Prospect Info: 2023 NHL Draft Hype

[Felonious Python]

This year's Hlinka-Gretzky rosters Rosters | 2022 IIHF U18 World Championship

Click to read more...

 

[Point21]

#TankHardForBedard

 

[Bolt32]

Wait we got draft picks?

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[Felonious Python]

The comparison is sort of unfair. Spezza isn't a GM, while he's being compared to them.

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[HanTykje]

Not much to look forward with our current starting 3 pick.

 

[Felonious Python]

Lucas St. Louis and Austin Roest are C ranked.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[Felonious Python]

Central Scouting midterm rankings covered on 'NHL Draft Class' podcast | NHL.com

Bedard, No. 1 among North American skaters, will be a 'superstar player in the NHL'

www.nhl.com

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Bob McKenzie's Mid-season rankings.

No 1st or 2nd rd pick this year, so scroll all the way to the bottom of that list.

 

[Felonious Python]

have fun mock drafting 7 rounds as the Lightning.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Memorial Cup Final tomorrow between the Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) and the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL). NHL network, TSN, and RDS will broadcast the game.



Seattle’s notable players:

Kevin Korchinski - 7th overall pick / 2022
Dylan Guenther - 9th overall pick / 2021
Brad Lambert - 30th overall pick / 2022
Nolan Allan - 32nd overall pick / 2021
Reid Schaefer - 32nd overall pick / 2022
Colton Dach - 62nd overall pick / 2021
Gracyn Sawchyn - ranked 24th by NHL Central Scouting (NA) for 2023
Nico Myatovic - ranked 26th by NHL Central Scouting (NA) for 2023

Quebec’s notable players:

Zachary Bolduc - 17th overall pick / 2021
Nathan Gaucher - 22nd overall pick / 2022
Evan Nause - 56th overall pick / 2021

Seattle also has former Lightning prospect tournament invite Jeremy Hanzel. He is still draft eligible. He led the WHL regular season with a +70, and has 22 points in the playoffs (19gp) and a +26

And then Monday will be the first day teams can interview prospects attending the NHL Combine this week

 

[Felonious Python]

What our draft hat would look like if we had any picks.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I love the draft. It's one of my favorite days of the year, but it's also very hard to get excited when you have no idea who's even a possibility for the 6th or 7th rounds. Obviously there's so much more information available on the top ranked guys. The more top 100 lists a guy falls on, the easier to form a consensus and project where a prospect might realistically be taken. But in the later rounds, it's pretty difficult. Even in the actual draft, there's going to be so much deviation from one team to another at that point. A player you may have down as a 5th or 6th rounder may not even be on someone else's draft board. Still going to try anyway to pull out a few names that seem intriguing for the fun of it.


Peteris Bulans
- Bulans is a 6'0" lefty dman who played only 31 games this season due to injury between Acadie-Bathurst and Chicoutimi in the QMJHL. But he helped his draft stock the most at the end of his season scoring 2 goals, 6 points in 5 playoff games for Chicoutimi before joining Latvia for the U-18s where he had 3 points in 5 games and was voted a top 3 player for his team. Steven Ellis who has covered prospects for both THN and now Daily Faceoff wrote about his U-18s performance:

"Bulans was perhaps the only defender that made me take notice every single night. He had a trio of assists, played more than 21 minutes a night every single game and played all situations. His season was short, but I was impressed with the quality overall. I think he’ll get taken late in the draft."

Bolts took taken advantage of limited tape for Dyllan Gill in the 7th round last year who proved to have better value than his 223rd selection would indicate. Maybe Bulans is another that could payoff.

Petter Vesterheim
- Late 2004 birthday, so while Bulans played most of this past season as a 17 year old and turned 18 in March, Vesterheim was 18 all this season and will be 19 in late September. Vesterheim is a 5'11" forward from Norway who has played his 2022-23 season in Sweden. He played 12 games for Mora's mens team in the Allsvenskan, which is the 2nd best professional league in Sweden. The biggest credit to his draft profile was leading Norway (2g, 7pts in 5gp) to win gold at the 2023 WJC in the Division 1A group, which promotes them to the top tier for the 2024 World Juniors with Canada, Finland, Sweden, US and the other top hockey powers. He also earned a spot with the national team at the WC last month playing in 7 games. NHL.com put out an article on him last month:

"There's something there," Norway coach Tobias Johansson said. "I think it's his drive. I'm not sure what his max is, but I'm 100 percent sure he's going to get to the point where he's going to bring everything out that he has. Nice kid, hard-working kid, but for me what stands out is the coachability. He wants to learn. He's so eager to learn.

"When you have a kid that wants to learn and almost goes after us … sending video clips asking, 'Can I do this?' and 'What do you want me to do there?' even when he's with his club team. It makes it so easy to like him. I think he has the potential to go all the way. I think an organization needs to understand his smartness."

Tommaso De Luca
- 6'0" forward from Italy that spent this past season playing for the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL. The Chiefs took him 13th overall in the import draft last summer and De Luca scored 16 goals, 49 points in 65 games in his rookie season, the 3rd most for Spokane, who had the 2nd fewest wins in the WHL. This might have led to his decision to already sign professionally with HC Ambrì-Piotta in the National League in Switzerland for the 2024 season. De Luca has skill, but what exactly is his NHL potential?

Attilio Biasca
- 6'0" Swiss forward for the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. He's been passed over in the previous draft. He played this past season as a 19-20 year old, but his numbers aren't flashy - only 24 goals, 59 points in 60 games. What does stand out for Biasca is his leadership qualities. He was named captain for both the Mooseheads, and the Swiss WJC team. Biasca also just won the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy, given to the most sportsmanlike player in the QMJHL.

Favreau said in looking for this year's captain, coaches and management looked to see who were the natural leaders on the team — senior players who take younger ones under their wing on and off the ice to show what is expected of them.

Favreau said these factors, as well as Biasca's maturity, social nature and resilience in overcoming injuries, are why he was named team captain.

The Halifax Mooseheads winger's personality is on a level all its own in the locker room where he is the team's conscience and heartbeat.

"He's a great human being," Mooseheads head coach Sylvain Favreau said. "He always has a smile on his face every day that he comes to the rink and he's always ready to work. He's a people gatherer and so polite, just really well-raised. He's a natural leader and obviously what his national team saw in him, we're seeing more and more of that every day and that's why he has the captaincy this year.

The other thing is Biasca's play on the big stage at the World Juniors. in the 2022 tournament this past August (wearing an 'A') he scored 4 goals, 6 points in 5 games. And in December in the 2023 tournament he scored 2 goals, 4 points in 5 games. Both times he was voted by coaches as a top 3 player on his team.

Quentin Miller
- This 6'3" goaltender backed up William Rousseau as the Quebec Remparts had a terrific season winning both the QMJHL Championship and Memorial Cup. The 2 biggest questions here are sample size, and obviously the talent boost from the team he played for. In his only 20 games, he did post good numbers to a 14-4-0 record, 2.11 GAA, .911 SV%, and 2 SOs in his rookie season.

Ryan Conmy
- Undersized 5'10" forward who played Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL this past season. He put up big numbers in his only USHL season with 33 goals and 62 points. His 33 goals were 4th most in the league, and fun fact, only the 2nd Sioux City player to score 30+ as a rookie since Ruslan Fedotenko in 1998-99. Conmy is set to join Lightning prospect Alex Gagne at UNH. The scouting staff likes to roll the dice on small guys like Peca, Walker, Webster, and Guttman that can develop at their own pace in the NCAA for 4 years or so.

Daniil Bourosh
- Bourosh is a 6'1" center for Rouyn-Noranda. Because of his connection there with Lightning prospects Dyllan Gill and Tristan Allard, this is obviously a player the Lightning have seen plenty of the past 2 season, where Bourosh has played since coming over from Belarus. in 2021, he led all QMJHL rookies with 29 goals, and this season he put up 41 goals, and 70 points as a 18-19 year old.

Kristian Kostadinski
- Big 6'5" lefty defenseman who's size fits the bill for what we like. He plays for Frolunda's junior team in Sweden. This year he also played on Sweden's U-18 worlds and Hlinka teams, helping them win silver at both tourneys. Jason Bukala at Sportsnet writes:

"Teams looking to add a defensive “D” who plays with some edge will track Kostadinski closely this season. He’s a big body who knows his limitations and plays to his strengths. He isn’t likely to produce much offensively, but he is capable of making the first pass. Kostadinski takes pride in cleaning out his crease and making life miserable on opponents along the boards."

Ivan Anoshko
- Lastly (for now) is Ivan Anoshko, a 5'10" Belarusian forward playing for Minsk's MHL team. He has named MHL rookie of the month 3 times in the 2023 season, was 2nd in the league in points (53), 3rd in goals (21), and won the MHL rookie of year award. Sioux Falls took him in the USHL draft last month. It's unclear if they can get him over or if he even has interest.

 

[Major4Boarding]

I love the draft. It's one of my favorite days of the year, but it's also very hard to get excited when you have no idea who's even a possibility for the 6th or 7th rounds. Obviously there's so much more information available on the top ranked guys. The more top 100 lists a guy falls on, the easier to form a consensus and project where a prospect might realistically be taken. But in the later rounds, it's pretty difficult. Even in the actual draft, there's going to be so much deviation from one team to another at that point. A player you may have down as a 5th or 6th rounder may not even be on someone else's draft board. Still going to try anyway to pull out a few names that seem intriguing for the fun of it.


Peteris Bulans
- Bulans is a 6'0" lefty dman who played only 31 games this season due to injury between Acadie-Bathurst and Chicoutimi in the QMJHL. But he helped his draft stock the most at the end of his season scoring 2 goals, 6 points in 5 playoff games for Chicoutimi before joining Latvia for the U-18s where he had 3 points in 5 games and was voted a top 3 player for his team. Steven Ellis who has covered prospects for both THN and now Daily Faceoff wrote about his U-18s performance:

Bolts took taken advantage of limited tape for Dyllan Gill in the 7th round last year who proved to have better value than his 223rd selection would indicate. Maybe Bulans is another that could payoff.

Petter Vesterheim
- Late 2004 birthday, so while Bulans played most of this past season as a 17 year old and turned 18 in March, Vesterheim was 18 all this season and will be 19 in late September. Vesterheim is a 5'11" forward from Norway who has played his 2022-23 season in Sweden. He played 12 games for Mora's mens team in the Allsvenskan, which is the 2nd best professional league in Sweden. The biggest credit to his draft profile was leading Norway (2g, 7pts in 5gp) to win gold at the 2023 WJC in the Division 1A group, which promotes them to the top tier for the 2024 World Juniors with Canada, Finland, Sweden, US and the other top hockey powers. He also earned a spot with the national team at the WC last month playing in 7 games. NHL.com put out an article on him last month:


Tommaso De Luca
- 6'0" forward from Italy that spent this past season playing for the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL. The Chiefs took him 13th overall in the import draft last summer and De Luca scored 16 goals, 49 points in 65 games in his rookie season, the 3rd most for Spokane, who had the 2nd fewest wins in the WHL. This might have led to his decision to already sign professionally with HC Ambrì-Piotta in the National League in Switzerland for the 2024 season. De Luca has skill, but what exactly is his NHL potential?

Attilio Biasca
- 6'0" Swiss forward for the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. He's been passed over in the previous draft. He played this past season as a 19-20 year old, but his numbers aren't flashy - only 24 goals, 59 points in 60 games. What does stand out for Biasca is his leadership qualities. He was named captain for both the Mooseheads, and the Swiss WJC team. Biasca also just won the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy, given to the most sportsmanlike player in the QMJHL.



The other thing is Biasca's play on the big stage at the World Juniors. in the 2022 tournament this past August (wearing an 'A') he scored 4 goals, 6 points in 5 games. And in December in the 2023 tournament he scored 2 goals, 4 points in 5 games. Both times he was voted by coaches as a top 3 player on his team.

Quentin Miller
- This 6'3" goaltender backed up William Rousseau as the Quebec Remparts had a terrific season winning both the QMJHL Championship and Memorial Cup. The 2 biggest questions here are sample size, and obviously the talent boost from the team he played for. In his only 20 games, he did post good numbers to a 14-4-0 record, 2.11 GAA, .911 SV%, and 2 SOs in his rookie season.

Ryan Conmy
- Undersized 5'10" forward who played Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL this past season. He put up big numbers in his only USHL season with 33 goals and 62 points. His 33 goals were 4th most in the league, and fun fact, only the 2nd Sioux City player to score 30+ as a rookie since Ruslan Fedotenko in 1998-99. Conmy is set to join Lightning prospect Alex Gagne at UNH. The scouting staff likes to roll the dice on small guys like Peca, Walker, Webster, and Guttman that can develop at their own pace in the NCAA for 4 years or so.

Daniil Bourosh
- Bourosh is a 6'1" center for Rouyn-Noranda. Because of his connection there with Lightning prospects Dyllan Gill and Tristan Allard, this is obviously a player the Lightning have seen plenty of the past 2 season, where Bourosh has played since coming over from Belarus. in 2021, he led all QMJHL rookies with 29 goals, and this season he put up 41 goals, and 70 points as a 18-19 year old.

Kristian Kostadinski
- Big 6'5" lefty defenseman who's size fits the bill for what we like. He plays for Frolunda's junior team in Sweden. This year he also played on Sweden's U-18 worlds and Hlinka teams, helping them win silver at both tourneys. Jason Bukala at Sportsnet writes:


Ivan Anoshko
- Lastly (for now) is Ivan Anoshko, a 5'10" Belarusian forward playing for Minsk's MHL team. He has named MHL rookie of the month 3 times in the 2023 season, was 2nd in the league in points (53), 3rd in goals (21), and won the MHL rookie of year award. Sioux Falls took him in the USHL draft last month. It's unclear if they can get him over or if he even has interest.

Mighty nice list there Days

 

[DistantThunderRep]

Mighty nice list there Days

He must have spent....days on it.

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

“There’s teams that will have taken eight or 10 picks before we get our first pick,” Murray said, “and our hope is that we can find three players that are going to be better than any of the guys they take. Likely not, but you always hope for that.”

Murray said the organization is focused on a list of about six to 10 players it hopes will be available once its time comes.

“There may be more guys still on the list that we feel really strongly about, and we may be looking at (acquiring) even more picks late in the draft as opposed to some teams that get a little spoiled with the high picks and might want to shut things down,” Murray said. “We’d be happy to take their picks.”

 

[Felonious Python]

“But then they kept getting better after not getting drafted. They didn’t take that and say, ‘OK, I guess that’s the end of the road.’ They went back and worked harder and became even better players, and we took them in their second or third years through, and that’s the type of person that we want in our organization.”

There's a bit of nuance that I'm interested in. Purely 'working harder' may not be what's going on. Not 100% of the time.

Working harder is something you can at least control, but are they doing something different? You can also keep doubling down into doing something wrong or less than optimal.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[Felonious Python]

Let's get #DontDraftBedardChallenge trending.

Then we just wait.

 

[Felonious Python]

Andrew Cristal and Caden Price are the top Kelowna Rockets draft prospects this year. Szturc, Pacheco, and Rocak are all eligible as well.