BOB McKENZIE'S INITIAL 2020 DRAFT RANKING

[Fogelhund]

https://www.tsn.ca/lafreniere-leads-loaded-class-in-tsn-hockey-s-pre-season-draft-ranking-1.1364438

By Bob McKenzie
The 2020 NHL Draft campaign opens with naming rights belonging to Alexis Lafreniere.
Whether it remains the Alexis Lafreniere Draft, well, that’s another question.
First, though, let’s start with the indisputable: The Rimouski Oceanic left winger is the unanimous No. 1 on TSN’s 2020 NHL Draft Pre-Season Top 20 Rankings. Ten out of 10 NHL scouts surveyed by TSN put Lafreniere first on their lists entering the 2019-20 season.
“Elite competitive instincts and all the attributes – size, skill, skating, hockey sense, goal scoring, playmaking, you name it – you look for in a No. 1 NHL winger, he has all of them,” one NHL scout said.
Yes, but we have heard the same thing in past years only to see a unanimous pre-season No. 1 lose the title by the time the draft rolls around, which is scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal.
Three years ago, Nolan Patrick entered 2016-17 as the unanimous pre-season No. 1, but by season’s end he was surpassed by Switzerland’s Nico Hischier. Could Lafreniere face a similar challenge from any of the other top prospects in a highly talented 2020 top end? It includes No. 2 centre Quinton Byfield, No. 3 right winger Lucas Raymond and a pair of special scorers in a dead heat at No. 4, centre/left winger Cole Perfetti and left winger Alexander Holtz?
2020 NHL Draft: Prospect Mixtape
Check out some incredible plays from the NHL Draft's Class of 2020 from the World Junior Summer Showcase and the Hlinka-Gretzky Tournament.
So we asked the same 10 scouts who had Lafreniere No. 1 to further qualify Lafreniere's pre-season No. 1 status by choosing from the following four categories:
1. Lafreniere is in a class all by himself.
2. There is a clear gap between Lafreniere and the rest of the field.
3. There is a marginal gap between Lafreniere and the rest of the field.
4. The gap is so tight as to not really be a gap at all; that it wouldn’t come as any surprise if one or more of the top five prospects were to equal or surpass Lafreniere.
The results were interesting. And mixed.
No scout identified Lafreniere as in a class by himself.

Top 20 listed at link.

 

[Dominance]

Nice.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Good ranking.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

gotta change the title to 2020 draft ?

 

[ijuka]

Ranking's nice but just the ranking. Not really interested in Button's input and disappointed with it.

 

[KahunWOW]

This draft has to be so insane if Stützle is only at 14. Really looking forward to this season.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Wow highest ranked American 16th... talk about a down year

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I’d personally have Perfetti over Byfield and in top 3 but I can understand why QB would be at 2. The package is incredibly enticing and he’s very young.

That said I think Perfetti is a special offensive talent. I’m no expert but just watching him he seems to stand out more.

 

[bert]

So damn deep on the high end talent, good year to be a horrible NHL team, finally a silver lining as a sens fan.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I am not convinced with Byfield. He would need to have significant improvement in his game. I see the potential but I also see red flags with him and he should have dominated more in Junior hockey considering his hype and his size.

 

[Esq]

So damn deep on the high end talent, good year to be a horrible NHL team, finally a silver lining as a sens fan.

I'm sure they'll find a way to ruin it.

 

[kelsier]

I wonder if Pikkarainen replacing Selin as the head coach would explain why Lundell has been treated so oddly. He's no longer 2nd line center or even close to it. Total TOI from two past games = 12:20. Last season he played 14:34, so you'd imagine the ice time going up instead of the opposite since he already proved himself a year ago. I don't know what other reason there could if he's as healthy as they say. Hopefully not another shi**y coach though, cause that's enough reason for anyone's stocks to plummet.

 

[lakai17]

All the analysis are from Button

 

[boredmale]

Doesn't seem like the strongest year for Centers(not saying it's terrible). Also I am curious to see where the russian goalie goes(goalie and russian is like 2 strikes against picking him where Mac has him rated).

 

[jrs]

I want the jets to tank for byfield.

 

[wings5]

Wow highest ranked American 16th... talk about a down year

Might seem that way right now, it's still only preseason though alot can change.

 

[Peasy]

All the analysis are from Button

Bob rarely watches these players, what do you expect lol.

 

[tealhockey]

Might seem that way right now, it's still only preseason though alot can change.

I think we have some more good players who won't get as much attention, probably go in the top 90 picks or so, but it definitely seems like a down year for the Americans.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Bob rarely watches these players, what do you expect lol.

I'm pretty sure at one point Bob had quotes about the players from the scouts he talked to, and used those (keeping the source anonymous).

 

[hockey20000]

hopfully its a good year will be going to see #7 guy Hendrix Lapierre play on nov 24th

 

[wings5]

I was waiting for those questions to come out if Byfield is just a great athlete or actually has the hockey IQ, vision, creativity and skills . Same things were asked of Evander Kane and Subban, go figure...

 

[Dominance]

Wow highest ranked American 16th... talk about a down year

They’re really shoehorning him in there, too, I think. Especially Button throwing him at 10 recently...just no.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I found this particularly interesting:

Yaroslav Askarov: The 6-foot-3 Russian has been billed as the second coming of Carey Price and even though there’s great hesitation to take a goaltender in the top 10, or even the top five of the draft, the sky could be the limit for this guy. All 10 scouts surveyed by TSN have him as a Top 10 pick to start the season and two of them ranked Askarov No. 2 overall, behind only Lafreniere. He’s big, athletic, and unflappable, and all he does is win. As much attention, and deservedly so, as U.S. goalie Spencer Knight got last year before being taken 13th overall by Florida, scouts say Askarov is on a whole other level from Knight.

 

[ProspectsSTC]

I was waiting for those questions to come out if Byfield is just a great athlete or actually has the hockey IQ, vision, creativity and skills . Same things were asked of Evander Kane and Subban, go figure...

Go figure?

 

[QJL]

Thread title is misleading. This is not McKenzie’s list, it’s a poll of scouts.