2022 NHL Draft Prospects

[swedehollow]

Still some players I haven't had a chance to see yet but boy did C. Odelius stand out in TV-pucken last week. Big kid, amazing skater, excellent poise with the puck. A lot can happen in ~3 years but this could be the next great Swedish D-prospect.

Calle Odelius at eliteprospects.com

J. Lekkerimäki was the other standout player I saw. His hands and shot was on a different level from the rest and he lead the tournament in scoring. The game comes very easy to him. He's unfortunately not a very good skater and he lacks some pace in his game, still a very intriguing player who could become a top prospect if things go right.

Another interesting kid is Alexander Suzdalev, son of a Russian bandy player who moved to Sweden 8 years ago. He's already played some games with the Russian U16 team and looked pretty good to me. Seems like he will likely choose to play for Russia but he has dual citizenship.

Saw some other interesting players as well. Can't really tell how good this age group is before they start playing U16 NT games which happens around Christmas.

Some of the guys I thought would look good beforehand failed to impress me. Gothenburg with Stahre in particular.

As a Swede I'm glad to hear that Suzdalev chose to play for Sweden!

 

[Outofbodyinhungary]

My top 10:
1. Shane wright
2. Matthew Savoie
3. Brad Lambert
4. Maddox Fleming
5. Juraj Slafkovsky
6. Rutger McGroarty
7. Devin Kaplan
8. Frank Nazar
9. Seamus Casey
10. Ivan Miroshnichenko

 

[Garyboy]

Tristan Luneau should be top 5.

 

[wetcoast]

Tristan Luneau should be top 5.

I don't know anything about Luneau but there is a really elite group of forwards for 22 already so it's hard to really say.

 

[flamebird]

Max Namestnikov (Vlad's younger brother) will begin to pop up on the 2022 radar I believe. He's a player with ELITE offensive gifts and instincts. Still small (will grow with age) but has a toolbox which is high-end

 

[wings5]

As a Swede I'm glad to hear that Suzdalev chose to play for Sweden!

When did Suzdalev say he'd play for Sweden ? Have only seen that he has played for Russia u16 this season.

 

[FinPanda]

Still some players I haven't had a chance to see yet but boy did C. Odelius stand out in TV-pucken last week. Big kid, amazing skater, excellent poise with the puck. A lot can happen in ~3 years but this could be the next great Swedish D-prospect.

Calle Odelius at eliteprospects.com

J. Lekkerimäki was the other standout player I saw. His hands and shot was on a different level from the rest and he lead the tournament in scoring. The game comes very easy to him. He's unfortunately not a very good skater and he lacks some pace in his game, still a very intriguing player who could become a top prospect if things go right.

Another interesting kid is Alexander Suzdalev, son of a Russian bandy player who moved to Sweden 8 years ago. He's already played some games with the Russian U16 team and looked pretty good to me. Seems like he will likely choose to play for Russia but he has dual citizenship.

Saw some other interesting players as well. Can't really tell how good this age group is before they start playing U16 NT games which happens around Christmas.

Some of the guys I thought would look good beforehand failed to impress me. Gothenburg with Stahre in particular.

Lekkerimäki sounds like someone with Finnish family member, any idea if his mum/dad is or are his grandparents Finnish?

 

[MasterMatt25]

My top 10:
1. Shane wright
2. Matthew Savoie
3. Brad Lambert
4. Maddox Fleming
5. Juraj Slafkovsky
6. Rutger McGroarty
7. Devin Kaplan
8. Frank Nazar
9. Seamus Casey
10. Ivan Miroshnichenko

What about Otto Stahre, Conor Geekie, Joakim Kemell or Ludwig Persson?

 

[VictorLustig]

When did Suzdalev say he'd play for Sweden ? Have only seen that he has played for Russia u16 this season.

He will attend the Swedish U16 camp, maybe that's what he meant.

Having seen all top 04's now in TV-pucken this would be my ranking of Swedish players for this draft, a lot will obviously change.

1. Calle Odelius - Most dominant U16 D-man since Dahlin/Boqvist. Amazing skater.
2. Alexander Suzdalev - Playmaker, good skater, great hands, calm with the puck.
3. Jonathan Lekkerimäki - Bit of a wildcard, the most naturally gifted player imo.
4. Simon Forsmark
HM: Noah Östlund, Mattias Hävelid, Filip Bystedt, Otto Stahre, Teodor Forssander

I might be missing someone.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Max Namestnikov (Vlad's younger brother) will begin to pop up on the 2022 radar I believe. He's a player with ELITE offensive gifts and instincts. Still small (will grow with age) but has a toolbox which is high-end

Which countries is he eligible to play for?

 

[Maverick41]

Now that I have seen some of the eligible players from Germany, this could be an interesting draft class for us.
There is a bunch of players with the potential to rise up the rankings but so far 3 I really like are:

1a. Roman Kechter
1b. Julian Lutz
3. Moritz Elias

Kechter and Lutz in particular look like they could turn into special players. Probably not Draisaitl or Stützle territory, but they still have plenty of time to develop.

There is also goalie Simon Wolf, who has looked really good in the couple of games I have seen him play. But first of that's a really small sample size and secondly I am terrible at judging goalies. Most of the goalies I have been excited about in the past have not amounted to much.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Max Namestnikov (Vlad's younger brother) will begin to pop up on the 2022 radar I believe. He's a player with ELITE offensive gifts and instincts. Still small (will grow with age) but has a toolbox which is high-end

Considering his statistics, I doubt, he's anything special.

 

[swedehollow]

When did Suzdalev say he'd play for Sweden ? Have only seen that he has played for Russia u16 this season.

The young Russian player decided to play for the national team of Sweden - Best Sport News

 

[swedehollow]

He will attend the Swedish U16 camp, maybe that's what he meant.

Having seen all top 04's now in TV-pucken this would be my ranking of Swedish players for this draft, a lot will obviously change.

1. Calle Odelius - Most dominant U16 D-man since Dahlin/Boqvist. Amazing skater.
2. Alexander Suzdalev - Playmaker, good skater, great hands, calm with the puck.
3. Jonathan Lekkerimäki - Bit of a wildcard, the most naturally gifted player imo.
4. Simon Forsmark
HM: Noah Östlund, Mattias Hävelid, Filip Bystedt, Otto Stahre, Teodor Forssander

I might be missing someone.

I'd like to add Oscar Pantzare ...

 

[tealhockey]

Considering his statistics, I doubt, he's anything special.

He's definitely talented. He's also 15

 

[Kshahdoo]

He's definitely talented. He's also 15

Yeah, and he plays in U15 league not U18 as some of other prospects.

 

[tealhockey]

Yeah, and he plays in U15 league not U18 as some of other prospects.

In Michigan the 15 year olds are only allowed to play 15 hockey. Same thing with Rutger McGroarty and Frank Nazar etc all who could play 16 for sure

 

[ijuka]

In Michigan the 15 year olds are only allowed to play 15 hockey. Same thing with Rutger McGroarty and Frank Nazar etc all who could play 16 for sure

If WSI performance is any indication, he's a non-prospect.

Just last name doesn't make a prospect.

And btw, he's a u-16 player in u-15 league. He's a 15-year-old playing 14 hockey, not "15 hockey".

 

[tealhockey]

If WSI performance is any indication, he's a non-prospect.

Just last name doesn't make a prospect.

And btw, he's a u-16 player in u-15 league. He's a 15-year-old playing 14 hockey, not "15 hockey".

Dude WSI is a nice tournament but it is getting a bit overblown. You guys are relying on super small sample size from a summer hockey tournament where some teams are stacked and some suck, have you ever been to WSI? And yeah, he is playing 15 hockey. In america it is "and under". 15 and under. 16 is 16 and under. not Under-16. 14 hockey is bantams. 14 and under. Not to mention how wild it is to be talking about stats from 15 hockey which even if we had the full stats (I'm pretty sure you don't), it is a low level that is hard to gauge and a lot of the teams are loaded so stats will get inflated even if they were insane.

Also, just a last name, lol.... I've actually watched him, I could not care less about his last name, have you watched him before dismissing him based on "just last name?" and a couple points on elite prospects + calling him a non-prospect from a summer tournament you've probably never watched?

 

[ijuka]

Dude WSI is a nice tournament but it is getting a bit overblown. You guys are relying on super small sample size from a summer hockey tournament where some teams are stacked and some suck, have you ever been to WSI? And yeah, he is playing 15 hockey. In america it is "and under". 15 and under. 16 is 16 and under. not Under-16. 14 hockey is bantams. 14 and under. Not to mention how wild it is to be talking about stats from 15 hockey which even if we had the full stats (I'm pretty sure you don't), it is a low level that is hard to gauge and a lot of the teams are loaded so stats will get inflated even if they were insane.

Isn't it then logical to consider him a non-prospect if he's playing at a low level and hasn't shown anything impressive in the one tournament where he could have impressed?

 

[BKarchitect]

Somehow the WSI is becoming a tournament of note on this forum, likely due to it being the first/youngest international style tournament that EP collects stats for and that you can easily use as a statistical gauge. I mean, I get it but frankly in terms of its use as a measuring stick for a prospect's future it should be taken with a heavy grain of salt.

I think it's great to kind of look at kids who really show well at it (WSI) and say "this kid may be somebody to watch for in the future" but beyond that, drawing any conclusions from it is really, really weak and certainly pales in comparison to getting first hand reports from people who watch these kids. We've become so statistically driven that everybody is a scout by going to EP and comparing WSI stats and midget stats and that's not a logical thing to do for prospects - at least North American ones. The way the leagues and teams are constructed in different regions is too hard to do a direct comparison.

teal already pointed out because of his location, Max can't play above the level he is at (which also includes kinds legitimately in the running for best in their age group), he's personally watched him play and think he's a talent to watch for and although it has nothing to do with his comments - sure, you can certainly say the fact that his older brother is a talented NHL player bodes well for his physical and skills development. I'm not sure what evidence there is to doubt his commentary other than some random stats that mean nothing.

 

[buzzer beater]

Comparison’s are hard to make that’s why scouts work on projection’s. There are some really strong Minor Midget teams way stronger then U16.

 

[tealhockey]

Isn't it then logical to consider him a non-prospect if he's playing at a low level and hasn't shown anything impressive in the one tournament where he could have impressed?

I don't think it's logical to consider any 15 year old a non-prospect if you are a general hockey fan on a message board. Now if you were an agent whose livelihood depended on making sure the player could make you money in the future off of playing hockey at the pro level, I could to some extent see the logic in saying "I have no time for X kid because he looked bad in WSI", but I still think you'd be ruling out a kid who the eye test shows is clearly talented. it's one thing to talk about kids at 15 as potential pro prospects, whatever. It's another thing entirely to dismiss them off stat-watching as 'non-prospects' particularly from over-hyped tournaments you haven't watched when many of them aren't even done with puberty

 

[TheGoldenJet]

I don't know anything about Luneau but there is a really elite group of forwards for 22 already so it's hard to really say.

Luneau plays defence.

 

[ijuka]

I don't think it's logical to consider any 15 year old a non-prospect if you are a general hockey fan on a message board.

It's quite logical, as the vast majority of hockey players aren't relevant as NHL prospects at all, hence a player needs to prove quite a bit to be under consideration.