2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Fair enough. You wouldn’t be the first to basically require plus speed for any undersized player.

My impression is you’re a bit of a size queen so I’m a bit surprised to see you even mention Schmidt given he’s 5’7”. But I guess we each have our preferences and lines we won’t cross. I think you and I might have a few different things we look for in prospects but at the same time, I’ve always highly respected your opinion. Thanks for sharing it.

I do favor size and plus skaters. I look for hockey IQ which may differ from some people’s version. I hear he’s so smart with the puck, but I also see he’s pretty dumb without it. Can the player get the puck, win the puck? Does he have some honey badger to him? My guys all year in varying draft spots have been O’Brien, Drott, Sumpf, Desnoyers, Bedkowski, Passmore Funck. I pick players in ranges. You see Passmore on my list and asked why. I don't know if I have seen a game where the puck goes in the corner and he doesn't come out with it. Big guys, small guys, he has the puck...simple pass moving forward. Mrtka may be one of the worst guys in the corner I've seen this year. Like it or not, that is transitional play. Someone has to come out of the corner with the puck. If it is your guy over consistently winning that battle, then in my opinion....that is a huge plus. Sumpf wins his shifts versus the opposition consistently. He makes a difference with or without the puck somehow every shift a hit, faceoff, coverage...he doesn't have to score to win games for you and if he does...you have an all star. Like Sunny.

I’m struggling at 19 honestly.

 

[execwrite1]

Rosters for the U-18 World tournament


Blake Fiddler is on the US team.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Rosters for the U-18 World tournament


Blake Fiddler is on the US team.

Thanks for that. The IIHF site doesn’t have all of the roster adds yet. So besides Reschny and Verhoeff, looks like the Canadians are also adding Beckham Edwards and Daxon Rudolph, both of which are ‘08s not even draft eligible until next year.

And yes, Fiddler is on the US team. I watched some of the first game against the Czechs and he looked pretty good. I still wouldn’t be overly comfortable taking him at 19 though. Not a fan of his hockey sense based on what I saw out of his games in the Dub.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Thanks for that. The IIHF site doesn’t have all of the roster adds yet. So besides Reschny and Verhoeff, looks like the Canadians are also adding Beckham Edwards and Daxon Rudolph, both of which are ‘08s not even draft eligible until next year.

And yes, Fiddler is on the US team. I watched some of the first game against the Czechs and he looked pretty good. I still wouldn’t be overly comfortable taking him at 19 though. Not a fan of his hockey sense based on what I saw out of his games in the Dub.

I’m starting to think Sasha has been overlooked in the draft this year. His ability to make a pass out of nowhere reminds me of Fowler. I’ve also liked what I’ve seen out of Cootes. His team pretty much sucked and he had no teammates. He’s look pretty impressive. I kind of dismissed him because it seemed like he just passed to areas. He actually has a lot more skill than I gave him credit for playing with better teammates.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I do favor size and plus skaters. I look for hockey IQ which may differ from some people’s version. I hear he’s so smart with the puck, but I also see he’s pretty dumb without it. Can the player get the puck, win the puck? Does he have some honey badger to him? My guys all year in varying draft spots have been O’Brien, Drott, Sumpf, Desnoyers, Bedkowski, Passmore Funck. I pick players in ranges. You see Passmore on my list and asked why. I don't know if I have seen a game where the puck goes in the corner and he doesn't come out with it. Big guys, small guys, he has the puck...simple pass moving forward. Mrtka may be one of the worst guys in the corner I've seen this year. Like it or not, that is transitional play. Someone has to come out of the corner with the puck. If it is your guy over consistently winning that battle, then in my opinion....that is a huge plus. Sumpf wins his shifts versus the opposition consistently. He makes a difference with or without the puck somehow every shift a hit, faceoff, coverage...he doesn't have to score to win games for you and if he does...you have an all star. Like Sunny.

I’m struggling at 19 honestly.

100% on board with this as I think it’s pretty much what I look for too. Does this player play a winning brand of hockey? Do they do the little things that tend to lead to their team scoring more while they’re out on the ice…even if it’s not them being the one putting the puck in the net? Or do they do little things that consistently lead to more goals against? Do they like to win or do they hate to lose? There’s a difference IMO. Do they support their teammates in terms of puck support but also in terms of not letting the opposition get away with cheap stuff? It can be hard to discern these things sometimes but they’re oh so important. So totally on board with you there.

I haven’t had as much time this year to watch prospects so I’m not familiar with a couple on your list. So tell me more about the Swedes Drott and Funck. What do you like about them?

Having watched some of Moncton’s games, I agree with you that Sumpf is worthy of throwing a late round pick at. He’s been very solid. Some of that has to be because he’s 19 (20 now) and playing on arguably the best team in the CHL…but he’s also one of the reasons why they’re arguably the best team in the CHL. I doubt he’d bring much offense in the NHL but he has size and intangibles and he’s already 2 years farther on the development curve than most kids that are going to be drafted this June so yeah, I could see him as being a worthy add to the prospect pool to see if he could be a good bottom-6 forward in time. The only issue IMO is Springfield is already looking crowded next season and with him being 20, that’s pretty much where he’d need to go too.


And agree on Mrtka. I see the potential but holy hell does he look rough a lot. I see better stickhandling at my Thursday evening beer league. Maybe he’s able to make an adjustment and flip the switch but yeah, I see the concern with him too.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I’m starting to think Sasha has been overlooked in the draft this year. His ability to make a pass out of nowhere reminds me of Fowler. I’ve also liked what I’ve seen out of Cootes. His team pretty much sucked and he had no teammates. He’s look pretty impressive. I kind of dismissed him because it seemed like he just passed to areas. He actually has a lot more skill than I gave him credit for playing with better teammates.

You’re referring to Boumedienne I assume? He’s certainly caught my eye as well. I watched a solid # of college games this year, mostly Big 10 and Big East and he didn’t really stick out to me when I watched BU. But that was probably for a couple reasons - I was focusing on Hutson and Willander mostly when watching BU and secondly, he was a 17 year old so it’d make sense why he wouldn’t dominate college hockey yet. But the fact he played solid minutes for a top college program at the age most are still Srs in HS…that in and of itself is very impressive. In fact, I’m having a hard time even thinking of another 17 yr old d-man that played in the NCAA. All the other 17 yr olds I can think of (Toews, Celebrini, Wood etc) were all forwards. He was also by far the highest scoring 16 yr old d-man in the USHL last season too. And obviously the 7 pts in 2 games for the Swedes here at the U18s is noticeable. They played Switzerland and Germany so not surprising they’re averaging 9.5 goals/game but still, he’s been good. Makes tonight’s game vs the US pretty much a must watch for me.

What do you make of Ekberg’s 8 pts so far? I’m not very familiar with him. Looks like he was only so-so for the ‘67s this season. Or Gästrin? He played 8 SHL games this season as a 17 yr old.

Agree on Cootes. I saw on Twitter a day or two before the tourney started one of the eliteprospects writers said that Cootes was way underrated and he was going to open some eyes. So I’ve paid attention to him a bit more and would have to agree. Kid’s got some skill for sure.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

You’re referring to Boumedienne I assume? He’s certainly caught my eye as well. I watched a solid # of college games this year, mostly Big 10 and Big East and he didn’t really stick out to me when I watched BU. But that was probably for a couple reasons - I was focusing on Hutson and Willander mostly when watching BU and secondly, he was a 17 year old so it’d make sense why he wouldn’t dominate college hockey yet. But the fact he played solid minutes for a top college program at the age most are still Srs in HS…that in and of itself is very impressive. In fact, I’m having a hard time even thinking of another 17 yr old d-man that played in the NCAA. All the other 17 yr olds I can think of (Toews, Celebrini, Wood etc) were all forwards. He was also by far the highest scoring 16 yr old d-man in the USHL last season too. And obviously the 7 pts in 2 games for the Swedes here at the U18s is noticeable. They played Switzerland and Germany so not surprising they’re averaging 9.5 goals/game but still, he’s been good. Makes tonight’s game vs the US pretty much a must watch for me.

What do you make of Ekberg’s 8 pts so far? I’m not very familiar with him. Looks like he was only so-so for the ‘67s this season. Or Gästrin? He played 8 SHL games this season as a 17 yr old.

Agree on Cootes. I saw on Twitter a day or two before the tourney started one of the eliteprospects writers said that Cootes was way underrated and he was going to open some eyes. So I’ve paid attention to him a bit more and would have to agree. Kid’s got some skill for sure.

I am referring to Boumedienne. He is like a whole new pilot program to test. A 17 year old defenseman in college hockey and a top program. What do you do with that? Spent lots of time with Willander which I can see as a plus as his skate tool is very similar. Probably the tool needing the most work is defense, so who better to play alongside? The thing that caught me with Boumedienne in the USHL was what he saw stretching a pass. He did it several times against the Swiss. That's Petro stuff. That's top 2-4 defenseman stuff.

I saw a lot of Ekberg watching Mayich and I just don't see a player there. Ottawa wasn't very good, but it wasn't like his star shined brightly besides. He picked up his share of points, but you can't say go look at the highlight reel play he made to create or score a goal. He's a passenger in my eyes, not a pilot.

Gastrin I see a lot of Jay McClement....maybe with more offense? That's the problem and the unknown...will his offense translate? Can he put up a 40 point season? Great player if he can. Super wheels and energy is what you will notice right away. 200 ft game good on faceoffs. definitely a late 2nd or 3rd round pick I would be extremely happy with. Do you risk it without having a 2nd? Maybe....

Linus Funck is a 6'3" RHD the #1 guy on Lulea who does more of everything. A two way guy without a standout tool, but his tools will play at the next level. He just has game. He sees the play without the puck, and not just with it.

Arvid Drott can fly and he plays big. Smaller version of Herman Traff with more goal scoring ability. He is more of a North American style player than a European style. Curious what he would do in the OHL.

What's your take on Pekarcik? I'm excited to see what he can do in the AHL. Maybe a 10-15 goal 20-30 assist guy? I don't see a lot of finish, but I see a playmaker on the wing. Nice flat pass for a one timer.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Just came across this. Interesting as Kindel isn’t on the roster execwrite linked to above but Cam is there for the tourney so I’d assume he’s either. Kindel is another undersized guy I might consider at 19 so will be good to see him against this level of competition too.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I am referring to Boumedienne. He is like a whole new pilot program to test. A 17 year old defenseman in college hockey and a top program. What do you do with that? Spent lots of time with Willander which I can see as a plus as his skate tool is very similar. Probably the tool needing the most work is defense, so who better to play alongside? The thing that caught me with Boumedienne in the USHL was what he saw stretching a pass. He did it several times against the Swiss. That's Petro stuff. That's top 2-4 defenseman stuff.

I saw a lot of Ekberg watching Mayich and I just don't see a player there. Ottawa wasn't very good, but it wasn't like his star shined brightly besides. He picked up his share of points, but you can't say go look at the highlight reel play he made to create or score a goal. He's a passenger in my eyes, not a pilot.

Gastrin I see a lot of Jay McClement....maybe with more offense? That's the problem and the unknown...will his offense translate? Can he put up a 40 point season? Great player if he can. Super wheels and energy is what you will notice right away. 200 ft game good on faceoffs. definitely a late 2nd or 3rd round pick I would be extremely happy with. Do you risk it without having a 2nd? Maybe....

Linus Funck is a 6'3" RHD the #1 guy on Lulea who does more of everything. A two way guy without a standout tool, but his tools will play at the next level. He just has game. He sees the play without the puck, and not just with it.

Arvid Drott can fly and he plays big. Smaller version of Herman Traff with more goal scoring ability. He is more of a North American style player than a European style. Curious what he would do in the OHL.

What's your take on Pekarcik? I'm excited to see what he can do in the AHL. Maybe a 10-15 goal 20-30 assist guy? I don't see a lot of finish, but I see a playmaker on the wing. Nice flat pass for a one timer.

Yeah, that’s what’s enticing about Boumedienne. He’s raw but the potential is obvious. He’s growing on me.

Thanks for your insight on those other players. There’s always quality players to be had in the middle of the draft and identifying translatable skills of the guys that aren’t the obvious shoo-in types is how you find them IMO. I like how you look at it.

Regarding Penarcik, if I had a crystal ball, I’d say he likely ends up as a NHL 3LW. He’s not guaranteed to make it (what prospect is, really?) but I really like his hockey sense and playmaking ability. Agree he’s not a great finisher. His shot is fine but he absolutely looks to pass first. He’s also quite dogged on the puck. Still pretty raw and his skating can be a bit awkward but when you add up the strengths and weaknesses, I see a player that’s smart, skilled, big and tries hard. That’s a recipe for a solid secondary scoring forward IMO. I see the Blues having 4-5 top prospects (Dvorsky, Snuggy, Lindstein, Stenberg and Jiricek) but I’d put Pekarcik right in the next group that honestly I expect most to at least have somewhat of a decent NHL career - guys like Pekarcik, Dean, Fischer, Stancl, Ellis etc.

I’ll note that I project Pekarcik as a LW as he’s a lefty and that’s mostly where he’s been playing but then again, Bolduc primarily played LW once he was converted from C and yet with the Blues he’s mostly played RW. I guess what I’m saying is I see a logjam at LW going forward so whichever one(s) of these guys show they can successfully play the right side just as well may end up having a leg up on the competition when it comes to earning an NHL role.

Of course, that logjam can and mostly likely will also be solved by some of the prospects getting traded for more immediate pieces. Not all of them can make it unfortunately. At least not with us. There just aren’t enough roster spots to go around for all of them most likely.

 

[execwrite1]

From FC Hockey

Linus Funck | D | Luleå HF J20 (J20 Nationell)​

Also making the jump into second-round territory, after landing closer to the end of the third round in the Winter ranking, is Swedish defenseman Linus Funck. Ranked no. 89 in December, Funck has jumped up 36 spots to no. 53 because of his projectability to the NHL game.


“Funck is a highly intelligent puck-mover who plays a ton of minutes after a slower start to the season,” FCHockey chief European scout Samuel Tirpak said. “He gets necessary production while not sacrificing defensively. His size and ability to read plays defensively and then quickly move the puck the opposite way and start a positive sequence are very impressive at this age.”

 

[execwrite1]

Any thoughts on Sean Barnhill - 6'5" 205 RHD 2025-26 commit to Northeastern

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

From FC Hockey

Linus Funck | D | Luleå HF J20 (J20 Nationell)​

Also making the jump into second-round territory, after landing closer to the end of the third round in the Winter ranking, is Swedish defenseman Linus Funck. Ranked no. 89 in December, Funck has jumped up 36 spots to no. 53 because of his projectability to the NHL game.


“Funck is a highly intelligent puck-mover who plays a ton of minutes after a slower start to the season,” FCHockey chief European scout Samuel Tirpak said. “He gets necessary production while not sacrificing defensively. His size and ability to read plays defensively and then quickly move the puck the opposite way and start a positive sequence are very impressive at this age.”

They are one of the few sites that usually have some kind of review on everyone. It’s good to get a mores prospective and not just a couple podcasters thoughts. They are one of the few giving him a rank.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Any thoughts on Sean Barnhill - 6'5" 205 RHD 2025-26 commit to Northeastern

A less publicized and maybe better all around version of Bedkowski. He committed to a college so he can be a long term project. I see one of those highly sought after playoff guys that can fetch a high pick if you don’t keep him.

Draft Profile: Sean Barnhill - Dubuque Fighting Saints

Dubuque, IA — Looking to add again to their defensive prospects, the Fighting Saints selected big bodied and physical defenseman Sean Barnhill from the Phoenix Jr.

dubuquefightingsaints.com

This article says that he and Colin Ralph are similar players.

 

[Spektre]

I know we have a glutton of LHD. But Aitcheson seems like such a nice pick if he’s on the board for us. Very Physical, mobile, big and talented offensively. Does he have decision making concerns? Why isn’t a player of this makeup ranked top 10. Haven’t studied his game enough yet.

I don’t think Dallas is complaining about Harley or Bichsel when they already had Heiskanen and Lindell

Meet Kashawn ‘Kash’ Aitcheson, the 2025 NHL Draft’s meanest prospect: ‘He’s got that extra’​

Scott Wheeler
Feb. 20, 2025


The first time Zack Fitzgerald got Kashawn Aitcheson on the ice five years ago, he popped a kid in the corner.
It was a skills session in Toronto with On Point Hockey and he was skating with kids like Sam Dickinson and Beckett Sennecke who, at the time, were the best 2006s in minor hockey and destined to be top-10 picks in the OHL draft.


Aitcheson wasn’t that. He’d become a third-round pick of the Barrie Colts.
After he introduced himself to the skate in that corner, Fitzgerald, a journeyman tough guy during his own pro career, looked at one of the other coaches on the ice and said “OK, he’s got it. He’s got that extra.”
Years later, Dickinson and Sennecke were taken in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft. A year after that, Aitcheson will join them as a first-rounder in the 2025 draft.
Now he’s one of them.
Once you understand Aitcheson and his story, you can tell why.
“I think the best type of stories are when you’re not necessarily in the spotlight and you just keep working at it,” Fitzgerald said. “He just kept working at it.”

Kashawn Aitcheson was a third-round pick of the Barrie Colts in 2022. (Josh Kim / Barrie Colts)

When Paul Capizzano and Dylan Liptrap of Quartexx Management began working with Aitcheson in his minor midget season with the North York Rangers, they told him, “OK, Kashawn, you might have to play a year or two of Tier II in Stouffville.”
“No, no, don’t worry about it, I’ll be in Barrie this year for sure,” he replied.
Capizzano had first seen him play in Bantam, kept finding himself thinking “You know what, there’s something with this kid,” and kept going back. After seeing him again at Scotiabank Pond just before and after Christmas, Capizzano then spoke to his coach and he and Liptrap decided to get on him.
In the player, they saw a rawness — they still say he’s “very much raw now.”
Once they got to know the kid, they saw that “don’t worry about it, I’ll deal with it” attitude and a “ton of personality.”
“He talks more than I do, and that’s hard to do,” Capizzano said on a phone call earlier this year, laughing.
Atif Khedri has also seen that personality since Aitcheson first walked into his gym, AK Fitness Studio in the Don Mills neighborhood of Toronto, at 13 years old.


Aitcheson was raised in the Scarborough beaches on the east side of the city, supported by his grandparents and his uncle Chris, who played Jr. A and Division III NCAA hockey. He was introduced to Khedri by another one of his clients, Christopher Brown, after Brown found him by chance because his mom worked next to the gym.
In 15 years of working with athletes — including Nik Antropov and his son Danil, Artem Guryev, Akil Thomasand Brett Neumann — he says he’s never met a more humble, hardworking kid than Aitcheson. But it was the personality he noticed first. It always is with Aitcheson, who those around him call “Kash.”
“He’s very charismatic and very energetic,” Khedri said. “The first day when he came in he was very polite. He was respectful. And those are the characteristics that I told him to keep on working on because that will make him an athlete that is more than just talent. Personality is something that you can’t teach people, unfortunately.”
Though Aitcheson wasn’t the most skilled hockey player in his group with Khedri when he first started working out at his gym, he “constantly pushed himself beyond his limits.”
“He was definitely always ready to go and he had more reason for excuses than a lot of the young kids that I work with,” Khedri said. “Some of them are very privileged. He never took it for granted. … And every year he got better, whether it was getting faster or jumping higher or lifting heavier. (And) his grandfather, Chris and his grandma, they pretty much trusted his career in my hands.”

Once the Colts got their hands on him, they quickly saw the same qualities Fitzgerald and Khedri had seen before them. When Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson picked him in the third round in 2022, they knew “he had real competitive fire.”
But they didn’t know “just how tough he was” or that “he’d be an impact hitter with older guys.”


And so he showed them, popping a few more guys in his first camp in Barrie to surprise his way onto the Colts as a 16-year-old, skipping Jr. A like he’d told his agents he would.
“He has this unique ability to explode into people and knock them down,” Williamson said. “If we’d have known the full package he probably wouldn’t have been a third-round pick, he would have been a first-round pick. But the good thing for him is he has gone from raw to a player very quickly. Where sometimes it takes multiple years for guys who are raw to kind of refine their game, he has been able to do it very quickly.”
That first year, he also had the attitude of “I know I’m not going to play but it’s fine, I’ll practice and get better every day,” a pill the kids who’ve always been at the top can’t always swallow.
That quick development was then really punctuated last year in his second season with the Colts. Aitcheson registered 39 points (tops among Colts defensemen) and 126 penalty minutes in 64 games in Barrie, playing his way onto Team Canada for U18 worlds.
Still, though Williamson thought he had a “great year” and Aitcheson was just excited to be considered for the under-18 team, Williamson and Aitcheson both thought he’d be a No. 7 D for them — and Williamson thinks Hockey Canada thought the same.
He then led Team Canada in ice time in the medal round, averaging nearly 24 minutes per game in the quarterfinal, semifinal and gold medal game.
“He morphed into an impacting guy and I remember talking to (head coach) Gardiner (MacDougall) and he just goes ‘I just love the kid,'” Williamson said.
Some of Aitcheson’s progression has also happened in twice-a-week trips from Scarborough to Bradford with skating coach Paul Matheson — a drive of up to an hour and a half each way, which Matheson called “insane.”


Matheson, who is also the Colts’ skating coach, said it only took him telling Aitcheson once that he could benefit from working on his skating for him to go all in on it.
At 16, “everything he did was sloppy” according to Matheson, who’d get on him about how loose his upper body was, and how “he was basically kind of winging it.”
“I was really trying to get him to be aware and skate with more structure, so his upper body is more proactively placed in good positions,” Matheson said.
Aitcheson embraced the challenge and would often ask Matheson after a game, “How is it? Does it look better?”
Through last season and into their summer together post-U18s, Matheson started to tell him that it had really come around, sending him more positive clips of video than negative.
Today, though they’re still trying to build more pop into his crossovers and a little more launch and depth across the ice, “the technique is now in place” because of Aitcheson’s willingness to put in the work.
“He’s a good athlete, and if you’re a good athlete you can do things that other guys can’t get away with. He was getting away with it but it was going to be limiting at some point. He skates with much more structure now,” Matheson said. “His stride is much better now, he doesn’t sway back and forth and his arm swing is much better. … I just really enjoy working with the kid because he really wants to get better and he’s driven.”

Beyond the work he has put into his skating with Matheson, his game with Williamson and the Colts, his strength with Khedri (he’s now 6-foot-1.5 and 196 pounds), and his skill with Fitzgerald, he has also worked with skills coach Leland de Langley over the last couple of summers.
de Langley, who works with a long list of NHL players and prospects, talks about Aitcheson as “a wicked kid” and a “hell of a player who has that bite, and that leadership, and plays with an exuberance that a lot of kids don’t.”

“He’ll never cheat you energy. When kids like that have that personality and it shows in their style of play, it actually brings up their level, similar to a Marchand or a Tkachuk where they’re just always around it and doing things whether for good,” de Langley said, laughing, “or bad.”
And that ‘bad’ isn’t the negative kind with Aitcheson, according to De Langley, Williamson, Matheson, Fitzgerald and Khedri. It’s a badness on the ice. It’s all of the pop he gives, not just in those powerful hits Williamson talked about, but in a willingness — nay, eagerness — to drop the gloves (which he has done repeatedly in the OHL even as they’ve clamped down on it, and did at this year’s CHL-USA Prospects Challenge) and a desire to be feared by his opponents (many of whom use his name when asked about the hardest player to play against).
“He’s that player that you hate playing against but you love on your team,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s going to come out and he’s going to rub you out in the corner and then smile at you after.”
The badness — meanness, toughness, call it what you want — is something Aitcheson said has always been a part of his DNA. It also comes from playing two other very physical sports growing up: lacrosse and football (he was a running back in the latter).
“I’ve always wanted to get involved and be physical. Even when there was no hitting I think I’d take 2-3 penalties a game lining kids up,” he told The Athletic before a Colts game earlier this year, smiling. “I think I’m a strong, physical two-way defenseman that likes to shut down other teams’ top players and contribute offensively. I sort of envision myself as a Charlie McAvoy/Mikhail Sergachev type of player. Super physical. Super good defensively. But also when the team needs it I can put the puck in the net offensively.”


He has proven the latter this season — his 41 points in 50 games rank second among draft-eligible OHL defensemen, he runs one of the Colts’ power plays and he’s about to break the rare 20-goal mark.
He now “has the ability to impact the game in many different ways every night,” according to Williamson.
Said Williamson: “We’re starting to see these defensemen that are extremely offensive or extremely defensive, and he has this kind of crossover ability where he’s big and tough and he can play defense, but he also has offense to his game and he’s dangerous on the power play for us and doing offensive things. But it hasn’t deterred from his identity, which I think is a pretty rugged defenseman that is hard to play against.”

Ask Aitcheson when it clicked for him — when he realized he could get here, to first-rounder and NHL Central Scouting’s No. 15-ranked North American skater — and he just shakes his head. He always did.
It wasn’t making the Colts, or U18 worlds, or during his excellent draft year this year.
It all goes back to that answer he gave Capizzano and Liptrap.
“I had a bit of delusion,” he said. “I don’t think there was ever a time I didn’t think I had a chance at it. That’s been a big part of my story, just a little kid dreaming big. And then when you put the hard work with it, I think it’ll still work out.”
In that way, this has all been his doing. That doesn’t mean people like Khedri, Matheson, Fitzgerald, de Langley, Capizzano, Liptrap, Williamson and others haven’t had an impact. He’ll tell you about the work Matheson has done with him on his skating, how much he loves his one-on-one time with Khedri in the gym, and the outsized role his grandparents and his uncle Chris have had on him.
“(Chris) was a big part of my falling in love with hockey because I’d go to all of his games and see the way he played with a grittier style. He was a big influence on my career,” Aitcheson said.


Some of those people will credit his family, too.
“I know his grandfather really well. His grandfather is a great, great dude, always there for him, has done so much for him and put him in the places that he has needed to be and always had his corner,” Fitzgerald said.
But they always come back to him.
“I think he recognized the opportunity that he had in front of him, especially seeing all of the kids around him being touted and coming back every summer to skate with those guys,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s not messing around off of the ice, he has surrounded himself with good people, and he has just kept his head on straight and worked hard and has always been asking questions and always wanting to know what he can do better and always wanting to push it so that he has the best chance.”
Last summer, Khedri said everyone in his gym was like, “What is going on with this kid? He’s like a beast.”
“Yep, that’s the attitude of a real professional athlete who wants to become better day by day,” Khedri would tell them.
Aitcheson also decided to stick with the small circle he surrounded himself with. Khedri insisted he could have gone to bigger trainers and that he had opportunities to train with NHL stars under revered coaches like Gary Roberts and Matt Nichol.
“(But) he didn’t want to get sidetracked,” Khedri said. “That speaks volumes about him. That shows to me that he appreciates the people that have helped him get this far. He doesn’t think he climbed it himself. He knows there are people behind him who’ve supported him.”
It’s also Aitcheson who Williamson says he’s lucky to coach — and who Williamson gave a letter to this year. He calls him an outstanding teammate who is very coachable and doesn’t let things go to his head.
“Kash is just one of those guys where there’s no bad days,” Williamson said. “My first guy that I felt lucky with was Bryan Little and Kash is just another one of those guys where it’s an awfully fun three, four years to be able to work and help develop him for his dreams.”


And maybe most importantly, as Matheson put it, “He’s different than what you see on the ice.”
“On the ice, usually by the end of the game, the other team does not like him very much. And if he’s on the road, usually the other crowd doesn’t like him very much,” Matheson said, chuckling. “But if you spend even five minutes talking to him, I don’t know how you cannot like him.”
The first time Zack Fitzgerald got Kashawn Aitcheson on the ice five years ago, he popped a kid in the corner.
It was a skills session in Toronto with On Point Hockey and he was skating with kids like Sam Dickinson and Beckett Sennecke who, at the time, were the best 2006s in minor hockey and destined to be top-10 picks in the OHL draft.

Aitcheson wasn’t that. He’d become a third-round pick of the Barrie Colts.
After he introduced himself to the skate in that corner, Fitzgerald, a journeyman tough guy during his own pro career, looked at one of the other coaches on the ice and said “OK, he’s got it. He’s got that extra.”
Years later, Dickinson and Sennecke were taken in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft. A year after that, Aitcheson will join them as a first-rounder in the 2025 draft.
Now he’s one of them.
Once you understand Aitcheson and his story, you can tell why.
“I think the best type of stories are when you’re not necessarily in the spotlight and you just keep working at it,” Fitzgerald said. “He just kept working at it.”
Kashawn Aitcheson was a third-round pick of the Barrie Colts in 2022. (Josh Kim / Barrie Colts)

When Paul Capizzano and Dylan Liptrap of Quartexx Management began working with Aitcheson in his minor midget season with the North York Rangers, they told him, “OK, Kashawn, you might have to play a year or two of Tier II in Stouffville.”
“No, no, don’t worry about it, I’ll be in Barrie this year for sure,” he replied.
Capizzano had first seen him play in Bantam, kept finding himself thinking “You know what, there’s something with this kid,” and kept going back. After seeing him again at Scotiabank Pond just before and after Christmas, Capizzano then spoke to his coach and he and Liptrap decided to get on him.
In the player, they saw a rawness — they still say he’s “very much raw now.”
Once they got to know the kid, they saw that “don’t worry about it, I’ll deal with it” attitude and a “ton of personality.”
“He talks more than I do, and that’s hard to do,” Capizzano said on a phone call earlier this year, laughing.
Atif Khedri has also seen that personality since Aitcheson first walked into his gym, AK Fitness Studio in the Don Mills neighborhood of Toronto, at 13 years old.


Aitcheson was raised in the Scarborough beaches on the east side of the city, supported by his grandparents and his uncle Chris, who played Jr. A and Division III NCAA hockey. He was introduced to Khedri by another one of his clients, Christopher Brown, after Brown found him by chance because his mom worked next to the gym.
In 15 years of working with athletes — including Nik Antropov and his son Danil, Artem Guryev, Akil Thomasand Brett Neumann — he says he’s never met a more humble, hardworking kid than Aitcheson. But it was the personality he noticed first. It always is with Aitcheson, who those around him call “Kash.”
“He’s very charismatic and very energetic,” Khedri said. “The first day when he came in he was very polite. He was respectful. And those are the characteristics that I told him to keep on working on because that will make him an athlete that is more than just talent. Personality is something that you can’t teach people, unfortunately.”
Though Aitcheson wasn’t the most skilled hockey player in his group with Khedri when he first started working out at his gym, he “constantly pushed himself beyond his limits.”
“He was definitely always ready to go and he had more reason for excuses than a lot of the young kids that I work with,” Khedri said. “Some of them are very privileged. He never took it for granted. … And every year he got better, whether it was getting faster or jumping higher or lifting heavier. (And) his grandfather, Chris and his grandma, they pretty much trusted his career in my hands.”
Pictured left: Aitcheson and Atif Khedri after winning gold at U18 worlds. Pictured right: Aitcheson doing a 450-pound deadlift. (Photos courtesy Atif Khedri).
Once the Colts got their hands on him, they quickly saw the same qualities Fitzgerald and Khedri had seen before them. When Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson picked him in the third round in 2022, they knew “he had real competitive fire.”
But they didn’t know “just how tough he was” or that “he’d be an impact hitter with older guys.”

And so he showed them, popping a few more guys in his first camp in Barrie to surprise his way onto the Colts as a 16-year-old, skipping Jr. A like he’d told his agents he would.
“He has this unique ability to explode into people and knock them down,” Williamson said. “If we’d have known the full package he probably wouldn’t have been a third-round pick, he would have been a first-round pick. But the good thing for him is he has gone from raw to a player very quickly. Where sometimes it takes multiple years for guys who are raw to kind of refine their game, he has been able to do it very quickly.”
That first year, he also had the attitude of “I know I’m not going to play but it’s fine, I’ll practice and get better every day,” a pill the kids who’ve always been at the top can’t always swallow.
That quick development was then really punctuated last year in his second season with the Colts. Aitcheson registered 39 points (tops among Colts defensemen) and 126 penalty minutes in 64 games in Barrie, playing his way onto Team Canada for U18 worlds.
Still, though Williamson thought he had a “great year” and Aitcheson was just excited to be considered for the under-18 team, Williamson and Aitcheson both thought he’d be a No. 7 D for them — and Williamson thinks Hockey Canada thought the same.
He then led Team Canada in ice time in the medal round, averaging nearly 24 minutes per game in the quarterfinal, semifinal and gold medal game.
“He morphed into an impacting guy and I remember talking to (head coach) Gardiner (MacDougall) and he just goes ‘I just love the kid,'” Williamson said.
Some of Aitcheson’s progression has also happened in twice-a-week trips from Scarborough to Bradford with skating coach Paul Matheson — a drive of up to an hour and a half each way, which Matheson called “insane.”


Matheson, who is also the Colts’ skating coach, said it only took him telling Aitcheson once that he could benefit from working on his skating for him to go all in on it.
At 16, “everything he did was sloppy” according to Matheson, who’d get on him about how loose his upper body was, and how “he was basically kind of winging it.”
“I was really trying to get him to be aware and skate with more structure, so his upper body is more proactively placed in good positions,” Matheson said.
Aitcheson embraced the challenge and would often ask Matheson after a game, “How is it? Does it look better?”
Through last season and into their summer together post-U18s, Matheson started to tell him that it had really come around, sending him more positive clips of video than negative.
Today, though they’re still trying to build more pop into his crossovers and a little more launch and depth across the ice, “the technique is now in place” because of Aitcheson’s willingness to put in the work.
“He’s a good athlete, and if you’re a good athlete you can do things that other guys can’t get away with. He was getting away with it but it was going to be limiting at some point. He skates with much more structure now,” Matheson said. “His stride is much better now, he doesn’t sway back and forth and his arm swing is much better. … I just really enjoy working with the kid because he really wants to get better and he’s driven.”
Aitcheson put plenty of work into improving his play with the Colts. (Josh Kim / Barrie Colts)

Beyond the work he has put into his skating with Matheson, his game with Williamson and the Colts, his strength with Khedri (he’s now 6-foot-1.5 and 196 pounds), and his skill with Fitzgerald, he has also worked with skills coach Leland de Langley over the last couple of summers.
de Langley, who works with a long list of NHL players and prospects, talks about Aitcheson as “a wicked kid” and a “hell of a player who has that bite, and that leadership, and plays with an exuberance that a lot of kids don’t.”


“He’ll never cheat you energy. When kids like that have that personality and it shows in their style of play, it actually brings up their level, similar to a Marchand or a Tkachuk where they’re just always around it and doing things whether for good,” de Langley said, laughing, “or bad.”
And that ‘bad’ isn’t the negative kind with Aitcheson, according to De Langley, Williamson, Matheson, Fitzgerald and Khedri. It’s a badness on the ice. It’s all of the pop he gives, not just in those powerful hits Williamson talked about, but in a willingness — nay, eagerness — to drop the gloves (which he has done repeatedly in the OHL even as they’ve clamped down on it, and did at this year’s CHL-USA Prospects Challenge) and a desire to be feared by his opponents (many of whom use his name when asked about the hardest player to play against).
“He’s that player that you hate playing against but you love on your team,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s going to come out and he’s going to rub you out in the corner and then smile at you after.”
The badness — meanness, toughness, call it what you want — is something Aitcheson said has always been a part of his DNA. It also comes from playing two other very physical sports growing up: lacrosse and football (he was a running back in the latter).
“I’ve always wanted to get involved and be physical. Even when there was no hitting I think I’d take 2-3 penalties a game lining kids up,” he told The Athletic before a Colts game earlier this year, smiling. “I think I’m a strong, physical two-way defenseman that likes to shut down other teams’ top players and contribute offensively. I sort of envision myself as a Charlie McAvoy/Mikhail Sergachev type of player. Super physical. Super good defensively. But also when the team needs it I can put the puck in the net offensively.”


He has proven the latter this season — his 41 points in 50 games rank second among draft-eligible OHL defensemen, he runs one of the Colts’ power plays and he’s about to break the rare 20-goal mark.
He now “has the ability to impact the game in many different ways every night,” according to Williamson.
Said Williamson: “We’re starting to see these defensemen that are extremely offensive or extremely defensive, and he has this kind of crossover ability where he’s big and tough and he can play defense, but he also has offense to his game and he’s dangerous on the power play for us and doing offensive things. But it hasn’t deterred from his identity, which I think is a pretty rugged defenseman that is hard to play against.”
Aitcheson is more than willing to drop the gloves. (Josh Kim / Barrie Colts)

Ask Aitcheson when it clicked for him — when he realized he could get here, to first-rounder and NHL Central Scouting’s No. 15-ranked North American skater — and he just shakes his head. He always did.
It wasn’t making the Colts, or U18 worlds, or during his excellent draft year this year.
It all goes back to that answer he gave Capizzano and Liptrap.
“I had a bit of delusion,” he said. “I don’t think there was ever a time I didn’t think I had a chance at it. That’s been a big part of my story, just a little kid dreaming big. And then when you put the hard work with it, I think it’ll still work out.”
In that way, this has all been his doing. That doesn’t mean people like Khedri, Matheson, Fitzgerald, de Langley, Capizzano, Liptrap, Williamson and others haven’t had an impact. He’ll tell you about the work Matheson has done with him on his skating, how much he loves his one-on-one time with Khedri in the gym, and the outsized role his grandparents and his uncle Chris have had on him.
“(Chris) was a big part of my falling in love with hockey because I’d go to all of his games and see the way he played with a grittier style. He was a big influence on my career,” Aitcheson said.


Some of those people will credit his family, too.
“I know his grandfather really well. His grandfather is a great, great dude, always there for him, has done so much for him and put him in the places that he has needed to be and always had his corner,” Fitzgerald said.
But they always come back to him.
“I think he recognized the opportunity that he had in front of him, especially seeing all of the kids around him being touted and coming back every summer to skate with those guys,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s not messing around off of the ice, he has surrounded himself with good people, and he has just kept his head on straight and worked hard and has always been asking questions and always wanting to know what he can do better and always wanting to push it so that he has the best chance.”
Last summer, Khedri said everyone in his gym was like, “What is going on with this kid? He’s like a beast.”
“Yep, that’s the attitude of a real professional athlete who wants to become better day by day,” Khedri would tell them.
Aitcheson also decided to stick with the small circle he surrounded himself with. Khedri insisted he could have gone to bigger trainers and that he had opportunities to train with NHL stars under revered coaches like Gary Roberts and Matt Nichol.
“(But) he didn’t want to get sidetracked,” Khedri said. “That speaks volumes about him. That shows to me that he appreciates the people that have helped him get this far. He doesn’t think he climbed it himself. He knows there are people behind him who’ve supported him.”
It’s also Aitcheson who Williamson says he’s lucky to coach — and who Williamson gave a letter to this year. He calls him an outstanding teammate who is very coachable and doesn’t let things go to his head.
“Kash is just one of those guys where there’s no bad days,” Williamson said. “My first guy that I felt lucky with was Bryan Little and Kash is just another one of those guys where it’s an awfully fun three, four years to be able to work and help develop him for his dreams.”


And maybe most importantly, as Matheson put it, “He’s different than what you see on the ice.”
“On the ice, usually by the end of the game, the other team does not like him very much. And if he’s on the road, usually the other crowd doesn’t like him very much,” Matheson said, chuckling. “But if you spend even five minutes talking to him, I don’t know how you cannot like him.”

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Unless we recoup some top-100 picks in pre-draft trades, I’m 100% opposed to taking an undersized forward in the first round. 2nd and 3rd rounders can help insulate risky 1st round picks. But as it stands right now, we’ll pick in the middle of the first night, and then not again until late in the second day. To me, the calculus there is screaming “safe pick.” We can’t afford for our R1 pick to not work out. I’d rather pick a guy whose risk-reward is “maybe will only play 3rd line / bottom pair minutes, but will play” vs “might be Martin St Louis, might never make it out of the AHL.” Like it or not, size is a big factor in that.

Obviously there are exceptions, I just don’t know that I see anybody in this draft class who screams “second coming of Alex DeBrincat.” Not many dudes built like fire hydrants.

 

[kimzey59]

Unless we recoup some top-100 picks in pre-draft trades, I’m 100% opposed to taking an undersized forward in the first round. 2nd and 3rd rounders can help insulate risky 1st round picks. But as it stands right now, we’ll pick in the middle of the first night, and then not again until late in the second day. To me, the calculus there is screaming “safe pick.” We can’t afford for our R1 pick to not work out. I’d rather pick a guy whose risk-reward is “maybe will only play 3rd line / bottom pair minutes, but will play” vs “might be Martin St Louis, might never make it out of the AHL.” Like it or not, size is a big factor in that.

Obviously there are exceptions, I just don’t know that I see anybody in this draft class who screams “second coming of Alex DeBrincat.” Not many dudes built like fire hydrants.

I disagree with your premise that "we can't afford R1 pick to not work out".
We've had 7 1st round picks in the last 5 years and 6 of them look like their going to "hit"(jury's still out on Jiricek IMO). And that isn't even counting the lower round guys. I can't recall a time when our pipeline has ever been this loaded.

If there was ever a time to "swing for the fences", this is it. We're in "bases loaded with one out" territory. It's not about squeezing out pieces for the "re-whatever". We already have the chips we need to get back to perennial PO runs. It's about trying to find another game breaker or two to put us into "legit Cup Contender" status.

Having said that, I'm generally opposed to drafting undersized players to begin with and none of the undersized players being discussed come anywhere close to being what I'd consider a "swing for the fences" type of pick.

IF you want to talk "home run swing"; look at Ryabkin, not Reschny or Potter. Reschny and Potter MIGHT be Jaden Schwartz type middle 6'ers. That is solid enough value at #19, but I think there are going to be a couple of guys available at that spot with similar upside and a lot less risk(the talent tiers shift between picks 18-20 IMO and I have very little doubt that a "big name" is going to slide to us).

Conversely, Ryabkin legitimately does have the same "skill set" as a Michkov or Demidov. There are tons of other concerns with his game(pretty much all of which stem from his lack of work ethic), but he legitimately has one of the most high end skill sets in this Draft.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I do favor size and plus skaters. I look for hockey IQ which may differ from some people’s version. I hear he’s so smart with the puck, but I also see he’s pretty dumb without it. Can the player get the puck, win the puck? Does he have some honey badger to him? My guys all year in varying draft spots have been O’Brien, Drott, Sumpf, Desnoyers, Bedkowski, Passmore Funck. I pick players in ranges. You see Passmore on my list and asked why. I don't know if I have seen a game where the puck goes in the corner and he doesn't come out with it. Big guys, small guys, he has the puck...simple pass moving forward. Mrtka may be one of the worst guys in the corner I've seen this year. Like it or not, that is transitional play. Someone has to come out of the corner with the puck. If it is your guy over consistently winning that battle, then in my opinion....that is a huge plus. Sumpf wins his shifts versus the opposition consistently. He makes a difference with or without the puck somehow every shift a hit, faceoff, coverage...he doesn't have to score to win games for you and if he does...you have an all star. Like Sunny.

I’m struggling at 19 honestly.

FWIW, this is exactly why we drafted Ondrej Kos last year. He’s bottom-6 bound if he makes it at all, but he was highly touted for being defensively responsible and a menace on the forecheck. I agree that’s the prototype we should be aiming for all over the draft.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I disagree with your premise that "we can't afford R1 pick to not work out".
We've had 7 1st round picks in the last 5 years and 6 of them look like their going to "hit"(jury's still out on Jiricek IMO). And that isn't even counting the lower round guys. I can't recall a time when our pipeline has ever been this loaded.

If there was ever a time to "swing for the fences", this is it. We're in "bases loaded with one out" territory. It's not about squeezing out pieces for the "re-whatever". We already have the chips we need to get back to perennial PO runs. It's about trying to find another game breaker or two to put us into "legit Cup Contender" status.

Having said that, I'm generally opposed to drafting undersized players to begin with and none of the undersized players being discussed come anywhere close to being what I'd consider a "swing for the fences" type of pick.

IF you want to talk "home run swing"; look at Ryabkin, not Reschny or Potter. Reschny and Potter MIGHT be Jaden Schwartz type middle 6'ers. That is solid enough value at #19, but I think there are going to be a couple of guys available at that spot with similar upside and a lot less risk(the talent tiers shift between picks 18-20 IMO and I have very little doubt that a "big name" is going to slide to us).

Conversely, Ryabkin legitimately does have the same "skill set" as a Michkov or Demidov. There are tons of other concerns with his game(pretty much all of which stem from his lack of work ethic), but he legitimately has one of the most high end skill sets in this Draft.

That’s fair. I see Jiricek as our home run swing. I like him a lot, but he’s not 100% going to overcome his injury issues. So if he doesn’t work out, taking two big swings back-to-back (and missing on both) could put us into some jeopardy.

I’m not saying to draft a guy who isn’t good with our first round pick, I’m just saying take a high-floor guy.

 

[kimzey59]

That’s fair. I see Jiricek as our home run swing. I like him a lot, but he’s not 100% going to overcome his injury issues. So if he doesn’t work out, taking two big swings back-to-back (and missing on both) could put us into some jeopardy.

I’m not saying to draft a guy who isn’t good with our first round pick, I’m just saying take a high-floor guy.

To an extent, I'd agree that Jiricek was a homerun swing.
Don't know that it was the wildest of home run swings, but it was certainly an "upside motivated" pick.

However, I would bring up 2 points.
1- We greatly minimized the risk of that pick by taking Fischer in the 2nd round.
Had Fischer been born 2 weeks later, he'd be an easy 1st round pick in this years Draft(he'd probably go right after Aitcheson).

2- Even if Jiricek does miss, I don't see where this "jeopardy" comes from.
We're still loaded up front(Thomas, Kyrou, Holloway, Dvorsky, Snuggles, State Farm, Bolduc, Stenberg). Our future Blueline is starting to take shape(the righty side is shakey, but Broberg, Lindstein, Fischer, Tucker is pretty darn solid on the left side). There's no real need to rush in goal(Binny, Hofer, Ellis, Zherenko).

I would agree that we need a "safe" top 4 RHD prospect if one becomes available(IMO Hensler would be an outstanding pick if he falls to us), but otherwise I'm just looking for the highest impact guy.
With the holes we're going to need to fill in the mid/long term(top pair RHD/high-end middle 6 center); we're either going to have to luck into a homerun in the Draft or Steen is going to have to work some Army voodoo down the road.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

To an extent, I'd agree that Jiricek was a homerun swing.
Don't know that it was the wildest of home run swings, but it was certainly an "upside motivated" pick.

However, I would bring up 2 points.
1- We greatly minimized the risk of that pick by taking Fischer in the 2nd round.
Had Fischer been born 2 weeks later, he'd be an easy 1st round pick in this years Draft(he'd probably go right after Aitcheson).

2- Even if Jiricek does miss, I don't see where this "jeopardy" comes from.
We're still loaded up front(Thomas, Kyrou, Holloway, Dvorsky, Snuggles, State Farm, Bolduc, Stenberg). Our future Blueline is starting to take shape(the righty side is shakey, but Broberg, Lindstein, Fischer, Tucker is pretty darn solid on the left side). There's no real need to rush in goal(Binny, Hofer, Ellis, Zherenko).

I would agree that we need a "safe" top 4 RHD prospect if one becomes available(IMO Hensler would be an outstanding pick if he falls to us), but otherwise I'm just looking for the highest impact guy.
With the holes we're going to need to fill in the mid/long term(top pair RHD/high-end middle 6 center); we're either going to have to luck into a homerun in the Draft or Steen is going to have to work some Army voodoo down the road.

Yes, your first point is exactly the one I'm trying to make. With only one pick in the top 100 right now -- which could very well change -- we don't have the ability to hedge a risky 1st round pick like we did with Fischer and Jiricek last draft.

In a draft with only 3 picks (right now), you gotta make sure you get one right. Your best odds of that are with the first pick.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I’ve been watching Sasha Boumedienne at the U18s and I’m seeing what Perry is saying about his outlets/stretch passes. I’m seeing pretty high level hockey IQout of him. With 2 more points today he’s now up to 14 points in 5 games…which is the most points a d-man has ever scored in this tourney. Prior to today, the record was 13, held by Cole Hutson and Ryan Murphy. Sascha has 2 more games left too (semis and then either gold or bronze medal game). Is it possible he’s the 2nd best defensive prospect in this draft? I think he might be.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I’ve been watching Sasha Boumedienne at the U18s and I’m seeing what Perry is saying about his outlets/stretch passes. I’m seeing pretty high level hockey IQout of him. With 2 more points today he’s now up to 14 points in 5 games…which is the most points a d-man has ever scored in this tourney. Prior to today, the record was 13, held by Cole Hutson and Ryan Murphy. Sascha has 2 more games left too (semis and then either gold or bronze medal game). Is it possible he’s the 2nd best defensive prospect in this draft? I think he might be.

He got significantly better as year went on, played a key role on BU run to Frozen Four, and now this. He is likely top 15 pick at this point.

 

[MissouriMook]

I’ve been watching Sasha Boumedienne at the U18s and I’m seeing what Perry is saying about his outlets/stretch passes. I’m seeing pretty high level hockey IQout of him. With 2 more points today he’s now up to 14 points in 5 games…which is the most points a d-man has ever scored in this tourney. Prior to today, the record was 13, held by Cole Hutson and Ryan Murphy. Sascha has 2 more games left too (semis and then either gold or bronze medal game). Is it possible he’s the 2nd best defensive prospect in this draft? I think he might be.

According to Elite Prospects, he's Swedish, born in Finland, with a Russian first name and a French last name. sounds like a kid who can do everything!

 

[STL fan in MN]

According to Elite Prospects, he's Swedish, born in Finland, with a Russian first name and a French last name. sounds like a kid who can do everything!

And he’s played a good chunk of his youth hockey in the States as his dad is the Director of Pro Scouting for the Blue Jackets. International kid!

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

He got significantly better as year went on, played a key role on BU run to Frozen Four, and now this. He is likely top 15 pick at this point.

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking. He probably jumped up there in the top 15 now. He may give Jackson Smith and Kashawn a run for their money even though both are playing very well. Hopefully push Hensler down...

I'm afraid Cootes may jump out of our range too. I wasn't overly high on him during the season as I didn't think he was a skilled enough passer, but his team did royally stink. It is getting cloudy who might be there at 19.

I also like Eric Nilsson a jack of all trades center for Sweden as he has played really well and ALOT in the tournament. Seems every highlight he is in he steals the puck and sets somebody up. His faceoff numbers are high as well. Scouch just did a long scouting report on him too that is very insightful. 19 may be a bit high, but he has a very projectable game. I like him better than Gastrin.