Prospect Info: The Abnormal 2021 Draft Thread

[McDNicks17]

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.

Worried about Clarke's skating? Whaaaa?

Edwards and the so-called "NHL scouts" he talks to seem to consistently be way out to lunch on a lot of skating valuations. He needs to start chatting with some different OHL scouts or something.


edit: That Mailloux ranking is BOLD. Junior B to top 15 pick.

 

[780il]

I’m on the Jesper Wallstedt hype train for 2021. Getting a home grown stud goalie would be f***ing massive.

 

[McDNicks17]

I’m on the Jesper Wallstedt hype train for 2021. Getting a home grown stud goalie would be f***ing massive.

Speaking of homegrown, HockeyProspect has the Oil Kings goalie(Sebastian Cossa) ranked ahead of Wallstedt.

 

[DropTheGloves]

Speaking of homegrown, HockeyProspect has the Oil Kings goalie(Sebastian Cossa) ranked ahead of Wallstedt.

Nooo my heart can't take any more Oil Kings draft picks.

 

[BarDownBobo]

Speaking of homegrown, HockeyProspect has the Oil Kings goalie(Sebastian Cossa) ranked ahead of Wallstedt.

Cossa is really good, deserves that ranking. It’s gonna hurt him that the season is getting delayed for sure, but he could very well be the top goalie in the draft. I really think Hockey Canada messed up not inviting him to the u20 camp as well, he could be better than all the guys in camp.

 

[780il]

Speaking of homegrown, HockeyProspect has the Oil Kings goalie(Sebastian Cossa) ranked ahead of Wallstedt.

My heart is ready for another Oil King to eventually bust.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Clarke will spend the entire year playing with Lavoie in the Allsvenskan. Vasby also added OHLer and potential linemate for Lavoie in Pavel Gogolev, so the team should be pretty fun to watch. Although at this point I'm questioning whether there is going to be an OHL season at all this year.

If I'm Holland I'm trying so see if Vasby would be willing to give Ty Tullio a shot.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

...and Brandt Clarke's transfer to Vasby gets cancelled due to complications with his OHL contract. Poor Lavoie. I was really looking forward to watching them.

This comes a day after Vasby's GM said this:

"Sometimes it is easy to use superlatives when describing new acquisitions. But this time, the title super talent is simply the only correct description one can make of the Canadian acquisition. It is namely the case that Brandt Clarke will probably be the greatest talent in the history of Väsby Hockey who will wear the green and white-red Väsby jersey."

 

[jukon]

The NHL should have really taken advantage of this unusual situation to increase the draft age. It's by far the best league in hockey, they don't need to worry about other leagues poaching talent. I wonder who within the hockey community would be against this.

 

[McDNicks17]

The J20 league over in Sweden is pretty bonkers this season.

Hugo Engsund has the best SV% in the league for goalies with more than 10 games at .919, but he also has a 3.78 GAA.

You have to feel bad for the starter on the worst team in the league. Dude has a 5.10 GAA in 10 games haha.

 

[Zaddy]

Oskar Olausson is on fire. Goal in three straight SHL games.




4 points in 8 games in SHL. 14 goals and 27 points in 16 games in juniors. He's having a hell of a draft season so far.

 

[Zaddy]

Just Eklund doing Eklund things.



Going to be fun to watch this duo at the WJC.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Andy Lehoux from NHL Draft Central has started posting game reports on 2021 eligibles playing in the Q. He's somewhat active on the prospects board, be sure to give him your support.

From what I can tell, there are four potential 1st rounders coming from the Q this year — and three of them are named Zachary. There's Zachary L'Heureux, Zachary Bolduc, Zachary Dean, and Xavier Bourgeault. Andy Lehoux has released game reports on the first two:





And one one more shift-by-shift of Bolduc:

 

[ChaoticOrange]

My heart is ready for another Oil King to eventually bust.

To be fair, Oil King goalies are decent investments. We're not stuck with Smith if we'd brought up a Jarry or kept Brossoit.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

To be fair, Oil King goalies are decent investments. We're not stuck with Smith if we'd brought up a Jarry or kept Brossoit.

If we kept Brossoit, that means we're stuck with Brossoit though.

 

[Zaddy]

AJHL has started up again. Corson Ceulemans with a strong start statistically. 5 points in 2 games already.

Fabian Lysell's transfer to Luleå has been confirmed but he has yet to play any games.

Late '02 birthday Matthew Coronato of Chicago Steel leads the USHL in scoring currently 7 goals and 16 points in 6 games. His teammate and fellow 2021 draft eligible Matthew Samoskevich is 2nd with 12 points in 6 games. Looks like Chicago Steel has a potent offense this year again despite losing their four top scorers from last year De St. Phalle, Brisson, Colangelo, Fontaine as well as Power.

 

[Zaddy]

Michigan playing against Penn State tonight. 7-4 Penn State through 2 periods of play. Like what I've seen from Beniers. Skilled offensive player with smarts and good skating. I wonder about his size though. He's listed as 6'1 on EP but he looks 5'11 to me. Either way he could definitely use some bulk.

Power has been a bit so-so. It's easy to see why people like him. He's huge and does everything rather well. Doesn't scream elite player at me right now but he's just getting used to the college game, and even if he doesn't hit on his potential he's still going to be a very good player most likely.

Michigan is pretty fun to watch. Between three potential top5 picks they also have Bordeleau, Brisson and York whom are all excellent at this level.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Michigan playing against Penn State tonight. 7-4 Penn State through 2 periods of play. Like what I've seen from Beniers. Skilled offensive player with smarts and good skating. I wonder about his size though. He's listed as 6'1 on EP but he looks 5'11 to me. Either way he could definitely use some bulk.

Power has been a bit so-so. It's easy to see why people like him. He's huge and does everything rather well. Doesn't scream elite player at me right now but he's just getting used to the college game, and even if he doesn't hit on his potential he's still going to be a very good player most likely.

Michigan is pretty fun to watch. Between three potential top5 picks they also have Bordeleau, Brisson and York whom are all excellent at this level.

I really like Beniers, he reminds me a lot of Brayden Point.

What did you think of Kent Johnson?

 

[Zaddy]

I really like Beniers, he reminds me a lot of Brayden Point.

What did you think of Kent Johnson?

I felt like Johnson really didn't play that much so it was hard to evaluate him. He has some skill for sure but that's really all I can say at the moment haha. I hope I can catch more games, feel free to post in the thread here whenever Michigan play, it's hard to keep track.

 

[Zaddy]

Neat new feature on EP Premium, makes it easier to track prospects:

 

[Soli]

First dose of mana from the heavens.



Swede's cut the #2 prospect from their WJC camp? Heh.

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[McDNicks17]

Edvinsson with two votes for 1st overall? I don't get the hype.

Seems like a guy who is farther from putting his tools together than a ton of players at the top of the draft.

 

[MessierII]

This will be an even weirder draft than the last one.

 

[nafrelio]

Ok, reading through Bobby Mac's review, it doesn't seem like a strong draft at the top. Not many top line forwards with just a few top pairing potential dmen. Nothing amazing. Is that your sense? I know its tough to tell not getting eyes on players, but is this a year to trade our first? How's the depth of the draft looking?