Prospect Info: The Abnormal 2021 Draft Thread

ConnorMcMullet

#12 Colby Cave
Jun 10, 2017
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Keep an eye on the University of Michigan. Tons of talent this year including Owen Power (potential top-3 pick), Kent Johnson (top-5), and Matthew Beniers (top-10) in addition to past draft picks such as Cam York, Thomas Bordeleau, Brendan Brisson, and John Beecher.

In their season opener yesterday, Kent Johnson had 4 assists, Owen Power had 1 goal and 2 assists, and Matthew Beniers had 2 goals in an 8-1 win.
 
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Soli

Supervision Required
Sep 8, 2005
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Keep an eye on the University of Michigan. Tons of talent this year including Owen Power (potential top-3 pick), Kent Johnson (top-5), and Matthew Beniers (top-10) in addition to past draft picks such as Cam York, Thomas Bordeleau, Brendan Brisson, and John Beecher.

In their season opener yesterday, Kent Johnson had 4 assists, Owen Power had 1 goal and 2 assists, and Matthew Beniers had 2 goals in an 8-1 win.


 
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LTIR

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Nov 8, 2013
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if the season gets cancelled, they should skip the draft this year and increase draft min age to 19 after round 1.
 

Stud Muffin

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if the season gets cancelled, they should skip the draft this year and increase draft min age to 19 after round 1.
Nope. There’s literally no good reason to do so. There’s players who are NHL ready at 18 there’s no use in hindering there development. And for the guys who aren’t ready right away, access to NHL teams player development staff is a big resource for them.
 
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Zaddy

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Nope. There’s literally no good reason to do so. There’s players who are NHL ready at 18 there’s no use in hindering there development. And for the guys who aren’t ready right away, access to NHL teams player development staff is a big resource for them.

There are very, very few players who are ready at 18. And there are some exceptional talent who could've played in the NHL at 18 but was delayed another year due to being a late birthday. It would be hard to argue that players like Taylor Hall and John Tavares was harmed by having to wait another year. Even McDavid wouldn't have been harmed if he had another year outside the NHL. Meanwhile you can point to countless number of players who were harmed by playing in the NHL at 18. IMO there would be a huge benefit of moving the draft one year forward with more or less zero downsides.
 

McDNicks17

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There are very, very few players who are ready at 18. And there are some exceptional talent who could've played in the NHL at 18 but was delayed another year due to being a late birthday. It would be hard to argue that players like Taylor Hall and John Tavares was harmed by having to wait another year. Even McDavid wouldn't have been harmed if he had another year outside the NHL. Meanwhile you can point to countless number of players who were harmed by playing in the NHL at 18. IMO there would be a huge benefit of moving the draft one year forward with more or less zero downsides.

If they move to 19, I would scrap the Sept 15 cutoff too and just use birth years.
 

GrinningBuddha

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Nov 22, 2010
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I'm going to be paying close attention to the Michigan Wolverines as Kent Johnson is a distant family member of mine and Owen Power is the top-ranked defenseman in the draft at the moment. Kent debuted with 4 assists in their opening game 8-1 win, Owen had 1+2 as well. Frozen 4 seems like a lock for them this year.
 

Hynh

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Jun 19, 2012
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There are very, very few players who are ready at 18. And there are some exceptional talent who could've played in the NHL at 18 but was delayed another year due to being a late birthday. It would be hard to argue that players like Taylor Hall and John Tavares was harmed by having to wait another year. Even McDavid wouldn't have been harmed if he had another year outside the NHL. Meanwhile you can point to countless number of players who were harmed by playing in the NHL at 18. IMO there would be a huge benefit of moving the draft one year forward with more or less zero downsides.
If you're 18 before the NHL season starts you deserve to be allowed to sign a contract and start getting paid as a professional.
 

McDNicks17

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I'm going to be paying close attention to the Michigan Wolverines as Kent Johnson is a distant family member of mine and Owen Power is the top-ranked defenseman in the draft at the moment. Kent debuted with 4 assists in their opening game 8-1 win, Owen had 1+2 as well. Frozen 4 seems like a lock for them this year.

They're going to be a fun team to watch.

The scary thing is they'll be even better next year. Luke Hughes(Jack's brother, potential 1st rounder this year) and probably Adam Fantilli(potential 1st overall pick for 2023) will join them.
 

McDNicks17

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If you're 18 before the NHL season starts you deserve to be allowed to sign a contract and start getting paid as a professional.

If other leagues can force players to wait until they're 20+ years old and also go to school, that shouldn't be an issue.
 

Zaddy

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If you're 18 before the NHL season starts you deserve to be allowed to sign a contract and start getting paid as a professional.

First of all I'm not sure that's really a problem. Second of all, if it is, then that's not so much an NHL problem but a hockey problem and doesn't have anything to do with the draft. It should rather be up to CHL and NCAA teams to pay their players.
 

Hynh

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Jun 19, 2012
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If other leagues can force players to wait until they're 20+ years old and also go to school, that shouldn't be an issue.
The might be able to but that doesn't mean they should.

First of all I'm not sure that's really a problem. Second of all, if it is, then that's not so much an NHL problem but a hockey problem and doesn't have anything to do with the draft. It should rather be up to CHL and NCAA teams to pay their players.
The vast majority of CHL and NCAA kids don't deserve to be paid.
 

McDNicks17

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Brandt Clarke signing with Lavoie's team in the Allsvenskan is pretty awesome.

I think he'll do great there even at 17 years old. He's so polished. Just a stud defensively and his offensive development has been skyrocketing.

Lots of people drooling over the size/skating combo of Power, but I'd take Clarke over him.
 
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Tobias Kahun

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Oct 3, 2017
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The might be able to but that doesn't mean they should.


The vast majority of CHL and NCAA kids don't deserve to be paid.
They don’t deserve anything, it’s a privilege to be able to play in the NHL.
 

Zaddy

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Brandt Clarke signing with Lavoie's team in the Allsvenskan is pretty awesome.

I think he'll do great there even at 17 years old. He's so polished. Just a stud defensively and his offensive development has been skyrocketing.

Lots of people drooling over the size/skating combo of Power, but I'd take Clarke over him.

How would you characterize his defensive game? What in particular do you like about it? I haven't seen him much except a few clips but my impression from that and a bit of reading suggests his defensive game, while not bad, isn't necessarily high-end, and that his backwards skating could use some work. I feel like the Dougie Hamilton comparison I saw thrown around might be pretty accurate.

So far I like Lambos more, but it does appear like Clarke is perhaps even better suited to the modern day NHL and could really be that game-breaking type player that can decide a game or even a playoff series with an individual performance. Maybe that's worth more these days than an all-around steady #1D like I would project Lambos to be. Not sure how to weigh that honestly.
 

Zaddy

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Seems like Fabian Lysell is on his way out from Frölunda to look for more playing time elsewhere, rumored to join Luleå. Not that surprising I guess, Frölunda is absolutely stacked in terms of young talent and there's really no way for them to accommodate everyone. Raymond (DET), Söderblom (DET) and Henriksson (NYR) are young guys taking up playing time with the men's team. Lysell hasn't even been able to get consistent top6 minutes with the J20 team it seems. I do find it odd however that he is rumored to join Luleå, a team which recent 1st rounder Noel Gunler left after 10 games to go play for Brynäs instead in search for a better opportunity, so not sure if this is a better option. Interesting times ahead.
 

McDNicks17

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How would you characterize his defensive game? What in particular do you like about it? I haven't seen him much except a few clips but my impression from that and a bit of reading suggests his defensive game, while not bad, isn't necessarily high-end, and that his backwards skating could use some work. I feel like the Dougie Hamilton comparison I saw thrown around might be pretty accurate.

So far I like Lambos more, but it does appear like Clarke is perhaps even better suited to the modern day NHL and could really be that game-breaking type player that can decide a game or even a playoff series with an individual performance. Maybe that's worth more these days than an all-around steady #1D like I would project Lambos to be. Not sure how to weigh that honestly.

It's a bit of a mix between the new school and old school. He's an elite blue line defender. Just kills any rush on his side with his mobility. But he also has that old school bite to his game. His gap control and work stopping cycles improved leaps and bounds. The offense is probably his selling point, but I think he has the smarts and tools for elite defensive potential.

I think Clarke is more assertive and physical than Hamilton was and doesn't rely on his shot as much as Dougie did. It's an overused comparison, but to me, he's the closest thing to Doughty since Doughty. The skill, the mobility, the physicality, the confidence with the puck.
 

Zaddy

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Feb 8, 2013
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HockeyProspect just released their new rankings, it's pretty interesting.

2021 NHL Draft Rankings - HockeyProspect.com

The third Hughes brother at #3, Oskar Olausson at #5 (!) and Brandt Clarke at #10. Mark Edwards mentioned in the thread on the main boards that NHL scouts are worried about his skating and that many scouts don't even have him top2 among OHL prospects but rather 3rd or even 4th.

I'm kind of curious about Simon Edvinsson at #4 too. I haven't seen him play but I do wonder what he has done to put himself in the conversation for top5, he only has 1 goal and 6 points in 14 games in J20 SuperElit and hasn't played any games in SHL. I know he's big and a good all-around defenseman but I'm not entirely sure what he has done to put himself above guys like Lambos and Clarke.

William Eklund at #13, I think that's a good range for him. I'd probably have him somewhere between 12-15 as well. I like his game but I don't really see super high-end upside there. Probably a good 2nd liner if everything goes well.

Aatu Räty down at #25.
 
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