The 2001 group has some pretty good players. It looks a lot like the 2017 draft with a much better high end. There is still going to be a lot of good late-1st round talent, and there are even a few guys who should stand out. There are also a few guys ranked pretty high who we should avoid altogether, but that is not any different than any other year.
I think the main thing I see is that as you get later on into the 2nd round, it is pretty weak. However once you get back a few picks into the 3rd round and later, it picks up much better than last year. Last year kind of just started out high and gradually just got worse in relative quality before completely dropping off after like pick 50. Still a few good picks here and there, but it was mostly just mediocre or below. This year I think there is enough quality to get some great players at least through the first 3 or 4 rounds, and maybe even with the 5th rounder (at least I think there is a similar chance of finding it as in the 3rd round last year), without too much waivering in quality.
Really, if you look at the OA crop this year, if it wasn't for Leason coming out of complete obscurity, I doubt you would even see an OA pick in the top 75. Justin Bergeron, Samuel Fagemo, and Nikita Rtishchev may challenge, and will likely go somewhere in the 3rd round, but I think there will be a lot fewer OA picks than in recent years. The 2000 group just did not have the type of quality depth as you would hope for to be going after too many OA's. There will probably be more 99's selected than 00's, but after Leason, I doubt any of them go before the 4th or 5th round... At that point, there may just be a whole rush of them though.
