Category: Features

By Zackery Robert

Moving along and away from the east coast we now go back to the west coast and visit the San Jose Sharks, with their inaugural season during the 1991-1992 season the Sharks have been drafting since 1992 and with a little over a 30 years of drafting experience they have had plenty of opportunities to draft players that would help shape their franchise’s history.

When talking about the San Jose Sharks one player that has to be talked about is that of 1997 second overall selection Patrick Marleau. Going in the draft right after Joe Thornton, who would end up being his teammate for many seasons in San Jose, Patrick marleau would turn out to be the longest tenured San Jose Sharks player in their history and he would also turn out to be the one player who broke the all-time games played record which now currently sits at 1,779 games played in the NHL. Marleau had two 80 plus point seasons during his time with the sharks and he helped lead them to the Stanley Cup Final during his time with the club. Marleau was a long time captain of the San Jose Sharks and was their first true star player.

Coming up next is one of the most prolific goal scorers in the history of any American NHL player. Joe Pavelski was drafted in the 7th round 205th overall in the 2003 NHL entry draft by the San Jose Sharks and he made his NHL debut in the 2006-2007 season. Pavelski would play the first 13 years of his career in San Jose where he scored five seasons of 30 plus goals and one season of that he scored his career high of 41 goals. Pavelski was the Sharks first true goal scorer in their franchise’s history. Pavelski would captain the San Jose Sharks as well during his time with the club and would represent the team at multiple All-Star games.

Coming up next we will take a look back at the 2007 draft where the San Jose Sharks held the ninth overall selection and used that pic to select Logan Couture. Making his debut in the 2009-2010 season Couture has been a multiple time 30 plus goal scorer and has reached the 60 plus point plateau five times in his career so far. He is the current captain of the San Jose Sharks and has been with the club for 14 seasons so far. Couture was the Sharks’ number one prospect once drafted and he turned out to be quite the successful pick for the club, he has been consistent throughout his career and has become a fan favourite in San Jose so much so that it would not be hard to believe that once his career has finished he will see his number 39 retired by the San Jose Sharks franchise.

Moving away from fan favourites we will now look towards players who many fans may not have even heard of. We shall first take a look at the 1995 draft where the San Jose Sharks held the 12th pick overall. with this pic the Sharks chose Finnish winger Teemu Riihijarvi. Riihijarvi would continue his career after being drafted in Finland and would never come over to play in North America. After being drafted Riihijarvi would play 11 more seasons before calling it a career, never once playing for the San Jose Sharks. Now this draft was not lined up with a bunch of star-studded players after the 12th overall pick, however there were a multitude of better options for the Sharks to pick at the 12th overall selection. Three examples of better options that they could have picked are Michael Handzus who was chosen in the fourth round 101st overall, he would go on to play 1009 games in the NHL. Another option the Sharks could have picked was Petr Sykora who was chosen with the 18th overall pick, he is a veteran of 1,017 games in the NHL. Finally, a player that could have been picked if they wanted to go on the blue line would have been Stephane Robidas who was drafted 164th overall and ended his career with 937 games played in the NHL.

Moving along we will move only ahead 1 year to the 1996 draft where we saw the San Jose Sharks hold the second overall selection. With that pick the shark selected Russian defenseman Andrei Zyuzin, Zyuzin would go on to play only 81 games for the San Jose Sharks before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a mediocre return. now of course when it comes to defenseman you’re not necessarily looking at them to be putting up close to a point per game or even 50 or more points per game in a season, however being that Zyuzin was such a high pick at second overall you would have hoped for more production during his time on the ice, Zyuzin finished his career with San Jose with those 81 games and only scoring 17 points during that time. Just like the 1995 draft there wasn’t an immense amount of star players taken in this draft, however in this case there was one, if you were to take a look back you would find in the third round at pick number 56, exactly one pick after the San Jose Sharks picked in this round at number 55, you would find the New York Islanders drafting Slovakian defenseman Zdeno Chara. Being in need of a defenseman during this time the Sharks would have been much better off doing more due diligence on Chara and potentially drafting him in this draft to help soften the blow that is this second overall pick.

With one more player to take a look at during this part of the article we will go back to the 1992 draft where the San Jose Sharks held two picks in the top 10 of the draft. With their second pick in the top 10 at number 10 they took this opportunity to draft Russian Winger Andrei Nazarov. Nazarov made his NHL debut in the 1993-1994 NHL season playing one game, he would make a more substantial impact in The Following Season playing 26 games while registering eight points. Nazarov would end up being traded in March of 1998 along with a first round pick in the 1998 draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning for two players plus a first round pick in the 1998 draft, which this particular first rounder would again be traded away at the draft. If this original selection of Nazarov was not bad enough already, the extra edition in which he was traded with certainly makes this much worse. This 1998 first round pick that was traded along with Nazarov to Tampa Bay ended up being the first overall selection in that draft in which Tampa Bay used it to select Quebec Center Vincent Lecavalier. Not only did San Jose only get 169 games out of their 10th overall pick but they also lost out on a future number one Centre in Vincent Lecavalier.

Currently in 2023 the San Jose Sharks are in the midst of a rebuild and are looking towards this upcoming draft holding the fourth overall selection in the first round. The Sharks have a total of 12 picks in this upcoming draft, 1st, 1st (NJ), 2nd, 3rd (CAR), 4th, 4th (COL), 5th, 5th (CBJ), 6th, 7th, 7th, (PIT), 7th (VAN). With this mountain of picks San Jose should look to do quite a bit of damage in this draft and help them speed up this rebuild, however when it comes to the fourth overall pick the San Jose Sharks should use this selection to choose the best available player and in particularity to this draft that would be any of the following three players, Matvei Michkov, Will Smith, Leo Carlsson. Any of these three forwards would add significant help on the offensive side for the Sharks and any of these three players could end up potentially being a star player in the NHL allowing the San Jose Sharks to build around this player along with somebody like William Eklund.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

By Zackery Robert

Staying in the state of Pennsylvania we now move to the steel city, Pittsburgh, the far more successful team in this state in the past fifteen years, Pittsburgh has been one of the luckiest teams in the draft in the past twenty years in terms of talent and it has translated into three Stanley Cups since 2009.

We will first go to the 1984 draft where Pittsburgh drafted one of the greatest players ever. Mario Lemieux was an icon, second to only Gretzky. Lemieux played for the Penguins from 1984 all the way up until 2006, he did Miss time in the late 90s when he was fighting cancer. Mario Lemieux had an illustrious career And only 915 games Mario Lemieux scored over 1700 points His numbers that he put up in his career are unfathomable in today’s age his top three season point totals in his career were 199 points in 1989, 168 points in 1988, and 160 points in 1993. Mario was the captain during the franchises first two Stanley Cup victories and he also captured both of the Conn Smythe trophies, his list of accolades are long, Mario Lemieux has totaled an immense number of 17 individual trophies. Mario Lemieux has six Art Ross trophies for League leader in points during the regular season, he has three Hartt trophies for League MVP, Lemieux also has four Lester B Pearson trophies which are voted on by the NHLPA as best player in the league during the regular season and he has also won the Calder trophy as rookie of the year. This list is unbelievable that it is true and not a made up wikipedia page.

Moving on to another Sensational number one overall pick, we have Sidney Crosby who was taken first overall in 2005 by the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is widely known that Sidney Crosby was a generational player when he came into the league, he scored 102 points in his rookie season and he still did not win the Calder Trophy that year, we will get to the player who did win The Calder Trophy that year a little later down the road in this series. However Crosby is not without accolades both individual and team. Crosby was the captain of three Stanley Cup winning runs with the penguins in which he took two of the Conn Smythe trophies for playoff MVP, Crosby also has two Art Ross trophies, two Hart trophies and three Ted Lindsay trophies to go along with two Rocket Richard two trophies for most goals in the regular season. Crosby has been playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005 and they’re still going strong to this day. He finished this season, his 18th season, with 93 points in 82 games. Crosby is an icon and we’ll go down as one of the greatest players of all time.

Moving on to the third and final player of this part of the article where we discuss some of the franchise’s best ever picks, We now have quite an issue here there are three players in particular who can all end up on this list, those being Jagr, Malkin, and Fleury, they all have tremendous resumes with the Pittsburgh Penguins and all three of these players will go down as one of the best players in league history respectively. one can make a case, a great case, for any of these three players to be on this list, without any one of these three players the Pittsburgh Penguins would not have been as successful franchise as they are today all of these three players will have their jersey numbers retired with the Pittsburgh Penguins once their careers are all set and done and they have retired and all three of these players have left their Mark with the club that will never be forgotten. So who to choose, it really is a tough ordeal when deciding who to select, however for arguments sake i will choose Marc Andre Fleury. Chosen first overall in 2003 Marc Andre Fleury was just what the Penguins needed during that time. Fleury ended up turning out to be a franchise goaltender that was able to help backstop the Pittsburgh Penguins to Stanley Cup victories, during his tenure with the Penguins, Fleury also won 40-plus games in two separate seasons and he also had another six seasons where he won over 30 games. He was as dependable and net as you could ask for during his time with the Penguins, In hockey the toughest position to play is goalie and Marc Andre Fleury made it look easy, almost effortless at times, he was the perfect compliment to the one-two punch of Crosby and Malkin and it showed. Marc Andre Fleury will go down as the greatest Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender of all time and also one of the league’s greatest goalies of all time.

Now moving away from the good we now go to some of the picks that can be categorised as not so good, first off we will start at the 2012 draft where the Penguins held the eighth pick in the draft. With that 8th pick the Penguins chose Portland Winterhawks defenseman Derrick Pouliot. Pouliot would struggle to gain ice time and NHL, during his time with the penguins organisation between 2012 to 2017 Derrick Pouliot played 67 games, And in those 67 games he amassed 14 points. He was subsequently traded away in October of 2017 to the Vancouver Canucks for a very little return. for an eighth overall pick Pouliot did not live up to his potential, since leaving Pittsburgh he has still struggled to maintain season in and season out ice time in the NHL and since leaving Pittsburgh he has played on five different NHL teams most recently with the San Jose Sharks where he slit time in the NHL and AHL.

We will now take a look at when a second overall pick did not go to Pittsburgh Penguins way, in their first ever draft in 1967 the Pittsburgh Penguins held the second overall pick and chose goalie Steve Rexe. Rexe would go on to play no games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and no games in the NHL. After being selected in 1967 Rexe would go on to play in an Ontario Hockey League as well as in the EHL, AHL, and NAHL, before retiring at the end of the 1977 season.

Now coming back into the 21st century we will fast forward all the way back to the 2007 draft where the Pittsburgh Penguins held the 20th overall pick and use that pick to choose Angelo Esposito. Esposito would go on to have a very short tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins only staying one year in their franchise before being traded away to the Atlanta Thrashers franchise however his career never flourished in North America never getting above the AHL level and after 5 years in North America he took his talents over to Scandinavia and Europe playing in the Finnish Elite League, as well as the Austrian League and the Italian A league.

Moving on to the 2023 Pittsburgh Penguins we see them not making the playoffs for the first time in over 15 years and with that they hold the 14th overall pick in this upcoming NHL entry draft. The Penguins hold a total of six picks in this draft 1st, 3rd (NJ), 5th, 6th, 7th (FLA), 7th (TOR) and this is actually quite good news for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they have one of the worst prospect pipelines out of all the NHL, one of the only downsides to being a Powerhouse for over 15 years, nevertheless the future looks quite bleak for the Pittsburgh Penguins once their big three have all hung up their skates. So the obvious choice for the Penguins when it comes to their 14th overall selection in the NHL entry draft is to choose the best available player, for the Penguins this could mean any of these three potential players, Matthew Wood, Nate Danielson, or Otto Stenberg. All good quality forwards who can amount to being a very good top six player.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

Top 10 Goaltenders in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

By Isaiah Bouchard

The 2023 NHL entry draft is getting ever closer to hockey fans, and the excitement fans have for who their teams are going to draft this year is ever higher as the regular seasons across the globe are coming to an end, and playoff season is just around the corner. And there is a lot for fans to be excited for this year, as the draft is looking like one of the strongest in years.

Connor Bedard is looking increasingly like a franchise-level player, rivaling the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Nathan Mackinnon, Austin Matthews, and Connor McDavid. Adam Fantilli would have been a first-overall pick in arguably the last six drafts, Leo Carlsson is the next big center to come out of Sweden, and he is a must-grab in the top 5. And, of course, there is the Russian sniper: Matvei Michkov, who, despite being signed to the KHL until 2026, is so good that any team picking in the top 5 will be more than willing to wait for the Russian star.

But after the big 4 in this year’s draft, who fills out the remaining slots is always an exciting mystery come draft day. Teams must allocate their scouting resources to best support the organization’s roster on draft day. Who needs the top defensemen? Say, over-the-top sniper or goaltender? That is why we at DraftPro are excited to present an in-depth look at every position and who best thrives in that position. Who is the best sniper? The best power forward? offensive defensemen? Hopefully, after this 8-part series, all these questions will be answered.

Seven DraftPro scouts were asked their top 5-7 players for the following positions: sniper, playmaker, two-way forward, power forward, offensive defenseman, defensive defenseman, two-way defenseman, and goaltender. Their lists were recorded separately, and then once all seven scouts handed in their lists, their results were compared to one another. The final lists you read here determined the average each player placed. This is not a ranking of the best players overall, simply a ranking of who is the best for each given position. Players may be placed on multiple lists, as many players are not one-dimensional, and can not be forced into one category.

Thank you to the following scouts for providing their lists: Jared Brown, Matt Hnatiuk, Tyler Karoway, Andrew LeBlanc, Murray Caldwell, Andy Miller, and Jody Horak.

The last line of defense, the goaltender is the most crucial player on any team in pretty much every sport. I feel the need to just jump into the top ten now because who doesn’t know what a goalie is? If this is the first time you are hearing about sports, then the goalie is the guy who protects the net. In hockey, the net is pretty small, and the goalies tend to be very big. This sounds easy, but they do have frozen rocks being shot at them at 100mph, so it evens out.

There will only be one list for the goaltenders, a total summary of the 10 best goalies in the 2023 NHL Draft Class. If you want to know who were the three best ‘high and low coverage’ goalies, ‘battler/second chance’ goalies, and ‘positional’ goalies, check out our “Best in Class” article, accessible in our Draft Preview Magazine!

First, our honorable mentions: Noah Vali, Daniel Hauser, and Thomas Milic.

Carsen Musser, College of Colorado, NCAA, #137-157 overall (5th Round).

“Extremely quick and mobile down low, has great agility, excellent hockey senses, and can communicate with teammates. Has strong arms that can propel pucks up boards or out for passes. Very mobile moving across the crease, and recovery is amazing for a big guy.” – Murray Caldwell.

Starting off our list of goaltenders, we have Carsen Musser, 6’4″ and over 210 lbs! And as Caldwell mentioned, Musser is not held back by speed whatsoever. While his stats leave something to be admired, his win-loss records are pretty good. He has all the tools to succeed, so he can’t be dismissed by poor stats alone. A fine goalie to invest in.

Rhett Stoesser, Red Deer Rebels, WHL, #155-175 overall (5th-6th Round)

“Quick pad reflexes, foot speed, excellent recovery, gets square to shooters after making a save, plays with poise at the top of the blue, confidence to hold his ground, makes key saves, controls movement on laterals, lets the puck come to him, absorbs puck to the body, deflects pucks out of play, redirects pucks to teammates, stops pucks behind the net, has a strong stick, and he can pass.” – Murray Caldwell.

This may surprise some, as Stoesser is ranked pretty low in the rankings, but Stoesser received a lot of love from our scouts. Particularly Murray Caldwell and Tyler Karoway. And when looking at him objectively, he does offer a lot. He’s also 6’3”, which is always a good sign for a goalie, meaning he doesn’t come with many downsides. His only real downside is that he is not quite a high-caliber goalie as of right now. But as Murray has shown, Stoesser has a high ceiling, making him a potentially significant investment for teams picking in the later rounds and a hidden gem in this draft.

Yegor Zavragin, Mamonty Yugry, MHL, #104-124 overall (4th Round).

“Shows potential to be one of the biggest steals late in this draft. As one of the youngest players, Zavragin shows incredible maturity and poise between the pipes.” – Andrew LeBlanc.

Standing at the well-preferred height of 6’2″, Zavragin has great stats in the Russian AAA leagues, and his stats in the MHL are just as good. If LeBlanc’s analysis is accurate, and Zavragin has excellent poise for a young player, then that is a quality that should carry around tons of excitement. Goalies who can keep themselves calm and keep themselves in a healthy mindset will do leaps and bounds better than all the others. Mental clarity is where it is at for goaltenders, so Zavragin’s early developments are intriguing, to say the least.

Thomas Suchanek, Tri-City Americans, WHL, #93-113 overall (3rd-4th Round).

“Such an athletically quick goalie who is fast to get over side-to-side. He battles hard in his crease, and his quick hands and legs allow him to come up with some big saves when it would’ve appeared that he was down and out.” – Jared Brown.

One just needs to see Suchanek’s highlights at World Juniors to see why he is so fun to watch. Regarding pure talent, Suchanek is one of the best in the draft. This talent sprouted late, however, or perhaps scouts are just waking up to this kid’s skill because he is a bit older than the others on this list at 19 years old. More senior players will always be overlooked in the draft rankings, but sometimes they are just so good that they can no longer be denied. And that is precisely the case we have with Suchanek.

Jacob Fowler, Boston College, NCAA, #114-134 overall (4th-5th Round).

“He makes himself big and takes away a lot of net. He controls rebounds and has an excellent glove hand.” – Jody Horak.

Having a 27-9-3 record with the Youngstown Phantoms this season, Fowler is undoubtedly a good goalie. He has yet to play a single season in his entire career with a save percentage of under .920. These are great stats, and Fowler also holds himself well in high-pressure situations. So far in his career, he doesn’t bring up many downsides. It’s telling just how underrated the goalies are this year if a guy like Fowler can’t crack the top 5.

Scott Ratzlaff, Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL, #91-101 overall (3rd-4th Round).

“A goaltender who has been hot and cold this year. His puck tracking seems to be his biggest hit-or-miss skill. When he’s on, he’s on, and when he’s not, wow. His positioning is often very good, and he is very capable of moving himself quickly into a position to make key saves. He’s a goaltender that may be a bit of a project or a handful of years away from becoming an NHLer, but he has all of the tools in his kit to become someone we see on a consistent basis.” – Matt Hnatiuk.

Playing on such a dominant team in the WHL right now, it’s fair to say Ratzlaff is a big reason for the Thunderbird’s success. He also absolutely dominated in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2022, where he put up almost a .980 save percentage in 4 games. He undoubtedly has potential, loads of it, but right now, he seems to be remaining on the junior level. That awkward stage of not being ready for AHL-level play but being too good in the CHL. By next year, he will likely be going far with Seattle again, and we will see just how much he can grow and develop in one year’s time.

Adam Gajan, University of Minnesota-Duluth, NCAA, #66-76 overall (3rd Round).

“Athletic, agile goaltender who excels playing the butterfly style and has great reflexes and flexibility.” – Jody Horak.

Another tall goalie, Gajan, stands at 6’4″ and weighs a little over 170 lbs. His lighter weight allows him to coast around the net easily, which makes him a highly effective goalie. If one can master the butterfly technique and couple it with good skating and reflexes, you pretty much have a top goaltender right there. He has played throughout Europe and America and plans to settle in the NCAA until he is ready for NHL/AHL action. Right now, Gajan’s only downside is his one-dimensional play, at least considered one-dimensional compared to others on this list. But as he grows and develops, he will likely find the confidence to spread his wings and develop new techniques. But right now, his size and speed will still bring him much success.

Michael Hrabal, Omaha Lancers, USHL, #65-75 overall (3rd Round).

“Hrabal is a huge goaltender that struggled to start the season. However, he has turned it on as of late, and while his numbers may not look the best, his peripherals show he’s a top-tier goaltender.” – Andrew LeBlanc.

Yeah, he is a huge goaltender, as he currently stands at 6’6″. That easily makes him the biggest player on this list, maybe the biggest player overall in the draft. But size isn’t everything, which Hrabal sadly proved at the start of this season, as LeBlanc mentions. But one only needs to see his performance at the World Juniors, where he put up a respectable .920 save percentage despite being on a losing team. Hrabal was mentioned by practically all of our scouts, and he is undoubtedly a top 5 goalie in this draft. It will be interesting to see Hrabal develop and witness how he will utilize his size in his developing play style.

Trey Augustine, Michigan State University, NCAA, #52-62 overall (2nd Round).

“He is a very focused goaltender who is a calming influence on his team. Augustine skates well and does not move excessively, and he has very good vision on the ice. He is one of the top two goaltenders available in this draft.” – Andy Miller.

Positioning and vision are the names of the game for Augustine. Augustine has one of the best heads on him and arguably the best poise out of all the goaltenders. I mentioned earlier just how important poise is for goalies, so Augustine’s bountiful amount of it makes him intriguing for all scouts. Out of the 9 World Juniors games he had this year, he went 9 and 1. For Augustine, stats like save percentage and goals against average are not so telling of who he is as a player compared to his wins, just how many wins he has, and his consistently good win/loss record. He plays to win and is one of the most technically sound goalies in the draft. It was closer than one would expect as to where Augustine would place on this list, as he was such a reliable goalie that he was almost placed #1, but one goalie offers a little more…

Carson Bjarnason, Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL, #48-58 overall (2nd Round).

“A skilled goaltender who has been at or near the top of the rankings (for goalies) all season long. His ability to read plays, be in the right position and make key saves for his team is always very noticeable. He has excellent movement and always seems to have himself right where he needs to be each time.” – Matt Hnatiuk.

It’s a close call between Bjarnason and Augustine, but Bjarnason offers a little more razzle-dazzle. What does that? Well, Bjarnason is a bit more athletic, faster, and tenacious while still having excellent vision and positioning. Augustine’s positioning is better, which is a significant factor in determining a goalie’s efficiency, but Bjarnason’s positioning is not bad enough. In fact, it’s not bad at all. Bjarnason is the goalie to grab this year, as he offers just too much pure skill. Out of the six scouts who voted on the best goaltender: 4 voted him as the #1 goalie, 1 voted him #2, and 1 voted him #3. So it’s fair to say there is a solid consensus on Bjarnason’s place at the #1 spot. It’s going to be scary to imagine this guy as a seasoned goalie in the NHL. Everything skill he has dictates he will be a long-lasting centerpiece for the NHL for years to come. But for now, Carson Bjarnason of the Brandon Wheat Kings can say he is the best goaltender in the 2023 NHL draft class.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

By Zackery Robert

Moving on to the City of Brotherly Love we now check on the Broad Street Bullies better known as the Philadelphia Flyers. Drafting since 1967 the Philadelphia Flyers made some great choices in their time that have helped them win two Stanley Cups in the 1970s.

We will start out in the 1969 draft where Philadelphia had the 17th selection in the second round and chose Bobby Clarke. Now this selection here gained Philadelphia their face of the franchise, if you were to ask people who the greatest Philadelphia Flyers of all time a vast majority of them would choose Bobby Clarke. Clarke would play his entire 15-year career with the Philadelphia Flyers, he would win three Hart trophies one Lester B. Pearson Trophy and one Selke trophy. Clarke would end his career with 1210 points in 1144 games played. He would Captain the Flyers to their two Stanley Cup victories in the 1970s and would be honoured with his number 16 being retired by the Philadelphia Flyers on November 15th 1984.

Moving along we will now take a look at the 1972 draft where the Flyers held the seventh pick overall and chose a player who wore number seven during his career, Bill Barber. Playing between 1972 to 1984 Barber was one of the top Flyers players during the 70s and early 80s. With five 40 plus goal seasons, one of those reaching the hollowed 50 goal plateau, Barber was a lethal threat year in and year out to put pucks in the net. Scoring 25 points in 34 games combined during the 74 and 75 Stanley Cup winning playoffs Barber was a counted on source for the Flyers’ success.

For the final high flyer we will go to a pretty obvious one, technically he was not a flyers draft pick but he refused to sign or play for the Quebec Nordiques so he was subsequently traded to the Flyers to begin his NHL career. Eric Lindros was the first overall pick in the 1991 draft and he was touted as the next generational player. It was Gretzky then Lemieux and now Lindros and he sure came out with a bang. Lindros scored 75 points in 61 games in his rookie year, notching 41 goals in the process. He would stay with the Flyers for eight years until losing out on a full season in 2000-2001 due to injury and then was traded in the summer of 2001 to the Rangers. During his eight years with Philadelphia he was a dominant force, standing at 6 ‘4 and 230 pounds Lindros was the archetype of a power forward. In his eight seasons in Philly he always had over a point per game and in the 1994-1995 season he finished with 115 points and won the Lester B. Pearson and Hart trophies as the league MVP. He scored four seasons of 40 plus goals and had two other 90 plus point seasons, both seasons he missed 10 plus games as well. Lindros was a phenom and unfortunately we never got to see his true potential realized long term due to the terrible injuries he suffered throughout his career. On January 18th 2018 the Flyers retired Lindros’ jersey to cement him as one of the greatest Flyers of all time.

Moving along to picks that did not age like fine wine, first we will go back to a pretty recent draft in 2017 where the Flyers won the lottery to move up to the second spot in the draft. Picking Nolan Patrick who was touted as the number one prospect for quite some time before Nico Hischier took over and was the first overall selection. Patrick has not had it easy so far in his career, riddled with injuries and sub par performance when not injured, it is beginning to look like Patrick’s full potential will not be realised at the NHL level. Patrick played from 2017-2021 with the Flyers before being traded to the Nashville Predators for Ryan Ellis. In his three seasons Patrick played at most 73 games and his career high was 31 points. He scored a total of 70 points in 197 games for the Flyers. 2017 had names like Cale Makar at pick four and Miro Heiskanen at pick three and Elias Pettersson at pick five and Martin Necas at pick 12, so this pick could have had an immense upside that was missed.

Moving along to 2013 the Flyers were picking just outside the top ten at number 11 and chose massive 6 ‘6 winger Samuel Morin. Morin struggled mightily to gain traction in the NHL finally playing one regular season game in the NHL in the 2016-2017 season but would not return until next season for two games. He would gain another 26 NHL games before finishing his career. In his total 29 games he scored one goal. This pick was heavily scrutinised as time went on and it just did not age well looking back, especially as the next five picks from this 2013 draft are all NHL regulars to this day.

Another player who struggled to gain traction for the Flyers was that of 1999 first round pick Maxime Ouellet. He was a goalie elected 22nd overall in 1999 and went on to play two games for the Flyers, gaining no wins, and would spend the rest of his time with the franchise in the minor league. He would be traded along with many other assets to the Washington Capitals in March of 2002 for Adam Oates, Oates would however only play 14 games for the club before leaving in free agency for Anaheim. Ouellet’s tenure was just an all around bust for the Flyers, choosing a goalie is always risky, but it is even higher risk when it is done in the first round, and unfortunately this pick did not pan out.

Furthermore, never looking back and always looking forward we will move away from the past and move to the present, where we see the 2023 Philadelphia Flyers selecting at the number seven spot in this year’s draft, in total the Flyers have nine picks in this years draft, 1st, 3rd (NYR), 3rd (FLA), 4th, 4th (EDM), 5th, 6th, 6th, (OTT), 7th. Currently the Flyers do not have a whole heck of a lot when it comes to top tier prospects, their best is last year’s fifth overall pick Cutter Gauthier and he looks to be a solid A level prospect putting up 37 points in 32 games for Boston College last season. Other than that there isn’t much to write home about so at number seven Philly should pick the best available player. So any of Dvorsky, Moore or Leonard would be great additions to their team moving forward, all high quality and high offensive forwards that will help Philadelphia move toward being a playoff contending team in the future once again.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

By Zackery Robert

Across the river from the big apple we go and onwards into the capital of Canada we will take a look at the Ottawa Senators and their draft day history.

Ottawa had their first draft back in 1992 and from there on they have made some big selections that have helped shape the history of their franchise. To start off we will take a look at the 1994 draft where in the sixth round at pick 133 the Ottawa Senators chose their franchise’s greatest player Daniel Alfredsson. Coming into the NHL for the 1995-1996 season Daniel Alfredsson put up an impressive 61 points in 82 games to win the Calder trophy as rookie of the year in 1996. Alfredsson would go on to have a very successful career as a Senator, he would hit the 100 point mark once in his career in 2005-2006 and would finish his career with the Senators with 1108 points in 1178 games. He would play one more year before retirement with the Red Wings but would sign a one day contract to retire as a Senator. On December 29th 2016 Alfredsson became the first Ottawa Senator to have his jersey retired by the franchise.

Next up we go to the 2001 draft where after Ilya Kovalchuk went number one, Ottawa was up at number two and chose their first line centre for the next 10 plus years Jason Spezza. Playing in Ottawa between 2002-2014 Spezza was a fan favourite and one of their biggest weapons during that time. He had four seasons of over a point per game with his career high in 2008 of 92 points. Spezza was a two time all star in 2008 and 2012 and he will most certainly have his number retired by Ottawa when his career is all said and done.

Finishing off some of the best, we will look at the 2008 draft where the Senators held the 15th pick and went on to choose one of the best defenseman of the 21st century Erik Karlsson. Karlsson would play for the Senators from 2009-2018 and in that time he would cement himself as one of the top defenseman in the league. He won two Norris trophies during his time in Ottawa in 2012 and 2015 and went into five all star games and was a four time first all team player during his time in Ottawa.

Moving on to pics that were not the best for Ottawa we will stop at the 1993 draft where Ottawa held the first overall pick. With having the franchise’s first ever first overall pick in this draft they took the opportunity to select Alexandre Daigle. Daigle was a bad choice for first overall for a myriad of reasons, one is work ethic was not consistent, two is point production for Ottawa was not where it needed to be when selected as a first overall forward and three, there were two years he did not play to pursue other endeavours. It does not look like hockey was taken very seriously given that two year gap.

Moving along we stopped at the 1998 draft where Ottawa held the 15th overall pick and chose goaltender Mathieu Chouinard. Chouinard would defer, through lack of appropriate contract and go back into the NHL draft for the year 2000 and be selected this time in the second round at the 45th selection by none other than the Ottawa Senators once again. Once Chouinard was finally his pro career for the Senators virtually ended. Chouinard played one game in the NHL for the Los Angeles Kings in 2003-2004 playing in two minutes of action and facing two shots in that time. After that Chouinard played the rest of his career in the IHL, AHL, ECHL and a brief stop in the LNAH league, finally retiring at the end of the 2006 season.

Finishing off we will head to the 2002 draft where Ottawa held the 16th pick and went with Jakub Klepis. Klepis never even had the opportunity to suit up for Ottwa in any capacity because in 2003 he was traded away to the Buffalo Sabres for Vaclav Varada and a fifth round pick who was eventually Tim Cook and they never played in the NHL. The return they got for a mid round first round pick was pitiful, Varada played in parts of three seasons for the Ottawa Senators, scoring 39 points in 117 games played. This selection ended up being a waste because there was nothing that came out of drafting Klpeis with the 16th overall pick, there were plenty of more Worthy prospects to select at that pick, some that may even have given some value back to Ottawa through their play rather than just being traded away for a player who scored a mere 39 points in those 117 games and then went to take his skills over to Europe the following season.

However the current day Ottawa Senators are looking up, quite up to be certain, Ottawa has made some very high value trades in the past few seasons acquiring players like Alex Debrincat and Jakob Chychrun, as well as drafted a few highly talented players and defenseman Jake Sanderson and Center Tim Stutzle. With their core relatively young and on the higher side of talent Ottawa looks to be a potential threat in the years to come. This will come as good news to Ottawa Senator fans as if they were to look at what their team has for picks in this upcoming draft, one of the deepest drafts in terms of talent over the past 10 years, they would cry. Ottawa does not select currently until the fourth round of this coming entry draft and after that Ottawa will look to select once in the fifth round and three times in the 7th round. Not too often do a franchise find that high Talent player this deep in the draft but crazier things have happened. Given that Ottawa will make their first selection in the fourth round around pick number 108 a couple players that may be available that they should take a look at are goalie Jacob Fowler and right wing Connor Levis.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

By Zackery Robert

Staying in the big apple we will now take a look at the Rangers franchise and their draft day history. Drafting since 1963 the Rangers have had some success but not as much as you may think through the draft in their history.

To start it off we will talk about a few good picks they did make during their history. In 1986 the Rangers made one of their most prolific picks in their history. With the ninth selection in the 1986 draft the Rangers chose Franchise defenseman Brian Leetch. Leetch was an offensive dynamo for the Rangers during his day, he was the last defenseman, until Erik Karlsson this season, to hit the 100 point mark, Leetch won two Norris trophies with the Rangers in 1992 and 1997 and was the Conn Smythe winner in 1994 for the Rangers’ one and only cup win, Leetch had 34 points in 23 games played in that run. He was captain of the New York Rangers between 1997-2000 and when Leetch retired, the New York Rangers retired his number two at MSG on January 28th 2008.

Moving on to the Millenium and the 2000 NHL entry draft. The Rangers waited until the seventh round to select their franchise goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Even though it took Lundqvist until the 2005-2006 season to make his North American debut for the Rangers it was worth the wait. He ended his rookie season with 30 wins and a 922 save percentage and that was only the beginning of king Henrik’s reign over the net. Lundqvist would go on to win 459 games and grab one Vezina trophy in 2012 for good measure. He was the backbone for the Rangers for 15 years and they never had to worry about who was their starter. He brought the Rangers to the Stanley Cup final but was unable to capture the elusive Stanley Cup. However, the mark he left on the franchise and the city was unmatched and will not be matched anytime soon. He was cemented in Rangers legacy on January 28th 2002 with his number 30 sent up into the rafters of Madison Square Garden.

The final player to talk about for this part of the article is 1985 draftee, Mike Richter. Richter was drafted in the second round 28th overall and became the permanent starting goalie for the Rangers after they traded John Vanbiesbrouck to the Vancouver Canucks at the end of the 1993 season. Richter would go on to backstop the Rangers to their only Stanley Cup in Franchise history in 1994. He would end up retiring at the end of the 2003 season. Richter would finish his career only playing with the Rangers and registering 301 wins in the process. He would get his jersey number 35 retired by the Rangers on February 4th 2004.

Now moving away and on to players who never panned out for the Rangers. Starting in the 1990 where the Rangers used their 13th overall selection to draft defenseman Michael Stewart. Now Stewart would play two more years at Michigan State before turning pro and when he did he never got above the AHL level. He spent some time in the IHL as well before taking his skills overseas and playing in the DEL league and in Austria until his retirement from pro hockey at the end of the 2010 season. He never once laced up the skates for the Rangers in a regular season game. Some notable players drafted after Stewart in the 1990 draft would be Keith Tkachuk 19th overall, Martin Brodeur 20th overall and Felix Potvin 31st overall.

Moving further into the 90s we have the 1996 draft where the Rangers held pick number 22 and used it to select defenseman Jeff Brown. Just like Stewart, Brown would take two more years after his draft before turning pro and when he did it was a lot of the same as Stewart never getting above the AHL level in North America. Brown would play in the AHL, UHL, ECHL, and then over in Europe he would play in the BISL until coming back to North America until retirement at the end of the 2007 season.

Moving only one year later to the 1997 draft, the Rangers hold pick 19 and use it on forward Stefan Cherneski. Cherneski would have the same trajectory as the two former players spoken about above. After turning pro at the beginning of the 1998 season Cherneski would only play for three seasons between 1998-2001 before hanging up his skates and all those games were for the affiliate of the Rangers organisation, the Hartford Wolf Pack. A couple other options the Rangers could have gone for that would have panned out given history would have been, Scott Hannan drafted 23rd overall, Brenden Morrow drafted 25th overall, and Brian Campbell drafted 156th overall.

Now flash forward to the 2023 Rangers and you will see a team with a lot of upside to them. They have a top five goalie, some top forwards and a top five defenseman in the league, and with nine first round picks since 2017 the Rangers look to be pretty set up. However due to their lacklustre development of their prospects many of those top picks have either stumbled out of the gate and been traded away or are struggling to develop their game in the Rangers’ system. It is a scary sign for any prospect to see this.

Looking towards the 2023 draft the Rangers hold four picks in the draft this year, 1st, 3rd (COL), 6th, 6th (WPG). With their early exit in the Playoffs the Rangers could expect a pick in the first round around the 22nd spot. Looking at who could be potentially available at that spot the Rangers could choose Gavin Brindley, Ethan Gauthier or Hunter Brzustewicz. Given their development trends over the past 5-8 years what would be best for the Rangers would be to take the best available player with the most natural talent so there is less need for development and more of just some seasoning either in juniors or college until they’re ready to make an impact for the Rangers.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

By Zackery Robert

Moving on to the city that never sleeps, we will stop here for two different teams and first up is the New York Islanders. The Islanders were a force in the ’80s winning four Stanley Cups, they have been drafting since 1972 and have drafted quite a few good players in their time.

First up we will take a look at the 1973 draft where the New York Islanders held the first overall pick and chose defenseman Denis Potvin. Denis Potvin was successful right out of the gate for the New York Islanders. He won the Calder trophy for rookie of the year in 1974 and he would go on to win three Norris trophies as the league’s top defenseman in 1976 1978 and 1979. Potvin would be a part of the Islanders Dynasty in the ’80s helping them capture four Stanley Cups. Potvin played 1,060 games in the NHL, all for the Islanders, and in those games he amassed 1,052 points. Potvin had a career high of 101 points in a single season during the 1978-1979 season. Potvin would play in the NHL from 1973 until his retirement at the end of the 1988 season. and on February 1st 1992 the New York Islanders retired Denis Potvin’s jersey in front of the New York Islanders fans.

Coming up next we stay in the 70s and we look at the 1974 draft where in the second round the New York Islanders selected Bryan Trottier with the 22nd overall pick in that 1974 draft. Trottier would play with the Islanders from 1975 until the end of the 1990 season and during that time Trottier would help the Islanders secure their forced Stanley Cups in the 1980s. Trottier would also have quite the personally successful time with the Islanders, he won the Calder trophy in 1976, he also won the Hart trophy and Art Ross trophy in the 1978-1979 season, he scored 134 points in 76 games. Trottier also won the Conn Smythe in the 1980 playoffs as playoff MVP. Trottier scored a total of 1353 points in 1123 games for the New York Islanders, and on October 20th 2001 the New York Islanders retired Trottier’s number 19.

For this last choice of best Islanders draft picks we will head to 1977 in the first round at pick number 15 where the New York Islanders selected Mike Bossy. Due to injuries Bossy would only end up playing 752 games in the NHL between 1977 and 1987 but in those 752 games Bossy scored an impressive 573 goals and 553 assists for a total of 1126 points. Between 1977 and 1986 Mike Bossy would not end a season under 51 goals, so for a full nine years Mike Bossy was one of the most feared goal scorers in the NHL. Bossy would win the Calder trophy in 1978 and the Conn Smythe trophy in 1982. Bossy would also win three Lady Byng trophies in 1983, 1984, and 1986. Due to injuries Mike Bossy would retire at the end of the 1987 season, he would subsequently be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 and have his jersey number 22 retired by the New York Islanders on March 3rd 1992.

Moving on to pics that the New York Islanders would like to forget we will start in the 2012 draft where the New York Islanders held the 4th overall pick and chose Griffin Reinhart. Reinhart was touted as the best defenseman in that draft class and had a lot of potential, but when he hit the ice he was never able to meet that potential. Reinhart played in only 37 games in his NHL career scoring only 2 points in that time. He was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 2015 for a first round pick which ended up being Current Islanders star Mathew Barzal so that would have been the peak of good that Reinhart did for the organization. When in Edmonton it did not get any easier for Reinhart to play in the NHL so he left North America at the end of the 2018-2019 season and went to play in the KHL, and the DEL league and the EIHL.

Next up we will move to the 2014 NHL entry draft where the New York Islanders held the fifth overall pick and chose forward Michael Dal Colle. Now Dal Colle had quite a lot of potential going into the NHL entry draft, he was a big body that had quite the offensive upside. However none of that offensive upside has been able to translate over into the NHL to date as Dal Colle has only played in 112 games since being drafted and has scored only 21 points in those games. Currently Dal Colle is in the Finnish Elite League playing for TPS Turku where in his first season he scored a total of 19 points in 36 games. It is safe to say that this pick did not turn out the way the New York Islanders had hoped for.

Finally we will take a look at the 1994 draft where the New York Islanders held the ninth overall pick. In this draft the Islanders drafted Lindros but not the one that you are probably thinking of, but his brother Brett. Now Brett did not have all of the hype that his brother Eric had to be fair but the reason he ends up on this list is because he was drafted ninth overall and was only able to play in 51 games overall and scoring seven points in those 51 games. Putting the name aside this would be quite the disappointing outcome for any 9th overall pick in the draft, Lindros was not able to gain traction in the NHL and after the 1996 season Lindros retired and did not play anymore professional hockey. There were many better options for the Islanders to pick at this time in the draft, players like Patrik Elias who was drafted in the second round or players who were drafted just a few picks after Lindros such as Ethan Moreau or Mattias Ohlund both drafted within the next five picks after Lindros.

Currently the New York Islanders are looking for answers after a fairly disappointing season, unable to make it past the first round of the playoffs they find themselves looking towards the NHL entry draft where they will have to wait until the second round to make their first selection. The Islanders hold five picks in this upcoming draft and with their first pick being in the second round they will look to draft somewhere around pick 49. In fact the Islanders have not held a first round draft pick since 2019 so their Prospect pool could be headed for some dangerous grounds if they do not select in the first round soon. being that their first pick is going to be in the mid second round range their best bet would be to take the best available player at that time. They do not need a goalie currently so two players that could be of great help to the Islanders in the future around that mid second round range could be winger Quentin Musty or defenseman Caden Price.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

By Zackery Robert

Now, moving on to the land where Bruce Springsteen calls home, we will now take a look at the New Jersey Devils and their draft day history. The New Jersey Devils began drafting in the NHL in 1982 and have had some great selections during their time up on the clock.

To begin we will look back at the 1990 draft where the New Jersey Devils possibly made their most crucial draft choice ever when they selected Martin Brodeur in the first round. Brodeur has gone down as an all-time Legend and the all-time wins leader in the NHL he played all but one of his Parts of 22 seasons with the New Jersey Devils, capturing three Stanley Cups during his time with the organisation. Martin Brodeur took home the Calder trophy as the league’s top rookie during his rookie season and he went on to win four Vezina trophies and five Jennings trophies as the league’s top goalie. Brodeur would tally eight 40 plus win seasons for the Devils and would go to seven All Star games during his tenure with the team as well. Martin Brodeur would go down winning a total of 691 games to obtain the record for most wins in league history, of which Brodeur won 688 of those games in a New Jersey Devils sweater. Martin Brodeur would have his jersey retired on February 9th 2016 in the Prudential Center in front of the New Jersey Devils fans.

Coming up next we will go back in time to the 1982 draft where the New Jersey Devils would select Ken Daneyko with the 18th pick in the first round. Daneyko spent his entire 20 year career with the New Jersey Devils, he was a part of the team’s three Stanley Cup winning seasons and he also won the Bill Masterton trophy in 2000. Daneyko was a hard-hitting tough nosed defensive defenseman for the Devils, playing alongside the likes of Scott Stevens made the New Jersey Devils a formidable force on the blue line and that most certainly helped them capture those three Stanley Cups between 1995-2003. Upon his retirement at the end of the 2003 season the New Jersey Devils retired Ken Daneyko’s Jersey on March 24th 2006.

Moving along and back into the 90s we will look at the 1994 draft Where in the second round at pick number 51 the New Jersey Devils selected one of their all-time greatest forwards Patrik Elias. Elias would play for the New Jersey Devils between 1995 and 2016 before retiring with the club, at the time of his retirement Elias held the record for most points in a single season for a New Jersey Devils player and he also played a crucial role in helping the New Jersey Devils to capture their second and third Stanley Cups and 2000 and 2003. As previously mentioned Elias held the Devils’ single season record for most points scored with 96 points in the 2000-2001 season, a record that held up until just this season. Elias would be honoured by the New Jersey Devils and have his jersey number 26 retired at the Prudential Center on February 24th 2018 in front of the New Jersey Devils faithful.

Moving on from the greatest Devils to the not so greatest Devils we will go back to the 1982 draft where the Devils began their draft day history. The devil’s held the eighth overall pick in that draft and chose centre Rocky Trottier. Trottier would go on to play in only 38 games in his NHL career all with the Devils. After leaving the NHL in 1985 Trottier would go on to play in the AHL and overseas in the Swedish Elite League and in the German league. Trottier would retire with a total of 10 points in those 38 NHL games played with the Devils.

Staying in the ’80s, we are going to take a look at the 1986 draft where the New Jersey Devils held the third overall pick in that draft and chose centre Neil Brady. After getting drafted Brady would begin his pro career in the 1988 1989 season and would spend the next four seasons with the New Jersey Devils organisation before moving on via trade with the Ottawa Senators in which the return for Brady in that trade was future considerations. Brady would only play 29 of his 89 games with the New Jersey Devils and in that time Brady scored two goals and four assists for a total of six points in those 29 games. Brady would amass a total points of 31 in those 89 games in the NHL. After a brief stint with the Dallas Stars in the 1994 season Brady would finish out his career in the IHL eventually retiring in 2001.

We will finish off with the last draft of the 80s decade, in 1989 the Devils held the 18th overall pick and chose forward Jason Miller. Miller played a total of six games in the NHL all of which were for the New Jersey Devils, he was unable to tally any points during those games and when he eventually left the NHL in 1993 he went on to play in the AHL for two seasons. After the 1995 season, Miller would play in Europe and Scandinavia in The Finnish Elite league and the German league and in the DEL, along with two seasons in the IHL in between his playing career in Europe. Miller would officially retire at the end of the 2010 season after two seasons with the Dresden Ice Lions of the 2nd Bundesliga German league now known as DEL2. What makes this pick even harder to swallow is that the New Jersey Devils passed on players like Olaf Kolzig who was drafted right after Miller and Adam Foote who was 22nd overall and Nicklas Lidstrom who was 53rd overall and Sergei Fedorov who was 74th overall.

In the current day, the New Jersey Devils look to be a formidable Force for the foreseeable future. With a potential future top five player in the league in Jack Hughes and a great core of players like Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Luke Hughes, Timo Meier and 2022 2nd overall pick Simon Nemec, New Jersey looks like they could dominate the Eastern Conference. With their second round exit in this year’s playoffs New Jersey will now look to the 2023 NHL entry draft. New Jersey holds five picks going into this draft where their first pick will be in the second round somewhere in between pick 57 to 60. Right now New Jersey looks like they are in a very good spot with their prospect pool. They have a good amount of high quality forward prospects and defence prospects and with Nico Daws as their top goalie prospect, New Jersey can look to take the best available when they come up to the podium. With that being said, a good prospect from each position that the Devils could have the potential of drafting would be goalie Carson Bjarnson, forward Luca Pinelli, and defenseman Jakub Dvorak.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

Top 10 Offensive Defensemen in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft

By Isaiah Bouchard

The 2023 NHL entry draft is getting ever closer to hockey fans, and the excitement fans have for who their teams are going to draft this year is ever higher as the regular seasons across the globe are coming to an end, and playoff season is just around the corner. And there is a lot for fans to be excited for this year, as the draft is looking like one of the strongest in years.

Connor Bedard is looking increasingly like a franchise-level player, rivaling the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Nathan Mackinnon, Austin Matthews, and Connor McDavid. Adam Fantilli would have been a first-overall pick in arguably the last six drafts, Leo Carlsson is the next big center to come out of Sweden, and he is a must-grab in the top 5. And, of course, there is the Russian sniper: Matvei Michkov, who, despite being signed to the KHL until 2026, is so good that any team picking in the top 5 will be more than willing to wait for the Russian star.

But after the big 4 in this year’s draft, who fills out the remaining slots is always an exciting mystery come draft day. Teams must allocate their scouting resources to best support the organization’s roster on draft day. Who needs the top defensemen? Say, over-the-top sniper or goaltender? That is why we at DraftPro are excited to present an in-depth look at every position and who best thrives in that position. Who is the best sniper? The best power forward? offensive defensemen? Hopefully, after this 8-part series, all these questions will be answered.

Seven DraftPro scouts were asked their top 5-7 players for the following positions: sniper, playmaker, two-way forward, power forward, offensive defenseman, defensive defenseman, two-way defenseman, and goaltender. Their lists were recorded separately, and then once all seven scouts handed in their lists, their results were compared to one another. The final lists you read here determined the average each player placed. This is not a ranking of the best players overall, simply a ranking of who is the best for each given position. Players may be placed on multiple lists, as many players are not one-dimensional, and can not be forced into one category.

Thank you to the following scouts for providing their lists: Jared Brown, Matt Hnatiuk, Tyler Karoway, Andrew LeBlanc, Murray Caldwell, Andy Miller, and Jody Horak.

One of the most common archetypes for defensemen you will see in the NHL and every other league is the offensive defenseman. As the title suggests, offensive defensemen are the blue-liners who focus more on contributing to the offensive output of the game. These defensemen tend to put up much more points than their defensive counterparts and often seem more like a forward at times than a traditional view of a defenseman. Height and weight are not necessary for an offensive defenseman, and even a defensive tool set isn’t necessary. Of course, both these things are nice to have in every player, but what the offensive defensemen provide is a secondary scoring threat that can add much-needed depth to a team’s offensive repertoire.

With that being said, here are DraftPro’s Top 10 Offensive Defensemen in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft:

First, our honorable mentions, players who were listed by at least one of our scouts but otherwise did not receive enough consensus to be placed on the list:

Theo Lindstein, Maszden Leslie, Andrew Strathman, Beau Akey, and Quentin Burns.

Tom Willander, Rögle BK J20, J20 Nationell, #32-42 overall (1st-2nd Round).

“Willander is a bit more well-rounded than Brzustewicz or Bonk. He is a smooth skater and has a decent shot. His offensive skill set is just behind the other two defensemen.” – Andy Miller.

As Andy put it, Willander is a good defenseman, but someone had to come first. Willander is putting up good numbers in the J20 Nationell league, especially for a defenseman. He has decent height and plays a very sturdy and reliable game. He’s a safe pick with not too many downsides.

Tanner Molendyk, Saskatoon Blades, WHL, #24-34 overall (1st-2nd Round).

“Molendyk’s ability to read the ice and make those jaw-dropping stick-to-stick passes, along with a heavy, accurate shot, make him a nightmare to defend against. His quick lateral movement and ability to create space make him even more of a threat as he uses these things to give him time to create even more offense.” – Tyler Karoway.

Another solid defenseman who doesn’t come with many downsides to his game. He’s a reliable player who has shown steady growth with the Saskatoon Blades this season, where he finished with 37 points in 68 games. He stands out as one of the younger defensemen on his team to still put up numbers close to or equal to the older guys in Saskatoon. In summary, he’s a solid offensive defenseman and a viable option to bet on in the second round. Maybe even the first?

Étienne Morin, Moncton Wildcats, OMJHL, #60-70 overall (2nd-3rd Round).

“A skilled defender who has the ability to quickly process plays and jump into rushes when needed. He has excellent distribution ability and the vision to move pucks quickly around the ice to create offense. Pair his offensive ability with his skating and defensive zone skill, and he has a high value to anyone looking to add offense from the blue line.” – Matt Hnatiuk.

For what has been a slow year for the QMJHL, it’s nice to see one of their players crack the TOP 10. He’s suspected of going somewhere in the late 2^nd or early 3^rd, making him a relatively unknown prospect compared to the others on this list. But that doesn’t mean he will not be a well-celebrated player in Quebec when his name is called. And as far as offensive defensemen go, he has more to offer than Willander or Molendyk.

Oliver Bonk, London Knights, OHL, #23-33 overall (1st-2nd Round).

“Bonk is a good puck-moving defenseman who does things a little slower than Brzustewicz but doesn’t take as many risks as Brzustewicz either. He is a bit more physical and has a slightly better shot than Brzustewicz.” – Andy Miller.

Oliver Bonk provides a good combination of size, speed, and hockey senses to his team’s blue line. While not outshining his draft competition in any of these categories individually, it’s still an excellent selection of abilities to have. Bonk could be a viable 2^nd round pick with a chance for steady growth if given the proper time to develop. But chances are he will be grabbed in the first round, as his offensive abilities are just a little too good to pass up.

Hunter Brzustewics, Kitchener Rangers, OHL, #22-32 overall (1st Round).

“Brzustewicz is a defenseman that uses his speed and confidence with the puck on his stick to push the offensive play. He works with the puck at a very high pace, making it challenging to read what he will do and check him. His passing skills are very high, and he can make accurate passes under pressure.” – Andy Miller.

One of the OHL’s top prospects, Brzustewics, has a lot of upsides to get excited about. He has a great combination of senses and shooting that makes him dominant in the OHL. He has 57 points in 68 games, an excellent stat for a rookie defenseman. A prime example of how stacked this draft is, Brzustewics is so good with tons of great qualities, but he still missed out on the top 5.

Luca Cagnoni, Portland Winterhawks, WHL, #38-48 overall (2nd Round).

“Cagnoni possesses the mobility to walk the line, find passing or shooting lanes with ease, and the offensive senses to help create offense off the rush and inside the Ozone. He’s an undersized defender, but he can slip by checks to open up space to make him for some of his size concerns.” – Jared Brown.

Starting off our top 5, we have the 5’11” Luca Cagnoni. Cagnoni is leading all defensemen in Portland, which includes the drafted players as well. He’s put up 64 points in 67 games, which places him among the top players on his team and the top draft-eligible defensemen in the WHL. Cagnoni clearly offers a lot offensively to his team, and while his size limits his physical effectiveness, this isn’t a total death sentence for offensive defensemen. If Cagnoni continues to produce these numbers, many coaches and organizations will forgive his size.

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Skellefteå AIK, SHL, #9-13 overall (1st Round).

“Sandin-Pellikka is an offensive threat that plays with a ton of energy. Huge improvement to his two-way game throughout this season as well.” – Andrew LeBlanc.

Another D-man under six feet, Sandin-Pellikka, has impressed a lot of scouts throughout this season. He has impressive numbers, plays well in the SHL, and has a high skill ceiling. An offensive defenseman who is heavy on the offense, it’s common to see Sandin-Pellikka rush with the forwards to make big plays. Utilizing excellent skating and passing to catch defenders off guard. Speaking of skating, Sandin-Pellikka is arguably the best skating defenseman in the entire draft. And as Andrew mentioned, he has also been improving in the 2-way department. Now Sandin-Pellikka offers minimal downsides to any team wanting to grab him, most likely in the early first round.

Caden Price, Kelowna Rockets, WHL, #31-41 overall (1st-2nd Round).

“Outstanding puck rusher…gets a head of steam & crashes & bangs his way down the ice maintaining puck control, and plays great PP.”– Murray Caldwell.

With excellent skating and passing abilities and a plethora of other good qualities, Price is an exciting player who is already so accomplished at a young age. While his point totals are lower than someone like Cagnoni, or his pure skill is not at the level of someone like Sandin-Pellikka, Price can offer much more in size and physicality departments. Also, Price is one of the best defensemen in the power play. Once this guy has space to take time on his passing and shooting, it’s not fun to witness when you’re rooting for the other team. Speaking from personal experience.

Mikhail Gulyayev, Omskie Yastreby, MHL, #16-22 overall (1st Round).

“Gulyayev’s speed is what sets him apart from the other defencemen in his class. One of the best skating defensemen in his class, Mikhail’s ability to get the puck up the ice is otherworldly. His elite speed draws defenders towards him, making it easier for Mikhail to rifle a pass to his teammates. Everything Gulyayev does has elite speed to it. His shot, his passes, his skating all come with that elite speed to make him a threat every time he touches the ice.” – Tyler Karoway.

For a list that is very much determined by the player’s speed, Gulyayev, as Tyler put so well, has a different speed. This makes him one of the hardest players to predict, as he can utilize that speed in many different ways. This also means his potential is harder to predict, as the fast speedy defensemen is not always a smooth transition to NHL hockey. But for now, suspect him to be one of the first defensemen picked, as his pure talent becomes too great to pass over.

Lukas Dragicevic, Tri-City Americans, WHL, #19-25 overall (1st Round).

“Excellent skater with great awareness and ability to rush up the ice. An excellent puck mover with precision in his passing.” – Jody Horak.

75 points in 68 games is all you need to hear to understand why Lukas Dragicevic is the best offensive defenseman in the draft. He’s also one of the bigger boys on this list and uses this speed and size combo to play much like a power forward. He’s confident at shooting, putting up high shot counts, and seeing as 60 of his 75 points were assists, he loves to set up for his team. While there are many ways to make plays in hockey, Dragicevic is all about feeding the slot. And no one in this draft does it better, as Dragicevic blows everyone else’s numbers out of the water. And, in a draft class with such talented offensive defensemen, Lukas Dragicevic of the Tri-City Americans is DraftPro’s #1 offensive defensemen in the 2023 NHL draft class.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/

By Zackery Robert

Next we move on down south to the country music capital of the world, and the hosts of the 2023 NHL entry draft, Nashville Tennessee and the Nashville Predators. Formed in 1998 the Predators are a franchise who have never held the number one overall pick before but have had some good players play for their franchise through non first round draft picks.

To start off we will be heading for the first time in this series to the eighth round, this was the last year that the draft went beyond seven rounds and how lucky it did in 2004 for the Predators because at pick 258 in the 8th round Nashville drafted Pekka Rinne. Rinne was a lifetime Nashville Predator goalie and put up the franchise record in wins of 369 and 60 shutouts. He won a Vezina trophy in 2017-2018 and finished out his career in 2021. Rinne was the first Predator to have his jersey retired at the Bridgestone arena on February 24th 2022.

Next we will look at the 2003 draft where the Nashville Predators took original franchise defenseman Shea Weber in the second round pick 49. This was originally the Predators’ third pick of the second round and they sure saved the best for last in that round. Weber would play for the Predators from 2005-2016 and would amass 603 games and 443 points, along with three 20 goal seasons with the club as a defenseman. Weber would make five all star appearances for the Predators between 2009-2016.

Moving on but staying on the blue line we will head 5 years into the future and into the second round at pick 38 where the Predators went on to choose their all star franchise defenseman Roman Josi. Josi has been the face of the franchise over the past handful of years, he has seven seasons of over 50 points and three 60 plus points seasons with last season eclipsing over a point per game for the first time in his career with 96, that is a feat that is not regularly done by a defenseman especially in this new era of the NHL. Josi has one Norris trophy in 2020 and is the current captain of the team and when he hangs up his skates for good he will go down as not only one of the best Swiss players of all time but also arguably the best Nashville Predator.

Now moving to the not so well picked players. First we will head to the final draft of the 20th century where the Preds had the sixth overall pick and selected goalie Brian Finley. Choosing a goalie in the first round is always an immense gamble because it will normally take a goalie a lot longer to develop into a consistent NHL starter and it is the most important position in the game so using a first round pick, and in this case a top ten pick is quite the move. Since the year 2000 there have only been 32 goalies taken in the first round and, not including goalies drafted in the last four seasons, only 10 of those goalies I would consider being a successful first round pick. With that, Finley would not be among those 10 goalies, he has a stat line of 0-2 in four games played in the NHL and only two of which were with the Predators. Considering Finley was taken with the sixth pick this is pretty disappointing for the team, this draft wasn’t too loaded with a bunch of high calibre talent but this pick was quite the disappointment for the Predators.

Next up we will take a look at another goalie drafted in the first round, pick 18, Chet Pickard. Pickard was drafted in the 2008 draft and never played in the NHL, once again drafting a goalie in the first round is always a big gamble which is why you see a majority of goalies getting drafted in the next few rounds after. For Pickard in the early stages of his pro career in the AHL he wasn’t able to get a winning record in any of the parts of three seasons he played in the league going 16-22-4 in his time and in the ECHL he did not fare much better going 29-37-6 in his time in that league. After the end of the 2013-2014 season Pickard took his skills overseas and spent the remainder of his career in the DEL league for three different teams between 2015-2022. It’s always a gamble choosing goalies in the first round and this gamble did not pay off for the Predators.

Finally going away from goalies we will take a look at the last poor draft pick by the Predators during the draft for this article. Looking back at the 2005 draft, the biggest player would be Sidney Crosby no doubt and that is what that class is most remembered for. However there were 29 others picks in that first round and at pick 18 the

Predators went with Ryan Parent. The defender from Saskatchewan was definitely a defence first defenceman. When looking back on his career in the NHL three things will stand out, never playing a game for the Nashville Predators, being traded away from the Predators in 2007 only to be reacquired by the Predators again in 2010, and traded four months later, and then being traded away from Nashville for Peter Forsberg in 2007.

Flash forward to 2023 and you will find the Nashville Predators drafting 15th in this upcoming draft as the hosts. Looking at their top prospects a vast majority of them are forwards with one exception being Yaroslav Askarov in net from the 2020 draft. With that in mind, the best option for the Predators is to draft for the blue line. They’ve lost a couple of their defence through trades and with their best one getting older it is high time for them to be focused on developing their next batch of blue liners for years to come. Nashville has a whopping 13 picks in this upcoming draft including two first round picks. Their full lineup looks like this: 1st, 1st (EDM), 2nd, 2nd (PIT), 3rd, 3rd (TBL), 3rd (SJ), 4th, 4th (TOR), 4th (TBL), 5th, 5th (TBL), 6th. With this amount of picks the Predators can really do some damage. We know that their pick is 15th overall and in that area we have a few good options, David Reinbacher, one of the two best defence prospects in this draft, Mikhail Gulyayev and Dmitriy Simashev.

For more information on the 2023 NHL Draft class be sure to pick up your copy of the comprehensive DraftPro 2023 NHL Draft Guide.

https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftpro-2023-nhl-draft-guide/