Prospect Info: 2022 Draft Prospects, Part II

[My3Sons]

I think we found Bratt for the same reason we found Gritsyuk, which was a likely directive among scouts to find high upside offensive weapons who may fall for superficial reasons.

To me -- and probably to all of us -- this is always a good philosophy at the draft.

I'm always looking for these guys myself. There are several guys in my recent top 100 list who could perhaps fit such descriptions.

I think Noah Ostlund has some Aho in him, I think Joel Jonsson could have high-scoring top 6 upside but good luck finding anyone else with him in their top 100, much less top 50. Reid Schaefer has a lot of Tom Wilson elements, while Victor Neuchev could be this year's Dmitry Rashevsky.

If you watched any of the Minnesota HS tourney, you'd have seen Alex Bump, whose skill set is off the charts. I think he could have an NCAA jump like Scott Morrow (although of course Bump is a F, not a D, but you get what I'm saying). Good luck finding him on any top 100 list.

How about Servac Petrovsky, who missed the 2023 draft by a matter of weeks? The kid has serious skill, but he's just raw, which has to be understandable for a kid who comes over to a league where he's one of the youngest players, barely speaking the language and playing on a different sized ice surface. Good luck finding him on any top 100 list.

Adam Sykora might be one of my favorite players in the draft. He's even younger than Petrovsky, and he's just been outstanding in the Slovakian men's league, scoring more than 1st-round slam-dunk Filip Mesar. He can fly and has off-the-charts intangibles and great goal-scoring acumen. I think he would be a 1st rounder next year if he were born one week later, and although he's gotten a couple mid-round rankings, I'm one of only two to put him in the first half of the 2nd round.

So, I agree with you that these are the types of players we should be keying on, not just this year but every year.

Hopefully Fitz doesn’t settle on an undersized slow two way left handed defender with limited offensive upside or a small average speed average skilled perimeter winger. I’m not against small players but if Bratt and Gritsyuk show us anything they have to have plus tools and be overlooked for superficial reasons. As you have explained to us before. Ask the question of what sort of draft prospect he would be if he was six feet tall or taller. If the answer is a good one you can take a small player who fits that profile.

 

[Guttersniped]

It was dumb he fell that far to begin with. His production was good but smol boi so he ended up going so late

He was very boom/bust, he didn’t play in the SHL and his numbers in the lower pro league was just ok actually. And the size and lack of strength is a reasonable concern. He could have gone higher, but not that much, he’s just a late pick that worked out. It happens.

He clearly had a ridiculous amount of skill. The irony about Bratt is that he was described as having a lot of “flash & dash” and people didn’t appreciate how driven he was. Mark Edwards said “he wasn’t competitive enough” in his write up. And he quoted a scout comparing him to Jeremy Fat f*** Bracco. So he missed on that. (Yes I’m still holding that against him lol. Bracco? C’mon.)

He’s very competitive and super driven, and that’s a big part of what got him this far.

The kid, lucky enough to have the resources for it, was going to skating, shooting, etc coaches on his own and developed so quickly because he pushed himself so hard on his own time. (If you think all prospects do this, no, not like he did. Not at all.)

 

[Hisch13r]

He was very boom/bust, he didn’t play in the SHL and his numbers in the lower pro league was just ok actually. And the size and lack of strength is a reasonable concern. He could have gone higher, but not that much, he’s just a late pick that worked out. It happens.

He clearly had a ridiculous amount of skill. The irony about Bratt is that he was described as having a lot of “flash & dash” and people didn’t appreciate how driven he was. Mark Edwards said “he wasn’t competitive enough” in his write up. And he quoted a scout comparing him to Jeremy Fat f*** Bracco. So he missed on that. (Yes I’m still holding that against him lol. Bracco? C’mon.)

He’s very competitive and super driven, and that’s a big part of what got him this far.

The kid, lucky enough to have the resources for it, was going to skating, shooting, etc coaches on his own and developed so quickly because he pushed himself so hard on his own time. (If you think all prospects do this, no, not like he did. Not at all.)

I mean his DY and D-1 production was strikingly similar to a guy like Filip Forsberg. He should went much higher than he did. 17 pts in 48 games in the Allsvenskan isn’t crazy or anything but that’s still pretty decent production for a 17 year old. A 3rd rounder would’ve made much more sense

Him turning out this good and especially this good this fast still doesn’t make any f***ing sense though. The went from a 0.48 PPG in the Allsvenskan in his D+1 to a 0.47 PPG in the NHL in his D+2. That has to be one of the largest single year development leaps of all time

 

[Guttersniped]

I mean his DY and D-1 production was strikingly similar to a guy like Filip Forsberg. He should went much higher than he did. 17 pts in 48 games in the Allsvenskan isn’t crazy or anything but that’s still pretty decent production for a 17 year old. A 3rd rounder would’ve made much more sense

Him turning out this good and especially this good this fast still doesn’t make any f***ing sense though. The went from a 0.48 PPG in the Allsvenskan in his D+1 to a 0.47 PPG in the NHL in his D+2. That has to be one of the largest single year development leaps of all time

Forsberg was 6’1”/188 and seen as a much more complete two way player when he was drafted. Even if the scoring never exploded you still could potentially get a useful NHL player.

Boom/Bust has the boom part covered in the term, the word is right in there. Bratt boomed.

Scoring wingers in general have very few spots open, he was seen as a guy with zero ability to make it as anything else other than a scoring winger. (Perimeter, not strong on the puck, flashy offensive guy.)

He was also seen as having an excellent wrist shot but being more of a playmaker (a seemingly a common affliction among Swedes, lol).

Small playmaking wingers who don’t battle effectively and retrieve pucks aren’t coaches favorites and that was the category he was in.

I can see saying pick him earlier but he wasn’t on McKenzie’s list of 80. Maltsev made it at 80. Hockey Prospect has him at 100.

Maybe we don’t have to pick Rykov before him in the 5th round, he also wasn’t on McKenzie’s list either, and 180 on Hockey Prospect, and we were drafting Russian defensemen before it was cool again.

These are people, not widgets, there are other flashy amazing waterbugs that go nowhere, Bratt deserves a ton of credit here. He wasn’t even particularly all that good in his rookie year, he just hustled and got lucky early on. He’s grown his game a ton. (And there was that sports psychologist of course lol)

 

[Guttersniped]

Hulking grit forward prospect forgets only small skill guys have high hockey IQs and pretends he knows things about hockey.

Note: This is the Liiga playoffs. Eronen (D) is 27, is 4th in points on the team overall and 1st among defensemen. 7th in PPG overall. (28 in 60 GP, 0.47) He’s played in Liiga for 9 seasons, 7 full-time.

Tammela (F) is 24 and 6th on the team in PPG (18 in 36 GP, 0.49). He’s played in Liiga for 5 seasons, 3 full-time after spending a couple of years in NA. (He was drafted in the 2015 4th Rd by Tampa & signed.)

Slafkovsky turned 18 on March 30th.

So, yes, this is adorable and awesome.

Google Translation:

 

[StevenToddIves]

He was very boom/bust, he didn’t play in the SHL and his numbers in the lower pro league was just ok actually. And the size and lack of strength is a reasonable concern. He could have gone higher, but not that much, he’s just a late pick that worked out. It happens.

He clearly had a ridiculous amount of skill. The irony about Bratt is that he was described as having a lot of “flash & dash” and people didn’t appreciate how driven he was. Mark Edwards said “he wasn’t competitive enough” in his write up. And he quoted a scout comparing him to Jeremy Fat f*** Bracco. So he missed on that. (Yes I’m still holding that against him lol. Bracco? C’mon.)

He’s very competitive and super driven, and that’s a big part of what got him this far.

The kid, lucky enough to have the resources for it, was going to skating, shooting, etc coaches on his own and developed so quickly because he pushed himself so hard on his own time. (If you think all prospects do this, no, not like he did. Not at all.)

Compete level, compete level, compete level.

There are still people ranking Brad Lambert over Frank Nazar, you know.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I mean his DY and D-1 production was strikingly similar to a guy like Filip Forsberg. He should went much higher than he did. 17 pts in 48 games in the Allsvenskan isn’t crazy or anything but that’s still pretty decent production for a 17 year old. A 3rd rounder would’ve made much more sense

Him turning out this good and especially this good this fast still doesn’t make any f***ing sense though. The went from a 0.48 PPG in the Allsvenskan in his D+1 to a 0.47 PPG in the NHL in his D+2. That has to be one of the largest single year development leaps of all time

This is why analyzing tools and intangibles is always more effective than singular reliance on stats. Bratt's a good argument for these things, and it's why I wrote he was a big sleeper for the 2016 draft well before we took him.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Hulking grit forward prospect forgets only small skill guys have high hockey IQs and pretends he knows things about hockey.

Note: This is the Liiga playoffs. Eronen (D) is 27, is 4th in points on the team overall and 1st among defensemen. 7th in PPG overall. (28 in 60 GP, 0.47) He’s played in Liiga for 9 seasons, 7 full-time.

Tammela (F) is 24 and 6th on the team in PPG (18 in 36 GP, 0.49). He’s played in Liiga for 5 seasons, 3 full-time after spending a couple of years in NA. (He was drafted in the 2015 4th Rd by Tampa & signed.)

Slafkovsky turned 18 on March 30th.

So, yes, this is adorable and awesome.

Google Translation:

View attachment 531225

This kid is the #2 player in the draft, plain and simple. And I'll also add the gulf between he and Shane Wright is not that wide, and might have as much to do with the fact Wright is a center than anything else.

 

[Guttersniped]

This kid is the #2 player in the draft, plain and simple. And I'll also add the gulf between he and Shane Wright is not that wide, and might have as much to do with the fact Wright is a center than anything else.

This kid needs to stop making me love him by doing stuff like this tho.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

This kid is the #2 player in the draft, plain and simple. And I'll also add the gulf between he and Shane Wright is not that wide, and might have as much to do with the fact Wright is a center than anything else.

I’d say Wright being a Center and him probably seeming like a safer puck are what puts him ahead. Slafkovsky’s struggles to produce and earn his way up the lineup early on definitely give people a little bit of concern. Wright has been the number 1 for quite some time now and he seems like a very safe pick. Slafkovsky may have more potential though and could end up being the better offensive player.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Anyone who follows my draft-writing to any degree knows I put a higher emphasis on compete level and hockey IQ than anyone. They're just so crucial to me.

The Zacha pick was awful, and the only reason I can think for it was the Conte battle in the front office, which I don't think any of us have the full details on. Maybe I'm speculating. I personally wanted Barzal, but I was sure the Devils were taking one of Werenski/Provorov. I was shocked when I heard Zacha's name called.

I have a vague recollection of some comment from Shero (before Zacha made the team, so it wasn’t sour grapes) that Conte would have killed him if he swapped picks with Columbus and Zacha was gone.

 

[StevenToddIves]

This kid needs to stop making me love him by doing stuff like this tho.

I'd love to see him in Montreal, to be honest. They have a nice history of Slovakian players and a perfect 1st line scenario of Slafkovsky-Suzuki-Caufield. Slafkovsky is precisely what the Habs need in their top 6 much the same way as he's exactly what NJ needs in our top 6.

For the Devils, missing out on Slafkovsky is not a problem, because either Jiricek or Nemec fill an even more-pressing hole at RD.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I’d say Wright being a Center and him probably seeming like a safer puck are what puts him ahead. Slafkovsky’s struggles to produce and earn his way up the lineup early on definitely give people a little bit of concern. Wright has been the number 1 for quite some time now and he seems like a very safe pick. Slafkovsky may have more potential though and could end up being the better offensive player.

Normally, I use these sorts of terms for sleepers, but everything Slafkovsky has been slagged for is looking pretty stupid. The guy's upside is "best winger in the NHL" and people are complaining that he didn't produce enough initially on the 4th line of a team for upon no one spoke his language... and as a 17 year old. Context and humanity have to be mixed in with the math at some point.

Like I said, I'm a big fan of Wright and have supported him all along. But even with Wright's strong OHL second half, Slafkovsky has closed the gap by answering questions about his skating, shooting and offensive generation. That's no slight on Wright, but it does say a ton about Slafkovsky. To me, he's the runaway #2 forward in the 2022 draft right now.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I have a vague recollection of some comment from Shero (before Zacha made the team, so it wasn’t sour grapes) that Conte would have killed him if he swapped picks with Columbus and Zacha was gone.

Yep, that sounds about right. We might have been "stuck" with Barzal or Kyle Connor. Ugh.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Normally, I use these sorts of terms for sleepers, but everything Slafkovsky has been slagged for is looking pretty stupid. The guy's upside is "best winger in the NHL" and people are complaining that he didn't produce enough initially on the 4th line of a team for upon no one spoke his language... and as a 17 year old. Context and humanity have to be mixed in with the math at some point.

Like I said, I'm a big fan of Wright and have supported him all along. But even with Wright's strong OHL second half, Slafkovsky has closed the gap by answering questions about his skating, shooting and offensive generation. That's no slight on Wright, but it does say a ton about Slafkovsky. To me, he's the runaway #2 forward in the 2022 draft right now.

Seems Kakko and Puljaarvi have done a number on Liga prospects.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Seems Kakko and Puljaarvi have done a number on Liga prospects.

It hasn't really affected Kemell, who is ranked as high as #3 overall by some major evaluators. Or even Lambert, who has been pretty meh all season long and I've seen ranked in top 5 lists.

I do think there is a backlash among certain draft-writers and among the analytical set against big, physical players. I have no idea why. But when I see some writers slotting Slafkovsky in the #6-#8 overall range, it normally says more about those writers than it does about Slafkovsky.

 

[Eggtimer]

I think we found Bratt for the same reason we found Gritsyuk, which was a likely directive among scouts to find high upside offensive weapons who may fall for superficial reasons.

To me -- and probably to all of us -- this is always a good philosophy at the draft.

I'm always looking for these guys myself. There are several guys in my recent top 100 list who could perhaps fit such descriptions.

I think Noah Ostlund has some Aho in him, I think Joel Jonsson could have high-scoring top 6 upside but good luck finding anyone else with him in their top 100, much less top 50. Reid Schaefer has a lot of Tom Wilson elements, while Victor Neuchev could be this year's Dmitry Rashevsky.

If you watched any of the Minnesota HS tourney, you'd have seen Alex Bump, whose skill set is off the charts. I think he could have an NCAA jump like Scott Morrow (although of course Bump is a F, not a D, but you get what I'm saying). Good luck finding him on any top 100 list.

How about Servac Petrovsky, who missed the 2023 draft by a matter of weeks? The kid has serious skill, but he's just raw, which has to be understandable for a kid who comes over to a league where he's one of the youngest players, barely speaking the language and playing on a different sized ice surface. Good luck finding him on any top 100 list.

Adam Sykora might be one of my favorite players in the draft. He's even younger than Petrovsky, and he's just been outstanding in the Slovakian men's league, scoring more than 1st-round slam-dunk Filip Mesar. He can fly and has off-the-charts intangibles and great goal-scoring acumen. I think he would be a 1st rounder next year if he were born one week later, and although he's gotten a couple mid-round rankings, I'm one of only two to put him in the first half of the 2nd round.

So, I agree with you that these are the types of players we should be keying on, not just this year but every year.

Sykora looks very good. If only he was right handed lol. I am kidding even though it would be ideal for us if he was. He has the right idea in his game but is just too weak for now. That’s a minor issue though and the type we should target like you guys are all saying. Someone who has some “warts” but thise warts are at least fixable. Then again , I have watched about 25 of his shifts so I am taking what others have said about him lol.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I know this is completely unrelated to the 2022 NHL draft or the Devils but who doesn’t want to watch a fun 1:30 long video of a #1 draft pick in his second NHL game. And I wanted to post it somewhere.
He looked really good most of the time and only played less than Dahlin with 23:10 TOI for the Sabres. Could’ve had like 3 assists too.
I think this video alone can pretty much disprove the suggestions some people made of him just being a big guy and not much more.

 

[Hisch13r]

I know this is completely unrelated to the 2022 NHL draft or the Devils but who doesn’t want to watch a fun 1:30 long video of a #1 draft pick in his second NHL game. And I wanted to post it somewhere.
He looked really good most of the time and only played less than Dahlin with 23:10 TOI for the Sabres. Could’ve had like 3 assists too.
I think this video alone can pretty much disprove the suggestions some people made of him just being a big guy and not much more.

Was there really people who just said he was big? Even someone like me who isn't as high on him thought he was really skilled offensively but didn't see #1D upside and felt he was overrated defensively.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Was there really people who just said he was big? Even someone like me who isn't as high on him thought he was really skilled offensively but didn't see #1D upside and felt he was overrated defensively.

There was definitely people who thought he was overrated just because of his size and that he wasn’t that good. I think a lot of people didn’t realize just how good of a skater he actually was and is and how smart and poised of a player he is. His defensive game isn’t perfect but has been mostly solid enough for a 19 year old just starting in the NHL.

Just out of curiosity, do you still not see #1 D upside?

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sykora looks very good. If only he was right handed lol. I am kidding even though it would be ideal for us if he was. He has the right idea in his game but is just too weak for now. That’s a minor issue though and the type we should target like you guys are all saying. Someone who has some “warts” but thise warts are easily fixed .

Like I said, Sykora's a great pick. He's got a few elements of Bratt/Gritsyuk, which is to say a great skill/speed/IQ/compete combo and most of his problems are organically fixable through growth, experience, hard work and the weight room. Since he's a high compete player, it lends itself to the assumption he's going to work really hard to improve.

I don't think Sykora is as dynamic as Gritsyuk or Bratt, I'm just offering a blanket comparable.

I do think Sykora's late birthday -- he barely missed the 2023 draft by a matter of days -- it only ups his sleeper potential. The kid was playing against men just a couple months after he was 16 years old. When players are so close to the following draft, I ask myself: where would they go in next year's class? With Sykora, we have a player who it's very conceivable he'd be a 1st round pick next year (maybe in the 25-32 range, but still). He has a shot at 20 goals next year, which only 3 U19s have ever done in the history of the Slovakian league (Hossa, Gaborik, Nagy).

Like I said, if he's there in the 3rd, he's an outstanding pick. If you see him in the 4th, you take Adam Sykora no matter what your other needs.

 

[Hisch13r]

There was definitely people who thought he was overrated just because of his size and that he wasn’t that good. I think a lot of people didn’t realize just how good of a skater he actually was and is and how smart and poised of a player he is. His defensive game isn’t perfect but has been mostly solid enough for a 19 year old just starting in the NHL.

Just out of curiosity, do you still not see #1 D upside?

Nah still more of like a #2. Maybe he peaks for a little bit as a low end #1.

 

[StevenToddIves]

There was definitely people who thought he was overrated just because of his size and that he wasn’t that good. I think a lot of people didn’t realize just how good of a skater he actually was and is and how smart and poised of a player he is. His defensive game isn’t perfect but has been mostly solid enough for a 19 year old just starting in the NHL.

Just out of curiosity, do you still not see #1 D upside?

I'll answer this by saying anyone who doesn't see #1 D upside in Owen Power needs their eyes checked. The kid is outstanding. This is the first time I can remember that my top 3 prospects outside the NHL are all defensemen, with Sanderson followed by Power and Hughes. All three of these kids are stars in the making, although I'm sure someone in the Canadian media will rank Joshua Roy and Nick Robertson ahead of Hughes, haha.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Nah still more of like a #2. Maybe he peaks for a little bit as a low end #1.

I disagree but fair enough. They played him and Dahlin together at times last game. I think that could be the best pairing in the league at some point.

 

[Hisch13r]

I disagree but fair enough. They played him and Dahlin together at times last game. I think that could be the best pairing in the league at some point.

I can't see anything bumping Toews-Makar for quite a while