2018 NHL Draft Prospects

[Zaddy]

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?

Just from looking at this stat line he has 5 points in 19 USHL games. That's pretty bad for a top prospect. It's weird, a lot of the hyped kids from the american 2000's have fallen off pretty hard.

 

[Firecracker]

Just from looking at this stat line he has 5 points in 19 USHL games. That's pretty bad for a top prospect. It's weird, a lot of the hyped kids from the american 2000's have fallen off pretty hard.

To be fair though Cedar Rapids' leading scorer only has 14 points in 29 games. The team is awful since they lost a lot of the team from last year.

 

[Apotheosis]

Man, the flip flopping with Merkley being in the top 5 or not is really weird. Wonder if he's going to be another D who drops to like 10-15 because of weird circumstances like Chychrun.

 

[Butch26]

Top player from QC :

1. Joe Veleno
2. Jared McIsaac
3. Benoit Olivier-Groulx
4. G Olivier Rodrigue
5. Anderson Mcdonald
6. Gabriel Fortier
7. Xavier Bouchard
8. Jeremie Bucheler
9. Noah Dobson
10. G Alexis Gravel
11. Philip Kurashev
12. Shawn Element
13. Andrew Coxhead
14. Kevin Mandolese

14 good name here . Veleno could be draft between 5 and 15 , McIsaac & Groulx have also some chance to go in top 20 at this point .

 

[MMC]

Can't wait until everyone drafts all these defense prospects, constantly argue here over which is the best, and then try to sell them off on the trade board for ludicrous prices.

 

[Daximus]

Just from looking at this stat line he has 5 points in 19 USHL games. That's pretty bad for a top prospect. It's weird, a lot of the hyped kids from the american 2000's have fallen off pretty hard.

Yeah not sure what happened there. Could be a number of factors but it looks like the O, Q, Sweden and Russia have a very strong batch. We'll see if Finland and WHL can produce some risers next year.

 

[Thebesthockey]

Top player from QC :

1. Joe Veleno
2. Jared McIsaac
3. Benoit Olivier-Groulx
4. G Olivier Rodrigue
5. Anderson Mcdonald
6. Gabriel Fortier
7. Xavier Bouchard
8. Jeremie Bucheler
9. Noah Dobson
10. G Alexis Gravel
11. Philip Kurashev
12. Shawn Element
13. Andrew Coxhead
14. Kevin Mandolese

14 good name here . Veleno could be draft between 5 and 15 , McIsaac & Groulx have also some chance to go in top 20 at this point .

sorry Anderson but should Easily be 2nd; stop going by the past hype

I also dont understand how you have players mixed in that have not played at a higher evel vs others well deserved at that currently play in Q

mandolese should be first goalie in ranking

imo

 

[Redline]

Can't wait until everyone drafts all these defense prospects, constantly argue here over which is the best, and then try to sell them off on the trade board for ludicrous prices.

I think the 2017 draft will result in some lively defenseman debates.

Didn't read the whole thread but Alexander Alexeyev has come a long way in his 1st NA year.

 

[Arizonan God]

Akil Thomas intrigues me. 20/20/40 in 55 games, smaller goal scorer. Good stats for a 16 year old.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I think the 2017 draft will result in some lively defenseman debates.

Didn't read the whole thread but Alexander Alexeyev has come a long way in his 1st NA year.

I don't know where he falls among the other D this year but I was impressed with what I saw of him.

 

[denominator]

I believe Tristen Nielsen could be a big riser next year. His stats for this season are pretty bad due to playing bottom minutes in limited deployment on a poor team.

Other than being a small player (which could change), there is a lot to like about him - he's fast, has good hands, and plays a really physical game.

 

[hockeydraftcentral]

The 2018 draft will be epic

Realizing that 2017 is an unusually weak draft year, I have focused a lot of my Hockey Draft Central efforts on 2018. In compiling more than 300 player profiles for that draft, I continue to be amazed at just how much depth exists there. As was the case in 2003, for example, every NHL team has a real shot at a future star.

That's exciting, and I really feel that 2018 will one day rank up there with 2003, 1979, and all the other landmark draft years.

Having talked to many NHL scouts during my former career as a journalist, I have a fairly good sense of the qualities that separate potential NHL players from those who don't make it. Obviously, the top end of 2018 is phenomenal already (Dahlin, Svechnikov, Tkachuk, etc.), but as I have compiled the profiles, I keep seeing remarkable signs regarding character, such as a plethora of young team captains, and other intangibles.

I would like to hear what others think of the potential depth of 2018 beyond the biggest names (of which there are many). Am I crazy to have such high hopes for this particular year? I want to be right, because I don't see a lot of players coming out of 2017, and I need to look forward to a draft that will be truly exciting.

 

[93LEAFS]

It's good, but we are a long way from comparing it to historically great classes. I'd be quite surprised if it ends up better than 2015. 2016 wasn't viewed as amazing a year out, but the top end ended up being quite elite.

I expect 2018 to look maybe comparable to 2008 and 2009. The big issue with 2018 is that the best prospects are (Dahlin and Svechnikov), one is a high-risk position to project (defenders) if you look at the mixed history of highly hyped defenders (EJ, Doughty, Hedman, and Bouwmeester) and the best forward prospect is a winger. People had high hopes for Veleno, but at the moment, I wouldn't project him as a sure-thing franchise center. If you look at the good drafts in recent years, almost all have been anchored by having a sure-thing #1 center at the top, possibly even two. Look at 2016 (Matthews), 2015 (McDavid and Eichel), 2013 (People projected this for Mackinnon, but there have been arguably 4 #1 or at least 1B/2A centers in the top 10), 2009 (Tavares), and 2008 (Stamkos).

Kids like McBain or Veleno could end up being that level of talent, but they simply aren't right now.

This draft is very deep defenders wise, which is good, as that is a need league wide, but projecting defenders tends to be very difficult and high-risk. 2012 didn't have a Dahlin level talent but look at the scattered results of the top 10 of that class (Murray, G. Reinhart, Rielly, Lindholm, Pouliot, Dumba, Trouba, and Koekkoek).

 

[Kshahdoo]

It's good, but we are a long way from comparing it to historically great classes. I'd be quite surprised if it ends up better than 2015. 2016 wasn't viewed as amazing a year out, but the top end ended up being quite elite.

I expect 2018 to look maybe comparable to 2008 and 2009. The big issue with 2018 is that the best prospects are (Dahlin and Svechnikov), one is a high-risk position to project (defenders) if you look at the mixed history of highly hyped defenders (EJ, Doughty, Hedman, and Bouwmeester) and the best forward prospect is a winger. People had high hopes for Veleno, but at the moment, I wouldn't project him as a sure-thing franchise center. If you look at the good drafts in recent years, almost all have been anchored by having a sure-thing #1 center at the top, possibly even two. Look at 2016 (Matthews), 2015 (McDavid and Eichel), 2013 (People projected this for Mackinnon, but there have been arguably 4 #1 or at least 1B/2A centers in the top 10), 2009 (Tavares), and 2008 (Stamkos).

Kids like McBain or Veleno could end up being that level of talent, but they simply aren't right now.

This draft is very deep defenders wise, which is good, as that is a need league wide, but projecting defenders tends to be very difficult and high-risk. 2012 didn't have a Dahlin level talent but look at the scattered results of the top 10 of that class (Murray, G. Reinhart, Rielly, Lindholm, Pouliot, Dumba, Trouba, and Koekkoek).

If Svechnikov is going to be a Kovalchuk level winger, will drafting him be any worse, than drafting centers like Matthews or Eichel?

 

[93LEAFS]

If Svechnikov is going to be a Kovalchuk level winger, will it be any worse, than drafting centers like Matthews or Eichel?

Yes, it would be worse. You want to build from center out, it took Kovalchuk a long while to have any level of team success. Tons of teams have success without a truly elite winger, many can't win without either a Top 10 center or a top 10 defender (or preferably both). Pretty sure, the last draft showed that teams prefer the centers. Very few would have taken the Kovalchuk winger (Laine) over the complete 2-way center (Matthews).

Center is the most important thing, where you can almost always predict sure things. Wingers, you can tell when they are sure things, but they are less important to the cause of building a cup contender. Defenders are always a risky proposition high, and goalies are by far the most erratic.

 

[Zaddy]

I think it will be a very deep draft with plenty of quality talent available throughout the 1st and 2nd round. Not really sure what the top-end looks like though outside of Dahlin and Svechnikov.

 

[hockeydraftcentral]

Thanks for all of that good info. Kind of shatters my excitement, but you mention a lot of upside on these kids. I just sense that this is a very high-character group and they will push each other to be better as they jockey for first-round status.

By the way, I don't see Dahlin being anything less than an All-Star. He seems to be at least as good if not better than both Karlsson and Hedman at his age. Sweden is pretty reliable for defensemen when they come up with this much hype.

As far as team success goes, I don't look at players on that basis, because much of that is beyond their individual control. I just want to look back at a draftee and say how great of a player was he? A lot of great players played for bad teams, and I don't think any less of their accomplishments.

Speaking of centers, what do people think of Jake Wise, Alexander Khovanov, Isac Lundestrom, and Oliver Wahlstrom? Could any of them be in the conversation with Dahlin and Svechnikov next year?

 

[Wintersun]

I see a lot of depth and a lot of high end talents but I don't think it's as good as we could have expected a year ago. Veleno, Wise, Wahlstrom and others haven't really been as good as expected. I'd say the top end is probably good but nothing too crazy compared to other drafts. But it's a good draft with a lot of talent in the first and a lot of good players in the mid rounds.

It's not as good as 2015.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Yes, it would be worse. You want to build from center out, it took Kovalchuk a long while to have any level of team success. Tons of teams have success without a truly elite winger, many can't win without either a Top 10 center or a top 10 defender (or preferably both). Pretty sure, the last draft showed that teams prefer the centers. Very few would have taken the Kovalchuk winger (Laine) over the complete 2-way center (Matthews).

Center is the most important thing, where you can almost always predict sure things. Wingers, you can tell when they are sure things, but they are less important to the cause of building a cup contender. Defenders are always a risky proposition high, and goalies are by far the most erratic.

Many consider Thornton as a future Hall of Fame member, so you may assume he is a great center (or was a great center), probably not worse, than Matthews. Has he driven Sharks to Promised Land? Yeah, Kovy got Devils to the Final. What did Thronton do to Sharks?

 

[Wintersun]

Many consider Thornton as a future Hall of Fame member, so you may assume he is a great center (or was a great center), probably not worse, than Matthews. Has he driven Sharks to Promised Land? Yeah, Kovy got Devils to the Final. What did Thronton do to Sharks?

He got them to the Final? lol

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Not so sure, was higher on this draft class a year ago. Still some ways away until draft day

Agreed with 93Leafs, he is pretty much on the mark here.

 

[93LEAFS]

Thanks for all of that good info. Kind of shatters my excitement, but you mention a lot of upside on these kids. I just sense that this is a very high-character group and they will push each other to be better as they jockey for first-round status.

By the way, I don't see Dahlin being anything less than an All-Star. He seems to be at least as good if not better than both Karlsson and Hedman at his age. Sweden is pretty reliable for defensemen when they come up with this much hype.

Adam Larsson had more hype than Karlsson, and arguably more than OEL, although it lessened by his draft date for Adam Larsson. Not sure if anyone can find Bob's lists, but I remember Larsson, a year out from his draft having hype as the clear number 1 in 2010 and a challenger to Hedman if they were in the same draft.

I fully expect Dahlin to be an all-star, but I wouldn't guarantee it. Jay Bouwmeester, in my opinion, was the most hyped defender I can remember in my time following the NHL draft and while he's had a solid career, he never really became a bonafide franchise defender. Defenders are always hard to project. I do think coming from the professional leagues in Sweden helps weed out the massive defensive disappointments you see from the CHL (Bogosian, Gudbranson, Schenn, G. Reinhart, etc).

 

[Kshahdoo]

He got them to the Final? lol

Hmm, as far as I remember, he did.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

I know it is early, but does Tkachuk project as a potential number 1 center?

 

[Wintersun]

Hmm, as far as I remember, he did.

You don't understand. You said Kovalchuk got NJ to the finals, and what has Thornton done?

I said : Thornton has lead them to the Finals, just like Kovalchuk, not even a year ago.

So my point is : what's your point?