After a little more work, I want add to Tomasino to the list of guys I'd be really interested in at #20. I know I'm not the first one to call him out, but I'd have him, Brink, Robertson, and Seider at the top of my wish list (assuming Harley, Kaliyev, and Broberg are gone - Seider might belong in this group now too). Tomasino has a ton of skill. He's an explosive skater who just blows by defenders like they are standing still. His hands are dirty. Between the legs passes, toe drags dekes, etc. He's got a shot that can beat goalies clean from a distance and he makes some pretty smart high end passes into tight spaces. He also has good work ethic and wins pucks in the dirty areas of the ice. He had a bunch of assists from behind the goal line.
It seems like the knock on him is, if he has all this skill, why didn't he score more? And the answer is: actually he did. He put up the 2nd most 5-on-5 points of draft eligibles in the CHL, the most 5-on-5 points per 60 of draft eligibles in the CHL, and the 2nd most 5-on-5 goals by a U18 player in the CHL. I think playing on a really good team can either magnify or suppress a player's production. In the case of Tomasino, he never got much power play time because he was behind Ben Jones, Jason Robertson, Akil Thomas, and Kirill Maximov, so even though he was the most productive draft eligible at 5-on-5, his point totals are comparable to less productive players. I might be misremembering, but I think 5-on-5 stats are more predictive than aggregate stats too.
Tomasino's also one of the youngest players in the draft with a late July birthday and seems to be developing at a rapid rate. He went from 0.4 ppg last year to 1.1 this year. I think this is potentially really important. I feel like a lot of prospect conversations center around the player's stats and skillset and stop there, but I think that misses one of the most important things about assessing prospects. Outside very small number of top picks, none of these guys are good enough to step in and become impact NHL players when they're drafted. Their value will be derived from the kind of player they become by the time they are when they're 22-25. So their work ethic, attitude, and ability to improve is just as important as the skillset they have today. I think the fact that Tomasino's production increased as much as it did is a good sign that he might be the kind of player who can improve at a high rate over time.
Separately, I know this is way different than the consensus opinion, but personally I would have the top OHL forwards above the top WHL forwards, even if you exclude Kaliyev. Tomasino, Suzuki, and Robertson put up similar numbers to Dach, Cozens, and Krebs, even though they are substantially younger and were in less favorable situations (except for Krebs). The OHL guys aren't as big, but I think size is overrated, and I'd argue that the OHL guys are more skilled. It's not like I think there's a massive difference, but if I were putting together a draft ranking I would have the OHL guys slightly in front of the WHL guys.
