2022 NHL Entry Draft Discussion

[Fogelhund]

Imo 2021 was a draft where virtually anyone besides Eklund, Guenther, Beniers, Power, Hughes, Clarke, and Johnson probably shouldn't have gone in a normal top-15. That draft had a bunch of 1st round talent (maybe 40~ guys), but almost all of them were 15-30 type players. This draft seems to have quite a lot more of that top-15 talent (Wright, Miro, Lambert, Slafkovsky, Geekie, Kemell, Cooley, Savioe, Yurov, Nemec, Jiricek, Salomonsson), with potentially more to come, but less 1st round talent overall. Hurts we didn't see the D-1 season of any player in the OHL.

I'm feeling more nervous about not getting a great player late in the 1st round this draft than I was getting one in the 50's last draft. It's still very early though.

It's interesting, as I've read through a few scouting reports of players, and I'm noticing that often players skating isn't mentioned. Take a player like Gaucher for example, no scouting reports talking about his skating... I don't have the time right now to try and watch these players, so all I can do is read. Of course we could use some C prospects, and we could use some size too.. but then you don't want a Gauthier, who just doesn't have the skating for the NHL, as much as I'd hoped he would make it for us. Zhilkin is another larger C, but not much to read about there either.

Funny, Bleacher Report has us drafting at 25th, which who cares at this point, but I do find their comment kind of funny on our mock draft pick.

1. 
   An absence of skilled right wingers among their top-nine prospects could be an issue the Toronto Maple Leafs attempt to address in the 2022 draft. Miko Matikka of Finland's Jokerit U20 squad could be among their possibilities.
   The 6'3", 187-pound Matikka's large frame will garner attention, but his skills could make him a worthwhile first-rounder. The Athletic's Corey Pronman observes the 17-year-old Finn puts his long reach to good use to break up plays and generate offense. While his quickness is an issue, he had good scoring skills, including a big shot.
   Matikka played well in his debut last season with Jokerit's U20 team with 15 points in 19 games. He also collected four points in seven games skating for Finland at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.
   A big winger with good scoring skills could be just what the Leafs need to fill the second-line right wing spot behind Mitch Marner. Matikka could be that guy if his skating improves.

I'm wondering where Nylander went???

 

[kb]

It's interesting, as I've read through a few scouting reports of players, and I'm noticing that often players skating isn't mentioned. Take a player like Gaucher for example, no scouting reports talking about his skating... I don't have the time right now to try and watch these players, so all I can do is read. Of course we could use some C prospects, and we could use some size too.. but then you don't want a Gauthier, who just doesn't have the skating for the NHL, as much as I'd hoped he would make it for us. Zhilkin is another larger C, but not much to read about there either.

Funny, Bleacher Report has us drafting at 25th, which who cares at this point, but I do find their comment kind of funny on our mock draft pick.

I'm wondering where Nylander went???

Well, thank you for letting me know what not to read. Sounds like the same knowledge level as Hayes talking about Liljegren

 

[RomanianLeafs]

Maddox Fleming is the guy that i like that can be available at our position..

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

Dude listed Simon Nemec as a centre. He's a defenseman.

 

[Morgs]

Dude listed Simon Nemec as a centre. He's a defenseman.

It's hard to take any list besides Wheeler's, Pronman's, MacKenzie's, and actual scouting services' seriously.

It's aggravating that SN and TSN use clowns like Consentino and Button as their "prospect guys" when they simply watch the U18's (and WJC) and nothing else. Pathetic excuse for scouting.

 

[Morgs]

Idk if anyone has noticed, but there are 4 guys from the same team that all should be going in the top 60 picks, and 3 of them are top-20 as of now. No, it's Shockingly it's not the NTDP, it's Djurgardens.

Lekkerimaki, Ohgren, and Ostlund all as of right now are top-20 picks in this draft. All of them are actually very exciting prospects, with time in the SHL (1 game for Lekkerimaki, 12 for Ohgren, and 5 for Ostlund), but all have crushed the J20 Nationell this season (Lekkermaki - 16G, 1.6PPG , Ohgren - 7G, 1.6PPG, Ostlund - 2G, 1.5PPG). The last one is Calle Odelius, who has come out of nowhere after a nothing D-1 to have 14 points in 16 games in J20 Nationell.... as a defenseman. He's also played 5 games in the SHL after never playing even in the J20 Nationell before this season, averaging just over 3 minutes in those games. For reference, thats a .088 PPG. Salomonsson, a top-15 pick right now has a .71 in the same league, in 2 less games.

Has there ever been a team besides the NTDP that has had this many high quality prospects this early in the draft? Seems insane.

 

[aingefan]

Idk if anyone has noticed, but there are 4 guys from the same team that all should be going in the top 60 picks, and 3 of them are top-20 as of now. No, it's Shockingly it's not the NTDP, it's Djurgardens.

Lekkerimaki, Ohgren, and Ostlund all as of right now are top-20 picks in this draft. All of them are actually very exciting prospects, with time in the SHL (1 game for Lekkerimaki, 12 for Ohgren, and 5 for Ostlund), but all have crushed the J20 Nationell this season (Lekkermaki - 16G, 1.6PPG , Ohgren - 7G, 1.6PPG, Ostlund - 2G, 1.5PPG). The last one is Calle Odelius, who has come out of nowhere after a nothing D-1 to have 14 points in 16 games in J20 Nationell.... as a defenseman. He's also played 5 games in the SHL after never playing even in the J20 Nationell before this season, averaging just over 3 minutes in those games. For reference, thats a .088 PPG. Salomonsson, a top-15 pick right now has a .71 in the same league, in 2 less games.

Has there ever been a team besides the NTDP that has had this many high quality prospects this early in the draft? Seems insane.

I hear Belleville had a great team once upon a time.

 

[LeafChief]

I hear Belleville had a great team once upon a time.

Lmao. f***.

 

[Morgs]

I hear Belleville had a great team once upon a time.

Edit: Thinking about it now, Michigan had a pretty good 2021 draft lol with the 1st, 2nd, and 5th OA picks.

 

[hockeynorth]

I'm assuming we're picking in the 20's. At that range I would love one of Ty Nelson, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Marco Kasper, or Filip Mesar. On the off-chance Lambert falls all the way down to that range he'd be my target. My favourite one of these guys though is Kasper. His skill level is outrageous and he is a speed demon. I think his upside would be hard to match at that range.

I wanted to flip this here because it's better for the conversation...

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Ty Nelsons game. I wouldn't go with him especially considering who we have in the system, but if we pick early-mid twenties my targets are:

1. Frank Nazar
2. Rutger McGroarty
3. David Jiricek
4. Paul Ludwinski
5. Liam Ohgren
6. Jack Hughes
7. David Goyette
8. Matthew Poitras

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

Somebody needs to take a chance on Brett Brochu Knights goalie. His junior numbers are incredible. Even significantly better than other goalies that have been drafted. 5'11-6' is not too short when your putting up the numbers he has.

 

[Maplebeasts]

I wanted to flip this here because it's better for the conversation...

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Ty Nelsons game. I wouldn't go with him especially considering who we have in the system, but if we pick early-mid twenties my targets are:

1. Frank Nazar
2. Rutger McGroarty
3. David Jiricek
4. Paul Ludwinski
5. Liam Ohgren
6. Jack Hughes
7. David Goyette
8. Matthew Poitras

That's fair. Nelson is on the small side for defensemen so I can understand the concern. I'm afraid I can't comment on Nazar or Ohgren because I haven't watched them play at all. I like Goyette and Poitras but I think you could trade for an early second rounder and get one of them that way. Ludwinski is good, I like him too. I also don't think Mcgroarty or Jiricek are around if we pick in the 20's. Jiricek especially is off to a great start to the season and is ranked well, well before where we should pick.

 

[Morgs]

Couple guys that are really standing out production-wise to start the season are:

Alexander Perevalov (ranked as a late 1st/early 2nd)
Matthew Seminoff (only ranking I've seen is late 3rd round)
Jordan Dumais (unranked?)

The only guys with better NHLe than these three guys on the season so far are Kemell and Yurov. They are slightly ahead of Savoie. Definitely some good company to be in and are guys that must be shooting up rankings right now. For reference, the only guys with higher NHLe's from last years draft were Guenther, Eklund, and Stankoven (only played 6 games though). Two top-10 picks, and one guy who should have gone top-10/15 and went 47th because he's 5'7".

 

[SprDaVE]

 

[Morgs]

I really like him. He's a great skater, great in transition, and his offense looks like it's going to translate. The defense needs some cleaning up, but he looks like a man playing among boys in one of the best leagues in the world both size and talent-wise. I don't say this lightly, but I think he could be on a team's bottom pairing next season & PP2. My only hope is he doesn't go to a trash development organization because I really do see 2 way top-pair upside.

His production is unbelievable though. His .45PPG is the best ever for a U19 defenseman in the CZE that has played over 5 games. The last time anyone was close was five defenseman between .37-.42 between 1979-1994. He's tied with Kuluch (a 2022 forward prospect) in U19 points & PPG in the league, and none of the other 15 guys that have played a game are close. Other notable guys with their PPG in brackets:

2018-19 - Jan Mysak [D0] (.35)
2017-18 - Martin Necas [D1] (.71), Martin Kaut [D0] (.42)
2016-17 - Martin Necas [D0] (.37), Filip Chytil [D0] (.21)

I mean, he's producing better as a defenseman than recent 12th, 16th, 21st, and 48th OA picks in their respective D0's. How some people have him outside their top-20 (let alone the twitter idiots that have him outside the 1st round) is completely beyond me. I'm legitimately having a hard time thinking Nemec is still better.

 

[horner]

Brett Brochu G london knights
Would love to us a middle rd pk on him.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Brett Brochu G london knights
Would love to us a middle rd pk on him.

He has been passed over twice. His size is obviously a big issue for teams.

More than that though, I think there are concerns about his ability to have control in his net. When you watch a smaller goalie like Saros, he is so crisp with his movements and even when things scramble in front of him, he is usually still in excellent position. Brochu can make a bunch of highlight reel saves, but a lot of the time it is because he left a huge opening that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

I think if you are going to bet on a smaller goalie in this draft, it should be Sergei Ivanov out of Russia.

 

[Fogelhund]

Brett Brochu G london knights
Would love to us a middle rd pk on him.

I haven't watched him play, but his stats are decent... the question that I'd ask, is he that good, or another product of a strong Knights team, making the goalie look good?

 

[horner]

I haven't watched him play, but his stats are decent... the question that I'd ask, is he that good, or another product of a strong Knights team, making the goalie look good?

No they have the youngest defence and the forwards are first and second yr players.
This kid never I mean never gives up on a puck

 

[horner]

He has been passed over twice. His size is obviously a big issue for teams.

More than that though, I think there are concerns about his ability to have control in his net. When you watch a smaller goalie like Saros, he is so crisp with his movements and even when things scramble in front of him, he is usually still in excellent position. Brochu can make a bunch of highlight reel saves, but a lot of the time it is because he left a huge opening that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

I think if you are going to bet on a smaller goalie in this draft, it should be Sergei Ivanov out of Russia.

He's 47- 7 - 1
If he has any kinks in his game he is covering up pretty good

 

[Fogelhund]

He's 47- 7 - 1
If he has any kinks in his game he is covering up pretty good

If he's been passed over twice, maybe take the gamble that he's likely to be passed over again, and sign him to a Marlies contract to start...

 

[SeaOfBlue]

He's 47- 7 - 1
If he has any kinks in his game he is covering up pretty good

He is 41-7-1, but anyways...

Having a good record, and even a good save percentage, in the CHL is more indicative of your team than who you are as a goalie. It is more important that you are outplaying your team. Putting up a .900 behind a mediocre team is a lot more impressive than putting up a .920 behind a powerhouse team.

There are a ton of goalies who can perform great behind powerhouse teams in the CHL, but can't hack it in the pros. See Cedrick Andree from Ottawa and Tyler Parsons from London. Both had exceptional win records and save percentages themselves, but neither are anything special.

As for them having a young team, London is the 8th oldest (out of 20) in the OHL, and their defense has 3 02's on it. It is not the oldest or most experienced, but it certainly isn't the youngest or least experienced either. There are a number of teams that do not have an NHL 2nd round pick (Roger) + another NHL pick (Montogomery) + 2 other candidates to be selected in the mid-late rounds on it (Edwards + George) either. I won't even get started on their even more stacked forward group.

I'll leave it at this... if Brochu wins the Canadian backup job behind Sebastian Cossa over Ben Gaudreau, Tyler Brennan, and Dylan Garand (and anyone else in the running), I will give him some consideration as a late round draft pick. Until then, he is another undersized goalie who lights up the CHL but will end up undrafted.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

It is not an amazing crop for goalies this year personally. These are the only guys I have in the top 125 right now:

Name	Position	Shoots/Catches	Birth Month		Birth Year	Height (ft)	Height (cm)	Weight (lbs)	Junior Team	League
Tyler Brennan	Goalie	Left	September		2003	6'4"	193	190	Prince George	WHL
Hugo Havelid	Goalie	Left	January		2004	5'10"	178	170	Linkoping U20	SWEDEN-JR.
Dylan Silverstein	Goalie	Left	February		2004	6'0"	183	179	USA U18	USDP
Sergei Ivanov	Goalie	Left	April		2004	5'11"	180	157	St. Petersburg	RUSSIA-JR.
Topias Leinonen	Goalie	Left	July		2004	6'4"	193	185	JYP U20	FINLAND - JR.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

And I am not sure I would put any of them in the top 50, which means I am not sure any of these guys are projected to become more than 1A tandem guys in the NHL.

Some later round guys:

Braden Holt	Goalie	Left	July		2003	6'1"	185	161	Everett	WHL
Mason Beaupit	Goalie	Left	September		2003	6'5"	195	183	Spokane	WHL
Nolan Lalonde	Goalie	Right	February		2004	6'1"	185	185	Erie	OHL
Vincent Filion	Goalie	Left	February		2004	6'0"	183	172	Moncton	QMJHL
Dylan Ernst	Goalie	Left	February		2004	6'2"	188	181	Kamloops	WHL
Niklas Kokko	Goalie	Left	March		2004	6'2"	189	179	Karpat U20	FINLAND-JR.
Charles-Edward Gravel	Goalie	Right	March		2004	6'1"	185	181	Blainville-Boisbriand	QMJHL
Kyle Downey	Goalie	Left	March		2004	6'1"	185	176	Windsor	OHL
Matthew Kieper	Goalie	Left	March		2004	6'2"	188	179	Regina	WHL
Rastislav Elias	Goalie	Left	April		2004	6'2"	188	165	Green Bay	USHL
Jan Spunar	Goalie	Left	May		2004	6'3"	191	185	Olomouc U20	CZECH-JR.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I imagine I will bump a few of these guys up to the top 125 by the end of the year, especially once I find out who the Canada U18 starter is.

 

[Morgs]

It is not an amazing crop for goalies this year personally. These are the only guys I have in the top 125 right now

I've taken a liking towards Ivanov. Seems he's low ranked based on size and not due to his talent & numbers. He's also playing MHL, not Russia Jr (which I personally see different).