Prospect Info: Personal Boards for 2020 Draft

[lilidk]

1 Lafreniere
2 Byfield
3Stutzle
4.Drysdale
5Rossi
6Jarvis
7Perfetti
8Sanderson
9Raymond
10 Holtz
11Askarov
12Lundell
All those prospects deserved to trade down

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Some people like upside, some people like certainty.

To me, he's probably the exact description of Jared McIsaac that was being sold at the draft in 2018. I actually think McIsaac has a little more offense than he was credited for, but not a ton. But O'Rourke is what McIsaac was billed to be. He plays a physical, defensive game more than anything. Skating isn't special. Limited offensive upside. Not really a big, imposing defender, but has a little bit of a mean streak in his game.

I feel comfortable in projecting him as an NHLer, but he embodies the concept of a safe floor, low ceiling type of player. He will be a defensive defenseman, likely bottom pairing but can fill in up the roster if needed. He's a late first rounder for the team that just wants to hit a single. For the Wings, I wouldn't be mad at 32, but I think the odds would suggest that there will be someone I'd rather have over him, and hope that he lingers around a little bit into the mid and late second, even though he likely will be gone.

McIssac was always considered a plus skater though and I think IQ is a bigger part of O'Rourke's calling card all things considered.

The bigger question for me though is why does Sanderson project so much higher than a player like O'Rourke. They seem to be cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways. I get that Sanderson is a much better skater and defends transition better, but is the gulf between the two really that big in terms of what they project as at the next level? The ceilings look a lot alike to my eyes. My hunch is that there is a lot of appealing to authority going on with Sanderson and few are taking the time to watch full games of his play.

 

[Frk It]

McIssac was always considered a plus skater though and I think IQ is a bigger part of O'Rourke's calling card all things considered.

The bigger question for me though is why does Sanderson project so much higher than a player like O'Rourke. They seem to be cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways. I get that Sanderson is a much better skater and defends transition better, but is the gulf between the two really that big in terms of what they project as at the next level? The ceilings look a lot alike to my eyes. My hunch is that there is a lot of appealing to authority going on with Sanderson and few are taking the time to watch full games of his play.

I don’t get the size of the gap between Guhle and Sanderson at all, personally. Very similar players IMO. Guhle is a much better skater than O’Rourke, and pretty close to Sanderson there while being bigger, and I may even like his skill level better in the O zone.

But I know this is a minority opinion to have.

 

[jkutswings]

Thanks for all the replies. We'll see how each of these defensemen look by draft day, but I have zero interest in using 32OA for a lower ceiling stay at home guy.

 

[newfy]

Thanks for all the replies. We'll see how each of these defensemen look by draft day, but I have zero interest in using 32OA for a lower ceiling stay at home guy.

A lot of people think he has offensive upside though. He didnt get a lot of usage in offensive situations so his numbers dont look great. His defensive game and meanness are great assets but he does have offensive upside. If he was a guaranteed offensive producer he wouldnt be falling out of the first round possibly because his defensive game is so strong. He would be a fine pick at 32.

 

[simonedvinsson]

A lot of people think he has offensive upside though. He didnt get a lot of usage in offensive situations so his numbers dont look great.

I agree that he's better offensively than his stats suggest, but not for want of opportunity. They were playing him 28 minutes a game in the last couple months of the season, and he manned the top power play unit. I'm not sure how that equates to not enough offensive usage. I think too often, he deferred to teammates, despite having a pretty great shot from the point. He really ought to shoot the puck more. He's a bit low on my list, and I should really re-evaluate that, but I think there's a pretty big gap between Sanderson and O'Rourke.

 

[newfy]

I agree that he's better offensively than his stats suggest, but not for want of opportunity. They were playing him 28 minutes a game in the last couple months of the season, and he manned the top power play unit. I'm not sure how that equates to not enough offensive usage. I think too often, he deferred to teammates, despite having a pretty great shot from the point. He really ought to shoot the puck more. He's a bit low on my list, and I should really re-evaluate that, but I think there's a pretty big gap between Sanderson and O'Rourke.

I didnt watch him in the Soo, just international/top prospects gamebut I'm going off what I've read about him. Apparently he wasnt getting any PP time until late in the year and his production got better when it happened. He plays with dmen on his team that are offensive minded so he stays back and covers a lot because hes so good defensively.

I think he has enough offense to be a top 4 dman for sure, a heavy enough shot that he could play PP2 at some point at the next level. His defensive game os sooo good that not developing offense he could still be a number 4 dman. The lack of offense makes me think he'll go right around Detroits second rounder, a little later or earlier and I wouldnt be surprised. But thats the right ball park for him

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Thanks for all the replies. We'll see how each of these defensemen look by draft day, but I have zero interest in using 32OA for a lower ceiling stay at home guy.

If you are looking for high upside defensemen with a lot of offensive skill in the second and third rounds, you are going to be disappointed.

 

[jfrank21]

So, it's hard for me to want to make a full list, because I havent watched all of these guys. But my list is basically my preference of who I want to see drafted with their #4 and their #32, so I skipped some guys who will be drafted in the mid first but this list is the order in which I prefer the players.
1. Laf
2. Stutzle
3. Byfield
4. Perfetti
5. Raymond
6. Rossi
7. Drysdale
8. Askarov
9. Sanderson
10. Holtz
---------
11. Gunler
12. Reichel
13. Mysak
14. Peterka
15. Lapierre
16. Barron
17. Khusnutdinov
18. Bourque
19. Kuznetsov
20. Weisblatt

Basically, the first 10 are ranked in the order that I would prefer for the #4. And the second 10 are ranked in the order that I would prefer for #32. Obviously, not all would be there at #32 but those are the guys that I would like around that spot.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

By tier

1. Lafreniere

2. Byfield
3. Stutzle

4. Raymond
5. Perfetti
6. Drysdale
7. Rossi

8. Lundell

9. Mercer
10. Reichel
11. Holtz
12. Askarov

13. Brisson
14. Amirov

15. Sanderson
16. Zary
17. Wallinder

18. Greig
19. Wiesblatt
20. Holloway


---------

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

Not from this guy.

EDIT: this was supposed to included Frk It post. Had a internet problem last night.

 

[jkutswings]

If you are looking for high upside defensemen with a lot of offensive skill in the second and third rounds, you are going to be disappointed.

I certainly don't expect the type of player normally found in the top ten overall to be magically preserved until the second round. But every year one or two guys slide a bit, and they're usually players with interesting skill sets, but serious question marks as well.

And since we already have McIsaac, I'd much rather swing for the fences on a player at 32 - forward, defense, or goaltender - than take O'Rourke (assuming, by draft day, he's still viewed as a safe pick in a similar mold as Jared).

 

[HisNoodliness]

1. Lafreniere
---------------
2. Byfield
3. Stutzle
---------------
4. Drysdale
5.Raymond
---------------
6. Rossi
7. Perfetti
8. Holtz
-------------
9. Lundell
10. Askarov
11. Sanderson

As always I don't have time for real scouting- even less this year, but I try to watch the big tournaments, catch the odd stream and of course lately have done a highlight, shift-by-shift and scouting report session on them all.

 

[Frk It]

Interesting how wide the range of opinions are on Gunler.

 

[DatsyukToZetterberg]

Rank Player
1 Alexis Lafreniere
--------------
2 Quinton Byfield
--------------
3 Marco Rossi
4 Tim Stutzle
5 Lucas Raymond
6 Cole Perfetti
--------------
7 Anton Lundell
8 Jamie Drysdale
9 Seth Jarvis
10 Alexander Holtz
11 Yaroslav Askarov
--------------
12 Jan Mysak
13 Mavrik Bourque
14 Lukas Cormier
15 Connor Zary
16 Noel Gunler
17 Rodion Amirov
18 Jacob Perreault
--------------
19 Zion Nybeck
20 Dylan Holloway
21 Jack Quinn
22 Lukas Reichel
23 Jeremie Poirier
24 Jake Sanderson
25 Marat Khusnutdinov
26 Dawson Mercer
27 Sam Colangelo
--------------
28 Martin Chromiak
29 Tyson Foerster
30 Daniil Gushchin
31 Emil Andrae
32 Roni Hirvonen
33 Dmitry Ovchinnikov
34 Alexander Pashin
35 Hendrix Lapierre
36 Daniel Torgersson
37 William Villeneuve
38 Ryan O'Rourke
39 Brendan Brisson
--------------
40 Veeti Miettinen
41 Luke Evangelista
42 Yevgeni Oksentyuk
43 Emil Heineman
44 Kasper Simontaival
45 Roby Jarventie
46 Helge Grans
47 Joel Blomqvist
48 Connor McClennon
49 Ridly Greig
50 Jack Finley
51 Brett Berard
52 Sean Farrell
53 Thomas Bordeleau
54 Kaiden Guhle
55 Pavel Novak
56 Ozzy Wiesblatt
57 Jacob Dion
--------------
58 John-Jason Peterka
59 Jake Neighbours
60 Justin Sourdif
61 Ryan Francis
62 Tristen Robins
63 Braden Schneider
64 Tyler Tullio
65 Evan Vierling
66 James Hardie
67 Justin Barron
68 Carter Savoie
69 Michael Benning
70 William Wallinder
71 Oskar Magnusson
72 Maxim Beryozkin
73 Maxim Nevolin
74 Danil Aimurzin
--------------
75 Topi Niemela
76 Brandon Coe
77 Zayde Wisdom
78 Kyle Crnkovic
79 Mitchell Miller
80 Colby Ambrosio
81 Samuel Knazko
82 Joni Jurmo
83 Theodor Niederbach
84 Oliver Tarnstrom
85 Ivan Didkovsky
86 Alex Cotton
87 Ronan Seeley
88 Tomi Niku
--------------
88 Mikael Pyyhtia
89 Juuso Maenpaa
90 Eemil Viro
91 Shakir Mukhamadullin
92 Pavel Gogolev
93 Vasili Ponomaryov
94 Xavier Simoneau
95 Rory Kerins
96 Brady Burns
97 Benjamin Baumgartner
98 Dameon Hunt
99 Alec Belanger
--------------
100 Jean-Luc Foudy
101 Billy Constantinou
102 Yegor Sokolov
103 William Dufour
104 Kasper Puutio
105 Carson Bantle
106 Stephen Haliday
107 Eamon Powell
108 Brock Faber
109 Thimo Nickl
110 Tomas Chlubna
111 Karel Klikorka
112 Jaromir Pytlik
113 Wyatt Schingoethe
--------------
113 Riley McCourt
114 Yaroslav Likhachyov
115 Gage Goncalves
116 Eli Zummack
117 Yegor Chinakhov
118 Dmitry Sheshin
119 Maxim Musorov
120 Maxim Marushev
121 Petr Hasek
122 Vladislav Myagkov
123 Yegor Stepanov
124 Viktor Persson

Players in Italic are over-agers

Some quick notes:

• For the most part the rankings were a mix of using NHLe and age and era adjusted ES and PP scoring numbers. I've seen a few players play via WJC and some CHL games, but not in a large enough sample so I tried to not let those viewings bias my rankings.
• Each "--------------" represents a tier shift. Players within a tier are pretty much interchangable. The tiers really begin to blend around 40 and you could argue for players to be higher or lower and you'd valid points for each side. The last tier are interesting players that could be around in the 6th/7th round.
• Of the 112 players ranked in the had 79 forwards, 31 defenceman and 2 goalies. This is not a good draft for defenceman at all and I expect NHL teams to reach considerably on them leaving a number of good forwards available for the later rounds. I only ranked 2 goalies because they're really the only 2 I reaaaaally like and would consider using a non 5th-7th round pick on.
• I think you can get solid middle 6 players/2nd pairing dmen all the way to 87, after that I think it's mostly longshots.
• The players I'm highest on relative to consensus are: Rossi, Cormier, Colangelo, Dion, Ovchinnikov, Finley, Oksentyuk, Niku, and Pyyhtia.
• The players I'm lowest on are: Pytlik, Ponomaryov, Foudy, Guhle, Schneider, Wallinder, Niederbach, and Peterka.

 

[KasperTheGrittyGhost]

I know a lot of us make our own boards, some larger some smaller. I always enjoy seeing what other people think, despite how I post at times in disagreement. In any event, here is a thread where we can post our thoughts.

Rank as many as you like, I would at least encourage people to shoot for a first round. In a lot of ways it can make draft night fairly interesting when you have something in advance.

With Covid-19 I have actually made it to a top 100. I am sure there are a few names missing or spectacularly lower than you think they should be. But here is mine, I hope we can all participate and have some fun.

1. Quinton Byfield
2. Alexis Lafreniere
3. Tim Stutzle
4. Lucas Raymond
5. Jamie Drysdale
6. Yaroslav Askarov
7. Cole Perfetti
8. Anton Lundell
9. Jake Sanderson
10. Alexander Holtz
11. Seth Jarvis
12. Connor Zary
13. Hendrix Lapierre
14. Marco Rossi
15. Kaiden Guhle
16. William Wallinder
17. Rodion Amirov
18. Dylan Holloway
19. Jack Quinn
20. Marat Khusnutdinov
21. Mavrik Bourque
22. Noel Gunlar
23. Brandon Brisson
24. Emil Andrae
25. Dawson Mercer
26. Braden Schneider
27. JJ Peterka
28. Jan Mysak
29. Jeremie Poirier
30. Lucas Reichel
31. Vasiliy Ponomarev
32. Jacob Perreault
33. Ryan O’Rourke
34. Justin Barron
35. Lukas Cormier
36. Thomas Bordeleau
37. Ozzy Weisblatt
38. Helge Grans
39. Joni Hirvonen
40. Joni Jurmo
41. Martin Chromiak
42. Ridly Grieg
43. Ty Smilanic
44. Shakir Mukhamadullin
45. Alexander Pashin
46. Kasper Simontaival
47. Yan Kuznetsov
48. Jean-Luc Foudy
49. Topi Niemela
50. Zion Nybeck
51. Daniel Torgersson
52. Jake Neighbours
53. Carter Savoie
54. Brock Faber
55. Tyler Tullio
56. Tristen Robins
57. Justin Sourdif
58. Sean Farrell
59. Dylan Peterson
60. Drew Commesso
61. Donovan Sebrango
62. Brandon Coe
63. Wyatt Kaiser
64. Alexander Nikishin
65. Theodore Niederbach
66. Zayde Wisdom
67. Sam Colangelo
68. Daemon Hunt
69. Vetti Miettinen
70. Dmitry Zlodeyev
71. Ryder Rolston
72. Mitchell Miller
73. Tyson Foerster
74. Eemil Viro
75. Tyler Kleven
76. Theo Rochette
77. William Villeneuve
78. Connor McClennon
79. Anton Johannesson
80. Joel Blomqvist
81. Maxim Groshev
82. Danill Gushchin
83. Roby Jarventie
84. Pavel Gogolev
85. Eamon Powell
86. Luke Tuch
87. Ian Moore
88. Dmitri Ovchinnikov
89. Danill Gutik
90. Egor Sokolov
91. Will Cuylle
92. Ryan Francis
93. Oliver Suni
94. Samuel Knazko
95. Charles DesRoches
96. Michael Benning
97. Adam Raska
98. Blake Biondi
99. Antonio Stranges
100. Pavel Novak

Rossi at 14 is wild man.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Rossi at 14 is wild man.

I honestly could have gone lower than that, I put him in the front of his tier for out of a respect for his production that lands him there and the fact he is such a hard worker he might eventually make it work out on the wing. I don't believe in how is his game will translate up or his physical talent when I watch him play. One NHL team has him at 18 on Bobby Mac's list so it isn't completely unheard of.

 

[KasperTheGrittyGhost]

I honestly could have gone lower than that, I put him in the front of his tier for out of a respect for his production that lands him there and the fact he is such a hard worker he might eventually make it work out on the wing. I don't believe in how is his game will translate up or his physical talent when I watch him play. One NHL team has him at 18 on Bobby Mac's list so it isn't completely unheard of.

How much have you watched him in full games? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player his age play a such an efficient game at his age.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

How much have you watched him in full games? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player his age play a such an efficient game at his age.

I would say at least a dozen times since he came over to NA.

I had the OHL package this year to watch Byfield but flipped around to examine plenty of prospects, so I caught plenty of him. I usually pick one of the junior leagues. Because of the quality of the 67's they have also featured on the NHL network a few times the previous year and this year.

I think his game is very impressive for that level for sure. My issue with Rossi is always projecting him up to the NHL level.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

I think his game is very impressive for that level for sure. My issue with Rossi is always projecting him up to the NHL level.

What's your issue with projecting him to the next level?

(Not being a jerk, just want to hear your opinion).

 

[The Red Line]

Haven't done enough research but these are the guys I've been watching. Mine's pretty standard.

1. Lafreniere
2. Byfield
3. Stutzle
4. Raymond
5. Perfetti
6. Drysdale
7. Rossi
8. Askarov
9. Sanderson
10. Quinn
11. Zary
12. Holtz
13. Lundell
14. Jarvis
15. Lapierre
16. Amirov
17. Holloway
18. Gunlar
19. Mysak
20. Wallinder

 

[KasperTheGrittyGhost]

Rather than just picking at TZE, here’s my list. I have watched a lot of the CHL and MHL/KHL, so I have some admitted bias that way.

Tier 1 -

1. Lafrienire
2. Byfield

Tier 2 -
3. Stutzle
4. Rossi
5. Raymond
6. Perfetti
7. Drysdale
8. Askarov

Tier 3 -

9. Holtz
10. Sanderson
11. Amirov
12. Lundell
13. Jarvis
14. Reichel
15. Quinn
16. Mercer
17. Mysak
18. Zary
19. Holloway

Tier 4- (lots of other guys could be here, I just haven’t dug through all the film yet)

20. O’Rourke
21. Cormier
22. Perrault
23. Peterka
24. Bourque
25. Khusnutdinov
26. Pashin
27. Brisson
28. Khusnutdinov
29. Farrell
30. Forester
31. Villeneuve
32. Colangelo
33. Jurmo

I really love everything I’ve seen from Ovchinnikov and Tristen Robins too. Those are guys I wouldn’t bat an eye at talking with our picks in the 50’s, even though it might be a bit high.

 

[Dotter]

Seems like the consensus (based on all the lists posted) is Drysdale is the top choice at #4 with Raymond running just behind.

Then Rossi/Perfetti are about equal at #4.

I'm guilty of picking a need over BPA, but I think the difference between Drysdale (D) and Perfetti (C) is small. So I gravitate towards the center even tho Drysdale may be [slightly] the BPA.

I cannot consider Rossi due to his size and subpar skating. Perfetti is a good 2" taller (same size as Zetterberg when drafted).

Raymond is a winger. Unless he is going to be a top 5 NHL goalscorer for the next 20 years, I want the dynamic potential centerman [Perfetti]. Drafting Raymond makes Zadina or Mantha expendable.

EDIT:

Here's Mckenzie's final rankings. He moved Prefetti up to #5, Drysdale stays at #4. He calls Raymond a perimeter player. I absolutely do not want a perimeter player @ #4.

 

[Frk It]

Damnit... all this time before the draft has me wanting to completely re-do my draft board.

 

[Henkka]

Here's Mckenzie's final rankings. He moved Prefetti up to #5, Drysdale stays at #4. He calls Raymond a perimeter player. I absolutely do not want a perimeter player @ #4.

So you want a net-front player? Like Rasmussen.