We seem to have a player like this every year at the NTDP, whether its Wahlstrom, Caufield, Lucius, and now Howard.
I think in terms of raw upside Wahlstrom had the highest upside with the best shot power, best puck handling, best skating, but probably the lowest floor because he probably had the worst hockey sense and playmaking of the four. I find Lucius and Howard to be the most well-rounded of the four, but not hugely dynamic players. Very much middle of the road players in every part of the game, except elite scorers. They'll play in the league and be good goal-scorers, in my opinion, but there's a lack of a dynamic element. Caufield has the most flaws with his game because he's very under-sized and the rest of his game doesn't have any real strengths, but I think he has the best goal-scoring instincts.
I think you'll see a similar draft range for Howard as we saw with Wahlstrom and Caufield, and I expect with Lucius. Wahlstrom was 11th, Caufield 15th, and I expect Lucius this year to be somewhere in that 11-20 range.
Howard is one of the best players in his age group among the NTDP players, but it's a deep age group with some guys who are more hyped, and probably better. Like with Caufield, I think he's simply just a little overshadowed by a few prospects in a good age group for the Americans, although thats not to say he isn't a pretty good prospect who'll likely be a high pick.
