Prospect Info: 2022 Draft Prospects, Part II

[StevenToddIves]

I think NJ as a team would be best served at this point by actually winning. They have their basic core players in place and short of winning a top three pick you are probably looking at a player three or four years away from making an impact. That’s not a guy you can plan around anymore.

Nemec in particular is, to me, the most NHL-ready prospect in the 2022 class aside from Shane Wright. I'd say Nemec is so mature and savvy in his two-way game that he could be NHL ready by 2023-24.

But yes, I'd rather see the kids now start winning and developing a winning culture. It's just not easy to do when you have generally awful goaltending, the worst 3rd line in the division and holes on the blueline. But as much as I love Slafkovsky, Jiricek and Nemec, I'd also be happy if the Devils picked at 9th or 10th overall and got Cutter Gauthier.

 

[Buck Dancer]

I think NJ as a team would be best served at this point by actually winning. They have their basic core players in place and short of winning a top three pick you are probably looking at a player three or four years away from making an impact. That’s not a guy you can plan around anymore.

Our goalie situation, atm, will erase any positive this team does moving forward, unfortunately.

I honestly believe that landing one of Slafkovsky, Jiricek and Nemec will conclude our search of trying to build our foundation through the draft. I mean we can always add quality talent via the draft but we’ll be solid up front, on defence (both sides) and we have a couple of kids doing the job in the crease.

 

[My3Sons]

Nemec in particular is, to me, the most NHL-ready prospect in the 2022 class aside from Shane Wright. I'd say Nemec is so mature and savvy in his two-way game that he could be NHL ready by 2023-24.

But yes, I'd rather see the kids now start winning and developing a winning culture. It's just not easy to do when you have generally awful goaltending, the worst 3rd line in the division and holes on the blueline. But as much as I love Slafkovsky, Jiricek and Nemec, I'd also be happy if the Devils picked at 9th or 10th overall and got Cutter Gauthier.

I would be ecstatic if NJ got Jiricek or Nemec. But short of a Seider like debut you are probably talking about a player making his best impact in five years. I’d just as soon build towards winning now for Bratt Jack both Nicos Shara Mercer etc.

 

[Buck Dancer]

I would be ecstatic if NJ got Jiricek or Nemec. But short of a Seider like debut you are probably talking about a player making his best impact in five years. I’d just as soon build towards winning now for Bratt Jack both Nicos Shara Mercer etc.

I wouldn’t mind getting a top #5 pick this year, get a goalie we can rely on and a different coaching staff that will implement a system that won’t confuse the crap out of everyone on the ice.

Even if next years draft is viewed as being way better than this one, I wouldn’t care if we landed the 13th, 14th or 15th pick.

 

[Guttersniped]

Well since Steve has been a busy little beaver I will post the new, annotated, Hockey Prospects top 70 (+1).

Here’s the list, with the [ranking from Oct 25 2021 Top #64] next to the new rank. At the end I have the rank of the player on Bob McKenzie’s Jan 20 Top 80 (with 16 HM).

1 [1] Shane Wright C (R) 6’1” 187 Jan 5 04
Kingston (OHL) [BM #1]

2 [2] Conor Geekie C (L) 6’4” 205 May 5 04
Winnipeg (WHL) [BM #10]

3 [6] Juraj Slafkovsky LW (L) 6’4” 225 Mar 30 04
TPS (Liiga) [BM #5]

4 [19] Simon Nemec D (R) 6’1” 192 Feb 15 04
Nitra (SVK) [BM #9]

5 [3]Logan Cooley C (L) 5’10” 174 May 4 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #2]

6 [9] Matt Savoie C (R) 5’9” 179 Jan 1 04
Winnipeg (WHL) [BM #4]

7 [12] David Jiricek D (R) 6’3” 190 Nov 28 03
Plzen (CZE) [BM #7]

8 [5] Owen Pickering D (L) 6’4” 179 Jan 27 04
Swift Current (WHL) [BM #36]

9 [31] Kevin Korchinski D (L) 6’2” 185 Jun 21 04
Seattle (WHL) [BM #25]

10 [39] Pavel Mintyukov D (L) 6’1” 192 Nov 25 03 Saginaw (OHL) [BM #16]

11 [17] Jonathan Lakkerimaki C (R) 5’11” 172 Jul 24 04 Djurgardens (SWE J-20) [BM #12]

12 [7] Frank Nazar C/RW (R) 5’10” 174 Jan 14 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #14]

13 [10] Joakim Kemell RW (R) 5’11” 176 Apr 27 04
JYP (Liiga) [BM #3]

14 [4] Danila Yurov RW (L) 6’1” 179 Dec 22 03
Magnitogorsk (MHL) [BM #8]

15 [21] Jimmy Snuggerud RW (R) 6’2” 185 Jun 1 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #19]

16 [11] Elias Salomonsson D (R) 6’1” 172 Aug 31 04 Skellefteå (SWE J-20) [BM #33]

17 [X] Sam Rinzel D (R) 6’4” 181 Jun 25 04
Chaska High (USHS) [BM #47]

18 [34] Lian Bichsel D (L) 6’5” 216 May 18 04
Leksands (SWE J-20) [BM #35]

19 [29] Cutter Gauthier C/LW (L) 6’3” 194 Jan 19 04 USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #13]

20 [8] Isaac Howard LW (L) 5’10” 183 Mar 30 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #15]

21 [33] Liam Öhgren LW (L) 6’1” 187 Jan 28 04 Djurgardens (SWE J-20) [BM #23]

22 [20] Brad Lambert C/RW (R) 6’0” 179 Dec 19 03
Lahti (Liiga) [BM #11]

23 [22] Viktor Neuchev LW (L) 6’2” 165 Oct 25 03 Yekaterinburg (MHL) [BM #HM]

24 [15] Filip Mesar RW/C (R) 5’10” 172 Jan 2 04
Poprad (SVK) [BM #22]

25 [X] Matyas Sapovaliv C (L) 6’4” 190 Feb 12 04 Saginaw (OHL) [BM #30]

26 [14] Jani Nyman LW (L) 6’3” 207 Jul 30 04
KOOVEE (Mestis) [BM #49]

27 [13] Alexander Perevalov LW (R) 6’0” 192 Apr 16 04 Yaroslavl (MHL) [BM #24]

28 [23] Artyom Duda D (L) 6’1” 181 Apr 8 04
Moskva (MHL) [BM #70]

29 [27] Marco Kasper C (L) 6’1” 183 Apr 8 04
Rögle (SHL) [NR] [BM #17]

30 [26] Jiří Kulich C (L) 6’0” 172 Apr 14 04
Karlovy (CZE) [BM #40]

31 [X] Luca Del Bel Belluz C (L) 6’1” 179 Nov 10 03 Mississauga (OHL) [BM #37]

32 [49] Denton Mateychuk D (L) 5’11” 187 Jul 12 04 Moose Jaw (WHL) [BM #29]

33 [41] Seamus Casey D (R) 5’10” 161 Jan 8 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #44]

34 [55] Calle Odelius D (L) 6’0” 185 May 30 04 Djurgardens (SWE J-20) [BM #38]

35 [X] Daniil Ivanov D (L) 6’4” 209 Sep 26 03
Moskva (MHL) [BM *NR]

36 [18] Ryan Chesley D (R) 6’0” 194 Feb 27 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #18]

37 [45] Alexander Pelevin D (L) 5’11” 172 May 04
Nizhny Novgorod (MHL) [BM *NR]

38 [30] Julian Lutz LW (L) 6’2” 185 Feb 29 04
München (DEL) [BM #HM]

39 [X] Owen Beck C (R) 6’0” 190 Feb 3 04
Mississauga (OHL) [BM #39]

40 [40] Maverick Lamoreux D (R) 6’7” 196 Jan 13 04 Drummondville (QMJHL) [BM #28]

41 [32] Nathan Gaucher C (R) 6’3” 207 Nov 6 03 Quebec (QMJHL) [BM #20]

42 [42] Miko Matikka RW (R) 6’3” 187 Oct 26 03
Jokerit (U20 SM-sarja) [BM #HM]

43 [16] Noah Ostlund C (L) 5’11” 163 Mar 11 04 Djurgardens (SWE J-20) [BM #51]

44 [48] Mats Lindgren D (L) 6’0” 176 Aug 26 04 Kamloops (WHL) [BM #46]

45 [37] Rutger McGroarty C (L) 6’0” 205 Mar 30 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #26]

46 [25] Tristan Luneau D (R) 6’2” 174 Jan 12 04 Gatineau (QMJHL) [BM #21]

47 [58] Isaiah George D (L) 6’1” 194 Feb 15 04
London (OHL) [BM #55]

48 [36] David Goyette C (L) 5’11” 174 Mar 27 04 Sudbury (OHL) [BM #HM]

49 [63] Michael Buchinger D (L) 6’0” 183 Apr 25 04 Guelph (OHL) [BM #58]

50 [51] Ty Nelson D (R) 5’10” 196 Mar 30 04
North Bay (OHL) [BM #34]

51 [X] Aleksanteri Kaskimaki C (L) 6’0” 183 Feb 6 04 HIFK (U20 SM-sarja) [BM #63]

52 [28] Jack Hughes C (L) 6’0” 165 Nov 3 03 Northeastern (NCAA) [BM #27]

53 [35] Fabian Wagner RW (L) 6’0” 176 May 7 04 Linköping (SWE J-20) [BM *NR]

54 [X] Daniil Orlov D (L) 6’2” 181 Dec 21 03 Sakhalinskiye (MHL) [BM *NR]

55 [57] Alexander Suzdalev LW (L) 6’2” 172 Mar 5 04 HV 71 (SWE J-20) [BM #65]

56 [X] Timofei Davydov D (L) 6’0” 176 Jun 1 02
Omskie (VHL) [BM *NR]

57 [X] Noah Warren D (R) 6’5” 214 Jul 15 04
Gatineau (QMJHL) [BM #59]

58 [X] Vladimir Grudinin D (L) 5’10” 159 Dec 9 04 Moskva (MHL) [BM #HM]

59 [X] Topias Leinonen G (L) 6’5” 216 Jan 25 04 Jyväskylä (U20 SM-sarja) [BM *NR]

60 [X] Adam Sykora RW (L) 5’10” 172 Sep 7 04
Nitra (SVK) [BM *NR]

61 [X] Gleb Trikozov C/RW (R) 6’1” 185 Aug 12 04
Omsk (MHL) [BM #64]

62 [X] Danny Zhilkin C (L) 6’2” 183 Dec 19 03
Guelph (OHL) [BM #31]

63 [46] Filip Bystedt C (L) 6’4” 187 Feb 4 04
Linköping (SWE J-20) [BM #45]

64 [X] Josh Filmon LW (L) 6’2” 159 Mar 18 04
Swift Current (WHL) [BM *NR]

65 [54] Vinzenz Rohrer RW (R) 5’11” 168 Sep 9 04 Ottawa (OHL) [BM #80]

66 [50] Otto Salin D (R) 5’11” 192 Mar 7 04
HIFK (U20 SM-sarja) [BM #66]

67 [44] Tyler Brennan G (L) 6’4” 190 Sep 27 03
Prince George (WHL) [BM #62]

68 [56] Hunter Haight C (R) 5’10” 172 Apr 4 04
Barrie (OHL) [BM #60]

69 [X] Matthew Poitras C (R) 5’11” 172 Mar 10 04 Guelph (OHL) [BM #41]

70 [X] Kirill Steklov D (R) 6’4” 190 Mar 3 02
London (OHL) [BM *NR]

( X [24] Ivan Miroshnichenko LW (R) 6’1” 185 Feb 4 04 Omsk (VHL) [BM #6] - listed last due to his serious health issues)

Sadly 4 of the 17 new guys are LHD (35, 54, 56, 58). The rest are: 9 forwards (25, 31, 39, 51, 60, 61, 62, 64, 69), 3 RHD (17, 57, 70), and 1 goalie (59).

10 dudes from the October list were dropped, 7 of those 10 were on McKenzie’s list. [That’s their ranking in OG Top 64 next to the X.]

X [38] Tomas Hamara D (L) 6’0” 185 Mar 9 04
Tappara (U20 SM-sarja) [BM #54]

X [43] Ryan Greene C (R) 6’2” 174 Oct 21 03
Green Bay (USHL) [BM #56]

X [47] Cruz Lucius RW (R) 6’0” 176 Apr 5 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #73]

X [52] Michael La Starza LW (L) 5’11” 185 Jan 14 04 Sioux Falls (USHL) [BM *NR]

X [53] Jackson Edward D (L) 6’2” 192 Feb 27 04
London (OHL) [BM #HM]

X [59] Kirill Dolzhenkov LW (L) 6’6” 236 Apr 20 04 Moskva (MHL) [BM #71]

X [60] Jorian Donovan D (L) 6’2” 181 Apr 5 04
Hamilton (OHL)[BM #50]

X [61] Landon Sim C (L) 5’11” 174 Jul 17 04
London (OHL) [BM *NR]

X [62] Devin Kaplan RW (R) 6’3” 198 Jan 10 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [BM #48]

X [64] Artur Brovkin F (L) 6’4” 172 May 8 01
AK Bar (KHL) [BM *NR]


23 of Bob MacKenzie’s top 80 was not on either list:

32 Adam Ingram C (L) 6’2” 174 Oct 14 03
Youngtown (USHL)

42 Paul Ludwinski C (L) 5’11 172 Apr 23 04
Kingston (OHL)

43 Bryce McConnell-Barker C (L) 6’1” 187
Jun 4 04 Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

52 Rieger Lorenz C (L) 6’2” 185 Mar 30 04
Okotoks (AJHL)

53 Fraser Minten C (L) 6’1” 185 Jul 5 04
Kamloops (WHL)

57 Topi Ronni C (L) 6’2” 183 May 5 04
Tappara (U20 SM-sarja)

61 Ruslan Gazizov LW (L) 5’11” 187 Jan 21 04
London (OHL)

67 Jordan Gustafson C (L) 5’11” 179 Jan 20 04
Seattle (WHL)

68 Cameron Lund C (R) 6’2” Jun 7 04
Green Bay (USHL)

69 Matt Seminoff RW (R) 5’11” 183 Dec 27 03
Kamloops (WHL)

72 Lane Hutson D (L) 5’8” 148 Feb 14 04
USA U-18 (USHL)

74 Pano Fimis C (R) 5’10” 174 Jun 17 04
Niagara (OHL)

75 Spencer Sova D (L) 6’1” 185 Jan 10 04
Erie (OHL)

76 Mattias Havelid D (R) 5’10” 172 Jan 1 04
Linkoping (SWE J-20)

77 Simon Forsmark D (L) 6’2” 192 Oct 17 03
Orebro (SWE J-20)

78 Marek Hejduk RW (R) 6’0” 181 Jan 3 04
USA U-18 (USHL)

79 Reid Schaefer LW (L) 6’3” 214 Sep 21 03
Seattle (WHL)

11 of Bob’s 16 Honorable Mentions were not listed:

HM Brennan Ali C (L) 6’1” 194 Feb 9 04
Lincoln (USHL)

HM Liam Arnsby C (R) 5’11” 183 Nov 20 03
North Bay (OHL)

HM Angus Booth D (L) 6’1” 176 Apr 27 04
Shawinigan (QMJHL)

HM Jack Devine RW (R) 5’11” 172 Oct 2 03
Denver (NCAA)

HM Lucas Edmonds RW (R) 5’11” 185 Jan 27 01 (20 yo) Kingston (OHL)

HM Jagger Firkus RW (R) 5’10” 154 Apr 29 04
Moose Jaw (WHL)

HM Gavin Hayes RW (R) 6’1” 176 May 14 04
Flint (OHL)

HM Arseni Koromyslov D (L) 6’3” 181 Nov 3 03
St. Petersburg (MHL)

HM Colton Smith LW (L) 6’2” 207 Feb 9 04
London (OHL)

HM Cole Spicer C (L) 5’10” 174 Jun 13 04
USA U-18 (USHL)

 

[Guttersniped]

Comments on that mammoth list:

Well to piggy back on @StevenToddIves observations, this is draft is pretty wacky.

My main draft list is Slafkovsky/Jiricek or sadness. After that, I still really personally like Nazar, Nemec is ok I guess? and Gauthier-mania is sort of winning me over. (What can I say, I’m a team player.)

The consensus is there ain’t no damn consensus, other than Wright is still number one.

An underwhelming (likely stunted from the CHL cancellations) and under-scouted Canadian group, a mushy USNTDP group, a Russian nightmare, and no U20 for narratives about Euro prospects in general means that 1) this will be volatile 2) scouts have to figure these kids out with some real patient, multi-dimensional scouting techniques.

And the shifts in this list:

The very quirky take of f*** Nemec & Jiricek has been withdrawn. They backed off on the Owen Pickering Draft and moved the two consensus d-men to the top. Sheeple! Mind slaves!

I kid. It’s actually a very defense heavy list early on which 1) is fun & interesting 2) harder to judge for me because I don’t even pretend to be to very good with d-men.

I’m a big Mintyukov believer. Is Kevin Korchinski that sexy? I personally can’t say. What the f*** is Denton Mateychuk? (He’s a madman I tell you.) Pickering is of course, toolsy and huge, and that’s why they luuuve him. Ohh, Sam Rinzel at 17.



This year is such a clusterf*** that even the subgroups are a mess.

The USNTDP? (I’m not super into Cooley but I could be very wrong about that and I probably overrate Nazar BECAUSE I LOVE HIM.) Those are the top two here. With this list, at 15th, the 3rd forward from that program is… Snuggerud? Uh, ok. (He’s 19th Bob’s list, but that makes him 5th forward from the program on his list.) Maybe I’m underestimating Snuggles.



Swedes? For some reason half these guys are from the same awful SHL club, which also had Holtz and Eklund. So apparently having incredible youth in the pipeline gets you (potentially) regulated in Sweden.

And no one can agree on the order of these guys, except Lakkerimaki is scoring in the SHL, so he’s usually 1st. (And is here.) They are not big Ostlund (43) fans, but that’s probably about right. Very high on Salomonsson (17) while not listing Havelid (I’m guessing his size and lack of scoring might contribute there).

Bischel (18) is a sexy riser but ~6’5” Swedish defensemen will now be hunted to the ends of the earth for obvious reasons.
Edit: This dude is Swiss, ruining my schtick.

Russians? Yurov drops to 14th. An unsettling lack of of Gleb love (61). They dropped Perevalov from 13 to 27 too. That said they have 4 forwards (plus Miroshnichenko) and 6 defensemen from the Russian leagues in this top 70.

Who ever watches the MHL footage kind of vibes with *a certain other poster* (or they also drink) because Neuchev is at 23, Duda is at 28 and Grudinin is 58. Wait, no Koromyslov… that’s got to be a deal breaker.

They stuck with Geekie at 2. That said, there has to be Canadian forwards that are being undervalued, they can’t be three notable ones and then nothingness. But who goes after Wright, Savoie & Geekie is kind of unclear too.

Well’s it’s typically Gaucher, but they have him at 41 here. Here Matyas Sapovaliv is the next CHL forward at 25 and he’s Czech! Anti-Canadian bias! (He’s is 30 on Bob’s list.)

I mean they have a guy from Mestis at 26. Maybe I’m sleeping on Jani Nyman but… I don’t think so? (The guys he beats out… it’s weird. I need this explained to me like I’m a child.)

And Jagger Firkus isn’t on this list. That’s just not right.

Enough ramblings. You’re welcome.

 

[Guttersniped]

For anyone wondering where we could pick.

Right now, it’s a 6 team battle for spots 3-8 going into the draft lottery. (ARI, small gap, OTT, BUF, NJD, PHI, small gap, CHI)

Detroit (9th last), Montreal (last), and Seattle (2nd last) are also somewhat reachable with a really strong or poor finish but aren’t close enough right now and aren’t likely to be passed either way.

If we finish strong we could end up picking in the 7-10 range. A poor finish and we could end up picking in the 3-5 range. I’d be happy if it goes either way as long as our young players are doing well and still producing.

But at this point we could realistically pick anywhere in the top 10 depending on how we finish the season and the draft lottery.

 

[My3Sons]

Comments on that mammoth list:

Well to piggy back on @StevenToddIves observations, this is draft is pretty wacky.

My main draft list is Slafkovsky/Jiricek or sadness. After that, I still really personally like Nazar, Nemec is ok I guess? and Gauthier-mania is sort of winning me over. (What can I say, I’m a team player.)

The consensus is there ain’t no damn consensus, other than Wright is still number one.

An underwhelming (likely stunted from the CHL cancellations) and under-scouted Canadian group, a mushy USNTDP group, a Russian nightmare, and no U20 for narratives about Euro prospects in general means that 1) this will be volatile 2) scouts have to figure these kids out with some real patient, multi-dimensional scouting techniques.

And the shifts in this list:

The very quirky take of f*** Nemec & Jiricek has been withdrawn. They backed off on the Owen Pickering Draft and moved the two consensus d-men to the top. Sheeple! Mind slaves!

I kid. It’s actually a very defense heavy list early on which 1) is fun & interesting 2) harder to judge for me because I don’t even pretend to be to very good with d-men.

I’m a big Mintyukov believer. Is Kevin Korchinski that sexy? I personally can’t say. What the f*** is Denton Mateychuk? (He’s a madman I tell you.) Pickering is of course, toolsy and huge, and that’s why they luuuve him. Ohh, Sam Rinzel at 17.



This year is such a clusterf*** that even the subgroups are a mess.

The USNTDP? (I’m not super into Cooley but I could be very wrong about that and I probably overrate Nazar BECAUSE I LOVE HIM.) Those are the top two here. With this list, at 15th, the 3rd forward from that program is… Snuggerud? Uh, ok. (He’s 19th Bob’s list, but that makes him 5th forward from the program on his list.) Maybe I’m underestimating Snuggles.



Swedes? For some reason half these guys are from the same awful SHL club, which also had Holtz and Eklund. So apparently having incredible youth in the pipeline gets you (potentially) regulated in Sweden.

And no one can agree on the order of these guys, except Lakkerimaki is scoring in the SHL, so he’s usually 1st. (And is here.) They are not big Ostlund (43) fans, but that’s probably about right. Very high on Salomonsson (17) while not listing Havelid (I’m guessing his size and lack of scoring might contribute there).

Bischel (18) is a sexy riser but ~6’5” Swedish defensemen will now be hunted to the ends of the earth for obvious reasons.
Edit: This dude is Swiss, ruining my schtick.

Russians? Yurov drops to 14th. An unsettling lack of of Gleb love (61). They dropped Perevalov from 13 to 27 too. That said they have 4 forwards (plus Miroshnichenko) and 6 defensemen from the Russian leagues in this top 70.

Who ever watches the MHL footage kind of vibes with *a certain other poster* (or they also drink) because Neuchev is at 23, Duda is at 28 and Grudinin is 58. Wait, no Koromyslov… that’s got to be a deal breaker.

They stuck with Geekie at 2. That said, there has to be Canadian forwards that are being undervalued, they can’t be three notable ones and then nothingness. But who goes after Wright, Savoie & Geekie is kind of unclear too.

Well’s it’s typically Gaucher, but they have him at 41 here. Here Matyas Sapovaliv is the next CHL forward at 25 and he’s Czech! Anti-Canadian bias! (He’s is 30 on Bob’s list.)

I mean they have a guy from Mestis at 26. Maybe I’m sleeping on Jani Nyman but… I don’t think so? (The guys he beats out… it’s weird. I need this explained to me like I’m a child.)

And Jagger Firkus isn’t on this list. That’s not just not right.

Enough ramblings. You’re welcome.

All that and you go with Dr McCoy?

 

[My3Sons]

View attachment 517983

A much better choice in my view

 

[Guttersniped]

All that and you go with Dr McCoy?

 

[My3Sons]

Really? You come back with pre-wheelchair Pike? And I see this episode was written by the same hack who penned Planet of the Apes. Can you maybe dig up something similarly pithy from HAL9000? Only with more profanity.

 

[Guttersniped]

Really? You come back with pre-wheelchair Pike? And I see this episode was written by the same hack who penned Planet of the Apes. Can you maybe dig up something similarly pithy from HAL9000? Only with more profanity.

 

[Guttersniped]

@StevenToddIves

Have you looked at or written up Aleksanteri Kaskimaki?

 

[ninetyeight]

So what kinda guys are Montreal Seattle Arizona and Philly looking for? They all need a franchise center right? Would we need to win the lottery to be able to draft Slafkovsky or is there a chance him being a winger he drops to 5-7 range?

I still think this draft is and will be a major disappointment in comparison to the recent and next year, but this guy I really like. He's been red hot since the olympics, 5+2 in his last 10 games, 3+2 in his last 5 games. I still have huge reservations about the two defenders. Nemec looked terrible in the olympics, so my interest in him is at an all time low. He's an offensive dman with a lot of work on his complete came, slightly bigger but way worse Ty Smith at this point. With Jiricek I've only seen youtube highlights, so I have to go with Steven's evaluation with this one. I'd love to find some advanced stats on him, but I don't think the Czech league tracks those. His basic stats are terrible however. And I did have Seider going somewhere around #15-25 and thought it was a huge reach at the time, but at least Seider had incredible junior national numbers. I have a really hard time believing Jiricek becomes a top2 defender, which you'd expect with a top5 pick. With Nemec I'm even less confident. But they are prospects and most are bound to take huge jumps forward in the next few years, so we'll see what happens.

But team Slaf here, and then Gauthier, Kemell (he's also been great again recently), Lambert.. unless we want to take another C.

 

[StevenToddIves]

@StevenToddIves

Have you looked at or written up Aleksanteri Kaskimaki?

You are literally unbelievable. Kaskimaki is actually the player I'm currently working on for my next write-up.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I would be ecstatic if NJ got Jiricek or Nemec. But short of a Seider like debut you are probably talking about a player making his best impact in five years. I’d just as soon build towards winning now for Bratt Jack both Nicos Shara Mercer etc.

Jiricek is more comparable to Seider stylistically than Nemec, but his timeline is murky because of the injury which derailed his season. He might be three years away, but it's very rare that a top 10 pick takes 5 years to reach the NHL -- that's normally the type of timeline for a later pick.

 

[StevenToddIves]

So what kinda guys are Montreal Seattle Arizona and Philly looking for? They all need a franchise center right? Would we need to win the lottery to be able to draft Slafkovsky or is there a chance him being a winger he drops to 5-7 range?

I still think this draft is and will be a major disappointment in comparison to the recent and next year, but this guy I really like. He's been red hot since the olympics, 5+2 in his last 10 games, 3+2 in his last 5 games. I still have huge reservations about the two defenders. Nemec looked terrible in the olympics, so my interest in him is at an all time low. He's an offensive dman with a lot of work on his complete came, slightly bigger but way worse Ty Smith at this point. With Jiricek I've only seen youtube highlights, so I have to go with Steven's evaluation with this one. I'd love to find some advanced stats on him, but I don't think the Czech league tracks those. His basic stats are terrible however. And I did have Seider going somewhere around #15-25 and thought it was a huge reach at the time, but at least Seider had incredible junior national numbers. I have a really hard time believing Jiricek becomes a top2 defender, which you'd expect with a top5 pick. With Nemec I'm even less confident. But they are prospects and most are bound to take huge jumps forward in the next few years, so we'll see what happens.

But team Slaf here, and then Gauthier, Kemell (he's also been great again recently), Lambert.. unless we want to take another C.

Jeez, @ninetyeight -- one question at a time!

Ok, ok. Montreal and Seattle have young 1Cs already -- the Habs with Suzuki and the Kraken with Beniers. However, both teams are organizationally thin at the position, and the going belief in the NHL is that every position can be found anywhere except top centers, which can usually only be found with an early first round pick. I think Seattle realizes they are going to be picking early for awhile so they can realistically go in any direction, but Montreal believes this year is an anomaly so I feel they could target a C at this draft.

As far as Philadelphia, their problem for a very long time is that I feel they have thought their team was better than it was and overvalued their own players. Like, Giroux was very good and Couturier very good and Provorov good and Konecny good and Hart okay -- but two or three years ago GM Ron Hextall was fired for essentially feeling they needed significantly more building on the core when other front office members wanted to go all in on a "win now". Problem was, Philly lacked top talent and was in no place to "win now" unless they were somehow getting McDavid and Makar and Vasilevskiy. So, Hextall lost his job, the Flyers went all in on supporting pieces like Kevin Hayes and non-pieces like Ristolainen, and now the team is in utter limbo. #freeHexy

If I was in the Flyers front office right now (and believe me, they had their chance to hire me), I would suggest a full overhaul, trading everyone older than Joel Farabee and going hard for a top two Bedard/Michkov pick in 2023. For those unfamiliar, Bedard is the best available goal-scorer since Auston Matthews and Michkov is the second-best available goal-scorer since Auston Matthews. Ironically, Bedard is coached in Regina right now by the utterly brilliant Coach/GM John Paddock, who returned to the WHL to build an absolutely powerhouse Regina team after being ever-so-gently pushed out of the Flyers front office because... well, no good reason I can think of except guys who aren't as good at their own jobs tend to be better at questioning other peoples' jobs.

Regardless, the Flyers need everything, as well, though their clearest need is on the blueline -- although the recent Ristolainen trade and extension might be indicative that they are not even aware of this need. There's actually a chance, looking at that Flyers front office, that they might just take someone big and fast, because there's really a lack of any sort of vision in that front office right now.

As far as Nemec/Slafkovsky in the Olympics go? Steve Kournianos -- who I've repeatedly said might be the best in the business -- often cautions against over-judging a player based on singular tournament performances... for better or worse. Judging by their performances in China one might think Slafkovsky is ready to step into the NHL and dominate while Nemec is not a high-end prospect, and one would be wrong on both counts.

Nemec's performance in the Slovakian men's league this year has been nothing short of historic, while Slafkovsky has certainly been warming up to the Finland men's league but his early struggles indicate there are still facets of his game which need more development. Jiricek is more of a question due to his injury, but let's just say that 6'3 fast shut-down defensemen with game-changing physicality, high-end puck skills and howitzers for shots do not grow on trees. If you want to be skeptical of Nemec in the future that's all democratic and your choice, but for the love of god no more Ty Smith comparisons -- Nemec is 6'1 and defensively excellent and probably better than Ty Smith right now in a season where he just turned 18.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Comments on that mammoth list:

Well to piggy back on @StevenToddIves observations, this is draft is pretty wacky.

My main draft list is Slafkovsky/Jiricek or sadness. After that, I still really personally like Nazar, Nemec is ok I guess? and Gauthier-mania is sort of winning me over. (What can I say, I’m a team player.)

The consensus is there ain’t no damn consensus, other than Wright is still number one.

An underwhelming (likely stunted from the CHL cancellations) and under-scouted Canadian group, a mushy USNTDP group, a Russian nightmare, and no U20 for narratives about Euro prospects in general means that 1) this will be volatile 2) scouts have to figure these kids out with some real patient, multi-dimensional scouting techniques.

And the shifts in this list:

The very quirky take of f*** Nemec & Jiricek has been withdrawn. They backed off on the Owen Pickering Draft and moved the two consensus d-men to the top. Sheeple! Mind slaves!

I kid. It’s actually a very defense heavy list early on which 1) is fun & interesting 2) harder to judge for me because I don’t even pretend to be to very good with d-men.

I’m a big Mintyukov believer. Is Kevin Korchinski that sexy? I personally can’t say. What the f*** is Denton Mateychuk? (He’s a madman I tell you.) Pickering is of course, toolsy and huge, and that’s why they luuuve him. Ohh, Sam Rinzel at 17.



This year is such a clusterf*** that even the subgroups are a mess.

The USNTDP? (I’m not super into Cooley but I could be very wrong about that and I probably overrate Nazar BECAUSE I LOVE HIM.) Those are the top two here. With this list, at 15th, the 3rd forward from that program is… Snuggerud? Uh, ok. (He’s 19th Bob’s list, but that makes him 5th forward from the program on his list.) Maybe I’m underestimating Snuggles.



Swedes? For some reason half these guys are from the same awful SHL club, which also had Holtz and Eklund. So apparently having incredible youth in the pipeline gets you (potentially) regulated in Sweden.

And no one can agree on the order of these guys, except Lakkerimaki is scoring in the SHL, so he’s usually 1st. (And is here.) They are not big Ostlund (43) fans, but that’s probably about right. Very high on Salomonsson (17) while not listing Havelid (I’m guessing his size and lack of scoring might contribute there).

Bischel (18) is a sexy riser but ~6’5” Swedish defensemen will now be hunted to the ends of the earth for obvious reasons.
Edit: This dude is Swiss, ruining my schtick.

Russians? Yurov drops to 14th. An unsettling lack of of Gleb love (61). They dropped Perevalov from 13 to 27 too. That said they have 4 forwards (plus Miroshnichenko) and 6 defensemen from the Russian leagues in this top 70.

Who ever watches the MHL footage kind of vibes with *a certain other poster* (or they also drink) because Neuchev is at 23, Duda is at 28 and Grudinin is 58. Wait, no Koromyslov… that’s got to be a deal breaker.

They stuck with Geekie at 2. That said, there has to be Canadian forwards that are being undervalued, they can’t be three notable ones and then nothingness. But who goes after Wright, Savoie & Geekie is kind of unclear too.

Well’s it’s typically Gaucher, but they have him at 41 here. Here Matyas Sapovaliv is the next CHL forward at 25 and he’s Czech! Anti-Canadian bias! (He’s is 30 on Bob’s list.)

I mean they have a guy from Mestis at 26. Maybe I’m sleeping on Jani Nyman but… I don’t think so? (The guys he beats out… it’s weird. I need this explained to me like I’m a child.)

And Jagger Firkus isn’t on this list. That’s not just not right.

Enough ramblings. You’re welcome.

We really do have one of the best hockey threads on the planet going right here. Oh, and I had Nyman at #32 in my initial rankings.

 

[ninetyeight]

But for the love of god no more Ty Smith comparisons -- Nemec is 6'1 and defensively excellent and probably better than Ty Smith right now in a season where he just turned 18.

I think it's a fair comparison. I know you hate when people compare prospects to devils players, but they're who most here know the best so it's the easiest way to point out what kinda player we are talking about even if they aren't stylistically identical. Both are offensive heavy dmen with improvements to be made in their defensive play. I know Ty's value here is at an all time low, but I think he's been much better as of late and hope will bounce back next season. I think you sometimes might overrated prospects a bit and underrated established nhlers. The way you write about them makes it sound like everyone will be a star in the NHL, when in reality most of them won't even become regulars. The difference between NHL and the Slovakian league is huge, Nemec has a lot of work to do if he wants to be even in Ty Smith's level.

I appreciate your analysis on the other teams, I completely forgot about Beniers who I'm a huge fan of.

 

[Voodoozz]

So what kinda guys are Montreal Seattle Arizona and Philly looking for? They all need a franchise center right? Would we need to win the lottery to be able to draft Slafkovsky or is there a chance him being a winger he drops to 5-7 range?

I still think this draft is and will be a major disappointment in comparison to the recent and next year, but this guy I really like. He's been red hot since the olympics, 5+2 in his last 10 games, 3+2 in his last 5 games. I still have huge reservations about the two defenders. Nemec looked terrible in the olympics, so my interest in him is at an all time low. He's an offensive dman with a lot of work on his complete came, slightly bigger but way worse Ty Smith at this point. With Jiricek I've only seen youtube highlights, so I have to go with Steven's evaluation with this one. I'd love to find some advanced stats on him, but I don't think the Czech league tracks those. His basic stats are terrible however. And I did have Seider going somewhere around #15-25 and thought it was a huge reach at the time, but at least Seider had incredible junior national numbers. I have a really hard time believing Jiricek becomes a top2 defender, which you'd expect with a top5 pick. With Nemec I'm even less confident. But they are prospects and most are bound to take huge jumps forward in the next few years, so we'll see what happens.

But team Slaf here, and then Gauthier, Kemell (he's also been great again recently), Lambert.. unless we want to take another C.

Here are the stats. Just use google translate to navigate through it.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I think it's a fair comparison. I know you hate when people compare prospects to devils players, but they're who most here know the best so it's the easiest way to point out what kinda player we are talking about even if they aren't stylistically identical. Both are offensive heavy dmen with improvements to be made in their defensive play. I know Ty's value here is at an all time low, but I think he's been much better as of late and hope will bounce back next season. I think you sometimes might overrated prospects a bit and underrated established nhlers. The way you write about them makes it sound like everyone will be a star in the NHL, when in reality most of them won't even become regulars. The difference between NHL and the Slovakian league is huge, Nemec has a lot of work to do if he wants to be even in Ty Smith's level.

I appreciate your analysis on the other teams, I completely forgot about Beniers who I'm a huge fan of.

Comparisons are really, really tough if you're using the entire NHL, past and future. Every player is unique. Once in awhile you'll get lucky and find a player of the same position and style who match up statistically, like Chase Stillman and Ryan Callahan. But usually there are just glaring differences which makes it really tricky, so I try to avoid it in general.

The reason I get, uh... "in a tizzy" when people are just using Devils as comparisons, is not only is it a far smaller pool of available players to match up with the prospect, but people usually just use the comparison to push their pre-conceived notions and opinions. I'm not saying you do this -- you're one of my favorite posters on these boards -- but I'm sure you remember as well as I do when people on these threads actually made comparisons in recent draft years of Lucas Raymond to Mattias Tedenby, or K'Andre Miller to Eric Gelinas, or Chase Stillman to Stefan Matteau. Makes me want to pull my hair out, really, and I have just outstanding hair.

There are certainly concerns with Simon Nemec -- his shot is a non-factor, and though his initial decision-making is high-end, when things don't go as he initially planned he can be forced into mistakes. His positioning and choices of when to activate off the point need to be fine-tuned. But overall I'd say he's pretty polished, and for a defenseman who has produced so much offensively to be even better defensively at his age is really uncommon. If I had to compare him at the same age, I'd say "Roman Josi without the great shot" is a fair estimation. I don't see Nemec putting up Josi's absurdly awesome offensive numbers -- but I would say he's capable of 50+ point seasons at his peak. Defensively, I think Nemec is competitive and extremely effective in general. You probably also know I also hate highlight videos, but here's one:

 

[Buck Dancer]

I am just not a fan of drafting an offensive dman who has a butter soft of a shot from the point. It makes it very easy to cover when we’re in the offensive zone.

That reason alone is why I prefer Jiricek over his fellow countryman. That and Jiricek plays a style of hockey we desperately need and would be the perfect partner for L. Hughes.

 

[Devs3cups]

I am just not a fan of drafting an offensive dman who has a butter soft of a shot from the point. It makes it very easy to cover when we’re in the offensive zone.

That reason alone is why I prefer Jiricek over his fellow countryman. That and Jiricek plays a style of hockey we desperately need and would be the perfect partner for L. Hughes.

While I understand the sentiment here, I feel if there's one thing players can improve in regards to their skillset, it's their shot. Jack Hughes, although he's a forward, is a good example of that. I don't think it would deter me from drafting him too much.

Also, unless I'm mistaken, Jiricek and Nemec aren't from the same country. I believe Kiricek is Czech and Nemec from Slovakia.

 

[Buck Dancer]

While I understand the sentiment here, I feel if there's one thing players can improve in regards to their skillset, it's their shot. Jack Hughes, although he's a forward, is a good example of that. I don't think it would deter me from drafting him too much.

Also, unless I'm mistaken, Jiricek and Nemec aren't from the same country. I believe Kiricek is Czech and Nemec from Slovakia.

You’re absolutely right about them not being from the same country, don’t know why I had them playing on the same NT.

As for his shot, I’m not saying we shouldn’t draft him all together but I would have a couple of guys before him on my watch list.

 

[Devs3cups]

You’re absolutely right about them not being from the same country, don’t know why I had them playing on the same NT.

As for his shot, I’m not saying we shouldn’t draft him all together but I would have a couple of guys before him on my watch list.

Fair enough. I share your sentiment on Jiricek, he’s at the top of my board right now.