2018 NHL Draft Prospects

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Oh my God! Where are the Finns?

If you want follow 2018 eligible Finnish prospects watch these guys.
Rasmus Kupari
Jesse Ylönen
Jepseri Kotkaniemi
Arttu Nevasaari
Toni Utunen
Niklas Nordgren

 

[JK2K]

Dahlin
Schvechnikov
Farabee
McIsaac
McBain
Tkatchuk
Wilde
Woo
Smith
MacDonald
Groulx
Veleno
wahlstrom
Merkley
Zadina
Dellandrea
McShane
Serron
Khovanov
McLeod

 

[JK2K]

Sorry not Serron-it's Noel

 

[jalperi]

If you want follow 2018 eligible Finnish prospects watch these guys.
Rasmus Kupari
Jesse Ylönen
Jepseri Kotkaniemi
Arttu Nevasaari
Toni Utunen
Niklas Nordgren

I would add Anttoni Honka to that list. And yes he is Julius' brother

 

[jalperi]

Few threads about this draft
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2212105
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2215473

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

If you want follow 2018 eligible Finnish prospects watch these guys.
Rasmus Kupari
Jesse Ylönen
Jepseri Kotkaniemi
Arttu Nevasaari
Toni Utunen
Niklas Nordgren

My ranking for them: 1. Kotkaniemi 2. Ylönen 3. Kupari 4. Utunen 5. Nordgren 6. Nevasaari. Kotkaniemi has a chance to go in top 15 and Ylönen late first, the rest are later round picks.

 

[SportsDaily]

I think its time we start the 2018 nhl draft watch. Anyone have any early rankings or information to add to this thread. I'll throw out some names that i have heard of. (Mattais Emilio-Pettersson, Jake Wise, Andrei Svechnikov, Joseph Veleno, Ryan McLeod, Milos Roman)

This guy is awesome Rasmus Dahlin ``The Next Erik Karlsson``

 

[North Country]

A few 18's that impressed me at the Minnesota select weekend
Colin Schmidt
Ian Mageau
Bruce Brodzinski
Jack Jensen

 

[FaulkYouAho]

Svechnikov
Dahlin
tkatchuk
Wilde
Veleno

is my top 5 i also like Zadina Merkley groulx and wahlstorm. not everyday a franchise rw shows up but its same thing with defense (might be a bit biased on the fact the canes are set for defense) but not to down dahlin i do think he will be the next burns or karlsson, but defenseman almost ALWAYS drop because forwards is the safe route to go down. Svech is a dynamic forward. i have merkley down not in the top 10 cause of that -41 but his team was horrible...

 

[Daximus]

Svechnikov
Dahlin
tkatchuk
Wilde
Veleno

is my top 5 i also like Zadina Merkley groulx and wahlstorm. not everyday a franchise rw shows up but its same thing with defense (might be a bit biased on the fact the canes are set for defense) but not to down dahlin i do think he will be the next burns or karlsson, but defenseman almost ALWAYS drop because forwards is the safe route to go down. Svech is a dynamic forward. i have merkley down not in the top 10 cause of that -41 but his team was horrible...

McIsaac, Woo and Smith are great defencemen too. Looks like a good crop of dmen for next year.

 

[maaran]

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.

Matthews was a late birthday... Thus, comparing both their seasons Svechnikov has slightly better numbers. Although, we'll have to see next year to see if he is that good!

 

[doncherrysgrill]

I don't really get where this idea that Wahlstrom is somehow not doing well comes from..he and Farabee were called up to the U18s and were excellent at the U18 worlds. Wahlstrom is still in the top discussion. Every game I've seen Wahlstrom is great.

USHL numbers, especially comparing guys on regular teams to the NTDP, are really a poor indicator of what a guy is going to be at the next level, 93LEAFS is spot on. Svechnikov is still an excellent prospect and wherever he goes in the CHL next year is going to get a top player who will light the league up. I also think it's important with Svechnikov to recognize his teammates/how hard it is to put up points in the USHL and how good Matthews' NTDP group was. It's a tough comparison, but Matthews is easily the better prospect for me still.

Dahlin is going to be an interesting one because he really might be the best D prospect in a generation but we know how teams are drafting D. Kid looks like he could be unbelievable in the NHL.

Since the Dahlin talk brought some Swedes in, anyone have any insight on Wernblom? I saw him 3 years ago and he was the best player at the tournament. Haven't been able to follow up.

 

[The Sweetness]

The only prospect I've seen so far is Dahlin but he's incredible. He's doing things in the SHL as a 16 year old that I've never seen anyone do before. His poise and hands are incredible. He still makes mistakes but he has such an insane ceiling.

 

[VictorLustig]

I don't really get where this idea that Wahlstrom is somehow not doing well comes from..he and Farabee were called up to the U18s and were excellent at the U18 worlds. Wahlstrom is still in the top discussion. Every game I've seen Wahlstrom is great.

USHL numbers, especially comparing guys on regular teams to the NTDP, are really a poor indicator of what a guy is going to be at the next level, 93LEAFS is spot on. Svechnikov is still an excellent prospect and wherever he goes in the CHL next year is going to get a top player who will light the league up. I also think it's important with Svechnikov to recognize his teammates/how hard it is to put up points in the USHL and how good Matthews' NTDP group was. It's a tough comparison, but Matthews is easily the better prospect for me still.

Dahlin is going to be an interesting one because he really might be the best D prospect in a generation but we know how teams are drafting D. Kid looks like he could be unbelievable in the NHL.

Since the Dahlin talk brought some Swedes in, anyone have any insight on Wernblom? I saw him 3 years ago and he was the best player at the tournament. Haven't been able to follow up.

Don't think Wernblom's game will translate well to the NHL given his size. He's fun to watch but doesn't have that elite speed or skill that smaller players must have to make it. Still a bit early to write him off though.

 

[Daximus]

I read somewhere that Svechnikov might be eligible for the OHL draft, can anyone confirm?

 

[JFA87-66-99]

I read somewhere that Svechnikov might be eligible for the OHL draft, can anyone confirm?

The ohl draft already passed, but I'm pretty sure he's eligible for the chl import draft this year.

 

[Luddowich]

The ohl draft already passed, but I'm pretty sure he's eligible for the chl import draft this year.

Who drafts first?

 

[JFA87-66-99]

Who drafts first?

Barrie Colts

 

[Therien25]

2018 Draft rankings

Now that my beloved Canucks suck at draft lotteries, who can I look forward to in 2018.

Seen alot of things that say who is eligible, in alphabetical order, but what are the current rankings of expected draft order?

Anybody know where to find that?

 

[93LEAFS]

Now that my beloved Canucks suck at draft lotteries, who can I look forward to in 2018.

Seen alot of things that say who is eligible, in alphabetical order, but what are the current rankings of expected draft order?

Anybody know where to find that?

No one of note has dropped a list. Clear top tier is Dahlin and Svechnikov. Then you get into the next grouping which is hard to split guys up at this point. Guys who would be in that grouping are Veleno, MacIssac, Zadina, Tkachuk, Samuelsson, and Wilde off the top of my head. Then you have guys like Wahlstrom, Farabee, Merkley, Ty Smith, Jet Woo, Groulx, Anderson-Dolan, K'Andre Miller, etc. There's also Wise who had an insane amount of hype 18 months ago. Probably missed some people, but that is most of the guys you'll see in upcoming top 20's.

 

[NikF]

Now that my beloved Canucks suck at draft lotteries, who can I look forward to in 2018.

Seen alot of things that say who is eligible, in alphabetical order, but what are the current rankings of expected draft order?

Anybody know where to find that?

If you're interested in prospects in Europe for 2018, we have a top 5 list (will become top 20 in June). First posted it last August before the Hlinka Memorial tournament started in Europe and had Dahlin #1. We have updated our top 5 for 2018 a couple of times since then and the latest update is available (along with our top 30 Euros for 2017) in our free draft guide preview at Draftin Europe, if you're interested in giving it a look. Cheers and I hope you guys have better luck at the draft table than in the lottery.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

If you're interested in prospects in Europe for 2018, we have a top 5 list (will become top 20 in June). First posted it last August before the Hlinka Memorial tournament started in Europe and had Dahlin #1. We have updated our top 5 for 2018 a couple of times since then and the latest update is available (along with our top 30 Euros for 2017) in our free draft guide preview at Draftin Europe, if you're interested in giving it a look. Cheers and I hope you guys have better luck at the draft table than in the lottery.

I have respect for your lists because you were really early on mentioning Dahlin, but can you explain how you don't have Khovanov top 5 on your list? I don't understand that at all.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

If you want follow 2018 eligible Finnish prospects watch these guys.
Rasmus Kupari
Jesse Ylönen
Jepseri Kotkaniemi
Arttu Nevasaari
Toni Utunen
Niklas Nordgren

Have you thought about doing a yearly rankings of the Finnish draft prospects similar to what Caser does with Russian draft prospects?

You've kind of emerged as the go to Finnish expert on draft prospects on HFboards, no offense to the other Finnish posters, and I think a lot of people value your opinion on the best Finnish prospects. I think there would be a lot of interest in your own rankings where you make a new thread with comprehensive rankings, maybe update it a few times per year, and include any draftable overagers, take questions, things like that.

 

[maaran]

Do both Dahlin and Svechnikov project as Franchise players?

 

[NikF]

I have respect for your lists because you were really early on mentioning Dahlin, but can you explain how you don't have Khovanov top 5 on your list? I don't understand that at all.

Re: Dahlin
@mkp_BD was super high on him last season while we were scouting for HockeyProspect.com and looking into him before the start of this season it didn’t take much for me to agree on having him as our early #1 ahead of Svechnikov. We knew Dahlin wasn’t even mentioned among top prospects for 2018 back then, but it was a case where we both felt totally at ease not caring about others’ opinions, we were confident the main reason behind it was lack of exposure and only a matter of time.

As for Khovanov, he’s definitely a talented and interesting kid. We’re curious to see how he’ll evolve his game while facing tougher competition along the next couple of seasons. In terms of remaining effective at the top senior level we don’t feel he projects as safely as some other 2018 eligible prospects. We didn't see the best wheels or athletical attributes, and a few average live viewings tempered our enthusiasm as far as ranking him top 5 goes. Keep in mind it is not easy to make the top 5 in Europe for that draft year given the number and quality of other candidates.

Anyway, we’ll obviously go into more details about Khovanov with his profile, part of our Blue Dispatch draft guide to be released in June.