Lays September 2019 draft rankings

[Lays]

Been working on this a while and I think this is the first list I’ve posted that I’m 100% sure about atm
This draft is stacked and aside from Dahlin, I like this draft’s 1st round better than 2018’s. Not a fan of the depth in the 2019 class though, 2018’s 2nd-4th round was very good and I even said that I think 2018’s 2nd round will be one of the best in a long time. Can’t say the same about 2019’s 2nd round though time will tell

1. Jack Hughes
2. Alex Newhook
3. Kaapo Kakko
4. Kirby Dach
5. Philipp Broberg
6. Alex Turcotte
7. Vasili Podkolzin
8. Dylan Cozens
9. Anttoni Honka
10. Bowen Byram
11. Trevor Zegras
12. Matthew Robertson
13. Peyton Krebs
14. Simon Holmstrom
15. Ryan Suzuki
16. Valentin Nussbaumer
17. Cole Caufield
18. Nils Hoglander
19. Cam York
20. Victor Soderstrom
21. Raphael Lavoie
22. John Beecher
23. Matvei Guskov
24. Daniil Gutik
25. Arthur Kaliyev
26. Matthew Boldy
27. Nolan Foote
28. Tobias Bjornfot
29. Maxim Cajkovic
30. Michael Vukojevic
31. Blake Murray
32. Brady Meyer
33. Josh Williams
34. Yaroslav Likhachyov
35. Patrik Puistola
36. Graeme Clark
37. Kaeden Korczak
38. Samuel Poulin
39. Ben Brinkman
40. Moritz Seider
41. Jakob Pelletier
42. Martin Hugo Has
43. Sasha Mutala
44. Brett Budgell
45. John Farinacci
46. Simon Lundmark
47. Henri Nikkanen
48. Marshall Warren
49. Pavel Dorofeyev
50. Marcel Barinka
51. Karl Henriksson
52. Drew Helleson
53. Jamieson Rees
54. Xavier Parent
55. Nikita Alexandrov
56. Nicholas Robertson
57. Albin Grewe
58. Lassi Thomson
59. Henry Thrun
60. Artemi Knyazev
61. Thomas Harley
62. Dmitri Sheshin

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[Brett44]

Great list but i think Newhook is too High and Cozens too low. This draft will be very good.

 

[UnSandvich]

I'm a bit surprised at Byram's placement at 10 vs. Honka and Broberg. Why do you have them ranked that way?

 

[Dominance]

Really great list. I especially respect your placement of Newhook after he’s fallen into poor favour around here, even if he might be a smidge too high. It’s really funny to see how one or two random people can post a somewhat-negative opinion on a player and suddenly everyone who’s never paid attention to him in their life is agreeing he should be falling down to the end of the first round.

 

[Tryamkin]

Glad to see we agree on Holmstrom and Zegras. Some interesting opinions, don’t agree with all, but good list. I think you have Likhachyov and Gutik too low.

 

[DatDude44]

I don’t know much about this years class yet.....but I’m very surprised to not see Case McCarthy on their.... he has a chance to be the next Seabrook

 

[Lays]

I don’t know much about this years class yet.....but I’m very surprised to not see Case McCarthy on their.... he has a chance to be the next Seabrook

Forgot to mention it but everyone that’s on this list I’ve seen play enough to rank them. I don’t rank anyone I haven’t seen yet

 

[Lays]

Great list but i think Newhook is too High and Cozens too low. This draft will be very good.

I'm a bit surprised at Byram's placement at 10 vs. Honka and Broberg. Why do you have them ranked that way?

Honestly, the top 13 ish are all very close for me, Newhook and Cozens, though at 2 and 5 respectively, are very close
I’ve never been too high on Byram. He’s a beautiful skater but when I watch him something seems off. Maybe I’ve watched too much of him (because of former teammate Ty Ronning) but I like Honka and Broberg more. Honka is an offensive stud, he’s been doing amazing as of late. His defensive positioning/defensive IQ needs to improve but his stick work is already pretty good. Broberg I initially didn’t want to rank too high but I’m starting to think that he’s the real deal. Just think Broberg/Honka have higher upsides than Byram who I see as a really good 3D. Broberg/Honka have top pairing potential

 

[Lays]

Really great list. I especially respect your placement of Newhook after he’s fallen into poor favour around here, even if he might be a smidge too high. It’s really funny to see how one or two random people can post a somewhat-negative opinion on a player and suddenly everyone who’s never paid attention to him in their life is agreeing he should be falling down to the end of the first round.

Yep. Only because of Hlinka and now people are starting rumors he has character issues
Newhook isn’t that far from Hughes for me honestly and I’m probably going to get some shit for saying that.

 

[Tryamkin]

Forgot to mention it but everyone that’s on this list I’ve seen play enough to rank them. I don’t rank anyone I haven’t seen yet

McCarthy plays on the USNDP though with Hughes, Turcotte and others, how could you have seen the others but not him?

 

[Dominance]

Yep. Only because of Hlinka and now people are starting rumors he has character issues
Newhook isn’t that far from Hughes for me honestly and I’m probably going to get some **** for saying that.

That is gutsy, although I’d agree that they’re really not far apart whatsoever in terms of tools. Newhook has Hughes covered in straightline speed and shooting to be honest, but so may Kakko. Hughes is just ridiculously far ahead of the rest in his hockey IQ. Not to wish ill health on a teenage prospect, but it would be interesting if Hughes sat out this season with an illness that kept him out of all games but had no damaging effects on his body. A fair amount of teams might still take him first.

 

[Blade Paradigm]

That is gutsy, although I’d agree that they’re really not far apart whatsoever in terms of tools. Newhook has Hughes covered in straightline speed and shooting to be honest, but so may Kakko. Hughes is just ridiculously far ahead of the rest in his hockey IQ. Not to wish ill health on a teenage prospect, but it would be interesting if Hughes sat out this season with an illness that kept him out of all games but had no damaging effects on his body. A fair amount of teams might still take him first.

I don't see the same level of hockey IQ in Newhook that I see in some of my top-tier ranked players. This really limits him, in my opinion. He has a high-end skill set, but he doesn't process the game at the same level as the others. That type of player tends to have a tougher time translating to the NHL, but we still occasionally see these types of players at the top of various lists.

Nail Yakupov, Sam Bennett, Jesse Puljujarvi, Owen Tippett . . . all north-south players with a great shot and excellent rush capabilities at lower levels. That type of skill set doesn't translate if it isn't backed up by excellent anticipation skills, smart positioning, and east-west play.



Flames committed to keeping Sam Bennett at centre

Flames committed to keeping Sam Bennett at centre
Wes Gilbertson
Updated: February 10, 2017

...

“When you look at Sam, what are his attributes that make you believe he’s going to be a good centre?” said Treliving, repeating the question before rolling out a detailed response. “Well, first of all, he has good speed, great quickness. He plays with tempo in his game. To me, he’s a driver. What I mean by that is he’s an attacker. He attacks seams. He can push defencemen back. He takes pucks to the net. His is an abrasive game. It’s a north-south game. It’s not necessarily one where there’s a lot of east-west into it. Sam, he’s a direct player. . . "

...

Nail Yakupov: #1 overall
Sam Bennett: #4 overall
Jesse Puljujarvi: #4 overall
Owen Tippett: #10 overall

Newhook isn't very effective when he's not attacking with his speed up the ice.

 

[Lays]

McCarthy plays on the USNDP though with Hughes, Turcotte and others, how could you have seen the others but not him?

I know who McCarthy is, just haven’t paid attention enough to him to rank him fairly

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

As per each year half the list will likely change. Going into 2009-10 Seguin wasn't ranked that high. Seguin was what I believed to be the biggest surprise going into the draft that year. Same with Kotkaniemi, Petterson, Heiskanen, Laine, Dubois, Marner, etc.

My point being somebody WILL always likely rise right into the top five.

I cannot really say who, but Cozens is my favourite player going into this year's draft.

 

[Habs76]

Finally, someone rating Cozens at a good spot

 

[Tryamkin]

I know who McCarthy is, just haven’t paid attention enough to him to rank him fairly

I’m not saying you don’t know who he is, I’m just confused how you haven’t seen him play unless you just watch strict game highlights of players on his team.

 

[Lays]

I’m not saying you don’t know who he is, I’m just confused how you haven’t seen him play unless you just watch strict game highlights of players on his team.

I’ve seen him play just not enough to rank him fairly. In my last post I said I haven’t got around to actually paying attention to him and picking apart his game
And no, I don’t really watch highlights. Pretty bad way to analyze a player

 

[Lays]

As per each year half the list will likely change. Going into 2009-10 Seguin wasn't ranked that high. Seguin was what I believed to be the biggest surprise going into the draft that year. Same with Kotkaniemi, Petterson, Heiskanen, Laine, Dubois, Marner, etc.

My point being somebody WILL always likely rise right into the top five.

I cannot really say who, but Cozens is my favourite player going into this year's draft.

Could definitely see Cozens going top 5. I wouldn’t take him there (yet?) but I can see it
If the draft were held today I’m pretty sure he’d go top 5

 

[Tryamkin]

I’ve seen him play just not enough to rank him fairly. In my last post I said I haven’t got around to actually paying attention to him and picking apart his game
And no, I don’t really watch highlights. Pretty bad way to analyze a player

Highlights are awful. I figured that’s how you watched if you didn’t see him while watching a full game.

 

[Lays]

Highlights are awful. I figured that’s how you watched if you didn’t see him while watching a full game.

Yeah no. Usually I only watch highlights if that’s the last resort to watching a player or if I want to just see all the players’ goals/assists one more time without sifting through actual games. Highlights are the worst way to get to know a player

 

[North Country]

Exactly where I have Beecher. Size and skill.