Bob McKenzie's 2023 mid-season draft rankings

[Marc the Habs Fan]

It's on TSN 4 right now, I would assume the article will be posted on TSN.ca later.

1. Bedard
2. Fantilli
3. Carlsson
4. Michkov

Very tight vote between 2, 3 and 4 says Bob.

Will post more as we go along.

Click to read more...

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

5. Benson
6. Smith
7. Yager
8. Barlow
9. Dvorsky
10. Leonard

 

[Halfy]

Finally Benson getting the mainstream love. I’m sure there are some teams that were hoping he’d fall.

 

[Lavar Ball]

I think Benson and Smith are starting to become more of a consensus 5-6 at this stage after the big 4.

Sale deserves a top ten spot IMO

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

11. Moore
12. Sale
13. Ritchie
14. Wood
15. Danielson
16. Gauthier
17. Sandin-Pellikka
18. Cristall
19. Honzek
20. Reinbacher

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Nice to see my Reinbacher campaign paid off.

 

[95snipes]

I've been waiting for this. Figured it would come out after the top prospects game. That's roughly the order I have the top 20 in. Sale higher and Moore lower are the only material disagreements for me.

 

[theslatcher]

ASP is the first defenseman on the board, at 17.

Obviously teams will draft dmen earlier than that, but interesting to note.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Full rankings: Connor Bedard locked in at No. 1 in Bob McKenzie's mid-season NHL Draft Ranking | TSN

 

[jfhabs]

Cristall at 18, wow!
I think if he goes in the 15-20 range at the draft one team will be very happy!

 

[Postulates]

Cristall at 18, wow!
I think if he goes in the 15-20 range at the draft one team will be very happy!

They got it right

 

[vlady]

Looks very good for Slovakia. 7 guys in the top 80 including overager Adam Gajan at 56. Surprised to see him that high to be honest.

 

[WeThe North]

Musty at 26 ? Way more potential than Calum Ritchie at 13. Time will tell…

 

[NiagaraKraken]

Finally Benson getting the mainstream love. I’m sure there are some teams that were hoping he’d fall.

Have a feeling Benson ends up going top 3.

 

[Chainshot]

Musty at 26 ? Way more potential than Calum Ritchie at 13. Time will tell…

From folks who watch him, there is some concern about body language and consistency, and also his skating. Brock's OHL article has him 2nd and is damning with feint praise in the writeup.

 

[BKarchitect]

Sale is too low but overall it seems pretty inline with recent trends.

- Tight context between Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov (whether you believe Michkov is easily second best and I do - the concept that he may not get picked second seems very valid).

- ASP and Reinbacher emerging as the front runner blueliners.

- Yager slipping some but not much because of his upside.

- Barlow emerging as the big OHL front runner.

- The US kids being underrated with Smith having a shot at top 5 and Leonard and Moore as potential top 10-15 guys.

- Honzek continuing to rise…Cristal rising but perhaps not as high as his stats suggest due to some lingering questions about his pro transition perhaps.

Seems to be confirming a lot of trends posters here have already been discussing.

 

[martygod12]

What Dvorsky 8 and Sale 12? Dont be ridiculous, Sale is much better then Dvorsky. This ranking is a joke.

 

[InAG-P]

Sale is too low but overall it seems pretty inline with recent trends.

- Tight context between Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov (whether you believe Michkov is easily second best and I do - the concept that he may not get picked second seems very valid).

- ASP and Reinbacher emerging as the front runner blueliners.

- Yager slipping some but not much because of his upside.

- Barlow emerging as the big OHL front runner.

- The US kids being underrated with Smith having a shot at top 5 and Leonard and Moore as potential top 10-15 guys.

- Honzek continuing to rise…Cristal rising but perhaps not as high as his stats suggest due to some lingering questions about his pro transition perhaps.

Seems to be confirming a lot of trends posters here have already been discussing.

Another thing to note is the Bobby Mac made is crystal clear Michkov is really the only one he'd consider to be able to "challenge" Bedard at #1 based on pure skill but he drops because of all the uncertainty

 

[Vukotal Recall]

Excuse my ignorance since I haven't been following prospects closely recently, but I remember seeing comments in a game thread during the World Juniors that Fantilli was being exposed as overrated, not truly a top prospect, etc. I guess that was just ranting, or do some still feel that way?

 

[theslatcher]

Player	2nd	3rd	4th
Fantilli	4	5	1
Carlsson	3	5	2
Michkov	3	0	7

2-4 is super tight. Basically a coin flip.

 

[Bubbles]

I'm not as high on Benson as most people are. But some team is going to be very happy with Cristall at 18.

Nice to see my darkhorses in Myatovic and Suniev as HM. I think they will be taken higher than most people think.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Very happy to see my boy Ethan Gauthier at 16.

Gives me hope that the Pens might be able to snag him

 

[Juxtaposer]

Something about this list that bothers me a bit is that it’s really going for safety over upside outside of the top six guys. Yager, Barlow, Dvorsky, Leonard, Moore, Ritchie, and Danielson all safely project to be middle-six forwards in some capacity, but none of them have first line upside.

 

[martygod12]

Also why not Sprynar in the top 80? He is around the same level as Molnar I would say and he is there at 63.

 

[Chainshot]

Excuse my ignorance since I haven't been following prospects closely recently, but I remember seeing comments in a game thread during the World Juniors that Fantilli was being exposed as overrated, not truly a top prospect, etc. I guess that was just ranting, or do some still feel that way?

People ranting that a draft-eligible guy is not ripping the lid off the scoresheet at a tournament that is traditionally dominated by 19-year olds would be how I would take it.