2018 NHL Draft Prospects

[hockeydraftcentral]

High degree of character in 2018 class

Glad to read a strong report on Khovanov. He's definitely one of the reasons I'm so excited about the 2018 draft.

Also glad to hear more praise for Dahlin. I have a feeling about this kid, and I really think he's going to be a very special player. As long as there are no off-ice issues, he will have a great career.

Too many potential superstars have not panned out due to off-ice stuff. Character issues are so crucial, and the reason I'm so excited about 2018 is I think there is a lot of character there.

A couple of people have mentioned McBain, who seems like another character guy. His decision to play college hockey was a big one, and I think it was the right choice. Having a father who played in the NHL can be a real plus once it comes time to adapt to the pro lifestyle. I suspect this guy will be picked very high.

The talent has to be evident, of course, but so much time is spent judging a player on the ice when it's equally important to figure out who the person is and what makes them tick. Over the years, I interviewed a lot of talented young players on the verge of beginning their NHL careers, and one thing I can say is that the ones who pan out have a certain healthy attitude that includes self-confidence, a high degree of patience, and a realistic sense of what will be required of them.

One example is Cam Talbot. He wasn't even drafted, but when I met him in Traverse City, I came away from the initial conversation thinking he was going to make it -- just based on his mindset. And, boy, has he made it.

Speaking of goaltenders, there are a lot of good ones for 2018. At the rate they are going, we might see multiple goalies in the first round.

 

[GetThePuckOuttaHere*]

Does Dahlin go first before Laine/Matthews if he was in their draft class?

Dahlin likely doesn't even go before Svechnikov.

 

[GetThePuckOuttaHere*]

It's really early but I think the 2015 and 2016 draft had a lot more depth from 3 -10. Obviously it's early so anything can happen in a year.

You can think whatever you want. There's really nothing to base your statement on, right now as you say. Svechnikov, Dahlin, Veleno, McIsaac, Wilde, Hughes, Merkley, and a hell of a lot of other guys (mostly Europeans) who could be top-10 material.

 

[GetThePuckOuttaHere*]

In a vaccum ignoring positions theres arguments for it. I've watched Dahlin a lot and i would. Even though im going to be overflown with comments from leafs fans and others. Never seen anything like him.

Absolutely zero bias having an affect here, eh? You must have only started watching hockey recently to think he's in an absolute class of his own at his age.

 

[Slimmy]

Absolutely zero bias having an affect here, eh? You must have only started watching hockey recently to think he's in an absolute class of his own at his age.

Out of your viewings of Dahlin, what player do you project him to become? Whom is his comparable?

 

[ulvvf]

How often did Thornton's team make the playoffs? Kovalchuk had a good run on a team he was traded to that was already a fringe contender. Where did Kovalchuk get Atlanta? Usually, you can acquire high-end wingers, later on to finish off a team. Pitt got Kessel, Blackhawks signed Hossa, Kings acquired Gaborik, Ducks re-acquiring Selanne, etc. Outside of Thornton, how many franchise center's have been moved?

Thornton's career destroy's Kovalchuk's.When did Kovalchuk finish top 5 in Hart voting? Answer. Never. Thornton has won it, and finished in the top 5 4 other times. How many times did Thornton make the playoffs? 15 times. 5 times with the team that drafted him. He only missed it 3 times in his career. Kovalchuk made it 3 times, only once with the team that drafted him. He missed it another 8 times.

Looking at those numbers, and even if you factor in Thornton's extra longevity, it's quite clear, you had more opportunities to win the cup building around Thornton.

Seguin, Gretzky, Forsberg, Lindros etc. I would say San Jose has been pretty stacked with talents that have help them to success, not just Thornton.

 

[Fantomas]

Nope. He is a winger, Idk where all these rumours about him being a center originate from.

They originate from him playing center a number of times.

 

[ulvvf]

Does Dahlin go first before Laine/Matthews if he was in their draft class?

Comparing him with how they looked 1 year before the draft, then yes. BUT Laine and Matthews had a absolutly great draft year, we will se how Dahlin will handle it next year with more pressure on him.

 

[93LEAFS]

What a load of nonsense. Kovalchuk's problem was not that he's a winger. He was a one-dimensional winger who played on terribly constructed teams. He wasn't the Atlanta Thrashers GM, for goodness sake.

And the Matthews/Lane debate is far from settled. So far Matthews has been better, and not because he is a center. He has just been a better player.

I can understand seeing the center as slightly more valuable in a situation of a tiebreaker - then you can pick the center over the winger. But that's about as far as I would go.

"Building from the center out" is some kind of silly religion with a few posters here. One of them recently ranked Veleno over Svechnikov because the former is a center. It's laughable.

Its not all on Kovalchuk, but seriously, who would you rather build around Kovalchuk or Thornton? That poster implied they were equal building blocks because they both have only made the finals which used team accomplishments as the justification. I just put out how Thornton crushed him in team accomplishments and individual ones. It would be insane to take Kovalchuk over Thornton knowing what we know. He implied they were equal talents.

It would be nuts to take Veleno over Svechnikov, but you probably take Eichel or Matthews over Svechnikov at the same age over him due to the demand for franchise centers. You don't make a fool of yourself by taking someone like Turris over Kane, or PMB over Rick Nash to reach for positional need.

 

[93LEAFS]

Seguin, Gretzky, Forsberg, Lindros etc. I would say San Jose has been pretty stacked with talents that have help them to success, not just Thornton.

Forsberg was moved due to weird circumstances due to the original implication of the cap. Gretzky was sold. Most of these are prior to the implementation of the cap. The only one in recent years was Seguin, and he was moved before he was viewed as a franchise center. Most of his time in Boston he played on the wing. When is the last time a team traded a bonafide franchise center? It simply doesn't happen. We've seen many of the best wingers over the past decade traded or moved in Kovalchuk, Kessel, Hossa, Gaborik, Parise, etc. You don't see P. Kane or Ovi move, but the tier below them seems to hit the market every so ofter.

 

[93LEAFS]

Does Dahlin go first before Laine/Matthews if he was in their draft class?

Don't think so, I'd view it as similar to Tavares/Stamkos vs Hedman/Doughty. It is always much safer to gamble on the center, and its more likely the center will make a bigger impact in his ELC years, so you get more value from the center, even if you get a franchise defender.

 

[Tomas W]

There is no doubt that Dahlin is going to be a stud as a offensive defenseman. It could be that there will be complaints of his defensive abilities (reminds me of someone...).

But how he stand against others in the draft I not sure of. Probably as the top D at least, I guess.

 

[hockeydraftcentral]

Lots of former NHL players' sons

One set of players to watch in the 2018 draft class is the group of more than 15 former NHL players' sons, as well as the sons of an NHL coach and executive.

I created pages for each of these guys that you can find on Hockey Draft Central. Check out the list and see if you can name all the dads without research. I linked to more info on the most likely first-rounders as of now.

Ryan Chyzowski
Kody Clark
Jack DeBoer
Jack Drury
Quinn Hughes
Simon Kjellberg
Nikolai Kovalenko
Christian Krygier
Jack McBain
Zack Malik
Ethan Manderville
Jake Pivonka
Adam Samuelsson
Mattias Samuelsson
Ryan Savage
Riley Sutter
Brady Tkachuk
Jesse Ylonen
Libor Zabransky Jr.
Ryan Savage

 

[ulvvf]

There is no doubt that Dahlin is going to be a stud as a offensive defenseman. It could be that there will be complaints of his defensive abilities (reminds me of someone...).

But how he stand against others in the draft I not sure of. Probably as the top D at least, I guess.

He is pretty good defensivly for his age. But defense comes with ages, offensive skills do not, to the same degree.

But I still think he have to show more to be number 1. He hasnt been a full regular this season, but I guess he will be that next season. He could fall just like Liljegren and Kylington, but I think he is a tier above them.

 

[Eugene85]

They originate from him playing center a number of times.

Maybe after he moved to NA he played a couple of games as C but in Russia he was a winger.

 

[Luddowich]

Absolutely zero bias having an affect here, eh? You must have only started watching hockey recently to think he's in an absolute class of his own at his age.

I knew that this was coming, can't have anyone better than Matthews!!

No, I have never ever seen a 16 year old defenseman skate through legitimate SHL pros like they're traffic cones on a regular basis. That as far as I can remember has never happened before during a modern era. Compared to the performances of past and current Swedish greats when they were 16. He is in a class of his own.

Dahlin likely doesn't even go before Svechnikov.

Why the "even"? Svechnikov is not an ordinary prospect. He has dominated everywhere he's gone above his as group. And wouldn't be surprised if he ended up on par with Matthews/Laine. Compared to Matthews, Svechnikov has similar numbers and better numbers than Matthews 16-17 year old season both in the USHL.
Not saying he is/will be better than either. I wouldn't be surprised to see him on par with the 2 though.

Also, why would you pick Svechnikov over Dahlin, just curious since I've only seen 1 list that has him over Dahlin.

 

[Tomas W]

He is pretty good defensivly for his age. But defense comes with ages, offensive skills do not, to the same degree.

But I still think he have to show more to be number 1. He hasnt been a full regular this season, but I guess he will be that next season. He could fall just like Liljegren and Kylington, but I think he is a tier above them.

Yeah I dont think he will fall, but of course thats is only what I think.

 

[93LEAFS]

I knew that this was coming, can't have anyone better than Matthews!!

No, I have never ever seen a 16 year old defenseman skate through legitimate SHL pros like they're traffic cones on a regular basis. That as far as I can remember has never happened before during a modern era. Compared to the performances of past and current Swedish greats when they were 16. He is in a class of his own.



Why the "even"? Svechnikov is not an ordinary prospect. He has dominated everywhere he's gone above his as group. And wouldn't be surprised if he ended up on par with Matthews/Laine. Compared to Matthews, Svechnikov has similar numbers and better numbers than Matthews 16-17 year old season both in the USHL.
Not saying he is/will be better than either. I wouldn't be surprised to see him on par with the 2 though.

Also, why would you pick Svechnikov over Dahlin, just curious since I've only seen 1 list that has him over Dahlin.

As pointed out many times before, you can't compare USNTDP numbers to that against players on USHL teams for a bunch of reasons. USNTDP isn't a regular team. They have to divide ice for developmental purposes as they have most of the elite young-Americans on the team, Matthews was moved up a spot mid-year. The 16-year-old team is also made up of what would be the youngest players on each USHL team, which have 18 and 19-year-olds. Plus, Matthews D-1 numbers are significantly better than Svechnikov's D-1 numbers in the same league if you do that comparison, Matthews had a 2.0ppg compared to Svechnikov's 1.21, Matthews was at a ppg at 16. The age difference is about the same going both ways when comparing birth year to draft year, as one is a March birthday, the other is a September.

Also, you seem to be ignoring the extra risk with defenders. Almost any time there are comparable forwards and defenders at the top of the draft, the forward almost always goes first. See Stamkos over Doughty, Tavares over Hedman and Mackinnon (plus Barkov and Drouin) over Jones.

 

[DeweyFinn]

Anybody hear anything about goalies for the 2018 draft ?

 

[93LEAFS]

Anybody hear anything about goalies for the 2018 draft ?

Yes, that Czech kid Skarek will be arguably the most hyped goalie in awhile. He seems Samsonov/Vasilvesky level, if not better. People like Gravel out of the QMJHL. I'm sure I'm missing some other. I'm relying on word of mouth on this one, scouting goalies requires a lot of technical knowledge many people here probably don't possess.

 

[DeweyFinn]

Yes, that Czech kid Skarek will be arguably the most hyped goalie in awhile. He seems Samsonov/Vasilvesky level, if not better. People like Gravel out of the QMJHL. I'm sure I'm missing some other. I'm relying on word of mouth on this one, scouting goalies requires a lot of technical knowledge many people here probably don't possess.

I was hearing that both Jacob Ingham and Jordan Kooy were top goalies out of the OHL for this draft

 

[ulvvf]

Yeah I dont think he will fall, but of course thats is only what I think.

Yes but he still have a lot to prove next season to justify the hype.

 

[AirJordan]

As pointed out many times before, you can't compare USNTDP numbers to that against players on USHL teams for a bunch of reasons.

We have read it many times and its getting boring. You should accept that this is only your opinion and no fact, just because you see it this way. Thank you.

Btw, Svechnikov played nearly the complete ushl year as an 16 year old.

 

[93LEAFS]

We have read it many times and its getting boring. You should accept that this is only your opinion and no fact, just because you see it this way. Thank you.

Btw, Svechnikov played nearly the complete ushl year as an 16 year old.

No, it is an accepted fact by most and anyone who follows the USHL. This isn't some opinion I made up out of thin air. I don't think you grasp how the USNTDP works. It doesn't matter, that he played it as a 16-year-old, he has the same age advantage over Matthews 16-year-old season, as Matthews 17-year-old season has over his current one. You don't magically age a full year on your birthday, there are 365 days that make up that difference.

How much USHL have you followed over the years prior to Svechnikov arriving?

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Anybody hear anything about goalies for the 2018 draft ?

Jakub Skarek, Alexis Gravel, Kevin Mandolese, Jacob Ingham, Olivier Rodrigue, and Carl Stankowski are the obvious front runners for leading the goalie prospects in 2018. Two darkhorses are Jordan Kooy (great work in a small sample size) and Justin Blanchette (looked good when moved to Baie-Comeau).