2020 NHL Draft: Fisher’s Top 124 Preseason Rankings

The 2020 NHL draft year is underway with the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in the books and now it’s time to reveal my preseason rankings — my initial top 124: https://thehockeywriters.com/2020-nhl-draft-rankings-preseason-top-124/

My October rankings will remain a top 124, but for the good people of HFBoards here is some bonus content that can't be found anywhere else online ...

Fifth Round
125) Erik Hedlund (RW, Sweden, Leksands J20)
126) Ivan Didkovsky (F, Russia, Dynamo Moskva MHL)
127) Luka Nyman (LD, Finland, RB Hockey Akademie Czech U19)
128) Ryan Kirwan (F, USA, Little Caesars U.S. High School)
129) Luke Reid (RD, USA/Canada, Chicago USHL)
130) Mitchell Miller (LD, USA, Tri-City USHL)
131) Eamon Powell (RD, USA, NTDP U18)
132) Drew Commesso (G, USA, NTDP U18)
133) Brady Burns (LC, Canada, Saint John QMJHL)
134) Tyler Tullio (RC, Canada/USA, Oshawa OHL)
135) Yegor Kuzminov (LW, Russia, CSKA Moskva U18)
136) Samuel Krajc (RW/LW, Slovakia, Calgary WHL)
137) Carter Souch (F, Canada, Edmonton WHL)
138) Ronan Seeley (LD, Canada, Everett WHL)
139) Luke Prokop (RD, Canada, Calgary WHL)
140) Lukas Svejkovsky (F, USA/Czech Republic, Vancouver WHL)
141) Ethan Ernst (RW, Canada, Kelowna WHL)
142) Rhett Rhinehart (RD, Canada, Prince George WHL)
143) Tyrel Bauer (RD, Canada, Seattle WHL)
144) Alexander Nikishin (D, Russia, Krylia Sovetov Moskva MHL)
145) Daniil Zaitsev (LD, Russia, Avto Yekaterinburg MHL)
146) Anton Johannesson (LD, Sweden, HV71 J20)
147) Theo Nordlund (LD, Sweden, Frolunda J20)
148) Harijs Brants (LD, Latvia, Riga MHL)
149) Kirill Steklov (LD, Russia/Estonia, London OHL)
150) Ole Bjorgvik Holm (LD, Norway, Mississauga OHL)
151) Stepan Machacek (F, Czech Republic, Owen Sound OHL)
152) Yu Sato (F, Japan, Quebec QMJHL)
153) Aidan De La Gorgendiere (LD, Canada, Saskatoon WHL)
154) Joel Sexsmith (LD, Canada, Vancouver WHL)
155) Cole Shepard (F, Canada, Vancouver WHL)

 

As for the tiers, I have it 1-3, 4-7, 8-21, 22-27 and 28-42 for my projected first-round candidates. Obviously 8-21 is a big tier, if I had to split it, I’d probably go 8-13 and 14-21, but I’m open to those 14-21 prospects cracking the top 10.

 

Foudy stands out to me as pretty low, what don't you like about his game enough to have him as a 1st-rounder?

Good list as usual though. It's a very deep draft class.

 

I think that's just it, this is a very deep class and Foudy is in that 28-42 tier for me, so I still see him as a potential first-rounder heading into the season.

 

Very good list. I really like Martin Chromiak ranking. Very underrated player imo. I saw him many times. At Hlinka-Gretzky cup, IIHF U18, 5 nations Zuchwil tournament and he was great everywhere.

 

He's also one of the youngest prospects for 2020 as an August birthdate (same as Byfield). Chromiak could crack the top 20 and perhaps even be knocking on the door of the top 10 come June, but I would have liked to see him with OHL Kingston for his draft year.

 

Stepan Machacek is 2021 eligible. I also believe Pavel Novak is staying in Europe.

 

Noted on Machacek. I will get confirmation on Novak this week, but as far as I have heard he will be reporting to WHL Kelowna. Had Lassi Thomson returned, then Novak likely would have developed in Europe for his draft year and joined Kelowna the following season. But with Thomson playing pro in Finland, Novak and Russian forward Daniil Gutik are projected to be Kelowna's imports as Memorial Cup host this season. That would be a great showcase for Novak and tough to pass up. I'm not sure if Gutik has committed to Kelowna either, but he was my top-ranked prospect to go undrafted in 2019 (I had Gutik ranked 47th overall), so I'm hoping to see him live all season long too.

 

Would be nice to see as many as 5 Slovaks in the top 150, but we will need more than one good tourney for that to happen.

Also, what the heck were Ivan Ivan's parents thinking when they named their kid?

 

Yeah that’s an all-timer as far as names go, like TSN’s broadcast said they would have been better off just giving him a solo name like they do in Brazil, no need for the repeat name. But it sounds funny to hear it called.

The Slovaks were really impressive with three one-goal losses (two in OT) in the better pool with Russia, Sweden and USA, then a seven-goal explosion to secure seventh against Switzerland. Quite a few promising prospects on that Slovak team but we will see how they develop and where they are at come the season-ending U18s in April.

 

current fav player i hope my wild pick is cole perfetti, we need a C & he has a cool name.

 

Larry, where do you see the top overagers for 2020? Any you would feel confident sliding into this list?

Daniil Gutik, Billy Constantinou, Cole MacKay, Josh Williams, Oleg Zaitsev, Luke Toporowski, Ilya Mironov, Grant Silianoff, Ludvig Hedstrom, Max Wahlgren, Michael Gildon, Dmitri Sheshin

 

Stepan Machacek is a 2021, no?

 

I’m going to track all my overagers that went undrafted in 2019. Gutik, Constantinou and Williams were in my top 100 for my final rankings in June and haven’t played any hockey since to hurt their stock, only didn’t hear their names called at the draft, so based on what I’ve seen from those three, they would definitely still be on this list. But I track the overagers separately (I’ll do it publicly this season) and then integrate them into my rankings for February or March following the CHL Top Prospects Game as I did last season. I try to keep my focus on the first-time eligibles and try not to compare them to undrafted overagers for the first half of the season or until the stretch run of the draft year. I want to get to know these 2020 kids (the 2002 draft class), I already know the 2019 leftovers from making them my main focus last season. But hopefully that kind of answers your question.

 

He is, late 2002, that was pointed out. I had him listed with the import draft picks and must have forgot to check his birthday or overlooked the date. Good catch.

 

Perfetti played left wing at the Hlinka and dominated from that position, Lapierre centered their line, but Perfetti plays centre in the OHL and likely prefers that position as a pro.

 

Nice to see you include Seeley. He'll need to earn a spot up the lineup but should be capable of doing so.
He's one i'm keeping an eye on.

 

Those WHL defencemen in my fifth round will definitely be interesting to watch develop in their draft years. They should be taking on bigger roles/more minutes and could really start climbing the rankings.

 

Novak played in the recent exhibition game for the Ceske Budejovice team, I personally think he will start the season with them. Other thing is whether he will finish it there as well though. Kelowna seems to be a plan B in case he doesn't get enough ice time in the Czech second league.

As for the list itself, I more or less agree with the ranking of Czech players. I am higher on some and lower on others, but all the top players are mentioned, which is a pleasant surprise compared to the other early rankings out there.

 

Appreciate the feedback on Novak. Kelowna’s training camp starts Aug. 23 and regular season starts Sept. 21. All indications are they expect him to be in the lineup on opening night. It’s not uncommon for imports to continue playing a bit in August following the Hlinka before reporting to their CHL teams. I believe Libor Zabransky did the same a couple years ago after captaining the Czechs at the Hlinka before reporting to Kelowna. His experience didn’t go great here, but I think Zabransky got his mojo back in the USHL and I think he could surprise a lot of people with WHL Saskatoon this season. I think Novak would be wise to capitalize on a top-six role with the Memorial Cup host team. As would Gutik after going undrafted. As is often said here in North America, you don’t know for sure if the import picks are reporting “until you see the white of their eyes” or until they sign the WHL contract, but the expectation on this side of the pond is that Novak will be flying over within the next 10 days. Time will tell.

 

On the Novak front, the Rockets posted a brief Q & A with him on their website today: Q&A with Pavel Novak – Kelowna Rockets

That makes it sound like he’s going to report and I haven’t heard anything to the contrary here in Kelowna.

 

Evan Vierling is one of the most complete packages and isn’t anywhere?

 

Yeah, that was a bad omission. Vierling was on my OHL watch list along with Hayden Fowler and a handful of others, but those two likely should have been in my top 124 to start the season.

If it's any consolation, last year's preseason rankings were missing Harley, Tomasino and McMichael: https://thehockeywriters.com/2019-nhl-draft-revisiting-preseason-rankings/

For some reason, the OHL has been a bit of a weakness for me when it comes to the preseason rankings. I'm probably missing a few more OHL kids that should be higher for 2020. Feel free to enlighten me, I appreciate all the feedback.

 

As someone who watched Byfield and Vierling On a regular basis I would say that most of the top players are offense of minded in the NHL draft but I can see Vierling turn out to be an elite two way centre nominated for a selke on a regular basis.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I put a star beside Vierling to make sure I get some early season viewings and track him closely.