HFNHL Predators Draft Review 2018

[Fan.At]

Nashville went into the draft with a first round pick, 2 second rounders and a bunch of late rounders. Here's how it all turned out.

RW Martin Kaut
HFNHL: 1st round 20th overall
NHL: 1st round 16th overall Colorado +4
Happy with that pick. There's still that aftertaste of heart issue, but it looks like there is nothing to it. Looks like he is heading to the AHL next season, he should be ready for that.

D Nicolas Beaudin
HFNHL: 2nd round 45th overall
NHL: 1st round 27th overall Chicago +18
Was one of the wildcards in my books. Not a flawless player, but none of his weaknesses can't be ironed out while his strengths can't be taught.

C Jan Jenik
HFNHL: 2nd round 52nd overall
NHL: 3rd round 65th overall Arizona -13
Another wildcard, because he is so young and has a lot of filling out to do. Potential is sky high with this one though.

D Toni Utunen
HFNHL: 4th round 114 overall
NHL: 5th round 135th overall Vancouver -21
Another smallish defenseman, but with solid all around play. Sit back and watch him develop.

LW Oliver Okuliar
HFNHL: 5th round 145 overall
NHL: undrafted
Surprised he went undrafted after his performance at the WJC and his pure upside.

D Adam McCormick
HFNHL: 6th round 166 overall
NHL: undrafted
A good story, a good player. Another suprise non-draft for me, that does not change the talent he has.

G Conrad Mölder
HFNHL: 6th round 169 overall
NHL: undrafted
Not really a surprise that he went undrafted. Largely unscouted, but a talented keeper, look for him to get on scouts lists in the coming season.

D Jacob Ragnarsson
HFNHL: 6th round 176 overall
NHL: 3rd round 70th overall New York Rangers +106
He was certainly one of the kids I suspected to go undrafted, but wow. 3rd round is great for him and he will only get better. Oh, he is Marcus' son.

G Ivan Prosvetov
HFNHL: 7th round 207 overall
NHL: 4th round 114th overall Arizona +93
Second year eligible keeper showed his talent in the USHL and got the reward. I felt he could go undrafted, but 6'5 keepers are still a well-liked commodity in the NHL.

I'd grade my draft a B-. Three players undrafted is a lot, but most other guys went higher in the NHL than in the HFNHL and mostly to teams that seem to do well developing young talent. Looking forward to the draft review in 5 years.

Click to read more...

 

[Fan.At]

In case anyone is interested here's the links to my rankings before the draft (I only did it detailed up to the 4th round this time).
Skaters: Public Ranking beta
Goalies: Public Ranking beta

 

[Fan.At]

New Predators Prospect Ranking:

1. Callan Foote (D) CAN 209 6'4 WHL Kelowna Rockets
2. Martin Kaut (RW) CZE 174 6'1 Czech HC Dynamo Pardubice
3. Urho Vaakanainen (D) FIN 187 6'1 Liiga SaiPa
4. Filip Gustavsson (G) SWE 183 6'2 SHL Luleå HF
5. Troy Terry (C) USA 174 6'1 NCAA Univ. of Denver
6. Sami Niku (D) FIN 176 6'0 AHL Manitoba Moose
7. Nicolas Beaudin (D) CAN 172 5'11 QMJHL Drummondville Voltigeurs
8. Kyle Capobianco (D) CAN 179 6'1 AHL Tucson Roadrunners
9. Dylan Samberg (D) USA 190 6'3 NCAA Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth
10. Felix Sandström (G) SWE 194 6'2 SHL Brynäs IF
11. Jan Jeník (C) CZE 165 6'1 Czech2 HC Benatky nad Jizerou
12. Andrew Mangiapane (LW) CAN 183 5'10 AHL Stockton Heat
13. Mathieu Joseph (F) CAN 172 6'1 AHL Syracuse Crunch
14. Adin Hill (G) CAN 203 6'6 AHL Tucson Roadrunners
15. Cooper Marody (C) USA 190 6'0 NCAA Univ. of Michigan
16. Evan Barratt (C) USA 190 5'11 NCAA Penn State Univ.
17. Nicolas Aubé-Kubel (RW) CAN 187 5'11 AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms
18. Eemeli Räsänen (D) FIN 209 6'7 OHL Kingston Frontenacs
19. Brian Pinho (C) USA 196 6'1 NCAA Providence College
20. Johnathan Kovacevic (D) CAN 220 6'3 NCAA Merrimack College
21. Jacob Ragnarsson (D) SWE 170 5'11 Allsvenskan Almtuna IS
22. Ivan Prosvetov (G) RUS 174 6'5 USHL Youngstown Phantoms
23. Dylan Ferguson (G) CAN 192 6'1 WHL Kamloops Blazers
24. Steve Michalek (G) USA 205 6'3 AHL Iowa Wild
25. Toni Utunen (D) FIN 170 5'11 Liiga Tappara
26. Francis Perron (F) CAN 165 6'0 AHL Belleville Senators
27. John Nyberg (D) SWE 203 6'3 SHL Frölunda HC
28. Deven Sideroff (RW) CAN 179 6'0 AHL San Diego Gulls
29. Garrett Pilon (C) CAN 187 5'11 WHL Kamloops Blazers
30. Carter Verhaeghe (C) CAN 181 6'1 AHL Syracuse Crunch
31. Teemu Kivihalme (D) USA 181 6'0 Liiga Kärpät
32. Karch Bachman (F) USA 179 5'11 NCAA Miami Univ. (Ohio)
33. Tarmo Reunanen (D) FIN 163 5'11 Liiga TPS
34. Mario Lucia (LW) USA 205 6'3 AHL Iowa Wild
35. Jeremiah Addison (LW) CAN 183 6'0 AHL Laval Rocket
36. Brinson Pasichnuk (D) CAN 185 6'0 NCAA Arizona State Univ.
37. Oliver Okuliar (LW) SVK 192 6'1 Slovakia U20 HK Dukla Trencin U20
38. Adam McCormick (D) CAN 181 5'11 QMJHL Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
39. Conrad Mölder (G) EST 192 6'1 Liiga Sport
40. Stephen Dhillon (G) USA 185 6'4 OHL Niagara IceDogs
41. Luke McInnis (D) USA 174 5'11 NCAA Boston College
42. Micah Miller (F) USA 181 5'9 NCAA St. Cloud State Univ.
43. Zachary Sawchenko (G) CAN 185 6'1 USports Univ. of Alberta

 

[Hossa]

Like your picks, Tony. You've made a real shift towards skill and upside in recent years and it's paying off big time. I didn't have a pick in the mid to late first, but I really like Kaut. I think he was initially dismissed as low upside, but there are more tools there than people originally realized.

Had I not taken Bouchard in the first, Beaudin was a serious consideration at 44 for me. And although he went undrafted, McCormick was a guy I strongly considered, and although he passed through, with positive progress could be a good re-entry like Durzi and Keane. Ragnarsson as well was on my radar, but somewhat impulsively dropped him down after he wasn't invited to the Swedish WJC camp. I guess that was a bad move seeing where he went.