Draft and UDFA Thread 2017-18

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Early look at 2019. Top 31. Looking like a good draft, nothing too good, but not bad at the top, and some depth. Next 2019 list will be after the season.

1. Jack Hughes
2. Bowen Byram
3. Alex Turcotte
4. Victor Soderstrom
5. Matvei Guskov
6. Ryan Suzuki
7. Kaapo Kakko
8. Peyton Krebs
9. Dylan Cozens
10. Nolan Foote
11. Alex Newhook
12. Kirby Dach
13. Henri Nikkanen
14. Antti Saarela
15. Nikita Okhotyuk
16. Alex Vlasic
17. Artemi Knyazev
18. Daniil Gutik
19. Nils Hoglander
20. Ilya Mironov
21. Mikko Kokkonen
22. Matej Toman
23. Matthew Robertson
24. Michael Vukojevic
25. Sasha Mutala
26. Anttoni Honka
27. Valentin Nussbaumer
28. Case McCarthy
29. Maxim Cajkovic
30. Matias Maccelli
31. Moritz Seider

Top Goalies: Spencer Knight, Dustin Wolf, Luke Cavallin, Hunter Jones

Top 5 Descriptions:

Jack Hughes: Dynamic scoring talent. A little undersized, but not a ton. In the Kane mold offensively, I'd say in the Keller or Marner mold, but he's clearly better than those guys, more like Kane. Has a chance to stick at center. It'll depend on how his defense holds up at around 5'10 and a slight frame right now, lets see. Early favorite for 1OA.

Bowen Byram: Pace controlling defenseman from the back end. Has everything in his game. Size, skating, offense, very advanced defensively. I watched a game yesterday where I think he exited the ice once or twice in the third period, must've played the last ten minutes. Taking 2018's 1OA out of the equation who doesn't come from planet earth, Byram is one of the best defensemen to come along in many drafts, maybe the best. The present top challenger to Hughes.

Alex Turcotte: My early favorite player in the 2019 draft. This guy is so smart and such a puck wizard. I compared Elias Pettersson from the 2017 draft to Datsyuk, but this guy might be even more similar. Elite skater with incredible hockey IQ and hands. Very capable scorer, maybe the second best in the draft class after Hughes. Not the biggest player, only 5'11 and sturdy. He plays both ends of the ice, as well. Should definitely stick at center.

Victor Soderstrom: Its bizarre that Brynas has produced another excellent defenseman, but they have. Soderstrom is a very talented two way defenseman. In comparison to 2018 draft eligible Boqvist also from Brynas, he's a little less flash with the puck, but he has the same type of excellent shot, along with very good passing and skating. Soderstrom is not the tallest at 5'11, but can play very physical, and is rather good defensively.

Matvei Guskov: All zone center who exhibits high levels of hockey IQ, skill and offense. He is a good skater at 6'1 who should be able to stay in the middle of the ice. He plays heavier than his listed weight. He's looked good in international tournaments for Russia, but he is not playing at a visible level in Russia right now, so its hard to gauge how good he is. I am less confident about this ranking than some others. I feel like he may be better than my listing, but there's also a chance he's not, so I'll keep Guskov at 5.

Other comments: Ryan Suzuki is like his brother, but bigger and a better skater. He could be a very high pick. Kaapo Kakko leads a very talented Finnish crop that includes six in my first round, including the brother of Rangers draft pick Aleksi Sareela, Antti. Antti looks like a potential top 15 pick. Julius Honka's brother is also included. Its a rather weak crop for Sweden who only places two in my first round, Soderstrom and Nils Hoglander, although they did have a few in my next 10-15 spots. USA has a very good crop, but they've only placeded 4 in my first round, Hughes, Turcotte, Vlasic and McCarthy. I found that as many as 6 others are looking like top 2 round picks, just not yet in my top 31, so its a crop with depth from the USA, a lot of these guys could end up first rounders, although for now only 4. The top goalie I've seen so far is American, Spencer Knight. Big goalie who is polished with reflexes. Local kid, as well who has played for some of the Junior Ranger programs in the area. Going by his twitter, he would also seem to be a Rangers fan.

The Czech crop had a similar problem to the American crop, I had another 3 Czech players right in the next 10-15 spots, so its not a bad Czech crop, I just don't see much top end talent right now. Matej Toman is the only one to make my top 30. Really good crop for Russia. 5 in my first round. Canada has a number of interesting forwards, although I wouldn't say any are elite. Byram a potential elite defensemen. Among players from the non-powerhouse countries, Moritz Seider of Germany, Maxim Cajkovic of Slovakia and Valentin Nussbaumer of Switzerland all make my list.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

@Steve Kournianos you’ve mentioned drafting two-way d prospects since last draft, but who are you liking past the first round so far?

Just defensemen?

Russia: Nikita Zorkin, Danila Galenyuk, Alexander Alexeyev, Bogdan Zhilakhov, Pavel Yelshansky (OA), Georgi Dedov, Ilya Kharpukin, Nikita Makeyev

Belarus: Sergei Sapego

Finland: Santeri Salmela, Toni Utunen

Czech Rep: Libor Zabransky, Radim Salda (OA), Vojtech Doktor, Ondrej Buchtela

Sweden: Rasmus Sandin, Carl-Johan Lerby (OA), Axel Andersson, Filip Johansson

Slovakia: Martin Fehervary, Michal Ivan, Martin Bucko

USA: Ty Emberson, Michael Callahan, Chase Blackmun (OA), Slava Demin, Jacob Semik, Christian Krygier, Spencer Stastny

Canada: Jonathan Tychonik, Jett Woo, Austin Chorney, Giovanni Vallati, Peter Stratis,

 

[Ola]

A real sleeper that I’ve some interest in is Markus Karlberg.

A small but very skilled righty. Would imagine that he can be had with a late pick. He hasn’t made it to the big stage despite scoring a ton, been too much of a one man show, but he has kept developing. All of a sudden he just starts getting the job done in the All Swedish League (2nd tier) and he would sky rocket.

I’ve not seen enough of him to really say how close he is to doing that. Just saying that from my limiting viewing he looks interesting.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

A real sleeper that I’ve some interest in is Markus Karlberg.

A small but very skilled righty. Would imagine that he can be had with a late pick. He hasn’t made it to the big stage despite scoring a ton, been too much of a one man show, but he has kept developing. All of a sudden he just starts getting the job done in the All Swedish League (2nd tier) and he would sky rocket.

I’ve not seen enough of him to really say how close he is to doing that. Just saying that from my limiting viewing he looks interesting.

What do you think of the two Timra players, Olofsson and Hallander?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Poor SHL. An alien from another planet has invaded their league.

 

[Griffinbw]

Just defensemen?

Russia: Nikita Zorkin, Danila Galenyuk, Alexander Alexeyev, Bogdan Zhilakhov, Pavel Yelshansky

Love Alexeyev. Wouldn’t shock me if he went late in the first. Would love to have him here

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

 

[Mac n Gs]

Who are other top goal scorers in this draft?

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Zadina, Bokk and Kotkaniemi are pretty darn good goal scorers... Filip Hållander too, i'm curious about more goal scorers too though, i'm not as into this draft as i want to be because of onhockey not showing CHL anymore.

 

[Edge]

Zadina, Bokk and Kotkaniemi are pretty darn good goal scorers... Filip Hållander too, i'm curious about more goal scorers too though, i'm not as into this draft as i want to be because of onhockey not showing CHL anymore.

Everyone talks about Svechnikov, and rightfully so, he's a stud. But from a goal scoring, pure excitement standpoint, Zadina is pretty darn close.

 

[Lion Hound]

One Canadian in Craigs top ten.

http://www.tsn.ca/craig-s-list-dahlin-dominating-one-canadian-in-top-10-1.915356

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Button doesn't have Svechnikov second. Thats being controversial for the sake of it, which is what he often does with these lists.

 

[Edge]

I like Tkachuk, but he's not shown enough to be ranked fourth at this point. (And I've never agreed with the sentiment that he was a better prospect than Matthew). Time will tell how the rest of his season goes, but he's my early candidate to slip a little.

IMO, Zadina should be no lower than fourth, possibly as high as third at this point.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Button doesn't have Svechnikov second. Thats being controversial for the sake of it, which is what he often does with these lists.

Maybe it’s just because of the injury? I’m more surprised that Veleno isn’t top 10 on his list

 

[Edge]

IMO, there's two approaches to Veleno.

The player everyone thought he was going to be a few years ago, and the player that he is shaping up to be in 2017.

It's not that Veleno is a bad player, but he's not the dynamic, potentially game-changing forward people thought he could be. The offense just isn't there.

In that time, people have pointed to his deployment, his development and a host of other things. The reality is that most likely, he's not going to be a top-end goal or point producer.

With that said, the potential is there to be a very good, two-way center.

In talking to people, opinion on Veleno is somewhat divided. He's falling on more than a few lists, whereas others view his situation as being similar to Mike Ricci's in 1990.

For those of you who don't recall, Ricci was a highly regarded junior player who never quite became the offensive force he was projected to be, but was widely regarded as one of the better defensive/two-way centers of his generation.

 

[Savant]

IMO, there's two approaches to Veleno.

The player everyone thought he was going to be a few years ago, and the player that he is shaping up to be in 2017.

It's not that Veleno is a bad player, but he's not the dynamic, potentially game-changing forward people thought he could be. The offense just isn't there.

In that time, people have pointed to his deployment, his development and a host of other things. The reality is that most likely, he's not going to be a top-end goal or point producer.

With that said, the potential is there to be a very good, two-way center.

In talking to people, opinion on Veleno is somewhat divided. He's falling on more than a few lists, whereas others view his situation as being similar to Mike Ricci's in 1990.

For those of you who don't recall, Ricci was a highly regarded junior player who never quite became the offensive force he was projected to be, but was widely regarded as one of the better defensive/two-way centers of his generation.

Wouldn't go with Velano if that is his projection. Isn’t that what the Rangers are hoping that Andersson turns into more or less?

They really need to go wing. Maybe LHD.

Rangers probably need to be top 5/top 7 to get a player they need.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

IMO, there's two approaches to Veleno.

The player everyone thought he was going to be a few years ago, and the player that he is shaping up to be in 2017.

It's not that Veleno is a bad player, but he's not the dynamic, potentially game-changing forward people thought he could be. The offense just isn't there.

In that time, people have pointed to his deployment, his development and a host of other things. The reality is that most likely, he's not going to be a top-end goal or point producer.

With that said, the potential is there to be a very good, two-way center.

In talking to people, opinion on Veleno is somewhat divided. He's falling on more than a few lists, whereas others view his situation as being similar to Mike Ricci's in 1990.

For those of you who don't recall, Ricci was a highly regarded junior player who never quite became the offensive force he was projected to be, but was widely regarded as one of the better defensive/two-way centers of his generation.

Veleno suffers from Scott Gomez-itis -- too many 50-foot wristers into the crest. Other than that, he has excellent vision, top-end speed, good size, competes hard and is 100% committed to possessing the puck. He's a playmaker and is money on the PP, and he's done really well anchoring the top line on a really thin team.

He's basically this year's version of Mike McLeod but with a much harder shot. I'd like to see Veleno take the puck deeper into the slot and finish rather than consistently cross-icing or cross-creasing it.

 

[Savant]

@Steve Kournianos

If the Rangers draft too high for Zadina/Tkachuk/Wahlstrom are there other shoot first wingers in the 12-18 range that they could get?

Also are there any LHD that seem to be in that range besides maybe McIssac?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think he's underrated, he's better than Andersson, Saint Johns suck, one of the worst teams in the CHL. If they were better, he'd have like 10 more points, and people wouldn't be complaining. He's not only an offense guy, he can play a two way game, and I think he'll be around a Toews level player. I haven't even dropped him in my draft rankings, I don't think there's a good reason to.

 

[Ola]

IMO, there's two approaches to Veleno.

The player everyone thought he was going to be a few years ago, and the player that he is shaping up to be in 2017.

It's not that Veleno is a bad player, but he's not the dynamic, potentially game-changing forward people thought he could be. The offense just isn't there.

In that time, people have pointed to his deployment, his development and a host of other things. The reality is that most likely, he's not going to be a top-end goal or point producer.

With that said, the potential is there to be a very good, two-way center.

In talking to people, opinion on Veleno is somewhat divided. He's falling on more than a few lists, whereas others view his situation as being similar to Mike Ricci's in 1990.

For those of you who don't recall, Ricci was a highly regarded junior player who never quite became the offensive force he was projected to be, but was widely regarded as one of the better defensive/two-way centers of his generation.

Yeah there are many guys like this. Calgary have had two Swedish centers, Mikael Backlund now and Marcus Nilsson in the past that was held very high. Marcus Nilsson was ranked FOA as a 17 y/o if I remember correctly. Anyway — it’s interesting how tough it still is for those kids to really shine. It’s a bit of a mental screw up to start of as a 15-17 y/o trending hard downwards but still being more promising than most compared to say a kid that comes out of no where and the last 6 months gets to that level.

 

[Ola]

Think Oliver Wahlström is one of the harder kids to pin down right now. With a strong WJC he could sky rocket into the top 5, maybe even top 3, or drop.

Tons of skills on that kid. Good physic. Very smart, committed to Harvard next season. But he is almost too much of a training product if you get what I mean. How effective can he be playing in a tough competitive environment on a day to day basis? He might be ranked a lot higher if he played like in Allsvenskan right now — or lower if he wasn’t up to it.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Think Oliver Wahlström is one of the harder kids to pin down right now. With a strong WJC he could sky rocket into the top 5, maybe even top 3, or drop.

Tons of skills on that kid. Good physic. Very smart, committed to Harvard next season. But he is almost too much of a training product if you get what I mean. How effective can he be playing in a tough competitive environment on a day to day basis? He might be ranked a lot higher if he played like in Allsvenskan right now — or lower if he wasn’t up to it.

He reminds me a lot of #93 on the Rangers, poor man's Mika.

 

[Ola]

There is always a risk that you draft for yesterday's needs. But I definitely still think that the general trend is that you must look for players who can play a fast game and have skill -- but that also has the ability to solve situations with simple smart plays all over the ice.

A good example IMO is to compare Buchnevich with Zacha. They are a bit different types, and Buch is of course a year or two older than Zacha, but I would still bet on Buchnevich outscoring Zacha over the course of their careers. Zacha is 6'3 and 215 lbs, if he gets a ice to challenge a D on the outside it will be tough to stop him when he leans into the D at full speed. Good shot. Far from a stiff. Good attitude. But I just think that Buch's game -- where he is able to create offense without needing a ton of space, where he can make excellent reads and execute really fast, is just smart all over, diligent rather than overpowering -- will pay off more. Zacha can of course become a very important top 9 for NJD, especially if they do well as a team and there isn't a ton of pressure on him. All of a sudden he gets a big role on a great PP and gets good numbers too. But I would still bet on Buch everything considered.

 

[Edge]

Veleno suffers from Scott Gomez-itis -- too many 50-foot wristers into the crest. Other than that, he has excellent vision, top-end speed, good size, competes hard and is 100% committed to possessing the puck. He's a playmaker and is money on the PP, and he's done really well anchoring the top line on a really thin team.

He's basically this year's version of Mike McLeod but with a much harder shot. I'd like to see Veleno take the puck deeper into the slot and finish rather than consistently cross-icing or cross-creasing it.

Veleno is one of those players you keep waiting to show you more offensively. You see the toolbox, you make a rational observation (like yours) in which you tell yourself that if he just did one or two things different that the outcome would change, you look at all the things he does well, and you get that vision in your head.

And then reality sets in and he shows that he is a very good, very safe two-way player, but the top shelf offense just isn't there. At some point, after more than 160 games of junior hockey in which he's not even quite a point per game player, in the Quebec league no less, maybe it's not a linemates thing, or a role thing, or a tweak or two thing. Maybe, Veleno just isn't that higher end offensive player he was thought to be going on three years ago.

I think this is the year where even his more ardent supporters are starting to begrudgingly come to that realization as well.

 

[Edge]

Wouldn't go with Velano if that is his projection. Isn’t that what the Rangers are hoping that Andersson turns into more or less?

They really need to go wing. Maybe LHD.

Rangers probably need to be top 5/top 7 to get a player they need.

In the same ballpark.

Offense at the pro level is really a question mark for me with Veleno - moreso than it was watching Lias Andersson.