2019 NHL Draft: Fisher’s Top 124 for October

[Larry Fisher]

The 2019 NHL Draft has been dubbed the Jack Hughes Draft by scouts and insiders alike, but with every passing month the field — at least the "Big Five" forwards — seems to be closing the gap and creating a conversation, if not a debate for first overall. Here are my top 124 prospects for October: https://thehockeywriters.com/2019-nhl-draft-rankings-october/

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[Dominance]

Really fun read and fantastic rankings IMO.

A few questions.

Why do you have Kaliyev so low? I’m not necessarily disagreeing, and I understand what is commonly held against him, but I wanted to hear it in your words.

How high do you think Suzuki can rise? He might be my favourite player from this draft, is loaded with speed and skill, and is in a great position team-wise to make a ton of noise. What if he finishes the year with a PPG well upwards of 1.5, even beyond 1.75? I really think those events are not only possible, but highly likely.

Sorry to stick to the OHL, but what does Vukojevic have to do to hit the first round? I really like him every time I see him; he’s super solid defensively in a manner that should excite NHL teams (e.g. uses his positioning and speed and stick really well, not just muscling off junior-aged players) and has a great breakout pass and good offensive instincts. I can’t help but see Ekholm, although I haven’t watched a lot of him.

Connor McMichael, Brady Meyer, and Brooklyn Kalmikov are three other guys I would highlight out of my own list of potential risers, who I see you have well down your list - which is perfectly reasonable at this point. How high do you think they might ascend, and what do you see as their NHL ceilings?

Thanks.

 

[landy92mack29]

How much have you seen of Logan Barlage?

 

[Larry Fisher]

How much have you seen of Logan Barlage?

Live viewings have been limited since Swift Current and Lethbridge are in the Eastern Conference and I'm based in the Western Conference in Kelowna. So I've seen a lot more of Mutala than Barlage, but I've been tracking both since their bantam draft years and have connections across the league. Somewhat similar prospects as big power forwards with two-way elements and pretty heavy shots.

 

[Larry Fisher]

Really fun read and fantastic rankings IMO.

A few questions.

Why do you have Kaliyev so low? I’m not necessarily disagreeing, and I understand what is commonly held against him, but I wanted to hear it in your words.

How high do you think Suzuki can rise? He might be my favourite player from this draft, is loaded with speed and skill, and is in a great position team-wise to make a ton of noise. What if he finishes the year with a PPG well upwards of 1.5, even beyond 1.75? I really think those events are not only possible, but highly likely.

Sorry to stick to the OHL, but what does Vukojevic have to do to hit the first round? I really like him every time I see him; he’s super solid defensively in a manner that should excite NHL teams (e.g. uses his positioning and speed and stick really well, not just muscling off junior-aged players) and has a great breakout pass and good offensive instincts. I can’t help but see Ekholm, although I haven’t watched a lot of him.

Connor McMichael, Brady Meyer, and Brooklyn Kalmikov are three other guys I would highlight out of my own list of potential risers, who I see you have well down your list - which is perfectly reasonable at this point. How high do you think they might ascend, and what do you see as their NHL ceilings?

Thanks.

Thanks for the questions. Starting with Kaliyev, I was really high on him heading into the Memorial Cup and he left me wanting more at that tournament. I figured he'd redeem himself at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, but I didn't think he was among the Americans top forwards there either in terms of catching my eye or making an overall impact. That said, his OHL work has been impressive and he's off to a torrid start this season. I have Kaliyev at 50, but he could easily be ranked at 30 in a grouping with Nolan Foote. Those two are somewhat comparable prospects. These lists are very fluid at this time of the year and do change a fair bit from month to month. I'm not down on Kaliyev's upside despite his mid-2nd ranking.

I don't know if Suzuki can climb much higher than I have him ranked at 15. In saying that, he's in that second tier of forwards from 9-15, so it's possible he could move up to around 10th overall. I like where I have him slotted as of today though.

I'm not as high as some on Vukojevic, another kid who didn't really move the needle for me at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, but in his defence, Canada's defence was stacked and it was difficult to stand out or stack up amongst that group if that makes sense. I don't see Vukojevic as a first-round talent right now, but that second round is pretty wide open, so he could move up from 60 to 50 or even 40 as the season progresses.

McMichael is already going to be on my Risers list since he wasn't in my preseason top 124. The London factor will help his stock and I could see him pushing towards the first round. I've received some rave reviews on him from colleagues out east. I'm still trying to get a good read on some of the OHL guys, as well as the QMJHL and the USHL like Meyer. Those groupings are a work in progress for me.

 

[AmericanDream]

outside of Jason Robertson and Alex DeBrincat, has there been another forward that hit over 40 goals in their draft year out of the OHL that didn't go first round the past 4-5 years??

 

[landy92mack29]

Live viewings have been limited since Swift Current and Lethbridge are in the Eastern Conference and I'm based in the Western Conference in Kelowna. So I've seen a lot more of Mutala than Barlage, but I've been tracking both since their bantam draft years and have connections across the league. Somewhat similar prospects as big power forwards with two-way elements and pretty heavy shots.

Ok. I ask as you have him listed as a Lw/Lc when he shoots right. I know elite has him listed as lhs but they're wrong

 

[Larry Fisher]

Ok. I ask as you have him listed as a Lw/Lc when he shoots right. I know elite has him listed as lhs but they're wrong

Noted for November, I did grab the positions from EliteProspects thus the error. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Larry Fisher]

outside of Jason Robertson and Alex DeBrincat, has there been another forward that hit over 40 goals in their draft year out of the OHL that didn't go first round the past 4-5 years??

Those are two good examples, so it does happen and has happened recently. You alluding to Kaliyev if he scores 40? If that happens, he'll likely move back into the first-round range of my rankings, but it's still early days.

 

[AmericanDream]

Those are two good examples, so it does happen and has happened recently. You alluding to Kaliyev if he scores 40? If that happens, he'll likely move back into the first-round range of my rankings, but it's still early days.

it is referring to Arthur, but I was generally curious to see how many kids that hit 40 plus goals in their draft year didn't go first round. Robertsons skating was well below and Cat was obviously due to height...not seeing any issues with Kaliyev in those departments, drive/compete seems to be the biggest one for him, doubt that drops him out of the first round, but we shall see how it goes.

 

[Larry Fisher]

it is referring to Arthur, but I was generally curious to see how many kids that hit 40 plus goals in their draft year didn't go first round. Robertsons skating was well below and Cat was obviously due to height...not seeing any issues with Kaliyev in those departments, drive/compete seems to be the biggest one for him, doubt that drops him out of the first round, but we shall see how it goes.

He's off to a good start and if he gets to 40, I don't think there will be much doubt about his status as a first-rounder. Long way to go, but he could get there. Like I said, you could make a good case for Kaliyev to be included in that grouping with Foote around 30. If he keeps it up over the next month and is still on pace for 40-plus goals at the 20-game mark in the OHL, then I assume Kaliyev will be a riser in my November rankings.

 

[emptyNedder]

I know goalies are hard to scout, but Hunter Jones has started the season really strong. Any thoughts?

 

[Andrei79]

Good read. You're one of the first who's taking notice of Dorofeyev's excellent start. He's looked nothing short of excellent in the MHL.

I'm wondering though if you're not overvaluing wingers over centers. That said, I'd keep an eye on Kaliyev (who I doubt goes that low) and Teply.

 

[Larry Fisher]

I know goalies are hard to scout, but Hunter Jones has started the season really strong. Any thoughts?

Jones is definitely on my radar. It’s a good year for goalies and he’s off to a great start. I have Jones in my next group of eight goalies that I have pegged as draft picks (between 125-217), but if he keeps standing tall, he could be debuting in my November rankings.

 

[Larry Fisher]

Good read. You're one of the first who's taking notice of Dorofeyev's excellent start. He's looked nothing short of excellent in the MHL.

I'm wondering though if you're not overvaluing wingers over centers. That said, I'd keep an eye on Kaliyev (who I doubt goes that low) and Teply.

Kaliyev is somebody I’ve had as high as 15 on my personal list last season prior to the Memorial Cup and I had him at 32 coming out of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. In hindsight, he probably should have went up, not down to 50 based on his OHL start. I like him in that group with Bertuzzi and Mutala based on skill-sets but he could be higher with Poulin or with Foote. Lots of potential for movement in the 25-50 range on a monthly basis. That includes Teply too, who is already a big riser for me from August to October and definitely seems to be trending up overall.