Who do you think is the most underrated prospect for the 2023 draft?

[spfan]

Cristall, Heidt.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Tristan Bertucci. I don’t think he should be a high pick or anything, but literally no one is talking about him and a team could easily pick him in the mid-second and I wouldn’t be shocked.

That is NOT true.

I’ve Been pumping his tires - feel like the only one though….

 

[hawksfan50]

David Edstrom.....at mid season most rankings had him as ean eaky 3rd rounder only....At u18s he was a revelation... so good defensively but effective around tge net offensively...does tge hardly lifting required to let skikjed wingers shine because he creates space for them as a force at the net front...His shot from distance is not great..nor is he going to lead in zone entries..but his hockey sense for intercepting pases i tge neutral zone and deeming his rushing wingers is superb...his strength i winning board battles then making small spaces plays.. give and goes in tight quarters and goibgvto tge net is excellent...good hand-eye for deflections goals. And for rebounds goals when hacking away at the net...Thiscguy owns the bet front...occupies dmen...the best screenerof goalies I have ever seen in u18 or in junior hockey.. Hevus a great 2way supoirt center...He just does so much stuff right..His game is oro mature.. already..As he fills out his already big 6'3 body he wikkbe a dominating beast for dment to handle in the net front battles...but he us not a slow snowplow...rather quite fast especialky with an exposure burst over shorter distances...Not goibg to dazzle controlling puck in long rushes but will excel gettibg to loose pucks because he has burst and will be making tgecrightbokays and be u tgecright position..I just love his mature game.and he will only get stronger and be even harder to handle Tge perfect complimentary Center for scoribg wingers.. His scoring is not going to be solo highlight reel ..nor wow lo g er distance shooter star..But greasy hard work battles defleections...close to net hands goals. And tap ins by living at the opos crease...But his bust allows escape from checks so wrak around too..If he had a tip ten shot frin distance he would be a top ten pick...but as it is very safe to project as as 2 way 1C or 2C in support of flashier wing scorers.. Diibg tge heavy lifting forcthem.

I was impressed...

To be fair mabycscouts said aftervu19scthat he was trending up before the tournament such that you might expect some teans taking hon mod 2nd...but now after all he showed tgere he looks tobbe going 1st roubdcnow...High high?

17-26 range is not outv f the question..Hevjust pkays lijexa provides...does not look like an 18 yr old still developing his game.. Sokid and effective ...both offensively and defensively..

However..it is unusual to see scouts even agreeing g that hevus a riser to rise him as much as 59 spits from mid-season...My own eyes say he absolutely is worthy of a 17-29 type pick ...but sone scouts who thought tgey had it all figured out by mod-season may find it difficult to concede this big of a rise and so still most keep him only as an early 2nd to mid 2nd pick.

We shall see...

It will be interesting gto see the Bob Mckenzie Final rankings to see how mich of a rise his panel of 10 actual NHKLscouts from different teams assess how much ofca rise they want to give Edstrom.
My view is he should be drafted 17-26 now but closer to 17-20 than 6-7 picks after that ..

 

[Kingfan1967]

Tommaso De Luca.

I feel he gets rather overlooked as a real late birthday. He was born in December 29th - if he were born 3 days later he would be an ‘05.

Draft age is based on when the NHL season starts, not the calendar year.
To be eligible, players must be 18 years old by Sept. 15 (so 17 year olds will be draft eligible), so any drafted player born before Sept 15, 2005 is eligible, De Luca is 8 1/2 months into his draft year.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

David Edstrom.....at mid season most rankings had him as ean eaky 3rd rounder only....At u18s he was a revelation... so good defensively but effective around tge net offensively...does tge hardly lifting required to let skikjed wingers shine because he creates space for them as a force at the net front...His shot from distance is not great..nor is he going to lead in zone entries..but his hockey sense for intercepting pases i tge neutral zone and deeming his rushing wingers is superb...his strength i winning board battles then making small spaces plays.. give and goes in tight quarters and goibgvto tge net is excellent...good hand-eye for deflections goals. And for rebounds goals when hacking away at the net...Thiscguy owns the bet front...occupies dmen...the best screenerof goalies I have ever seen in u18 or in junior hockey.. Hevus a great 2way supoirt center...He just does so much stuff right..His game is oro mature.. already..As he fills out his already big 6'3 body he wikkbe a dominating beast for dment to handle in the net front battles...but he us not a slow snowplow...rather quite fast especialky with an exposure burst over shorter distances...Not goibg to dazzle controlling puck in long rushes but will excel gettibg to loose pucks because he has burst and will be making tgecrightbokays and be u tgecright position..I just love his mature game.and he will only get stronger and be even harder to handle Tge perfect complimentary Center for scoribg wingers.. His scoring is not going to be solo highlight reel ..nor wow lo g er distance shooter star..But greasy hard work battles defleections...close to net hands goals. And tap ins by living at the opos crease...But his bust allows escape from checks so wrak around too..If he had a tip ten shot frin distance he would be a top ten pick...but as it is very safe to project as as 2 way 1C or 2C in support of flashier wing scorers.. Diibg tge heavy lifting forcthem.

I was impressed...

To be fair mabycscouts said aftervu19scthat he was trending up before the tournament such that you might expect some teans taking hon mod 2nd...but now after all he showed tgere he looks tobbe going 1st roubdcnow...High high?

17-26 range is not outv f the question..Hevjust pkays lijexa provides...does not look like an 18 yr old still developing his game.. Sokid and effective ...both offensively and defensively..

However..it is unusual to see scouts even agreeing g that hevus a riser to rise him as much as 59 spits from mid-season...My own eyes say he absolutely is worthy of a 17-29 type pick ...but sone scouts who thought tgey had it all figured out by mod-season may find it difficult to concede this big of a rise and so still most keep him only as an early 2nd to mid 2nd pick.

We shall see...

It will be interesting gto see the Bob Mckenzie Final rankings to see how mich of a rise his panel of 10 actual NHKLscouts from different teams assess how much ofca rise they want to give Edstrom.
My view is he should be drafted 17-26 now but closer to 17-20 than 6-7 picks after that ..

You must have massive thumbs

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Draft age is based on when the NHL season starts, not the calendar year.
To be eligible, players must be 18 years old by Sept. 15 (so 17 year olds will be draft eligible), so any drafted player born before Sept 15, 2005 is eligible, De Luca is 8 1/2 months into his draft year.

I am well aware.

First time draft eligible ‘05‘s are precieved to have more upside over first time eligible ‘04’s.

There is inherent bias later in the draft to the first time eligible ‘05’s.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Gulyayev, Brindley, Etienne Morin.

 

[Three On Zero]

Anyone coming from Russia

 

[cheesymc]

David Edstrom.....at mid season most rankings had him as ean eaky 3rd rounder only....At u18s he was a revelation... so good defensively but effective around tge net offensively...does tge hardly lifting required to let skikjed wingers shine because he creates space for them as a force at the net front...His shot from distance is not great..nor is he going to lead in zone entries..but his hockey sense for intercepting pases i tge neutral zone and deeming his rushing wingers is superb...his strength i winning board battles then making small spaces plays.. give and goes in tight quarters and goibgvto tge net is excellent...good hand-eye for deflections goals. And for rebounds goals when hacking away at the net...Thiscguy owns the bet front...occupies dmen...the best screenerof goalies I have ever seen in u18 or in junior hockey.. Hevus a great 2way supoirt center...He just does so much stuff right..His game is oro mature.. already..As he fills out his already big 6'3 body he wikkbe a dominating beast for dment to handle in the net front battles...but he us not a slow snowplow...rather quite fast especialky with an exposure burst over shorter distances...Not goibg to dazzle controlling puck in long rushes but will excel gettibg to loose pucks because he has burst and will be making tgecrightbokays and be u tgecright position..I just love his mature game.and he will only get stronger and be even harder to handle Tge perfect complimentary Center for scoribg wingers.. His scoring is not going to be solo highlight reel ..nor wow lo g er distance shooter star..But greasy hard work battles defleections...close to net hands goals. And tap ins by living at the opos crease...But his bust allows escape from checks so wrak around too..If he had a tip ten shot frin distance he would be a top ten pick...but as it is very safe to project as as 2 way 1C or 2C in support of flashier wing scorers.. Diibg tge heavy lifting forcthem.

I was impressed...

To be fair mabycscouts said aftervu19scthat he was trending up before the tournament such that you might expect some teans taking hon mod 2nd...but now after all he showed tgere he looks tobbe going 1st roubdcnow...High high?

17-26 range is not outv f the question..Hevjust pkays lijexa provides...does not look like an 18 yr old still developing his game.. Sokid and effective ...both offensively and defensively..

However..it is unusual to see scouts even agreeing g that hevus a riser to rise him as much as 59 spits from mid-season...My own eyes say he absolutely is worthy of a 17-29 type pick ...but sone scouts who thought tgey had it all figured out by mod-season may find it difficult to concede this big of a rise and so still most keep him only as an early 2nd to mid 2nd pick.

We shall see...

It will be interesting gto see the Bob Mckenzie Final rankings to see how mich of a rise his panel of 10 actual NHKLscouts from different teams assess how much ofca rise they want to give Edstrom.
My view is he should be drafted 17-26 now but closer to 17-20 than 6-7 picks after that ..

For the love of Hockey… spell check man…

 

[dr1234]

I think Daniil But will go higher than some expect

 

[Guadana]

I don't think that draft will go this way, but

1a 1b Bedard and Michkov
3 Leo Carlsson
4 Fantilli

Moore, Morin and Reinbacher are underrated on my taste. Reinbacher reminds me Nikishin a lot.

 

[ValeriKamensky]

Calum Ritchie
Riley Heidt
Caden Price
Hunter Brzustewicz
Jesse Kiiskinen

 

[neelynugs]

i like tanner molendyk for this

 

[Flamesfan62]

Musty 100%. One of the younger players in the draft and he just had an incredible season with the Wolves.

 

[Mrb1p]

The dub boys IMO. I dont know why though. Benson, Cristall, Heidt, Sawchyn, Sotheran, Price, Zimmer, etc.

 

[Blueston]

I have willander, sale, honzek, Ritchie, wahlberg, and sawchyn all a good bit higher than consensus.

 

[CapSpace]

I think Daniil But will go higher than some expect

Based on his size or his tools ?

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Unger Sörum easily.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Based on his size or his tools ?

I know you didn’t ask me, but my opinion of But is that he has good tools for his size. He moves very well for a big guy and has a ton of room to grow into his frame. If he learns to incorporate some physicality, he’ll be a force I think.

He has underrated talent but is a very raw prospect so he is hard to project.

 

[Frk It]

Both of the Prince George kids, but especially Ziemmer.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I have willander, sale, honzek, Ritchie, wahlstrom, and sawchyn all a good bit higher than consensus.

Wahlberg?

 

[STL fan in MN]

Pretty much all of the Russians are undervalued IMO. Maybe it’s just because of the geopolitical issues but I’ve also seen people say quite a few players are better than Michkov based simply on playing ability. I’ve seen a lot of talk about his size and defensive shortcomings lately that his off the charts bonkers skill and hockey sense seems to be undervalued by some now.

I’ve seen very little of Rykov but he seems like a potential steal to me. I’d take a chance on Simashev and Gulyayev before most have them ranked.

I think Sale is now undervalued. Why has he dropped so much? Because he didn’t carry Czechia on his back like Dvorsky did with Slovakia? Sale is a set-up guy and had nobody to set up. Still led his team in goals and was excellent in the same tourney a year prior as a 16 year old when he had someone to set up - Kulich. The only question for me with him is his effort/motor. How badly does he want it? All the skills are there.

Nadeau seems a little underrated to me as well. Hard to project a guy in the BCHL but the skills are certainly there.

I really like the steady play of Lindstein. Underrated d-man IMO.

Jacob Fowler is a very good goalie IMO. I’d take him in the 2nd.

Nordh is a guy that seems like a good bet to be a solid bottom-6 type. Brings good intangibles. Worth a mid round pick.

If Perron could grow an inch I’d easily put him in the 1st round. Absolutely loved watching him this season. His anticipation was top notch.

 

[CapSpace]

I know you didn’t ask me, but my opinion of But is that he has good tools for his size. He moves very well for a big guy and has a ton of room to grow into his frame. If he learns to incorporate some physicality, he’ll be a force I think.

He has underrated talent but is a very raw prospect so he is hard to project.

Thanks for the answer. Worthy of a late first you think ?

 

[Blueston]

Wahlberg?

yes. thanks. fixed.

 

[TLEH]

You must have massive thumbs

For the love of Hockey… spell check man…

A true HF Hawks legend. Fiddy.

We think its shtick honestly.