents the conclusion of a season’s worth of hard work. It’s not just the draft guide. It’s all the coverage leading up to that; live viewings, video work, reports, notes, etc. This year, 99 out of McKeen’s Hockey’s Top 100 were drafted. While the accuracy of an independent scouting organization’s coverage is not truly assessed until five or ten years down the line (in comparison to actual NHL draft position), the immediate feedback given by that sort of parallel (with the opinion of NHL scouts) is encouraging and fulfilling.

So, let’s talk about my review of the draft. Chase Rochon, who was with me in Nashville, has written a comprehensive article that ranks and grades the performance of each team through his lens. I’m going to be doing something a little different. For each round, I’m going to highlight my two favourite picks and the pick that I have the most questions about. I’m also going to highlight five of my favourite players who went unselected this year.

Round One

Favourite Selection - Oliver Moore, 19th to Chicago

The opinions on Moore’s offensive upside vary. But at 19th, even if he only ends up as an Andrew Cogliano type role player, the value is great. But, if he does end up as a Dylan Larkin type, it suddenly becomes one of the best, if not the best pick in the first round. The best skater in the draft and one of the better defensive forwards in the draft, Moore was a personal favourite of ours at McKeen’s.

Favourite Selection - Ryan Leonard, 8th to Washington

Simply put, I would have taken Leonard earlier than this and preferred him to a few of the players who went ahead of him. Every year we look around the NHL playoffs and see teams finding success because of players like Leonard. This is someone who can have a similar impact in the league to the Tkachuk brothers. Leonard can really do it all on the ice; his game is so mature and consistent. This is the perfect selection for a team who wants to keep their competitive window open. Leonard may only need one year in the NCAA with Boston College.

Questionable Selection - Charlie Stramel, 21st to Minnesota

I know that his season in Wisconsin didn’t go according to plan, but why were NHL scouts so willing to give him a pass for poor play when they weren’t willing to do the same for the likes of Cam Allen or Caden Price. Because he’s a big, athletic pivot? So is a guy like David Edstrom and he went later in the first, despite showing a much steeper development curve than Stramel. If I was the Wild, I would be doing everything in my power to get him out of Wisconsin next year and into the WHL, where his power game would be highly appreciated.

Round Two

Favourite Selection - Lukas Dragicevic, 57th to Seattle

I’m far from a Dragicevic hype man. I think his game is flawed and I didn’t think he deserved to be a first-round pick (unlike others on the McKeen’s team). However, in the late second round? The upside is well worth the risk outside of the top 50. Seattle is a team that has drafted extremely well, and they could afford to bank on Dragicevic’s insanely high offensive potential. They drafted Ty Nelson last year and his defensive game made great strides this year. Dragicevic can do the same.

Favourite Selection - Danny Nelson, 49th to New York Islanders

Nelson was one of the most improved players in the second half of the draft year after switching to pivot full time and emerging at the U.S. shutdown center on the U18 team. He’s got size. He’s athletic. His on puck play and scoring ability improved greatly over the year. Is he someone that is just starting to scratch the surface of his potential? Did playing behind two unreal centers in Smith and Moore hide his abilities?

Questionable Selection - Brady Cleveland, 47th to Detroit

Quite frankly, I just feel that there were better defenders on the board still at this pick. I don’t see the upside with Cleveland. I think he can be an NHL defender in some capacity. He is a physical rock in the defensive end. But I don’t see the mobility or skill that would lead to him playing a significant role for Detroit in the future. This is especially true since I believe Detroit drafted a better shut down type in Andrew Gibson only a few picks earlier.

Jacob Fowler

Round Three

Favourite Selection - Nick Lardis, 67th to Chicago

We ranked Lardis 32nd fully knowing that he would end up falling a bit in the draft. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. Lardis was one of the OHL’s best players in the second half and in the first round of the playoffs. His speed is electric, and his shot will play. Other parts of his game will need to improve, but the upside is quite high. He could be a great linemate to Connor Bedard in the future.

Favourite Selection - Jacob Fowler, 69th to Montreal

I’ve said many times on social media and in work for McKeen’s, that Fowler is my favourite netminder in the class. He’s like DJ Khaled, all he does is win. He was terrific in the USHL this year. He was terrific at the WJAC’s. He is so composed and focused in the crease. Sure, there is a need for him to improve his quickness and agility, but that can happen in the NCAA with Boston College, where he could start for a great team and be a Mike Richter contender as a freshman.

Questionable Selection - Emil Pieniniemi, 91st to Pittsburgh

Simply put, we didn’t see the upside with Pieniniemi. We ranked him 191st for a reason. The profile grades out about average across the board and that screams projection concerns. What is he at the next level? I may have been able to put all of Pittsburgh’s selections in my questionable selection spot, if I’m being honest.

Round Four

Favourite Selection - Larry Keenan, 117th to Detroit

In reality, the third or fourth round was probably the right spot for Keenan to go. He’s a major long-term project. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t love the pick. A similar player in Sam Rinzel went in the first-round last year. Keenan combines size, mobility, and skill together to give him outstanding upside if everything hits. I also love that he is heading to Penticton and then UMass, two outstanding programs. His development will be in good hands.

Favourite Selection - Luca Pinelli, 114th to Columbus

I wasn’t as high on Pinelli as some of my contemporaries who cover the OHL, but even I can admit that this was terrific value for Pinelli. If his quickness improves, he could be a really good middle six player at the NHL level; someone who can bring serious versatility to a coach in the future. His motor never quits and his vision/sense in the offensive end is high end.

Questionable Selection - Konnor Smith, 97th to Anaheim

The allure of Smith is that he’s a mammoth defender who plays an ultra-aggressive defensive game. He’s a real throwback to yesteryears. But the mobility, puck skill, and puck management will all need to improve drastically in order for him to be an NHL player. Other similar defenders have been taken out of the CHL in recent years and many have not even been signed. Inside the top 100, I would have had many other preferences…especially if the target was a potential shut down type.

Round Five

Favourite Selection - Cam Allen, 136th to Washington

Allen did not have a great year, there’s no denying that. But he was arguably the top defender available heading into this season. He still has upside, even if his decision making leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully an offseason reset, in combination with consultation from NHL coaches at development, helps to get him back on the right track. In the fifth round, you won’t find better value.

Favourite Selection - Eric Pohlkamp, 132nd to San Jose

The USHL defenseman of the year award is a pretty prestigious one to win. Guys like Owen Power, Neal Pionk, Brandon Montour, and Jeff Petry have won it in recent years. Pohlkamp is a very interesting player. His game does need a fair amount of refinement; it can be very erratic. However, he also has some very good tools, including mobility, a mammoth point shot, and a physically aggressive approach. He’ll be able to take on an immediate top four role in Bemidji State next year and we should get an idea pretty quickly as to how well his game translates to the NCAA level.

Questionable Selection - Melvin Strahl, 156th to Columbus

Strahl is a goaltender who wasn’t on our radar this year. In fact, I don’t think he was really on the radar of any independent scouting organization. For good reason it would appear too, as he struggled in the J20 this season, even getting demoted to the J18 level. I would have definitely preferred a handful of other netminders at this spot, if goaltending was the target.

Jeremy Hanzel. Photo by Brian Liesse.

Round Six

Favourite Selection - Jeremy Hanzel, 187th to Colorado

Our Western scouts at McKeen’s loved Hanzel as one of the top re-entry guys available this year. He was outstanding for Seattle through the season and into the playoffs/Memorial Cup. On a Thunderbirds team that was stacked with NHL talent, Hanzel was often the team’s best defender. I would be shocked if he returns to the WHL for his overage season. He could have an immediate pro impact similar to Ryker Evans.

Favourite Selection - Filip Eriksson, 165th to Montreal

Kind of a random one here as there were a bunch of great value picks in the sixth round. We actually didn’t even have Eriksson ranked, but I would have had him ranked on my own list. He didn’t play a ton this year due to injury, but he was good at the J20 level and even looked comfortable in the SHL in a cup of coffee. The athletic tools need to improve, but the IQ will play. Can the speed and strength improve as he plays more? These are the types of players you take in the later rounds.

Questionable Selection - Yegor Yegorov, 176th to Calgary

Another questionable goaltending selection if you ask me. The stats weren’t terrific by MHL standards (to give you an idea, a .915 save percentage placed him 42nd among MHL goalies this year). He also was part of a three headed goalie platoon this year, posting the weakest stats of the three. Stats aren’t everything of course, but I love our Russian scouts and Yegorov really wasn’t someone who was brought to our attention by them. Again, give me Stephen Peck, Alexander Hellnemo, or Noah Erliden here over Yegorov.

Round Seven

Favourite Selection - Aiden Fink, 218th to Nashville

Fink piled up the accolades this year in the AJHL. He was the league’s MVP. He won the Centennial Cup. He was one of the best players at the WJAC’s. He’s small and he’s not a dynamic skater. That recipe was sure to make him fall. But in the seventh? That’s outstanding value for Fink, who has terrific offensive potential. Penn State will be a great spot for him too.

Favourite Selection - Tyler Peddle, 224th to Columbus

Mr. Irrelevant! Peddle took quite the mighty tumble thanks to a pretty indifferent season in the QMJHL this year on a middling Drummondville team. But he still has great power forward potential, particularly as a goal scorer. The athletic profile is interesting and at the back of the seventh round that could end up being a great pick for the Blue Jackets. The next Josh Anderson?

Questionable Selection - Sebastian Bradshaw, 221st to Dallas

Hard to truly argue against a seventh-round selection. They’re all longer shots. But Bradshaw is an interesting one. He’s a big kid, but he only played in the AYHL this year with Elite Hockey Academy, a school in Connecticut. He wasn’t the leading scorer on his team, and he didn’t exactly light up Ontario U16 and U18 before making the move south of the border. A London Knights U18 draft pick, Bradshaw seems headed to play for Brooks of the AJHL next year. A solid destination, no doubt, but I would have wanted to see him play at a higher level first. Especially given some of the players still on the board

Best of the Unselected

1. Francesco Dell’Elce - Defense, St. Andrew’s College, CISAA

This one shocked me. I knew that some scouts were concerned about his slight frame and defensive IQ, but I didn’t think that he’d go completely undrafted. His offensive potential from the blueline is through the roof and I think that alone was worth a late selection. He’ll have a great chance of being selected in the coming years. He’s going to play with BCHL powerhouse Penticton next year and then head to UMass after that. Strong play at either of those spots could put him on the re-entry radar over the next few drafts.

2. Stephen Peck - Goaltender, Avon Old Farms, USHS Prep

Another one that shocked me considering that both Slukynsky and Guimond were selected. Peck helped Avon Old Farms capture the New England Prep Championship this year and he was one of my favourite goaltenders eligible this year. Tracks the play really well and is incredibly composed in his crease. He’s got a scholarship to Michigan in his back pocket, but likely suits up in the USHL or NAHL next year.

3. Joe Connor - Center, Avon Old Farms, USHS Prep

Speaking of Prep champion Avon Old Farms, insert their leading scorer Joe Connor, who had a really good year for a Prep level player. He was good for the U.S. at the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup in the summer. He played great in the prep circuit and was also solid in a cup of coffee in the USHL. Do I wish he were a more dynamic skater given his lack of size? Absolutely. But he competes hard in all areas of the ice, and I really like his odds of becoming a quality NCAA player for Northeastern in the future.

4. Hannes Hellberg - Wing, Leksands IF J20, J20 Nationell

In my opinion, Hellberg was one of the top re-entry guys available this year after he was named the J20’s top forward this year and led the J20 circuit in playoff scoring. Hellberg also only missed being first time draft eligible this year by a few weeks, with an early September birth date. He’s a big winger with a great goal scoring touch. I know that Hellberg already signed with HockeyAllsvenskan for next year, but I would have loved to see him come to the CHL to find success like Lucas Edmonds.

5. Ondrej Molnar - Wing, Erie Otters, OHL

Look, I understand why Molnar wasn’t selected. An undersized winger who had trouble getting inside the dots at the OHL level this year while playing for a bad team. Additionally, that floorball incident in Slovakia hangs over his head, forcing the move to the OHL and preventing him from competing internationally. Yet, this is also a player who came into the season as a first-round candidate because of his skill and ability to impact the game in transition. The offensive potential is still sky high.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Connor Bedard. Photo by Candice Ward.

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

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

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

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

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

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

2023 NHL DRAFT: EARLY SEASON FAVOURITES SERIES WITH VIDEO – SLOVAKIA & CZECHIA – EDUARD ŠALÉ, ONDREJ MOLNÁR, AND JURAJ PEKARČÍK

Matej Deraj — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 14:58:19 +0000

EDUARD ŠALÉ

First Round Favourite: Eduard Šalé, RW, Kometa Brno (Czechia)

Having dominated the Czech juniors league with 89 points in 39 games last year, Šalé has spent the entire 2022-23 season in the country´s top tier men´s league. After an impressive first month, he has cooled down a bit, but is still playing on the third line. Due to playing with men in a challenging European league, Šalé doesn´t get the puck as often as he would´ve in juniors, but he is in a good place to work on his skills and weaknesses.

I was very high on Šalé at the beginning of the season; he started the year in a great fashion and certainly looked like a Top 5 candidate in a packed draft class. The #6 of our first ranking has since slowed down, which is not shocking and not uncommon when it comes to young prospects. Šalé has many offensive traits on a high level; he has great puckhandling skills, hockey IQ and has the ability to create a lot of scoring chances, either for himself or his teammates. He has a good size at 6´1” and doesn't shy away from physical battles, even though he is not a power forward. His lack of defensive efficiency seems to hold him back a bit, but he appears to be more engaged defensively of late, which is promising. I also expect him to shoot more, overall and especially from more dangerous areas, but he is limited with his time on ice. When he gains more confidence in Extraliga, I assume he´ll be more unpredictable and dangerous.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/eduard_sale_clip1.mp4

In this clip, Šalé displays his great hands even against men´s competition. He quickly gets the loose puck and turns on his engine while turning around to drive for the net. Then he makes a quick fake, loses the defensemen and appears in front of the goalie. His shot is anticipated and blocked, therefore he doesn´t score. However, Šalé proves two key attributes of his game – advanced puckhandling skills, even in tight spaces, and a nose for the net.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/eduard_sale_clip2.mp4

This is a typical Eduard Šalé goal, especially from his junior times. He plays a straight-forward style on the right wing and likes to drive to the net when he is given the opportunity. He retrieves a puck from his teammate and quickly heads towards the goal. Šalé has a smooth skating style, he doesn't take too many steps, but uses his feet efficiently. He makes good use of the space the opposition defense allows him to have, prepares for a backhand shot and scores on the goalie. He scored a very similar goal in the Czech Extraliga last month. The Czech forward can create his own chances and displays great puck protection.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/eduard_sale_clip3.mp4

Šalé also has the ability to appear out of nowhere and get himself in a promising scoring position, which speaks volumes about his hockey IQ. In this clip, Šalé quickly reads the play and realizes his team is going for a quick breakaway. He loses his guarding defenseman with a few quick first steps and heads for an open spot where he´ll be available for a pass. His teammate finds him with a pass in front of the net, Šalé outsprints the tired defense and scores.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/eduard_sale_clip4.mp4

The main weakness of Šalé is his defensive game, which is not unusual for young, offensively-minded forwards. His defensive awareness needs some work. As in this clip, Šalé makes a couple of positioning mistakes and looks a bit lost. He allows the Swedish forward to have too much space, which his opponent quickly utilizes and tips the puck in front of the goalie to score. Šalé´s defense is insufficient. He realises his mistake and tries to lift the opponent´s stick up, but it's already too late.

Pushing for the Top 50: Ondrej Molnár, W, HK Nitra (Slovakia)

Molnár has been talked about a lot in Slovakia since 14-15 years of age. He used to be the prime candidate to break Marián Gáborík´s record for the top tier league's youngest goalscorer (Dalibor Dvorský did it) and one of the best Slovak prospects in recent years. This season, Molnár decided to stay with HK Nitra in the Extraliga instead of going overseas to the OHL. His usage in Slovakia is somewhat questionable, he averages approximately 7:30 min per game. If it doesn't change soon, the OHL should be a better place for Molnár to develop in.

Molnár is a lightning-fast, smooth winger with great hands who plays a passing-first game. He has a great hockey sense and creativity as a playmaker. Due to his quick feet and puckhandling abilities, he is often used to drive the puck deep from his defensive zone to the offensive zone. Similar to other offensive winger prospects, Molnár´s weakness is in his defensive game. He also seems to struggle a bit in board battles, which seems to be understandable due to his size and playing against fully-grown men. Nonetheless, Molnár needs to work on his physical play and overall compete level to be more engaged in the game even without the puck on his stick.

I believe he has the potential, but he needs to play way more minutes and use his opportunities. The OHL seems like a better option for him right now – he´d get a top six spot, play regular minutes including the PP and get used to the North American ice and more physical style of hockey. As for now, Molnár seems to be falling down, despite his potential.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ondrej_molnar_clip1.mp4

Molnár is able to reach a high speed with a few first steps. In this clip, he gets the puck in his own zone, quickly drives to the offensive zone and time/space. Then, still in high speed, finds an open teammate behind him, who finishes the play with a shot, but doesn´t score. Molnár is a smart player with the ability to find unconventional or surprising solutions.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ondrej_molnar_clip2.mp4

Molnár is skilled with the puck, he has great hands and can drive through multiple opponents. He scored a beautiful solo goal a couple of weeks ago at the Continental Cup, unfortunately, the clip is not available. Nonetheless, this goal is similar to a certain level. Molnár shows a great first touch when receiving the pass and immediately starts the attack. He keeps the puck far away from the opposing defenseman and tries to do a risky move to surprise the goalie with one hand. It works out as Molnár scores in the open net. He is creative and confident with the puck and able to beat defensemen in 1-on-1 situations.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ondrej_molnar_clip3.mp4

As mentioned before, Molnár´s weakness is his defensive game. In this clip, he tries to be too aggressive with his defending and finds himself in a wrong spot. His attempt to lock the opposing forward behind the net and force him to make a bad pass is not sufficient and the opponent finds a defenseman on the blue line easily. Molnár is too far from him and Nitra allows another goal.

Notable Mid Round Candidate: Juraj Pekarčík, W/C, HK Nitra (Slovakia)

Pekarčík has been flying under the radar the whole year, but he has spent the majority of it on Nitra´s first team as well. He is a big (6´2”, 183 lbs) forward who plays a physical, power-forward style and is a usable bottom-six option in the top tier league. Pekarčík is doing quite well in spite of his limited (under 7 min/game) time on ice.

Out of the less-known Slovaks in the 2023 NHL Draft class, I believe Pekarčík has actually the highest chance to get drafted. He could have a similar story to Adam Sýkora, who played on the same team last season. Sýkora started the year as a later-to-middle rounds candidate, but had a fantastic second half of the season, even earning a spot in Men´s National Team´s roster and scoring two goals at the IIHF World Championship. He ended up being drafted in the 2^nd round by the New York Rangers. I don't expect Pekarčík to play for the Men's National Team, not even the U20 NT, but he could follow a similar path to Sýkora. They´re both hard-working, physical forwards with the potential to be useful bottom-six forwards. Obviously, Pekarčík is nowhere near Sýkora´s level yet, but I see the potential. He needs to work on his offensive game at a higher level and get a decent time on ice to truly get better, but after a successful second part of the season, he might sneak to the middle rounds of the next draft.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/juraj_pekarcik_clip1.mp4

Pekarčík is very strong on the puck and it's quite difficult to knock him off of it. He protects the puck well, not only due to his size, but because he has surprisingly soft hands. In this clip, Pekarčík scores a beautiful goal against the Czech U17 National Team. The Slovak forward takes the puck from his own zone. He avoids losing it to a first opponent with a nice move and with his long reach. Then he quickly heads for the Czech net to a confused defence and surprises the goalie with a nice shot.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/juraj_pekarcik_clip2.mp4

Pekarčík scores from a very close distance in this clip. He has a lot of time due to the poor play of the US defence, but he still has to show decent hand-eye coordination skill when retrieving a quick pass from the blue line and turning around to score on the goalie. Pekarčík usually works well in front of the net, uses his big body and fights for the puck. He also makes a solid powerplay option, either in front of the net to screen the goalie, or at the wing to benefit from his puck handling abilities.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/juraj_pekarcik_clip3.mp4

Pekarčík projects as a power forward due to his size and speed. He doesn't shy away from physical play, however, he needs to find the line. In this clip, Pekarčík oversteps with the intensity and lays a bad hit on a Poprad´s player. It resulted in him getting a major penalty and a one-game suspension. Pekarčík is not a dirty player, but he needs to find the right balance when it comes to his hits to prevent him from dirty plays.

2023 NHL DRAFT: NOVEMBER RANKING – TOP 50 + 17 HONOURABLE MENTIONS

McKeen's Hockey — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 20:45:08 +0000

Connor Bedard. Photo by Keith Hershmiller.

It’s time for the first ranking release of the draft season from McKeen’s Hockey. Our preliminary ranking is a Top 50 with several honorable mentions. Around the holiday season, correlating with the World Juniors, we will release our second one, an expanded Top 100.

Regina’s Connor Bedard remains on top of our rankings, despite the incredible start to the year from Adam Fantilli. We remain steadfast that Bedard is an incredible talent who is a surefire star in the National Hockey League. That said, this draft is living up to its hype early on with so many strong performances from players inside of the lottery. As mentioned, Fantilli is on a record setting pace at Michigan as a freshman. Leo Carlsson is performing exceptionally well in the SHL. Matvei Michkov is lighting the VHL (Russian second league) on fire. It’s going to be a great year to be bad in the NHL.

Coming into the draft season, we knew it would be a strong one for Western Canada and this ranking reflects that. Ten Western players (WHL and BCHL) found themselves in our first round and 14 in the Top 50. It is looking very likely that we could see double digit WHL players selected in round one come June.

In terms of European nations, love is much more evenly spread. The breakdown (based on the league being played in and not by “nationality”) is as follows: Sweden (6), Russia (4), Finland (2), Czechia (2), and Slovakia (1).

Our 16 honorable mentions all received heavy consideration from our scouting team to be included in this Top 50. In particular, it was very difficult to leave Noel Nordh and David Reinbacher outside looking in. We will be watching these players closely in the next few months.

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB	GP-G-A-PTS
1	Connor Bedard	C	Regina (WHL)	5-10/185	17-Jul-05	16-13-18-31
2	Adam Fantilli	C	Michigan (B1G)	6-2/195	12-Oct-04	10-9-11-20
3	Leo Carlsson	C	Orebro (SHL)	6-3/200	26-Dec-04	17-2-10-12
4	Matvei Michkov	RW	SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (VHL)	5-10/170	9-Dec-04	8-8-4-12
5	Brayden Yager	C	Moose Jaw (WHL)	5-11/165	3-Jan-05	15-7-11-18
6	Eduard Sale	LW	Kometa Brno (Cze)	6-2/175	10-Mar-05	16-3-3-6
7	Calum Ritchie	C	Oshawa (OHL)	6-2/185	21-Jan-05	14-6-6-12
8	Dalibor Dvorsky	C	AIK (Allsvenskan)	6-1/200	15-Jun-05	11-4-2-6
9	Will Smith	C	USN U18 (USDP)	6-0/175	17-Mar-05	15-11-19-30
10	Zach Benson	LW	Winnipeg (WHL)	5-9/160	12-May-05	16-8-14-22
11	Colby Barlow	LW	Owen Sound (OHL)	6-0/195	14-Feb-05	11-7-7-14
12	Matthew Wood	RW	UConn (HE)	6-3/195	6-Feb-05	11-4-6-10
13	Nate Danielson	C	Brandon (WHL)	6-1/185	27-Sep-04	17-7-8-15
14	Andrew Cristall	LW	Kelowna (WHL)	5-9/165	4-Feb-05	13-11-11-22
15	Ethan Gauthier	RW	Sherbrooke (QMJHL)	5-11/175	26-Jan-05	16-9-13-22
16	Otto Stenberg	C	Frolunda (Swe J20)	5-11/180	29-May-05	14-4-5-9
17	Riley Heidt	C	Prince George (WHL)	5-10/180	25-Mar-05	16-7-13-20
18	Cam Allen	D	Guelph (OHL)	6-0/195	7-Jan-05	16-1-5-6
19	Michael Hrabal	G	Omaha (USHL)	6-6/210	20-Jan-05	3-2-2, 2.45, .926
20	Mikhail Gulyayev	D	Avangard Omsk (KHL)	5-11/170	26-Apr-05	11-0-1-1
21	Jayden Perron	C	Chicago (USHL)	5-9/165	11-Jan-05	13-6-12-18
22	Carson Bjarnason	G	Brandon (WHL)	6-3/185	30-Jun-05	6-5-2, 2.67, .925
23	Axel Sandin Pellikka	D	Skelleftea (SHL)	5-11/180	11-Mar-05	7-1-0-1
24	Caden Price	D	Kelowna (WHL)	6-0/185	24-Aug-05	13-1-8-9
25	Dmitri Simashev	D	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)	6-4/200	4-Feb-05	14-0-0-0
26	William Whitelaw	RW	Youngstown (USHL)	5-9/170	5-Feb-05	10-5-3-8
27	Kasper Halttunen	LW	HIFK (Fin-Liiga)	6-3/205	7-Jun-05	8-0-1-1
28	Lukas Dragicevic	D	Tri-City (WHL)	6-1/190	25-Apr-05	16-5-16-21
29	Oliver Moore	C	USN U18 (USDP)	5-11/185	22-Jan-05	15-6-11-17
30	Charlie Stramel	C	Wisconsin (B1G)	6-3/215	15-Oct-04	10-1-1-2
31	Bradly Nadeau	LW	Penticton (BCHL)	5-10/165	5-May-05	16-17-18-35
32	Hunter Brzustewicz	D	Kitchener (OHL)	5-11/185	29-Nov-04	12-0-13-13
33	Theo Lindstein	D	Brynas (SHL)	6-0/180	5-Jan-05	4-0-0-0
34	Mathieu Cataford	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	5-11/185	1-Mar-05	15-10-11-21
35	Ryan Leonard	RW	USN U18 (USDP)	5-11/190	21-Jan-05	13-13-8-21
36	Daniil But	LW	Loko Yaroslavl (MHL)	6-5/200	15-Feb-05	14-11-5-16
37	Luca Cagnoni	D	Portland (WHL)	5-9/180	21-Dec-04	14-5-9-14
38	Gabe Perreault	RW	USN U18 (USDP)	5-11/165	7-May-05	15-11-16-27
39	Koehn Ziemmer	RW	Prince George (WHL)	6-0/205	8-Dec-04	16-13-13-26
40	Gavin Brindley	C	Michigan (B1G)	5-8/165	5-Oct-04	10-1-5-6
41	Beau Akey	D	Barrie (OHL)	6-0/170	11-Feb-05	12-3-8-11
42	Alex Ciernik	LW	Sodertalje (Swe J20)	5-11/175	8-Oct-04	8-5-5-10
43	Quentin Musty	LW	Sudbury (OHL)	6-2/200	6-Jul-05	14-4-9-13
44	Luca Pinelli	C	Ottawa (OHL)	5-8/165	5-Apr-05	13-7-11-18
45	Lenni Hameenaho	RW	Assat (Fin-Liiga)	6-0/175	7-Nov-04	21-3-6-9
46	Ondrej Molnar	LW	Nitra (Svk)	6-0/175	8-Feb-05	16-2-2-4
47	Jakub Dvorak	D	Bili Tygri Liberec (Cze)	6-5/205	25-May-05	17-0-2-2
48	Samuel Honzek	LW	Vancouver (WHL)	6-3/185	12-Nov-04	17-9-12-21
49	Carson Rehkopf	C	Kitchener (OHL)	6-1/195	7-Jan-05	12-5-5-10
50	Kalan Lind	LW	Red Deer (WHL)	6-0/160	25-Jan-05	15-2-13-15
HM	Noel Nordh	RW	Brynas (Swe J20)	6-3/195	25-Jan-05	15-5-6-11
HM	David Reinbacher	D	Kloten (Sui-NL)	6-2/185	25-Oct-04	18-2-8-10
HM	Timur Mukhanov	C	Omskie Yastreby (MHL)	5-8/170	17-Jun-05	12-8-7-15
HM	Arttu Karki	D	Tappara (Fin-U20)	6-1/175	8-Dec-04	17-7-15-22
HM	Roman Kantserov	RW	Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk (MHL)	5-9/175	20-Sep-04	18-10-13-23
HM	Martin Misiak	RW	Nove Zamky (Svk)	6-2/195	30-Sep-04	16-0-5-5
HM	Maxim Strbak	D	Sioux Falls (USHL)	6-1/205	13-Apr-05	12-1-7-8
HM	Jesse Nurmi	LW	KooKoo (Fin-U20)	5-10/165	7-Mar-05	20-14-17-31
HM	Jesse Kiiskinen	RW	Pelicans (Fin-U20)	5-11/180	23-Aug-05	16-11-16-27
HM	Tuomas Uronen	RW	HIFK (Fin-U20)	5-11/180	19-Mar-05	15-7-10-17
HM	Emil Jarventie	LW	Ilves (Fin-U20)	5-9/165	4-Apr-05	21-8-11-19
HM	Oliver Bonk	D	London (OHL)	6-2/175	9-Jan-05	13-3-5-8
HM	Scott Ratzlaff	G	Seattle (WHL)	6-0/175	9-Mar-05	4-1-0, 2.57, .901
HM	Ivan Remezovsky	D	SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (MHL)	6-1/165	8-Feb-05	17-0-4-4
HM	Magomed Sharakanov	D	MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)	6-1/200	11-Oct-04	11-1-8-9
HM	Noah Dower Nilsson	LW	Frolunda (Swe J20)	6-0/175	25-Apr-05	18-19-15-34
HM	Yegor Klimovich	RW	Sibirskie Snaipery (MHL)	5-9/160	14-May-05	18-6-13-19

PROSPECTS: 2022-23 SEASON PREVIEW – One Drafted and One Draft Eligible Prospect from Each Scouting Region

Sat, 08 Oct 2022 13:39:38 +0000

The 2023 scouting season is upon us! As we head into a new draft season, we, at McKeen’s Hockey, have made a few changes to our roster of writers and scouts. This piece serves as an opportunity to not only meet the team, but also preview some of the players to watch across the globe this hockey season. We asked our staff to give us one draft eligible player and one already drafted player from their region to keep a close eye on.

Director of Scouting/Ontario Region - Brock Otten

https://twitter.com/BrockOtten

2023 Player to Watch: Beau Akey, D, Barrie Colts

"Akey is a highly mobile two-way defender with the Colts who will likely take on a top four role on a strong Barrie team this year. He would have likely been on the Canadian Hlinka team this summer had he not picked up an injury at the beginning of camp. Akey is a preseason regional favourite of mine and after a strong preseason performance, he looks poised to be a steady riser over the season."

Already Drafted to Watch: Ben Gaudreau, G, Sarnia Sting

The San Jose Sharks draft pick heads into the OHL season as my preseason favourite to be the OHL's top netminder (Jim Rutherford award) this year. He doesn't have an NHL contract yet and is playing for one this season, but I fully expect him to earn one. The athletic Gaudreau should also be the starting netminder for Canada at the WJC's this year.

Benjamin Gaudreau of the Sarnia Sting. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Assistant Director of Scouting/Western Canada Region - Derek Neumeier

https://twitter.com/Derek_N_NHL

2023 Player to Watch: Riley Heidt, C, Prince George Cougars

The Cougars haven't had a winning season since 2016-17, but they also haven't had a prospect as good as Heidt to help turn that tide until now. His hockey sense and puck skills are high-end, and he has the right mental makeup to handle the pressure that will be placed upon him as his team's number one center and best player.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Logan Stankoven, C, Kamloops Blazers

The reigning WHL Player of the Year has already accomplished a lot (including winning World Juniors gold) but will have a new challenge this season: leading his Blazers team as they host the 2023 Memorial Cup. It barely seems possible that Stankoven could be more dynamic or terrorizing offensively, but he always finds a way to surpass expectations.

Western Canada Region - Arlo Schulz

2023 Player to Watch: Andrew Cristall, F, Kelowna Rockets

"Cristall begins this season under the radar as all eyes are on Connor Bedard in the WHL this year, but that won't last long. Cristall had a terrific rookie season last year and with the young Rockets returning almost their entire roster, they won't need time to gel and Cristall could explode out of the gate. He possesses elite offensive instincts, a slick set of hands, and is constantly creating something out of nothing in the offensive zone. He lacks explosiveness but focused on his skating during the offseason and showed well at the Hlinka in August. He projects as a 1st-rounder and could shoot up draft boards as the year progresses."

Already Drafted to Watch: Mats Lindgren, D, Red Deer Rebels

"Lindgren is a beautiful skater who was projected to go in the top two rounds last draft but slipped to the 4th round (Sabres) amid concerns about his inconsistency and offensive upside. An effortless mover who can carry the puck with ease and distribute well, Lindgren was one of the youngest players in his draft class and could take a massive step forward in his D+1 season. He requested a trade and was dealt to the Rebels, where he will assume greater responsibilities and play in all situations. His skillset is tailor-made for the modern game, as a mobile defenseman with terrific instincts. It will be fascinating to watch if the rest of his game catches up to his potential this year."

Sweden Region - Jacob Smeds

https://twitter.com/Scouting_Jacob

2023 Player to Watch: Kalle Carlsson, C, Örebro HK

Kalle Carlsson is a potential riser throughout the season. He is a playmaker who creates space for his teammates with his strong skating and high hockey IQ. In the same way that his hockey sense allows him to thrive offensively, he can also play defense efficiently thanks to his smartness.

Already Drafted to Watch: Jonathan Lekkerimäki, RW, Djurgårdens IF

Lekkerimäki is a pure goal scorer with tremendous offensive instincts. In the offensive zone, he works hard off the puck to create space to shoot. He also brings the puck to the net to challenge goalies in tight using his soft hands. Lekkerimäki is looking to establish himself at the pro level in the Swedish second tier league this winter and his preseason bears the promise of a smooth transition from the junior leagues.

211021 Djurgårdens Jonathan Lekkerimäki under ishockeymatchen i SHL mellan Djurgården och Oskarshamn den 21 oktober 2021 i Stockholm.
Foto: Andreas L Eriksson / BILDBYRÅN / COP 106 / AE0062

Eastern Canada Region - Éloi Biondo

https://twitter.com/eloi632211

2023 Player to Watch: Etienne Morin, D, Moncton Wildcats

Etienne Morin is a mobile two-way defenseman who can move the puck up the ice very effectively and make plays in the offensive zone. He averaged 21 minutes a game last year as a rookie blue-liner for the Wildcats and tallied an impressive 34 points in 70 games. Morin could’ve probably played at the most recent Hlinka-Gretzky cup tournament, but Team Canada probably preferred a more steady and physical option on their blue line— something that Morin will have to work on this upcoming season.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Jordan Dumais, RW, Halifax Mooseheads

Dumais was one of the most polarizing prospects for the most recent NHL Draft. The undersized winger has been scoring at historic rates in the QMJHL and is poised for another big year with the Moose. Such numbers and offensive abilities would usually guarantee you of a high-end draft pick. However, Dumais’ skating and physical tools are just not what you want in an NHL prospect, which made him a third-round selection by the Columbus Blue Jackets, instead of a higher selection. It will definitely be very interesting to see how he progresses this upcoming season.

Western Canada Region - Adam Tate

https://twitter.com/ADTate39

2023 Draft Eligible Player to Watch: Riley Heidt, C, Prince George Cougars

Having led the Cougars in scoring last season, Riley Heidt will be looked upon to be the “do everything” centre for the team again this year. Coming off a strong showing in this past summer’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup, I’m looking forward to seeing if he can solidify a middle of the 1st round draft ranking.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Owen Pickering, D, Swift Current Broncos

The first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in last year’s NHL draft, Owen Pickering is looking to improve his raw talents in Swift Current this season. If his skating and offense can start to catch up to his size and transitional skills, he could very well secure a spot on Canada’s WJC roster this year.

Russia Region - Viktor Fomich

https://twitter.com/RUSProspects

2023 Player to Watch: Roman Kantserov, W, Stalnie Lisy Magnitogorsk, MHL

Roman Kantserov is a winger whose every movement is just oozing attacking skill. He might not always be showing that on a consistent basis, but when he is on his game he is definitely as electrifying to watch as the top Russian guys like Matvei Michkov or Mikhail Gulyayev. He still should be evaluated more closely to find out what outweighs here: skill or inconsistency.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Nikolai Kovalenko, W, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, KHL

For Colorado Avalanche wing prospect Nikolai Kovalenko, last season was one to forget due to a heavy concussion that left a question mark on his NHL upside. After an amazing start to this KHL season, he suffered another concussion. Even though he is back now, we have the same questions about his health and ability to reach the NHL level in two years (when his KHL contract is up). This season should provide some answers though.

Director of Video Scouting - Will Scouch

https://twitter.com/Scouching

2023 Player to Watch: Caden Price, D, Kelowna Rockets

After a strong Hlinka camp and tournament performance logging tons of minutes, Price is exactly the defender I'm looking for. Mobile, quick, skilled, jumps into offensive situations, deceptive with the puck and a reliance on his feet to do a lot of defensive work. There's creativity in spades to execute plays well, and his youth in this draft class combined with his current ability are tantalizing to consider. He's been ranked in late first rounds at times but I get the feeling that keen-eyed observers will come around a little more.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Simon Robertsson, W, Skellefteå AIK

I've been a big believer in Robertsson and believe that patience will be rewarded with more development in Sweden. A slow start in the SHL gave way for a relatively strong finish in very limited minutes, but Robertsson's shot, evasive skill, and improving straight line speed could make him a more threatening SHL scorer this season. There may be better players out there right now developing, but Robertsson's offensive upside is hard to ignore and still has plenty of time to emerge against men.

Video Scout - Zack Szweras

https://twitter.com/Zack_Szweras

2023 Player to Watch: Otto Stenberg, W, Frölunda, SHL

Stenberg is an exciting offensive winger, with plenty of creativity as both a playmaker and scorer. Stenberg captained team Sweden to a silver medal recently in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He also led the team in scoring. After a strong tournament, Stenberg has a good chance to increase his draft stock with his flashy and crafty play.

Already Drafted Player: Noah Ostlund, C, Djurgardens IF, SHL

Ostlund, the 16th overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2022 NHL Draft, is poised for a larger role at the pro level. Ostlund will split time between the J20 and HockeyAllsvenskan for Djurgårdens IF. He produced over a point per game in the J20 last season but will be looking to achieve that playing against men. Ostlund is a strong playmaking centre, who will have a chance to crack Sweden’s World Junior roster in December too.

Djurgården's Noah Östlund celebrates after 1-2 during the final in the Junior SM for J20 between Djurgården and Linköping on April 10, 2022 in Nyköping.
Photo: Tobias Sterner / BILDBYRÅN /

Central Europe Region - Chapin Landvogt

https://twitter.com/Csomichapin

GERMANY

2023 Player to Watch: Linus Brandl, F, Mannheim Jungadler (DNL)

In a season where not a single name stands out as a surefire draft pick next summer, the 6-foot Brandl has followed up a somewhat eye-opening, yet unassuming Gretzky Hlinka Cup (2-3-5 in 4 games) by kicking off the DNL season with 5-5-10 in 6 games. Brandl won't stick out with any specific tool, but he simply never fails to produce. He just "gets it" when it comes to generating offense with what he has. Pro play is in the cards this season.

Already Drafted to Watch: Dominik Bokk, RW, Frankfurt Lions

The DEL's new team has brought in a big fish in Dominik Bokk, who already concluded last season (minimally) helping Berlin grab the league title. Growing long in the prospect tooth and clearly not looking like a player in Carolina's plans, the 22-year-old has kicked off things with a bang, going 4-3-7 with a +4 in his first 4 games of the season.

SWITZERLAND

2023 Player to Watch: Leo Braillard, F, Biel-Bienne U20

Playing together with skilled overager Mattheo Reinhard, Braillard has put up 7-3-10 numbers in 6 U20 games thus far. Already having represented Switzerland at every level between U16-U18, he has been a constant producer for his club, having captained the U17 outfit last season for which he put up 62 points in 30 games. A U18 Worlds appearance at home next spring is a given after his 4-1-5 output at the Gretzky Hlinka Cup this summer.

Already Drafted to Watch: Simon Knak, RW, HC Davos

After being drafted as an overager, Knak went from being a productive winger for the Portland Winterhawks to chugging away in the pro ranks as a 19-year-old to the tune of 15 points in 51 games. A multi-year captain of the U20 team, Knak is back at it for Davos this season and has a 1-1-2 statline in 4 NL games this year. More importantly, he's playing a line higher than last year, averaging just over 14 minutes a night.

Ontario Region - Dylan Krill

https://twitter.com/dylan_krill

2023 Player to Watch: Cam Allen, D, Guelph Storm

Allen is a high-end two-way defenseman who looked like a veteran in his rookie year. After a strong Hlinka tournament where he served as captain for team Canada, Allen will look to have a big season with Guelph, establishing himself as the premier defenseman of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: David Goyette, C, Sudbury Wolves

The 61st overall selection by the Seattle Kraken in the 2022 draft, David Goyette was my favourite player last year because of his blend of high-end creativity and puck skills with elite skating. After finishing with the most points by a rookie, he will look to have another big season on an improved Sudbury team.

David Goyette of the Sudbury Wolves. Photo by Robert Lefebvre /OHL Images.

Slovak and Czech Region - Matej Deraj

https://twitter.com/MatoDeraj

2023 Player to Watch: Ondrej Molnár, W, HK Nitra

Molnár is an electric winger who has nifty hands, good hockey sense and a dangerous shot, although he’s more of a playmaker. His biggest asset is his skating; he’s quick, agile and his acceleration is at the top level. The main room for improvement is in his defensive game and awareness. Overall, an intriguing player to watch who’s dangerous every time he steps on the ice.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Adam Sýkora, W/C, HK Nitra

Sýkora has gained a lot of confidence since last year. The second-round pick of the 2022 draft had impressed everybody with his tremendous worth ethic and compete level, but the expectations are now higher for the Rangers prospect. I believe Sýkora will use his speed and skills to improve his last year’s point record and earn a call-up to the Men’s National Team.

Eastern Canada Region - Charles Lassonde

https://twitter.com/cl_hockeyscout

2023 Player to Watch: Mathieu Cataford, RW, Halifax Mooseheads

Cataford has been outstanding since the second half of the last season with Halifax. He elevated his game to a higher standard and had a strong showing in the playoffs. Despite a quiet Hlinka-Gretzky tournament, I really think that everything is set for Cataford to establish himself as a 1st round pick or at least a second-round selection in the 2023 NHL draft. His skating remains the weakness in his game, but his skill level, intensity, hockey sense and responsible 200-feet game style will quickly erase the doubts of the scouts in Cataford’s game

Already Drafted to Watch: Tristan Luneau, RD, Gatineau Olympiques

The Anaheim Ducks 2nd round pick has already been sent back to Gatineau after getting two points (1 goal and 1 assist) in his only exhibition game with the Ducks. Despite dealing with injuries in the 2020-21 season, Luneau surely didn’t show the best of himself last year. Knowing him from the M18AAA in Quebec, I’m sure that he’ll be in a better shape and ready to bring his game to the level he knows it can be.

AHL Coverage - Josh Bell

https://twitter.com/JoshuaBell31

Already Drafted to Watch: Yaroslav Askarov, G, Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)

The Nashville Predators 11th overall draft pick in 2020 is finally making the trip overseas, joining the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals as he adjusts to the North American game. Touted as the next Carey Price in his draft year, the Russian netminder will likely be sharing the crease with another strong goaltending prospect in Connor Ingram, but Askarov will get his share of starts and is one injury or hot streak away from taking over the starting reins.

Already Drafted to Watch: Jiri Kulich, C, Rochester Americans (AHL)

One of my favourite prospects in the 2022 NHL Draft, Kulich is entering his first professional season in North America. He had a remarkable 2021-22 campaign, leading all rookies in points in the top-Czech men’s league before captaining the Czechs in the World Under-18s, leading the tournament in goals and being named MVP. Plus, he finished over a point-per-game at the U20s. I’m excited to see how he adjusts in the AHL.

U.S. Region - Ethan Hetu

https://twitter.com/EthanHetu

2023 Player to Watch: William Whitelaw, C/RW, Youngstown Phantoms

The University of Wisconsin commit starred last year at Shattuck St. Mary’s alongside top 2024 prospect Macklin Celebrini and now will play his draft season as “the guy” for the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. Whitelaw is a creative playmaker and an aggressive, pace-pushing offensive generator. Whitelaw has said that he’d like to improve his defensive game and become the most well-rounded player of the 2023 class, so it’ll be intriguing to see how he evolves as he strives to commit more to the 200-foot game.

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Lane Hutson, D, Boston University

Concerns about how Lane Hutson’s size (he is listed at five-foot-nine, 155 pounds) would limit his game’s translatability to more difficult levels of hockey caused the dynamic blueliner to have to wait until the 62nd pick of the 2022 draft to hear his name called. A more difficult level of hockey has now arrived for Hutson, who at Boston University will look to continue to break the mold of what the modern NHL defenseman “should” look like.

Lane Hutson

Russia Region - Dmitri Blokhin

https://twitter.com/DVBlokhin

2023 Player to Watch: Mikhail Gulyayev, D, Omsk Yastreby VHL

Gulyayev shines bright and stands out among Russian draft eligibles because of his hockey IQ. He is really great with the puck in the offensive zone and he’s also very confident and reliable in the defensive end. He has a high skill level, playmaking and quarter-backing ability, and character. He started this season with VHL team Omskiye Krylia and already played several games with Avangard KHL. The expectations are high for him.

Already Drafted to Watch: Alexander Perevalov, F, Kunlun Red Star KHL

Selected in the 3rd round of the 2022 draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, Perevalov has high expectations due to his talent level. His last season was a controversial one with his play being inconsistent and his character being questionable. Nevertheless, he gets a trade from CSKA system in the new season and finds himself with the Kunlun Red Star KHL team. He's already showing more confidence, and in a recent game against CSKA he scored 2 goals and was successful in the game winning penalty shot. If his growth is consistent, he'll be able to develop his talent to 100% and play in the NHL after his current contract expires.

Eastern Canada Region - Benoit Belanger

https://twitter.com/BenoitGBelanger

2023 Player to Watch: Miguel Tourigny, D, Shawinigan Cataractes

At just 16, he turned heads with a stellar performance in the President's Cup Championship and Memorial Cup. His calm play, his intelligence, his maturity, combined with his skills, make him a player with great potential. He did very well during the U18 Hlinka-Gretzky tournament. Very good across 200 feet, very good hockey sense, with good passing and skating skills. He is a player to watch.

Already Drafted to Watch: Angus Booth, D, Shawinigan Cataractes

After an emotional and experience-filled season, including a President's Cup and a Memorial Cup appearance, Booth saw that memorable season come to a close with his 4th round selection by the Los Angeles Kings. It will be a totally different situation for him this year, with a team starting a junior cycle again. But it will be interesting to follow how he will react to this challenge and if he will be able to take his level of play to another level. I'm curious to see the full extent of his intelligence being passed on to his younger teammates.

Finland Region - Mikko Kuikka

https://twitter.com/mijukui83

2023 Player to Watch: Arttu Karki, D, Tappara U20 SM

“Karki is a very mobile defenseman with good shooting skills. Overall, he is a puck moving defenseman with good size (187cm) and good skating. At the moment, Karki is a 2nd/3rd-round talent, but if he has another great year, he could climb higher.”

Already Drafted Player to Watch: Joakim Kemell, W, Jyp

“Kemell is a strong shooter who can also create his own chances. Drafted by Nashville Predators 2022 Draft as a first-round pick, he is playing this season at Jyp Jyvaskyla (Finnish liiga) as a loan player from Nashville Predators. I hope he makes this an injury free season that will show his real potential playing at the men's level.”

2023 NHL DRAFT: 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup Preview – Team Overview, Players to Watch, Predictions

Brock Otten — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 19:19:12 +0000

If you are an avid follower of the NHL draft, you would know how highly regarded the 2023 NHL Draft class is heading into the season. This has many excited for this year’s Hlinka/Gretzky Cup in (exclusively) Red Deer. It is important to note that the early “big three” of this draft, Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Matvei Michkov, will not be at the event. Bedard will be playing with Canada at the U20 event in Edmonton. Fantilli is not eligible as a late born 2004. Michkov and Russia were not invited to the event. Regardless, the talent on display should be extremely high.

With the tournament kicking off (officially) on Sunday, let’s look at each participating team, the players to watch, and make some predictions.

Canada

Not only is Canada participating in the Hlinka/Gretzky again, after skipping last year’s event (due to pandemic related concerns), but they’re also looking to get back to the top of the podium after losing to Russia in the Gold medal game of the 2019 tournament. On paper, this is the team to beat. This Canadian team could have double digit first round selections on it, led by an incredibly strong contingent of players from Western Canada.

Players to Watch:

Calum Ritchie

The Oshawa Generals center is an incredibly talented playmaker and attacker. He enters the tournament centering one of the team’s top lines and he will get all the ice time that he can handle.

Brayden Yager

Yager is the reigning CHL Rookie of the Year and is the other top six center heading into the tournament. The shoot first center plays an aggressive game and after a bit of a slow start to camp, he appears to be rounding into form after strong performances against the Canadian U20 teams.

Riley Heidt

Heidt is shifting to the wing for the event, playing with Yager, however his competitiveness and speed should make him someone that Canada relies on in nearly every situation at the event.

Matthew Wood

The BCHL top scorer had a bit of a rough performance at the U18’s in April, playing for Canada as an underager, however he should rebound nicely against his age-appropriate peers. The big and skilled winger looked quicker at development camp and has a serious chance to be Canada’s leading scorer at this event.

Zach Benson

Scouts and fans alike should quickly learn to love Benson. He is ultra-quick, ultra-competitive, and ultra-intelligent. This combination makes him such a fun player to watch as he dominates shifts in the offensive zone.

Cam Allen

The captain of this Canadian entry, Allen is a strong two-way defender who is a candidate to be the first defender drafted in 2023. He does pretty much everything at a high level and Canada will likely lean on him to play serious minutes.

Caden Price

The surprise of training camp for those who don’t cover the WHL (since every scout I know from Western Canada already loves Price), Price has emerged as one of the top defenders on this team. Watch for his ability to lead the rush with dynamic attacking ability.

Jordan Tourigny

The younger brother of Canadiens’ prospect and star QMJHL defender Miguel Tourigny, Jordan has a similar skill set with a larger frame. He should be a standout on the Canadian powerplay and like Allen and Price, one of Canada’s go to blueliners.

Scott Ratzlaff

Ratzlaff was incredible during training camp and in the scrimmage against the U20 team. It seems almost assured that he will be the team’s starter and he has a chance to be the top goaltender at the event.

Prediction: GOLD

Sweden

Would you believe that it has been 15 years since the Swedes took home gold at this event? Seems crazy, but it’s true. However, they’ve been close, with medals in three straight. Is this the year that they get over the hump? Like Canada, the Swedes have many talented players and projected first round picks. Unfortunately, these two powerhouses (on paper) are in the same division.

Players to Watch

Theo Lindstein

Like the aforementioned Cam Allen, Lindstein is a contender to be the top defender selected at this year’s draft. He will be the anchor of this Swedish entry and will likely see a ton of ice time in all situations.

Otto Stenberg

A highly skilled and dynamic offensive player, Stenberg will be counted on to be the go-to point producer for the Swedes. The creative pivot already helped Sweden take home gold at the U18’s last April, playing as an underager.

Kalle Carlsson

A skilled playmaking center, Carlsson will likely form a great one/two punch with Stenberg down the middle, unless they opt to move Stenberg to the wing (thanks to great center depth). Carlsson is another of the first-round candidates to watch.

Noah Dower Nilsson

Another natural center, Dower Nilsson is the younger brother of Red Wings’ prospect Liam. He is a highly intelligent and creative player, although not quite as physically involved as his older brother. Something to note, he is 2005 born and not 2006 born, as incorrectly stated on the Hlinka/Gretzky website.

Noel Nordh

A big winger, Nordh is an import selection of the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL. He plays as a net front presence and skilled forechecker beside the Swedes creative centers. This is a power forward type who should have a strong tournament.

Prediction: 4th

Slovakia

Slovakia rising! If you recall, in our draft guide our cover story focused on the resurgence of Slovak hockey. They had the top two selections in the 2022 NHL Draft (Slafkovsky and Nemec) and they finished second at last year’s Hlinka/Gretzky. This year? The Slovaks have a very strong group of eligible prospects again. The issue is that several of them are playing at the U20’s like Dalibor Dvorsky (a potential top five pick) and Maxim Strbak or are not eligible for the event due to late birthdays, like Alex Ciernik and Martin Misiak. This will be a great test of Slovakia’s depth as a result.

Players to Watch

Ondrej Molnar

This is Molnar’s second year at the Hlinka/Gretzky after helping Slovakia win silver last year. He was a big part of that team as an underager and he will be the go-to player this year. Molnar is a dynamic attacking winger with great scoring instincts and the creativity to beat defenders one on one.

Samuel Sisik

Sisik makes up for a lack of size with an inordinate amount of skill. Like the ‘Little Engine That Could’, he just keeps coming and look for him to be highly noticeable throughout the tournament.

Jakub Chromiak

The top defender on this Slovak team, Jakub is the younger brother of Kings’ prospect Martin Chromiak. Not eligible for the NHL Draft until 2024, Jakub is a skilled offensive defender who loves to lead the attack and who can quarterback the powerplay effectively.

Tomas Pobezal

The youngest player in the tournament, Pobezal is not eligible for the NHL draft until 2025 due to his late 2006 birthday. He serves as the next big hope for Slovakia, already competing at last year’s Division 2 U18’s, helping the Slovak’s climb back to the top level. The skilled center is not guaranteed to play a huge role here, but he is a name worth mentioning.

Prediction: 6th

Switzerland

The Swiss have never medalled at this event and have not made the semifinals since 2002. Unfortunately, that seems likely again this year. Not only is this Swiss roster on the weaker side, but Switzerland also draws the pool of death with Canada, Sweden, and Slovakia.

Players to Watch

Valdemar Hull

A returning player from last year’s Hlinka/Gretzky team, Hull will be a top line winger and a go-to offensive player for the Swiss this year. He is an import selection of the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL.

Prediction: 8th

Finland

Believe it or not, but Finland has actually really struggled at this event in recent years, even with their many successes at other U20 International tournaments. Would you believe that they haven’t medalled at the Hlinka in a decade? This includes two straight semifinal losses, the last two Hlinka/Gretzky’s. Will that change this year? It’s certainly possible, but this is also a very young Finnish team, especially on the back end with three 2006 born defenders. There is also concern that this age group doesn’t have the kind of playmakers necessary for success from the center position.

Players to Watch

Aron Kiviharju

One of the top 2006 born players on the planet at this current time, Kiviharju looked good at the U18’s in April as a double underager. Now he comes into this tournament (still a single underager), but with a boatload of confidence. He is electric offensively from the back end with quick feet and hands.

Kasper Halttunen

The big power forward was another Finnish player who excelled at the recent U18’s as an underager. He is deadly near the crease, and he plays with a ton of energy in the offensive end. A potential lottery selection this year, he should be Finland’s top forward.

Jesse Kiiskinen

While Kiiskinen didn’t play up a level internationally the way a few of his peers did, he did stand out in a big way as part of Finland’s U17 team. One of the top Finnish players in this 2005 age group, Kiiskinen is a talented goal scoring winger.

Emil Jarventie

Yet another talented winger on this Finnish team, Emil is the younger brother of Ottawa Senators prospect Roby. He started last year in the USHL as an Import, but returned to Finland in the second half.

Tuomas Uronen

Yup…you guessed it, another solid winger. Uronen was a standout as an underager on the Finnish U18 in April. He is not as naturally skilled or as creative as the others listed above him, but he is the perfect complementary piece due to his strong skating and tenacity.

Prediction: 5th

United States

One of the biggest complaints about this tournament is that the U.S. does not send “their best.” Rather than send the NTDP, they bring together a collection of non-NTDP players from various leagues like the USHL, CHL, USHS, Prep, etc. As a result, they have only won this tournament once in its history (2003). Consistency has certainly been an issue. All that said, this year’s roster for the United States may just be the best that they have sent for this event. The majority of this roster absolutely dominated the U17 Five Nations last year (including Czechia and Slovakia). There is a strong chance that they end the nation’s five-year medal drought.

Players to Watch

William Whitelaw

Whitelaw is insanely talented and creative. If you watched Shattuck St. Mary’s at all recently, he would have stood out to you. He absolutely torched the Five Nations last year and has a chance to be one of the leading scorers of this tournament too.

Quentin Musty

Perhaps the best pro prospect on this team, Musty is the former first overall pick of the Sudbury Wolves and is coming off a pretty solid rookie year in the OHL. The big winger is extremely skilled one on one and loves to attack the offensive zone with speed.

Gavin McCarthy

One of the strengths of this U.S. team will be their defense and McCarthy should be a big part of that. He was a standout in the defensive end as a 16-year-old with Muskegon (USHL) last year and plays a physical game.

Lucas St. Louis

Yes, Lucas is the son of Montreal Canadiens’ coach Marty. Lucas has apparently improved a lot in the last calendar year and is another quality member of this team’s blueline. He has a big shot and can lead the attack offensively.

Andrew Strathmann

We’ve mentioned a lot about the strength of this U.S. team being on the back-end and the top guy there is Strathmann. Much like Canada’s Cam Allen, Strathmann is a potentially dominant two-way defender and is coming off a terrific first year in the USHL.

Tanner Adams

Strong skating and competitive forward who plays both ends of the ice, but also has the skill to be a solid complementary winger on a scoring line. Adams was one of the highest scoring 2005 born players in the USHL last year.

Carey Terrance

While Terrance’s rookie OHL season with the Erie Otters may not have gone according to plan, he did show promising flashes in the second half. Speed is the name of the game for Terrance. He is lightning quick. Terrance was terrific at the Five Nations event last year, playing alongside Whitelaw. Could the U.S. put them back together again?

Prediction: Silver

Czechia

This is a very strong group for the Czechs, and they represent the country’s best chance to medal since 2017. This team has a good balance of talent at forward, on the back-end, and one of the top goaltenders at the Hlinka. Many of the team’s top players (like Sale and Petr) are also seasoned veterans internationally already.

Players to Watch

Eduard Sale

A top prospect for the 2023 draft, Sale obliterated the Czech U20 league last season and was terrific at the previous U18’s as an underager. Sale’s poise and vision with the puck is impressive and he has a chance to be one of the Hlinka/Gretzky’s top scorers.

Dominik Petr

Like Sale, Petr is someone who has already had a fair amount of success playing at the U18 level internationally for Czechia. He got hurt at the previous U18’s, but is healthy now and will form a dynamic one/two punch with Sale for the Czechs.

Michael Hrabal

Hrabal is a massive (6’6) goaltender who enters this event as one of the highest rated goaltenders. It is likely he spends this year in the USHL before attending UMass, not the most traditional route for a Czech player, but it shows how highly regarded Hrabal is.

Jakub Dvorak

Arguably the top defender on the Czech team, Dvorak is a 6’4 blueliner who will eat a ton of minutes in all situations. He was a standout for Czechia across U17 events last year and even played at the U18’s as an underager.

Jan Sprynar

The top secondary scoring option for this Czech team, Sprynar will be looking to prove that he belongs in the same conversation as Sale and Petr. He was a standout at the U17 level and has signed on to play with Rimouski (QMJHL) this season.

Adam Zidlicky

The son of former NHL defender Marek Zidlicky, Adam is a winger who plays with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL (as a non-import). Adam is a terrific complementary player with his speed and tenacity, and he likely starts the tournament playing alongside Sale and Petr on Czechia’s top line.

Prediction: Bronze

Germany

Much like Switzerland, Germany is going to be in tough at this event. The talent level of the other nations here is just a touch ahead of what Germany is bringing (on paper). It does, unfortunately, seem likely that they will be beat up on by Finland, the U.S., and the Czechs.

Players to Watch

Paul Mayer

The one potential high end NHL draft prospect on this German roster, Mayer is not eligible until 2024 due to his late birthday. The big defender will be the anchor of this German team and he should be able to make a name for himself as someone to watch.

Prediction: 7th

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.