Preseason Top 30 for the 2027 NHL Draft
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It's the end of August and that means a new OHL season is right around the
corner. It also means that it's time for me to release my first draft
ranking fo...
The Best Snowshoes of 2021
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Perhaps, the deep snow in the backcountry is looking more tempting than
ever this winter season. Whether you’re someone very familiar with the
backcountr...
Winners of the draft: “Detroit” and “Chicago”
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“Detroit Red Wings” Filip Zadina in terms of talent had to go into the top
3 draft pick. It is no coincidence that Ken Holland shone with happiness,
comm...
2015 Draft Spotlight: Connor Hobbs
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Defenceman *Connor Hobbs* is back on WHL ice after sitting out for almost
three months waiting for a trade. Hobbs began the year as a member of the
Medic...
Combining Scouting And Stats
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As hockey fans know, it’s been a big summer for analytics. While some NHL
teams have been using advanced stats behind closed doors for years, the
scene ...
All good things must come to an end
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As you may have noticed, I haven't updated this blog in a week. Two things
for that
1. Last week I was busy covering the NCAA Division III men's hockey
Ch...
Stivy Wonder rolling; Ziemer shines
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Stiven Sardarian extended his goal-scoring streak to four games Saturday as
Michigan Tech defeated Ferris State 3-1. Sardarian, who has also collected
thre...
Cuylle And Rempe Key Game One Upset Wins
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Will Cuylle (OHL Images)Friday night was more than just the New York
Rangers game two win as the last two Rangers prospects got their league
finals under...
Training camp rosters
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Training camps are underway across the WHL and so once again, here's my
compiled list of which players are in which team's camps. This list will be
updated...
WHL Top 2013 Draft Prospects Year End Rankings
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*1. Seth Jones D Portland* - Seth Jones got off to a slow start early on
this season, but got stronger as the season went on, as expected. Jones is
an all ...
Dano is an Austrian born Slovakian forward who is an interesting study for this draft class.
He first impressed me at the 2012 World Juniors in Calgary as the youngest player on the Slovakian squad as a spark-plug
player who initiated play and showed creativity in somewhat limited
duty. As planned, he was a leader of the Slovakian 2013 WJCs entry and
impressed with 9 points in 6 games.
The 5’11″ forward is an energetic and very good skater although NHL
Central Scouting’s Goran Stubb has stated he could use work on his
skating and first step acceleration. We’ll have to agree to disagree on
this aspect of Dano’s game as I see him as a powerful skater with good
speed and get up and go ability.
What has allowed Dano to succeed in the Slovakian Men’s league 2
seasons ago and in the KHL this past season is his high level hockey
sense and above average vision. He’s a smart player who reads the game
well. He is a very aware and responsible player all over the rink.
Dano plays an in your face up-tempo game and is that
agitating, gritty but skilled forward that every NHL team covets these
days. He plays a physical game and is very strong for his size – his
performance at the Scouting Combine proved that.
Dano doubles as an effective playmaker and finisher. He also possesses a good set of mits, as they say, with deft puckhandling ability. He also has great hockey genes as
his father Jozef played professionally in Europe for 19 years and is
current assistant coach with Dukla Trencin in the Slovakian Men’s top
league. While the younger Dano likes Jaromir Jagr as a player, the
reason he wears jersey #68 in club play is because that was his father’s
number, as he explained to me through a translator in Calgary in 2012.
Who’s going to step up to the podium in Newark and say: “Book ‘em Dano”?
This is the fourth in a series of nine postings of the top 90 prospects for the 2013 NHL draft.
There are a few things that you should be aware of in the 31-40 category:
a – As I mentioned in post 1 (1 to 10), there are a number of good goalies this year, four of which I have in round 2 (Fucale, Comrie, Martin and McAdam). I have not included any in round one due to the glut of NHL quality goalies around, but that does not mean they don’t have first round skills. It is possible that one or more could get their name called on Day 1 of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft – most likely by a team with more than one 1st round pick.
b – I have also not included any Russian born players who remain in Russia in the first round due to the Russian factor, even though they may have 1st round skills – such as Valeri Nichushkin.
c – As I previously mentioned in post 3 (21 to 30), this 31 to 40 group are almost interchangeable with the 21 to 30 group as to the likelihood as to where they will end up on the draft board in June 2013. Their future play will determine the outcomes.
Tri City’s Eric Comrie challenging Zach Fucal for top goalie in the 2013 NHL Draft (Photo: WHL.ca)
Background
Historically, players selected in the range of 31 to 45 have only a 33% success rate: This means that in a normal year 6 to 7 of the players below are not going to make it as an NHL regular. However, since this is a good year I believe that number will reduce substantially. This still means that there are likely to be 3 to 4 players in the group below who do not make it to the big league.
Vitals: The vitals reading left to right are:
Shoots
Position
Height and weight
Birth date
Citizenship
League
Team and player number
Rankings: I have listed some alternative rankings to give you some more information so you can make your own rankings, should you wish. You should check out some of the web sites listed below if you want a different perspective on the rankings:
c – Commentary: Dr. Cool-Tender – Calm, efficient, self-effacing netminder who makes those in front of him feel confident that he will look after his end of the game every time out. Plays every game; a student of the game like every goalie should be; set QMJHL record for most wins by a 16 year old goalie; won gold medal with Team Canada at the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Tournament – with a shutout in the gold medal game to boot. Top rated goalie in the draft on most of the rankings.
d – Twitter: @Fucale31
e – YouTube video:
32. Nichushkin, Valeri:
a – Vitals: L – L/C – 6’3, 176 – 4-Mar-95 – RUS – MHL – Chelyabinsk #43
c – Commentary: Mr. Game Breaker – Tantalizing package of skating, game-breaking abilities and has drawn comparisons to Evgeni Malkin – you would think I would have in the top 10 and maybe I should. However, he signed a 3-year contract to stay in Russia so it would take an awfully brave GMto take him in the top 10. However, clubs such as Washington, Tampa Bay, Detroit and St.Louis (and others on occasion) have been known to snag some Russians bargains in the draft. Nichushkin is one the true wildcards of the 2013 draft class.
e – YouTube video: love how he blows by defensemen.
33. Horvat, Bo:
a – Vitals: L – LW/C – 6’0, 203 – 5-Apr-95 – CAN – OHL – London #53
b – Rank: NHL–OHL-5; CR-THW-26; HP-21; McK-29; THG-26; TSN-36; OHL-OHL-8
c – Commentary: Mr. Shutdown – Shutdown centre with offensive skills – skating, shot, hands, face-offs and good work ethic – has not received the offensive minutes to date to put up the points he is capable of. He won gold medal with Team Canada at the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Tournament.
d – Twitter: @BoHorvat
e – Youtube video: CTVLondon. Mark Hunter says he is going to set Bo up front on the power play so maybe he is going to get those offensive minutes yet. With Corey Perry mentoring him, who knows what good things might happen.
34. De La Rose, Jacob
a – Vitals: L – C/LW – 6’2, 183 – 20-May-95 – SWE – SWE-1 – Leksand #9
b – Rank: NHL–SWE-3; CR-THW–30; ISS-21; McK-26; THG-30; THN-18; TSN-45
c – Commentary: Mr. Everything – Goran Stubb, NHL European Director of NHL Central Scouting told NHL.com, “He’s speedy and plays a strong two-way game. He can pass and shoot at top speed and is always on the puck. He’s a strong finesse-type player”. On Team Sweden’s preliminary roster for U20 Worlds; was Captain of the Swedish U18 Team at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament.
d – Twitter: @Jacobdelarose
e – Video: Gangnam style with Filip Forsberg, a must see. I can see a trip to the White House coming like the Korean rapper Psy.
35. Bailey, Justin
a – Vitals: R – C/RW – 6’3, 190 – 1-Jul-95 – USA – OHL – Kitchener #95
b – Rank: NHL-OHL-9; CR-THW–39; TSN-43; OHL-OHL-15
c – Commentary: Mr. Elegance – Just oozes that tall, stately elegance that Jean Beliveaupossessed. Excellent skater, long reach, can score those breath-taking goals. Needs to put it all together as we have only seen glimpses of his potential to date but, oh, those glimpses were wonderful.
d – Twitter: @justinbailey95
e – YouTube video: Courtesy of NHLVideo. It sure didn’t hurt Sidney Crosby to live with Mario Lemieux so I am sure it didn’t hurt Justin Bailey to live with Pat Lafontaine.
36. Wennberg, Alexander
a – Vitals: L – C – 6’1, 174 – 22-Sep-94 – SWE – SWE-2 – Djurgården #10
b – Rank: NHL-SWE-5; TSN-25
c – Commentary: Mr. Stealth – Really good center flying under the radar; feet, hands, vision; game. On the preliminary roster for Team Sweden for the U20 Worlds at Christmas.
a – Vitals: L – D – 6’3, 207 – 5-Aug-95 – USA – USHL – Waterloo #3
b – Rank: NHL-USHL-2; CR-THW–28; ISS-30; TSN-42
c – Commentary: McShutdown – NHL sized body who plays a steady defensive game at the back-end and works on the power play. Should make his money as a solid shutdown defenseman who works on the PK and makes quality outlet passes.
a – Vitals: L – G – 6’1, 170 – 9-Jul-95 – CAN – WHL – Tri-City #1
b – Rank: NHL–WHL-Goal-1 ISS-Goal-3; McK-30; THN-30; TSN-32
c – Commentary: The Brick Stop – Another student of the game, Eric has great anticipation and vision, great lateral movement and the reflexes required to be a number one goalie. Eric is in the running to be the number one goalie selected along with Zach Fucale and Spencer Martin. When you have NHL brothers who have been shooting the puck at you since you were 4 or 5, you’ve got to be good just to make it home to the dinner table every night. And yes, his brother is the recently retired Mike Comrie; another brother is Paul Comrie, who had a short NHL career due to injury; his sister-in-law is Hilary Duff; his father (Bill) and uncles (Fred and John) founded The Brick, a major retailer of furniture, mattresses, appliances, electronics and computers in Canada.
a – Vitals: L – C – 6’2, 205 – 30-Mar-95 – CAN – OHL – Kingston #17
b – Rank: NHL–OHL-12; CR-THW–10; ISS-23; THG-20; TSN-35; OHL-OHL-3
c – Commentary: Mr. Down Low – Size, skating, puck possession skills, good down low, great wrist shot; needs to work on his defense and utilize his size more effectively. Big things were expected of him this year as he was the 4th overall pick in the 2011 OHL draft. Started the season well with OHL Player of the Week honors but has not been able to sustain that high level of play. If he starts to pick it up again, he could be considered a potential 1st rounder; if not –well, there is no such thing as the status quo with draft rankings this early in the season.
a – Vitals: L – D – 6’2, 182 – 3-Aug-95 – CAN – WHL – Seattle #17
b – Rank: NHL-WHL-32; CR-THW-27; ISS-28; McK-28; TSN-46
c – Commentary: Mr. Motion – Size, skating, vision, those precise outlet passes, can carry the puck, good shot, shows excellent power-play skills; needs to work on his defense, upper body strength and overall physicality. Shea won gold medal with Team Canada at the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Tournament.
They say “confession” is good for the soul. It allows you to feel clean from your guilty sins, it is free and makes you feel free, allowing you to examine your failings as part of the first step to making things right. So here goes a NHL draft confession:
2011 NHL Entry Draft – Confession #1
Scott Oke played on the 4th line as a utility player for the powerhouse Saint John Sea Dogs, the year they won the Memorial Cup. He finished the year with only ten points in 54 games. NHL Central Scouting, however, recognized the potential in Scott as they ranked him 44th best North American player, a ranking that would normally get him drafted in the 2nd or early 3rd round. NHL Central Scouting’s ranking was no aberration either as Bob MacKenzie’s poll of NHL scouts earned Scott an honourable mention in their top 60 rankings.
When the dusted settled after the draft, Scott was left the dubious distinction of being the highest rated player not drafted." Read the full article which was originally published at The Hockey Writers - Combine: Link: http://thehockeywriters.com/combine/scott-oke-nhl-2013-draft-war-room-prospect-profile/Read more...
