Hossa
Registered User
Another year, another late first, empty second and bucket of late picks. Let's dive in.
1st Round, 30th overall: Lian Bichsel, D, Leksands IF
NHL: 1st Round, 18th overall by Dallas
Bichsel was one of two players left on my list who were clear first round calibre prospects, the other Noah Ostlund on whom I was not sold. A few other guys were considered, including Jagger Firkus, Filip Bystedt and Cam Lund, but Bichsel was an interesting proposition given how rare his toolkit is. The glass half full scouting report is that he's big, mean, determined and is quite good with the puck both in zone exits and off the blueline, something he started to display more regularly late in the year in the SHL. The glass half empty version is he is already physically developed, his first couple steps need work and he can make mistakes under pressure. In a thin draft and without a pick until the 90s, the high floor and potentially high ceiling combination was intriguing.
3rd Round, 94th overall: Ryan Greene, C, Green Bay
NHL: 2nd Round, 57th overall by Chicago
All of my best case scenario third rounders were long gone by this point, and Greene was the best of a group of solid early-mid round options at the time. While I actually liked his teammate Lund a fair bit more, Greene performed well enough in Green Bay and is headed to a program at BU that with new coaching should be a good place to develop. Greene looks the part of a legitimate prospect as a 6'1" to 6'2" centre who can skate and play in all three zones. The skill does not pop very often, but Green Bay was also not a strong team and Greene has some filling out to do.
4th Round, 99th overall: Kasper Kulonummi, D, Jokerit
NHL: 3rd Round, 84th overall by Nashville
Kulonummi was also an option at 94, and was a fairly easy one to target in the early fourth round, especially given recent success with a similar type of player in Topi Niemela. While I'm not as sold on Kulo's offensive upside as I was Niemela's at the time, the styles are similar and Kulo was impressive at the U18 as both a puckmover and a stabilising force. Jack of all trades, master of none types can have a hard time finding a role in the NHL, but hockey sense and no glaring weaknesses can also take you far. Hopefully with regular minutes next year in the Liiga, Kulo's offence will continue to develop.
4th Round, 114th overall: Elias Pettersson, D, Orebro
NHL: 3rd Round, 80th overall by Vancouver
Another player who I liked in the U18s, Pettersson was a harder player to read that Kulonummi given he has flashier tools but a less evident projection. At his best, Pettersson brings very good skating in a 6'2" frame, with surprising physicality as well. Offensively, he seemed to flash some interesting instincts off the point, and was quite productive late in his J20 year, but the overall awareness left something to be desired. He is probably a project but if the puck-moving improves, he probably gets to the NHL.
4th Round, 126th overall: Oliver Johansson, C, Timra
NHL: 3rd Round, 74th overall by Ottawa (2021)
The first of an (unintentionally) large number of re-entries taken, Johansson was on my list last year but obviously not as a target in the third round as for the NHL Senators. It was also hard to assess his D+1 season given he scored well in the J20 but did nothing (and played little) in the SHL, with limited international time as well. Still, he's a raw, talented centre who was less than two months away from being 2022 eligible, so in that context he is an interesting upside play. The NHL Senators have also done well to unearth raw talents in the mid-rounds over the years, including from Sweden (see: Lodin, Viktor).
5th Round, 129th overall: Owen McLaughlin, C, Sioux City
NHL: 7th Round, 206th overall by Philadelphia (2021)
Like Johansson, McLaughlin was on my list last year, barely snuck into the 2021 draft and then, in my assessment, had one of the best D+1 break-outs from the mid to late rounds last year. With only a handful of USHL games coming in, after spending most of his draft year in AAA, McLaughlin was one the top scorer and first line centre on a Sioux City team that won the Clark Cup. Beyond the production, McLaughlin's playmaking ability really pops, as he has outstanding vision and should at a minimum be a top college player. Still underdeveloped physically, the skating will need to get stronger and he may end up on the wing, but the skill is there.
5th Round, 144th overall: Oskar Jellvik, W, Djurgardens
NHL: 5th Round, 149th overall by Boston (2021)
Similar to McLaughlin, Jellvik was taken last year as a raw, skiled, somewhat unknown player and then scored a bunch in his D+1 year, putting him on the prospect map. In Jellvik's case, he was lighting up the J20 league with guys like Ostlund, Ohgren and Lekkerimaki, albeit as a year older than them. Still, the talent is significant as Jellvik has great speed and hands, good vision and a willingness to get to the inside. Interestingly, he is off to Boston College next year, to play with three other HFNHL Canucks prospects in Trevor Kuntar, Colby Ambrosio and Nikita Nesterenko.
5th Round, 150th overall: Jakub Malek, G, Vsetin
NHL: 4th Round, 100th overall by New Jersey (2021)
My top target among goalies in the mid-rounds, Malek was relatively unknown when the Devils took him last year in his D+1 season. A year on, Malek remains an interesting case study, having turned in outstanding numbers in the Czech second league, and flashed some serious athleticism in his 6'4" frame. But he bombed internationally and will now try to make it in the top league in Finland rather than Czechia. Goalies, can't win with them, can't win without them.
5th Round, 158th overall: Filip Cederqvist, LW, Djurgardens
NHL: 5th Round, 143rd by Buffalo (2019)
The best pick I made last year was Jacob Peterson in the seventh round, a multiple re-entry guy who had been on my list for years, and finally popped in the SHL before making the Stars out of camp and flashing middle six upside all year. Cederqvist has a chance to be that same kind of guy, having been taken in 2019 as a raw, relatively unknown talent who never quite did enough to be picked in the HFNHL until last year. Cederqvist is different in profile to Peterson - bigger and less cerebral - but he jammed home 14 goals and 32 points last year in the SHL and has the size and skating to play in the NHL.
6th Round, 178th overall: Jonathan Myrenberg, D, Linkoping
NHL: 5th Round, 140th overall by Vancouver (2021)
Another Swede and another re-entry, Myrenberg like Johansson and Jellvik was a top J20 player this past season, leading Linkoping to a championship. Visually Myrenberg is quite toolsy - he's 6'2" and filling out, skates and handles the puck well, rangy and flashy at the same time. Whether that translates to higher levels remains to be seen, but there is projection there and the fact he will go too the Allsvenskan next year bodes well for his ice time and development.
6th Round, 190th overall: Joaquim Lemay, D, Lincoln
NHL: 4th Round, 119th overall by Washington (2021)
Lemay is a tough prospect to get your head around. A late pick into the QMJHL, he went instead to play high school hockey in New England, then to Salmon Arm in the BCHL, Lincoln in the USHL and next year to Nebraska-Omaha. Even his season last year was a bit baffling, with 46 points in 58 games a bit hard to contextualise given he was a 2002-born rookie who wore and A and briefly skated on the wing early in the year. Late in the draft, I opted to roll the dice on a late bloomer who can put up points, let's see.
6th Round, 191st overall: Ryan Healey, D, Sioux Falls
NHL: 4th Round, 121st overall by Minnesota
Another interesting case study. On one hand, Healey put up only 21 points last year on a truly dreadful Sioux Falls team, and at times looked like he was playing defence for the first time. On the other hand, he is a plus skater with fantastic hands, especially moving off the blueline, with enough of a 6'1" frame to play. Hockey sense is his biggest question mark, yet he is going to Harvard. An interesting gamble to make late, especially given Ted Donato's track record with D.
7th Round, 215th overall: Cameron O'Neill, RW, Mount St. Charles
NHL: 5th Round, 143rd overall by Ottawa
Interestingly, both Lemay and McLaughlin played previously with the same prep team in Mount St. Charles where O'Neill this past year put up 57 goals and 133 points, along with a handful of late games in the USHL. At 6'1", O'Neill has legitimate goal scoring skill and an ability to play around the net. He also looked a bit lost and slow in the USHL, which makes his decision to take a year before going to UMass a good one.
7th Round, 222nd overall: Riley Duran, RW, Providence
NHL: 6th Round, 182nd overall by Boston (2020)
In some ways, Duran's development in the past two years would be a good enough template for O'Neill to follow. A name prospect in New England prep circuits for a while, Duran was just ok in his D+1 in the USHL but better as a freshman at Providence. Duran is 6'1", moves well and plays hard, flashing just enough skill at times to suggest he could round out into a third liner someday. That he, like McLaughlin, earned an invite to the US WJC camp is a sign that his developmental progress is legitimate.
Overall:
This draft group is not unlike my last few, heavy on European and college-bound late rounders, hopeful that some of them will pop. And while that's fun, the success of the draft probably comes to Bichsel, and maybe Greene. If neither is able to continue developing into a blue chipper with middle of the line-up projection, it is unlikely that this draft group will return much value above replacement level down the line, even if several guys are interesting long-term plays.
1st Round, 30th overall: Lian Bichsel, D, Leksands IF
NHL: 1st Round, 18th overall by Dallas
Bichsel was one of two players left on my list who were clear first round calibre prospects, the other Noah Ostlund on whom I was not sold. A few other guys were considered, including Jagger Firkus, Filip Bystedt and Cam Lund, but Bichsel was an interesting proposition given how rare his toolkit is. The glass half full scouting report is that he's big, mean, determined and is quite good with the puck both in zone exits and off the blueline, something he started to display more regularly late in the year in the SHL. The glass half empty version is he is already physically developed, his first couple steps need work and he can make mistakes under pressure. In a thin draft and without a pick until the 90s, the high floor and potentially high ceiling combination was intriguing.
3rd Round, 94th overall: Ryan Greene, C, Green Bay
NHL: 2nd Round, 57th overall by Chicago
All of my best case scenario third rounders were long gone by this point, and Greene was the best of a group of solid early-mid round options at the time. While I actually liked his teammate Lund a fair bit more, Greene performed well enough in Green Bay and is headed to a program at BU that with new coaching should be a good place to develop. Greene looks the part of a legitimate prospect as a 6'1" to 6'2" centre who can skate and play in all three zones. The skill does not pop very often, but Green Bay was also not a strong team and Greene has some filling out to do.
4th Round, 99th overall: Kasper Kulonummi, D, Jokerit
NHL: 3rd Round, 84th overall by Nashville
Kulonummi was also an option at 94, and was a fairly easy one to target in the early fourth round, especially given recent success with a similar type of player in Topi Niemela. While I'm not as sold on Kulo's offensive upside as I was Niemela's at the time, the styles are similar and Kulo was impressive at the U18 as both a puckmover and a stabilising force. Jack of all trades, master of none types can have a hard time finding a role in the NHL, but hockey sense and no glaring weaknesses can also take you far. Hopefully with regular minutes next year in the Liiga, Kulo's offence will continue to develop.
4th Round, 114th overall: Elias Pettersson, D, Orebro
NHL: 3rd Round, 80th overall by Vancouver
Another player who I liked in the U18s, Pettersson was a harder player to read that Kulonummi given he has flashier tools but a less evident projection. At his best, Pettersson brings very good skating in a 6'2" frame, with surprising physicality as well. Offensively, he seemed to flash some interesting instincts off the point, and was quite productive late in his J20 year, but the overall awareness left something to be desired. He is probably a project but if the puck-moving improves, he probably gets to the NHL.
4th Round, 126th overall: Oliver Johansson, C, Timra
NHL: 3rd Round, 74th overall by Ottawa (2021)
The first of an (unintentionally) large number of re-entries taken, Johansson was on my list last year but obviously not as a target in the third round as for the NHL Senators. It was also hard to assess his D+1 season given he scored well in the J20 but did nothing (and played little) in the SHL, with limited international time as well. Still, he's a raw, talented centre who was less than two months away from being 2022 eligible, so in that context he is an interesting upside play. The NHL Senators have also done well to unearth raw talents in the mid-rounds over the years, including from Sweden (see: Lodin, Viktor).
5th Round, 129th overall: Owen McLaughlin, C, Sioux City
NHL: 7th Round, 206th overall by Philadelphia (2021)
Like Johansson, McLaughlin was on my list last year, barely snuck into the 2021 draft and then, in my assessment, had one of the best D+1 break-outs from the mid to late rounds last year. With only a handful of USHL games coming in, after spending most of his draft year in AAA, McLaughlin was one the top scorer and first line centre on a Sioux City team that won the Clark Cup. Beyond the production, McLaughlin's playmaking ability really pops, as he has outstanding vision and should at a minimum be a top college player. Still underdeveloped physically, the skating will need to get stronger and he may end up on the wing, but the skill is there.
5th Round, 144th overall: Oskar Jellvik, W, Djurgardens
NHL: 5th Round, 149th overall by Boston (2021)
Similar to McLaughlin, Jellvik was taken last year as a raw, skiled, somewhat unknown player and then scored a bunch in his D+1 year, putting him on the prospect map. In Jellvik's case, he was lighting up the J20 league with guys like Ostlund, Ohgren and Lekkerimaki, albeit as a year older than them. Still, the talent is significant as Jellvik has great speed and hands, good vision and a willingness to get to the inside. Interestingly, he is off to Boston College next year, to play with three other HFNHL Canucks prospects in Trevor Kuntar, Colby Ambrosio and Nikita Nesterenko.
5th Round, 150th overall: Jakub Malek, G, Vsetin
NHL: 4th Round, 100th overall by New Jersey (2021)
My top target among goalies in the mid-rounds, Malek was relatively unknown when the Devils took him last year in his D+1 season. A year on, Malek remains an interesting case study, having turned in outstanding numbers in the Czech second league, and flashed some serious athleticism in his 6'4" frame. But he bombed internationally and will now try to make it in the top league in Finland rather than Czechia. Goalies, can't win with them, can't win without them.
5th Round, 158th overall: Filip Cederqvist, LW, Djurgardens
NHL: 5th Round, 143rd by Buffalo (2019)
The best pick I made last year was Jacob Peterson in the seventh round, a multiple re-entry guy who had been on my list for years, and finally popped in the SHL before making the Stars out of camp and flashing middle six upside all year. Cederqvist has a chance to be that same kind of guy, having been taken in 2019 as a raw, relatively unknown talent who never quite did enough to be picked in the HFNHL until last year. Cederqvist is different in profile to Peterson - bigger and less cerebral - but he jammed home 14 goals and 32 points last year in the SHL and has the size and skating to play in the NHL.
6th Round, 178th overall: Jonathan Myrenberg, D, Linkoping
NHL: 5th Round, 140th overall by Vancouver (2021)
Another Swede and another re-entry, Myrenberg like Johansson and Jellvik was a top J20 player this past season, leading Linkoping to a championship. Visually Myrenberg is quite toolsy - he's 6'2" and filling out, skates and handles the puck well, rangy and flashy at the same time. Whether that translates to higher levels remains to be seen, but there is projection there and the fact he will go too the Allsvenskan next year bodes well for his ice time and development.
6th Round, 190th overall: Joaquim Lemay, D, Lincoln
NHL: 4th Round, 119th overall by Washington (2021)
Lemay is a tough prospect to get your head around. A late pick into the QMJHL, he went instead to play high school hockey in New England, then to Salmon Arm in the BCHL, Lincoln in the USHL and next year to Nebraska-Omaha. Even his season last year was a bit baffling, with 46 points in 58 games a bit hard to contextualise given he was a 2002-born rookie who wore and A and briefly skated on the wing early in the year. Late in the draft, I opted to roll the dice on a late bloomer who can put up points, let's see.
6th Round, 191st overall: Ryan Healey, D, Sioux Falls
NHL: 4th Round, 121st overall by Minnesota
Another interesting case study. On one hand, Healey put up only 21 points last year on a truly dreadful Sioux Falls team, and at times looked like he was playing defence for the first time. On the other hand, he is a plus skater with fantastic hands, especially moving off the blueline, with enough of a 6'1" frame to play. Hockey sense is his biggest question mark, yet he is going to Harvard. An interesting gamble to make late, especially given Ted Donato's track record with D.
7th Round, 215th overall: Cameron O'Neill, RW, Mount St. Charles
NHL: 5th Round, 143rd overall by Ottawa
Interestingly, both Lemay and McLaughlin played previously with the same prep team in Mount St. Charles where O'Neill this past year put up 57 goals and 133 points, along with a handful of late games in the USHL. At 6'1", O'Neill has legitimate goal scoring skill and an ability to play around the net. He also looked a bit lost and slow in the USHL, which makes his decision to take a year before going to UMass a good one.
7th Round, 222nd overall: Riley Duran, RW, Providence
NHL: 6th Round, 182nd overall by Boston (2020)
In some ways, Duran's development in the past two years would be a good enough template for O'Neill to follow. A name prospect in New England prep circuits for a while, Duran was just ok in his D+1 in the USHL but better as a freshman at Providence. Duran is 6'1", moves well and plays hard, flashing just enough skill at times to suggest he could round out into a third liner someday. That he, like McLaughlin, earned an invite to the US WJC camp is a sign that his developmental progress is legitimate.
Overall:
This draft group is not unlike my last few, heavy on European and college-bound late rounders, hopeful that some of them will pop. And while that's fun, the success of the draft probably comes to Bichsel, and maybe Greene. If neither is able to continue developing into a blue chipper with middle of the line-up projection, it is unlikely that this draft group will return much value above replacement level down the line, even if several guys are interesting long-term plays.
