Watched US u17 today in Sioux Falls. Stampede's Nelson looked like the best NHL prospect of the 2000's today. He has many of the qualities that make a top prospect...size, speed, skill, vision, playmaker and physical. I would put M. Samuelson next, great size with a booming shot. Wise has great skill and speed, but kind of small. I see him more of a grinder type, reminds a little of K.Bellows, but smaller. Also like little Jonny Gruden, high iq, is always in the right spot, small but high motor and efficient. Dad has taught him well. Walstrom looked ok, but didn't get anything done. Tries to get his own shot first. Bode Wilde is definitely not even close to the top of the draft board, he was completely invisible. K. Miller has good size also, needs to be more physical. Take it for what it's worth, just one game. U17'S in general looked a step slow a just not quite as strong, which is to be expected being so young.
2018 NHL Draft Prospects
- Thread starter JFA87-66-99
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Watched US u17 today in Sioux Falls. Stampede's Nelson looked like the best NHL prospect of the 2000's today. He has many of the qualities that make a top prospect...size, speed, skill, vision, playmaker and physical. I would put M. Samuelson next, great size with a booming shot. Wise has great skill and speed, but kind of small. I see him more of a grinder type, reminds a little of K.Bellows, but smaller. Also like little Jonny Gruden, high iq, is always in the right spot, small but high motor and efficient. Dad has taught him well. Walstrom looked ok, but didn't get anything done. Tries to get his own shot first. Bode Wilde is definitely not even close to the top of the draft board, he was completely invisible. K. Miller has good size also, needs to be more physical. Take it for what it's worth, just one game. U17'S in general looked a step slow a just not quite as strong, which is to be expected being so young.
WannabeFinn
Beloved One
The kid had 113 points in 25 Minnesota high school games as a 15 year old. What the f***?
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
I have not seen Nelson play, and I was just making a guess on the rankings. There are probably many others I haven't seen play that will be top prospects for the 2018 draft. I was trying to put together close to a consensus of who some of the top names are under two years out from the 2018 draft. Don't take that list too seriously. I'm not a scout and don't know scouts. I try to watch games and keep track the best I can of how NHL prospects are playing.
Firecracker
Registered User
- Jul 3, 2015
- 206
- 12
Numbers from previous year are meaningless. A lot can change in the next year and a half. It all depends who develops in that time period.
The top names from the Q have been mentionned, also look out for
G Zachary Bouthillier (Shawinigan)
D Noah Dobson (Bathurst)
D Xavier Bouchard (Baie-Comeau)
F Gabriel Fortier (Baie-Comeau)
F Andrew Coxhead (Quebec)
My personnal ranking overall at the moment:
1 Veleno
2 McIsaac
3 Rodrigue
4 Groulx
5 MacDonald
6 Fortier
7 Kurashev
8 Bouchard
9 Mandolese
10 Bouthillier
11 Dobson
12 Coxhead
13 Gravel
14 Element
15 Mathieu
G Zachary Bouthillier (Shawinigan)
D Noah Dobson (Bathurst)
D Xavier Bouchard (Baie-Comeau)
F Gabriel Fortier (Baie-Comeau)
F Andrew Coxhead (Quebec)
My personnal ranking overall at the moment:
1 Veleno
2 McIsaac
3 Rodrigue
4 Groulx
5 MacDonald
6 Fortier
7 Kurashev
8 Bouchard
9 Mandolese
10 Bouthillier
11 Dobson
12 Coxhead
13 Gravel
14 Element
15 Mathieu
Maybe he was the best, but did you take into account that he was playing on a team with 18 to 20 year olds and won 6-0? Many of those other players would have also looked good in that scenario. He does have great size and some of his skill levels are up there, so he should be a high draft pick as long as his athletic ability keeps up.
Unlike Mittelstadt, Nelson is playing very weak competition in HS. Not his fault, the team's just aren't strong out there.
SergeConstantin74
Always right.
- Jul 7, 2007
- 12,615
- 7,966
It's crazy. I'd put this draft up against 2012 rather easily in terms of dmen.
Murray, Reilly, Lindholm, Dumba, Pouliot, Trouba, Koekkoek, Ceci, Maata, Matheson, Schmaltz, Skjei.
vs
Dahlin, Merkley, McIsaac, Addison, Bokvist, Smith, Hughes, Woo, Wilde, Alexeyev, Bouchard, Bouchard.
It may even one day as things shake out be able to challenge the 2008 class.
Doughty, Bogosian, Pietrangelo, Schenn, Myers, Karlsson, Gardiner, Sbisa, Del Zotto, Carlson.
Vatican Roulette
Baile de Los Locos
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
I'll give it a try. I'll try a top 15. The top 40 I made a few months ago was more of a guess towards the latter picks.
1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Bode Wilde
3. Andrei Svechnikov
4. Joe Veleno
5. Alex Khovanov
6. Jake Wise
7. Filip Zadina
8. Ryan Merkley
9. Adam Boqvist
10. Anderson McDonald
11. Jesperi Kotkaniemi
12. Jared McIsaac
13. Martin Fehervary
14. Joel Farabee
15. Libor Zabransky
15. Isac Lundestrom
Some thoughts:
I think Dahlin is an easy #1. I'll catch some flack for not having Svechnikov #2, but I think Wilde has all the makings of an elite defenseman prospect. Svechnikov is very good, but I'll still go with a defenseman over winger if all things are equal, unless that winger is a Laine or Ovechkin type pure goal scorer. Svechnikov is maybe the best all around type of winger prospect since Taylor Hall. Move the guy to center, and maybe he's in contention for #1. I think Veleno is a victim of being in such a good draft year. Might be further in contention for 1OA, if he was a 2017 draft eligible. I continue to think Alex Khovanov is going very far under the radar. Without Svechnikov, he might be the most hyped Russian forward prospect in many years. Wise has been very good from what I've seen the last few tournaments. I'm not sure he's the next Eichel or Matthews, but he looks like a very good player and he's starting to play a lot better. Zadina is my highest ranked late birthday from 1999, but he's impressed at big international tournaments for a few years and has performed well playing in the Czech Republic against older age groups. He might be the best Czech prospect in many drafts. I found it hard to split Merkley and Boqvist, and also wasn't sure where to rank either. There could be an argument for them going a few spots higher or even Boqvist over Merkley, but I'm a little more confident in Merkley's full game. I've moved MacDonald up because of the season he's having. Kotkaniemi seems to be the best Finnish prospect in a really weak year for Finland. He's been injured for a lot of this season, but I won't hold that against him in this ranking. McIsaac is having a fairly good season in Halifax, Fehervary really impressed me at the WJC, Farabee has been very good this season for the u17 USNTDP team. I've dropped Zabransky a few spots from the last ranking, but I still believe he's one of the better defenseman in this draft. Lundestrom looks to be the top Swedish forward in this draft. He's playing in the SHL this year, and was the youngest player on the Swedish WJC-18 team last year. The WJC-18 this year will probably be a good barometer for where he's at.
1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Bode Wilde
3. Andrei Svechnikov
4. Joe Veleno
5. Alex Khovanov
6. Jake Wise
7. Filip Zadina
8. Ryan Merkley
9. Adam Boqvist
10. Anderson McDonald
11. Jesperi Kotkaniemi
12. Jared McIsaac
13. Martin Fehervary
14. Joel Farabee
15. Libor Zabransky
15. Isac Lundestrom
Some thoughts:
I think Dahlin is an easy #1. I'll catch some flack for not having Svechnikov #2, but I think Wilde has all the makings of an elite defenseman prospect. Svechnikov is very good, but I'll still go with a defenseman over winger if all things are equal, unless that winger is a Laine or Ovechkin type pure goal scorer. Svechnikov is maybe the best all around type of winger prospect since Taylor Hall. Move the guy to center, and maybe he's in contention for #1. I think Veleno is a victim of being in such a good draft year. Might be further in contention for 1OA, if he was a 2017 draft eligible. I continue to think Alex Khovanov is going very far under the radar. Without Svechnikov, he might be the most hyped Russian forward prospect in many years. Wise has been very good from what I've seen the last few tournaments. I'm not sure he's the next Eichel or Matthews, but he looks like a very good player and he's starting to play a lot better. Zadina is my highest ranked late birthday from 1999, but he's impressed at big international tournaments for a few years and has performed well playing in the Czech Republic against older age groups. He might be the best Czech prospect in many drafts. I found it hard to split Merkley and Boqvist, and also wasn't sure where to rank either. There could be an argument for them going a few spots higher or even Boqvist over Merkley, but I'm a little more confident in Merkley's full game. I've moved MacDonald up because of the season he's having. Kotkaniemi seems to be the best Finnish prospect in a really weak year for Finland. He's been injured for a lot of this season, but I won't hold that against him in this ranking. McIsaac is having a fairly good season in Halifax, Fehervary really impressed me at the WJC, Farabee has been very good this season for the u17 USNTDP team. I've dropped Zabransky a few spots from the last ranking, but I still believe he's one of the better defenseman in this draft. Lundestrom looks to be the top Swedish forward in this draft. He's playing in the SHL this year, and was the youngest player on the Swedish WJC-18 team last year. The WJC-18 this year will probably be a good barometer for where he's at.
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Wilde has done nothing to be ranked above Svechnikov. Svechnikov and Dahlin are the clear 1-2 as of now.
Zaddy
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2013
- 13,058
- 5,850
Don't think Fehevary is going to be anywhere near the 1st round, let alone the top15.
Agreed. He has scored 17 points in the last 4 seasons with his club teams. Not that points mean anything but NHL teams tend to shy away from that type of defenseman.
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Vitaly Kravtsov might be a name to remember.
After kicking butt in MHL, he made KHL debut before his 17 birthday.
After kicking butt in MHL, he made KHL debut before his 17 birthday.
Is Adam Mccormick one to watch for this draft? Don't know about the first round but maybe the first 3?
alko
Registered User
you have a point. I also think, that 1th round isnt for him. But other side, i think, he could grow to next "Lubo Visnovsky".
Stive Morgan
"That Guy"
Marshmont63
Registered User
Where is TJ Walsh? I've seen him listed as a top prospect. I think I recall seeing him listed as a mid-to-late first round pick. Has he fallen off or something?
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