Quebec centre Angelo Esposito is the top offensive talent available and the early line favourite to be the top overall selection next June. Minnesota high schooler Mike Hoeffel, Ontario centre Logan Couture, Czech winger Jakub Voracek, and Russian flyer Egor Averin represent the next tier on offence and, while Esposito is the clear top gun, all four seem at least capable of battling for top five overall status at next June's draft. Throw big, physical American blue-liner Nick Petrecki and Maritimer Stephen Lund, a well-rounded defenceman, into the mix and it shapes up as a wide open affair.
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Czech Michal Repik and Slovak David Skokan are another pair of skilled Euro wingers who already have a year of North American experience under their belts. Repik had a marvellous freshman campaign in the WHL, getting all the way to the Memorial Cup with Vancouver. Skokan, on the other hand, played for a rebuilding Rimouski club and got a ton of ice time; he'll be expected to lead a resurgent Oceanic squad offensively this season.
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At this point we're assuming that there will finally be a transfer agreement in place with the Russian Federation by this time next year - which is good news, since 2007 will feature a good Russian crop after two down years. In addition to Averin, we see another 4-6 Russians as potential first rounders, led by huge defenceman Artem Dubinin, and a trio of slick goal sniping wingers in Alexei Dostoinov, Ruslan Bashkirov, and Alexei Cherepanov.