With all hockey events over, here is my final top 80 with some player comps for the top 32.
The comps are a mix of style and expected role in the NHL.
For context, a 1W is what I would want a top winger on a team to be, likely paired with a 1C. A 2W is what I would want the second best winger on a team to be, either flanking the 2C or the third member of one of the best 1st lines in the league. A 1D is a player who can elevate a #4 to form a solid top pair (think Weber/Chiarot). A 2D is a player who can elevate a #4 to form a solid second pair (Petry/Edmundson). A 3D still needs to partner with another 1/2/3 to form an effective top 4 pairing (Brett Pesce, Adam Pelech, Filip Hronek, John Klingberg).
I've expanded my tiers from previous years to avoid being too rigid and have a little more nuance within them.
Within tiers, I typically valued low-risk/high-likelihood over swinging for the fences and while I used to have it strictly C>D>W, I've come around to valuing defensem*n a little more outside of the top couple of tiers.
Demidov/Catton/Lindstrom would be my order of preference at 5. They've all been discussed to death, so I'll leave it there.
Connelly is as low as I could reasonably put him but is basically DND for me. Without the question marks he'd be top 12.
At 26, players on my radar include Artamonov, Badinka, Surin, Gridin and Danford.
- Artamonov is a buzzsaw with skill, and proven at the pro level. We've seen the development in both Benson and Brindley from last year. Don't overthink it and make the same mistake twice.
- Badinka at his best reminds me of Reinbacher with a weaker shot. Excellent skating, retrievals and first pass with physicality, length and a high motor. There's a reason he played 33 games in the SHL as a foreigner. Will make some poor reads from time to time though.
- Surin is a complete wrecking ball with above average tools that could play any position up and down a lineup and has an extra gear in the playoffs.
- Gridin, on his good days, reminds me a lot of a smaller version of Slaf. Disruptive stick and great board work to go with high-end vision and shot. Compete level improved a lot towards the end of the year but is still a work in progress.
- Danford is my favorite of the glut of shutdown RHDs in the 20-50 range. He has the best baseline of tools across the board with no weaknesses and a fantastic stick. Great anticipation and IQ as well. Will sacrifice everything to block a shot. Just a beauty.
In the 2nd and 3rd rounds I'm looking mostly at defensem*n. This is a seriously deep class and there are a ton of big, mobile, rangy defensem*n that are worth taking a shot on. Admittedly, my viewings start to decrease significantly from picks 50 onwards, so there are surely some gems both up front and on D that I'm missing. There also weren't any goalies worth considering for a first round pick and I didn't really scout any beyond that, so they did not make the list.
Franchise
1 Macklin Celebrini - 5'11.75 C - Boston University - NCAA - Joe Sakic
2 Ivan Demidov - 5'11 RW - SKA - MHL - Claude Giroux
Low End 1C / 1W / 1D
3 Berkly Catton - 5'10.25 C/W - Spokane - WHL - Artemi Panarin
4 Zeev Buium - 6'0 LD - Denver - NCAA - Adam Fox
5 Cayden Lindstrom - 6'3 C/W - Medicine Hat - WHL - Chris Kreider
2C / 2W / 2D
6 Artyom Levshunov - 6'1.75 RD - Michingan State - NCAA - Mikhail Sergachev
7 Sam Dickinson - 6'2.75 LD - London - OHL - Jeff Petry
8 Tij Iginla - 6'0 LW - Kelowna - WHL - Chris Kunitz
9 Zayne Parekh - 6'0.25 RD - Saginaw - OHL - Mike Green
10 Beckett Sennecke - 6'2.75 RW - Oshawa - OHL - Drake Batherson
11 Carter Yakemchuk - 6'3 RD - Calgary - WHL - Dustin Byfuglien
Middle 6 C / Top 6 W / 3D / 1G
12 Anton Silayev - 6'7 LD/RD - Torpedo - KHL - Nikita Zadorov
13 Konsta Helenius - 5'11 C - Jukurit - Liiga - David Krejci
14 Michael Brandsegg-Nygård - 6'0.75 RW - Mora - Allsvenskan - Patrick Sharp
15 Nikita Artamonov - 5'11 RW - Torpedo - KHL - Brandon Hagel
16 Michael Hage - 6'0.75 C - Chicago - USHL - Ryan Strome
17 Igor Chernyshov - 6'2 LW - Dynamo Moskva - MHL - Jake Debrusk
18 Liam Greentree - 6'2.5 RW - Windsor - OHL - Andre Burakovsky
19 Cole Eiserman - 5'11.75 LW - USNTDP - Jeff Skinner
20 Dominik Badinka - 6'2.75 RD - Malmo - J20 - Brett Pesce
21 Yegor Surin - 6'1 C - Yaroslavl - MHL - Brandon Dubinsky
22 Matvei Gridin - 6'1.5 RW - Muskegon - USHL - Martin Havlat
23 Trevor Connelly - 6'0.75 LW - Tri City - USHL - Jesper Bratt
3C / 4D / Middle 6 W
24 Ben Danford - 6'1.5 RD - Oshawa - OHL - Dan Girardi
25 Stian Solberg - 6'1.5 LD - Valerenga - Norway - Brayden McNabb
26 Alfons Freij - 6'0.5 LD/RD - Växjö - J20 - Nick Leddy
27 Julius Miettinen - 6'3 C - Everett - WHL - Adam Lowry
28 Cole Beaudoin - 6'2 C - Barrie - WHL - Jason Dickinson
29 Sacha Boisvert - 6'2 C/W - Muskegon - USHL - Nick Foligno
30 Andrew Basha - 5'11.25 LW - Medicine Hat - WHL - Alex Newhook
31 Teddy Stiga - 5'10 LW - USNTDP - Joel Farabee
32 EJ Emery - 6'3.25 RD - USNTDP - Brandon Carlo
33 Cole Hutson - 5'10 LD - USNTDP -
34 Adam Jiricek - 6'2 RD - Plzen - Czechia -
35 Jesse Pulkkinen - 6'6 LD - JYP - Liiga -
36 Jett Luchanko - 5'11 C - Guelph - OHL -
37 Maxim Massé - 6'2.25 RW - Chicoutimi - QMJHL -
38 Emil Hemming - 6'1.25 RW - TPS - U20/Liiga -
39 Adam Kleber - 6'5.5 RD - Lincoln - USHL -
40 Harrison Brunicke - 6'2.5 RD - Kamloops - WHL -
41 Charlie Elick - 6'3.25 RD - Brandon - WHL -
42 Linus Eriksson - 6'0 C - Djurgårdens - Allsvenskan -
43 Sam O'Reilly - 6'1.25 C - London - OHL -
44 Miguel Marques - 5'10.25 RW - Lethbridge - WHL -
45 Spencer Gill - 6'3.75 RD - Rimouski - QMJHL -
46 Raoul Boilard - 6'1 C - Baie-Comeau - QMJHL -
47 Terik Parascak - 5'11.75 RW - Prince George - WHL -
48 John Mustard - 6'1 LW - Waterloo - USHL -
49 Ryder Ritchie - 6'0.25 RW - Prince Albert - WHL -
4C / Bottom Pair D / Bottom 6 W / High Risk
50 Henry Mews - 6'0.25 RD - Ottawa - OHL -
51 Matvei Shuravin - 6'2 LD - Krasnaya - MHL -
52 Dean Letourneau - 6'6.5 C - St Andrews - U18 AAA -
53 Tanner Howe - 5'10 RW - Regina - WHL -
54 Adam Jecho - 6'5 RW - Edmonton - WHL -
55 Luke Misa - 5'10 C/LW - Mississauga - OHL -
56 Justin Poirier - 5'8 RW - Baie-Comeau - QMJHL -
57 Marek Vanacker - 6'0 LW - Brantford - OHL -
58 Luca Marrelli - 6'1.5 RD - Oshawa - OHL -
59 Lukas Fischer - 6'3 LD Sarnia - OHL -
60 Daniil Ustinkov - 6'1 LD - Zsc - NL -
61 Will Skahan - 6'4.5 LD - USNTDP -
62 Simon Zether - 6'3 C - Rogle - J20/SHL -
63 Lucas Pettersson - 5'11.5 C - MoDo - J20 -
64 Jacob Battaglia - 6'0.5 RW - Kingston - OHL -
65 Brodie Ziemer - 5'11 RW - USNTDP -
66 Clarke Caswell - 5'11 RW - Swift Current - WHL -
67 Aron Kiviharju - 5'9.5 LD - HIFK - Liiga -
68 Tomas Galvas - 5'10.25 LD - Bili Tygri Liberec - Czechia -
69 Leon Muggli - 6'0.5 LD - Zug - NL -
70 Colton Roberts - 6'3.75 RD - Vancouver - WHL -
71 Tomas Lavoie - 6'4 RD - Cape Breton - QMJHL -
72 Tarin Smith - 6'1.25 LD - Everett - WHL -
73 Leo Sahlin Wellenius - 6'0 LD - Vaxjo - J20 -
74 Noel Fransen - 6'0 LD - Farjestad - J20 -
75 Jakub Fibigr - 6'0 LD - Mississauga - OHL -
76 Heikki Ruohonen - 6'1 C - Kiekko-Espoo - U20 SM-sarja -
77 Kamil Bednarik - 6'0.25 C - USNTDP -
78 Blake Montgomery - 6'4 LW - Lincoln - USHL -
79 Melvin Fernstrom - 6'0.75 RW - Orebro - J20 -
80 Riley Patterson - 6'0.25 RW - Barrie - OHL -
