Prospect Info: 2023 NHL Draft Thread

[Guadana]

yeah, but we wouldn’t draft those guys, we’d pass on them for someone we could have gotten at #6.

If you would prefer to interest in draft, you would know that this #6 wouldn't pass #4.

when i first looked at 2023 draft class, i was mainly looking for center with size and carlsson was the first cstching my interest. seeing like him and the devils started the season i hope he remains a pipe dream.

Only if we magically win lottery again. Or Nico will not return and Jack will join his hospital cabinette.

I like Bedard as a player. But Leo is my favorite. Not to be best NHL scorer, because it obvious Bedard is, but as a two way hard to play against center/winger, who can be productive on the both sides of the ice. I would say Bedard has ceiling of Auston Matthews, Leo is a first player who can try to climb on the pick on "Forsberg" mountain. I can't imagine someone can, but if someone could try - it should be Leo.

I've said this before but I just want one of the four-ish power forwards that look to be 1st rounders.

I mentioned players who could be interesting for devils organisation.

Karlsson(if things will go bad way), Stramel, Ritchie, But, Halttunen, Barlow, Dvorsky. I have another players like Sale, Danielsen, Wood, Smith, Musty on my early list, but... it`s too early. I prefer to find good two way and\or power forward on that draft for Devils organisation. Reason why I have "top" group and second group. I believe. everything will change.

Players with good two way/clutch/power forward game and offensive potential.

 

[Xirik]

Players with good two way/clutch/power forward game and offensive potential.

And has a Shoot shoot shoot SHOOT! mentality. We got the playmakers, We just need someone who wants to have the puck on their stick to end the game.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Tell me more about this 2023 top 5…

 

[Guadana]

Tell me more about this 2023 top 5…

They are perfect) Very sexy prospects.

Consensual top-3 is Bedard, Michkov and Fantilli.
Carlsson is close to be number 4(btw I like him more than some top-3 players)
And different writers have different 5th player - Sale, Yager, Dvorsky, Wood and Benson.

Every player will make our team better. Carlsson is perfect one, because he is rare physical two way center, involve in the game through every meter of the rink.
Dvorsky is offensive center man with good stick skills. He isn`t slow, but I cant name him good two way player, good skater.
Wood is everythink we could want - physical, strong, read the game well, drive the net, but his speed and skating isn`t above average.
Yager is electric, but he isn`t big and two way. But I think he has potential because of his great hands.
Benson is small, I don`t think its our case.
Sale is right winger, I don`t think its our case.

And ofcourse Bedard, Michkov and Fantilli. Every player is great, you shouldn`t care what they are actually is, if Devils will got a chance to draft them(and I would add Carlsson in this group) - we will be happy. Bedard is goal scoring machine, Michkov read positional game on the speed and understand when he should be slower or faster, very smart player, Fantialli is very dynamic, fast and big player who will make everything to score, Carlsson is swiss knife with iq, skating, size and hands.

But let`s be clear. Even if goalies will continue to svck and our structure will bring multyple turnovers, this team will win games anyway. Because they will find groove anyway. They don't play like a bad team, they play like an out-of-tune team. Don`t wait top-5 pick. Only if Nico and Jack will hurt themselves. So far, it is more reasonable to study the top 15. Even before the season, I didn't really count on the lucky eight, but it's still too pessimistically optimistic to dream of the top 5.

 

[Brodeur]

Tell me more about this 2023 top 5…

Me: Don't look at the standings for the first few weeks of the season.

Also me after two games:

-----------

The U18s will be in Basel in April. One of my close friends in college ended up settling there, although as a result we haven't talked much in the last 10-15 years. I bugged him a few years back when the Devils were playing in Switzerland about possibly coming to visit but that didn't pan out. Maybe can use the tournament as a crutch to go visit (and squeeze in another European stop).

 

[GameSeven]

They are perfect) Very sexy prospects.

Consensual top-3 is Bedard, Michkov and Fantilli.

Well, given the recent Hockey Canada scandal, consensual players are definitely an advantage.

j/k, you clearly mean "consensus" here and I appreciate the good work you put into your posts, especially international players we might not hear about as often stateside.

 

[Guadana]

Well, given the recent Hockey Canada scandal, consensual players are definitely an advantage.

j/k, you clearly mean "consensus" here and I appreciate the good work you put into your posts, especially international players we might not hear about as often stateside.

Yeah)

So don`t draft Russians because they are Russians and can never travel, don`t draft canada players because potential sexual scandals, don`t draft small tiny swedes because they can`t get used to american style of hockey, don`t draft czech`s because... their hockey is on the down trajectory, don`t draft finns because they never have good career in NJD, don`t draft americans, because they are going to college and than sign with NYR as free agents.

So... Swiss.

 

[GameSeven]

While I often defer to conventional wisdom on using first round picks on goalies (a certain GOAT notwithstanding), I'm starting to keep an eye on Michael Hrabal.

His stock seems to be rising and he's off to a good start with his current squad.

Some pretty good numbers in every league he's played in, including International Juniors and Hlinka.

I don't know the earliest pick I'd use, but I wouldn't mind swinging for the fences with a later first if we could find a blue chip goaltender prospect.

 

[My3Sons]

Yeah)

So don`t draft Russians because they are Russians and can never travel, don`t draft canada players because potential sexual scandals, don`t draft small tiny swedes because they can`t get used to american style of hockey, don`t draft czech`s because... their hockey is on the down trajectory, don`t draft finns because they never have good career in NJD, don`t draft americans, because they are going to college and than sign with NYR as free agents.

So... Swiss.

Wait, that also leaves Germany and noted hockey power Slovakia as fertile drafting grounds.....

 

[Guadana]

Wait, that also leaves Germany and noted hockey power Slovakia as fertile drafting grounds.....

...some Guadana`s favourite players on previous drafts - Reichel, Peterka, Slafkovsky, Sykora... Kasper. Do we consider Austrians as Germans? Or is it a bad historical practice?

 

[My3Sons]

...some Guadana`s favourite players on previous drafts - Reichel, Peterka, Slafkovsky, Sykora... Kasper. Do we consider Austrians as Germans? Or is it a bad historical practice?

I guess for hockey and Mel Brooks movies we can make an exception.

 

[forceten]

Do we consider Austrians as Germans? Or is it a bad historical practice?

Too soon?

 

[Guadana]

Too soon?

I do not know how to answer. Too good.

I guess for hockey and Mel Brooks movies we can make an exception.

Someday Detroit will release a documentary about how a young Austrian Kasper will come to the Seider team and win respect and authority there, become a captain, talk about reviving the former greatness of the team, and then lead the team to the finals against Tampa with Kucherov and Vasilevsky. In the final, Kasper's team will fail, later Kasper's team will lose to both the teams of the East and the teams of the West, and they will get rid of Kasper.

 

[My3Sons]

I do not know how to answer. Too good.

Someday Detroit will release a documentary about how a young Austrian Kasper will come to the Seider team and win respect and authority there, become a captain, talk about reviving the former greatness of the team, and then lead the team to the finals against Tampa with Kucherov and Vasilevsky. In the final, Kasper's team will fail, later Kasper's team will lose to both the teams of the East and the teams of the West, and they will get rid of Kasper.

I'm not Mel Brooks so we'll stop this here but excellent work on it. For someone using English as a second language this was very well done.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Leo Carlsson off to a great start in the shl. He won't keep it up I imagine (his pace would obliterate guys like eklund or holtz's DY production). Right now he's pacing at Daniel Sedin rates.

I'd rank Leo Carlsson in the Elias Pettersson range as a potential star #1 C at the NHL level. As good as Sweden as been in recent years producing high-level wings and defenders, they have been a bit suspect at center, and Carlsson is a really big deal in that regard. I hate to "rank" in October, but Carlsson certainly has a shot to go top 5 in one of the most stacked draft classes I can recall.

 

[StevenToddIves]

...some Guadana`s favourite players on previous drafts - Reichel, Peterka, Slafkovsky, Sykora... Kasper. Do we consider Austrians as Germans? Or is it a bad historical practice?

It's interesting how nationality affects a player's standing in the draft world. Maybe I'll write an article about it someday.

Still, does JJ Peterka fall to the second round if he's Canadian or Swedish? Extremely doubtful. What about Jiri Kulich -- the guy dominated every tournament he played in last season, and yet he fell to the bottom of the 1st round (#30) behind forwards he was clearly superior to. One pick ahead of him San Jose took another center in Filip Bystedt, who I can confidently say is not even in Kulich's league in terms of talent and upside. Bystedt's ceiling is literally in the neighborhood of Kulich's floor, but Bystedt is bigger and Swedish, both factors I believe went into the decision to take him with Kulich still available. As for Buffalo, I believe Kulich could conceivably turn out better than their #8 pick (Savoie) and #16 pick (Ostlund). He's a player to watch, for sure.

It's 2022, we should know better, right? But how do we explain Vancouver taking Jonathan Lekkerimaki with Joakim Kemell still not he board? They're both very similar-styled sniping RWs, about the same size and skating, except Kemell out-performed Lekkerimaki and is literally equal or superior in every tool imaginable. And yet Vancouver, with a history of drafting out of Sweden and one recently-highly-picked Finn who busted (Juolevi) clearly took nationality into play and took Lekkerimaki, leaving Kemell as the potential steal of the 2022 draft (#17, Nashville).

Let's not even get into the Russians. Gleb Trikozov (#60, Carolina) and -- even moreso -- Alexander Perevalov (#71, also f**king Carolina) were clearly 1st round talents. And yet they were drafted well after Canadian forwards with not even a fraction of their talent and upside like Paul Ludwinski and Matthew Poitras. We know the OHL is the most heavily scouted league in the world and the MHL is sorely under-scouted, but five minutes of watching Perevalov/Trikozov vs. Ludwinski/Poitras and any newcomer to scouting would see who the more talented players are.

Anyway, teams would be wise to draft without caring the nationality of whom they are drafting. But since that's not the case, smart teams (like Carolina) are ready to snatch up the rest of the NHLs misses.

 

[My3Sons]

It's interesting how nationality affects a player's standing in the draft world. Maybe I'll write an article about it someday.

Still, does JJ Peterka fall to the second round if he's Canadian or Swedish? Extremely doubtful. What about Jiri Kulich -- the guy dominated every tournament he played in last season, and yet he fell to the bottom of the 1st round (#30) behind forwards he was clearly superior to. One pick ahead of him San Jose took another center in Filip Bystedt, who I can confidently say is not even in Kulich's league in terms of talent and upside. Bystedt's ceiling is literally in the neighborhood of Kulich's floor, but Bystedt is bigger and Swedish, both factors I believe went into the decision to take him with Kulich still available. As for Buffalo, I believe Kulich could conceivably turn out better than their #8 pick (Savoie) and #16 pick (Ostlund). He's a player to watch, for sure.

It's 2022, we should know better, right? But how do we explain Vancouver taking Jonathan Lekkerimaki with Joakim Kemell still not he board? They're both very similar-styled sniping RWs, about the same size and skating, except Kemell out-performed Lekkerimaki and is literally equal or superior in every tool imaginable. And yet Vancouver, with a history of drafting out of Sweden and one recently-highly-picked Finn who busted (Juolevi) clearly took nationality into play and took Lekkerimaki, leaving Kemell as the potential steal of the 2022 draft (#17, Nashville).

Let's not even get into the Russians. Gleb Trikozov (#60, Carolina) and -- even moreso -- Alexander Perevalov (#71, also f**king Carolina) were clearly 1st round talents. And yet they were drafted well after Canadian forwards with not even a fraction of their talent and upside like Paul Ludwinski and Matthew Poutras. We know the OHL is the most heavily scouted league in the world and the MHL is sorely under-scouted, but five minutes of watching Perevalov/Trikozov vs. Ludwinski/Poitras and any newcomer to scouting would see who the more talented players are.

Anyway, teams would be wise to draft without caring the nationality of whom they are drafting. But since that's not the case, smart teams (like Carolina) are ready to snatch up the rest of the NHLs misses.

This past draft was tough for Russian players and the kids paid the price on some level for the actions of their government. As for Kemell I would only add that like Barzal before him, he fell well past publicly available draft rankings. A bunch of teams decided to go in different directions over him. I’d be curious whether his nationality scared off multiple teams or what we it was some other issue. He looks like a heck of a player and can be compared to Holtz when I’ve watched him. Not quite the passer Holtz is but he’s got better footwork than Holtz at the same age. No reason Kemell should have fallen as far as he did. Much like a Barzal. As always thanks for sharing your thoughts. You and @Guadana and a few others add so much to our understanding of prospects and there is no question I have a much better eye for things now when I watch the videos that get shared.

 

[Guadana]

It's interesting how nationality affects a player's standing in the draft world. Maybe I'll write an article about it someday.

Still, does JJ Peterka fall to the second round if he's Canadian or Swedish? Extremely doubtful. What about Jiri Kulich -- the guy dominated every tournament he played in last season, and yet he fell to the bottom of the 1st round (#30) behind forwards he was clearly superior to. One pick ahead of him San Jose took another center in Filip Bystedt, who I can confidently say is not even in Kulich's league in terms of talent and upside. Bystedt's ceiling is literally in the neighborhood of Kulich's floor, but Bystedt is bigger and Swedish, both factors I believe went into the decision to take him with Kulich still available. As for Buffalo, I believe Kulich could conceivably turn out better than their #8 pick (Savoie) and #16 pick (Ostlund). He's a player to watch, for sure.

It's 2022, we should know better, right? But how do we explain Vancouver taking Jonathan Lekkerimaki with Joakim Kemell still not he board? They're both very similar-styled sniping RWs, about the same size and skating, except Kemell out-performed Lekkerimaki and is literally equal or superior in every tool imaginable. And yet Vancouver, with a history of drafting out of Sweden and one recently-highly-picked Finn who busted (Juolevi) clearly took nationality into play and took Lekkerimaki, leaving Kemell as the potential steal of the 2022 draft (#17, Nashville).

Let's not even get into the Russians. Gleb Trikozov (#60, Carolina) and -- even moreso -- Alexander Perevalov (#71, also f**king Carolina) were clearly 1st round talents. And yet they were drafted well after Canadian forwards with not even a fraction of their talent and upside like Paul Ludwinski and Matthew Poutras. We know the OHL is the most heavily scouted league in the world and the MHL is sorely under-scouted, but five minutes of watching Perevalov/Trikozov vs. Ludwinski/Poitras and any newcomer to scouting would see who the more talented players are.

Anyway, teams would be wise to draft without caring the nationality of whom they are drafting. But since that's not the case, smart teams (like Carolina) are ready to snatch up the rest of the NHLs misses.

Kemmel was my candidate for top-5, my strong candidate for top-10. I don`t know what they got in Lekkerimaki over Kemmel. They had good scout, they fired him, Minnesota says thanks.
For me it is obvious - if you are drafting russians, than make it in earlier rounds. Some teams drated them, but didn`t draft in earlier rounds and taked worser players. That was stupid.

Carolina outplayed everybody. That was a team who compete for Stanly Cup, but drafted tonns of potential top-6\top-4 talent.

And I`m not so high about Buffalo past draft as many are.

 

[Guadana]

My boy Leo

 

[StevenToddIves]

Kemmel was my candidate for top-5, my strong candidate for top-10. I don`t know what they got in Lekkerimaki over Kemmel. They had good scout, they fired him, Minnesota says thanks.
For me it is obvious - if you are drafting russians, than make it in earlier rounds. Some teams drated them, but didn`t draft in earlier rounds and taked worser players. That was stupid.

Carolina outplayed everybody. That was a team who compete for Stanly Cup, but drafted tonns of potential top-6\top-4 talent.

And I`m not so high about Buffalo past draft as many are.

Buffalo's 2022 draft is something I analyzed quite closely, and it was a bit troubling to me, as well. Savoie at #9 was a tough pick to argue with considering his immense offensive potential, though I think I would have taken Frank Nazar if I were them. Though I am a fan of Noah Ostlund, I thought they really reached for him at #16, especially considering they had just taken an undersized center 7 picks earlier with Savoie. I feel if I were the Sabres -- with 3 first round picks -- I would've taken Ivan Miroshnichenko here, who offered the most pure upside as well as a power/interior forward game which Buffalo lacks in the system. If the higher management was scared off by Miro's health issues, I would have taken Kemell.

I have no qualms about Buffalo selecting Jiri Kulich at #30 -- just an outstanding pick. The kid has first line-type star upside. Similarly, I liked Buffalo's goaltending swing for the fences with Leinonen at #41. Buffalo also nailed it in Round 3 with sniping, high-upside winger Viktor Neuchev out of the WHL.

After this, I felt the Buffalo draft fell off a cliff. Mats Lindgren was a decent value in the 4th, but Buffalo is set at LD forever with Dahlin and Power, and they have a similar-type but more skilled offensive LD in the system with Ryan Johnson. Four picks later Columbus made a steal of a pick with hulking 6'8 winger Kirill Dolzhenkov, exactly the type of player Buffalo needs. The Sabres also lack for RD and left several superior (to Lindgren) players at that position on the board. The Sabres had 5 picks in rounds 5 through 7, and threw darts on all of them, just some awful late round drafting.

For me, the Sabres 2022 draft was a mixed bag -- though they certainly got some high-end talent, the draft left me wanting more. It just could have been so much better if they had employed more strategy and awareness.

 

[Guadana]

Buffalo's 2022 draft is something I analyzed quite closely, and it was a bit troubling to me, as well. Savoie at #9 was a tough pick to argue with considering his immense offensive potential, though I think I would have taken Frank Nazar if I were them. Though I am a fan of Noah Ostlund, I thought they really reached for him at #16, especially considering they had just taken an undersized center 7 picks earlier with Savoie. I feel if I were the Sabres -- with 3 first round picks -- I would've taken Ivan Miroshnichenko here, who offered the most pure upside as well as a power/interior forward game which Buffalo lacks in the system. If the higher management was scared off by Miro's health issues, I would have taken Kemell.

I have no qualms about Buffalo selecting Jiri Kulich at #30 -- just an outstanding pick. The kid has first line-type star upside. Similarly, I liked Buffalo's goaltending swing for the fences with Leinonen at #41. Buffalo also nailed it in Round 3 with sniping, high-upside winger Viktor Neuchev out of the WHL.

After this, I felt the Buffalo draft fell off a cliff. Mats Lindgren was a decent value in the 4th, but Buffalo is set at LD forever with Dahlin and Power, and they have a similar-type but more skilled offensive LD in the system with Ryan Johnson. Four picks later Columbus made a steal of a pick with hulking 6'8 winger Kirill Dolzhenkov, exactly the type of player Buffalo needs. The Sabres also lack for RD and left several superior (to Lindgren) players at that position on the board. The Sabres had 5 picks in rounds 5 through 7, and threw darts on all of them, just some awful late round drafting.

For me, the Sabres 2022 draft was a mixed bag -- though they certainly got some high-end talent, the draft left me wanting more. It just could have been so much better if they had employed more strategy and awareness.

First of all - Baffalo have problems with interior forwards in the system. I easily drafted Nazar over Savoie. Ostlund? Yeah I heard it, but they drafted pretty the same style player. Kulich - different player, but again, small side, offensive minded. I even prefer Gaucher over Ostlund, not because he is better, but because what they already have. Or Ohgren, or Snuggerud, or Miroshnichenko of course. Kulich is pretty ok, but they have 3 picks, so make a bet, draft Lambert. I wasn`t a fan for Lambert, but on my taste as late first rounder and 3rd pick - he is perfect. And I think his ceiling is much higher than Kulich. They already drafted two "creative" player, so you can draft good physical complimetnary player Schaefer, or you can draft better two way center Beck, or Howard, if your target is drafting small players only. Again - Howard is more dynamic player with better balance in his game.
In vacuum - pretty ok three players. I`m not a fan of anyone of them, but ok, I admit their talents. But if I had their three picks, I would definitely prefer to have much more balanced strategy or prefer to draft players with higher ceilings like Howard and Lambert if my strategy based on draft small players with offensive upside. I prefer to draft Nazar, Kemmel\Miroshnichenko\Ohgren and Beck\Lambert\Perevalov.

I don`t like their first round draft. Even if this players will pan out, they will not turn into two way\interior\physical\defensive forwards magically, where Buffalo have big problems. I think they mismanaged their picks from the point of view of picking in favor of maximum talent and higher ceiling, and from the point of view of picking in favor of balance and problem solving.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

I’d like to see NJD get centers and trigger men and all right handed. No Dmen this year, all the right handed two-way centers and wings are mine!

So @Guadana and @StevenToddIves who am I falling in love with that fits these molds only to be disappointed on draft day?

 

[Guadana]

I’d like to see NJD get centers and trigger men and all right handed. No Dmen this year, all the right handed two-way centers and wings are mine!

So @Guadana and @StevenToddIves who am I falling in love with that fits these molds only to be disappointed on draft day?

Where you want it to drat? Top-10? 10-20? in the end of the first round?

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Where you want it to drat? Top-10? 10-20? in the end of the first round?

Good question. I’m going to try and stay as realistic as possible and say, middle of the first round, where the team either just misses or just makes the playoffs.

 

[Eggtimer]

Yeah)

So don`t draft Russians because they are Russians and can never travel, don`t draft canada players because potential sexual scandals, don`t draft small tiny swedes because they can`t get used to american style of hockey, don`t draft czech`s because... their hockey is on the down trajectory, don`t draft finns because they never have good career in NJD, don`t draft americans, because they are going to college and than sign with NYR as free agents.

So... Swiss

Or Norway …? But I heard they snore a lot so cant draft them because they would keep teammmates up at night,,,