2017 NHL Entry Draft - Let the Prospect Sleuthing Begin

[Leaf Rocket]

Seriously...can't put a finger on this draft yet.

Patrick is the consensus #1 but I don't know if it'll be the case at the end of this season. Second is the stud defenseman Liljegren who IMO might actually over take but let's see how this goes(seriously looks like a manchild even though he's 6'0 and he has insane skill)

The Final Strome brother (prolly the best...am I right? ) is draft eligible.

Lias Andersson is a good 17 year old that put up points in SEL I believe along with Marcus Daviddsson. There is also the the 6'6 Nicolas Hague, defensemen who has skill ? Michael Rasmussen from the Tri-city kind of intrigues me personally as I am very curious on how he will do with increased time with the team with many players now graduating from there.

We got Mike Dipietro a favourite goalie of the future by some few being noted out through the year. Although I believe there is stuart skinner from lethbridge that was stellar and there is also Daniil Tarasov (1999 one, not the sharks one) that is also suppose to be good, so goalie hunt is on this year? I believe the states also have some very good goalie up comers.

Seems more of year of goalie and defensemen than forward skill which is good for us I guess but still a possible odd year IMO. Let's see how this pans out.

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[Liminality]

Surprised you didn't mention Callan Foote, Adam Foote's son.

Big two-way defender at 6'3 198 lbs from the Kelowna Rockets. All the dmen that come out of there are gems

Still a work in progress but he's shown promise and should go pretty high in the draft. Not to mention he's a RHD so if we miss out out on Liljegren there's a backup.

 

[JMcLeaf]

A couple early rankings for the 2017 draft:

The Hockey Writers' Top 61:

http://thehockeywriters.com/2017-nhl-draft-rankings-the-next-ones-preliminary-edition/

Hockey Prospect Top 30:

http://www.hockeyprospect.com/2017-nhl-draft-rankings-hockeyprospect-coms-early-top-30/

And some highlights of the the currently top 2 ranked prospects:

 

[RyanOhReally]

Casey Mittelstadt is a name to look out for

Niko Hischier as well

 

[Leaf Rocket]

Surprised you didn't mention Callan Foote, Adam Foote's son.

Big two-way defender at 6'3 198 lbs from the Kelowna Rockets. All the dmen that come out of there are gems

Still a work in progress but he's shown promise and should go pretty high in the draft. Not to mention he's a RHD so if we miss out out on Liljegren there's a backup.

Ah yes! That's a very good mention, he's an absolute rock from what I've heard in the back but has more skill than his pops. There was a lot of talk on which country he was going to choose regarding the U17s i think because he's dual citizen. Should be interesting for sure.

 

[93LEAFS]

For where I think we will draft the guy to keep an eye on is Callan Foote. Liljegren is the pipedream. The guy I'm really intrigued by is Owen Tippitt, I think he will break out next year. His speed and shot combo (plus the likely loss of Nylander) could lead to a massive year on the Steelheads top line.

To be honest, this draft is actually fairly balanced, much more than last year which was primarily deep on the wings. There are great center prospects (Patrick, Vilardi, Mittlestadt, Pettersson and Hischier) good lwers (Comtois, Tolvannen, Vasalainen), good rwers (Tippitt, Kostin and Yamamoto), a great and a good RHD (Liljegren and Foote) and great goalie depth (Zhukov, Skinner, Oettinger, Dipietro and Tarasov). I'd say its weakness may actually be high-end LD, though it does have depth there which the RHD side lacks.

The guys I'm closely watching are Liljegren and Foote (In both cases obviously streaming or IIHF events on TV, maybe Foote gets a game or two on Sportsnet). I'll obviously get some viewings of the OHL guys, particularly Tippitt and Hague as I have friends connected to the Steelheads so I get the occasional free ticket. Obviously going to try to get a viewing or two of the Spitfires, and Knights. Nothing too promising about this class, we seem to of been slightly spoiled with the last two classes, particularly 2015 (talking overall class depth, not our picks).

 

[93LEAFS]

Ah yes! That's a very good mention, he's an absolute rock from what I've heard in the back but has more skill than his pops. There was a lot of talk on which country he was going to choose regarding the U17s i think because he's dual citizen. Should be interesting for sure.

He's chosen Canada at the moment, problem is he might not be eligible due to the rules to prevent people from changing nations. While a Canadian citizen, he has only played 1 year here of the required 2. He has most likely applied for an exemption, no idea if it will be granted. Same problem effected Jake Wallmen last year in his attempt to play for the USA.

 

[sIDEsHOW93]

Every year I start out with my "Top 10 Prospects To Watch" list. Every year by the end of the season about 6-7 of them are no longer in the running to be drafted higher than 20. Things change quick in a draft year. Kids get hurt, hit puberty or just fall off the map. Always fun to keep on top of though!

 

[The_Chosen_One]

Surprised you didn't mention Callan Foote, Adam Foote's son.

Big two-way defender at 6'3 198 lbs from the Kelowna Rockets. All the dmen that come out of there are gems

Still a work in progress but he's shown promise and should go pretty high in the draft. Not to mention he's a RHD so if we miss out out on Liljegren there's a backup.

I got an eye on Nolan Kneen of Kelowna for that reason. Sure there is Schenn, but skates well, physical, hits like a truck, and possibly untapped offensive upside.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Big 2 at the top, but it's another draft with a really solid top 10 or so. Mittlestadt may well be a top 5 talent in this draft, but will be overlooked a bit since he'll be returning to high school hockey in Minnesota. Hopefully Tippett has a breakout year in Mississauga, I think him and Vilardi will be right in our wheelhouse unless we win the lottery again.

As for the rest of the draft:


I think we will be seeing a whole lot more of the "overage" sort of picks in our upcoming drafts. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out

 

[Field of Dreams]

Big 2 at the top, but it's another draft with a really solid top 10 or so. Mittlestadt may well be a top 5 talent in this draft, but will be overlooked a bit since he'll be returning to high school hockey in Minnesota. Hopefully Tippett has a breakout year in Mississauga, I think him and Vilardi will be right in our wheelhouse unless we win the lottery again.

As for the rest of the draft:


I think we will be seeing a whole lot more of the "overage" sort of picks in our upcoming drafts. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out

If it was a valid market inefficiency, expect it to be gone by next year.

 

[Mad Brills*]

I honestly don't care about next year's draft save their 1st rounder.

 

[theIceWookie]

OHL


Brady Gilmour - Saginaw's 2015 first round pick (6th overall in the OHL draft), left shooting center. Put up 3 points in 4 playoff games. More of a playmaker than a shooter, but he should get some more playing time and approach closer to 50 points. Saginaw isn't a hugely offensive team, so don't expect him to hit anything more than PPG at most.

Ivan/Vanya Lodnia - Though his name is very clearly a Russian name, he was born in Missouri and is American. Was the youngest player on Erie, but had a nice rookie year with 39 points. He'll likely see a slight rise in playing time which should boost his numbers nicely too. He's on the smaller side like Debrincat but he's got offensive talent.

Nick Suzuki - Another first round pick from the 2015 OHL draft, I think he'll be in line for a big jump in point totals. Owen Sound has two overage centers leaving this season with Sterk and Cianfrone graduating. He'll be competing with Szpula for playing time at a center but I'm betting Suzuki will win the top line spot when it's said and done. Either way he'll have a top 2 center spot to work with. He likes to shoot, and he's a guy who's already earning time on the PP and in situations where his team needs to win (he had 5 PPG and 5 GWG last season). And he's not half bad at center for a rookie (49 percent is pretty decent). I like him. He barely makes the cutoff for the 2017 draft too.

Robert Thomas - I don't think he'll be a big fantasy prospect this time next year, but I wonder if he'll kind of work his way towards being a Cliff Pu type prospect. A guy who plays in limited time but shows some nice potential. He's good on faceoffs, having won more than half of them in the season. Outside chance he wins out over Pu for increased playing time.

WHL

Nikita Popugaev - 6 foot 4 Russian left winger. Nice first season in North America with 47 points in 70 games. Was a depth scorer on a pretty potent Moose Jaw team. With Hunt moving on to the pro game, and likely Point graduating as well, the Warriors will rely on Howden, Gregor and Popugaev to run their offense. Popugaev will likely get a prime spot as the 1LW which should reflect nicely is his numbers. First rounder likely.

Michael Rasmussen - Big center for Tri-City coming it at 6 foot 5 and with Bowles completing his overage year, the top line center spot is likely Rasmussen's to lose going into next season. He was a former 2014 WHL draft 1st rounder.

Jordy Bellerive - Taken 2nd overall in the 2014 draft, Bellerive was impressive in a depth position in his first rookie season. He's not the biggest at 5 foot 10, but he's solid at 190 and he'll likely grow a little still. He's got good skating, vision and a nice release. He's going to face some tough competition for playing time next season on Lethbridge but there's no reason he can't push for more time with his talent.

Juuso Valimaki - 6 foot 2 defender, Finnish, two-way defender with a nice breakout ability. He was the Captain of the Gold Winning Finnish U18 team this year too.

Scott Walford - Didn't play a ton, but he's shown some serious offensive potential in his past. Interesting defender, but he'll need to show more this year.

Stelio Mattheos - Right shooting 6 foot 1 center, should see more playing time on Brandon next year with a couple players likely graduating. Playing behind (or even with) Nolan Patrick could be pretty beneficial.

Lane Zablocki - Average sized right shooting RW. He plays a power forward style game and has no qualms about playing roughly having put up 95 PIM's. Has a nice shooting ability too, and he led the Pats in playoff goals with 7 (tied with Brooks and Sanford). I'd expect to see him stapled to Steel's wing next year, which could be a pretty nice tandem for the Pats. Who doesn't like a left shooting center passing pucks to a right shooting winger? He has some intriguing multi-cat upside.

QMJHL

Antoine Morand - He's an undersized forward, but he was over a PPG in his rookie season with Acadie-Bathurst.
Couple players to keep an eye on next year that haven't been mentioned yet (I don't think)


NCAA/USHL

Eeli Tolvanen - Picked in the CHL import draft on Tuesday but he's committed to Boston College next year. He led Finland in points during their run to a U18 Gold Medal. He was 2nd in points among USHL u17 players too. He's a LW.

Scott Reedy - 6 foot 1 center, committed to University of Minnesota for 2017-2018, he had 28 points in 33 USHL games this year. Led the US U17 tourney team in points, and was only one point behind tourney leaded Eeli Tolvanen. He'll play the next season in the USHL

Jake Oettinger - Will be playing for a pretty stacked Boston University team next season, spent this past season with the US development program (where Woll played too). He's big and a late 98 birthday

 

[theIceWookie]

Big 2 at the top, but it's another draft with a really solid top 10 or so. Mittlestadt may well be a top 5 talent in this draft, but will be overlooked a bit since he'll be returning to high school hockey in Minnesota. Hopefully Tippett has a breakout year in Mississauga, I think him and Vilardi will be right in our wheelhouse unless we win the lottery again.

As for the rest of the draft:


I think we will be seeing a whole lot more of the "overage" sort of picks in our upcoming drafts. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out

I know people really like to think the Leafs were on the cusp of this market inefficiency but they really weren't.

50 second and third time eligible players were chosen in the 2016 draft. That's basically a quarter of every player draft this past year. It was hardly a Leaf only phenomenon.

 

[WilliamNylander]

Liljegren > Patrick

 

[Mess]

Put me down for Eeli Tolvanen the young finish sniper going played for Sioux City Musketeers USHL and heading to Boston College.

Potential to be a Vladimir Tarasenko like finisher and goal scorer.

 

[ErnieLeafs]

A sniping winger will be a nice consolation prize if we don't nab a potential top 4 defender.

 

[schenneuf]

We desperately need a stud dman prospect.

 

[Mikeyg]

We desperately need a stud dman prospect.

The odds say it won't come from this draft. Not many dmen in the top 15 right now.

 

[Mad Brills*]

if the leafs are in the top 10 of the draft after next season, something has gone really wrong.

 

[Stephen]

if the leafs are in the top 10 of the draft after next season, something has gone really wrong.

You're expecting a 10 position jump in the standings? Given the few moves we've made and the heavy reliance on the kids, a 25th place finish is going to be a nice developmental year.

In any case, I think Timothy Liljegren is the real prize here. In addition to being the perfect fit positionally, he just looks so polished offensively, dynamic and oozing potential. When I see Patrick, I wonder if he's closer to a Dylan Strome than an Auston Matthews.

 

[Morgs]

God damn. The more I watch Liljegren... He's just unreal at everything.

 

[Fogelhund]

if the leafs are in the top 10 of the draft after next season, something has gone really wrong.

I feel as though your expectations are not in line with the reality that I see. I see improvement, but would be shocked if we improved that much. This rebuild will take time.

 

[The CyNick]

if the leafs are in the top 10 of the draft after next season, something has gone really wrong.

So we're a playoff team now? Cool story bro.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Surprised you didn't mention Callan Foote, Adam Foote's son.

Big two-way defender at 6'3 198 lbs from the Kelowna Rockets. All the dmen that come out of there are gems

Still a work in progress but he's shown promise and should go pretty high in the draft. Not to mention he's a RHD so if we miss out out on Liljegren there's a backup.

Well we know who's tires Mess will be pumping this year.