Better late than never they always say. I have used every last day to research players and give you my final draft rankings. This is not meant to be a mock draft, it’s meant more as if I was a scout and was submitting my list to a GM. There will be some head scratches on this, as I didn’t rank players who I think will be long gone before I would think to pick them. For example neither Logan Stanley nor Riley Tufte are on the list as both are likely first rounder’s and I wouldn’t take either until much later. I went heavy with Europeans late as and avoided goalies all together. If someone here at Buckeye State Hockey has seen or profiled a player I linked back to that article in the players name.
Without further ado the list
1. Auston Matthews – C Zurich (NLA)
– The number one centre all teams covet.
2. Patrik Laine – LW Tappara (Liiga)
– Elite shot, great playing against pros in the Liiga.
3. Jesse Puljujvari – RW Karpat (Liiga)
– Great skater, hurt during the U18’s but was still dominate.
4. Alex Nylander – RW Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
– Highly skilled player with a good shot.
5. Pierre-Luc Dubois – C Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
– The highly skilled big player teams want.
6. Clayton Keller – C U.S. National U18 Team
– Smaller but one of the best seasons in the history of the USNTDP.
7. Matt Tkachuk – LW London Knights (OHL)
– Dynamite in London alongside Marner and Dvorak. Brings grit along with tons of skill.
8. Jakob Chychrun – D Sarnia Sting (OHL)
– Strong two-way defencemen. Been the top D all year for me.
9. Olli Juolevi – D London Knights (OHL)
– Smooth skating and very poised. Close with him and Chychrun.
10. Mikhail Sergachev – D Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
– Good skater with a massive shot, elite offensive defensemen.
11. Kieffer Bellows – LW U.S. National U18 Team
– Power forward who lit it up with the USNDP.
12. Tyson Jost – C Penticton Vees (BCHL)
– One of the best BCHL seasons since Kyle Turris. Is strong in both ends of the ice.
13. Michael McLeod – C Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
– Great skater and wasn’t slowed down by a knee injury. Would have liked to have seen more production offensively.
14. Jake Bean – D Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
– Great skater who scored 64 points in 68 games.
15. Samuel Girard – D Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
– Undersized but point a game defencemen don’t come around very often.
16. Vitali Abramov – LW Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
– Smart player with some of the best hands and stickhandling in the draft.
17. Dante Fabbro – D Penticton Vees (BCHL)
– Excellent offensive d-man who is strong in his own end as well.
18. Alex DeBrincat – RW Erie Otters (OHL)
– Small but feisty, pure sniper, scored 51 in back to back seasons in the OHL.
19. Charlie McAvoy – D Boston University (NCAA)
– 25 points in 37 games as a Freshman defencemen is impressive.
20. Julien Gauthier – RW Val-d’Or Foreurs
– Good size with a power shot. Scored 41 but lack of assists (just 16) a concern.
21. Luke Kunin – C University of Wisconsin (NCAA)
– One of the best players on a poor Wisconsin team. Good hands and puck control.
22. Adam Mascherin – LW Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
– Short stocky winger who finished third with 81 points among first time draft eligible players. Poor skater which may hold him back.
23. German Rubtsov – C Team Russia U18 (MHL)
– Is a dynamic player with good hands. Drives the bus on his line and was a big part of the U18 team. Plays well defensively, saw time on the penalty kill.
24. Logan Brown – C Windor Spitfires (OHL)
– Big and has skill but in my viewings was a perimeter player. Doesn’t take advantage of his size.
25. Tyler Benson – LW Vancouver Giants (WHL)
– Two-way winger with a lot of skill. Hurt this season and only playing 30 games.
26. Will Bitten – C Flint Firebirds (OHL)
– Best player on a poor Flint team. Solid two-way game.
27. Max Jones – LW London Knights (OHL)
– Agitating forward who can skate. Buried behind the top guys in London.
28. Carl Grundstrom – LW Modo (SHL)
– Led all U19 players in the SHL with 16 points. Likes to play physical and get under opponents skin.
29. Tage Thompson – C University of Connecticut (NCAA)
– Massive centre (6’5), but had some troubles scoring at even strength.
30. Cam Dineen – D North Bay Battalion (OHL)
– Strong offensive defensemen, one of the best in the OHL
31. Adam Fox – D U.S. National U18 Team
– Finished third in team scoring behind Keller and Bellows. His 59 points are the most ever for USNTDP defencemen point per game rate ranked fourth.
32. Cameron Morrison – C Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
– One of the best forwards in the USHL this season.
33. Kale Clague – D Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
– Down year points wise but good skill level from the back-end. Great in the Memorial Cup.
34. Rasmus Asplund – LW Farjestad BK (SHL)
– Smart two-way winger who played 46 games in the SHL. Handles the puck well and makes good passes.
35. Sam Steel – C Regina Pats (WHL)
– Really smart centre with a high hockey IQ.
36. Frederic Allard – D Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
– Not a flashy defencemen but managed to score a excellent 59 points in 64 games.
37. Pascal Laberge – C Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
– Exciting forward with good hockey sense. Great hands and can beat defencemen one on one.
38. Janne Kuokkanen – C Karpat U20 (Jr. A SM-Liiga)
– Was a zone entry machine at the Under-18 World Championship. His play there really raised his stock. Was one of the better junior players in Finland.
39. Lucas Johansen – D Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
– Ryan’s brother players defence but provides good offense from the blue line.
40. Jonathan Dahlen – C Tirma IK (Allsvenskan)
– Excellent vision in the offensive zone helped him be one of the most productive U19 players ever in the Allsvenskan.
41. Noah Gregor – C Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
– Gregor was essentially a rookie in the WHL this season (played 10 games last season). Put up 73 points playing behind Brayden Point in Moose Jaw.
42. Otto Koivula – LW Ilves U20 (Jr. A SM-Liiga)
– Big (6’4) and one of the youngest players eligible for the draft with a September 1st birthday. He handles the puck well, but skating needs some work.
43. Jesper Bratt – LW AIK (Allsvenskan)
– He is a good skater with great agility. He has a very good shot helping him to score eight goals in the Allsvenkan league. His 17 points are tied for 5th all-time in the league with Filip Forsberg.
44. Ondrej Najman – HC Dukla Jihlava U20 (Czech U20)
– All situations player, with good on-ice vision.
45. Filip Suchy – LW HC Plzen U20 (Czech U20)
– Suchy is a late 97 born player who scored 63 points in 43 games to lead the Czech U20 league.
46. Yevgeni Mityakin – RW Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (KHL)
– Is a great stick-handler with top end hands. Played a limited role in 16 KHL games but was great in the MHL with 28 points in 31 games.
47. Maxime Fortier – RW Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
– Bright spot on a rebuilding Mooseheads team. A good skater who likes to shoot the puck.
48. Dillon Dube – C Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
– Shifty centre with a good shot. Despite his smaller size, goes to the dirty areas of the ice.
49. Artur Kayumov – LW Team Russia U18 (MHL)
– Kayumov best ability is his tremendous puck carrying ability. That gives him time to survey the ice and make good plays.
50. Taylor Raddysh – LW Erie Otters (OHL)
– Third wheel on the Strome-DeBrincat line but has size and skill.
51. Kyle Maksimovich – LW Erie Otters (OHL)
– Played behind the big line most of the season. Scored a solid 71 points in 68 games.
52. Arttu Ruotsalainen – C Assat (Liiga)
– Is only 5’8 but thay didn’t stop him from playing in 51 games in the Liiga, and scoring 10 points.
53. David Quenneville – D Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
– Small d-man but has all the offensive tools. Has a tremendous shot and loves to use it.
54. Dawson Davidson – D Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
– A mobile defencmen who put up 39 points in 59 games.
55. Igor Shvyroyv – C Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk (MHL)
– Best U18 scorer in the MHL. Point per game rate trails only that of Rubtsov.
56. Mikhail Maltsev – LW Team Russia U18 (MHL)
– Big winger with speed. Was strong in the World Junior A Challenge.
57. Victor Mete – D London Knights (OHL)
– Offensive defencemen with elite skating. Struggled putting up points.
58. Luke Green – D Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
– Good skater and puck handler. As an offensive defencmen would have liked to have seen more production.
59. Dennis Cholowski – D Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
– Not buying the first round hype, but a solid puck moving defencemen.
60. Jordan Kyrou – RW Sarnia Sting (OHL)
– Is a quick two-way winger with a good shot. Play on Sarnia’s top line though scored under a point per game. A great U18 tournament helped his stock.
61. Cliff Pu – C London Knights (OHL)
– Elite skater and strong on the PK. Didn’t generate a ton of offense.
62. Jonathan Ang – RW Peterborough Petes (OHL)
– Great hands and skating but didn’t score a ton in Peterborough.
63. Samuel Solensky – C Bili Tygri Liberec U20 (CzechU20)
– Small Slovak centre who scored over a point per game in the Czech U20 league. Captained Slovakia at the U18’s and scored three goals.
64. William Pethrus – D Mora IK (Super Elit)
– Late 97 but was the lone d-man to score a point per game in the SuperElit.
65. Linus Lindstrom – C Skelleftea AIK J20 (SuperElit)
– Wont wow you with his skill but scored over a point per game in the SuperElit.
66. Tarmo Reunanen – D TPS U20 (Jr. A SM-Liiga)
– Hurt for the majority of this season, but his 16 year old season was comparable to that of Olli Juolevi.
67. Mathias From – RW Rogle BK (SHL)
– Really impressive at the World Juniors. Has great hands but has to learn to use his teammates more.
68. Matthew Phillips – C Victoria Royals (WHL)
– Won rookie of the year in the WHL after scoring 76 points in 72 games. Is small at 5’7 but is a dynamic player.
69. Tim Wahlgren – C Modo U20 (SuperElit)
– Playmaker with good hands in tight. Played in 10 SHL games.
70. Linus Weissbach – LW Frolunda HC J20 (SuperElit)
– Small winger with great hands. Scored over a point per game in the SuperElit.
71. Julius Mattila – C Ilves U20 (Jr. A SM-Liiga)
– Late 97 born player who scored 56 points in 46 game, good for 10th in the league. Will be attending Western Michigan University next season.
72. Brett Howden – C Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
– Is a great two-way centre with some offensive ability. He’s been getting a lot of first round buzz but didn’t score enough for me to consider him that high.
73. Dmitri Sokolov – LW Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
– Potential top pick entering the season. Struggled to get going in Sudbury, has an elite shot.
74. David Bernhardt – Djurgardens IF J20 (SuperElit)
– Late 97 born player but did very well in the SuperElit. He skates well and has a good passing ability.
75. Jake Ryczek – D Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
– Was traded to the Black Hawks mid-season and in 18 games scored 20 points. Overall was eighth among USHL d-man and tops among U18 players.
76. Filip Hronek – D HC Hradec Kralove (Czech)
– Scored over a point per game in the Czech U20 leagues, and played 40 games in the Czech pro league, scoring a respectable four points.
77. Oskar Steen – RW Farjestad BK (SHL)
– Not a flashy player but did well to score six points in 17 games in the SHL.
78. Max Lajoie – D Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
– Two-way defencemen who did it all in Swift Current.
79. Colin Grannary – RW Merritt Centennials (BCHL)
– Late 97 born, overshadowed by Jost and Fabbro, was top 10 in BCHL scoring.
80. Collin Adams – LW Muskegon Lumberjacks
– Doesn’t seem to be getting ranked by anyone. Was one of just 10 players score over a point per game in the USHL.
81. Brayden Burke – LW Lethbride Hurricanes (WHL)
– Re-entry player who was one of the best in the WHL this season. A playmaker who had 82 assists.
82. Adam Brooks – C Regina Pats (WHL)
– Top scorer in the WHL with 120 points. Is a 96 born player in his third draft eligible season.
83. Casey Fitzgerald – D Boston College (NCAA)
– Second year eligible was great as a freshman at BC, 27 points in 39 games are comparable to that of McAvoy.
84. Radek Koblizek – RW Karpat U20 (Jr. A SM-Liiga)
– Czech winger scored over a point per game in the Finnish Junior League.
85. Henrik Borgstrom – C HIFK U20 (Jr. A SM-Liiga)
– Second year eligible who had the sixth best PPG rate in the league. Heading to the University of Denver next season.
86. Nathan Bastian – LW Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
– Big body with skill, would have liked to seen more offense playing with McLeod and Nylander.
87. Grant Jozefek – RW Lincoln Stars (USHL)
– Very close to a PPG in the USHL. Is a skilled playmaker.
88. Sean Day – D Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
– Hasn’t lived up to his exceptional status. Still a good skater with some offensive upside.
89. Chad Krys – D U.S. National U18 Team
– Has some tools but had just an average season.
90. Dante Salituro – C Ottawa 67’s (OHL)
– Should’ve been drafted last season. Was the offensive leader for the 67’s and did well even after they traded away Travis Konecny.
91. Brandon Biro – LW Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)
– Has put up back to back seasons of really good seasons in the AJHL. Lower league quality makes him more difficult to evaluate.
Yes there were some head scratchers in there. If you have any questions (or want to yell at me for excluding your favourite prospect) you can tweet me @PaulBerthelot
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