NHL Prospects in Europe: Rankings, Team depth charts etc.

[Draftin Europe]

Happy Easter everyone!

We recently published a major Blue Dispatch release that covers all prospects in Europe, with ratings and stats (time on ice included) for over 150 players.

As we scout draft eligible prospects throughout the season, we also happen to watch most drafted players a good number of times and form an updated opinion on them, and this is the one time per year where we go into drafted prospects, providing ratings, an overall top 30, NHL team depth charts and grades… for more than 160 pages of content.

The release also profiles all 2018 draftees and updates on them.
WINTER BLUE DISPATCH 2019 – Draftin Europe

This forum seems like a natural fit to share info about such publication.

Kirill Kaprizov sits at the top of our Top 30.

For teams, coming off this season the New York Rangers are #1 on our board (all teams are ranked).

As a side dish, our pre-U18s Top 30 for the 2019 Entry Draft is included, as well as notes on the 2020 class in the view of the U18 World Championships.

Click to read more...

 

[Gem Hunter]

How do you rate Kaprizov in comparison with the players who crossed the ocean this season? guys like Pettersson, Heiskanen, Vesalainen, Necas, etc.

 

[Draftin Europe]

How do you rate Kaprizov in comparison with the players who crossed the ocean this season? guys like Pettersson, Heiskanen, Vesalainen, Necas, etc.

Well, last year when they were all on the same list we had Elias Pettersson #1 and Miro Heiskanen #2, just like 1 year before, ahead of their draft (which might seem obvious now, but wasn’t back then, for example CSB had Kostin #1 in their final list for Europe).
We wouldn't put Kaprizov in the conversation with those two, but we did have the Russian just above Necas (Vesalainen was a couple of spots lower) and clearly as the more mature, safer prospect.

In fact we have little doubt Kaprizov will be effective in the NHL. The question marks revolve around his commitment to play for the Wild, but in terms of abilities we think he projects well to the North American game and we pretty much see him as a can’t miss prospect.
Obviously with any prospect moving to a different place and culture there are still some unknowns, but we wouldn't be concerned about on-ice flaws.

Something that he has over Necas and Vesalainen is how good he is in tight spaces.

 

[Leopain]

Just bought it. Could you explain what you like so much in Teply and to a lesser extent Puistola, and what you dislike in Dorofeyev, Hoglander, Nikolaev and Grewe please.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Can I ask your opinion on four Rangers players, Shestyorkin, Kravtsov, Rykov and Reunanen?

Specifically, where would you rank Shestyorkin among goalie prospects you've watched play in Europe in recent years?

Is Kravtsov NHL ready or do you think he needs more development in the KHL?

Do you think Rykov can be a middle pairing defenseman or do you think he's more likely a bottom pairing defenseman? Do you think he should play another season in the KHL or sign an ELC?

What do you think of Reunanen's defense? Can he be an all situations defensemen and what is his upside?

 

[Draftin Europe]

Just bought it. Could you explain what you like so much in Teply and to a lesser extent Puistola, and what you dislike in Dorofeyev, Hoglander, Nikolaev and Grewe please.

For Puistola, what we like the most can be summarized with ‘offensive instincts’.

For Teply, we think it’s easy to like the package he brings, although he has only been able to perform accordingly on few occasions this season. He’s not there yet, and it’s not like we are sold on him, but if everything goes right he has that enticing potential to carry the play at the next level unlike a guy like Hoglander, who we see more as a complementary piece, not likely to be more than a 3rd liner.

Not sure we have Dorofeyev lower than most? Anyway, his compete has not always been there in our viewings, which might be behind the fact Bragin didn’t bring him to the WJC despite his successful season.

Nikolaev has been rising all season in our rankings and may not be done with that. He has been steadily improving on the big concern we had with him last season, not to the extent that we forgot about it but certainly making us more optimistic, and we were probably underrating his playmaking ability.

Grewe is a guy that can impress with some plays and still make you shake your head in other moments of the same game. We’re a bit skeptic about his ability to complete skill plays with regularity at the next level one day. Not like that would necessarily prevent him from contributing in the NHL, he is not a finesse player, but his game might need to adjust a bit more than most to find his way to be effective there.

If that sounds criptic in some parts, it’s because we’d rather leave the specifics of a particular flaw/strength we see in a prospect for the draft guide’s contents and its explanations, especially when that flaw/strength doesn’t seem to be something acknowledged yet (or it's simply not shared by most).
We want to provide those who invest some money on our draft guide with something they can’t find elsewhere, which means bringing to them an independent opinion that has not already been released elsewhere for free.

Thank you for your purchase by the way, hopefully you also found something of your interest in the main parts of this issue that pertain to drafted prospects.

Have to leave now, but will try to come back later this evening to reply about the Rangers’ prospects.

 

[Draftin Europe]

Can I ask your opinion on four Rangers players, Shestyorkin, Kravtsov, Rykov and Reunanen?
Specifically, where would you rank Shestyorkin among goalie prospects you've watched play in Europe in recent years?

Last year we had him #2 among goalies in Europe, this year as #1.
And looking back to previous recent seasons we can't think of another goalie that has so consistently succeeded at a young age before moving over to N.A.

Is Kravtsov NHL ready or do you think he needs more development in the KHL?

He could (and probably will) play in the NHL next season, the question is whether that would be ideal. From our perspective we think it's better to be fully developed before moving over. So if a prospect has a good situation with his team in Europe, plays a big role in a top league and has yet to 'dominate' such league, ideally he would stay there some more rather than leaving at 19.
But it's not like there are written rules that apply to everyone… and Kravtsov has looked very good in our KHL viewings this year.

Do you think Rykov can be a middle pairing defenseman or do you think he's more likely a bottom pairing defenseman? Do you think he should play another season in the KHL or sign an ELC?

the question is probably more whether he will become a NHL regular in the first place. If he does, wouldn't rule him out as a possible #4 D down the road, but bottom pairing seems more likely. We were a bit more hopeful last year as we haven't noticed much progress this season, although his second half didn't look bad overall.

What do you think of Reunanen's defense? Can he be an all situations defensemen and what is his upside?

(Premise: what we do with drafted prospects and their rankings is different from what we do for draft eligible prospects, particularly those in their draft year.
For a drafted prospect, we simply rely on the feelings we get from games of his where we were actually targeting some other draft-eligible prospect, we don't go back and watch more games of that drafted prospect to double-check those feelings.
For draft eligibles instead we take notes regularly and make an effort to check things out in further viewings whenever needed, if possible).

The feelings about Reunanen were that he still lacks power and is not aggressive enough in the defensive zone. So, can he be an all-situations defenseman for how he looked this year in our viewings? Probably not, but would it be fair to assess his ultimate upside right after a season where he improved so much?
Maybe he builds some more power and with that he becomes more aggressive in the defensive zone and tougher in front of the net...

 

[Draftin Europe]

Our pre-U18 Worlds Top 15 has been published at eprinkside.com earlier today:

2019 DRAFT: Draftin Europe’s Top 15 European Prospects

#1 – Kaapo KAKKO
#2 – Vasili PODKOLZIN
#3 – Moritz SEIDER
#4 – Ville HEINOLA
#5 – Tobias BJORNFOT
#6 – ……

The ranking was released as a Top 30 inside the Winter Blue Dispatch about 10 days. The overall value projection for those 30 players is also available there.

 

[lanky]

Thanks for sharing your work!

 

[Christien]

Just purchased this today and was very impressed with all the content they provided. I'll be really busy the next couple of days reading all of it Really looking forward to their next release that comes out next month

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

What did you like Finland's 2020 draft class this years ( 2019) U18 WJC's.
Just asking how you saw Anton Lundell, Kasper Simontaival, Veeti Miettinen and Roni Hirvonen as a players.
And how Finland's bad U18 WJC's affected those players draft stocks.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Do you see Patrik Puistola potential late 1st round pick in this years ( 2019) draft.
In my opinion Puistola was best Finnish player in U18 WJC's.

 

[Draftin Europe]

What did you like Finland's 2020 draft class this years ( 2019) U18 WJC's.
Just asking how you saw Anton Lundell, Kasper Simontaival, Veeti Miettinen and Roni Hirvonen as a players.
And how Finland's bad U18 WJC's affected those players draft stocks.

Well, Finland had a disappointing tourney and you could argue all the aforementioned players didn't show their best at the U18s but, as 2020 eligible prospects, in terms of draft stock this is probably going to have minimal impact as their performance during next season will take over leading to the 2020 draft.
What's likely instead is that their U18s showings will affect to some extent their ranking in the lists to be released by the various scouting services ahead of this year's draft (but again, by 'real' draft stock we think of NHL teams' perception and how things will actually look during their draft season..)

Speaking of our own 2020 ranking to be released inside the 2019 draft guide, their U18s won't change that much though. It's not like our opinion on those players really changed.

By the way, the Summer Blue Dispatch to be published ahead of the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup is where we will really go into the 2020 draft class, talking about all those players inside the pre-season Finnish sub-ranking.

 

[Draftin Europe]

Do you see Patrik Puistola potential late 1st round pick in this years ( 2019) draft.

Yes we think there is the potential for that, in fact in the pre-U18s ranking we released inside the latest Blue Dispatch issue Puistola was one of the first two players awarded a '2nd round' overall value projection, which suggests in our book he already belonged early in the 2nd round before that tournament.
When you add he had some good moments in Sweden, it seems reasonable to consider a late 1st round selection a real possibility for him.

 

[Draftin Europe]

As we scout draft eligible prospects throughout the season, we also happen to watch most drafted players a good number of times and form an updated opinion on them, and this is the one time per year where we go into drafted prospects, providing ratings, an overall top 30, NHL team depth charts and grades… for more than 160 pages of contents.

The release also profiles all 2018 draftees and updates on them.
WINTER BLUE DISPATCH 2019 – Draftin Europe

Kirill Kaprizov sits at the top of our Top 30.

The top 10 of our Top 30 has now been released at eprinkside.

The ranking pertains to NHL-affiliated prospects that played in Europe during the 2018/19 season.

 

[Gem Hunter]

Well, last year when they were all on the same list we had Elias Pettersson #1 and Miro Heiskanen #2, just like 1 year before, ahead of their draft (which might seem obvious now, but wasn’t back then, for example CSB had Kostin #1 in their final list for Europe).
We wouldn't put Kaprizov in the conversation with those two, but we did have the Russian just above Necas (Vesalainen was a couple of spots lower) and clearly as the more mature, safer prospect.

In fact we have little doubt Kaprizov will be effective in the NHL. The question marks revolve around his commitment to play for the Wild, but in terms of abilities we think he projects well to the North American game and we pretty much see him as a can’t miss prospect.
Obviously with any prospect moving to a different place and culture there are still some unknowns, but we wouldn't be concerned about on-ice flaws.

Something that he has over Necas and Vesalainen is how good he is in tight spaces.

Hey, thanks for the reply. I ended up purchasing the Blue Dispatch and my fantasy team wishes I knew about it earlier Considering you have Prokhorkin in the top 30 I guess you like his chances in the LA Kings in the near future? Maybe next season?

 

[Draftin Europe]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I ended up purchasing the Blue Dispatch and my fantasy team wishes I knew about it earlier

The Winter Blue Dispatch is the only issue per season where we report on drafted prospects, so it's definitely the one to get for fantasy purposes (keeper leagues).
It's just one source's opinion on prospects that aren't the real target anymore, but at least it's an independent opinion coming from scouts, who don't go after the hype and have no reason to be biased (meaning we have no reason to favor one league over another, or one NHL team over others).

Considering you have Prokhorkin in the top 30 I guess you like his chances in the LA Kings in the near future? Maybe next season?

He just signed his first NHL contract, so next season it is. When we ranked him there we had no confirmation he would, but that was our expectation.
Looking at where the Kings are at, it seems like the timing is right for him to get a great opportunity, and Prokhorkin has everything to be an NHLer. He is a versatile, complete player, we feel the main issue with him along the years has been bringing it every shift, every game. When he competes hard he is a tough costumer in battles and has enough skills to combine with quality players. It will probably come down to how hard he wants it, hopefully he will be all-in despite the out-clause.