It’s The Hockey News' highly anticipated Draft Preview 2019 edition! We run down our top 100 prospects with scouting reports on each player, plus NHL Team Reports for all 31 clubs. Also, feature stories on our top three prospects: Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko and Dylan Cozens, and a sneak peek at the 2020 and 2021 NHL drafts.

Draft Preview 2019

The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. THN is published 18 times a year, including 14 regular issues and four special issues – such as Future Watch, Draft Preview, Yearbook, the #1 selling hockey annual in North America.

The Hockey News May 13, 2019 - Draft Preview Issue

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/2022-wright/499755-1-eng-US/2022-wright.jpg" title="2022-wright" width="800" height="853"></div>THE LATEST PROSPECT&nbsp;to be granted exceptional status by the OHL, center Shane Wright will enter the league a year early as a member of the Kingston Frontenacs, and the 15-year-old kid is not deterred by his youth. In fact, he&rsquo;s been playing against older competition his whole life. &ldquo;Growing up, I always felt I belonged,&rdquo; said the native of Burlington, Ont. &ldquo;And I always felt I could make a difference.&rdquo;The catalyst of a minor midget Don Mills Flyers team that lost only one game this season &ndash; and in overtime, at that &ndash; Wright piled up points&nbsp;thanks to his smarts, skating and playmaking ability. He now joins an exceptional-status category that includes the likes of Connor McDavid, John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so honored to be selected for this,&rdquo; Wright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a goal of mine for quite a while. I watched those guys on TV almost every night.&rdquo; &#9632;

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2022 DRAFT

ONE TO WATCH

<div class="image-hero"><img title="vasili_podk_014" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/vasili_podk_014/489125-1-eng-US/vasili_podk_0142.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY RICH LAM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Opening Thoughts

THE HOCKEY NEWS POLL

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/wsh_holtby/495231-1-eng-US/wsh_holtby2.jpg" title="wsh_holtby" width="650" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRADEN HOLTBY (VINCENT ETHIER/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>ON A TEAM LED by Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov, it&rsquo;s not surprising the Capitals have looked to Europe for their recent draft choices. Their first two selections from 2019 hailed from overseas &ndash; Alexander Alexeyev and Martin Fehervary &ndash; while three of four picks in 2018 were European-born. In the past five drafts, 2016&rsquo;s Lucas Johansen is the only North American to lead off Washington&rsquo;s cohort.IMMEDIATE NEEDS: With Michal Kempny&rsquo;s serious hamstring injury and Brooks Orpik&rsquo;s age, the Capitals need to take a look at their defensive depth. Signing trade-deadline prize Nick Jensen to an extension helps, but some youngsters need to step up as well.LONG-TERM NEEDS: In the past five seasons, only once has a player not named Alex Ovechkin scored 30 goals or more for the Caps: T.J. Oshie with 33, back in 2016-17. Ovechkin won&rsquo;t be a 50-goal scorer forever, and Washington needs to find someone to pick up the slack. Right now, the pipeline is dominated by blueliners, and there are no natural goal-scorers amongst the forwards in the system.CAP SITUATION: While the Caps have their core locked up, there is work to do in the summer, and the team has about $12 million in cap space. The most intriguing case is RFA Andre Burakovsky, who is arbitration-eligible and coming off a rough year that saw him sit out games as a healthy scratch. Dmitrij Jaskin failed to find his niche and is also an arbitration-eligible RFA. Jakub Vrana is another player in need of a new deal, but he has more leverage after a 24-goal year.IN THE SYSTEM 2019-20: Big defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler has a golden opportunity to make an impression next fall after getting into 26 games. It&rsquo;s hard not to see the Capitals giving prized goalie prospect Ilya Samsonov a start or two as motivation while he grows his game in AHL Hershey.DID YOU KNOW: Free-agent signing Bobby Nardella brings a neat bit of history with him: the Illinois native became the first defenseman to lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in scoring this season.<h2>LATE-ROUND GEMS</h2>(2000-2018 drafts)PICKS AFTER 2ND ROUND / 99100+ NHL GAMES / 10PERCENT SUCCESS / 10.1%NHL RANK / 25TH<h3>3RD ROUND AND ON</h3>Braden Holtby, 93rd, &rsquo;08Johnny Oduya, 221st, &rsquo;01Mathieu Perreault, 177th, &rsquo;06Cody Eakin, 85th, &rsquo;09Philipp Grubauer, 112th, &rsquo;10Connor Carrick, 137th, &rsquo;12Chandler Stephenson, 77th, &rsquo;12Christian Djoos, 195th, &rsquo;12Sami Lepisto, 66th, &rsquo;04Tim Kennedy, 181st, &rsquo;05 &#9632;

NHL TEAM REPORTS

Washington Capitals

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0185/491581-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/ntdp_vlasic_094/491602-1-eng-US/ntdp_vlasic_0942.jpg" title="ntdp_vlasic_094" width="231" height="266"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa19/491595-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN June 5, 2001, Wilmette, Ill.2018-19 USA NTDP POS DHT 6-6 WT 192 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 43THE GOOD NEWS IS what you see from Vlasic is what you&rsquo;re going to see from him in the NHL 10 years from now. The bad news is what you see from Vlasic is what you&rsquo;re going to see from him in the NHL 10 years from now. The 6-foot-6 behemoth may never be more than an elite defensive defenseman, but you could do a lot worse than have the next Hal Gill on your hands. &ldquo;This kid is going to play and he&rsquo;s going to play a long time,&rdquo; said a scout. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no scenario where he doesn&rsquo;t play and he doesn&rsquo;t eat up minutes. He&rsquo;s a guaranteed &lsquo;D-4,&rsquo; and he&rsquo;s going to play on your penalty kill. It&rsquo;s just he may never give you more than a defensive game.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp19/491588-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>If the cousin of San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic can develop a modicum of offense in his game, which he&rsquo;ll have ample time to do at Boston University, he&rsquo;ll become that much more valuable. As it is, Vlasic has good mobility for a player his size, and he does have the ability to make a solid first pass out of the defensive zone. That he has a boomer of a shot and skates well suggest his outlook is higher than third-pair defenseman. &#9632;

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TOP 100 PROSPECTS

ALEX VLASIC

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/bc_20183/489028-1-eng-US/bc_20182.jpg" title="bc_2018" width="691" height="997"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY JON BLACKER)</figcaption></div>THE ONE THING MORE&nbsp;challenging than picking the Stanley Cup finalists &ndash; we&rsquo;re looking at you, Winnipeg and Tampa Bay &ndash; is projecting which draft-eligible goalies are going to turn into stars or even NHL regulars. It&rsquo;s a risky proposition that has scouts, and by connection Draft Preview through the years, wrong a lot more often than right.Take a look at the goalies who made it through the first round of this year&rsquo;s very strange NHL playoffs. We see a lot of late-round draft gems, which is a theme in our NHL team stories in Draft Preview (pgs. 54-69). Two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky was a late birthday available in the 2007 draft. He played just eight games that season for Metallurg in Russia, wasn&rsquo;t on any scout&rsquo;s radar and went undrafted. The NHL didn&rsquo;t notice him until he was 21 and Philadelphia signed him as a free agent. Now he&rsquo;s a star.Martin Jones was another undrafted free agent who was almost 24 when he played his first NHL game. Petr Mrazek was a fifth-round selection, Philipp Grubauer went in the fourth, Ben Bishop and Jordan Binnington the third.The exception is first-rounder Tuukka Rask. Robin Lehner was a second-rounder.Hey, isn&rsquo;t goaltending the most important position in hockey? So why are the vast majority of NHL difference-maskers slipping past the first and second rounds of NHL drafts? &ldquo;They&rsquo;re the toughest species to draft,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;There are so many different variables they have to go through. They&rsquo;re very unpredictable. And they&rsquo;re tough to gauge at 18. Some of them might only play 20 to 25 games their draft year because they&rsquo;re not yet the starter at that age. And maybe only one or two of those games is special.&rdquo;The latest to join this cast of late-round goaltending gems is Binnington of the St. Louis Blues. He wasn&rsquo;t among the top 100 prospects in Draft Preview 2011 and was the sixth goalie selected that year after Magnus Hellberg, John Gibson, Christopher Gibson, Samu Perhonen and David Honzik, most of those names now easily forgettable. Redo the 2011 draft today and Binnington goes in the first round. But his trajectory to get to that elite status was all over&nbsp;the board the past eight years. Only three times in seven Future Watch issues did Binnington make St. Louis&rsquo; top-10 list of prospects &ndash; eighth twice and ninth once. His development was so uneven that he was loaned to the Bruins&rsquo; AHL affiliate last year when the Blues had a logjam sharing an affiliate with the Golden Knights.Yet this season, the light finally went on, and Binnington is now exceptional in the spotlight.Another scout said development for goalies is based more on repetition than scouring the planet and finding them at 18. &ldquo;They have to have playing time in front of them, hundreds of games from the time they start junior to the point they&rsquo;re almost ready,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The golden path is Carey Price or Marc-Andre Fleury, but they&rsquo;re phenoms. The rest go on all different paths. So much of that is based on repetition.&rdquo;So why take a goalie in the first or second round if there&rsquo;s so much uncertainty? Why not wait for the late rounds to get those hidden gems? That is what&rsquo;s happening already. &ldquo;Because every team who drafts a goalie in the first round thinks they&rsquo;re taking Carey Price. If that&rsquo;s what you think, you can&rsquo;t pass.&rdquo;With all that in mind, what&rsquo;s the best way to scout these 17- and 18-year-old goalies? &ldquo;At games, we put a mask on so we can&rsquo;t see. And we listen to the crowd instead.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/costello_si_009/489021-1-eng-US/costello_si_0092.jpg" title="costello_si_009" width="587" height="148"></div>Senior Editor<a datastyle href="https://www.twitter.com/BCOSTELLOTHN">@BCOSTELLOTHN</a> &#9632;

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THE FIRST WORD

GOALIES DEFY DRAFT LOGIC

<div class="byline">W. Graeme Roustan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/graeme_rous_0112/489095-1-eng-US/graeme_rous_0112.jpg" title="graeme_rous_011" width="547" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY MICHELLE VALBERG)</figcaption></div>Dear readers,Draft Preview, one of our signature products, is always a special issue, but this year it carries even more weight than usual. The edition you&rsquo;re holding marks the launch of a new era as we return to our longtime Transcontinental printer, RBW.Why should you care? Because the reconnection with the Owen Sound, Ont.-based printer allows us to deliver to you perfect-bound editions (the spine is glued, not stapled), with more pages per issue and a thicker cover. At a time when most of the publishing world is shrinking, we&rsquo;re growing, reaching new plateaus in terms of quality and quantity. The Hockey News has never been better.For those of you not familiar, we were part of the Transcontinental family for decades. We were the first English-language title purchased by Transcontinental&rsquo;s owner, Remi Marcoux, in the 1980s. Under his ownership, The Hockey News transformed from a tabloid-sized newspaper to a fully fledged magazine. And the print metamorphosis took place at the Owen Sound facility.Now, after a one-year break, we&rsquo;re back home, so to speak, thanks in large part to Remi&rsquo;s daughter and Transcontinental Chair of the Board, Isabelle Marcoux. She made a compelling case, expressing the disappointment the company felt when we departed and the value they place on our long-term relationship. She shares our vision of taking The Hockey News to even greater heights.Another aspect of that vision is multiple covers when applicable. We started this practice with our previous issue, the 2019 NHL Playoff Preview, with market-specific covers in Canada and the U.S. All versions of our editions can be found at <a href="http://TheHockeyNews.com/store">TheHockeyNews.com/store</a>. We have more improvements in the offing, but I do want to leave some intrigue and leave myself some material for future columns.Ever since my first Publisher&rsquo;s Letter more than a year ago, I have worked hard with the editorial team at The Hockey News to give you more content and a better reading experience. With this issue, I now have a true vision partner who shares my passion for The Hockey News.I want to thank Isabelle Marcoux, Transcontinental president Jacques Gregoire and the entire team at RBW for their commitment to The Hockey News. Together, we will deliver a better experience to you, our valued and hockey-expert reader.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/graemeroust_0122/489088-1-eng-US/graemeroust_0122.jpg" title="graemeroust_012" width="583" height="124"></div>Executive Chairman & Publisher, Roustan Media Ltd. <a href="http://roustan.com">roustan.com</a> <a datastyle href="https://www.twitter.com/GraemeRoustan">@GraemeRoustan</a> &#9632;

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WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AS WE BECOME PERFECT (BOUND)

<div class="byline">PHOTO BY DEREK LEUNG/GETTY IMAGES</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="thousandwor_016" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/thousandwor_0163/489169-1-eng-US/thousandwor_0162.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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A THOUSAND WORDS

TO WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="tkachuk_buz_018" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/tkachuk_buz_018/489213-1-eng-US/tkachuk_buz_0182.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Matthew (left) and Brady (right) got a first-hand look at life in the NHL as the sons of Blues star Keith Tkachuk. (MARK BUCKNER/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>ONE LOOK AT THE roster for USA Hockey&rsquo;s under-17 development team for the 2019-20 season tells a pretty interesting story. First, it&rsquo;s really, really good. At forward, you have Tyler Boucher, Redmond Savage, Ryan St-Louis, Caden Brown and Colby Saganiuk. See where we&rsquo;re going here? What&rsquo;s compelling is not that four of those five players descend from Canadian bloodlines, but that all five of them have a father or grandfather who played in the NHL.Which means the stands for their games will not only be chock full of NHL scouts scouring for 2021 draft talent, they&rsquo;ll also be occupied by a group of former NHL players who combined for 3,142 games, scored 794 goals and 2,102 points, won a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal and once had a shutout streak of five straight games. Brian Boucher, Brian Savage, Martin St-Louis, Jeff Brown and Rocky Saganiuk (Colby&rsquo;s grandfather) all played in the best league in the world, and all of them were pretty good. That doesn&rsquo;t guarantee their progeny will follow in their footsteps, but it gives them an enormous leg up in pursuing their NHL dreams.The same goes for Nolan Foote (son of Adam, brother of Callan), Alex Turcotte (son of Alfie) and Ryan Johnson (son of Craig), three players who are slated to go in the top two rounds of this year&rsquo;s draft. The fact remains the vast majority of players in the NHL are sons of men who never skated in the league, but kids of former players are parlaying their advantages into getting looks like never before. Since 2002, a total of 75 players whose fathers played in the NHL have been drafted, highlighted by the 2016 draft that featured the sons of eight players, including the offspring of Keith Tkachuk (Matthew), Michael Nylander (Alex), Jeff Brown (Logan), Jeff Chychrun (Jakob) and Brian Bellows (Kieffer). In three of the past four drafts, at least five sons of NHLers have been taken (see pg. 10 sidebar).All of which raises the question, is this proliferation a product of nature or nurture? There&rsquo;s nothing to suggest that sons of former players are bigger, stronger, faster or more talented than those whose dads are butchers, bakers and candlestick makers, which nudges us more toward nurture. Or as one NHL scout said when asked what he sees in sons of NHL players compared to other prospects: &ldquo;Incredible wealth.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt that NHL players who made many millions of dollars have the financial wherewithal to give their kids the best on- and off-ice training and, in many cases, move to the cities of their choice to expose them to the best competition. (Savage, for example, moved from Phoenix to Austria when he took over the prestigious Red Bull Hockey Academy, then relocated to Detroit to give his two sons the best hockey competition.) But CEOs can do the same things for their kids, and even those who don&rsquo;t have the financial means are often willing to make incredible sacrifices to make up for it.Where the sons of former NHLers get their biggest advantage is in the fact they&rsquo;re constantly around the game at the highest level. They play mini-sticks in the bowels of the arena with other players&rsquo; kids, hang around the family lounge and have access to the world&rsquo;s best hockey minds. So by the time they&rsquo;re in their teens, they&rsquo;re not the least bit intimidated by the NHL and have spent their lives integrating themselves into it. Canadiens center Max Domi, for example, chose to follow in the path of Mats Sundin rather than his own father. &lsquo;Uncle Mats&rsquo; still sends Domi workouts and regularly texts tips to him. Huge advantage.When longtime Winnipeg Jets pro scout Jack Birch did his PhD thesis on this very subject at McMaster University in the 1980s, he came to the conclusion that players who had familial connections to NHL players had an 18-percent better chance of making it than players who didn&rsquo;t. &ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t bigger, better, stronger, they weren&rsquo;t more skilled,&rdquo; Birch said. &ldquo;It had to do with socialization. They were around general managers, they were around coaches, they were around other players. So when it came time for them to get to the next level, they&rsquo;ve already seen everything happen in the past. Mark Howe knew what it was going to take to be a professional.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/domi_buzz/489199-1-eng-US/domi_buzz2.jpg" title="domi_buzz" width="1022" height="644"><figcaption class="caption-body">MAX & TIE DOMI (BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Birch did acknowledge there is a built-in bias to all of this. When a scout shows up to a rink without a familiarity with the 40 players on the ice, one thing that will get his attention is seeing the name of a former NHL player. That won&rsquo;t necessarily give the youngster an advantage relative to comparing his skills to those of his peers, but it will give him an all-important first look. &ldquo;Oh yeah, I do it all the time,&rdquo; one NHL scout acknowledged. &ldquo;I just did it at a USHL game this afternoon. I saw a kid and the first thing I asked the coach was, &lsquo;Is he any relation to so-and-so?&rsquo; It turned out he wasn&rsquo;t, but that impression gets put in your mind.&rdquo;Another scout pointed out that sometimes the impression can be deceiving. It might prompt a team to draft a player higher than he deserves because they&rsquo;re hoping the qualities his father showed will emerge, and sometimes they never do. &ldquo;I think there are teams that are biased that way,&rdquo; a scout said, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s to their detriment, in my opinion.&rdquo;Savage retired at the end of the 2005-06 season when his youngest son was just three years old, but he&rsquo;s convinced that having his son at the rink to watch him finish his career with the Philadelphia Flyers was instrumental for him. Savage and his wife had a feeling that would likely be his last year, so they took Redmond and his older brother, Ryan, to every game. That not only allowed his sons a snapshot of their father as an NHLer but also ingrained the game into their minds at an early and impressionable age. &ldquo;Red might have only been three years old, but he was at every game, and he watched a lot of hockey when he was younger, even if he didn&rsquo;t think he was watching it,&rdquo; Savage said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to think that helps. Then you have your parents giving you the right drills in the driveway and the frozen ponds. When we&rsquo;re watching NHL games together, I say, &lsquo;Hey, did you see that play?&rsquo; &lsquo;No, I didn&rsquo;t.&rsquo; And then we&rsquo;ll rewind it and I&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;Did you see how he broke to the net, stick was on the ice&hellip;whatever.&rsquo; And they get it. The non-hockey parent doesn&rsquo;t have that in his repertoire.&rdquo;Players who have decent NHL careers tend to retire in their mid-30s with a lot of money and time on their hands. And with kids at the age when they start playing, a lot of them get involved with coaching. In Tampa Bay, Vinny Lecavalier is coaching an under-8 team that includes his son and the sons of Lightning coach Jon Cooper and defenseman Dan Girardi. One of the reasons why St. Louis has become such a hockey hotbed is that former Blues players Tkachuk, Brown, Al MacInnis and Basil McRae got involved in minor hockey. Not only did their own kids benefit, but players such as Clayton Keller received the best coaching and tutelage.Back to that USA Hockey under-17 team for next season: another one of the players trying out was Chase Stillman, son of former NHLer Cory. He didn&rsquo;t make the team but was drafted 25th overall by the OHL&rsquo;s Sudbury Wolves, where his father just happens to be the coach. Luke Hughes, whose father, Jim, was an NHL assistant coach and director of player personnel, and whose brothers, Quinn and Jack, went through the U.S. program, will be on defense. And Jackson Hughes (not to be confused with Jack), the son of player agent Kent Hughes, is also on the team. &ldquo;We tend to gravitate toward excellence, right?&rdquo; one scout said. &ldquo;Anyone who plays one game in the NHL is excellent. The more you play, the higher level of excellence. And when you see the son of excellence out there, you tend to get a little excited.&rdquo;FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE COVERAGE, VISIT <a href="http://TheHockeyNews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a> &#9632;

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BUZZ

SON OF A GUN, ALL GROWN UP

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/foligno_buz_019/489250-1-eng-US/foligno_buz_0192.jpg" title="foligno_buz_019" width="474" height="351"><figcaption class="caption-body">NICK, MIKE, & MARCUS FOLIGNO (ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>2002</h2>1. Eric Nystrom, 10th overallFather: Bob Nystrom, 900 NHL games2. Alex Steen, 24th overallFather: Thomas Steen, 950 games<h2>2003</h2>1. Robert Nilsson, 15th overallFather: Kent Nilsson, 553 games2. Zach Parise, 17th overallFather: Jean-Paul Parise, 890 games3. Jeff Tambellini, 27th overallFather: Steve Tambellini, 553 games4. Patrick Eaves, 29th overallFather: Mike Eaves, 324 games5. Danny Richmond, 31st overallFather: Steve Richmond, 159 games6. Colin McDonald, 51st overallFather: Gerry McDonald, 8 games7. B.J. Crombeen, 54th overallFather: Mike Crombeen, 475 games<h2>2004</h2>1. Chris Bourque, 33rd overallFather: Ray Bourque, 1,612 games2. Logan Stephenson, 35th overallFather: Bob Stephenson, 18 games<h2>2005</h2>1. Tyler Plante, 32nd overallFather: Cam Plante, 2 games2. Brendan Mikkelson, 31st overallFather: Bill Mikkelson, 147 games3. Taylor Chorney, 36th overallFather: Marc Chorney, 210 games4. Paul Stastny, 44th overallFather: Peter Stastny, 977 games<h2>2006</h2>1. Nick Foligno, 28th overallFather: Mike Foligno, 1,018 games2. Blake Geoffrion, 56th overallFather: Dan Geoffrion, 111 games<h2>2007</h2>1. Sam Gagner, 6th overallFather: Dave Gagner, 946 games2. Brandon Sutter, 11th overallFather: Brent Sutter, 1,111 games3. Alex Plante, 15th overallFather: Cam Plante, 2 games4. Logan MacMillan, 19th overallFather: Bob MacMillan, 753 games<h2>2008</h2>1. Colin Wilson, 7th overallFather: Carey Wilson, 552 games2. Anton Gustafsson, 21st overallFather: Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, 629 games3. Philip McRae, 33rd overallFather: Basil McRae, 576 games4. Luke Adam, 44th overallFather: Russ Adam, 8 games5. Maxime Sauve, 47th overallFather: Jean-Francois Sauve, 290 games<h2>2009</h2>1. Tim Erixon, 23rd overallFather: Jan Erixon, 556 games2. Dylan Olsen, 28th overallFather: Daryl Olsen, 1 game3. Carter Ashton, 29th overallFather: Brent Ashton, 998 games4. Landon Ferraro, 32nd overallFather: Ray Ferraro, 1,258 games<h2>2010</h2>1. Jarred Tinordi, 22nd overallFather: Mark Tinordi, 663 games2. Dalton Smith, 34th overallFather: Derrick Smith, 537 games3. Christian Thomas, 40th overallFather: Steve Thomas, 1,235 games<h2>2011</h2>1. Sean Couturier, 8th overallFather: Sylvain Couturier, 33 games2. Connor Murphy, 20th overallFather: Gord Murphy, 862 games3. Tyler Biggs, 22nd overallFather: Don Biggs, 12 games4. Vladislav Namestnikov, 27th overallFather: Yevgeni Namestnikov, 43 games5. David Musil, 31st overallFather: Frantisek Musil, 797 games6. Alexander Ruuttu, 51st overallFather: Christian Ruuttu, 621 games<h2>2012</h2>1. Griffin Reinhart, 4th overallFather: Paul Reinhart, 648 games2. Henrik Samuelsson, 27th overallFather: Ulf Samuelsson, 1,080 games3. Stefan Matteau, 29th overallFather: Stephane Matteau, 848 games4. Lukas Sutter, 39th overallFather: Rich Sutter, 874 games<h2>2013</h2>1. Elias Lindholm, 5th overallFather: Mikael Lindholm, 18 games2. Max Domi, 12th overallFather: Tie Domi, 1,020 games3. Kerby Rychel, 19th overallFather: Warren Rychel, 406 games4. Andre Burakovsky, 23rd overallFather: Robert Burakovsky, 23 games<h2>2014</h2>1. Sam Reinhart, 2nd overallFather: Paul Reinhart, 648 games2. William Nylander, 8th overallFather: Michael Nylander, 920 games3. Brendan Perlini, 12th overallFather: Fred Perlini, 8 games4. Kasperi Kapanen, 22nd overallFather: Sami Kapanen, 831 games5. Brendan Lemieux, 31st overallFather: Claude Lemieux, 1,215 games6. Ryan MacInnis, 43rd overallFather: Al MacInnis, 1,416 games7. Ryan Donato, 56th overallFather: Ted Donato, 796 games<h2>2015</h2>1. Jake DeBrusk, 14th overallFather: Louie DeBrusk, 401 games2. Jansen Harkins, 47th overallFather: Todd Harkins, 48 games3. Rasmus Andersson, 53rd overallFather: Peter Andersson, 47 games<h2>2016</h2>1. Matthew Tkachuk, 6th overallFather: Keith Tkachuk, 1,201 games2. Alexander Nylander, 8th overallFather: Michael Nylander, 920 games<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/nylandaer_b_017/489243-1-eng-US/nylandaer_b_0172.jpg" title="nylandaer_b_017" width="471" height="373"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHAEL, WILLIAM, & ALEXANDER NYLANDER (BILL WIPPERT/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>3. Logan Brown, 11th overallFather: Jeff Brown, 747 games4. Jakob Chychrun, 16th overallFather: Jeff Chychrun, 262 games5. Kieffer Bellows, 19th overallFather: Brian Bellows, 1,188 games6. Max Jones, 24th overallFather: Brad Jones, 148 games7. Tage Thompson, 26th overallFather: Brent Thompson, 121 games8. Jonathan Dahlen, 42nd overallFather: Ulf Dahlen, 966 games<h2>2017</h2>1. Nolan Patrick, 2nd overallFather: Steve Patrick, 250 games2. Lias Andersson, 7th overallFather: Niklas Andersson, 164 games3. Cal Foote, 14th overallFather: Adam Foote, 1,154 games4. Josh Norris, 19th overallFather: Dwayne Norris, 20 games5. Jake Leschyshyn, 62nd overallFather: Curtis Leschyshyn, 1,033 games<h2>2018</h2>1. Brady Tkachuk, 4th overallFather: Keith Tkachuk, 1,201 games2. Mattias Samuelsson, 32nd overallFather: Kjell Samuelsson, 813 games3. Jesse Ylonen, 35th overallFather: Juha Ylonen, 341 games4. Jack Drury, 42nd overallFather: Ted Drury, 414 games5. Kody Clark, 47th overallFather, Wendel Clark, 793 games &#9632;

foligno_buz_019

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/2019_nhl_dr_002/489287-1-eng-US/2019_nhl_dr_0022.jpg" title="2019_nhl_dr_002" width="294" height="253"></div>The April 9 draft lottery determined order of selections 1-15. Picks 16-31 will be re-ordered based on playoff results. The Cup champs pick 31st, the other finalist 30th, conference finalists 28th and 29th.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/lockedin/499400-1-eng-US/lockedin.jpg" title="lockedin" width="600" height="470"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/influx/499393-1-eng-US/influx.jpg" title="influx" width="600" height="470"></div> &#9632;

lockedin

2019 DRAFT ORDER

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0259/489317-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0013-02

PICKS BY ROUND

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="buzz_lidstr_033" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/buzz_lidstr_033/489543-1-eng-US/buzz_lidstr_0332.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NICKLAS LIDSTROM (DOUG MACLELLAND/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>EVERY NHL TEAM HAS good years and bad years at the draft, but not all good years are created equal. Some teams have repeatedly pulled epic groups of players in a single year, from Hall of Famers to long-term NHLers. Other teams have struggled so much they&rsquo;ve been lucky to land one great player in a single draft.Paring down a list of every team&rsquo;s greatest draft class was a difficult task. The Edmonton Oilers, for instance, picked Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Kevin Lowe in 1979 and Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri and Andy Moog in 1980. Their second-best draft might rank top-five in NHL history. Alas, every team only gets one nominee for this exercise (not every pick is listed &ndash; just a team&rsquo;s notable selections). The rules are arbitrary, the process subjective. Some disclaimers:&bull; Teams aren&rsquo;t judged on where in the draft they got the players but simply on which players they got. This isn&rsquo;t a list of best late-round finds. The goal is to decide which team simply got the best group of players in a given year.&bull; Players are judged on what they accomplished over their careers with or without a given team. The goal is to rate how a team fared on draft day. It&rsquo;s not the scouts&rsquo; fault if a GM later traded away a great pick.&bull; As much as possible, players are judged on what they&rsquo;ve done rather than what they&rsquo;re projected to do. That is why Vegas&rsquo; first draft ranks last despite its vast potential.<h2>1. DETROIT RED WINGS</h2>1989: N. LIDSTROM, S. FEDOROV, V. KONSTANTINOV, M. SILLINGER, D. DRAKE, B. BOUGHNERTwo Hall of Famers. Four players with 1,000 games. Nine Cup rings. Elite talent, great depth. This draft class had it all.<h2>2. EDMONTON OILERS</h2>1979: M. MESSIER, G. ANDERSON, K. LOWEThree dynasty pillars. Two Hall of Famers. Some say Lowe should be. Messier only captain to lead two teams to Cup.<h2>3. MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2>1971: G. LAFLEUR, L. ROBINSONNot Habs&rsquo; deepest draft, but two Hall of Famers and arguably two top-25 players of all-time makes this year a home run.<h2>4. CALGARY FLAMES</h2>1984: B. HULL, G. SUTER, G. ROBERTS, P. RANHEIMJust one legend in Hull, but Suter and Roberts belong in Hall of Very Good. Four long, excellent careers.<h2>5. VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2>1999: D. SEDIN, H. SEDINTwo scoring champs, two Lindsay winners and a Hart winner. Twins had greatest linemate chemistry in NHL history.<h2>6. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2>2005: S. CROSBY, K. LETANGCrosby could retire today and earn votes as all-time top-five player. Letang one of best all-around D-men of his generation.<h2>7. WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2>2004: A. OVECHKIN, M. GREEN&lsquo;Ovie&rsquo; arguably the greatest goal-scorer ever. Green won&rsquo;t get in Hall but was the best offensive blueliner for a few years.<h2>8. NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2>1974: B. TROTTIER, C. GILLIES, S. PERSSONTrottier one of best ever to play. Fearsome power forward Gillies a staple of Isles&rsquo; dynasty, too, but Hall call dubious.<h2>9. BOSTON BRUINS</h2>1979: R. BOURQUE, B. MCCRIMMON, M. KRUSHELNYSKI, K. CROWDERBourque earned 13 first-team all-star nods. A legend. McCrimmon and Krushelnyski carved out long, fruitful careers.<h2>10. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2>1980: D. SAVARD, S. LARMER, T. MURRAY, C. WILSONDeep class. Savard a human highlight reel. Larmer was ironman with Hall advocates. Murray won Selke. Variety.<h2>11. BUFFALO SABRES</h2>1982: P. HOUSLEY, D. ANDREYCHUKToo low for two Hall of Famers? Both excellent offensive forces, but neither bagged any major individual hardware.<h2>12. COLORADO AVALANCHE*</h2>1979: M. GOULET, D. HUNTER, A. STASTNYA great goal-scorer in Goulet, while nasty, well-rounded Hunter is the only man with 1,000 points and 3,000 PIM.*Includes Quebec Nordiques<h2>13. ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2>1976: B. FEDERKO, M. LIUT, B. SUTTER, M. EAVESFederko eclipsed by other superstars but a consistent 100-point guy. Liut among best goalies for much of his solid career.<h2>14. LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2>1980: L. MURPHY, B. NICHOLLS, J. FOX, S. BOZEKMurphy holds rookie point record for D-men and had long Hall of Fame career. Nicholls posted monster offensive stats in a time when many did.<h2>15. ANAHEIM DUCKS</h2>2003: R. GETZLAF, C. PERRY, D. MILLERGetzlaf, Perry figureheads of franchise for decade and a half. Perry an MVP, Getzlaf elite playmaker, both Cup winners.<h2>16. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</h2>1998: V. LECAVALIER, B. RICHARDSConsistent scorers. Lecavalier led league in goals once. Richards won Conn Smythe. Both live on Hall fringe.<h2>17. NEW YORK RANGERS</h2>1990: S. ZUBOV, D. WEIGHT, S. NEMCHINOVZubov criminally underrated in era with other legendary D-men. Weight racked up points with his playmaking.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/buzz_weber/489494-1-eng-US/buzz_weber2.jpg" title="buzz_weber" width="1021" height="997"><figcaption class="caption-body">SHEA WEBER (ROBERT LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>18. NASHVILLE PREDATORS</h2>2003: S. WEBER, R. SUTER, K. KLEINWeber and Suter absolute workhorses who&rsquo;ve spent half their careers as Norris contenders but zero awards or Cups.<h2>19. NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2>1994: P. ELIAS, S. SULLIVAN, S. SOURAYElias a 1,000-point guy. Sullivan scored in era not kind to little guys. Souray racked up goals with bomb from point.<h2>20. ARIZONA COYOTES*</h2>1990: K. TKACHUK, A. ZHAMNOVThrowback power forward Tkachuk sits third among U.S. players in goals. Zhamnov dominant at times as setup man.*Includes Winnipeg Jets<h2>21. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2>1991: P. FORSBERG, D. YUSHKEVICHEven with injury-shortened career, &lsquo;Foppa&rsquo; one of the few dominant players of Dead Puck Era. Yushkevich a physical, heart-and-soul defenseman any team would&rsquo;ve loved to have.<h2>22. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2>1973: L. MCDONALD, I. TURNBULLMcDonald filled net on some decent Leafs teams in late 1970s and won Cup in Calgary. Turnbull a high-end blueliner in relatively short career.<h2>23. DALLAS STARS*</h2>1979: N. BROTEN, C. HARTSBURG, T. MCCARTHYMinnesotan Broten was first American with 100-point season. Hartsburg wore &lsquo;C&rsquo; for North Stars his final seven years.*Includes Minnesota North Stars<h2>24. CAROLINA HURRICANES*</h2>1982: R. FERRARO, K. DINEEN, U. SAMUELSSONNo legends here, but three rock-solid players who thrived in prominent roles on multiple teams across long careers.*Includes Hartford Whalers<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/buzz_alfred_035/489361-1-eng-US/buzz_alfred_0352.jpg" title="buzz_alfred_035" width="655" height="917"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANIEL ALFREDSSON (ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>25. OTTAWA SENATORS</h2>1994: D. ALFREDSSON, R. BONK, S. NECKARA Calder winner with 1,000-plus points, &lsquo;Alfie&rsquo; may wind up in Hall. Late-bloomer Bonk was solid two-way No. 2 center.<h2>26. SAN JOSE SHARKS</h2>1991: R. WHITNEY, S. OZOLINSH, P. FALLOONWhitney kept scoring in his 40s during remarkably lengthy career. Ozolinsh was a supernova, an elite PP quarterback who couldn&rsquo;t stay elite for long.<h2>27. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</h2>2002: R. NASHMagic moves for a big man. Could&rsquo;ve won a lot more if he had more help. Sadly, concussions cut his career short.<h2>28. FLORIDA PANTHERS</h2>2011: J. HUBERDEAU, V. TROCHECKSo far, so good. Calder winner Huberdeau reaching high offensive ceiling that made him No. 3 pick. Trocheck a gem.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/buzz_helleb_034/489417-1-eng-US/buzz_helleb_0342.jpg" title="buzz_helleb_034" width="1022" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body">CONNOR HELLEBUYCK (JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>29. WINNIPEG JETS</h2>2012: C. HELLEBUYCK, J. TROUBAResumes are short but impressive for Vezina runner-up Hellebuyck and punishing physical blueliner Trouba. If Jets become a championship team, this class climbs the list.<h2>30. MINNESOTA WILD</h2>2010: M. GRANLUND, J. ZUCKERAn exciting playmaker in Granlund and a speedy, tenacious goal-scorer in Zucker. Still time to accomplish a lot more. Both players still in their 20s.<h2>31. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS</h2>2017: C. GLASS, E. BRANNSTROM, N. SUZUKIWho knows? All have promising upside. Knights may have drafted three stars in their inaugural try. Now we watch them develop on three different franchises. &#9632;

buzz_lidstr_033

THE COUNTDOWN

HUGHES-OPENER-2

FEATURE

JACK HUGHES: BORN FOR THIS

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="kakko1" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kakko1/489764-1-eng-US/kakko12.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY TPS)</figcaption></div>KALLE KASKINEN SWEATS it out in his backyard on this uncharacteristically warm April day in Turku, Finland. He&rsquo;s renovating his garden and terrace. It&rsquo;s a huge project that will keep him outside for weeks. He&rsquo;s content. And yet he isn&rsquo;t.He can&rsquo;t believe he&rsquo;s not standing behind a bench staring at a sheet of ice right now. He coaches TPS of the Liiga, Finland&rsquo;s top league, and his squad got bounced from the playoffs in the quarterfinal a couple weeks earlier. The defeat still stings. At least the garden offers a serene escape from hockey. Mention the name Kaapo Kakko, however, and Kaskinen will gladly drop his tools to talk.&ldquo;Anything for Kaapo,&rdquo; he says.He makes no attempt to hide his reverence for his star pupil. Kaskinen first met Kakko when he was 15 &ndash; competing way above his age group on Kaskinen&rsquo;s under-20 Jr. A TPS club in 2016-17. Kaskinen grew up playing hockey with Finnish legend Saku Koivu, who&rsquo;s now a part-owner of TPS. Kaskinen always admired Koivu&rsquo;s determination and focus and instantly recognized the same qualities in Kakko, a playmaking right winger. Kaskinen felt Kakko had Koivu&rsquo;s fire but, with a 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame, was actually harder to play against than Koivu. Kaskinen couldn&rsquo;t believe how quickly Kakko rose to the top scoring line alongside players several years his senior.It&rsquo;s been a pattern throughout Kakko&rsquo;s life: join a league with players far older than him, dominate it, move up a level, join a league with players far older than him, dominate it, rinse, repeat. Most recently, we saw that at the highest tier of Finnish hockey. Competing for the TPS squad in 2018-19, Kakko sniped 22 goals in 45 games, breaking Aleksander Barkov&rsquo;s league record for goals by an 18-year-old. Barkov amazed as a teenager in the Liiga, and Kaskinen singles out Mikael Granlund&rsquo;s brilliance, too, but neither tops Kakko. &ldquo;In his age group, he&rsquo;s the best,&rdquo; Kaskinen said. &ldquo;He can play with the puck, he can beat you 1-on-1, he can take hits, he can give hits, and he&rsquo;s like a man already.&rdquo;We can soon compare Kakko to Barkov and Granlund directly &ndash; in the NHL. Kakko is a consensus top-two selection in the 2019 draft class, much closer to top-ranked Jack Hughes than anyone predicted a year ago.Perhaps no one is more surprised by the rise than the young man doing it. Kakko didn&rsquo;t always see the NHL in his future. He was a typical Finnish child, in love with hockey and soccer. He played as much hockey as he could, but unlike so many prospects these days, Kakko wasn&rsquo;t the kid who had the keys to the arena and spent every waking hour on the ice.His father, Petri, was a cop, his mom, Sari, a kindergarten teacher, so Kaapo wasn&rsquo;t born into a rich hockey bloodline. He and his brother Konsta played as much road hockey as they did ice hockey. &ldquo;With the neighbors&rsquo; kids, we built a small rink in our backyard, but that was only for sneakers,&rdquo; said Kakko through an interpreter. &ldquo;There was never any ice on it. Shooting mostly.&rdquo;Kakko thus couldn&rsquo;t spend all day skating but could develop a dazzling set of hands. He studied Patrick Kane plenty, but he watched Auston Matthews more than anyone. &ldquo;I think my style is similar with Matthews,&rdquo; Kakko said. &ldquo;As for Finnish players, Mikko Rantanen is someone that I look up to and try to copy some of his moves.&rdquo;Kakko says he was 16 when he started to view the NHL as a realistic goal. Getting invited to play for Finland&rsquo;s under-16 national squad planted the idea in his head. Once it was there, he thought about little else for the next two years. Talk to Kaskinen or Jussi Ahokas, who coached Kakko at the 2019 World Junior Championship, and each describes a youngster whose hobby away from hockey is, well, more hockey. Kakko doesn&rsquo;t party. He&rsquo;s not the biggest joker on any of his teams. He carries himself more like a veteran than a rookie &ndash; at least in front of the other veterans, as he&rsquo;s usually playing with people older than him. He fits seamlessly into any dressing room. &ldquo;People like him, players like him,&rdquo; Ahokas said. &ldquo;As a person, he&rsquo;s a really good kid. He just loves hockey. He wants to train, loves to train, loves to play the game.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kakko2/489757-1-eng-US/kakko22.jpg" title="kakko2" width="2120" height="1372"><figcaption class="caption-body">ON TOP OF THE WORLDKakko didn&rsquo;t light it up at the 2019 WJC, but he came through in the clutch, scoring the gold-winning goal with 86 seconds left in the final. (RICH LAM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>So how, exactly, does Kakko play the game? The Finnish comparisons are an easy if lazy place to start. The hands and early career accomplishments rival Barkov&rsquo;s, but Barkov impacts the game differently as a center. Some people liken Kakko to Patrik Laine, but that&rsquo;s just a recency bias talking since Laine went second overall in the 2016 NHL draft. Kakko doesn&rsquo;t see the parallel. &ldquo;Nobody can shoot like Patrik,&rdquo; Kakko said. &ldquo;I skated with him last summer and saw that shot up close. Wow! I&rsquo;ve scored goals, but my goals come from closer range. I play more like Mikko.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">HE&rsquo;S THE BEST. HE CAN PLAY WITH THE PUCK, HE CAN BEAT YOU 1-ON-1, HE CAN TAKE HITS, HE CAN GIVE HITS, AND HE&rsquo;S LIKE A MAN ALREADY &ndash; Kalle Kaskinen</blockquote>Like Rantanen, Kakko earns praise from scouts and coaches for his intelligence and skill ragging the puck in the offensive zone. Call up some highlight clips and you&rsquo;ll witness Kakko&rsquo;s unique ability to slow the action down and give himself extra time. He backs off defenders with quick dekes and cuts, creating space to set up teammates. He projects to be prodigiously dangerous on the power play.Oddly, despite not being the backyard-ice-rink kid, Kakko also gets good marks for his skating. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a much better skater than Rantanen at that age,&rdquo; Ahokas said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen them both at that age. They have really good hockey sense, but Kaapo would be a little bit ahead of what Mikko was at that point in his career. Patrik is more of a shooter and goal-scorer. The comparison to Rantanen is better, but I still think they&rsquo;re different. Kaapo is a special kid.&rdquo;Kaskinen launches the superlatives to the next stratosphere. He describes Kakko as a combination of Koivu, Matthews and Peter Forsberg, with Kakko&rsquo;s pride and competitiveness representing the Forsberg ingredient.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kakko4/489750-1-eng-US/kakko42.jpg" title="kakko4" width="1495" height="917"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY MARKKU VUOTILA)</figcaption></div>Given all the gushing, it&rsquo;s not surprising some rumor mills floated the idea in the spring that Hughes wasn&rsquo;t the automatic No. 1 pick. Hughes still has the edge as a center, but Kakko also looks like a franchise-changing player and one of the best, if not the best, prospects to come out of Finland. That&rsquo;s saying a lot given how much elite talent the nation has produced in recent years. It doesn&rsquo;t mean Kakko is Jari Kurri or Teemu Selanne reincarnated. But Kakko may have the most hype and praise heaped on him of any 18-year-old Finn in history.Kakko isn&rsquo;t perfect, of course. Ahokas bluntly states he was underwhelmed with his star&rsquo;s performance at the world juniors (two goals, five points in seven games), suggesting even Kakko would agree despite the fact the Finns won gold and Kakko scored the&nbsp;tournament-winning goal, backhanding home a loose puck to sink Team USA with 1:26 remaining in the third period. Ahokas doesn&rsquo;t think Kakko shoots the puck enough and believes he could and should score more than he does.Still, the combination of high floor and ceiling all but guarantees Kakko slips no further than second in the draft, which is a boon to the New York Rangers, who finished with the NHL&rsquo;s sixth-worst record and jumped four spots to win the second pick in the April 9 draft lottery. The chances of that happening were 7.8 percent. The No. 2 selection will accelerate an already dramatic rebuild.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kakko3/489743-1-eng-US/kakko32.jpg" title="kakko3" width="741" height="935"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY MARKKU VUOTILA)</figcaption></div>After possessing no first-round picks from 2013 to 2016, the Rangers&rsquo; two first-rounders this spring will be their sixth and seventh since the 2017 draft, joining Lias Andersson (seventh, 2017), Filip Chytil (21st, 2017), Vitali Kravtsov (ninth, 2018), K&rsquo;Andre Miller (22nd, 2018) and Nils Lundkvist (28th, 2018). The Rangers jumped 13 spots year over year in The Hockey News&rsquo; Future Watch farm-system rankings, from 24th to 11th, and they&rsquo;re particularly excited about Kravtsov, whom head scout Gordie Clark compares to Evgeni Malkin. But no one offers more immediate potential to transform the 2019-20 lineup on opening night than Kakko.Rangers GM Jeff Gorton isn&rsquo;t ready to acknowledge that Kakko will don Broadway Blue at the podium June 21. The Rangers want to play things diplomatically for now. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the fairest thing to do,&rdquo; Gorton said. &ldquo;Obviously, people have their ratings, and you hear the same names over and over in the top two. But we&rsquo;re lucky that the lottery was moved up to an earlier date. It gives us a chance to go to the world under-18s, see some players and go to the World Championship and see some other guys. The timing was good for us. It allows us to go through our process and to talk to the players, their families, everybody around them, then make our decision.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kakko5/489736-1-eng-US/kakko52.jpg" title="kakko5" width="864" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body">OFFENSIVE DYNAMOHis elite talent level sets him apart, and Kakko also earns praise for his vision, smarts and competitive nature. (RICH LAM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Kakko will suit up for Finland at the 2019 World Championship. Barring some sort of otherworldly development, he&rsquo;ll be a Ranger. Bet on it. It&rsquo;s extremely difficult to imagine the New Jersey Devils passing on Hughes at No. 1, and it&rsquo;s just as unlikely the Rangers duck Kakko at No. 2. Their fan base should be excited, because Kakko&rsquo;s smarts and size scream NHL-ready. &ldquo;If Jesperi Kotkaniemi could play this year, Kaapo could play right away,&rdquo; Ahokas said. &ldquo;He has good size, but he still has to grow strength-wise. If he has a good summer and works hard, he&rsquo;ll be ready for the NHL next year for sure.&rdquo;Kakko would be the ninth consecutive forward picked No. 2 overall to jump directly to the NHL, joining Tyler Seguin, Gabriel Landeskog, Barkov, Sam Reinhart (returned to junior after nine games), Jack Eichel, Laine, Nolan Patrick and Andrei Svechnikov. Given the expectations accompanying that draft slot in this era, it&rsquo;s all but certain the Liiga has seen the last of its wunderkind.Kaskinen will have all off-season in his garden to ponder how to replace TPS&rsquo;s most irreplaceable player. But the joy trumps any disappointment. &ldquo;I would like to keep him on my team,&rdquo; said Kaskinen with a laugh, &ldquo;but he has to go. He&rsquo;s our diamond, and we&rsquo;re so proud of him. So let&rsquo;s wish him good luck.&rdquo; &#9632;

kakko1

KAAPO KAKKO: SPECIAL K

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="cozens2" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cozens2/489808-1-eng-US/cozens22.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NORTHERN EXPOSURE Cozens grew up playing minor hockey in Whitehorse, where the nearest city with organized hockey was 13 hours away. (MARISSA BAECKER/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN CASE YOU HAVEN&rsquo;T&nbsp;heard yet, Dylan Cozens is from Whitehorse. You&rsquo;re going to hear a lot about that between now and the NHL draft, because it&rsquo;s a pretty good yarn. When Cozens plays his 24th NHL game, he&rsquo;ll have played more games in the best league in the world than all the other players from Whitehorse combined. It&rsquo;s cold and isolated there, and when Cozens was 12 years old, he was playing in a men&rsquo;s league and had his leg broken when a guy twice his weight fell on him.But that&rsquo;s not even the most interesting thing about Cozens&rsquo; backstory. His parents, now that&rsquo;s a tale. His mother, Sue Bogle, was born in Jamaica. Who goes from Jamaica to Whitehorse? And trains for marathons throughout the winter in Canada&rsquo;s far north? His father, Mike, moved from Toronto to Lethbridge to work as an electrician, and after 14 years of doing that, with a wife and three children, he decided to go to law school. He and his wife divorced, and he moved to Whitehorse and met Sue and had three more kids, all of them hockey players. The oldest of Mike&rsquo;s six children is 40, the youngest 12. Sue is a crown attorney&nbsp;for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, and Mike is a territorial court judge who hears criminal cases, none of them being tried by his prosecutor wife. (Mike&rsquo;s younger brother, Scott, is also a lawyer in Calgary and was co-host of the&nbsp;Canadian Pickers&nbsp;television show.)Into that mix of humanity is Dylan Cozens, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound combination of size, speed and skill who has an unimpeachable work ethic. Cozens is sure to be a top-five pick in this year&rsquo;s draft, and the team that selects him will gain a tantalizing prospect. He can play center or right wing and, even though he&rsquo;s pretty powerful now, there is a lot of room for him to put weight on his frame. But no matter how big he is and how many battles he wins in the corner, he&rsquo;ll never, ever be able to trade verbal blows with his lawyer mother. &ldquo;If I get into an argument with her,&rdquo; Cozens said, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s an argument I&rsquo;m going to lose every time.&rdquo;There will be a time when Cozens stops being a hockey player from Yukon and just becomes a hockey player in the NHL. But a story that good is hard to shake. It&rsquo;s not that Whitehorse is a just a small town. After all, there are a lot of guys in the NHL who come from hamlets of 25,000. It&rsquo;s that the players there are so isolated that it takes a lot to find competition. The nearest city with a minor hockey association is Anchorage, and that&rsquo;s a 13-hour drive away. Yellowknife is closer as the crow flies, but driving there takes 29 hours. That&rsquo;s why Mike built a rink in the backyard, where Cozens and his brothers and their friends would regularly play in temperatures ranging from minus-30 to minus-40 Celsius, but if the air was going to freeze your lungs, at least it wasn&rsquo;t going to clog them. Whitehorse has the lowest recorded pollution rates of any city in the world. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty cool just breathing in the fresh air,&rdquo; Cozens said. &ldquo;You start out super cold, and you get going and playing, and you start sweating, and you&rsquo;re taking your coat off and playing in T-shirts.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cozens4/489801-1-eng-US/cozens42.jpg" title="cozens4" width="1181" height="958"><figcaption class="caption-body">READY TO TURN PROAfter two stellar seasons in the WHL with Lethbridge, Cozens wants to make the jump to the NHL next year. (ANDY DEVLIN/HOCKEY CANADA IMAGES)</figcaption></div>As far as league play was concerned, kids who play rep hockey in Whitehorse play the next age group up in the house league. And when you get to bantam, you play against teams in the men&rsquo;s rec league. At 63, Mark is the oldest player in that league, but he plays in the &lsquo;A&rsquo; Division, so he never played against his son, who was a 12-year-old peewee in 2013 and was up playing with the bantam rep team, who played in the men&rsquo;s league &lsquo;B&rsquo; Division. Cozens had just finished playing in a peewee tournament where his Whitehorse Mustangs scored 30 goals and he had points on 28 of them, including seven goals in the 8-0 championship game. A week later Cozens was playing a game when the 5-foot-4, 100-pounder had a partial breakaway and stopped to make a pass, in the process getting accidentally run over by a 200-pound opponent who got tangled with him and fell on his leg. Cozens had to sit out the rest of the season with a broken tibia and fibula, but he also had a six-inch growth spurt while he was healing.<blockquote class="pullQuote">IT&rsquo;S PRETTY COOL JUST BREATHING IN THE FRESH AIR. YOU START OUT SUPER COLD, AND YOU GET GOING AND PLAYING, AND YOU START SWEATING, AND YOU&rsquo;RE TAKING YOUR COAT OFF AND PLAYING IN T-SHIRTS &ndash; Dylan Cozens</blockquote>By the time he was 14, Cozens moved to British Columbia to play prep hockey for two years before joining the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL. After winning rookie-of-the-year honors last season, Cozens exploded for 34 goals and 84 points in his draft year. After two years playing major junior, Cozens believes he&rsquo;s ready for the next level. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to do everything in my power to play in the NHL next year,&rdquo; he said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cozens1/489794-1-eng-US/cozens12.jpg" title="cozens1" width="867" height="792"><figcaption class="caption-body">(CHRISTOPHER MAST/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Assuming Jack Hughes goes first overall and Kaapo Kakko goes No. 2, if Cozens fulfills his promise and goes in the top five, he&rsquo;ll end up in Chicago, Colorado or Los Angeles. Considering where he&rsquo;s from, he&rsquo;ll definitely be coming in from the cold. &#9632;

cozens2

DYLAN COZENS: THE DARK HORSE FROM WHITEHORSE

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="vs_cozens" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/vs_cozens/489838-1-eng-US/vs_cozens2.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IT&rsquo;S A GOOD THING Kirby Dach and Dylan Cozens were born 19 days and more than 1,200 miles apart in 2001. Because if they&rsquo;d been born in the same hospital at the same time, there&rsquo;s a chance they might&rsquo;ve been separated at birth. More than 18 years later, NHL teams looking for the top forward in the 2019 draft not named Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko will have a compelling choice between two tantalizing prospects who are almost carbon copies of one another, both of whom can create offense and have a high compete level. They will choose between one prospect (Dach) who grew up and played his hockey just outside Edmonton and developed his skills with some of the best players in Western Canada, and another (Cozens) who grew up in Canada&rsquo;s far north. So it should come as no surprise that Dach is the more refined prospect, while Cozens has a rawer package of size, physicality and drive. Here&rsquo;s how they measure up in key areas.<h2>SKATING</h2>Cozens is the better and faster skater here and now, but that could change as the two continue to develop physically. &ldquo;Cozens has the bigger frame, and he&rsquo;s a little stronger,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;Dach just needs some leg strength.&rdquo; The sense is that Dach is a better skater than he&rsquo;s given credit for, largely because he lacks the natural explosiveness that Cozens has in his first three steps. &ldquo;Cozens is already a better skater in terms of his quickness,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;While I think both will improve their skating, you&rsquo;re going to see more flow and small linear progression for Dach, and you&rsquo;re going to see a more exponential one for Cozens. There&rsquo;s more of a power element to Cozens.&rdquo;&nbsp;EDGE: COZENS<h2>HOCKEY SENSE</h2>Both players are more&nbsp;likely to pass than shoot, and their ability to identify and get the puck to teammates is high, but the sense is that Dach is at a truly elite level when it comes to thinking the game, particularly in the offensive end. &ldquo;To me it&rsquo;s Dach, and it&rsquo;s not close,&rdquo; said a scout. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not disparaging Cozens, because his sense is fine and it&rsquo;s not deficient, but Dach&rsquo;s sense is really good. You get enamored with a 6-foot-3 guy who can skate and handle the puck. His sense is the best thing about his game.&rdquo; With his ability to control and protect the puck, Cozens can hang onto it long enough to slow the game down and find open teammates.&nbsp;EDGE: DACH<h2>NHL READINESS</h2>Scouts project both to be impact players in the best league in the world, but the differences in their physical development and versatility suggest Cozens will get there a little sooner. &ldquo;Cozens has the edge because, earlier on, the more roles you can play, the easier it is to get to the NHL,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;Cozens competes harder than Dach, and Cozens will be able to play a fourth-line or lower-line defensive role before Dach will. I&rsquo;m not sure Dach will ever be able to do that.&rdquo; If you&rsquo;re picking one of the two to make the jump directly from the draft to the NHL, Cozens is more likely. But both could use more time to develop their games.&nbsp;EDGE: COZENS<h2>OFFENSIVE PLAY</h2>If a team is drafting either of these players, it is going to get a player whose main attribute is the ability to create offense. Even though Cozens put up more impressive totals this past season, much of that is because he&rsquo;s more physically developed, whereas Dach&rsquo;s sense of creativity is more innate. &ldquo;The numbers would tell you Cozens, but I think it&rsquo;s Dach in terms of production,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s got more natural talent. When you&rsquo;re big and strong and powerful, you can overpower people, whereas I think Dach&rsquo;s vision and his ability to see things is something that will carry over to the NHL.&rdquo; Cozens is viewed as more of a natural goal-scorer, but Dach possesses more finesse around the net and in tight areas.&nbsp;EDGE: DACH<h2>DEFENSIVE PLAY</h2>The ability to play&nbsp;a 200-foot game is a coveted quality in the NHL, and once Cozens adds some muscle to his frame, it will likely make him more effective in his own zone and enhance what is already a pretty impressive defensive game. But playing defense is also a mindset, and scouts believe Cozens is much more willing than Dach to adopt it. &ldquo;Dach doesn&rsquo;t always buy in, and Cozens does,&rdquo; said one scout. Because Cozens is more willing to play a physical game, he has the ability to support down low and knock opponents off pucks. That doesn&rsquo;t mean Dach won&rsquo;t become a better defensive player as he develops, because he likely will, particularly if he wants to get more ice time at higher levels.&nbsp;EDGE: COZENS<h2>PASSING</h2>There are scouts out there who see a resemblance to Joe Thornton in Dach, so that gives you a pretty good idea of how adept he is at distributing the puck. Dach has more of a pass-first mentality than Cozens, and Dach&rsquo;s ability to find open teammates is impressive, especially on the power play, where he&rsquo;s &ldquo;ridiculous&rdquo; according to one scout. &ldquo;When I say elite-level passing&hellip;If you had a 10-point scale, and you put Hughes at 10, you&rsquo;d put Dach at eight,&rdquo; said a scout. Another scout said Dach is just as good as some high-end defensemen at passing out of his own zone: &ldquo;I saw him make 10 or 12 stretch passes this year.&rdquo;&nbsp;EDGE: DACH<h2>SHOT</h2>What Cozens lacks in pure offensive elan compared to Dach, Cozens closes the gap with his shot, which is hard, heavy and accurate. And because he creates so much room for himself in the offensive zone with his size and physical play, he&rsquo;s also able to get to the prime areas of the ice to get his shot off. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to talk about skill, you have to talk about the whole pantheon of skill, and you have to include Cozens&rsquo; shot,&rdquo; said a scout. &ldquo;His shot is really good, not that Dach&rsquo;s isn&rsquo;t.&rdquo; Cozens has proven at the junior level that he can score using a wide arsenal of tools. His one-timer is very good, as are his wrist shot and snap shot.&nbsp;EDGE: COZENS<h2>PHYSICALITY</h2>This one goes to Cozens at this stage because he&rsquo;s not only bigger and stronger, but he&rsquo;s also more willing to engage in the physical side of the game. &ldquo;Cozens is just consistently a little more competitive,&rdquo; said one scout. That being said, the gap between the two players isn&rsquo;t enormous, and Dach has the potential to close it if he gets stronger and learns to use his body more to his advantage. &ldquo;By reputation, Cozens takes it in a landslide, but it&rsquo;s closer than people think,&rdquo; said a scout. &ldquo;When you watch Cozens, he&rsquo;s more willing than Dach and more aggressive than Dach, and he initiates it more than Dach. But when Dach decides he wants to, it&rsquo;s hard to contain him. When he does hit, he has an impact.&rdquo;&nbsp;EDGE: COZENS &#9632;

vs_cozens

VERSUS

KIRBY DACH VS. DYLAN COZENS

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="mintable_dr_038" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/mintable_dr_038/489882-1-eng-US/mintable_dr_0382.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IT IS THE MOST wonderful time of the year for scouts, but the NHL draft is also a high-pressure weekend that can drastically alter a franchise&rsquo;s trajectory. We&rsquo;ve all seen the long tables laid out in front of the stage at the event, but what&rsquo;s it like to actually sit there? We went to the experts for an insider&rsquo;s look at life at the draft table.While the first round takes place on Friday night, teams generally get into town on Wednesday. Jeff Twohey was the assistant director of amateur scouting for the Arizona Coyotes from 2014 to 2018 and fondly recalls catching baseball games with the staff on the Wednesday. &ldquo;The first night was about getting the guys together,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was something we would all look forward to.&rdquo;Thursday was time to get down to business. That&rsquo;s when teams fine-tune their draft lists and do some last-minute interviews, though Twohey notes that the Coyotes preferred not to leave much up in the air at that point. &ldquo;A lot of times it was Russians who weren&rsquo;t at the draft combine or players we were having debates on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But the interview process can be risky. We&rsquo;re not skilled analysts in reading people. You have to go with your gut.&rdquo;Friday is when the real fun begins, with the first round happening in prime time. Before getting to the arena floor, a team&rsquo;s director of amateur scouting will brief the GM on all sorts of scenarios surrounding their first-round pick and who the ideal candidate to draft will be at that slot. Arizona made a surprising pick last year when it tabbed center Barrett Hayton fifth overall, but the team had a lot of intel on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds star. &ldquo;We got some feedback after that teams around us were high on him, too,&rdquo; Twohey said. &ldquo;Analytics supported it, and it helped that he played a position that we put a premium on. We looked at Filip Zadina (who went sixth to Detroit), but he was a late birthday, and Hayton had so much room to grow.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/koivu_draft_039/489875-1-eng-US/koivu_draft_0392.jpg" title="koivu_draft_039" width="472" height="829"><figcaption class="caption-body">WILD DRAFT STORYMinnesota snagged Mikko Koivu at the 2001 draft, pulling him away from his brother Saku and the Canadiens. (B BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">WE TRIED TO HIDE OUR TRACKS. WE TOLD EVERYBODY THAT WE WANTED A GOALIE. THAT WAS THE DAN BLACKBURN YEAR, SO WHEN WE MADE THE PICK, THERE WERE EXCLAMATIONS FROM THE MONTREAL TABLE. &ndash; Tom Lynn, Wild assistant GM in 2003</blockquote>Ultimately, the GM makes the final call, but he&rsquo;ll be well prepared and well informed before he makes that decision. The reason so many scenarios have to be mapped out is that those top assets tend to be coveted by a lot of teams. Anecdotally, it seems as though everyone picking in the second half of the 2003 first round wanted Zach Parise, for instance. Tom Lynn, who is now a player agent, was the assistant GM of the Minnesota Wild back then, and Parise was a local kid. But the Wild also had designs on a big center from the WHL&rsquo;s Calgary Hitmen. &ldquo;Everybody thought we were taking Zach Parise, and Lou Lamoriello kept looking over at us,&rdquo; Lynn said. &ldquo;So New Jersey got Parise and, one pick before us, Anaheim took Ryan Getzlaf.&rdquo;The silver lining to this story is that Minnesota went off the board and took Brent Burns with the next pick. Lynn still remembers meeting the future Norris Trophy winner that day. &ldquo;Most kids are coached in how they act, but Brent was always comfortable in his own skin,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Usually the kids just shake everyone&rsquo;s hand at the table, but he was gregarious and was getting into conversations with the guys.&rdquo;The Wild have played spoilers at the draft, too. In 2001, they were very high on center Mikko Koivu, but they knew Montreal &ndash; where older brother Saku was playing &ndash; also was hot on the kid. So they engaged in a bit of pre-draft subterfuge to make sure the Canadiens didn&rsquo;t trade up ahead of them. &ldquo;We tried to hide our tracks,&rdquo; Lynn said. &ldquo;We told everybody that we wanted a goalie. That was the Dan Blackburn year, so when we made the pick, there were exclamations from the Montreal table.&rdquo;Minnesota nabbed Koivu sixth overall, and the Habs took defenseman Mike Komisarek one selection later.But let&rsquo;s go back to the table itself for a moment, because the setup is crucial. Typically, the GM sits at the head, with the head amateur scout on one side and another exec on the other side: the assistant GM, the capologist or the head pro scout. Someone from hockey operations is also nearby, as they&rsquo;re in charge of the computer into which each team submits their picks. Each name has to be approved by the NHL before the pick is formally announced.After that first cadre of execs, you get to the crossover scouts &ndash; those who cover more than one league. Further down the table&rsquo;s sides are the regional scouts, then sometimes part-timers. The team&rsquo;s coaches sit at the end.Teams also have a &ldquo;runner,&rdquo; almost always the child of someone from the organization &ndash; the owner or coach, for example &ndash; who wears the team&rsquo;s jersey and is responsible for grabbing food for the staff or papers from the printer. Unofficially, they can even pass notes to other teams, if they are trusted with such duties. While it&rsquo;s a fun job for the kids, the NHL actually has them attend an official meeting beforehand where they are informed on the importance of confidentiality at the event.When Lynn was working for the Wild, he was in charge of a list of papers that detailed every team&rsquo;s draft selections for that year and the next two, including whether the picks were conditional. That way, GM Doug Risebrough was always up to date when trades were being proposed. Figuring out when and if to trade at the draft is a science all to itself. Lynn cites former New York Rangers GM Glen Sather as an ace when it came to making those quick decisions to move up or down, while noticing himself that there was a sort of natural order to what would happen in those scenarios: if a team moved up, they were taking a potential impact player. If they moved down a few spots, the selection tended to be more of a coldly efficient player. Once a goalie is taken, several netminders usually follow in quick succession, as if no team wants to miss the boat on grabbing one.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/booner_jenn_040/489868-1-eng-US/booner_jenn_0402.jpg" title="booner_jenn_040" width="1021" height="1147"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALMOST AN OILEREdmonton debated on Boone Jenner in the second round in 2011 but instead took a D-man who didn&rsquo;t pan out. (KEVIN SOUSA/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">IT&rsquo;S ALL ABOUT READING THE DRAFT. YOU NEED A FEEL FOR WHEN YOU THINK YOU CAN GET GUYS. WE LIKED GAINING PICKS, BUT THE OFFER HAD TO BE RIGHT, BECAUSE YOU DIDN&rsquo;T WANT TO LOSE OUT ON A PLAYER, EITHER. &ndash;&nbsp;Jeff Twohey, Assistant director of amateur scouting for the Coyotes from 2014-18</blockquote>Twohey also remembers trade scenarios coming out constantly, especially on the second day of the draft. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about reading the draft,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You need a feel for when you think you can get guys. We liked gaining picks, but the offer had to be right, because you didn&rsquo;t want to lose out on a player, either.&rdquo;After the whirlwind of the first round on Friday night, teams don&rsquo;t have long to regroup: the second round starts bright and early on Saturday morning. But it&rsquo;s important for the GM and his scouts to revise their list, based on the first-round results. And even having the first pick on the second day isn&rsquo;t always easy. Longtime Edmonton Oilers scout Bill Dandy is now working with the QMJHL&rsquo;s Moncton Wildcats, but he recalled a big debate the Oilers had back in 2011 after they selected Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first overall. Edmonton had the first pick of the second round, and the scouts were split on what to do. &ldquo;All the guys in the East wanted Boone Jenner,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But we had no depth on defense at the time, and the guys out West wanted David Musil. After two hours of debate, we were still at a standstill, so (GM) Steve Tambellini and (director of amateur scouting) Stu MacGregor made the call to take Musil.&rdquo;As for the team&rsquo;s draft list, it can go about 75 to 90 names deep, though some teams may go longer or shorter, depending on that particular year&rsquo;s crop of talent. Eventually, teams move on from the &ldquo;best player available&rdquo; stance that dominates the early going. &ldquo;Once you get past the fourth round, then you start looking for needs,&rdquo; Dandy said. &ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s a right-shot defenseman or a left-shot center, for example.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of triumph, a lot of anxiety and a lot of heartache at the draft, but even the most veteran scouts agree that it&rsquo;s all worth it once that first selection is made under the bright lights. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care how long you&rsquo;ve been doing it,&rdquo; Twohey said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always exciting going up on that stage.&rdquo; &#9632;

mintable_dr_038

SETTING THE TABLE FOR THE FUTURE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="RANKINGS" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/rankings/499605-1-eng-US/rankings.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOWEN BYRAM (KEVIN LIGHT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>EVERY DRAFT HAS ITS own flavor, and 2019 is shaping up to be seriously American. Right at the top, of course, we have Jack Hughes. But his teammates from the U.S. National Team Development Program won&rsquo;t be far behind. This is shaping up to be a record year for USA Hockey&rsquo;s shiniest gem. While the NTDP typically contributes about 10 to 12 players per draft class, this year could see nearly every eligible player get an NHL jersey, including both goalies.When constructing this year&rsquo;s top 100, we had to be cognizant of how many NTDP players were on the list. Players such as Marshall Warren, Case McCarthy and Cameron Rowe easily could have made it under the bubble, but at the same time, it&rsquo;s important to cover off the entire draft landscape in these pages (not that whittling the list down to 100 is ever an easy task).This year&rsquo;s bios were compiled by senior writers Ken Campbell and Ryan Kennedy, using quotes and information gathered throughout the season from scouts and executives who work for NHL teams. The ranking is not a mock draft, but more a reflection of best player available.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0183/489912-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="3020" height="2773"></div> &#9632;

RANKINGS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0179/489949-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/hughes_jack_043/489970-1-eng-US/hughes_jack_0432.jpg" title="hughes_jack_043" width="216" height="309"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa6/489963-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN May 14, 2001, Orlando, Fla.2018-19 USA NTDP POS CHT 5-10 WT 168 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 1EVEN BEFORE HE participated in the under-18 World Championship, Hughes had already set the standard for career points with the U.S. National Team Development Program.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp12/489956-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>If you&rsquo;re wondering what kind of company Hughes keeps, think Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. While Hughes is not considered a &ldquo;generational player&rdquo; in the Sidney Crosby-Connor McDavid sense, he projects to be a dynamic, elite producer who can drive a championship team. &ldquo;The upside is enormous,&rdquo; a scout said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re talking potential, it&rsquo;s not a landslide for Hughes, but it&rsquo;s definitive. Hughes&rsquo; potential is huge. He&rsquo;s an elite skater, an elite thinker and an elite skill player. He has an ability to process and execute at high speeds.&rdquo;Any concern about Hughes&rsquo; 5-foot-10, 168-pound frame is negated by the fact the NHL now has a firm place for the undersized ultra-skilled player. And the fact is, while he doesn&rsquo;t seek physical play, he doesn&rsquo;t shy away from it either. &ldquo;A lot of nights with him, he&rsquo;s a smaller version of McDavid,&rdquo; said another scout. &#9632;

f0036-01

JACK HUGHES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0249/490000-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kakko_kaapo_044/490021-1-eng-US/kakko_kaapo_0442.jpg" title="kakko_kaapo_044" width="220" height="267"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/finland10/490014-1-eng-US/finland2.jpg" title="finland" width="185" height="117"></div>BORN Feb. 13, 2001, Turku, Fin.2018-19 TPS POS RWHT 6-2 WT 190 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 2THERE ISN&rsquo;T VERY MUCH separating Kakko from Jack Hughes at the top of this draft class. And there would be even less if Kakko played center.Kakko set a Finnish record for goal scoring by an under-18 player in the Liiga, beating Aleksander Barkov&rsquo;s old mark of 21. Oh, and Kakko also scored the golden goal for Finland at the World Junior Championship in Vancouver. &ldquo;At that age, in that league, the things he does with the puck &ndash; no one has done this,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;The flashiness and offensive skill is the best I&rsquo;ve seen so far at that age. Has the mindset of a big player.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/tps3/490007-1-eng-US/tps2.jpg" title="tps" width="162" height="163"></div>The mild concern is that Kakko has diabetes and celiac disease, though both maladies are manageable for a pro athlete.What remains is one of the best Finnish prospects ever, and that&rsquo;s saying something, given the field. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s NHL ready for me,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;His top speed needs a little bit of improvement, but he has a long summer to take care of that. He has everything you want. He defends well, strong down low, has creativity and a finishing touch, and he&rsquo;s strong for his age. And he has some feistiness.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0036-02

KAAPO KAKKO

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/lethbridge__036/490058-1-eng-US/lethbridge__0362.jpg" title="lethbridge__036" width="252" height="168"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cozens_dyla_045/490072-1-eng-US/cozens_dyla_0452.jpg" title="cozens_dyla_045" width="184" height="295"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada12/490065-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Feb. 9, 2001, Whitehorse, Yukon2018-19 Lethbridge POS CHT 6-3 WT 185 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 5THE SUB-ARCTIC TOWN of Whitehorse has never had a full-time NHL player, but Cozens is about to break the mold. The only question is whether he&rsquo;ll jump to the NHL at 18 or have to wait a year or two.Cozens has all the attributes NHL teams are seeking &ndash; size, skill, physicality and a tremendous work ethic. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy you can build around, because he&rsquo;s huge and competitive,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He has an unbelievable work ethic. He never takes a shift off. He works his butt off. And he&rsquo;s not the smoothest skater, but he&rsquo;s fast.&rdquo;Cozens has worked hard to improve his skating, but it won&rsquo;t be his forte at the NHL level. The potential lies in his strength, something that will increase as he develops physically and adds more bulk to his frame. Even though he&rsquo;s slight, he&rsquo;s considered a power forward in the WHL. He can shoot the puck and power his way to areas where he can get it. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big kid, and he&rsquo;s powerful, but he looks like he&rsquo;s 12,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;Just by getting older, he&rsquo;s going to add a dimension to his game. There&rsquo;s a power dimension that isn&rsquo;t there yet.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0338/490051-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

lethbridge__036

DYLAN COZENS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0427/490102-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/dach_kirby3/490123-1-eng-US/dach_kirby2.jpg" title="dach_kirby" width="192" height="278"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada13/490116-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Jan. 21, 2001, St. Albert, Alta.2018-19 Saskatoon POS CHT 6-4 WT 198 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 7SOME SCOUTS would like to see a little more fire in his game and would like him to shoot the puck more, but Dach remains a coveted prospect thanks to his special combination of size, skill and hockey sense.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/saskatoon_b_050/490109-1-eng-US/saskatoon_b_0502.jpg" title="saskatoon_b_050" width="187" height="187"></div>Dach took almost 100 shots more this season than last with the WHL&rsquo;s Saskatoon Blades, but he definitely has a pass-first mentality. &ldquo;He has all the tools in the world,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a mouthwatering blend of size, skill and skating. I think his skating is underrated. I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s reached his potential in terms of strength, and I think he&rsquo;s going to find another step.&rdquo;At 6-foot-4, Dach has the size to be a No. 1 center, and his ability to make the right play with the puck will make him a coveted commodity. There are times when his game could use a little more urgency and defensive buy-in, which is not uncommon in young prospects. If that happens, he&rsquo;ll become a dangerous player at both ends of the ice because of his long reach. &ldquo;There are a lot of guys who have reach who don&rsquo;t use it,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;I find he uses his reach.&rdquo; &#9632;

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KIRBY DACH

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0166/490153-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/podkolzin_v_049/490174-1-eng-US/podkolzin_v_0492.jpg" title="podkolzin_v_049" width="229" height="289"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/russia9/490167-1-eng-US/russia2.jpg" title="russia" width="180" height="118"></div>BORN June 24, 2001, Moscow, Rus.2018-19 SKA-Neva St. Peter. POS RWHT 6-1 WT 190 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 4NOBODY WANTS TO come out and say there is a bias against Russian players in the scouting community, but there remains a feeling among NHL talent scouts that Russians fit a certain mold of player. It&rsquo;s fair to say Podkolzin breaks that mold. &ldquo;He is a Russian culture-changer,&rdquo; said a scout. &ldquo;He invites physicality all over the ice. Other opponents are aware of him all the time, and he gets under their skin, but he does it with more control than a (Brad) Marchand does it. He seems to be much more in control of his emotions rather than a prisoner of them. All of that goes in combination with top-six skill.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/ska_neva/490160-1-eng-US/ska_neva2.jpg" title="ska_neva" width="187" height="187"></div>That skill is not as elite as the level of the top players in the draft, but Podkolzin has the makings of an excellent second-line support player who can move up the lineup and provide energy and sandpaper. Much of his high ranking has come from his inspired and productive play in international competition. He helped Russia to a bronze in the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament with eight goals and 11 points in five games and had three goals and eight points in six games at the World Jr. A Challenge. &#9632;

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VASILI PODKOLZIN

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0252/490204-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/byram_bowen_046/490225-1-eng-US/byram_bowen_0462.jpg" title="byram_bowen_046" width="196" height="308"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada14/490218-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN June 13, 2001, Cranbrook, B.C.2018-19 Vancouver POS DHT 6-1 WT 192 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 3WHILE HE&rsquo;S NOT THE unanimous pick among scouts to be the first defenseman chosen this year, Byram is almost certainly going to be that guy. &ldquo;He has tremendous upside,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He sees the ice well and has natural offensive instincts. But he needs to improve his agility and his ability to pivot when he&rsquo;s on the defensive side of the puck.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/vancouver_g_051/490211-1-eng-US/vancouver_g_0512.jpg" title="vancouver_g_051" width="187" height="187"></div>One of the highest-scoring defensemen in the WHL, Byram set a Vancouver record by tallying five points in one game. He was also the top-scoring defenseman in the playoffs on a very good Giants team. Simply put, Byram has run numbers wherever he has gone this year, from the WHL to the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament, where he won gold with Team Canada. &ldquo;He an intelligent player who gets involved off the rush,&rdquo; said a scout. &ldquo;He shows good decision making with the puck, is strong and runs the power play. His skating is good in a straight line, but his agility could use improvement. Defensively, he could be more involved, but he has a good stick and transitions well to offense.&rdquo;Those skating subtleties can be worked out with a skating coach. &#9632;

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BOWEN BYRAM

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/zegras_trev_047/490276-1-eng-US/zegras_trev_0472.jpg" title="zegras_trev_047" width="244" height="288"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa7/490269-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN March 20, 2001, Bedford, N.Y.2018-19 USA NTDP POS CHT 6-0 WT 168 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 9TABBED AS THE third-line center for the U.S. National Team Development Program, Zegras spent much of his time centering the second line when teammate Alex Turcotte was injured. And scouts liked what they saw from Zegras when he took on more offensive responsibility.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp13/490262-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>Zegras actually has a better shot than Hughes but is seen as more of a playmaker than a scorer. Zegras also has some edge to his game. &ldquo;He has high-level potential,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s a boom-or-bust guy, but there&rsquo;s a big swath between his top potential and his bottom potential. This guy could be an A-plus or a B-minus.&rdquo;Zegras has committed to Boston University, and his major junior rights are owned by the OHL Mississauga Steelheads. Either way, he&rsquo;ll need time to develop, but a team willing to be patient may end up with a reward once he matures. His smarts and positioning make him potentially an effective two-way center at the NHL level.Once he takes on a more prominent role than the one he has, he may prove to be more of a primary player than a secondary one.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0331/490255-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

zegras_trev_047

TREVOR ZEGRAS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0425/490306-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/boldy_matth_048/490327-1-eng-US/boldy_matth_0482.jpg" title="boldy_matth_048" width="200" height="284"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa8/490320-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN April 5, 2001, Millis, Mass.2018-19 USA NTDP POS LWHT 6-2 WT 187 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 8THERE&rsquo;S A LOT TO LIKE in Boldy, but scouts have left a number of the U.S. National Team Development Program games this season confused by what they saw from him. Consistency of effort was a concern for many of those who viewed him. &ldquo;I struggle with this kid, I&rsquo;m not going to lie to you,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;If you take Hughes and Kakko out of the mix, this kid has probably shown me the next best game out of a draft-eligible player this year. He&rsquo;s also shown me, go about 150 players down the list, that type of game. The lack of consistency is surprising for a guy with such high-level tools.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp14/490313-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>But it&rsquo;s difficult to ignore the skill package the Boston College commit and MVP of the USA Hockey top prospect game has when he&rsquo;s on his game. Skating is not his strength, but it&rsquo;s not going to hold him back. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s really good down low,&rdquo; another scout said. &ldquo;He wins a lot of those battles down behind the goal line and can score.&rdquo;Boldy is seen as a scorer with a big shot, but as he demonstrated with three assists in USA&rsquo;s first game at the under-18 World Championship, he can also set up plays. &#9632;

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MATTHEW BOLDY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/ntdp_caufie_054/490378-1-eng-US/ntdp_caufie_0542.jpg" title="ntdp_caufie_054" width="246" height="299"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa9/490371-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN Jan. 2, 2001, Stevens Point, Wis.2018-19 USA NTDP POS RWHT 5-7 WT 157 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 12ASIDE FROM THE Chicago Blackhawks, there was probably nobody in the hockey world happier to see Alex DeBrincat score 40 goals this season than Caufield.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp15/490364-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>Like DeBrincat, Caufield is an elite scorer, and he&rsquo;s a better skater than the 39th overall pick in 2016. Teams will not be fooled again. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to do one thing, you&rsquo;d better do it really well,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;And he scores and he just scores and scores. His one-timer is outstanding. He is a true scorer. He can score in a number of ways, but his one-timer is elite.&rdquo;The knock on DeBrincat was he had 50-goal seasons with Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome as his centers, and Caufield is hearing the same things about playing with Jack Hughes. &ldquo;A lot of guys play with those guys and don&rsquo;t score,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;All he did was break records of Hall of Fame players with the U.S. (NTDP). He doesn&rsquo;t score garbage goals either. Yeah, Hughes sets him up a lot, but you&rsquo;ve still got to get it in the net. He&rsquo;s got a great shot.&rdquo;Caufield had a great start at the world under-18s as well, with 11 goals in his first four games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0184/490357-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

ntdp_caufie_054

COLE CAUFIELD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/turcotte_al_056/490429-1-eng-US/turcotte_al_0562.jpg" title="turcotte_al_056" width="250" height="289"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa10/490422-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN Feb. 26, 2001, Island Lake, Ill.2018-19 USA NTDP POS CHT 5-11 WT 194 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 6AVERAGING ALMOST two points per game not playing with Jack Hughes &ndash; who happens to be his roommate &ndash; Turcotte has no shortage of offensive ability. The only problem is he had very real problems staying healthy, which limited his viewings by scouts.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp16/490415-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>The son of former NHLer Alfie Turcotte brings a high level of determination in his game and combines that with being a very good skater and an honest two-way player. &ldquo;He chases the puck, he pursues the puck, he pressures the puck,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;And when he loses it, he gets it back.&rdquo;As has been the case with other centers who have played behind Hughes, it&rsquo;s difficult to determine exactly where Turcotte projects in an NHL lineup, something that was exacerbated by his injuries this season. &ldquo;As long as he can stay healthy, he looks like a really good high-functioning second-line center,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see him as a first-line center. I look at him as an 80-percent second-line center and a 20-percent third-line center. He does those things you want your second-line center to do.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0255/490408-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

turcotte_al_056

ALEX TURCOTTE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0333/490459-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kootenay_kr_053/490480-1-eng-US/kootenay_kr_0532.jpg" title="kootenay_kr_053" width="232" height="301"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada15/490473-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Jan. 26, 2001, Okotoks, Alta.2018-19 Kootenay POS CHT 5-11 WT 181 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 10KREBS HAS BEEN A REAL soldier for the struggling Ice, who will move from B.C. to Winnipeg this summer. Taken first overall by Kootenay in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, Krebs has yet to make the playoffs but hasn&rsquo;t had much of a supporting cast along the way.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kootenay_ic_059/490466-1-eng-US/kootenay_ic_0592.jpg" title="kootenay_ic_059" width="187" height="187"></div>Only two Ice players have been drafted by NHL teams during his tenure (Cale Fleury and Brett Davis), and both were traded by Kootenay soon after. &ldquo;With Krebs, you have a player who doesn&rsquo;t have much to work with,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s tough, because you can&rsquo;t execute the way you want to, there&rsquo;s no one to give-and-go with or play off.&ldquo;He works extremely hard. He has quick hands, a quick release, he&rsquo;s a good passer and he&rsquo;s smart. He&rsquo;s a good skater but he can get better. He gets a little stiff-legged in the second half of his shift.&rdquo;Despite the limitations of his WHL club, Krebs was Team Cherry&rsquo;s player of the game at the CHL Top Prospects Game and put up good totals for Kootenay. &ldquo;Kudos to him for persevering,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He came to work every night even though he wasn&rsquo;t surrounded by much talent.&rdquo; &#9632;

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PEYTON KREBS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/soderstrom__062/490531-1-eng-US/soderstrom__0622.jpg" title="soderstrom__062" width="281" height="329"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sweden10/490524-1-eng-US/sweden2.jpg" title="sweden" width="181" height="119"></div>BORN Feb. 26. 2001, Skutskar, Swe.2018-19 Brynas POS DHT 5-11 WT 176 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 13SODERSTROM WAS NOT the biggest name on the draft radar entering the season, but his work on the ice has done the talking for him, bumping his stock into the first half of the first round. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a smart, all-around defenseman who plays a supporting role in the SHL,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting 20 minutes a game on the second pairing and second power-play unit. He&rsquo;s mobile, has puck skills and is a good skater. He plays good minutes, maybe Brynas is afraid they&rsquo;ll lose another player like they did with Adam Boqvist.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/bryns_if/490517-1-eng-US/bryns_if2.jpg" title="bryns_if" width="187" height="187"></div>Boqvist, Chicago&rsquo;s 2018 first-rounder, moved from Brynas to OHL London this season. Soderstrom&rsquo;s CHL rights are open right now, but the import draft is upcoming. Brynas did sign him to an extension that covers 2019-20, however. &ldquo;He handled the pro level well,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still losing battles, but that will change once he gets some muscle. He reads the play well and has good judgment. His team wasn&rsquo;t very good, and this was supposed to be a transitional year for him in the pros, but he has played tougher minutes than expected. He&rsquo;s going to make some team look good.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0426/490510-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

soderstrom__062

VICTOR SODERSTROM

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0173/490561-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/mississauga_052/490582-1-eng-US/mississauga_0522.jpg" title="mississauga_052" width="238" height="316"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada16/490575-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Aug. 19, 2001, Syracuse, N.Y.2018-19 Mississauga POS DHT 6-3 WT 183 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 16ANOTHER PLAYER WHO gained prominence as the season went on, Harley comes from an athletic family, with his older sister and brother playing U.S. college hockey and a younger brother who&rsquo;s still coming up.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/mississauga_058/490568-1-eng-US/mississauga_0582.jpg" title="mississauga_058" width="187" height="187"></div>Born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y., Harley has Alberta roots, with his dad originally moving to New York state to do a residency as an orthopedic surgeon. Harley represents Canada internationally, and don&rsquo;t be surprised to see him wearing that jersey a lot in the future. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just a good defenseman,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s poised, good at making plays. He&rsquo;s not flashy. He doesn&rsquo;t have that &lsquo;wow&rsquo; factor, but he&rsquo;s good at moving the puck, he&rsquo;s subtle in that sense.&rdquo;This year, Harley was OHL Mississauga&rsquo;s No. 1 D-man and became indispensable after the team traded leaders Owen Tippett and Ryan McLeod to Saginaw. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a chance he&rsquo;ll be the first player taken out of the OHL,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;The nice thing about him is that when Mississauga traded their high-end guys, he stepped up. He plays a really good two-way defensive game, and he is just tapping into his offensive side.&rdquo; &#9632;

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THOMAS HARLEY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0249/490612-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/halixfax_la_055/490633-1-eng-US/halixfax_la_0552.jpg" title="halixfax_la_055" width="232" height="329"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada17/490626-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Sept. 25, 2000, Montreal, Que.2018-19 Halifax POS RWHT 6-4 WT 198 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 14HEADING INTO THE QMJHL playoffs, it was fair to see the criticisms of Lavoie line up with his stat line. Despite a smashing 2017-18 with Halifax, the big kid&rsquo;s production tapered off in his draft year. &ldquo;I liked his consistency better as an underager,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a truckload of skills. He&rsquo;s got reach, he can skate and he has a good shot. So many attributes, but I&rsquo;d like to see him more engaged. If he finds consistency, he&rsquo;ll be quite the player.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/halifax_moo_060/490619-1-eng-US/halifax_moo_0602.jpg" title="halifax_moo_060" width="187" height="187"></div>Enter the 2019 playoffs. Lavoie went into beast mode for the Mooseheads, leading the team in scoring and vying for the league lead in points while helping Halifax to a comeback over Patrick Roy&rsquo;s Quebec Remparts in Round 1.When it comes to QMJHL prospects in the draft, evaluators saw a cluster of Lavoie, Samuel Poulin and Jakob Pelletier. Lavoie beat out Pelletier&rsquo;s Moncton Wildcats in the second round, while Poulin was eliminated in the first. Lavoie knows his team will be playing until the end of May. &ldquo;He has the luxury of being seen late in the season because of Halifax hosting the Memorial Cup,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;That could help his stock.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0039-02

RAPHAEL LAVOIE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/victoria_ne_057/490684-1-eng-US/victoria_ne_0572.jpg" title="victoria_ne_057" width="248" height="327"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada18/490677-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Jan. 28, 2001, St. John&rsquo;s, Nfld.2018-19 Victoria POS CHT 5-11 WT 190 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 15YOU COULD MAKE A pretty good team out of players snubbed for Canada&rsquo;s Hlinka tournament squads over the years, so don&rsquo;t read too much into Newhook&rsquo;s exclusion from this year&rsquo;s edition.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/victoria_gr_061/490670-1-eng-US/victoria_gr_0612.jpg" title="victoria_gr_061" width="187" height="187"></div>Even with that inauspicious start to the campaign, the Boston College commit made a statement by leading the BCHL in scoring by a margin of nearly 20 points. He was also one of Canada West&rsquo;s top scorers at the World Jr. A Challenge, winning bronze with the team. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not the biggest, but he&rsquo;s physically developed at 190 pounds,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s really smart, has great hands, good foot speed, good decision-making, and he plays in traffic.&rdquo;While some may quibble about the level of competition he faced this year, the BCHL is the top Jr. A circuit in Canada. And Newhook will get a test in the NCAA&rsquo;s tough Hockey East conference next season. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a little inconsistent for me at times, but he can skate and he&rsquo;s got skill,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;Some will say he&rsquo;s only playing in the BCHL, but he pretty much put up two points a game, which is impressive. He reminds me of (Colorado center) Tyson Jost.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0335/490663-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

victoria_ne_057

ALEX NEWHOOK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/ntdp_york/490735-1-eng-US/ntdp_york2.jpg" title="ntdp_york" width="241" height="305"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa11/490728-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN Jan. 5, 2001, Anaheim Hills, Calif.2018-19 USA NTDP POS DHT 5-11 WT 176 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 11THERE WAS A TIME when York likely wouldn&rsquo;t have gotten a second look from NHL scouts, but there is a place now in the league for undersized defensemen with skill and mobility.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp17/490721-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>As is the case with a lot of blueliners who don&rsquo;t break the six-foot mark, there is more of an offensive bent to his game. In an 11-3 rout of the USHL&rsquo;s Youngstown Phantoms this season, York set the NTDP record for points in a game by a defenseman with seven. His skating allows him to maintain good gap control on opposing forwards, but his lack of size sometimes causes problems when he&rsquo;s defending against bigger forwards. &ldquo;Saying that, he&rsquo;s an ultra-safe pick,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an excellent skater. He&rsquo;s a new-era defenseman. He moves the puck with his feet, he moves the puck with his brain.&rdquo;York projects as a second-pairing defenseman who can run a power play. As a Michigan commit for the NCAA, the California native will have time to grow and improve his defensive game. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got good sense, he&rsquo;s got good skating, he&rsquo;s got good skill,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He could defend a little better.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0432/490714-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

ntdp_york

CAM YORK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0183/490765-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/barrie_suzu_063/490786-1-eng-US/barrie_suzu_0632.jpg" title="barrie_suzu_063" width="208" height="302"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada19/490779-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN May 28, 2001, London, Ont.2018-19 Barrie POS CHT 6-0 WT 172 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 19COMING INTO THE season, Suzuki was considered the top-rated OHL prospect for the 2019 NHL draft. Now, he may be the second or third to go in a season that doesn&rsquo;t have its usual high end. &ldquo;He dropped, mainly due to his second half,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He has all the skill in the world and great hockey sense, but I question his compete level at times.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/barriecolts/490772-1-eng-US/barriecolts2.jpg" title="barriecolts" width="187" height="187"></div>The younger brother of Montreal Canadiens prospect Nick Suzuki, Ryan went first overall to the Barrie Colts in the 2017 OHL draft and fared well in his rookie campaign. But after losing Andrei Svechnikov, Dmitry Sokolov and Aaron Luchuk to the pros in the summer, the Colts ended up being sellers this season, further depleting the roster surrounding Suzuki. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a bit of a disappointment because of his production,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been fine but not what was expected. Barrie rebuilding hurt. He was kind of on his own. He&rsquo;s one of the better playmakers in the draft, almost too much so at times. He&rsquo;s a pass-first guy that could shoot more.&rdquo;The world under-18s offered Suzuki one final stage to show off his skill set. &#9632;

f0040-01

RYAN SUZUKI

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0251/490816-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/hamilton_ka_064/490837-1-eng-US/hamilton_ka_0642.jpg" title="hamilton_ka_064" width="229" height="309"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa15/490830-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN June 26, 2001, Tashkent, Uzb.2018-19 Hamilton POS RWHT 6-2 WT 190 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 18WITH HIS INCREDIBLE goal production, it&rsquo;s fair to ask why Kaliyev hasn&rsquo;t been higher on the various draft lists out there.To put it bluntly, evaluators want to make sure he can do things other than light the lamp (although that is a good skill to have). &ldquo;He can score goals, everybody can see that,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;Does it translate to the next level? How many pure snipers keep doing that at the next level? That&rsquo;s the question. It&rsquo;s going to be about adding elements to his game.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/hamilton_bu_071/490823-1-eng-US/hamilton_bu_0712.jpg" title="hamilton_bu_071" width="187" height="187"></div>Kaliyev was born in Uzbekistan but moved to Staten Island when he was two. At 13, he headed to Michigan to further his hockey career, and he plays for the U.S. on the international stage. The right winger has already seen the top of the mountain in the OHL, helping the Bulldogs win the league championship in 2018.Still very raw, Kaliyev didn&rsquo;t have the same amount of talent around him this year, but it didn&rsquo;t matter. He still went off on opposing goalies. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s maybe the purest goal-scorer in the entire draft,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He can finish. He just needs to round out the rest of his game.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0040-02

ARTHUR KALIYEV

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0333/490867-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/ntdp_knight_066/490888-1-eng-US/ntdp_knight_0662.jpg" title="ntdp_knight_066" width="208" height="291"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa16/490881-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN April 19, 2001, Darien, Conn.2018-19 USA NTDP POS GHT 6-3 WT 198 CATCHES LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 1 GTHE CONSENSUS NO. 1 goalie in the draft played behind a powerhouse team with the U.S. National Team Development program but will have more work next season when he joins Boston College in the middle of a rebuild. One scout went as far as to say that Knight is the best goalie the NTDP has ever produced.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp18/490874-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>The two attributes that impress scouts the most about Knight are his presence and his poise in the net. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s as calm as I&rsquo;ve ever seen a goalie,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;You know with some goalies how they&rsquo;re always scrambling and making acrobatic saves? Then in the NHL they can&rsquo;t stop a beach ball because guys can score from anywhere. This guy just moves so easy. He reads the play really well. He doesn&rsquo;t overreact. He doesn&rsquo;t waste his energy.&rdquo;With his poise and confidence, it should come as no surprise that Knight is a superior puckhandler, sometimes acting almost as a third defenseman. But he also has a high compete level that you don&rsquo;t often see in goalies who are so calm. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what tools goaltenders need that this guy doesn&rsquo;t have,&rdquo; said another scout. &#9632;

f0040-03

SPENCER KNIGHT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0427/490918-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/lukko_heino_070/490939-1-eng-US/lukko_heino_0702.jpg" title="lukko_heino_070" width="226" height="286"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/finland11/490932-1-eng-US/finland2.jpg" title="finland" width="185" height="117"></div>BORN March 2, 2001, Honkajoki, Fin.2018-19 Lukko POS DHT 5-11 WT 176 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 33YOU DON&rsquo;T NEED TO overthink the comparable when talking about Heinola. Scouts in Europe are pretty much unanimous in thinking that he resembles a Finnish rookie with the Dallas Stars. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a poor man&rsquo;s Miro Heiskanen,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;His skating isn&rsquo;t there yet, but his hockey sense is top-notch, and he has the offense. You can&rsquo;t buy that kind of hockey sense.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/lukko/490925-1-eng-US/lukko2.jpg" title="lukko" width="187" height="187"></div>Heinola&rsquo;s output with Lukko was actually better than Heiskanen&rsquo;s totals with HIFK in his draft year, but numbers aren&rsquo;t everything, of course. Heinola did get a chance to shine on the international stage with gold-medal Finland at the WJC in Vancouver, playing on a pairing with Chicago rookie Henri Jokiharju. Unfortunately, Heinola&rsquo;s tournament was cut short by an injury in the quarterfinal against Canada. But his skill set is projectable and he&rsquo;ll be a key member of next year&rsquo;s squad, just like Heiskanen was. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a pure player,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;His great hockey sense and mindset allows him to execute well. He&rsquo;s like Heiskanen the way they feel everything and can be cool in the tough moments.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0040-04

VILLE HEINOLA

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0174/490969-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/broberg_phi_067/490990-1-eng-US/broberg_phi_0672.jpg" title="broberg_phi_067" width="217" height="311"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sweden11/490983-1-eng-US/sweden2.jpg" title="sweden" width="181" height="119"></div>BORN June 25, 2001, Orebro, Swe.2018-19 AIK POS DHT 6-3 WT 203 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 22THE BEST OF TIMES for Broberg came at the beginning. Starring for Sweden at the Hlinka-Gretzky under-18 tournament in August, Broberg collected points and accolades, making him an early favorite in the 2019 draft class. But success was harder to find after that.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/aik_if3/490976-1-eng-US/aik_if2.jpg" title="aik_if" width="187" height="187"></div>Broberg made Sweden&rsquo;s WJC team as an injury replacement for Toronto prospect Timothy Liljegren, only to be felled in Victoria by a flu that ran through the Swedish room. &ldquo;The size and the skating is such an advantage from the get-go,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He has hockey sense and he&rsquo;s got good hands. His skating allows him to join the offensive rush and also get back in time on defense. The world juniors was tough for him. Usually players get more confidence, but the (AIK) coaches showed less in him afterwards.&rdquo;Broberg had a chance to make amends at the world under-18s, but his lofty perch in the draft rankings had already taken a hit. &ldquo;He started well but has gone down as the season went on,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s big and can skate, but his puck-moving has been questioned. Most guys I know have Victor Soderstrom ahead of him.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0041-01

PHILIP BROBERG

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/mannheim_se_069/491041-1-eng-US/mannheim_se_0692.jpg" title="mannheim_se_069" width="300" height="305"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/germany5/491034-1-eng-US/germany2.jpg" title="germany" width="183" height="119"></div>BORN April 6, 2001, Zell, Ger.2018-19 Mannheim POS DHT 6-4 WT 198 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 21THE GERMAN LEAGUE is not the best league in Europe, but anyone who can take a regular shift on defense in the DEL as an 18-year-old is someone who has potential to play in the NHL down the road &ndash; and Seider did just that.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/adler_mannh_074/491027-1-eng-US/adler_mannh_0742.jpg" title="adler_mannh_074" width="187" height="187"></div>Although he didn&rsquo;t command the game because of his rookie status, he did manage to have an increased impact as the season progressed. He was rewarded for his play by being named the DEL&rsquo;s rookie of the year. &ldquo;The first game I saw him, he looked good, and he looked like a rookie,&rdquo; a scout said. &ldquo;A month later, he looked good, and he didn&rsquo;t look like a rookie. That&rsquo;s a pretty good transformation at that level. He looks like a solid two-way guy. He looks like an excellent defender who can really move the puck.&rdquo;With his size and the fact he&rsquo;s a right shot, Seider is an intriguing but raw prospect. He&rsquo;s sure to add another 20 pounds to his tall frame in the coming years. He was a force in the Div. 1A World Junior Championship, leading Germany to the gold medal and a return to the top grouping, where he&rsquo;ll undoubtedly anchor the blueline in 2020.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0254/491020-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

mannheim_se_069

MORITZ SEIDER

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sherbrooke__068/491092-1-eng-US/sherbrooke__0682.jpg" title="sherbrooke__068" width="256" height="299"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada20/491085-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Feb. 25, 2001, Laval, Que.2018-19 Sherbrooke POS LWHT 6-1 WT 207 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 17PATRICK POULIN WAS drafted ninth overall in 1991 and played 634 NHL games on the basis of his size and impeccable work ethic. Twenty-eight years later, the same thing could be said about his son, Samuel. &ldquo;The term power forward gets thrown around too cavalierly,&rdquo; said a scout, &ldquo;but this guy looks like he has some of those attributes.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sherbrooke__072/491078-1-eng-US/sherbrooke__0722.jpg" title="sherbrooke__072" width="187" height="187"></div>Another scout said the difference in Poulin was noticeable from the start of the season when he helped Canada win gold at the Hlinka-Gretzky under-18 tournament. He&rsquo;s also added a speed element to his game, which has made him more dangerous offensively. Suddenly, a player who was pegged as a third-liner by many scouts is beginning to show intriguing potential, in part because he increased his compete level. &ldquo;All you see when you watch this kid play is he makes things happen,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if he&rsquo;s gotten in better shape, but his skating got better throughout the year. It looks like a strength now.&rdquo;Poulin&rsquo;s rate of production will determine whether he makes it as a second-, third- or fourth-liner in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0333/491071-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

sherbrooke__068

SAMUEL POULIN

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/london_mcmi_065/491143-1-eng-US/london_mcmi_0652.jpg" title="london_mcmi_065" width="256" height="308"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada21/491136-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Jan. 15, 2001, Ajax, Ont.2018-19 London POS CHT 6-0 WT 170 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 31IT WOULD HAVE BEEN understandable if young McMichael had faded into the woodwork as the season went on, but that didn&rsquo;t happen.Despite London getting Alex Formenton back from the Ottawa Senators in November, getting Vegas pick Paul Cotter from Western Michigan two weeks later and adding overager Kevin Hancock at the deadline, the Knights still received solid production from McMichael. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the kind of guy who kills you quietly,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;You won&rsquo;t notice him for most of the game, then you look up and he&rsquo;s got two points. He&rsquo;s not a dynamic player, but he&rsquo;s quietly efficient. He&rsquo;s quick, smart and skilled. He finds holes and makes himself available for chances.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/london_knig_073/491129-1-eng-US/london_knig_0732.jpg" title="london_knig_073" width="187" height="187"></div>Playing for the Knights doesn&rsquo;t hurt, either. &ldquo;The London factor kicks in, kinda like Liam Foudy last year,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He may go a bit higher because of how well they develop players. He needs to get stronger, though.&rdquo;McMichael actually out-pointed Foudy, the Columbus first-rounder, this season. Once some of the older Knights graduate, expect the kid to take on a larger role.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0426/491122-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

london_mcmi_065

CONNOR MCMICHAEL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0182/491173-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/moncton_pel_077/491194-1-eng-US/moncton_pel_0772.jpg" title="moncton_pel_077" width="218" height="283"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada22/491187-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN March 7, 2001, Quebec, Que.2018-19 Moncton POS LWHT 5-9 WT 161 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 30AFTER BREAKING HIS wrist in the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament in the summer, Pelletier roared out of the gate in the QMJHL and never looked back, earning recognition as the league&rsquo;s top prospect for the 2019 draft.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/moncton_wil_081/491180-1-eng-US/moncton_wil_0812.jpg" title="moncton_wil_081" width="187" height="187"></div>Size has always been an issue with Pelletier, but scouts have been unable to ignore his sublime level of hockey sense. He&rsquo;s also a three-zone player who competes at a very high level. &ldquo;What the kid does is he puts up numbers at every level he&rsquo;s ever played at,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t just put up numbers his draft year. He&rsquo;s put up numbers everywhere he&rsquo;s ever been. Those guys don&rsquo;t do that by accident.&rdquo;Pelletier posted an 89-point season in 2018-19, using his speed and smarts to get to pucks quickly and knowing what to do once he got them on his stick. Durability is an issue. His touch around the net is not. &ldquo;His shot is good, but it&rsquo;s more deceptive than it is hard,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;Goalies seem to have a hard time reading his shot. He gets it off really quickly and on awkward angles and in stride.&rdquo;His compete level is elite, and he excels at the possession game. &#9632;

f0042-01

JAKOB PELLETIER

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0255/491224-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/princealber_078/491245-1-eng-US/princealber_0782.jpg" title="princealber_078" width="238" height="290"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada23/491238-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN April 30, 1999, Calgary, Alta.2018-19 Prince Albert POS CHT 6-5 WT 198 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 28IF LEASON ENDS UP having a productive career, you can count on scouts from all 31 teams having sleepless nights over it. Anyone in the league could have had Leason last year in the seventh round, but 217 names were called and his wasn&rsquo;t. And he wasn&rsquo;t on anyone&rsquo;s radar to get selected in 2017, either. This year, there&rsquo;s a good chance the 20-year-old won&rsquo;t even get through the first round without hearing his name.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/prince_albe_082/491231-1-eng-US/prince_albe_0822.jpg" title="prince_albe_082" width="187" height="187"></div>Stuck on the fourth line with the Tri-City Americans, Leason was dealt to the Prince Albert Raiders early in 2017-18 and responded with 121 points in 109 games with the Raiders over two seasons and represented Canada in the WJC. &ldquo;The biggest question with Leason is has he figured it out and grown into himself as a player, or is he an older player taking advantage of being an older player?&rdquo; asked one scout. &ldquo;I would say it&rsquo;s both.&rdquo;Even though Leason has made enormous strides this season, there are some scouts who wonder whether his game has room to grow. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s come a million miles in a short period of time,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;How much further is he going to go?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0042-02

BRETT LEASON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0337/491275-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/brink_bobby_088/491296-1-eng-US/brink_bobby_0882.jpg" title="brink_bobby_088" width="234" height="314"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa17/491289-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN July 8, 2001, Excelsior, Minn.2018-19 Sioux City POS RWHT 5-10 WT 165 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 20TALK ABOUT ENDING THE season on a high note: Brink was the USHL&rsquo;s forward of the week three times in a row before the playoffs began.His 1.58 points per game was tops in the league among regular players, and had he not missed a big chunk of time due to injury, he would&rsquo;ve won the scoring title. He was also the MVP at the World Jr. A Challenge, winning gold with Team USA. &ldquo;I love Bobby Brink,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s close to top-10 good &ndash; underrated. He&rsquo;s not a pretty skater, but his hockey sense is special. His determination is excellent &ndash; you can toss out names like Joe Pavelski and Jake Guentzel in comparison. He&rsquo;s always the best player on the ice.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sioux_city__083/491282-1-eng-US/sioux_city__0832.jpg" title="sioux_city__083" width="187" height="187"></div>A couple other comparative names to toss out there? Brock Boeser and Kyle Connor, two other USHLers with similar goal-scoring totals in their draft years. Brink is smaller than those two, but he gets the job done. &ldquo;The puck follows him,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He makes other players better, and he is a legit playmaker. He&rsquo;s not the prettiest skater, but he gets from A to B. An excellent skill set.&rdquo;Brink is off to NCAA Denver. &#9632;

f0042-03

BOBBY BRINK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0427/491326-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/rogle_hogla_079/491347-1-eng-US/rogle_hogla_0792.jpg" title="rogle_hogla_079" width="233" height="277"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sweden12/491340-1-eng-US/sweden2.jpg" title="sweden" width="181" height="119"></div>BORN Dec. 20, 2000, Bocktrask, Swe.2018-19 Rogle POS LWHT 5-9 WT 185 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 69HOGLANDER HAS BEEN on the scene for awhile, getting into his first pro games against men back in 2016-17 when he was with AIK. This season, he played almost exclusively at the top level for Rogle and showed a lot of growth in doing so. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a creative player, and he earned the trust of his coaches early on this season,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He got more and more ice time, going from seven minutes to 14 minutes a night. He does good things out there. He&rsquo;s agile with good hands. He&rsquo;s smaller, so that will be his challenge.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/rogle_bk/491333-1-eng-US/rogle_bk2.jpg" title="rogle_bk" width="187" height="187"></div>As a late 2000 birthday, he was not eligible for the world under-18s this spring, but his play with the under-20 team all season was successful. The key for evaluators will be to forecast where he can play in their future lineup. &ldquo;He has lots of energy, lots of creativity,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always 100 percent with his work ethic. He always starts something when he&rsquo;s on the ice and is hard to play against. He&rsquo;s not smart enough to be the go-to offensive guy, but he can pop up from the second or third line and contribute.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0042-04

NILS HOGLANDER

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0173/491377-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/siouxfalls__080/491398-1-eng-US/siouxfalls__0802.jpg" title="siouxfalls__080" width="216" height="299"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa18/491391-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN July 24, 2001, Irvine, Calif.2018-19 Sioux Falls POS DHT 6-0 WT 161 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 50BASED ON THE schematics, Johnson appears to be the perfect defenseman for today&rsquo;s NHL game. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a really good prospect,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He has elite feet. He&rsquo;s a one-man breakout. I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s a high-end offensive guy, but he defends well for his size. His transition game is excellent, and he has NHL bloodlines.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sioux_falls_084/491384-1-eng-US/sioux_falls_0842.jpg" title="sioux_falls_084" width="187" height="187"></div>Ryan is the son of former NHLer Craig Johnson, a long-time member of the Los Angeles Kings who is now a development coach with the organization. Craig also coached Ryan on the powerhouse Santa Margarita high school team in California while Ryan was also playing for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks. Now in Sioux Falls, Ryan is making a name for himself. &ldquo;Elite skater, excellent feet,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;His ceiling is very high, and he plays at a high tempo with very good pace. I don&rsquo;t know if his teammates were fast enough for the way he plays. Once he gets to the higher levels, he&rsquo;ll look even better. He checks a lot of boxes.&rdquo;Committed to NCAA Minnesota, Johnson was also a standout for Team USA at the World Jr. A Challenge, where he won gold while matching against top lines. &#9632;

f0043-01

RYAN JOHNSON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0245/491428-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/flint_kolya_076/491449-1-eng-US/flint_kolya_0762.jpg" title="flint_kolya_076" width="216" height="299"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/belarus4/491442-1-eng-US/belarus2.jpg" title="belarus" width="118" height="118"></div>BORN May 26, 2001, Minsk, Blr.2018-19 Flint POS DHT 6-2 WT 181 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 34IT&rsquo;S BEEN QUITE THE journey for Kolyachonok, who came to North America from Belarus, then lost a numbers game in London when the Knights procured the services of Chicago first-rounder Adam Boqvist and 2019 draft prospect Matvei Guskov, giving them one import too many.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/flint_fireb_085/491435-1-eng-US/flint_fireb_0852.jpg" title="flint_fireb_085" width="187" height="187"></div>Kolyachonok then had to wait for papers to play for Flint, which picked him up on waivers. But the Firebirds are glad they did. &ldquo;I like him a lot &ndash; he&rsquo;s really competitive,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an amazing kid with lots of character. He&rsquo;s going to impress a lot of teams at the draft combine. He plays it all ways: power play, penalty kill, blocks shots and makes a good first pass. He&rsquo;s still raw, but there&rsquo;s a lot of upside.&rdquo;Once again, the Firebirds struggled in the standings, but they were better once Kolyachonok came into the fold. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very efficient and effective,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He can make the safe, easy play &ndash; that good first pass &ndash; and he&rsquo;ll join the rush. He&rsquo;s smart. Hockey sense is pretty good. He played pretty well on a struggling team, and he was a big part of a couple modest streaks.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0043-02

VLADISLAV KOLYACHONOK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0336/491479-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/edmonton_ro_075/491500-1-eng-US/edmonton_ro_0752.jpg" title="edmonton_ro_075" width="236" height="319"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada24/491493-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN March 9, 2001, Edmonton, Alta.2018-19 Edmonton POS DHT 6-4 WT 201 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 24ONE OF THE SAFEST picks in the draft, Robertson is a player who will almost certainly take a few years to develop as an NHL defenseman. But the team that takes him and shows patience might end up being richly rewarded. If he continues to develop, he may turn out to be one of the better skating big men in the game. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got good skating any way you want to rate it,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;Do you want to rate it in terms of speed? It&rsquo;s good. Do you want to rate it in terms of agility? It&rsquo;s good. You want to rate it in terms of pivoting and fluidity? It&rsquo;s good.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/edmonton_oi_086/491486-1-eng-US/edmonton_oi_0862.jpg" title="edmonton_oi_086" width="187" height="187"></div>The wild card for Robertson will be his ability to create offense at the next level. Even though he scored two goals and four points at the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament, offense is not his hallmark. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got an absolute rocket of a shot, which he doesn&rsquo;t use enough, plain and simple,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;So here you&rsquo;ve got a guy with a rocket shot, and it&rsquo;s not a weapon. That doesn&rsquo;t mean it can&rsquo;t be.&rdquo;Robertson&rsquo;s mobility, strength and long reach make him an imposing figure to beat defensively. &#9632;

f0043-03

MATTHEW ROBERTSON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0428/491530-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/bjornfot_to_089/491551-1-eng-US/bjornfot_to_0892.jpg" title="bjornfot_to_089" width="221" height="296"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sweden13/491544-1-eng-US/sweden2.jpg" title="sweden" width="181" height="119"></div>BORN April 6, 2001, Upplands Vasby, Swe.2018-19 Djurgarden Jr. POS DHT 6-0 WT 196 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 32IN TERMS OF FINDING a safe player who can be a consummate pro for years, Bjornfot looks to be that guy in this draft class. &ldquo;He played well in the SHL,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a strong, solid puckmover &ndash; handled himself well physically, very impressive with the pro team.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/djurgrdens__087/491537-1-eng-US/djurgrdens__0872.jpg" title="djurgrdens__087" width="186" height="187"></div>At the junior level, Bjornfot has been a staple on international squads and has often taken on a leadership role. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just a solid defenseman,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He was captain of the (Hlinka-Gretzky tournament) under-18 team, strong character, does everything well. He puts the team first, puts the forwards in good positions and consistently makes the right decisions with or without the puck. His skating has improved, but how much upside is there?&rdquo;In that sense, &ldquo;safe&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t always a positive. For that reason, Bjornfot likely goes in the second round instead of the first, where teams are more willing to go for a home-run pick than a kid who may be a solid double, to mix sporting metaphors. Nonetheless, he is a trusted player and saw playoff time in the SHL after the junior squad was knocked out in the semifinal. &#9632;

f0043-04

TOBIAS BJORNFOT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0261/491632-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/muskegon_af_090/491653-1-eng-US/muskegon_af_0902.jpg" title="muskegon_af_090" width="192" height="299"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/russia10/491646-1-eng-US/russia2.jpg" title="russia" width="180" height="118"></div>BORN Jan. 23, 2001, Tver, Rus.2018-19 Muskegon POS RWHT 6-3 WT 203 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 26AFANASYEV WOULD HAVE played center this year on most other USHL teams. The Lumberjacks happened to be deep down the middle, so they utilized the Russian on the wing, with good results. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a strong kid, excellent stick, and his top speed is good,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He goes to the scoring areas and is still raw.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/muskegon_lu_097/491639-1-eng-US/muskegon_lu_0972.jpg" title="muskegon_lu_097" width="187" height="187"></div>Originally committed to Michigan State, Afanasyev walked that back during the season, and there is OHL intrigue surrounding him. His rights were dealt from Ottawa to Windsor in the trade that sent Vancouver Canucks goalie prospect Michael DiPietro to the 67&rsquo;s, and the belief is Afanasyev will decide his future with input from whichever NHL team drafts him.The franchise that takes him will get some charisma along with the skill. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big-time personality, just infectious,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big, strong power forward who can score, and he&rsquo;s great 1-on-1. He has hands, reach and compete level. His skating is average. Can he play with enough pace? The game is only getting faster.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the question surrounding Afanasyev. Because he can certainly put points on the board. &#9632;

f0044-02

EGOR AFANASYEV

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0335/491683-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/ntdp_beeche_096/491704-1-eng-US/ntdp_beeche_0962.jpg" title="ntdp_beeche_096" width="224" height="283"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa20/491697-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN April 5, 2001, Elmira, N.Y.2018-19 USA NTDP POS CHT 6-3 WT 203 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 60THERE AREN&rsquo;T MANY players who are bigger than Beecher in this draft, nor are there many who skate better. That can be a lethal combination.So why isn&rsquo;t Beecher rated higher? Well, scouts who have watched him play with the U.S. development team would like to see more consistency of effort. &ldquo;There are some nights you want him in the first round,&rdquo; said one scout, &ldquo;and other nights you want him in the fifth round.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp20/491690-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>Beecher&rsquo;s first-round upside is enhanced by the fact he&rsquo;s an effortless skater who moves as well as any big man in this draft. But one of the knocks on Beecher is that, for all the physical tools he possesses, he sometimes has trouble reading the game. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s going to make anyone around him better, but in those roles he doesn&rsquo;t have to,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of space behind him as he goes into an area, so a good player and a smart player, even if he&rsquo;s not making a play to get you the puck, he&rsquo;s creating space behind him where you can get the puck.&rdquo;Beecher is set to join NCAA Michigan in the fall. &#9632;

f0044-03

JOHNNY BEECHER

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kelowna_tho_091/491755-1-eng-US/kelowna_tho_0912.jpg" title="kelowna_tho_091" width="270" height="279"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/finland12/491748-1-eng-US/finland2.jpg" title="finland" width="185" height="117"></div>BORN Sept. 24, 2000, Tampere, Fin.2018-19 Kelowna POS DHT 6-0 WT 187 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 36AFTER COMING UP through the Ilves program in his native Finland, Thomson took his first strides in a North American circuit when he signed to play with WHL Kelowna this season. By all accounts, it was a successful venture for the import. &ldquo;He had a good year,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He maybe was a little inconsistent, but he has an NHL pass and shot. He&rsquo;s got a bomb from the point. He needs to tighten up defensively, but he moves the puck efficiently. He&rsquo;s still adapting to the North American game, he&rsquo;ll make a pass and get hit. He just needs to learn that guys finish their checks over here.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kelowna_roc_098/491741-1-eng-US/kelowna_roc_0982.jpg" title="kelowna_roc_098" width="187" height="187"></div>Perhaps the most important checkmark for Thomson is he showed improvement from the beginning of the year to the end. &ldquo;He really came on in the second half and created some separation between himself and a couple other defensemen who were log-jammed together in the rankings,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He plays today&rsquo;s kind of game, he transitions well, makes the first pass, and he can skate the puck out of trouble. He also established his defensive presence, so his stock is rising.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0427/491734-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

kelowna_tho_091

LASSI THOMSON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/dorofeyev_p_102/491806-1-eng-US/dorofeyev_p_1022.jpg" title="dorofeyev_p_102" width="242" height="293"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/russia11/491799-1-eng-US/russia2.jpg" title="russia" width="180" height="118"></div>BORN Oct. 26, 2000, Nizhny Tagil, Rus.2018-19 Magnitogorsk POS LWHT 6-0 WT 163 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 41A LOT OF SCOUTS don&rsquo;t know what to make of Dorofeyev. There are no doubts about his skill level, but there are some about his compete level. &ldquo;Sometimes you watch him play and it just looks easy,&rdquo; said a scout. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like him to compete harder. I don&rsquo;t find him to be a dog, but a lot of times it&rsquo;s just average, it&rsquo;s ordinary. And it gets magnified because when someone makes something look easy, it doesn&rsquo;t look like you have to work to do it. It looks like he&rsquo;s competing less because his skill is so good.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/metallurg3/491792-1-eng-US/metallurg2.jpg" title="metallurg" width="187" height="187"></div>There is indeed a lot to like about Dorofeyev from a skill standpoint. He&rsquo;s a smooth, fluid skater who has the potential to become more explosive once he gets stronger. Dorofeyev will undoubtedly be a long-term project for any team that takes him, which would allow him to develop in the KHL for several seasons before bringing him over to North America. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a highly skilled Russian kid,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;Very skilled, good on the power play, not a lot of interest in him 5-on-5. Not a lot of compete, but the skill level is high. He can go missing 5-on-5 sometimes.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0175/491785-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

dorofeyev_p_102

PAVEL DOROFEYEV

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0255/491836-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sarnia_rees_095/491857-1-eng-US/sarnia_rees_0952.jpg" title="sarnia_rees_095" width="184" height="289"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada25/491850-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Feb. 26, 2001, Hamilton, Ont.2018-19 Sarnia POS CHT 5-10 WT 172 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 62ANOTHER UNDERSIZED forward in a draft that is chock full of them, Rees brings a physical element to the game that many of the other more-skilled smaller players do not.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sarnia_stin_099/491843-1-eng-US/sarnia_stin_0992.jpg" title="sarnia_stin_099" width="187" height="187"></div>To be blunt, he can sometimes be a one-man wrecking crew. Rees was suspended eight games earlier this season in the OHL for a blindside hit that may not have even been penalized in the NHL. And while he didn&rsquo;t produce a ton of offense for the Sarnia Sting &ndash; 10 goals in 37 games &ndash; he did show a deft touch for Canada at the world under-18s in April. &ldquo;He plays reckless, and it&rsquo;s both good and bad,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He impacts the other team. The other team knows when he&rsquo;s on the ice. He&rsquo;s hurt players, and he creates anxiety for the other team on the forecheck.&rdquo;There is a lot of room to grow for Rees. As he develops, he will learn to pick his spots better. That will result in fewer suspensions and fewer possibilities for him to get injured. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a little undersized, but the compete and work ethic is second to none,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to get bigger and stronger. It&rsquo;s going to happen eventually for him.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0045-02

JAMIESON REES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0336/491887-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/lincoln_pin_092/491908-1-eng-US/lincoln_pin_0922.jpg" title="lincoln_pin_092" width="216" height="279"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa21/491901-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN Nov. 12, 2000, Franklin Square, N.Y.2018-19 Tri-City Storm POS CHT 6-2 WT 185 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 49PINTO SAW BOTH ENDS of the standings this season, as a mid-year trade sent him from the basement-dwelling Lincoln Stars to the best team in the USHL, the Tri-City Storm.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/tri-city_st_100/491894-1-eng-US/tri-city_st_1002.jpg" title="tri-city_st_100" width="187" height="187"></div>That move gave evaluators a chance to see how he fared in two disparate environments. &ldquo;In Lincoln, he scored a bunch because they were a bad team and they overplayed him a bit,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;Once he got to (Tri-City), he had more structure, and it helped him. He&rsquo;s a two-way, heady player with great hockey sense. He has a great stick for a big guy.&rdquo;Committed to NCAA North Dakota next season, Pinto won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Jr. A Challenge and was a top-15 scorer in the USHL. But how is he best deployed at the next level? &ldquo;The knock is that he doesn&rsquo;t make plays off the rush,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He thinks he&rsquo;s a center, and he is good on faceoffs and defensively, but I see him more as a winger.&ldquo;He definitely has an NHL body. He&rsquo;s got hands, skating ability and a good shot. He&rsquo;s effective when he&rsquo;s playing a power game, and he can make plays down low.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0045-03

SHANE PINTO

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0423/491938-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/moosejaw_tr_093/491959-1-eng-US/moosejaw_tr_0932.jpg" title="moosejaw_tr_093" width="224" height="302"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada26/491952-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN May 28, 2001, Calgary, Alta.2018-19 Moose Jaw POS LWHT 6-0 WT 168 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 37HE NEEDED AN EXTRA year of midget hockey before he was able to play in the WHL, but Tracey has been worth the wait for Moose Jaw after leading the league&rsquo;s rookies in goals, assists and points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/moose_jaw_w_101/491945-1-eng-US/moose_jaw_w_1012.jpg" title="moose_jaw_w_101" width="187" height="187"></div>Perhaps it&rsquo;s because he&rsquo;s only done it for one year in major junior and he played on a line with two 100-point players, but there are scouts not sold on Tracey as a long-term prospect. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have him as high as a lot of the lists I&rsquo;ve seen him on,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;That being said, if you go by his tools, he warrants being this high. He&rsquo;s able to put up numbers, and his skill is really good. Really good. I find he needs other players to do the work for him. If you&rsquo;re going to be that kind of player, you&rsquo;d better put numbers on the board, and he does.&rdquo;Tracey was called up to the Warriors for the playoff run last season but didn&rsquo;t play a single game after the first round. To go from there to playing on the top line and producing big stats is a testament to how much he has developed in the past year.Next season will be a big test as linemates Tristan Langan and Justin Almeida age out of the WHL. &#9632;

f0045-04

BRAYDEN TRACEY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/niagara_tom_105/492010-1-eng-US/niagara_tom_1052.jpg" title="niagara_tom_105" width="254" height="336"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada27/492003-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN July 28, 2001, Mississauga, Ont.2018-19 Niagara POS CHT 6-0 WT 181 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 18HE STARTED SLOWLY, and got pushed down the lineup with OHL Niagara when they went all-in at the trade deadline, but there&rsquo;s little doubt Tomasino earned the trust of his coaches.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/niagara_ice_110/491996-1-eng-US/niagara_ice_1102.jpg" title="niagara_ice_110" width="187" height="187"></div>He did that by being dogged on the puck and thinking the game at a high level. He is still very slight and needs to add muscle to his frame, but he has a couple of years to work on that. &ldquo;If you get your body on him, he&rsquo;s easy to contain,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;But get your body on him. He&rsquo;s elusive. Those first three steps make it hard for defenders to close on him.&rdquo;The foundations of an all-around solid game are already firmly in place for Tomasino. He does almost everything well but nothing at a dynamic level. &ldquo;This kid is a heck of a hockey player,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He kind of bounced around after they made trades, and that kind of pushed him down the lineup, and he didn&rsquo;t get the quality ice time that you want, but he&rsquo;s a smart player. He&rsquo;s got good speed, good hockey sense, good stick.&rdquo;One of the youngest players up for the 2019 draft, Tomasino is also an outstanding playmaker.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0179/491989-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

niagara_tom_105

PHILIP TOMASINO

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/peteborough_107/492061-1-eng-US/peteborough_1072.jpg" title="peteborough_107" width="255" height="322"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa22/492054-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN Sept. 11, 2001, Arcadia, Calif.2018-19 Peterborough POS LWHT 5-9 WT 168 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 27PLAYING FOR A PETES team that was just OK, Robertson used spotlight events such as the CHL Top Prospects Game and last year&rsquo;s Hlinka-Gretzky under-18 tourney (where he was a point-per-gamer for a surprisingly good Team USA) to strut his stuff. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very skilled player as both a playmaker and a shooter,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;The knock is size. He could go in the first or second (round), depending on what you value.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/peterboroug_111/492047-1-eng-US/peterboroug_1112.jpg" title="peterboroug_111" width="187" height="187"></div>The brother of Dallas Stars prospect Jason Robertson, who improved quite a bit after he was drafted (especially his skating), Nick isn&rsquo;t a complete player yet, but he did lead Peterborough in scoring in just his second year with the team. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a funny guy,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not the biggest kid, he&rsquo;s not the greatest skater, and sometimes consistency can be an issue like his brother. Some games he&rsquo;s quiet. But he had a pretty good playoff series, even though Peterborough lost. You wish he was a little more dynamic, but the production is there.&rdquo;With no space for him on the U.S. world under-18 team, Robertson&rsquo;s season ended with that five-game series loss to Oshawa.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0261/492040-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

peteborough_107

NICK ROBERTSON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/grewe_albin_114/492112-1-eng-US/grewe_albin_1142.jpg" title="grewe_albin_114" width="273" height="316"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/sweden14/492105-1-eng-US/sweden2.jpg" title="sweden" width="181" height="119"></div>BORN March 22, 2001, Marsta, Swe.2018-19 Djurgarden Jr. POS CHT 6-0 WT 176 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 47GREWE IS ONE OF the draft&rsquo;s most intriguing prospects. He presents a tough decision for teams on Day 2. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He works hard, and he plays hard, but he has a (carefree) attitude that doesn&rsquo;t match the reality of what kind of player he can become. But coaches like him, he plays his role, and he&rsquo;s good when he has come up and played with older guys. There will be a lot of different opinions on him.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/djurgrdens__0872/492098-1-eng-US/djurgrdens__0872.jpg" title="djurgrdens__087" width="186" height="187"></div>At the least, Grewe has potential and versatility, plus one of the best nicknames in the class. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a difficult case to read,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;When he plays for the pro team, he&rsquo;s a grinder. He chases guys around, and his coach calls him &lsquo;T-Rex&rsquo; because he eats guys up. In junior, he&rsquo;s still nasty, but he&rsquo;s also a skill guy who can make plays. So which player does he want to be?&rdquo;On the nasty end of things, Grewe was one of the most penalized players in Sweden&rsquo;s top junior circuit while also putting up points. Needless to say, the world under-18s were an important stage for the youngster. He was held off the scoresheet in his first three games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0338/492091-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

grewe_albin_114

ALBIN GREWE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0430/492142-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kelowna_foo_103/492163-1-eng-US/kelowna_foo_1032.jpg" title="kelowna_foo_103" width="228" height="297"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa23/492156-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN Nov. 29, 2000, Denver, Colo.2018-19 Kelowna POS LWHT 6-3 WT 187 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 40AS A PLAYER WHO burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old WHL rookie in 2016 and one with a famous hockey surname, it seems like Foote has been around forever. But Foote had to pull his game together in his draft season. &ldquo;I expected more,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;This is his third year in the league. He&rsquo;s a big kid, and when he&rsquo;s engaged, he plays like a big man. The question is when? He&rsquo;s not a center for me because he doesn&rsquo;t skate well enough, but he does have a great one-timer. The idea on the power play is to get it to him because it&rsquo;s coming hard and fast.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kelowna_roc_0982/492149-1-eng-US/kelowna_roc_0982.jpg" title="kelowna_roc_098" width="187" height="187"></div>The son of ex-NHLer Adam Foote and brother of Tampa Bay prospect Cal Foote, Nolan strayed from the family blueline genes yet has the potential to be an effective pro. &ldquo;There has been improvement in his skating, now it&rsquo;s adequate for the NHL level,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He works hard and has a big shot. Once he gets more consistent, he&rsquo;ll be a good power forward.&rdquo;It was an uncharacteristic down year for Kelowna, with the Rockets missing the playoffs. Since Foote is a late birthday, he was ineligible for the world under-18s. &#9632;

f0046-04

NOLAN FOOTE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/ntdp_caulfi_108/492214-1-eng-US/ntdp_caulfi_1082.jpg" title="ntdp_caulfi_108" width="258" height="339"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa24/492207-1-eng-US/usa2.jpg" title="usa" width="181" height="118"></div>BORN March 19, 2001, Grand Forks, N.D.2018-19 USA NTDP POS CHT 6-3 WT 203 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 98WHEN YOU&rsquo;RE ON A team as star-studded as USA Hockey&rsquo;s development squad this season, it&rsquo;s easy to get lost in the shuffle sometimes.And there hasn&rsquo;t been a player who is more a victim of the U.S. team&rsquo;s success than Caulfield. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean the scouts haven&rsquo;t noticed what he brings. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s grown on me,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He just kept finding me in games. I kept going to watch him saying, &lsquo;You don&rsquo;t want to draft a fourth-line guy.&rsquo; After you say that for the 10th or 11th time, you realize that maybe he&rsquo;s not a fourth-line guy, and if he is, he&rsquo;s still finding me.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/usa_ntdp21/492200-1-eng-US/usa_ntdp2.jpg" title="usa_ntdp" width="162" height="172"></div>At worst, the North Dakota-bound Caulfield projects as a fourth-liner at the NHL level, but he has the potential to move up to become a solid third-line player. His compete level motivates him to go to the net and do the dirty work required to make room for himself and his linemates. &ldquo;He makes things happen in those traffic areas in front of the net,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;With the number of pucks that are not getting to the net and dying in that low-slot area, a guy who can get those pucks is an important guy.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0184/492193-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="503" height="345"></div> &#9632;

ntdp_caulfi_108

JUDD CAULFIELD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0258/492244-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="503" height="345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kelowna_kor_104/492265-1-eng-US/kelowna_kor_1042.jpg" title="kelowna_kor_104" width="217" height="296"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/canada28/492258-1-eng-US/canada2.jpg" title="canada" width="180" height="117"></div>BORN Jan. 29, 2001, Yorkton, Sask.2018-19 Kelowna POS DHT 6-3 WT 192 SHOOTS RINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 29SCOUTS WERE A LITTLE disappointed with Korczak at the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament last August and early in the 2018-19 season with Kelowna, but it seemed he was trying to be all things to all people.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/kelowna_roc_0983/492251-1-eng-US/kelowna_roc_0982.jpg" title="kelowna_roc_098" width="187" height="187"></div>When Korczak focused on his strength as a defensive defenseman, he made more positive impressions. You don&rsquo;t want him running the power play, but if you&rsquo;re looking for a D-man for the penalty kill and someone to put out in the last minute with a one-goal lead, Korczak is your man. &ldquo;Maybe he doesn&rsquo;t have the highest level of ceiling in terms of potential, but he&rsquo;s an elite skater with size and defensive ability,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;This guy is going to eat minutes.&rdquo;A number of scouts see Korczak as a second-pair defenseman with good mobility and a good first pass out of his own zone. Essentially, he&rsquo;s a safe pick who projects as a long-term, albeit unheralded, contributor. &ldquo;He can skate so well and he&rsquo;s so strong on the puck that, when he&rsquo;s under pressure, he doesn&rsquo;t panic,&rdquo; said another scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not turning the puck over. He&rsquo;s not running up the ice. He&rsquo;s not out of position.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0047-02

KAEDAN KORCZAK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0343/492295-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="503" height="345"><img src="otive__1062.jpg" title="locomotive__106" width="218" height="285"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/russia12/492309-1-eng-US/russia2.jpg" title="russia" width="180" height="118"></div>BORN June 26, 2001, Yaroslavl, Rus.2018-19 Yaroslavl Jr. POS CHT 6-0 WT 190 SHOOTS LINTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICES No. 23AT THE WORLD JR. A Challenge, Nikolayev drew the attention of scouts when he meshed so well on the Russian team with surefire top-10 pick Vasili Podkolzin.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/lokomotiv_y_112/492302-1-eng-US/lokomotiv_y_1122.jpg" title="lokomotiv_y_112" width="187" height="187"></div>Most scouts had him pegged as a third-line center at the NHL level, but his play with Podkolzin gave them reason to reassess his potential. Nikolayev also put up good numbers for Russia at the 2018 Hlinka-Gretzky tournament. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy who looks like a lock as a (No. 3 center), and you&rsquo;re hoping his offensive game becomes more of what it became when he played with Podkolzin,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He plays such a sound, responsible game that sometimes his offense does suffer. He&rsquo;s such a good skater, and he does so many things well and nothing dynamic.&rdquo;With a birthday in late June, Nikolayev is one of the younger players in the draft. His game is more suited to a depth role, largely because of his two-way play, but some observers think he could be pressed into second-line responsibility. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know I would want him there full-time,&rdquo; said another scout, &ldquo;but he has the attributes to do it more than just a flash.&rdquo; &#9632;

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