don't wanna jump in front of STI here just offering my two cents:
i don't agree with the smith ranking. he's tremendously skilled and deserves a decently high placement, but carlsson's combination of skill, size, and processing ability, not to mention his remarkable progression this season even into the SHL playoffs makes him a more palatable prospect to me. one of his biggest knocks this year was skating which has shown improvement (in terms of pure speed for sure, he was always really light on his feet). michkov, obviously, is better and having unprecedented success and will only be selected lower than 2 for non-hockey reasons. people have spent all season stumbling over themselves trying to talk themselves out of him but it's just not working, he's an exceptional talent. that's not to say he isn't without his drawbacks (i.e. his size+speed combo isn't ideal), but this level of talent is so impressive i'll always bet on the player finding his way. bob's list is great as a feeler for how the draft will go, so i unfortunately won't be surprised to see michkov slip, but i'll disagree with it
couple other quick comments on it:
-well deserved high placement for dvorsky despite what a number of armchair scouts wanna say. hes an unbelievably strong defensive presence with an excellent shot, great vision, and effective passing game. no, he's not the most elite offensive player you'll see, but too many people saw a lack of flash and a lack of production in a notoriously difficult to produce in league and began projecting him as a much lower upside player than he is
-reinbacher is my top defender by a significant margin and i think even 10 undersells him. i wouldnt put him over jiricek/nemec from last year but i dont think hes that far off, he has a super established defensive game and has shown flashes of opening up offensively. i was blown away by his WJC showing
-i really wasnt a wood fan coming out of the bchl this past offseason but the strides hes taken with uconn have been amazing. the guy produces everywhere and more importantly is hes trusted by his team and coaching staff to be the guy produce. he was 17 for most of the year and put up a ppg showing in college! he has the vision, shot, playmaking ability, and smarts to be a high impact player. his defensive engagement isnt great but theres been clear progression. hes choppy on his skates but at top speed hes not as bad as people make him out to be. jason robertson is a lofty comparison but it really feels like a similar case of so much other than skating grading out as high end, we'll see if he hits anywhere near that
-this is getting long so ill cut myself off (happy to comment on more if youd like) but one player i believe deserved a top 12 placement was eduard sale, who didnt even get an HM. great skater, extremely crafty thinker, dual threat offensive player with a preference for playmaking, theres just so much elite offensive skill here. part of his low ranking is being in extraliga which people notoriously underrank over because these kids dont put up gaudy point totals (playing bottom 6 assignments...) and will understandably go quiet for stretches of time. the other side of it is, while i think people overstate it, his shift to shift consistency can vary. he can be a bit passive going for loose pucks. he isnt always as dominant and assertive with the puck as can be. but again i dont its this glaring issue some people think it is, and i believe hes an overwhelming net positive on the ice a majority of the time. you can probably pick any game from his most recent u18 tournament and come away really impressed by him, which is especially noteworthy considering how little support he had up front
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