Prospect Info: The 2018 NHL Entry Draft Thread

[Balthazar]

Just read on the Habs board that since he joined Drummondville, Veleno has higher PPG than Zadina in Halifax.

 

[UncleRisto]

I was flipping between college hockey and the Avs yesterday and man the Habs got a good one in goaler, Hayden Hawkey. But I was watching the first game of NCHC between St. Cloud and North Dakota and I really liked what I saw from Dávid Hrenák who's currently ranked 14th overall in CSS midterm. He plays on the best team in the NCAA and is average height for a goaltender, but he's very positionally sound and reads the play at a high enough level where he's always squared up to the shooter. Because of that it's hard to pinpoint how athletic he is considering how good his positioning is, so I would classify him more as a shotblocking goaltender as of now. His lateral and speed can use some improvement, but in terms of raw potential which can blossom with some coaching, grabbing him somewhere in the 6th round would be really decent value IMO. There is a good amount of talent and solid range of tools to work here with him...

There's a goaltender named Hawkey playing in cawlidge? That’s just too easy.

 

[JWK]

I hope we draft Ryan O'Reilly, committed to play for Denver next year so I can go watch.

 

[Jayevs]

I’ve seen a lot of people mention Noel, I hope the avs stay far away, for all you size queens out there check out Curtis Douglas, would be a good pick ~4th round IMO

 

[Pokecheque]

Pronman: Grigori Denisenko is a top prospect for 2018 NHL...

I’ve watched him live about seven times this season and about another dozen times on video, and I am very confident that the stats do not tell the whole tale with Denisenko. Let me try and show you a piece of what I’ve seen.

Here's what I see at the end of the day:

• A high-end puck handler.
• A high-end playmaker.
• A good skater.
• A competent two-way forward at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds.
• A player who didn't have great numbers in his junior league but did well during international play.

My application of those facts is he's no worse than a top 15 pick, and arguably a top 10 selection if you really value that kind of skilled playmaking forward.

 

[Hasbro]

The downside if Ottawa gives up the pick this year is that it bars any possibility of the Avs trading up with it. Ottawa will hold the pick until the last minute and if there were a trade up available it makes as much sense for them to take it.

I would love to get Svech or Zads, but even if a lottery winner were dumb enough to drop our ammo is in limbo.

 

[McMetal]

Pronman: Grigori Denisenko is a top prospect for 2018 NHL...

He's got a good motor too, he works hard in the offensive and defensive zones. There's a lot to like there although I think top 10 is a big stretch.

 

[Avs_19]

Button's latest ranking: Craig's List: Bouchard rocketing up draft board - Article - TSN

1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Brady Tkachuk
3. Andrei Svechnikov
4. Filip Zadina
5. Evan Bouchard
6. Adam Boqvist
7. Barrett Hayton
8. Noah Dobson
9. Oliver Wahlstrom
10. Jesperi Kotkaniemi

 

[S E P H]

Button's latest ranking: Craig's List: Bouchard rocketing up draft board - Article - TSN

1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Brady Tkachuk
3. Andrei Svechnikov
4. Filip Zadina
5. Evan Bouchard
6. Adam Boqvist
7. Barrett Hayton
8. Noah Dobson
9. Oliver Wahlstrom
10. Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Canada is once again severely underrating America's NTDP squad this year. It might be the best ever yet Hayton and Dobson make it over the likes of better players IMO. Bouchard makes sense and I am big Hayton fan so I can't disagree with Button, but this month is really a strange one. Like Tkachuk over Svech and Zadina? Dobson and Hayton over Farabee, Wahlstrom, and Hughes. WTF?

 

[Avs_19]

Canada is once again severely underrating America's NTDP squad this year. It might be the best ever yet Hayton and Dobson make it over the likes of better players IMO. Bouchard makes sense and I am big Hayton fan so I can't disagree with Button, but this month is really a strange one. Like Tkachuk over Svech and Zadina? Dobson and Hayton over Farabee, Wahlstrom, and Hughes. WTF?

Hughes was surprising to me. He had him at #7 on his previous ranking and dropped him to #12.

Kotkaniemi seems to be getting some more hype. I've seen it on twitter and now Button says this:

Sitting at No. 10 is 6-foot-1, 188-pound Finish centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who jumps all the way up from No. 26 in our January rankings. The 17-year-old Kotkaniemi, who is playing against men in Liiga for Assat, reminds me of Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar at the same age.

 

[S E P H]

Hughes was surprising to me. He had him at #7 on his previous ranking and dropped him to #12.

Kotkaniemi seems to be getting some more hype. I've seen it on twitter and now Button says this:

It's even stranger for him to drop because I've watch Hughes last six games and compared him to his earlier showings in the season and he has been a night to day difference. He's playing with so much confidence and swag that I don't understand how a person can drop in him any ranking.

 

[Papa Francouz]

I’m confused by Button’s list for the first time in a while. I can understand where he’s coming from on some of these rankings, but he’s got Veleno at 27, Jett Woo at 39, Kaut at 47, and Miller at 56. I just have to wonder what he’s seeing that I’m not to place these guys so low. He doesn’t even have Bokk is his top-90, for crying out loud.

 

[Papa Francouz]

I’m confused by Button’s list for the first time in a while. I can understand where he’s coming from on some of these rankings, but he’s got Veleno at 27, Jett Woo at 39, Kaut at 47, and Miller at 56. I just have to wonder what he’s seeing that I’m not to place these guys so low. He doesn’t even have Bokk is his top-90, for crying out loud.

Aaaaaaand I sound like an idiot for saying this before finishing the article. Whoops. Still curious about what I’m missing with the other guys I mentioned, though.

 

[henchman21]

The Kopitar comparison for Kotkaniemi is one I think is okay... but I see more Rantanen in his game honestly. Kotkaniemi has been mostly playing wing, but when he is playing center, he looks like a center version of Rants. Same way of protecting the puck, same body usage on the boards, similar offensive mindset. Kotkaniemi might be a bit more advanced defensively, but it is close.

 

[Balthazar]

I’m confused by Button’s list for the first time in a while. I can understand where he’s coming from on some of these rankings, but he’s got Veleno at 27, Jett Woo at 39, Kaut at 47, and Miller at 56. I just have to wonder what he’s seeing that I’m not to place these guys so low. He doesn’t even have Bokk is his top-90, for crying out loud.

That'd be funny if Veleno would fall to us. Not happening though.

 

[Papa Francouz]

That'd be funny if Veleno would fall to us. Not happening though.

I’d certainly be happy about it, but I can’t see it happening, either. I’m more curious about what Button doesn’t like in his game than where he ranks him, to be honest.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

I was flipping between college hockey and the Avs yesterday and man the Habs got a good one in goaler, Hayden Hawkey. But I was watching the first game of NCHC between St. Cloud and North Dakota and I really liked what I saw from Dávid Hrenák who's currently ranked 14th overall in CSS midterm. He plays on the best team in the NCAA and is average height for a goaltender, but he's very positionally sound and reads the play at a high enough level where he's always squared up to the shooter. Because of that it's hard to pinpoint how athletic he is considering how good his positioning is, so I would classify him more as a shotblocking goaltender as of now. His lateral and speed can use some improvement, but in terms of raw potential which can blossom with some coaching, grabbing him somewhere in the 6th round would be really decent value IMO. There is a good amount of talent and solid range of tools to work here with him...

David Hrenak is an interesting goalie prospect. The TL;DR from me is Hrenak would be a decent add however on a prospect level he isn't much different than Adam Werner or Petr Kvaca. He's very much a technical skill based goalie who makes good reads and does well tracking the puck. When it comes to the question of "athleticism"/physical skills that's where he definitely lacks. He'll need to reign in his aggressive tendencies a bit at the pro level as there's no semblance of explosiveness to his game which of course leads to issues such as him going into scramble mode far too early. Of course working on your physical skills is the easiest (or one of) parts of goaltending however getting it up to the level necessary to keep up at the AHL level to start with is going to be his biggest challenge. If he can't then he'll need to learn to how to cover that weakness such as being less aggressive in his challenging for starters.

Button's latest ranking: Craig's List: Bouchard rocketing up draft board - Article - TSN

1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Brady Tkachuk
3. Andrei Svechnikov
4. Filip Zadina
5. Evan Bouchard
6. Adam Boqvist
7. Barrett Hayton
8. Noah Dobson
9. Oliver Wahlstrom
10. Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Jakub Skarek must have insulted Craig Button's family not to make the list. At least Lukas Dostal is high on the list so yay for small miracles.

 

[S E P H]

So I decided to play the tank lottery simulator during breakfast today and a consecutive five times I had the Oilers winning one of the three spots. The other team who kept on winning? The Chicago Blackhawks. You know it's going to happen, Blackhawks will win Dahlin and Svechnikov is going to Edmonton. Sighhhhhhh.

 

[Papa Francouz]

@landy92mack29 Can you give us a general idea of Akil Thomas’s game? And a pro that plays a comparable game? I haven’t been able to find any full games of his online, and I saw that you posted in his thread on the Prospects Board that you want the Avs to draft him. I can’t disagree with you since from what I have seen, he looks like a speedy, skilled winger. Is there a reason he’s ranked in the 20s with his skill set?

Edit: I see he wears a letter for Niagara, so I have to imagine character concerns are nonexistent. Then again, I thought the same when Bleackley was wearing the C for Red Deer.

 

[landy92mack29]

To me Thomas is a slightly bigger slightly less skilled Marner. He's really rounded out his game as the years gone on from when I've watched him. At the start of this year he'd have some lazy moments defensively and wouldn't shoot as much but as the years progressed he's been shooting more and way more consistent 200 ft player. He's playing center but more than likely will be a winger in the pros. He's being slept on imo as he's a very smart player who skates well and is solid in all 3 zones. To me he should go somewhere in the teens. He also isn't afraid to go after people or to the dirty areas which is rare for a high skilled forward from the OHL. Seems like a high character kid also for what it's worth

 

[McMetal]

To me Thomas is a slightly bigger slightly less skilled Marner. He's really rounded out his game as the years gone on from when I've watched him. At the start of this year he'd have some lazy moments defensively and wouldn't shoot as much but as the years progressed he's been shooting more and way more consistent 200 ft player. He's playing center but more than likely will be a winger in the pros. He's being slept on imo as he's a very smart player who skates well and is solid in all 3 zones. To me he should go somewhere in the teens. He also isn't afraid to go after people or to the dirty areas which is rare for a high skilled forward from the OHL. Seems like a high character kid also for what it's worth

Interesting. I haven't seen much of Thomas since early in the season, when he struck me as a speedy player who lacked the skills to really make the most of his wheels. You see a lot more junior hockey than I am able to these days though.

 

[Papa Francouz]

To me Thomas is a slightly bigger slightly less skilled Marner. He's really rounded out his game as the years gone on from when I've watched him. At the start of this year he'd have some lazy moments defensively and wouldn't shoot as much but as the years progressed he's been shooting more and way more consistent 200 ft player. He's playing center but more than likely will be a winger in the pros. He's being slept on imo as he's a very smart player who skates well and is solid in all 3 zones. To me he should go somewhere in the teens. He also isn't afraid to go after people or to the dirty areas which is rare for a high skilled forward from the OHL. Seems like a high character kid also for what it's worth

I’m on board with a Thomas pick if we pick in the late teens. Depending on the draft philosophy heading into this draft, I could see the scouts being high on Thomas, as well. It seems the scouts have targeted high character & high skill guys in in the 1st round the past 3 years, and so far it’s worked out for the team. It’d make sense for them to do it again and pick Thomas. I think Thomas has risen to be my third favorite pick in our range if Kotkaniemi and Hayton are already off the board.

 

[S E P H]

I hope we draft Ryan O'Reilly, committed to play for Denver next year so I can go watch.

I wanted to make a post about ROR and I totally forgot to. If there is a more underrated player than this lad who can go in the top 90 I would like to know (perhaps Fonstad is one). O'Reilly doesn't play a penalty filled Milan Lucic game, but plays a very tough game where he loves going to the dirty areas and rub his nose in. Is just average size for that, but sort of agitates similarly to what JT Compher does. Furthermore, he has an insane shot and is a fantastic goalscorer with all the qualities you want. Not sure if he will ever be better than someone like Bellows, but I suggest that ROR offers more than just a pure sniper. One of those additional strengths is his skating ability, O'Reilly finished as one of the best skaters in the recent USHL top prospect game against older competition. A little bit on the raw side, but has all the tools to become a 2nd line sniper. Going F or D with our first two picks, then a goaler, and ROR in the 3rd would be great. Hell, maybe he would be worth grabbing with our second of the 2nd rounders and grab a goaler in the 3rd.

USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Testing Results

Finished
- 4th in 30 M backward with puck
- 4th in reaction (start/stop)
- 4th in reaction (start/stop) with puck
- 5th in wave agility with puck
- 3rd in transition agility with puck

Other guy who finished as the third best skater? Our lovable psychopath Martin Pospisil.

 

[5280]

Is this draft still supposed to be a great draft? Or is it the same thing that happens most every year?

 

[henchman21]

IMO there is a lot of depth in this draft. The high end has some issues (lack of high end centers probably the biggest), but there are a lot of good top 6/top 4 level prospects.