Draftin Europe Winter Release

Draftin Europe

@draftin_europe
Oct 21, 2017
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We published our first Blue Dispatch issue of the year Products – Draftin Europe

This release features for the first time our independent opinion on all 31 NHL teams’ depth charts, with ratings of drafted prospects (our pre-draft assessments obviously evolved through this year’s viewings), NHL team rankings and an overall Top Prospects ranking.

Here is the top 5:
1. Elias Pettersson
2. Miro Heiskanen
3 Eeli Tolvanen
4 Kirill Kaprizov
5 Martin Necas

The rest of the list is obviously a bit harder to guess.

Of course the release also includes updates on next prospects to be drafted out of Europe, who remain our primary focus:
inside you can find developments and new rankings for the 2018 draft class, but also for the 2019 draft class.

Looking at our new 2018 list and comparing it with Central Scouting’s midterm rankings, in the top 20 we have six different players, and the interesting thing is their average ranking at CSB is way lower at 69.
So clearly there are a few names we seem to view completely differently as of now.

Of course still lots of time for things to change from here to the draft.
 
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NikF

Registered User
Sep 24, 2006
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I'd have Heiskanen at 1 and Liljegren in my top 5. Thanks though for sharing your opinion.

We only rank Europe-based players, so no Liljegren anymore.

Here's how depth charts look like:

Ijd8a4A.png


Small glimpse of Top 20 2018:

nsqCRBf.png


Small glimpse of Top 5 2019:

7WaVwKe.png


47 pages in total.
 

Ctrain2k

Registered User
Dec 3, 2016
3,768
3,460
We only rank Europe-based players, so no Liljegren anymore.

Here's how depth charts look like:

Ijd8a4A.png


Small glimpse of Top 20 2018:

nsqCRBf.png


Small glimpse of Top 5 2019:

7WaVwKe.png


47 pages in total.

Already giving me a headache
 
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Leopain

Registered User
Jun 15, 2017
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Interesting that you have Kotkaniemi and Olofsson so high on your list. The reports I have read point to their skating as major concerns. What is your take on it?
 

NikF

Registered User
Sep 24, 2006
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467
Interesting that you have Kotkaniemi and Olofsson so high on your list. The reports I have read point to their skating as major concerns. What is your take on it?

We have seen Olofsson’s skating look more than fine several times. He may not be very explosive or agile, but overall it doesn't look like a weakness. And the lack of clear weaknesses is part of what’s helping him in this ranking.

Looking at the 'Value' column you can see how it's really close for us between him, Denisenko and Boqvist. Let's say at this time he's benefited by some inconsistent play of the more purely skilled Denisenko and Boqvist. It’s not something that is set in stone though, it’s been a bit of a fluid situation all year between those three for us.

For Kotkaniemi the skating argument is probably more understandable. While still unorthodox, we don't expect that to be a problem once fully developed, but of course there is some projection involved there and as such it becomes something that can be debated.
 
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Sens of Anarchy

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Jul 9, 2013
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So are you saying by the rankings , you would not have Boqvist in the top 5 in the 2018 draft .. and possibly not top 10?
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,225
23,097
New York
Can I ask your opinion on Rangers prospects Calle Sjalin and Patrik Virta? Do you think either will play in the NHL?

Not going to bother asking about Shestyorkin and Reunanen, I think I know the answer.
 

VictorLustig

Registered User
Feb 8, 2012
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Interesting rankings, a bit different from the rest. Can't say I agree on Olofsson being ranked that high though, I think his game has actually been very inconsistent this season. Hasn't stood out much in international play either. Not sure where you have Lundeström ranked but I agree, he's probably not a top-5 euro prospect for me either.
 
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NotProkofievian

Registered User
Nov 29, 2011
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Yeah I don't agree with Olofsson being that high. I just don't see the argument for it. I'm a big fan of Kotkaniemi, though, and can see the argument for his ranking. He's doing what you'd expect a D+1 player to do in Liiga, and this is his first crack at it as a July birthday. I think he compares favourably to Rantanen in his draft year.
 

NikF

Registered User
Sep 24, 2006
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So are you saying by the rankings , you would not have Boqvist in the top 5 in the 2018 draft .. and possibly not top 10?
Well, the highest overall ‘value’ we have assigned to Boqvist through all past rankings was top 15, so clearly we consider that to be a possibility.
Though top 20 basically means we see him no lower than 20 in overall value rather than #20.
 

Leopain

Registered User
Jun 15, 2017
248
216
Not a headache, just curious. The Fins and Swedes forward this year seem to bring very different sets of tools, and the opinions vary a lot on them. For instance some have Kupari near top 10, you have him in the 2nd round. Some think Lundestrom is the best player of the group, some think it is Kotkaniemi etc. I'm just trying to become more familiar with each style of game/ceiling/projection.
 

Draftin Europe

@draftin_europe
Oct 21, 2017
73
78
Interesting rankings, a bit different from the rest. Can't say I agree on Olofsson being ranked that high though, I think his game has actually been very inconsistent this season. Hasn't stood out much in international play either.
We have had Olofsson consistently in our top 5 since last year’s U18 Worlds, and that’s because we think it’s hard to find prospects this young that project more safely in terms of NHL game. But unless you think he doesn’t belong in an overall top 20 (see our 'value' column), you’re probably reading too much into his current top 3 position in Europe: for us there has always been a very clear gap between him and Kotkaniemi and his position basically is a byproduct of how guys with more upside will perform, in order to make us feel comfortable about their chances to fulfill their potential (and thus placing them above him).

Let’s put it this way:
when Olofsson doesn’t perform on par with his capabilities (which may have been happening more often than ideal) he looks unspectacular but doesn’t show concerning flaws, when Boqvist and Denisenko have disappointing showings we notice potential issues in terms of NHL success.
 

Draftin Europe

@draftin_europe
Oct 21, 2017
73
78
Not a headache, just curious. The Fins and Swedes forward this year seem to bring very different sets of tools, and the opinions vary a lot on them. For instance some have Kupari near top 10, you have him in the 2nd round. Some think Lundestrom is the best player of the group, some think it is Kotkaniemi etc. I'm just trying to become more familiar with each style of game/ceiling/projection.
Sorry wasn’t wishing you a headache, just misquoted!

To be fair, we haven’t noticed Kupari far from the top 10 (actually, he seemed to be on everyone’s top 10 in the first half of the season) nor Kotkaniemi listed as the top forward anywhere else, so it seems we might be the culprits for the ‘confusion’.

Since you mention them and talk about ceiling and projection.. something pretty clear in our mind is that Kotkaniemi has a higher ceiling than Lundestrom.
 
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Leopain

Registered User
Jun 15, 2017
248
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Corey Pronman seems to have the same opinion, as he ranks Kotkaniemi before Kupari, and Lundestrom is late in the first round in his ranking.

So rest assured, you are not alone ;-)
 

NikF

Registered User
Sep 24, 2006
3,008
467
Can I ask your opinion on Rangers prospects Calle Sjalin and Patrik Virta? Do you think either will play in the NHL?

Not going to bother asking about Shestyorkin and Reunanen, I think I know the answer.

Sjalin is a a very young prospect, just a few days from being eligible for this year's draft. We liked his game in his draft year, so we think there is some upside there to develop down the line, but he's going to need time and experience before one can get a better guess of his chances to make it. As for Virta...considering he was a 7th round pick, it's already good news that you can't completely rule out him making the NHL one day.
 
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Draftin Europe

@draftin_europe
Oct 21, 2017
73
78
Right now (actually since months) we have a clear #1, and a legit #2 as well, but Seider is in the next tier with several other prospects.
He has impressed us in different live viewings both this season and last season, so while that scenario seems unlikely as of now, it's not something to discard at this early stage either.

We're looking forward to see how much he has to offer.
 

VictorLustig

Registered User
Feb 8, 2012
8,846
2,883
Curious to hear your opinion on Victor Söderström. Clearly the best 01 player from Sweden imo.
 

NikF

Registered User
Sep 24, 2006
3,008
467
Curious to hear your opinion on Victor Söderström. Clearly the best 01 player from Sweden imo.

He certainly doesn’t lack talent and in our Draft Review back in August we mentioned him in the conversation for our Top 5 (which he didn’t make), but as you can see by our current top 2, we disagree on the extent of your assessment at this point.

For the type of puck-moving D he projects to be, we have seen him make a few too many mistakes with the puck, like avoidable turnovers in his zone.

We should have the perfect opportunity to look live into a few things of his game in April at the last U17 Five Nations, like his defending when away from the puck-carrier for example. But barring a very disappointing showing there, we fully expect him to make our 2019 list that will be included in the Blue Dispatch draft guide in June, which means we’ll have a profile available on him there.
 
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