Patrick Giles – McKeen's Hockey

2018 Draft in Review – Shadow Draft and Odd Thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

USA: Patrick Giles (2018 Draft Eligible)

Ryan Wagman — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 15:18:22 +0000

Ranked in the middle of the third round in the McKeen's final 2018 Rankings, Patrick Giles brings imposing size and strength and excels in puck possession. Ryan Wagman provides a detailed scouting report below.

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

Patrick Giles	2018 Draft Eligible
Position: RW/C, Shoots R	H/W: 6-4", 205 lbs
Stats to date (GP-G-A-PTS-PIMS)	USNTDP Juniors, USHL (26-2-4-6-26)
	U.S. National U18 Team, USNTDP (62-11-11-22-54)
	USA U18, WU18 (7-1-1-2-4)

Patrick Giles 2018 Draft Eligible

Position: RW/C, Shoots R H/W: 6-4", 205 lbs

Stats to date (GP-G-A-PTS-PIMS) USNTDP Juniors, USHL (26-2-4-6-26)

U.S. National U18 Team, USNTDP (62-11-11-22-54)

USA U18, WU18 (7-1-1-2-4)

Skating: Every time I saw the USNTDP this season, I was forced to remark again upon how well Giles skates. A very big player who may not yet be done growing, he is remarkably graceful and fast. Can gain a step on opposing defenders and keep with fast opponents when backchecking. Has enough speed on a bull rush to skate the puck past/through the first layer of defense. Grade: 55

Shot: Giles is definitely not a natural finisher. In a vacuum, his shot from the slot, particularly his wrist shot, is decent. He can get it on net and it is not a floater, but neither is it particularly threatening. To begin with, he does not shoot often. And when he does pull the trigger, there is little deception in it. Grade: 50

Skills: Giles’ hands work well enough, albeit they are not very soft. He is unsurprisingly very strong on the puck. For the numbers he produces, you would not expect him to look as comfortable as he does on the puck. Has average control/possession ability. Can make basic short-range passes accurately. Grade: 50

Smarts: Given a forechecking, bottom six muscle for the USNTDP, Giles understands his duties and performs them well. He can have the greatest impact in front of the opposing net, so that is where he goes when his team has gained the offensive zone with possession. He backchecks well and utilizes his exceptionally long reach. He is alert and senses opportunities, however limited they have been for him, well. Rarely used on either special teams unit for the program. Grade: 55

Physicality: Clearly, Giles has above average size and strength. He will willingly crash and bang. He is a forceful body checker and has been known to keep the physicality coming even after the play has moved on. His physicality could grow into a real high end asset if he would be meaner. Grade: 55

Summary: The opposite of an analytical darling, Patrick Giles is nonetheless an intriguing draft prospect. The lowest scorer among all USNTDP forwards, he was still able to have a positive impact on the game when he stepped out onto the ice. Always noticeable, as much for his frame as for what he was doing, he made things happen even if he rarely impacted the scoresheet. If given a more offensive role at Boston College, I believe he could be a reasonable top nine option at the next level and beyond. Needs to work on his skills, but there are enough hints and flashes in there that it would not surprise in the least if he emerged as a semi-dependable offensive option.

Overall Future Projection (OFP) = 52.5

World U18 Team Preview: United States

Ryan Wagman — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 13:54:24 +0000

With seven gold medals in the last nine World U-18 championships, the American entry, generally based mostly on their hothouse USNTDP program, is almost unfair to the rest of the hockey playing world. In fact, it is often said that while Canada develops players for Olympic competition (oops!), the Americans target the WU18s.

And while the WU18 tournament is not as sexy for the average hockey fan as the WJC, with its place on the calendar at the end of the regular season and when half of the teams have already been eliminated from their respective playoffs, it is the last look most players will receive from talent evaluators before the draft.

Joel Farabee. Photo courtesy of Rena Laverty/USNTDP

While previous renditions of the American WU18 entry had included a few “ringers” who were not USNTDP grads, this year’s roster is pure hothouse. That said, as in year’s past, they have poached the best talent from the U17 team. Just as last year’s team included underagers Oliver Wahlstrom, Joel Farabee (both returning), Quinn Hughes, and Brady Tkachuk (both too old now to compete in the event again), this year’s version includes the presumptive top pick in the 2019 daft in Jack Hughes, as well as fellow class of 2019 players Spencer Knight, Cam York, Cole Caufield, Trevor Janicke, and Alex Turcotte.

Among players eligible to be drafted this year, the 15 skaters among them all seem likely to be drafted this June, including up to five who we feel are good fits for the first round. As long as the goaltending holds its own, USA is the clear favorite to win this tournament once again. Focusing only on the 2018 draft eligible, here are 10 players to watch (AKA – our top 10 ranked USNTDP members from the 2018 Draft Rankings) in Russia:

Oliver Wahlstrom, C/RW

While it would be nice to see Wahlstrom dominate a greater percentage of his shifts, for the most part, he will be the clinical finisher that draft pundits had long expected him to be. After all, he scored 22 goals in 26 USHL league games this year, and even scored four times as an underager in this event last year. Definitely more a shooter than a playmaker, he specializes in corralling pucks and getting them ready to be fired into the twine. While he sometimes seems to coast, when he needs a burst of speed, he shows off truly high level wheels.

Joel Farabee, LW

A high-IQ playmaker, Farabee is a high-motor prospect who will be counted upon to play in all of the heavy shifts faced by his team. A bit undersized, he plays a heavier game than one would expect, with hustle making up somewhat for his lack of brawn. After putting up six points in a secondary offensive role in last year’s WU18, expect him to be counted upon more to help the US first line (Farabee, Wahlstrom, Hughes) dominate the shot counter and the score board.

Bode Wilde, D

Bode Wilde. Photo Courtesy of the USNTDP/Rena Laverty.

A smooth skating, smooth puck handling defender, Wilde is a dynamic presence from the blueline that excels in bringing the puck up the ice from his end, with speed. Once the zone has been gained, he is not a traditional offensive quarterback, as he can be prone to overhandling the puck, but he remains an effective part of the attack, especially if he keeps his feet moving. Has a strong shot, and will fire a few wristers every game. Adequate off the puck in his own end, but unlikely to be relied upon much to kill penalties.

K’Andre Miller, D

Raw, but incredibly talented, the athletic Miller is fairly new to the blueline, having only transitioned from forward a few years ago. He is a physical, two-way defender with advanced instincts away from the puck. He does not have a great shot from the line, but enjoys jumping up into the play closer to the hashmarks and car score from that area. A fantastic skater, he can recover ably if the puck is coughed up while he is down low.

Mattias Samuelsson, D

More of a stay at home blueliner than either Wilde or Miller, Mattias Samuelsson has a pro-sized frame, although not nearly as big as his long-time NHLer father Kjell. That said, unlike his father, Mattias has decent offensive upside as well as own-zone presence. As the USNTDP is filled with mobile puck movers on defense, he has been free to focus on shutting down the opposition by forcing them into the boards and making the simple outlet pass to the other D-man. He is able to get his bulk behind a big slap shot as well.

Ty Emberson, D

Less dominant than any of the above-listed blueliners, Emberson should not be overlooked either. His numbers do not pop off the page, somewhat a function of losing minutes that he would receive on another team that did not have three potential first rounders ahead of him on the depth chart. He is a strong skater with a nice shot, good situational awareness and capable of executing big body checks. Packs a lot more punch than would be expected in his 6-0”, 195 lbs frame.

Tyler Weiss, LW-C

Although undersized, Weiss plays with respectable aggression. A solid skater, he is comfortable skating with the puck. Like most of his teammates, he has a well developed hockey mind and does a good job of getting himself into scoring position. He gets to top speed quickly and has a dynamic element to his game when he can enter the offensive zone with speed. Adds good secondary scoring to the American lineup.

Patrick Giles, RW/C

A big-bodied forward, Giles looks like a pro on the ice, although he does not provide much in the way of offensive support scoring only twice in USHL league play on the season. I would expect more offensive output, as he skates very well for his well, forechecks hard, and can handle the puck well. His wrist shot is not bad, either. I expect that given a more prominent role next year at Boston College, he will produce a bit more.

Jake Wise, C

More than anyone else on this list, Wise can really help his draft stock at the WU18. Wise missed a lot of time in the first half of the year, but could not stay off the scoreboard when he was healthy, with 28 points in 18 USHL league games. Small, but quick with strong puck skills. He is a gifted playmaker and has a quick release on a solid snapshot. I will be watching him extra closely.

Adam Samuelsson, D

Adam Samuelsson. Photo by Rena Laverty/USNTDP

No relation to Mattias, Adam is actually the son of Ulf Samuelsson. Adam is also far bigger than either his old man, or his higher-ranked teammate Mattias. Adam moves well enough to be difficult to play against and a real handful in the corners. He plays with an active stick and has a good slapshot, but one that rarely gets taken out of the woodshed. His play is strongest in his own end.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Five Nations USA 2018 Champions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Czech Republic

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

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

Russia

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

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

Finland

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

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

Sweden

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

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

USA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2018 NHL Draft – McKeen’s Mid-Season Rankings

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

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

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

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

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

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