After completing at least three viewings on each goalie listed below in the latter part of their respective
seasons, I wanted to put together a more complete spotlight on some of the most intriguing draft-eligible
goaltenders in this class. The goal here wasn’t only to evaluate results or statistics, but rather to identify
projectable technical habits, physical tools, decision-making, and long-term upside through multiple live
viewings and game situations.
The following reports focus on the elements that stood out the most in recent viewings and how each
goalie currently projects heading into the NHL Draft.
Carter Casey, Medicine Hat Tigers
Carter Casey is probably one of the most electrifying goalies in this class and, in my opinion, the best
mover of the bunch. He’s constantly active in his crease and stands out with his quickness, speed, and
mobility. His athleticism allows him to contort his body and extend his legs to put himself in excellent
position to make all kinds of saves without compromising his recoveries or overall structure.
In my most recent viewings, I particularly liked the way he tracked pucks on long-range shots through
traffic. He followed the puck extremely well even when it changed direction and reacted on time to place
his body in front of tipped shots. That greatly helped limit dangerous rebounds and second chances.
Casey also displayed excellent anticipatory habits on cross-crease plays, reading passes and identifying
the shooter rather than simply following the puck.
High-shot tracking remains something to monitor. On a few occasions, some pucks didn’t appear to be
tracked cleanly and his body reacted with a recoil-like motion, with his head retracting into his shoulders.
Casey also tends to drop to his knees too quickly instead of holding his edges longer, which can leave
him vulnerable to passing plays and secondary chances.
Overall, Casey projects very well thanks to his speed, athleticism, and the control element he’s
progressively adding to his game. He should hear his name called somewhere around the third round of
the draft.
William Lacelle, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
William Lacelle is another highly skilled goalie who may lack a bit of size by NHL standards. His biggest
strength is undoubtedly the precision and speed of his movements, but digging deeper, his puck tracking
is not far from elite.
He reads releases extremely well and consistently keeps sight of the puck in nearly every situation. I also
really liked his play reading. He has a strong feel for how sequences develop in the defensive zone and
adjusts his game accordingly. The fact that he’s both quick and intelligent allows him to play aggressively
while maintaining excellent angle coverage and strong recoveries on lateral plays and second chances.
That said, his speed and aggressive movement habits can sometimes work against him. There are
sequences where he overmoves and ends up needing extra effort to recover positioning.
Some teams may hesitate because of his lack of size, but he compensates with elite traits that, in my
opinion, should guarantee him a selection in the third round or, at worst, the fourth.
Harrison Boettiger, Kelowna Rockets
When watching Harrison Boettiger play, the first word that comes to mind is smooth. Everything about his
game looks fluid, from the way he moves to the way he controls pucks. He’s particularly effective in the
butterfly, sealing the ice extremely well with a wide flare and powerful drops.
His butterfly slides are elite, efficient, and look effortless. That makes him very difficult to beat on low
shots and highly effective on recoveries. I also like his puck tracking. While it may not be elite, it’s clearly
above average, especially in how quickly he reads releases.
However, it hasn’t always been his most consistent trait. I noticed some sequences where he briefly lost
focus, which led to softer goals on clean long-range shots.
Boettiger will also need to improve his play recognition and anticipation. Too often, he relies on his
athleticism and excellent slides to cover space instead of anticipating plays before they fully develop.
He’s a goalie with a lot of tools that I really like, but I don’t currently see enough to place him ahead of the
goalies I value in the first three rounds of the draft.
Vladimir Proskurin, Atlant Mytishchi
Vladimir Proskurin is one of the goalies who has made the biggest jump in my rankings throughout the
season. Once viewed as a speedy goalie with some erratic tendencies, he has made tremendous
progress controlling his movements and staying precise without sacrificing his elite traits.
And the list of elite tools is long: quick feet, crisp edges, high-end athleticism. He also plays with an
aggressive but controlled approach that makes him look much bigger than he actually is. That says a lot
about how efficiently he covers angles.
His puck tracking was also very good and he used active hands to catch and control pucks, limiting
dangerous rebounds.
The main thing I’d still like to see more of is his awareness of backside threats and peripheral options. He
often reacts after the pass and relies heavily on athleticism to cover the distance.
I really like both the upside and progression curve with Proskurin. He checks a lot of boxes for what
modern NHL teams look for in a goalie and he should be one of the first goalies selected in the next NHL
Draft.
Dmitri Ivchenko, Omskie Yastreby
I’ve said it multiple times already, but Ivchenko is probably one of my favorite goalies in this class and
certainly one of the most projectable long-term. The level of competition he faced was questioned
throughout the year, but it’s impossible to ignore the tools and projectable traits he displayed all season.
His overall game is extremely clean, but what stood out most was his ability to slow plays down and make
everything look easy. That translated into elite puck tracking. His eyes stayed locked on the puck from the
shooter all the way into his body. Whenever he gave up a rebound, his eyes stayed with the puck, making
his recoveries quick and controlled.
Throughout all my recent viewings, he remained extremely well positioned thanks to strong anticipation
and highly efficient crease routes.
There honestly weren’t many weaknesses that stood out in his game. However, on some occasions, he
stayed locked into the overlap position for too long, which made him vulnerable against sharp-angle
shooters and passing plays. Also, while his blocker stayed projected on slides and he caught nearly
everything to the glove side, his hands could still become more active while moving to further improve
angle coverage.
Bottom line, Ivchenko will be near the very top of my goalie rankings and I fully believe he’s worthy of a
third-round selection.
Michal Orsulak, Prince Albert Raiders
Michal Orsulak’s stock is clearly trending upward right now, especially with Prince Albert playing in the
WHL Final and after helping Czechia reach the final of the most recent World Junior Championship.
Orsulak is a re-entry candidate after going undrafted last year before making the move to North America
this season. At first glance, he has all the tools to be viewed as one of the top goalie prospects available.
He’s big and possesses excellent mobility, especially through his lower body. That allows him to cover the
ice very effectively. His legs stay active while in the butterfly, making him highly efficient on his knees.
In my recent viewings, he was extremely difficult to beat on low shots. He also uses his large frame very
well to stay square and take away a significant portion of the net. Despite his size, Orsulak moves fairly
well overall.
That said, I have major questions regarding his top-end lateral speed. On many occasions, he anticipated
plays well and quickly identified the new shooter on passing sequences, but he lacked the pure speed
needed to fully cover the distance and get set in position to make the save. That issue led to goals
against, especially on plays coming from the corners or from behind the net. After multiple viewings, it
looked more like a recurring trend than isolated mistakes.
Also, while he read releases quickly, he didn’t always seem to fully track the puck into his body, which led
to several uncontrolled rebounds into dangerous areas.
For those reasons, I can’t fully buy into the trend of placing him near the top of my rankings. The lack of
elite lateral speed and the concerns surrounding his puck tracking force me to rank him behind more
complete prospects in those areas. Still, Orsulak remains a legitimate middle-round candidate in this
draft.