Prospect Info: 2021 NHL Draft Hype

Felonious Python

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I figured that we could get this going early with teams playing, and the NHL maybe not starting until January or later.



Ryan St. Louis - C grade
Bradenton native Sasha Pastujov - A grade

Luke Hughes (A grade) didn't win the lottery quite the way his brothers Quinn and Jack did. He wasn't born in Orlando like them. He was born in Michigan.

Oscar Plandowski (B) is the son of former Lightning assistant director of amateur scouting, Darryl Plandowski.

Kids of former Lightning players
Cole Sillinger (A) -Mike Sillinger
Chase Stillman (B) - Cory Stillman
Nick Malik (C) - Marek Malik

There's also another Alexander Volkov (C) in case the first one breaks or something.
 
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Felonious Python

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The NCAA isn't normally a league where you find first-time draft eligible players. Michigan is an exception this year with 3 players that could go in the top-10. (Owen Power, Matthew Beniers, and Kent Johnson)

If you've got the Big 10 Network (BTN), then you can watch Michigan-Arizona State tonight at 7. On my channel guide, it's one number up from NHLN.

The Wolverines went Globetrotters on the Sun Devils yesterday with an 8-1 win, which is a bit deceiving, as Arizona State should be pretty decent, although a bit outmatched against Big-10 opponents.

NCAA Hockey TV Schedule - College Hockey, Inc.

edit: BTN is also connected to Foxsportsgo.comhttp://collegehockeyinc.com/tv-schedule.php
 
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Felonious Python

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All right. Good deal. Fox Sports Florida is carrying today's Michigan v Wisconsin game at 7 pm ET.

It had only been listed as a regional broadcast for FS Detroit and Wisconsin.

It'll also be available on foxsportsgo.

BTN will have Arizona State/Michigan State at 6p and Penn State/Minnesota at 8:30p, although they're not really relevant for the 2021 draft.
 
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Felonious Python

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ESPNU/watchespn.com has Michigan v Penn State at 6 EST.

espn.com link (requires cable login as well as free ESPN account)
 

Point21

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Around the 3:30 mark Marty's kid with the sick mitts in the shootout
 

TheDaysOf 04

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We are getting closer to the iihf U-18 World Championships which will be from April 26th to May 6th in Frisco & Plano, Texas. The U-18s were not played last year.

Russia has already released their tournament roster and it's expected Canada will do the same some time soon.





Nikita Chibrikov is someone to keep an eye on for Russia. He's a 2021 draft eligible player that has split time between the MHL, VHL, and KHL this season for SKA. This is the same team that Max Groshev is apart of. Ironically it was Chibrikov who broke Groshev's record for youngest goal scorer in KHL history this season. Chibrikov is also represented by Dan Milstein, agent of Kucherov and Vasilevskiy.

NHL Central Scouting gave him an 'A' grade on their watch list indicating a 1st rd talent. There's not many rankings out and those that are out have less of a consensus than normal years, but most places have him ranked as a late 1st round pick. Possibly someone who could be there for us come draft time.
 
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Point21

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Imagine in the 3rd round: "We have a trade to announce, Tampa trades pick 96, a 2022 4th, and a conditional 7th to Buffalo in exchange for pick 65. Tampa you are on the clock." Brisebois: " With our next pick we would like to have a special guest announce the pick." *Marty St. Louis enters from the rafters on a flying goat*: " The Lightning are proud to select from Northeastern University, my own specimen *insert Dave Mishkin voice* Ryan St. Louis!!!"
 
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These Are The Days

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This is the most underwhelming draft I can ever remember. The fact you couldn't find jack shit on any of these guys as far as rankings or even so much as a mock draft even 6 months ago when we live in the information age of the internet is damning. For God's sake I can tell you Shane Wright and Connor Bedard are going #1 in the next 2 years and when you look up Aatu Raty all you find out is he fell off a cliff and is probably not considered a potential #1 anymore.

2021 be gettin a BIG yikes from me dawg
 

TheDaysOf 04

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This is the most underwhelming draft I can ever remember. The fact you couldn't find jack shit on any of these guys as far as rankings or even so much as a mock draft even 6 months ago when we live in the information age of the internet is damning.
Here are some rankings:

SN: Sam Cosentino's Top 32 | Nov 2020
NHL.com: Mike Morreale's Top 32 | Jan 2021
TSN: Bob McKenzie's Top 20 | Dec 2020
THW: Matthew Zator's Top 64 | Feb 2021
THW:Andrew Forbes' Top 64 | Feb 2021
THW: Peter Baracchini's Top 100 | Mar 2021
FCHockey's Top 100
DobberProspects: Tony Ferrari's Mid-Season Top 64 | Feb 2021
The Draft Analyst - January Edition
McKeen's Hockey - February Rankings
EliteProspects Top 32 | Jan 2021

Stuff is out there if you search around. Obviously everything that has happened in the past year has made it difficult for these sources to compile accurate and sufficient information. The OHL still hasn't set foot on ice in over a year and some WHL teams just started up this past weekend. And then even the leagues that are playing, how easy is it for people to watch these games since travel and in person attendance can be restricted? I think that is why most places are reserving judgement for the time being.
 

Felonious Python

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Here are some rankings:

SN: Sam Cosentino's Top 32 | Nov 2020
NHL.com: Mike Morreale's Top 32 | Jan 2021
TSN: Bob McKenzie's Top 20 | Dec 2020
THW: Matthew Zator's Top 64 | Feb 2021
THW:Andrew Forbes' Top 64 | Feb 2021
THW: Peter Baracchini's Top 100 | Mar 2021
FCHockey's Top 100
DobberProspects: Tony Ferrari's Mid-Season Top 64 | Feb 2021
The Draft Analyst - January Edition
McKeen's Hockey - February Rankings
EliteProspects Top 32 | Jan 2021

Stuff is out there if you search around. Obviously everything that has happened in the past year has made it difficult for these sources to compile accurate and sufficient information. The OHL still hasn't set foot on ice in over a year and some WHL teams just started up this past weekend. And then even the leagues that are playing, how easy is it for people to watch these games since travel and in person attendance can be restricted? I think that is why most places are reserving judgement for the time being.
I would figure that NHL scouts would be allowed (socially distanced).
 

Felonious Python

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I don't mean NHL scouts, just the people who make rankings and write scouting reports like HockeyProspect.com, The Hockey News, and others
A press pass might still get them in, but I was under the impression that most of their scouting was by video anyway, or just asking people who know.
 

These Are The Days

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Here are some rankings:

SN: Sam Cosentino's Top 32 | Nov 2020
NHL.com: Mike Morreale's Top 32 | Jan 2021
TSN: Bob McKenzie's Top 20 | Dec 2020
THW: Matthew Zator's Top 64 | Feb 2021
THW:Andrew Forbes' Top 64 | Feb 2021
THW: Peter Baracchini's Top 100 | Mar 2021
FCHockey's Top 100
DobberProspects: Tony Ferrari's Mid-Season Top 64 | Feb 2021
The Draft Analyst - January Edition
McKeen's Hockey - February Rankings
EliteProspects Top 32 | Jan 2021

Stuff is out there if you search around. Obviously everything that has happened in the past year has made it difficult for these sources to compile accurate and sufficient information. The OHL still hasn't set foot on ice in over a year and some WHL teams just started up this past weekend. And then even the leagues that are playing, how easy is it for people to watch these games since travel and in person attendance can be restricted? I think that is why most places are reserving judgement for the time being.

All of that is correct. COVID threw a monkey wrench into everything. But I guess what I'm getting at (poorly) is that for every draft, I at least had SOME idea of the players, their ceilings and who could make up a top 3 to 5 and over a year in advance. I can tell you now 15 to 16 months ahead that names like Brad Lambert, Matthew Savoie and especially Shane Wright are the big guns to look for in 2022.

Go back 15 months even before COVID hit and the picture was still really murky. Either that I just was not looking hard enough back then.
 

TheDaysOf 04

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All of that is correct. COVID threw a monkey wrench into everything. But I guess what I'm getting at (poorly) is that for every draft, I at least had SOME idea of the players, their ceilings and who could make up a top 3 to 5 and over a year in advance. I can tell you now 15 to 16 months ahead that names like Brad Lambert, Matthew Savoie and especially Shane Wright are the big guns to look for in 2022.

Go back 15 months even before COVID hit and the picture was still really murky. Either that I just was not looking hard enough back then.
I think the guys people were talking about in September are still the top guys now. But something noticeable is there is definitely a lack of hype surrounding this draft. I don't know why that is. Is that an effect from no CHL playoffs last season, no U-18s, no Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, no Canada-Russia Super Series, no CHL top prospects game and other high profile events? Is that because most of the top players either play in Europe or in he NCAA? And then looking at the WJC, a lot of the top 2021 guys were absent. Michigan never let Power leave, William Eklund got Covid and wasn't allowed to travel, and the top goalie Wallstedt saw little playing time as Alnefelt's back up. Maybe all the hoopla picks up closer to the draft, but it seems very quiet now.
 

TheDaysOf 04

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Prior to travelling to Frisco on April 17, players and staff will self-isolate at home starting April 12 and will be tested for COVID-19 three times. Upon arrival in Texas, all team personnel will enter a four-day quarantine at the hotel before starting a pre-tournament camp on April 21. The team will take on Finland in its lone pre-tournament game on April 24 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast select games throughout the tournament and will announce details at a later date.

13 OHL players on this roster. This includes Brandt Clarke, a potential top pick in the draft, who has been playing on loan in Slovakia.
 

TheDaysOf 04

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The BioSteel All-American Game will be on nhl network tonight @ 8:00 pm et

Team Blue will be the US National Under-18 team

Team White will be made of other top American players from the USHL


Both the talent level and the stakes will be high Wednesday night when the BioSteel All-American Game showcases the top U.S. draft-eligible talent in the United States Hockey League for more than 100 professional scouts inside USA Hockey Arena. The event will also be the first opportunity for many hockey fans across America to tune in, on NHL Network, to hear future American NHL talent.
The BioSteel Game maintains the same format as last season but was moved to a date that is closer to the draft and the Under-18 World Championships.

The game can play a big role in NHL Draft evaluations, but there are other future implications, according to John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey.

“It serves a lot of purposes for us, not only for the Under-18 World Championship, but for our World Junior team and our summer camp coming up,” he said. “It really helps create that look at who is probably going to be vying for a spot in the future.”

Florida natives Ethan Straky (Ormond Beach) and Sasha Pastujov (Bradenton) will play for Team Blue, as will Ryan St. Louis. All 3 are 2021 draft eligible.

 
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TheDaysOf 04

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2 goals + 1 assist for Pastujov.




Previous player of the game winners:

2020: Jake Sanderson / 5th overall pick
2018: Matt Boldy / 12th overall pick
2017: Brady Tkachuk / 4th overall pick
2016: Casey Mittelstadt / 8th overall pick
2015: Luke McInnis / undrafted
2014: Jack Eichel / 2nd overall pick
2013: Keegan Iverson / 85th overall pick
2012: Ryan Fitzgerald (from Boca Raton) / 120th overall pick
 
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TheDaysOf 04

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Pretty awesome to see a local kid do so well, although I'm skeptical his family didn't move from FL at an early age.

From Ringling Bros. to the Pastujov Brothers, a Family's 'Unbelievable' Journey - University of Michigan Athletics
Gueorgui (George) Pastujov met Janis Tardy while he was a translator and talent scout for "The Greatest Show on Earth" and she was the dance captain. They were married in 1994 and lived in a 6-by-6-foot compartment on a mile-long circus train that took them from town to town. Though, they got a much larger cabin once George became general manager of the show.

Ringling Bros., which had its last performance in 2017 after a 147-year run, was headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, and its performers and employees spent winters there. The Pastujovs lived in nearby Bradenton, along the Gulf of Mexico coast and just over the Sunshine Skyway from St. Petersburg.
"They built a rink in Ellenton when I was 3 years old," said Nick of the location just east of Bradenton. "My dad took me there and taught me how to skate and everything, taught Mike how to skate, and a couple months later we started playing hockey, and it got a little more intense each year."

Michael recalled, "Dad taught us pretty much everything. The coaches down there weren't very experienced, and he was our head coach up through the squirt and bantam (leagues). And he'd hold clinics to teach other kids. We'd watch video together. It was cool, though, because when we go back now we still see how people admire and look up to him."
Nick and Michael, whose youngest brother, Sasha, was born in 2003, fell in love with hockey and could not get enough of it. They would get 6 a.m. skating time at the Ellenton rink with their father before school and come home to either shoot pucks against one another into a portable net on the driveway or fire away with tennis ball slap shots in the front yard.

"Our grass was always ruined," said Michael. "Kids in the neighborhood who'd never seen hockey would come over and start playing. We'd teach them how to play. But it's started to catch on with the Tampa Bay Lightning having success.

His brother Nick, an Islanders draft pick:
"The hockey community is super tight-knit in Florida," Pastujov said. "It's been really cool, in even just the last couple of years, to see hockey kind of explode and really take off down there. I grew up a Tampa Bay [Lightning] fan, so to see that team become so dominant these last few years has been really good for the sport and for the hockey community. Just to see how far [the sport of hockey] has come since I was growing up to where it's at now. You always want to see the game grow, so it's cool to be a part of that having grown up there."
 
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Felonious Python

Minor League Degenerate
Aug 20, 2004
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2 goals + 1 assist for Pastujov.

Previous player of the game winners:

2020: Jake Sanderson / 5th overall pick
2018: Matt Boldy / 12th overall pick
2017: Brady Tkachuk / 4th overall pick
2016: Casey Mittelstadt / 8th overall pick
2015: Luke McInnis / undrafted
2014: Jack Eichel / 2nd overall pick
2013: Keegan Iverson / 85th overall pick
2012: Ryan Fitzgerald (from Boca Raton) / 120th overall pick

Luke McInnis plays for the Solar Bears. He'll be in the AHL at some point.
 

These Are The Days

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That's one hell of a story. I grew up in central Pasco as a kid and always said "If the countless lakes around here ever actually froze this little spot in the world or Tampa, in general, would've produced some hockey players a long time ago." But that was meant for like beer leaguers and maybe a couple of guys who made AHL careers and a brief call-up. It's crazy to think the Lightning had only been around about 16 years and if you went to the local rink you'd spot a 3 year old who would become a potential 1st round pick.


I never expected the area to produce someone that good that quickly. I figured some guy who'd be taken in the 5th round ya know? Hopefully, Sasha won't be the last.


That said we need to get some more rinks built up in here. You got a good start in Wesley Chapel and Clearwater. Get one in an area like Carrollwood and you'd really be cooking with gas. So many people around here are northern families that I'd say the odds of us producing a few more draftable players (at any round) within the next 10-15 years would be decent. I don't know about another Pastujov but that would be freaking sweet.
 

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