Prospect Info: The 2022 Draft Thread

[Soli]

Tonight, the CHL Top Prospects game gets underway. Catch the action on TSN5 at 6:00PM.

Looking at the rosters, I'm going to be paying attention to both team's bluelines. I take a cleaver to the top half of the draft rankings when looking at who might be available (fingers crossed), and I'm thinking we're gonna be talking defensemen when it comes to BPA. The forwards that I'd consider in the bottom half of the 1st round, aren't playing in this Top Prospects game.

Bit of a random thought, but with Maximus Wanner doing so well in his this season, it makes me wonder how many looks our scouts are getting of Denton Mateychuk.



Team Red

Forwards

(86) Maxim Barbashev – Moncton Wildcats
(51) Josh Filmon – Swift Current Broncos
(11) Luca Del Bel Belluz – Mississauga Steelheads
(35) David Goyette – Sudbury Wolves
(43) Jordan Gustafson – Seattle Thunderbirds
(47) Hunter Haight – Barrie Colts
(34) Fraser Minten – Kamloops Blazers
(23) Matthew Poitras – Guelph Storm
(3) Matthew Savoie – Winnipeg ICE
(50) Matthew Seminoff – Kamloops Blazers
(1) Shane Wright – Kingston Frontenacs 'C'
(27) Danny Zhilkin – Guelph Storm

Defencemen

(36) Michael Buchinger – Guelph Storm
(39) Jorian Donovan – Hamilton Bulldogs
(42) Isaiah George – London Knights
(20) Kevin Korchinski – Seattle Thunderbirds
(15) Maveric Lamoureux – Drummondville Voltigeurs 'A'
(25) Ty Nelson – North Bay Battalion 'A'

Goaltenders


(26G) Reid Dyck – Swift Current Broncos
(2G) Ivan Zhigalov – Sherbrooke Phoenix

Team White

Forwards

(19) Owen Beck – Mississauga Steelheads
(33) Jagger Firkus – Moose Jaw Warriors
(16) Nathan Gaucher – Quebec Remparts
(62) Ruslan Gazizov – London Knights
(4) Conor Geekie – Winnipeg ICE
(61) Jake Karabela – Guelph Storm 'A'
(29) Paul Ludwinski – Kingston Frontenacs
(28) Bryce McConnell-Barker – Soo Greyhounds
(46) Vinzenz Rohrer – Ottawa 67’s
(13) Matyas Sapovaliv – Saginaw Spirit
(85) Reid Schaefer – Seattle Thunderbirds
(89) Antonin Verreault – Gatineau Olympiques

Defencemen

(30) Mats Lindgren – Kamloops Blazers
(10) Tristan Luneau – Gatineau Olympiques 'A'
(9) Denton Mateychuk – Moose Jaw Warriors 'C'
(5) Pavel Mintyukov – Saginaw Spirit
(21) Owen Pickering – Swift Current Broncos
(49) Noah Warren – Gatineau Olympiques

Goaltenders

(7G) Mason Beaupit – Spokane Chiefs
(1G) Tyler Brennan – Prince George Cougars

 

[belair]

Have an eye on Ty Nelson. He's really come into his own this season and he's taken a leadership role on that D core in North Bay as a 17 year old. He's 'undersized' but he's grown to be about 5'10, 200, and he's got some meanness to his game.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

Kevin Korchinski seems like a interesting prospect

 

[Soli]

 

[Soli]

Is that 6'5 RHD Noah Warren with the fastest 30M time? That one stood out to me.

 

[duul]

Seems like a pretty weak draft for high end talent. Wright does not look like he's going to be a star player in the NHL. Looks a couple rungs below Lafreniere even.

 

[ManofSteel55]

I think these questions kind of suck, as they're loaded with hindsight, but I picked Zegras because he is actually performing at a top tier level in the NHL, where Broberg is coming along more slowly and may never reach the height that Zegras is at right now. Wallstedt isn't a concern for me because I like who we got instead, and I (like most here) haven't actually watched him play enough to know if he's that good, or if he's just got some reputation behind him.

 

[McDoused]

This on YouTube?

 

[belair]

This on YouTube?

No. There are a couple streams on onhockey. Hopefully you can deal with with the redirects.

 

[McMozesmadness]

This on YouTube?

It was on TSN

Jagger Firkus was the star. I wouldn’t be upset if we ended up with him. He’s killing it in the Dub

 

[belair]

Not a lot of standouts on the red team who couldn't put two passes together. I thought Nelson played a pretty safe game for a guy mostly known for the opposite. Boxing out guys and making good exit passes. He started the breakout on red's only goal.

I'll second that Firkus was a big standout. Dyck looked solid in net.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

This game is tailor made for smaller skill guys like Firkus and Savoie who both looked good. Thought smaller guy Vinzenz Rohrer looked solid too.

Nathan Gaucher looked solid with good offensive skills and two way game. Bigger right shooting centre/wing. He's a guy I'd wonder might be around the Oil pick range. Dumb penalty(likely should have been 2 on one over aggressive shift), I like Geekie's game quite a bit. Not sure he's elite level offence but a real solid two way centre man with size. Thought

I liked Noah Warren's game. Big physical d who played a smart, responsible defensive game. He is a beast and will get bigger. Likely bottom or maybe middle pairing upside but right shot big d who can defend and skates quite well. Tristan Luneau looks like a nice skilled d-man with size.

Reid Dyck was excellent in net. Super quick with a sequence of like three quick saves. Lots of talent coming out of the Dub this year. Great to see that!

Overall a pretty lacklustre game. TSN's production wasn't very good beyond Miller and Button's play calling.

EDIT: The Dub Testing Results: Savoie finishes first overall in Kubota CHL / NHL Top Prospects Game on-ice testing – WHL Network

EDIT 2: Was legitimately shocked only 1 prospect picked McDavid as their favourite player and 1 picked Draisaitl. Mitch Marner ... really? eye roll.

 

[russ99]

I really like Nathan Gaucher too, would fill a system need. and Holland isn't swayed by picking from the Q.

 

[russ99]

I think these questions kind of suck, as they're loaded with hindsight, but I picked Zegras because he is actually performing at a top tier level in the NHL, where Broberg is coming along more slowly and may never reach the height that Zegras is at right now. Wallstedt isn't a concern for me because I like who we got instead, and I (like most here) haven't actually watched him play enough to know if he's that good, or if he's just got some reputation behind him.

Yeah seems like another retroactively whine about Holland thread lol.

I'd vote neither if given the option. Nobody knew Zegras or Caulfield would jump into the league like that, and Broberg is a solid prospect and should be playing top-4 in another year or year and a half.

As for Wallstedt, nobody knows what kind of goalie he's eventually going to be, he's still playing in Sweden. And I was originally against the pick because our meatball fans assumed he could jump right into the league and fix the goalie situation. They weren't thinking about the years of development time and you still don't know what you'll get.

 

[PostBradMalone]

Yeah seems like another retroactively whine about Holland thread lol.

I'd vote neither if given the option. Nobody knew Zegras or Caulfield would jump into the league like that, and Broberg is a solid prospect and should be playing top-4 in another year or year and a half.

I don’t want to derail this thread too much but let me get this straight… you don’t consider drafting Broberg over Zegras a mistake? You don’t even have to dislike the guy to admit he has made a few gaffes, but this is an entirely new tier of Holland staning.

 

[Canovin]

Didn't know who Firkus was. Now I know. Reminds me of Konecny. Point might be a little too rich of an expectation. Looks like him too lol

 

[russ99]

I don’t want to derail this thread too much but let me get this straight… you don’t consider drafting Broberg over Zegras a mistake? You don’t even have to dislike the guy to admit he has made a few gaffes, but this is an entirely new tier of Holland staning.

Nope. I don't. Nobody knew Zegras was going to impact the NHL so soon, and Broberg will shortly show his worth.

I maintain you can look at any pick and any draft as soon as a year after and say. "we shoulda took that guy". Take the hindsight blinders off. I swear some of you are looking for any excuse to show off your supposed superiority and slam management.

And it ain't Holland either. Our fans have been pulling this little "go back and pick someone better with hindsight" trick since Sather was GM.

 

[PostBradMalone]

Nope. I don't. Nobody knew Zegras was going to impact the NHL so soon, and Broberg will shortly show his worth.

I maintain you can look at any pick and any draft as soon as a year after and say. "we shoulda took that guy". Take the hindsight blinders off. I swear some of you are looking for any excuse to show off your supposed superiority and slam management.

And it ain't Holland either. Our fans have been pulling this little "go back and pick someone better with hindsight" trick since Sather was GM.

Okay, so if scouting is truly random and no one can possibly make an educated guess as to the potential of prospects, why they even have scouts? Would you agree that it’s a waste of money if your viewpoint at all held water?

 

[voxel]

To this date... I think we should have drafted Boldy. I think he's a more skilled Holloway but both on our team would be awesome.

Zegras is more like Gaudreau 2.0. Great player but with the make up of this team... I'd want size/speed/skill.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Okay, so if scouting is truly random and no one can possibly make an educated guess as to the potential of prospects, why they even have scouts? Would you agree that it’s a waste of money if your viewpoint at all held water?

Welcome to the Board.

This (Broberg via Zegras and the field) has been covered in a thousand threads. You can pick virtually any thread to see this polarized discussion argued about. Hope this thread stays on course with its future focus ... especially with the Oil retaining, at least for now, their 1st round pick.

Posted respectfully.

 

[nafrelio]

So I know the answer for some will be the obligatory "take the best player available", but what do we most need in our prospect pool from our 2022 first rounder?

I'm thinking another offensive dman (preferably RH) would be the ultimate choice based on what we have in our prospect pool. We have Bouchard, but I would love to have a dynamic skating, puck moving, offensive minded dman. We have tons of size on our backend in the pipeline but do we have a gamebreaker in the mold of a Makar, Q. Hughes, or Fox? Nope. Not saying we'll find a player of that caliber where we pick, unless he has warts, but what should Holland be shooting for?

What do you think we need most, if we were picking by need/BPA?

 

[tempest186]

Speed and physical presence, F or D but some nastiness. Basically, another Holloway but F or D, whichever is available when the pick comes up.

 

[Canovin]

Speed and physical presence, F or D but some nastiness. Basically, another Holloway but F or D, whichever is available when the pick comes up.

What if Holloway bust? We should want our prospects like guys that's already in the NHL with kind of success.

 

[Soli]

So I know the answer for some will be the obligatory "take the best player available", but what do we most need in our prospect pool from our 2022 first rounder?

I'm thinking another offensive dman (preferably RH) would be the ultimate choice based on what we have in our prospect pool. We have Bouchard, but I would love to have a dynamic skating, puck moving, offensive minded dman. We have tons of size on our backend in the pipeline but do we have a gamebreaker in the mold of a Makar, Q. Hughes, or Fox? Nope. Not saying we'll find a player of that caliber where we pick, unless he has warts, but what should Holland be shooting for?

What do you think we need most, if we were picking by need/BPA?

IMO, our prospect pool lacks Top-6 skilled centers and top end projectable blue line talent, particularly on the starboard side.

How far is Brad Lambert's stock falling? Beginning of the year thought it'd be inconceivable he'd be there, but besides the signs of life at the WJC, he's had a really poor season. Nevertheless, He checks alot of boxes: skilled center, plus plus skater, right handed to go with the plethora of lefty forwards, those Saskatchewan roots, but also Finnish ties that could mesh well with Pulju.

 

[PostBradMalone]

There’s no reason to keep our first if it can help net us a goalie or defensively responsible RHD, but if the management team fails again to use such a trade chip to improve the main roster, I would love Ryan Chesley. His skating and hockey sense would offset Nurse’s brain farts, and I can see him being our Pesce or Slavin.