Prospect Info: 2020 Ives Preliminary Draft Rankings -- Top 75

[StevenToddIves]

I'll work on one for Seeley soon...quite high on his as a possible mid-round pick for us.

As for Simoneau, I'm certainly torn. I think he's done enough this season to get himself into the late-round pick discussion. He plays much bigger than his frame and led his team in points by almost 30 points. (Granted, Dawson Mercer got traded mid-season from the team to Chicoutimi). My guess is that a team picks him no earlier than the 6th round. He is a tenacious leader on the ice and has some good skill, but he's definitely tough to project at the pro level because of the way he scores his goals...since his shot isn't all that strong he needs to get close to the net to score and given his frame there could be a limiting factor. That being said, if he makes it to the NHL, I think he'll be a fan-favorite because he will have scratched and clawed his way to the show.

Thanks for doing Seeley, I had a feeling he'd be a sleeper you were hip to.

I like Simoneau, but sometimes I am guilty of becoming enamored with prospects to the degree that I find myself constantly envisioning their best case scenario, and thus over-ranking them. I just explained on a different Devils thread something about K'Andre Miller -- whom I am still high on, but I clearly over-ranked at #10 overall. Then again, sometimes you need to stick with your instincts -- I took a lot of crap for ranking consensus second-rounder Denis Gurianov at #9 overall in 2015, and I'm starting g to look pretty good for that right now.

 

[Guadana]

I took a lot of crap for ranking consensus second-rounder Denis Gurianov at #9 overall in 2015

WhyTF Devils still didn`t hire you?

 

[StevenToddIves]

WhyTF Devils still didn`t hire you?

...because I also ranked Mikko Rantanen #19 in 2015.

This was my top 10.

1 McDavid
2 Eichel
3 Hanifin
4 Barzal
5 Strome
6 Marner
7 Werenski
8 Provorov
9 Gurianov
10 Zacha

Mistakes were made. I can brag forever that I nailed the #1 spot, haha.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

C Grant Slukynsky, Warroad USHS
This is a player I have not been able to attain a great deal of film on, so there is only so much detail I can get into. I can say that he's a big kid at 6'0-195 with a terrific shot who seems to show a nice set of hockey instincts and spacial awareness. His hands and skills are very intriguing, and I would say his skating needs work.

Slukynsky is committed to Northern Michigan this upcoming season and he's the type of raw, USHS product who certainly has skills which indicate a sizable upside. He is the type of player you take in the later rounds and hope that he can improve his skating in the NCAA to the degree where his surrounding skills can truly shine. An intriguing 6th/7th round deep sleeper.

 

[Guadana]

...because I also ranked Mikko Rantanen #19 in 2015.

This was my top 10.

1 McDavid
2 Eichel
3 Hanifin
4 Barzal
5 Strome
6 Marner
7 Werenski
8 Provorov
9 Gurianov
10 Zacha

Mistakes were made. I can brag forever that I nailed the #1 spot, haha.

Your top ten is better than it was anyway. But... Is a hanifin`s skating a weakest side of his game? =D

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

C Ty Smilanic, US-NTDP USHL
Here we have one of the best athletes in the draft, it's just a matter of figuring out the intricacies of the game. Smilanic is 6'1-170 with a projectable frame and he can absolutely fly -- he's likely one of the top 10 skaters in the draft. He shoots hard and gets the shot off quickly, but lacks accuracy, and sometimes he seems as if he is just shooting to shoot without a lan of where the puck will actually go. I would also say Smilanic has dynamic hands -- he can really dangle with the puck which, when combined with his skating, gives you a high-upside player who really should be a slam-dunk for the first round with the physical tools.

The problem with Smilanic is he just has a long way to go, and playing at the best developmental program in hockey you really wish he'd shown more improvement in his draft-eligible season. It's not a problem with compete level, because Smilanic is a very hard worker, shift in and shift out. His physical passing tools are excellent, but the decision making can leave something to be desired. His defensive effort is terrific, the positioning needs work.

Smilanic is enrolled at Qunnipiac, which is a decent NCAA program but not among the elite. I think he will quickly grow into a featured role at that university. His athleticism is just so good that I see him as an early to mid-2nd round pick. His speed and skill combination virtually guarantees him at least a bottom-6 future, but you hope that everything clicks and for an athlete with this extreme ability and a high compete level, I think we still don't know just how high of an upside Ty Smilanic actually possesses.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

RW Justin Sourdif, Vancouver WHL
Sourdif is an intriguing prospect who I was turned onto early in the year because Steve Kournianos at thedraftanalyst.com really has been high on him. Certainly, this is a kid with second-line skills and an advanced processing of the offensive game. He's very creative and a maestro of masking his intention with the puck, a chess player out there who will out-think the defense in order to open passing lanes and get the puck on net. You watch him when he's on his game and he's always raising your eyebrows with neat little plays that you need to watch again to assure yourself he planned that all along.

What Sourdif needs to work on is consistency, both in effort and effectiveness. You're never sure which Justin Sourdif you're getting. One game, he is physically engaged and active in all three zones. The next game, he skates away from physical opponents and coasts around waiting for the puck. I don't like to criticize these things too greatly, because this is a clearly talented hockey player and he's also a teenager -- it's difficult to even exist at that age, much less with 8,000 people watching you play hockey all the time. But it's safe to say that if he wants to reach his potential as a middle-6, productive NHL-er, he's going to need to improve in these respects over the next few seasons.

I see Sourdif as a bit of a wild card for the draft. I can see a team taking a chance on his high-end ability as early as the 2nd round, but this is also a player I could see slipping through the cracks until the 4th/5th rounds. If he falls, this is certainly a player worth taking a chance on.

 

[TBF1972]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

C Theo Rochette, Quebec QMJHL
I'm trying to get these all done so I can finish my Final 2020 Rankings in the next week or so, so I'm sorry if I'm pumping too many sleeper profiles out at once. So, I'm sitting here drinking coffee and blasting Sunny Day Real Estate (you need to listen to "Diary" if you like music) and trying to get as much done as possible. Thanks again to @thethinglonger for taking care of one of my favorites for me in Daniel Torgersson.

Rochette is my favorite Swiss prospect of 2020, so shout to @Guadana who seems to love it when I mention that type of stuff. His best quality is his hockey IQ, which -- as most of you know -- I hold in far higher regard than most draft writers. But he's an incredibly smart center who makes the most of a solid but not extraordinary tool kit. His smarts give huge boosts to his impressive passing game and decision making with and without the puck.

What I like most about Rochette is that his draft position will be lower than I receive his value. While I think this is a kid who needs a lot of time in the weight room, I see him as comparable in many ways to a likely 2nd round pick in Vasily Ponomarev who could be had in the 5th/6th round range. Why? Well, he had a really tough draft-eligible season.

At the outset of the season (Rochette was playing for Chicoutimi at that point), he contracted mono. After missing a great deal of laying time, Rochette seemed weak and lethargic for most of the year. I don't think he fully recovered until the tail end of the season. Entering February, Rochette was a major disappointment with only 6 goals all season. Leaving February, it seemed Rochette had finally recovered and he scored 8 goals that month. So, I think Rochette is a better player than many scouts have seen. Not a perfect prospect by any means, but certainly a player whose reward out-reaches their risk as late as he is likely to be available.

calling him swiss is a stretch.
his father was a professional hockey referee, who worked in switzerland. so his son grew up in switzerland, but like two years ago he decided against playing for the swiss national team, as he hoped to have a future with team canada. there was a time, where he was much higher regarded among his age peers.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

LD Kirill Steklov, London OHL
I feel the need to start this by saying this is not a player I draft in the early or middle-rounds. Steklov has a very long way to go in terms of building physical strength and improving his play, especially without the puck, in order to play professional hockey.

What I like about Steklov is that he's 6'5-190 and skates very well. He's got a decent set of hands and he's a decent passer. His shot needs power, but the important factor with a kid like Steklov is the type of player you draft in the 7th round and hope that, five years later, he's 6'5-230 and has learned the game and improved in all the areas which strength contributes to, such as shooting and skating explosiveness. It also helps that Steklov is playing in perhaps the best developmental program in the OHL, the London Knights.

This is not a player I'm going to be screaming for on draft day. But he's a name I have circled for the later rounds as a project with very intriguing potential payoff.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

LW Antonio Stranges, London OHL
It is no surprise that Stranges is one of the more polarizing mid-round candidates for the 2020 draft, because Stranges might be the most unique prospect in the 2020 draft. His idiosyncratic 10-2 skating style turns people off simply because of it's weirdness, but the fact is Antonio's edgework is as good as any forward in the 2020 draft. I've seen defenders line him up for a shoulder to the chest and wind up throwing themselves into the boards with one lightning-quick Stranges pivot to safety. Whether or not one likes the way Stranges skates, the fact is that this kid is an amazing skater.

Also, I cannot remember the last time I've seen a player whose backhand was better than their forehand shot. It's not usually a category I incorporate into my rankings, but I would say that Stranges possesses the best backhand shot in the entire draft. He can roof it far corner with precision from a sharp angle while moving in the opposite direction -- it's frankly ridiculous. Stranges' offensive skill is not limited to skating and backhands; he's also a tremendous puck-handler with plus vision. This is a player with top-6 skills which can translate into a high-scoring future in the NHL.

So, what's the problem? Well, pretty much everything else. Stranges is a player who has been labeled soft and lazy and one-way by multitudes of critics. I'm not saying I entirely agree, but I will say that his game without the puck needs more work (significantly) than his play with the puck. Stranges is the type of prospect that necessitates making it as a top-6 winger, or he won't make it at all. This is not a player who will transform into a third-line asset. It's quite simply boom, or bust. But the boom is intriguing enough, especially when there are enough scouts who undervalue him that we could be dealing with a kid who falls into the 4th/5th rounds.

The fact is that all forwards with top-6 upside who fall last the second round have a tremendous amount of risk attached. Otherwise, they'd be gone already. I can say that if Antonio Stranges falls past the 3rd round, I'd find it difficult to believe that there would be another prospect available with more offensive upside than this kid. Quite simply, he can do things with the puck not many other players can do. Even considering all the inherent risk, Antonio Stranges is a sleeper extraordinaire.

 

[StevenToddIves]

The next player I was going to write-up for my sleeper profiles was LW Daniel Torgersson, but @thethinglonger wrote him up quite perfectly. I just wanted to add that a skilled, 6'3, high-compete two-way winger should be getting a lot more attention, in my book. I think this kid is can't-miss, and he'd be a name I'd go on at length about if the Devils somehow acquired a second round pick for the 2020 draft.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

LW Luke Tuch, US-NTDP USHL
Yes, he's Alex's younger brother. And looking at him you can see it -- a 6'2-205 beast who skates well. Unfortunately, this has been both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing in that it has certainly garnered him a great deal of attention. It's a curse in that he lacks his older brother's high-end goal-scoring skills.

This is not to say Luke Tuch will not be a very good NHL-er in his own right. When he's on his game, he plays like a bull in a china shop. It's important to note that the US-NTDP plays a ton of games against NCAA competition; players that are three and four years older. Tuch is so strong, that when he's inspired you just watch him on the forecheck and grown men bounce off him like bowling pins. This kid is extremely strong.

What you see is what you get with Luke Tuch. He's not a line driver, but he is the guy you can put out there with a skilled center and RW and he'll dig the puck off the boards and crash creases. He lacks the skill/speed of a guy like Dylan Holloway who could find himself on an NHL first line. Tuch is more of a third-line banger, but he has the potential to be a very good one. This is also a high-floor player who should, at the very least, make it as a fourth-line energy guy.

The problem with Tuch is that his size and name are likely to get him drafted a bit above where his skill set would indicate. I see an NHL team taking him in the second round due to the size, skating and pedigree. This is fine -- like I said, we're talking about a very high-floor player. It's just important to note that he probably doesn't have the 30+ goal-scoring touch which Alex Tuch has, and if he does we have yet to see convincing indications.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sleeper Prospect Profile:

RW Tyler Tullio, Oshawa OHL
Tyler Tullio is listed at 5'10-165, but don't tell him that. He plays a high-compete, high-octane game with great intelligence and maximum effort. This kid just oozes heart, and he's not short on skill either.

Everything in his offensive game is like a magnet towards the net. A pair of 200-pound defensemen in his way? Tullio doesn't care, he'll find away to fight his way there, with or without the puck. He's an improviser whom I would not call a shoot-first or pass-first winger -- Tullio reads the situation quickly and reacts accordingly. He's not a player you can predict anything out of except effort, and he's very good in a variety of ways. Tullio is a good passer, shooter and puck-handler without being exceptional at any of them. I'd say his greatest offensive weapon is his backhand, which is among the best in the 2020 class and he loves to use.

Defensively and on the forecheck, Tullio's relentless desire again transcends him beyond his physical tools into a very good player. He'll hit anyone and won't back down to anyone. He's a very likable player. If there's one aspect of Tullio's game which will hold him back, it's that he lacks a standout tool and his skating is just above-average. This unfortunately gives him the ceiling of a middle-six forward despite all the heart and brains. But he has all the tools to be a very good player and his compete level gives him a very high ceiling as at least a NHL bottom-6 forward.

Tullio scored 66 points in 62 OHL games last season and it's hard not to give him attention considering how hard he plays. He is likely to go in the second round of the draft, so the Devils will not likely have a shot here unless they trade for a pick, but he's an easy guy to root for wherever he is drafted.

 

[Devils731]

Some 2021 projections

Wheeler: Preseason ranking for the 2021 NHL Draft's top 32 prospects

“After two consecutive drafts that were strong at F and thin on D near the top, the class of 2021 will be defined by the strength of its defensemen, with five prospects of equal or better quality to 2019’s top D prospect Bowen Byram or 2020’s Jamie Drysdale.”

 

[Nicomo Cosca]

Some 2021 projections

Wheeler: Preseason ranking for the 2021 NHL Draft's top 32 prospects

“After two consecutive drafts that were strong at F and thin on D near the top, the class of 2021 will be defined by the strength of its defensemen, with five prospects of equal or better quality to 2019’s top D prospect Bowen Byram or 2020’s Jamie Drysdale.”

Please let Rossi be there at 7...

 

[FooteBahl]

Some 2021 projections

Wheeler: Preseason ranking for the 2021 NHL Draft's top 32 prospects

“After two consecutive drafts that were strong at F and thin on D near the top, the class of 2021 will be defined by the strength of its defensemen, with five prospects of equal or better quality to 2019’s top D prospect Bowen Byram or 2020’s Jamie Drysdale.”

If we’re lottery-bound for one more season, I guess next year would be the year to do it—especially if we aren’t able to get Drysdale or Sanderson this year. I also think there’s a decent chance at us having two first rounders next year depending on if we trade Palms/Goose.

 

[beekay414]

Or...hear me out...we GET Sanderson/Drysdale at 7 and THEN get another high end dman in 2021. Eyy? Eyy?

 

[beekay414]

@StevenToddIves Pronman addressed why he had Fagemo as the Kings top prospect in his Q&A yesterday...

One of Frolunda's top offensive players, generated a ton of shots for that league. Led the WJC in goals, points, and shots on goal. Looked good playing for the Swedish National team in February. Every time I watched Frolunda he popped. Great skill, sense, he competes, he skates well, he can shoot it. Great season prior to that one too. Is anything about his game elite? Probably not. But he does a lot at a very high level.

 

[Guadana]

Or...hear me out...we GET Sanderson/Drysdale at 7 and THEN get another high end dman in 2021. Eyy? Eyy?

17 years have passed since we had two top d-men.

 

[FooteBahl]

Or...hear me out...we GET Sanderson/Drysdale at 7 and THEN get another high end dman in 2021. Eyy? Eyy?

It’s way too early to tell, but if we’re picking in the 7-10 range again the final Hughes brother may still be around.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Or...hear me out...we GET Sanderson/Drysdale at 7 and THEN get another high end dman in 2021. Eyy? Eyy?

Thats what I say. Next years draft doesn’t effect my decision making on this years draft one bit. BPA whither it be a forward or D. The best way to have a good young defender is to draft them, so why not back to back drafts of Defenseman who can lead the team for the next 10+ years?

 

[Ripshot 43]

It’s way too early to tell, but if we’re picking in the 7-10 range again the final Hughes brother may still be around.

If that young man is as good as they are saying, you better believe at least 2 (if not more teams) will be reaching for him or looking to trade up to take him. I’m Mr BPA but I wouldn’t be opposed to landing him to help influence other players decisions down the line.

 

[beekay414]

Thats what I say. Next years draft doesn’t effect my decision making on this years draft one bit. BPA whither it be a forward or D. The best way to have a good young defender is to draft them, so why not back to back drafts of Defenseman who can lead the team for the next 10+ years?

I mean, I'm team Sanderson/Drysdale at 7 regardless of the 2021 draft haha. I feel like both are game changing dmen and we can get viable top 6 forwards at 18/20 so it makes too much sense.

 

[Devils731]

Chris Peters talking with Matt Loughlin and Chris Westcott on Speak of the Devils Podcast prefers Sanderson to Drysdale. Thinks both have top pairing defenseman potential but Sanderson has slightly more chance of attaining that.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

Or...hear me out...we GET Sanderson/Drysdale at 7 and THEN get another high end dman in 2021. Eyy? Eyy?

Having to watch Greene as our best option for years, who brought it every game but wasn’t a legit top pairing at all, I’m just dying to have one, let alone two, top pairing dman.

The Devils had their better years when we were icing legit top pairing dmen and yes, one of the best goaltenders to play the game, but our defence was flat out amazing.

We need to get back to that ASAP.