2022 NHL Entry Draft Discussion

[Morgs]

I found myself having some spare time the last few days so I started my sheet for the 2022 draft. Seems like it's pretty obvious who's going 1st OA, and the draft is just way more stacked from first glance than last year. Should be lots of good players available to us assuming we keep the pick.

Click to read more...

 

[Morgs]

Based on the admitted, very very little I have so far here is my current top-5 with their NHLe for the 2020-21 season

1. C Shane Wright - N/A
2. C Brad Lambert - 9.68
3. RHD Simon Nemec - 8.76
4. C Conor Geekie - 12.73
5. C Matthew Savoie - 10.81

Some other guys I found interesting:

RHD Elias Salomonsson - 18.1 on draft day (and 6'1" all day lmao). In Sweden's #3 league (J20 Nationell) he managed to go PPG as a defenseman. He was 16 for most of the season. Crazy production for a guy. Had to find me a Swede to be my favourite prosect this draft.

W Kirill Dolzhenkov - He's 6'7", 18.4 at draft day. In the russian U18 league he managed to put up 2.6PPG and captained the team. I'd love to see if it can transfer to the MHL because production like that isn't a joke.

Here are the guys that had above a 10 NHLe in their D-1:

Player	D-Age	Height	Weight	Position	F/D	League 2020-21	Team	GP	G	P	PPG	NHLe 20-21
Yurov, Danila	18.7	6'1"	172	W	F	MHL	Magnitogorsk	23	13	25	1.087	15.15
Gaucher, Nathan	18.9	6'3"	198	C/W	F	QMJHL	Quebec	30	14	31	1.0333	13.47
Geekie, Conor	18.4	6'4"	205	C	F	WHL	Winnipeg	24	9	23	0.9583	12.73
Verreault, Antonin	18.1	5'8"	163	W	F	QMJHL	Gatineau	31	6	29	0.9355	12.20
Minten, Fraser	18.2	6'0"	161	W	F	WHL	Kamloops	20	4	18	0.9	11.96
Howard, Isaac	18.5	5'10"	174	W	F	USHL	USDP	28	16	33	1.1786	11.40
Nazar, Frank	18.7	5'9"	163	W	F	USHL	USDP	31	20	36	1.1613	11.24
Savoie, Matthew	18.7	5'10"	181	C/W	F	USHL	Dubuque	34	21	38	1.1176	10.81
Ostlund, Noah	18.5	5'10"	163	C/W	F	J20 Nationell	Djurgardens	10	7	15	1.5	10.58
Miroshnichenko, Ivan	18.6	6'1"	185	W	F	MHL	Omskie	20	5	15	0.75	10.46
Vidicek, Markus	18.5	5'10"	161	C/W	F	QMJHL	Halifax	40	10	31	0.775	10.10
Cooley, Logan	18.4	5'10"	179	C/W	F	USHL	USDP	27	15	28	1.037	10.03

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Top-10 Defenseman by NHLe:

Player	D-Age	Height	Weight	Position	F/D	League 2020-21	Team	GP	G	P	PPG	NHLe 20-21
Nemec, Simon	18.6	6'1"	192	RHD	D	Slovakia	HK Nitra	37	2	19	0.5135	8.76
Jiricek, David	18.8	6'3"	176	RHD	D	Czech	HC Plzen	34	3	9	0.2647	8.62
Safin-Tregubov, Sergei	18.9	5'9"	187	LHD	D	MHL	Tolpar Ufa	35	7	21	0.6	8.36
Luneau, Tristan	18.7	6'2"	174	RHD	D	QMJHL	Gatineau	31	4	18	0.5806	7.57
Mateychuk, Denton	18.2	5'11"	192	LHD	D	WHL	Moose Jaw	16	2	9	0.5625	7.47
Salomonsson, Elias	18.1	6'1"	161	RHD	D	J20 Nationell	Skelleftea	15	4	15	1	7.05
Casey, Seamus	18.7	5'10"	161	RHD	D	USHL	USDP	30	2	20	0.6667	6.45
McCutcheon, Logan	18.7	5'10"	154	RHD	D	WHL	Lethbridge	23	1	11	0.4783	6.35
Chesley, Ryan	18.6	6'0"	187	RHD	D	USHL	USDP	27	6	14	0.5185	5.02
Hutson, Lane	18.6	5'6"	165	LHD	D	USHL	USDP	27	3	14	0.5185	5.02

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

So it doesn't have to do with this draft, but I was looking at Morgan geekie, Connors brother, and was just curious how someone who puts up 90pts in the whl in there 2nd season doesn't get drafted until the 3rd round?

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

Anyone know anything about Kirill DOLZHENKOV?
6'7 rw projected in 1st round on a couple sites. Hasn't played above Russia u18 division.

 

[Morgs]

So it doesn't have to do with this draft, but I was looking at Morgan geekie, Connors brother, and was just curious how someone who puts up 90pts in the whl in there 2nd season doesn't get drafted until the 3rd round?

That's insane. Especially being a late birthday.

Anyone know anything about Kirill DOLZHENKOV?
6'7 rw projected in 1st round on a couple sites. Hasn't played above Russia u18 division.

I mentioned him a bit in my post, but its almost all just EP Scouting. I have him on my watch list to see how he plays in the MHL.

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

That's insane. Especially being a late birthday.



I mentioned him a bit in my post, but its almost all just EP Scouting. I have him on my watch list to see how he plays in the MHL.

Opps I missed that. Too much text for me was just skimming and passed right over that section.

 

[SprDaVE]

Might be a big faller in this draft.

 

[Morgs]

Might be a big faller in this draft.

Seems Finland is again looking at a players lack of production instead of what they can do for a team in a short tournament. Both times they could have looked at the players SH% and oiSH% and seen that the lack of production is probably due to bad luck. Easy way to shoot your team in the foot is by leaving one of your best players at home.

It might be a great thing for us though. His talent is undeniable, but the question is can he develop a 2-way game to go along with it. Likely he ends up being a similar player to Laine or Kyle Connor (but maybe not that good). Clearly Winnipeg is gonna draft him though, they love their one-dimensional scorers.

 

[LeafChief]

Seems Finland is again looking at a players lack of production instead of what they can do for a team in a short tournament. Both times they could have looked at the players SH% and oiSH% and seen that the lack of production is probably due to bad luck. Easy way to shoot your team in the foot is by leaving one of your best players at home.

It might be a great thing for us though. His talent is undeniable, but the question is can he develop a 2-way game to go along with it. Likely he ends up being a similar player to Laine or Kyle Connor (but maybe not that good). Clearly Winnipeg is gonna draft him though, they love their one-dimensional scorers.

Absolutely dumb of them not to include him in a junior roster because he is struggling at the men's senior level. Whatever. I pray to God he drops to us.

 

[LaPlante94]

Based on the admitted, very very little I have so far here is my current top-5 with their NHLe for the 2020-21 season

1. C Shane Wright - N/A
2. C Brad Lambert - 9.68
3. RHD Simon Nemec - 8.76
4. C Conor Geekie - 12.73
5. C Matthew Savoie - 10.81

Some other guys I found interesting:

RHD Elias Salomonsson - 18.1 on draft day (and 6'1" all day lmao). In Sweden's #3 league (J20 Nationell) he managed to go PPG as a defenseman. He was 16 for most of the season. Crazy production for a guy. Had to find me a Swede to be my favourite prosect this draft.

W Kirill Dolzhenkov - He's 6'7", 18.4 at draft day. In the russian U18 league he managed to put up 2.6PPG and captained the team. I'd love to see if it can transfer to the MHL because production like that isn't a joke.

Here are the guys that had above a 10 NHLe in their D-1:

Player	D-Age	Height	Weight	Position	F/D	League 2020-21	Team	GP	G	P	PPG	NHLe 20-21
Yurov, Danila	18.7	6'1"	172	W	F	MHL	Magnitogorsk	23	13	25	1.087	15.15
Gaucher, Nathan	18.9	6'3"	198	C/W	F	QMJHL	Quebec	30	14	31	1.0333	13.47
Geekie, Conor	18.4	6'4"	205	C	F	WHL	Winnipeg	24	9	23	0.9583	12.73
Verreault, Antonin	18.1	5'8"	163	W	F	QMJHL	Gatineau	31	6	29	0.9355	12.20
Minten, Fraser	18.2	6'0"	161	W	F	WHL	Kamloops	20	4	18	0.9	11.96
Howard, Isaac	18.5	5'10"	174	W	F	USHL	USDP	28	16	33	1.1786	11.40
Nazar, Frank	18.7	5'9"	163	W	F	USHL	USDP	31	20	36	1.1613	11.24
Savoie, Matthew	18.7	5'10"	181	C/W	F	USHL	Dubuque	34	21	38	1.1176	10.81
Ostlund, Noah	18.5	5'10"	163	C/W	F	J20 Nationell	Djurgardens	10	7	15	1.5	10.58
Miroshnichenko, Ivan	18.6	6'1"	185	W	F	MHL	Omskie	20	5	15	0.75	10.46
Vidicek, Markus	18.5	5'10"	161	C/W	F	QMJHL	Halifax	40	10	31	0.775	10.10
Cooley, Logan	18.4	5'10"	179	C/W	F	USHL	USDP	27	15	28	1.037	10.03

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Top-10 Defenseman by NHLe:

Player	D-Age	Height	Weight	Position	F/D	League 2020-21	Team	GP	G	P	PPG	NHLe 20-21
Nemec, Simon	18.6	6'1"	192	RHD	D	Slovakia	HK Nitra	37	2	19	0.5135	8.76
Jiricek, David	18.8	6'3"	176	RHD	D	Czech	HC Plzen	34	3	9	0.2647	8.62
Safin-Tregubov, Sergei	18.9	5'9"	187	LHD	D	MHL	Tolpar Ufa	35	7	21	0.6	8.36
Luneau, Tristan	18.7	6'2"	174	RHD	D	QMJHL	Gatineau	31	4	18	0.5806	7.57
Mateychuk, Denton	18.2	5'11"	192	LHD	D	WHL	Moose Jaw	16	2	9	0.5625	7.47
Salomonsson, Elias	18.1	6'1"	161	RHD	D	J20 Nationell	Skelleftea	15	4	15	1	7.05
Casey, Seamus	18.7	5'10"	161	RHD	D	USHL	USDP	30	2	20	0.6667	6.45
McCutcheon, Logan	18.7	5'10"	154	RHD	D	WHL	Lethbridge	23	1	11	0.4783	6.35
Chesley, Ryan	18.6	6'0"	187	RHD	D	USHL	USDP	27	6	14	0.5185	5.02
Hutson, Lane	18.6	5'6"	165	LHD	D	USHL	USDP	27	3	14	0.5185	5.02

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Salomonsson looks like a very good skater and puck handler but from a shift by shift video I saw his decision making on the defensive side could get better.

Dolzhenkov I saw a video of like a week ago and was also intrigued by him. Good hands and a pretty good shot too. Definitely someone I will try to follow when I have time to watch more streams.

Arseni Koromyslov is another name I want to remember to keep an eye on.

Alexander Perevalov is another.

Ostlund on your list there looks very promising. I liked what I saw from him and how he plays. Might be one of my early favourites so far.

 

[as Pure as Evil]

Might be a big faller in this draft.

ill do my liljgren voodoo on this guy too. would be nice to have blue chip center back in the system. he will fall to us. just a matter if someone picks him lol

 

[Morgs]

Because the thread got sticked I updated my sheet with what the season looks like so far for 116 skaters. As a comparison to last season (I tracked 150 skaters), there were 38 guys who ended the season with 10+ NHLe in their D0. Currently this draft has only 32 guys. Here they are:

Player	D-Age	Height	Weight	Position	League	Team	GP	G	P	PPG	NHLe 21-22
Kemell, Joakim	18.4	5'11"	176	W	Liiga	JYP	16	12	18	1.13	33.39
Yurov, Danila	18.7	6'1"	172	W	MHL	Magnitogorsk	6	3	12	2.00	27.88
Trikozov, Gleb	18.1	6'1"	185	C/W	MHL	Omskie	4	4	5	1.25	17.43
Savoie, Matthew	18.7	5'10"	181	C/W	WHL	Winnipeg	13	6	17	1.31	17.37
Jiricek, David	18.8	6'3"	176	RHD	Czech	HC Plzen	17	3	8	0.47	15.32
Yakupov, Raul	18.2	6'1"	168	W	MHL	Reaktor	14	11	15	1.07	14.94
Firkus, Jagger	18.4	5'10"	150	W	WHL	Moose Jaw	10	2	11	1.10	14.61
Gustafson, Jordan	18.7	5'11"	179	C/W	WHL	Seattle	10	6	11	1.10	14.61
Geekie, Conor	18.4	6'4"	205	C	WHL	Winnipeg	13	5	14	1.08	14.31
Kvochko, Ilya	18.6	5'9"	159	C/W	MHL	Magnitogorsk	19	8	19	1.00	13.94
Gronick, Kyren	18.6	5'11"	174	W	WHL	Prince George	7	2	7	1.00	13.28
Cote, Justin	18.2	5'6"	148	C/W	QMJHL	Dummondville	12	6	12	1.00	13.04
Gazizov, Ruslan	18.7	5'10"	187	W	OHL	London	1	0	1	1.00	12.71
Goyette, David	18.5	5'10"	152	C/W	OHL	Sudbury	11	4	11	1.00	12.71
Poitras, Matthew	18.5	5'10"	161	C/W	OHL	Guelph	10	4	10	1.00	12.71
Wright, Shane	18.7	6'1"	187	C	OHL	Kingston	8	3	8	1.00	12.71
Kasper, Marco	18.4	6'1"	183	C/W	SHL	Rogle BK	13	3	4	0.31	12.34
Gaucher, Nathan	18.9	6'3"	198	C/W	QMJHL	Quebec	12	6	11	0.92	11.95
Minten, Fraser	18.2	6'0"	161	W	WHL	Kamloops	8	5	7	0.88	11.62
Cooley, Logan	18.4	5'10"	179	C/W	USHL	USDP	5	2	6	1.20	11.61
Arnsby, Liam	18.8	5'10"	174	C/W	OHL	North Bay	11	4	10	0.91	11.55
Nelson, Ty	18.5	5'8"	172	RHD	OHL	North Bay	11	2	10	0.91	11.55
Pettrovsky, Servac	18.1	5'11"	168	C/W	OHL	Owen Sound	10	1	9	0.90	11.44
Lekkerimaki, Jonathan	18.2	5'11"	172	C/W	J20 Nationell	Djurgardens	16	16	25	1.56	11.02
Lisowsky, Brandon	18.4	5'8"	176	W	WHL	Saskatoon	11	6	9	0.82	10.87
Gendron, Alexis	18.7	5'8"	157	C/W	QMJHL	Blainville-Boisbriand	11	5	9	0.82	10.67
Mateychuk, Denton	18.2	5'11"	192	LHD	WHL	Moose Jaw	10	3	8	0.80	10.63
Ostlund, Noah	18.5	5'10"	163	C/W	J20 Nationell	Djurgardens	10	2	15	1.50	10.58
Nemec, Simon	18.6	6'1"	192	RHD	Slovakia	HK Nitra	13	0	8	0.62	10.50
Miroshnichenko, Ivan	18.6	6'1"	185	W	VHL	Omskie	19	4	9	0.47	10.45
Safin-Tregubov, Sergei	18.9	5'9"	187	LHD	MHL	Tolpar Ufa	19	5	14	0.74	10.27
Zhilkin, Danny	18.8	6'2"	183	C/W	OHL	Guelph	10	2	8	0.80	10.17

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Not too much to unpack yet as it's still ridiculously early, but all the "projected" top-10 guys are crushing it besides Lambert and Salomonsson.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Anyone know anything about Kirill DOLZHENKOV?
6'7 rw projected in 1st round on a couple sites. Hasn't played above Russia u18 division.

It's going to be tough for him to stand out on a very stacked Russian offense this year.

If he can even make the squad, and that is far from a guarantee (he didn't make the Hlinka squad), he is almost certainly not getting premier minutes on a team that has Perevalov, Miroshnichenko, Kvochko, Michkov, Gazizov, But, Demidov, Trikozov, etc.

 

[Fogelhund]

Not too much to unpack yet as it's still ridiculously early, but all the "projected" top-10 guys are crushing it besides Lambert and Salomonsson.

Thanks for posting this. I'd say Wright isn't quite crushing it at the moment. PPG in the OHL, isn't typical first overall material.

 

[Morgs]

After posting the updates on the draft one guy that really stood out to me was David Jiricek, so I did some more digging.

1st right now for all first time eligible defenseman in NHLe (after being 2nd last season), and 5th including forwards. Already has as many points as he did last season in almost half the games.

At evens he has a 51.4 CF% with a -1 rel.CF%. Seems he's struggling defensively based on the numbers (second highest CA/60 for regular defenseman on his team), but that's not exactly surprising for a 17 year old in a good men's league playing unsheltered minutes (5th in OZS, 5th in total ice-time, but both are close enough for me to assume he's taken over a top-4 role at times). Not to mention he's 1st for defenseman in iCF/60 and goals on his team.

Watching his videos is fun too. He's a great skater, and a large offensive defenseman with potentially great puck skills (I need to see more). Also has a one-timer that is just ridiculous to go along with his love to step up in the gap and crush guys. Very interested in keeping an eye on him in CZE, guy looks like a future top-pairing guy. Not surprised he's ranked around 10 everywhere.

 

[Morgs]

Thanks for posting this. I'd say Wright isn't quite crushing it at the moment. PPG in the OHL, isn't typical first overall material.

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt because he only played in the U18's last season. If he's at PPG by season's end there's an issue, but I'm expecting that to tick up a lot, and he's got a nice base right now.

 

[SprDaVE]

After posting the updates on the draft one guy that really stood out to me was David Jiricek, so I did some more digging.

1st right now for all first time eligible defenseman in NHLe (after being 2nd last season), and 5th including forwards. Already has as many points as he did last season in almost half the games.

At evens he has a 51.4 CF% with a -1 rel.CF%. Seems he's struggling defensively based on the numbers (second highest CA/60 for regular defenseman on his team), but that's not exactly surprising for a 17 year old in a good men's league playing unsheltered minutes (5th in OZS, 5th in total ice-time, but both are close enough for me to assume he's taken over a top-4 role at times). Not to mention he's 1st for defenseman in iCF/60 and goals on his team.

Watching his videos is fun too. He's a great skater, and a large offensive defenseman with potentially great puck skills (I need to see more). Also has a one-timer that is just ridiculous to go along with his love to step up in the gap and crush guys. Very interested in keeping an eye on him in CZE, guy looks like a future top-pairing guy. Not surprised he's ranked around 10 everywhere.

Seems like a great skater with a lot of great tools. Ranked in the mid first round but I suspect he'll probably rise to the top 10. Teams always drool on 6'3" skating defenseman.

 

[SprDaVE]

Wheelers top 64 prospects. Big write up. His top 5 isn't surprising -- Wright, Savoie, Nemec, Lambert and Yurov.

NHL Draft ranking: Scott Wheeler's top 64 prospects for 2022

Overall, the draft seems weak at a first glace.

 

[Morgs]

Seems like a great skater with a lot of great tools. Ranked in the mid first round but I suspect he'll probably rise to the top 10. Teams always drool on 6'3" skating defenseman.

The crazy part about him though is 6'3" skating, physical, and the offense is his calling card. Much weaker draft, but it'd be like Power being ranked 10. I don't think it's out of line to call them similar level prospects.

 

[hockeynorth]

I hope to god we keep our first this year, so many good potential options. I want us to draft a C round 1 so bad.

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

How is this a weak draft when anyone from the top 10 this year would have easily gone number 1 last year?

 

[SprDaVE]

How is this a weak draft when anyone from the top 10 this year would have easily gone number 1 last year?

Last draft was pretty bad, probably one of the weakest drafts of the last 20 years. 2022 is likely stronger but it's not overly great either early on. There's always a good top 5/10 almost every draft, it's also about the quality through all the rounds or at least the top 90. I just feel like the drop off seems big this year but we'll see. I could be very wrong.

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

Last draft was pretty bad, probably one of the weakest drafts of the last 20 years. 2022 is likely stronger but it's overly great either early on. There's always a good top 5/10 almost every draft, it's also about the quality through all the rounds or at least the top 90. I just feel like the drop off seems big this year but we'll see. I could be very wrong.

I feel like the drop off probably has to do with the top guys just being top guys. I'm sure we'll look back on the draft and view it as a rather strong 1 in comparison. I'm thinking it'll look very similar to 2014. People viewed 2014 as a weak draft when in reality it was a draft with a lot of boom/bust types and a lot of them turned out.

 

[Fogelhund]

After posting the updates on the draft one guy that really stood out to me was David Jiricek, so I did some more digging.

1st right now for all first time eligible defenseman in NHLe (after being 2nd last season), and 5th including forwards. Already has as many points as he did last season in almost half the games.

At evens he has a 51.4 CF% with a -1 rel.CF%. Seems he's struggling defensively based on the numbers (second highest CA/60 for regular defenseman on his team), but that's not exactly surprising for a 17 year old in a good men's league playing unsheltered minutes (5th in OZS, 5th in total ice-time, but both are close enough for me to assume he's taken over a top-4 role at times). Not to mention he's 1st for defenseman in iCF/60 and goals on his team.

Watching his videos is fun too. He's a great skater, and a large offensive defenseman with potentially great puck skills (I need to see more). Also has a one-timer that is just ridiculous to go along with his love to step up in the gap and crush guys. Very interested in keeping an eye on him in CZE, guy looks like a future top-pairing guy. Not surprised he's ranked around 10 everywhere.

Sounds exciting... and likely well out of our reach, barring some trades where we pick up teams lower in the standings first.

 

[Morgs]

Last draft was pretty bad, probably one of the weakest drafts of the last 20 years. 2022 is likely stronger but it's not overly great either early on. There's always a good top 5/10 almost every draft, it's also about the quality through all the rounds or at least the top 90. I just feel like the drop off seems big this year but we'll see. I could be very wrong.

Imo 2021 was a draft where virtually anyone besides Eklund, Guenther, Beniers, Power, Hughes, Clarke, and Johnson probably shouldn't have gone in a normal top-15. That draft had a bunch of 1st round talent (maybe 40~ guys), but almost all of them were 15-30 type players. This draft seems to have quite a lot more of that top-15 talent (Wright, Miro, Lambert, Slafkovsky, Geekie, Kemell, Cooley, Savioe, Yurov, Nemec, Jiricek, Salomonsson), with potentially more to come, but less 1st round talent overall. Hurts we didn't see the D-1 season of any player in the OHL.

I'm feeling more nervous about not getting a great player late in the 1st round this draft than I was getting one in the 50's last draft. It's still very early though.