Kent Johnson, he's a boom or bust prospect. People are always enamored with flash and Johnson possesses all that flash. He possesses elite skills, but his game at the NCAA level was not so elite. The problem was he was showing off his individual skills more than immersing it within a team system. A lot of his assists were secondary assists, as per the Scouching. You cite his BCHL production, but neglect it didn't translate to the NCAA level.
Anaheim has a prospect who scored 131 points in only 66 WHL games. He hasn't translated that game onto the NHL ice for the past three seasons. That player is Sam Steel.
Johnson is a project. If he develops his game within a team game, then he might be the best player in this draft because he's one of the few with elite individual skills. How do I put this... he's got great individual game IQ, but lacking in team game IQ, which gets him into lots of trouble.
IMO, Eklund and McTavish are on the same tier. Then comes the preference of playmaking wing or physically, goal scoring center. Both lack elite skating and both aren't flashy like Kent Johnson. Both played against men. As others have mentioned, the org likes late risers. Eklund's season started off with a blast and then tailed off, largely because he lost a strong center to play with. McTavish, otoh, started off slow in the NL-B, but skyrocketed his production and continued it into the playoffs. He was doing that as a winger. Then he showed off so much more at the WJC-18 as a center, while being team's heart and soul. What gives McTavish a bigger edge is that he had the biggest jump in improvement in his game out of all of the 2021 draftees, even bigger than Olen Zellweger's jump. There's another 2021 draftee that has a late rise to his game after he was traded mid-season to discover untapped offense in D Hinds.
McTavish's mature body really sets him up higher than Eklund, Johnson, and Beniers.
His body is an asset because if he isn't scoring, then he will use his body to help change the game like he did in the WJC-18. His talents allows him to play in so many different situations. I know McTavish plays all three aspects of the game in ES, PP, and PK. Johnson didn't
kill penalties. Beniers plays all three, but mostly more known for his defense. Eklund plays all three, but mostly known for his offense.
McTavish marries the offensive production of Eklund and Johnson, but also adds that physicality and defensive play like a Beniers. I think McTavish is probably the best goal scorer out of the bunch, though. Everything is a gamble, though, but I really like what McTavish brings to the table, which is a lot to help the team win. Murray kept citing he's a great complement to our prospects and that we don't have a player like him in our organization. And the latter is probably why the org chose him over Eklund and Johnson.
