Mikhail Gulyayev is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect, who hails from Novosibirsk, Russia and plays in the Avangard Omsk system. Gulyayev’s father, Alexander played hockey in Russia in the early 1990’s and has coached Mikhail during his time with the Avangard youth teams.
This season, Gulyayev has played in the MHL (Russian junior hockey), VHL (Russian minor hockey) and the KHL. As you would expect, he put up quite a bit of production in junior play but played more conservatively when called up to the VHL and KHL levels. But, Gulyayev has shined in the VHL and KHL levels in his own zone. His defensive pressure has stayed consistent no matter the level.
Player Profile
D.O.B – April 26, 2005 Nationality – Russian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’10″ Weight –170 lbs Position – Defense Handedness – Left
Gulyayev’s Style of Play
Offense
When Gulyayev has the puck in his zone, he can be very conservative with his play and generally stays at the point. It doesn’t seem to matter what level Gulyayev is at. If he has open space in front of him that he can use to get around pressure (from a distance), he still won’t budge. Instead of pinching up to get himself closer to the perimeter, he is resorting to taking shot after shot from the blue line. Gulyayev doesn’t have as much control of his shot from the point and thus you’ll see him struggle with getting shots on net. Quite a few of his shots end up going wide. While he does take a good volume of shots from the blue line, he does a good job with toeing the line using his crossovers. By toeing the line, he shifts laterally along the blue line to get himself in a centered position with enough separation for him to take a shot towards net front. With all of that said, most of Gulyayev’s 5v5 points are primary assists on re-directed goals.
While he doesn’t usually pinch up when he has the puck, if he doesn’t have the puck and the loose puck is rolling up towards the blue line, he does a good job of pinching up to the puck to keep the puck in the zone. If its a tight battle to get his mitts on the puck, he looks to push the puck towards the corner.
When Gulyayev is shooting off the rush, he struggles with scanning and fails to identify shooting lanes with enough of a gap for him to get the puck through. That leads to quite a few shots getting blocked. I would like to see Gulyayev change his approach when pressure closes in on him. He has the mobility to shift around pressure, but he isn’t using it. Honestly, I don’t care if Gulyayev gives up the puck every now and then when shifting around the attacker covering him. I want him to take a stab at using his mobility to net separation. Once he has the separation, he’s proven that he has the speed to peel away.
Gulyayev is quite good with his distribution. He has excellent power in his cross ice passes and gets the puck to his target rather quickly. He’ll look to complete cross ice feeds to teammates in a backdoor position. But, most of his distribution is coming from the point and not pinching up. There are a few shifts in every game where he is less conservative and pinches up to make a pass to the slot, but it’s not as consistent as you’d like it to be.
If he does intend to be more of a conservative defenseman when it comes to pinching, I would like to see Gulyayev work on manipulating his opponents by drawing attackers who are puck watching to one side. After he pulls the attackers to one side, he can then create a passing lane to utilize. For instance, in the clip below, you will watch him settle for a low danger shot on net. But, I’d like to see him try to fake the shot, shift left, pull the attack and complete a cross ice pass to #28 in white.
Defense
Gulyayev is very good defensively and has excellent gap control. He stays well-aligned to puck movement in low danger. No matter what league he is in (KHL, VHL and MHL), he’s quick to adjust to puck movement and maintains his positioning nicely in the corners. While he is mobile, shifty and always on guard, he isn’t shutting down play. He isn’t using his physicality to truly trap attackers. Instead, he looks to apply enough pressure to keep the opponent skating around in low danger, but doesn’t completely trap the attacker.
His positioning is quite good. For instance, when his defensive partner deviates and attends to puck movement in the opposite corner, Gulyayev quickly shifts to cover the slot. But, should he find himself out of position, he has the foot speed to get himself back into position to defend against puck movement.
Gulyayev does have an active stick and extends his stick out to trap attackers along the boards and when they are approaching the perimeter. He will push his stick blade out towards the attacker who has possession of the puck to keep the attacker further back. It doesn’t matter what league he is in, Gulyayev is quite assertive with his active stick deployment and he uses it quite nicely to instill traps.
Not only does Gulyayev have a great active stick, but he tracks pucks well and has great reaction timing. He does a good job of identifying the precise moment to extend out his stick an intercept passes.
In a 2 on 2 situation, where the oppositional puck carrier is skating through the face-off circle in low danger (Gulyayev’s teammate is covering the puck carrier) and a teammate of the attacker provides a passing option in medium danger, Gulyayev will extend his stick blade out to eliminate the attacker as a passing option for the oppositional puck carrier. Gulyayev will do a good job of maintaining presence and knows that he can deploy his stick in the other direction to shut down the oppositional puck carrier should the carrier move into the slot.
When it comes to puck retrievals, he needs to be faster to the puck. It’s not that he doesn’t have the speed to get to the loose puck, it’s the opposite. He has the speed, but he is slowing down and coasting before capturing the puck. Since he is slowing down, the attacker who is also vying for the puck can close in and force Gulyayev to quickly pass the puck after retrieval. With that said, when an attacker is behind him and Gulyayev is now vulnerable, he is forced to pass the puck along the boards towards the red line. I’ll discuss this a bit more in the skating section.
Gulyayev utilizes the boards quite regularly when he looks to pass and there is an attacker who is standing in front of him to separate Gulyayev from his teammate further down in the Avangard defensive zone. But, should Gulyayev be at more of a centered position on the rush (not along the half-wall boards) and pressure intensifies, he’ll complete saucer passes to get the puck through tight gaps. He is a solid stretch passer as well and can complete long range passes with ease.
In his KHL sample, I’ve found him to be very conservative and timid with his zone exit methods. Even when he has space to activate and quickly get into stride, he doesn’t and opts to immediately pass. For instance, look at how much space he has here and still looks to pass.
Transitional Play
As mentioned a few times throughout the scouting report, he does a great job of staying well aligned to puck carriers no matter the zone or level. It’s no different in the neutral zone. He will deploy quality edges and crossovers to keep pace. If he isn’t in the same lane as the puck carrier when the carrier enters into the neutral zone and is in more of a centered position at open ice, he will use his crossovers to move himself laterally.
Should he be a bit further away by the time the attacker gets in range, Gulyayev will use an active stick in a last ditch effort. He’ll extend his stick out to slow down the rush.
In tight loose puck battles at open ice in the neutral zone, you will see Gulyayev widen his stance when he has the upper hand on the puck to ensure that he can capture the puck cleanly.
At times, Gulyayev decides to intensify his pressure when in the neutral zone and looks to pounce on a puck carrier immediately after they cross the blue line. You don’t usually see a defenseman be that assertive and it’s interesting to see Gulyayev want to be assertive with taking away space when on the flip side when he has the puck and open space in front of him he tends to be less assertive.
I’ll talk about this a bit next in the skating section, but when Gulyayev has the puck on his stick in the neutral zone, he has the skating speed to get around pressure and drive up into the offensive zone. But, more regularly than not, you will see Gulyayev complete a zone exit pass in his own zone instead of driving the rush through the neutral zone.
Skating
Gulyayev manufactures excellent speed with his crossovers and lengthy stride extensions. When under pressure, he leverages both his crossovers and straight line extensions to net the speed that he needs to blast by the attacker.
As I mentioned in the defensive section, there are plenty of instances in which Gulyayev is chasing after loose pucks, but stops short. When stopping short, he ends up coasting towards the puck and that allows the attacker also vying for the puck to sneak up on Gulyayev to give him no room once Gulyayev captures the puck. I’d like to see Gulyayev work on keeping his feet moving towards the puck instead of slowing down. If he does, he will win loose pucks, escape and drive up the ice with the puck.
His activation off of pivots allows him to keep strong pressure when facing a puck carrier who is trying to pivot out of pressure. His activation allows him to stay toe to toe with the opponent. In scenarios in which Gulyayev slightly out of position or when there is a drastic change in puck movement, he will activate his speed nicely off of the hop.
Projection
Gulyayev has the mobility and the speed to be productive off of the rush, but isn’t really using his mobility to generate open ice for himself. With that said, he really needs to get out of his comfort zone and stop settling for low danger shots. I do believe that the mobility is there and he just needs to deploy it. But, every other facet of his game is well-rounded.
Even if he doesn’t use his mobility more and plays more of a conservative game at the NHL level, he will still earn plenty of minutes because of his defensive pressure, but he won’t have as big of a role. I do see Gulyayev playing in a top four defensive role, but if he doesn’t end up using his mobility more and more, he will likely end moving up and down in the lineup. But, at the same point, Gulyayev has been trained to play more conservatively like quite a few Russian defensemen and there are NHL teams that are looking for more conservative defensemen. Some teams will want Gulyayev to use his mobility and some might ask him to stay put along the blue line in the offensive zone.
He can be an asset on the power play at the NHL level with how well he toes the line to open up space for himself when an attacker is present, but he still needs the mobility to pinch up and drive play into / towards the slot.
Latest Update
May 11, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
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William Whitelaw is a 2023 NHL Draft prospect, who played for the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms past season. Whitelaw was selected first overall by the Phantoms in the 2021 USHL Futures Draft and made his USHL debut the following season. Prior to playing for the Phantoms, he played at Shattuck St. Mary’s, the MN Rangers 14U AAA squad and the MN Bruins 15U AAA squad.
This season, Whitelaw was nearly a point per game player. He had 61 points in 64 games for the Phantoms. In addition, to this point, he has played in two playoff games for the Phantoms this year and has registered two points in those games.
The Rosemount, Minnesota native is committed to the University of Wisconsin and will be wearing a Badgers jersey next season.
Player Profile
D.O.B – February 5, 2005 Nationality – American Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’9″ Weight –172 lbs Position – Center Handedness – Right
Whitelaw’s Style Of Play
Offense
Whitelaw has excellent puck manipulation that he will use off of the rush when driving to the net and facing pressure. He will draw attackers to one side to open up ice for himself on the other side. While along the boards mid cycle, Whitelaw doesn’t use his stick-handling to get himself out of sticky situations. Instead, he looks to pivot out from the pressure.
Not only does Whitelaw possess solid puck manipulation, but he also has good positional manipulation. When skating into the offensive zone with the puck and there is a decent amount of pressure waiting for Whitelaw from the get go, he’ll skate to a centered position along the point, that pulls the attacker with him and opens up an open lane on Whitelaw’s side for his teammate skating into the zone behind Whitelaw. Once his teammate is in range, Whitelaw then hits the teammate in stride or he will try a behind the back pass from a slightly angled position to get the puck to the open teammate.
Whitelaw loves to forecheck. Throughout the course of the season, Youngstown had deployed him as the #1 in 1-2-2 forecheck scheme. Whitelaw can net quality speed off of his crossovers to fight for loose pucks and to put himself into situations in which he can trap attackers along the boards with the puck. Once Whitelaw is in range of the puck carrier along the boards, he will close them off completely with a check and look to force a turnover in possession. He is constantly battling behind the red line and finishing checks whenever he can get to the attacker in time. In addition, Whitelaw does a good job of identifying those puck carriers who seem to be a bit vulnerable and will use his physicality to shut them down.
Whitelaw really likes to get under your skin. He can be like a shark when on the forecheck. He will bump elbows and make his presence known. Watch this clip and focus on #8 in white.
When without possession of the puck in the offensive zone, Whitelaw is wired to go to net front and get open ice for himself to collect pucks from the point that were meant for him or collecting rebounds. In those situations in which he is driving with the puck to net off of the rush, he will look to force the goaltender into playing low so he will drive the puck with his backhand once entering the low slot. The goaltender will drop low to take away the five hole, but Whitelaw is looking to manipulate the goaltender into doing so because he can that opens up a lot of space up. But, also it can lead to five hole goals like this one against Madison from March 24th.
Another example of what Whitelaw can do with manipulation at net front. Goal against Cedar Rapids from April 15th.
While Whitelaw does generate a lot of quality scoring chances at net front, I’d like to further fine tune his shot from range. He isn’t putting enough weight transfer into his shot, isn’t elevating his shot and needs to work on shot angling. Sometimes his shots from range are going wide because Whitelaw doesn’t have the stick blade aligned with the net. I’ve seen quite a few shot attempts across the games that I’ve watched in which Whitelaw is struggling to get his shot on net from the perimeter. When Whitelaw tries to complete a shot immediately off of a turn, he isn’t transferring enough weight when doing so and that is limiting the power that the shot could possess.
Speaking of angling with his stick blade, I have seen Whitelaw struggle with angling his stick blade and lining it up with a puck that is destined to come to him. Since the blade isn’t directly on the ice and not angled with the puck, you aren’t going to trap possession.
Whitelaw’s distribution is quite good when in tight situations. For instance, check out this primary assist on a Martin Mišiak goal. Whitelaw found a tight lane and feathered the puck through it. Plus, check out Mišiak’s Jaromir Jagr salute towards the end of the clip.
He can also be extremely deceptive with his puck distribution. Should he run out of room and looks to distribute the puck to teammates behind him, he will complete behind the back passes.
While Whitelaw does a great job at distributing when the pressure intensifies, he doesn’t look to pass to the slot regularly when pressure comes into play. He ends up shooting quite a bit.
Defense
Since he’s usually being deployed as the #1 in a 1-2-2 forecheck for Youngstown, he is usually the last one back into the defensive zone for the Phantoms. When he gets back to the zone, he looks to skate into space and take away a skating lane to the slot when he sees an attacker looking to flee with the puck from the half-wall boards. Whitelaw will extend his out stick to cause puck disruption when in range. He will look to stick lift the shaft of the attacker’s stick to shake the puck free. Should the puck end up in the hands of a teammate, Whitelaw will skate into space and that allows his teammate to pass the puck towards Whitelaw. The teammate is stuck trying to ward off the attacker who lost possession of the puck and so Whitelaw having open ice in front of him is an attractive option.
While Whitelaw will use stick lift to cause puck disruption, he won’t shy away from using physicality to win possession of loose pucks. When a puck breaks loose and he is in position to make it a challenge for the attacker to grab a hold of the puck, he will use his physicality to do so and even at open ice.
When in control of the puck in his zone and runs into pressure, he looks to pass and has no issue passing through tight lanes. If he has a tight lane to use, he won’t hold back if he is trying to thread a cross ice feed. But, if he can’t find that tight lane to pass through, he audibles and looks to complete a behind the back pass to get the puck away from pressure and to a teammate behind him.
You won’t often see Whitelaw use his stick-handling to shake free nor try to manipulate the attacker’s position. He either looks to make the pass or dumps the puck down the ice.
Transitional Play
As I mentioned in the defense section of the report, Whitelaw has usually been deployed at #1 in the 1-2-2 forecheck for Youngstown and that means to more often then not Whitelaw is the last Phantoms forward back in the neutral zone when the attack is driving the rush. But, when gets into position, his hunger for the puck is evident immediately. He looks to take away space and put pressure on attackers closer to the opponent’s zone. Should oppositional puck movement shift from side to side on a dime, Whitelaw has shown that he has the speed via his crossovers and edgework to put himself into a slightly more centered position to defend against the puck carrier. Since he is taking a centered position, he forces the attack to drive along the boards and that allows his defensemen to trap the attacker at the defensive zone blue line.
Whitelaw uses his crossovers nicely when driving up through the neutral zone when he attacks the middle of the ice and encounters multiple attackers that he has to shift around to complete the transition. But, if pressure becomes far too intense, Whitelaw is quick with his decision making off of the rush. When on the move and facing pressure, he’s shown time and again that he can quickly distribute the puck while skating up through the zone. He looks to get the puck into the hands of a teammate at the offensive zone blue line to complete a give and go zone entry. By completing a give and go zone entry, that will allow him to transfer possession of the puck and then skate up into slot to create space for himself. That then leads to the teammate completing a controlled zone entry and firing a pass to Whitelaw.
When he doesn’t have possession of the puck in the neutral zone, but the Phantoms do have possession, he looks to create the intriguing passing lane that leads to successful zone entry for the Phantoms by parking himself near the offensive zone blue line.
Skating
Whitelaw’s skating is quite strong. He has excellent straight line extensions and crossovers to generate speed. Whitelaw does a good job of leveraging both when looking to beat an attacker to a loose puck when he is slightly further back then the attacker who is vying for the puck with him. By leveraging both crossovers and straight line extensions, he can build up the acceleration through his crossovers and shift his angling before adding to his speed with a lengthy power stride. Constantly, you will see Whitelaw use his crossovers to get himself into position to put tight pressure on attackers when reacting to sudden changes in oppositional puck movement.
When the Phantoms are pushing the puck up the ice and he is leading the rush, he uses his crossovers to avoid pressure by shifting his direction. If he doesn’t have possession of the puck, he will use his crossovers nicely to shift his positioning quickly east-west to open up passing lanes for his teammate to use.
Projection
I believe that Whitelaw is a top six winger at the NHL level. While he has played center in his youth, if you play him at center in the NHL, you would have to change his puck hunting approach and In my opinion that would be a huge mistake.
I would go with Conor Garland as a player comparison for Whitelaw. Like Garland, Whitelaw is tenacious in his pursuit of the puck in the offensive zone and does a great job with distribution when the pressure is on.
If you draft Whitelaw, you want him to keep developing his physical play in all three zones. He is constantly looking to pounce on attackers for the puck in the offensive zone, but it’s a little bit less prevalent in the neutral and defensive zones. In addition, I’d like to see Whitelaw work on his shot angling and pass to the slot more when pressure closes up on him. If Whitelaw replaces a few of his shots from distance when pressure is present to passes to the slot through tight lanes, his assist totals will go up.
Latest Update
May 3, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
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Ryan Leonard is a top American 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect and he hails from Amherst, Massachusetts (the home of UMass). Leonard played for the USNTDP over the past few seasons and before that he played for Pope Francis Preparatory School and the Springfield Rifles 14U / 15U AAA squads.
Leonard’s brother is John Leonard, who plays in the Nashville Predators system (originally draft by the San Jose Sharks). John had played for the Green Bay Gamblers before coming back to Amherst to play for UMass. Unlike John, Ryan will not be wearing a Minuteman jersey. Instead, when Leonard suits up in the NCAA this fall he will be wearing a Boston College (later on will refer to Boston College as BC, don’t mean British Columbia) Screaming Eagles jersey. Ryan Leonard will be joining several current USNTDP teammates in Chestnut Hill, Mass. His line mates, Gabe Perreault and Will Smith are both committed to BC. In addition, Aram Minnetian, Drew Fortescue and Will Vote will be joining Leonard at the Conte Forum next season.
Player Profile
D.O.B – January 21, 2005 Nationality – American Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’11″ Weight –181 lbs Position – Center Handedness – Right
Leonard’s Style Of Play
Offense
Leonard has lengthy reach that allows him to loose pucks in the offensive zone in a highly contested situation. He will grab onto the puck and then use his reach again to push the puck away from the attacker. Once securing the puck, should pressure shift over to Leonard quickly, he will then look to complete drop passes to teammates skating towards him. After completing the drop pass, Leonard typically looks to skate to the slot and set himself up at the doorstep. He’s drawing pressure away, looking to catch attackers puck watching and sets himself up at net front to provide an intriguing passing option for the teammate that he passed to. Not only does Leonard create the passing option in high danger, but he also is in position to tip-in / deflect pucks or capitalize with rebound goals.
His primary assist totals this season at 5v5 were low. Leonard had two primary assists at 5v5. The majority of his assists at 5v5 were secondary. You won’t see Leonard attempt a lot of passes to the slot and that’s mainly because over the course of the season he has struggled with passing in tight lanes. Leonard’s game for the most part is very north – south and he is usually heavily involved in the rush. When pressure comes into view, he will look to pass underneath the attacker’s stick shaft to maximize any space that he has in front of him. But, since Leonard is on the move, the attack is on the move and he has to complete the pass quickly. Sometimes, he struggles with his depth perception, doesn’t see an attacker skating into space and tries the passing lane anyways.
When he draws pressure after skating into the offensive zone off the rush and if he doesn’t have any other options due to pressure by the time he gets to the red line, he will try a shot from low danger. Just like when he is looking to pass through a tight lane, he will look to use whatever space is given to him and that usually means looking to shoot above and below the stick shaft of the attacker. He has capitalized a few times from range with pressure in his face and shooting above the stick has helped him secure those goals.
Here is another!
When Leonard is skating with the puck into the offensive zone and headed for net front, he looks to take the most direct route and looks to attack the middle. Should pressure approach him, he has good reach to rely on to extend the puck out to secure the puck. Leonard will use a mixture of crossovers, edges that retain speed and quality power stride extensions to get separation from an attacker. The separation allows him to drives to the net and finds a gap to exploit. But, not only does Leonard find a gap, he will manipulate the goaltender by skating towards the short side and having the goaltender commit to the short side. At that point, he will leverage his handling to get the puck around the goaltender and into the back of the net.
While Leonard is successful off of the rush, sometimes if he starts to face pressure when he approaches medium danger and the pressure intensifies he will end up trapped behind the red line along the boards. When the pressure is tight, I’d like to see Leonard start to call some more audibles and try to pivot to shake off the pressure. What you don’t want is NHL defensemen to start picking up on your playbook because then they will be prepared to close you off. Leonard needs to work on coming up with those alternative strategies when pressure starts to intensify.
Leonard typically puts up a big fight on the forecheck. He stays well-aligned with pivots when the puck carrying attacker tries to pivot out of pressure. He can be rather gritty. Leonard won’t shy away from open ice checks and finishing checks in the corner.
When he looks to get the inside track in a loose puck battle in which the attacker vying for the puck is staying toe to toe with Leonard, he will lean in with his shoulder in those contested battles to slow down the attacker.
Sometimes when looking to create space for himself on odd man rushes in which Leonard is leading the way, he will integrate delays to create separation. By stopping and delaying, Leonard makes the goaltender and the attack believe that he intends to complete a pass to his teammate, but then he will quickly rip a shot to the blocker side.
Sometimes when shooting the puck immediately after collecting a cross ice pass, he will let the goaltender completely reset when they are shifting over and thus the goaltender is more likely to stop his shot as he is squared up. I’d like to see Leonard become slightly quicker with his decision making and get the shot off immediately after receiving the puck.
Defense
Leonard is usually following the rush, but does skate back to help with loose puck recoveries. But, in those instances in which he is facing the rush, he will look to be physical when attackers are driving the puck along the half-wall boards.
Should the attack drive the puck behind the red line and look to setup the cycle, he coasts to net front, but when the cycle is alive and kicking, Leonard is usually patrolling the blue line from the perimeter line.
If one of his defensemen grab control of the puck behind the red line and are dealing with an intimidating forecheck, he will drop back to the red line and provide an outlet lane for said defenseman to use. Once in control of the puck, he doesn’t hold onto the puck for long and quickly completes a pass to a teammate further up in the zone. If there isn’t much pressure for his defenseman, he will park himself towards the blue line to open up wide lanes for that defenseman to pass through.
When it comes to dealing with pressure amounting in the defensive zone, he will execute shovel passes should the pressure intensify and he has no where to go but there is a teammate in range. You can also expect him to pass off the boards when pressure is daunting. But, when he has a bit more space to potentially get around an attacker, he will look to draw pressure to one side and use the other side for his escape path. Leonard has the foot speed to break away and then looks to execute a pass to an open teammate closer to the blue line or a teammate open in the neutral zone. The only type of pass that Leonard seems to be more inconsistent with is long range passes from deep in his own zone to teammates in the neutral zone, but when shifting away from pressure, he builds up excellent speed with his crossovers and straight line skate extensions to get himself far enough up in the defensive zone to complete a shorter pass. He only will try those long range passes when the pressure doesn’t get fooled by his manipulation strategies.
Transitional Play
When defending in the neutral zone, he doesn’t assert much pressure at open ice. He’s there, but isn’t being assertive with his approach. Instead, he looks to take away space in the neutral zone with his positioning when looking to eliminate open ice for the attacker to use to breakout the rush from the opposition’s own zone. There are shifts in which he is slightly more physical against the rush at open ice, but it’s usually when the puck carrier has slowed down the pace and is skating right at Leonard.
As I mentioned earlier on in the report, Leonard has excellent reach that he will use to trap loose pucks that are slightly further away from him. He can use that reach to grab onto pucks and beat attackers to the puck. The attacker still gets in range to put pressure on Leonard, but it’s after Leonard was able to trap possession and quickly get rid of the puck by completing a quick shovel pass or drop pass to an open teammate.
Should his defensemen look to drive the puck a bit further out from the red line and move the puck up through the defensive zone, Leonard does a good job of grabbing open ice and providing a zone exit passing lane. Should pressure intensify and he is closer to the boards, he will sometimes find himself giving up possession immediately after trapping the puck. In those situations, I would like to see Leonard incorporate more shoulder checks / head checks to identify how far the opposition is from him especially when he has his back turned to the attack.
Skating
As I mentioned a few times throughout the report, Leonard has a lengthy stride and excellent crossovers. He pairs them nicely to build up speed to create passing lanes right near the offensive zone blue line for his teammates to use and to create separation for himself when the pressure is on. Should Leonard need to shift directions when reacting to changes in puck movement or to react to attack staying toe-to-toe with him, he can use he will use crossovers to shift east-west and build up speed.
There are sequences of play in which he relies heavily on his crossovers for momentum and sometimes when he has enough space in front of him to skate to the net hard, he doesn’t deploy lengthy extensions to crash the net. Instead, he shortens his stride extensions and that leads to Leonard losing speed and allows the attack to close in on him. Those are sequences in which if the attacker can match the speed, Leonard will ultimately be closed off from proceeding towards net front. He needs to use integrate his lengthy extensions to break away.
Projection
I see Leonard as a winger who can provide teams with top six goal scoring production at the next level.
He doesn’t have the toolsy flashy handling to dance around pressure that is Kent Johnson or Mitch Marner like, but he’s got tools on his tool-belt to evade the pressure and create separation for himself.
But, I’d like to see Leonard start to come up with plan B or plan C strategies when he has committed to driving the puck to net front. NHL defensemen will start to pick up on Leonard’s playbook and he will need to come up with alternative strategies at a drop of a hat.
In addition, I’d like to see Leonard continue to develop his physicality in both the neutral zone and the defensive zone. He does like to target vulnerable attackers with the puck, but doesn’t always implement the pressure to truly make the attacker feel vulnerable. If he can work on taking away space with more assertion, he will create more and more vulnerability.
Latest Update
April 27, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
Looking for other scouting reports? Check out the Prospects tab for our other scouting reports.
Need a scouting report on a particular prospect, contact us today!
If you’re looking for defense in this draft, there’s no better option than Dmitri Simashev, and I don’t think it’s particularly close. He’s a monster defensively at every level, brings some spectacular skating, and though he might not be as dynamic offensively as some of the other top d-men in this draft, he’s always making good things happen for his team at both ends of the ice, even if the points don’t show it. He’s got some really promising play creation ability, and I believe that he could end up as a good #1 defenseman in the NHL, if everything goes right.
Simashev scored 1 goal and 10 points in 29 regular season games with Loko Yaroslavl in the MHL (Russian junior league) this year. As well as 2 goals, 6 points in 10 MHL playoff games, in Loko’s run to the semifinals. His production picked up towards the end of the year—for a while he was running on just a single assist—but nonetheless, the numbers are rather underwhelming considering the low level of competition in the MHL.
His superb defensive game also earned him 18 games with the KHL (Russian pro league) squad, where he went pointless, but put on an outstanding defensive performance against pro competition, which is quite an accomplishment.
Opinions on Simashev are all over the shop. He’s a big defenseman who’s struggled to score points this year; and for many it seems, that’s where the story ends. In this report, we’ll take a look at Simashev’s game, a few too many clips, and talk about why that shouldn’t be the case, as well as the reasons why he’s divisive as a prospect.
Player Profile
D.O.B. – February 4, 2005 Nationality – Russian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height – 6’4″ Weight – 201 lbs Position – Defense Handedness – Left
Simashev’s Style of Play
Offense
The offense tends to be the subject of conversation, especially among those who haven’t watched Simashev play. The numbers certainly don’t jump off the scoresheet, and his statistical profile doesn’t appear representative of an offensively skilled defenseman. But Simashev is one of the cases that I believe best exemplifies the notion that points should be taken lightly.
Simashev’s offensive game might not be as obviously potent or high-skill as some other top defensive prospects in this draft, but dig a little deeper, and you’ll find a load of untapped potential that I’d argue can stack up against any of them, in one way or another. Yes, he’s huge, and known primarily for his defensive proficiency; but he has an offensive toolkit that not many have, and it’s not ‘good for his size’, it’s just good.
His size certainly contributes to it though; adding total and masterful control of his enormous reach to get pucks out of danger on the backend, as well as creating a robust foundation of puck protection mechanics, which leads into his terrific puck control, and possession-oriented offensive game. All while being one of the best, most mobile skaters in the class. A deadly combination which is highly coveted by NHL teams, and should take him to the first round at the draft. The skating, the puck control, the puck protection / physical skills, are all bordering on an elite level.
He won’t always wow you with his hands—because he doesn’t need to—but he certainly has the ability. Although he generally keeps the handling to a minimum, his control over the puck and his reach is exceptional, and his hands are deceptively quick when they need to be, especially when it comes to moving the puck across his body to evade incoming pressure. In that vein, the fun part comes when he just completely undresses a guy out of nowhere without a moment’s notice, leaving jaws on the floor in the process. Isolated moments of pure brilliance, enveloped by simple and highly effective play in all areas; that’s the essence of Simashev’s game as it is now.
In the offensive zone, he processes play well, and possesses some great creativity and offensive instincts. Although he doesn’t always activate into the play when he could—which is something I’d like him to work on—he tends to do something special when he does, and he times his activations well; rarely getting caught too deep and behind the play. As well, he rarely hesitates to pounce on loose pucks, and he knows exactly what he wants to do once he’s got it.
He reads opposing breakouts very well, recognising their next move in order to pinch with perfect timing to cut it off when possible, while ensuring he’s not endangering his team in doing so. He does this frequently and to great effect to restore possession for his team. His awareness and recognition / processing of play are major strengths that contribute hugely to his high-impact overall game, both offensively and defensively.
If there’s one thing lacking in Simashev’s arsenal, it’s his shot; it’s not awful, but it’s certainly nothing to write home about. His release is fairly basic and not particularly quick, and the overall quality of his shot is a bit hit-or-miss. But frankly, I don’t really care; a great shot is a useful tool, but it’s not what I look for in a quality defenseman, what matters more is how they use it and how they play to their strengths.
And on that note, Simashev uses his shot quite well I’ve found. He doesn’t use it too frequently, but when he does, he often looks to aim for tips or other good shot-pass options—or at least ensures that there’s traffic in front—rather than taking lower-percentage looks with his underwhelming shot. That to me is more promising than a prospect with a great shot, who just shoots to score from the point without traffic all the time. That said, of course I still think he should work on improving his shot; if he can add that threat to his offensive repertoire, it could unlock a myriad of new opportunities for him.
For fun (and because I have too many clips that I wanna show), here are some of his better shots from afar:
His passing in transition and on breakouts is quite strong—as I’ll touch on later—but in the offensive zone, his passing game is a bit less impressive; especially on the power play. While there are moments of deceptive passing, in general, his offensive zone passes are somewhat predictable. He has a tendency to look directly at his target, and his passing motion is a bit drawn out, leaving too much room for opponents to react; something that will only become more prominent at higher levels of play.
I’m not too worried about this in general, as he makes up for it in his creativity; stepping down from the blue line and manufacturing plays in which this is a non-issue. But it’ll limit his offensive potential if he doesn’t address it, so it’s something for him to work on. And at the very least, this—and his lack of a real shot threat—brings into question his ability to quarterback a power play.
All that said, I wouldn’t worry about the lack of production one iota; all year I’ve seen him setting up teammates with golden opportunities left and right, that just seem to always find a way to not get to the back of the net. But I find it hard to believe that the failure to convert on those opportunities has anything to do with Simashev’s play, or that that information says anything other than positives about him as a player.
This shift I find to be a good example of Simashev’s overall offensive game as it is right now:
This is the sort of shift you’ll see decently often from him; not overly flashy, but just bringing a very positive impact to his team in all areas of the game. He retrieves the puck in his own zone and makes a nice move to get by the first forechecker, then hands his teammate the easy zone entry. He operates the point to facilitate the cycle, then recognises and attacks open ice to set up a teammate with a tap-in that just misses, which is—as previously stated—a bit of a trend among Simashev’s nice setups. As also seen in the next clip, where he performs a beautiful delay and fake pass to bait the defender and open space to centre the puck.
The truly exciting offense mostly comes out in flashes; flashes of high-skill moves to beat guys one-on-one, great fakes, really nice slip passes, impressive manoeuvres to get the puck to the middle of the ice, or just taking over a shift and dancing around the offensive zone. It’s all there; sometimes he just makes you stop and say “wow”, and ask yourself where all his points are. Here’s some of that cool stuff:
And my personal favourite:
Few players have the creativity, confidence, and awareness to think to make this move, let alone attempt and realise it. Moments like these really stand out, they may not be incredibly frequent, but they show up enough to get an image of what he could be. Whether or not he’s showcasing his offensive talent like that, you can see the processing speed that he has to recognise the play in front of him and the plays available to him. His offensive instincts and creativity are pretty high-end; I think he just needs to listen to them a bit more. I might like to see him take more risks, make some mistakes and find his limits for himself, rather than boxing himself into a safer playstyle.
When I first watched him earlier on in the season, I was really impressed, then saw that he had only one MHL point on the year, and I was convinced that I was looking at the wrong player’s profile. The main thing holding him back from reaching his true potential is just consistent regularity and refinement of these flashes; attacking more often when he has the opportunity, maybe taking some more risks, and just generally leaning more offensively sometimes. It might take some time, but I think he’s heading in that direction, which is what gives me so much optimism about his future.
Defense
Simashev is the best defensive player in this draft, full stop. His defensive game is more refined than any other in the class, and more so than most in any class, to be frank. And that plays a big role in him holding the top defenseman spot on my list at the time of writing. An already stellar defensive foundation is rare to find among 17–18 year old prospects, and it gives Simashev what I would consider to be the highest floor among defensemen in the draft, while boasting one of the highest ceilings in that group as well.
As long as Simashev is on the ice, you can sit back and relax, knowing that close to nothing is gonna get by him. His defensive game is very advanced for his age; he leads with his stick, extends his reach and establishes strong body positioning to angle attackers to the boards and minimise their options. He applies pressure to the puck with his stick first, and uses the blade and his body to block any attempt to get the puck to the middle of the ice, often cornering the attacker and forcing a turnover.
This way, he avoids taking himself out of the play or allowing a pass by him by attempting to play the body, as many big defenders tend to. His positioning is extremely solid, and unwavering; he so rarely overcommits and gets beat. It doesn’t matter how much skill or speed he’s facing up against, whatever tricks they may pull, attempting to capitalise on a speed differential, it hardly matters; it’s nearly impossible to beat him one-on-one. That’s incredibly impressive for a draft year player in the KHL.
When defending against the rush, he holds a strong gap and keeps himself well aligned to the puck-carrier. If the attacker sticks to the outside, he closes the gap by angling them towards the boards and usually kills the play just like that. If they try to cut to the middle, Simashev pushes off with his outside leg to close the gap and glues himself to the attacker, relentlessly hounding them with his stick, while utilising his strength and excellent skating to retain body positioning over them, eliminating nearly every option the attacker has, and typically knocking the puck away in the process.
If the incoming attacker doesn’t have much speed, Simashev will step up into the neutral zone to challenge them and knock the puck away. He does a very good job of preventing zone entries, while avoiding throwing himself out of position.
If he’s caught behind the opposing rush, he targets the puck-carrier and uses his lengthy powerful strides to catch up, and he’s usually successful. Once he catches them, he sticks to them and leads with his stick, keeps them to the outside, and when possible uses his strength to step in front and cut them off.
Where Simashev really shines—at least in the MHL—is defensive retrievals and breakouts. And I’m grouping these together for a reason, because oh man, he is magical when it comes to turning loose or contested pucks into breakouts for his team quickly.
He does a fantastic job of fending off and escaping pressure with control, and he brings a very strong defensive mind; he’s very smart with his approach to different situations, as seen in the previous clip. He times his cutbacks perfectly to shake off forecheckers on retrievals, then immediately turns to his forehand and skates up ice to look for an outlet play.
In the KHL, he can struggle at times especially under intense pressure on retrievals, and shows a bit less of his usual calm demeanour because he hasn’t fully adapted to the higher pace of play. But he’s already progressed a lot since the start of the year in terms of keeping up with KHL pace, and I doubt it remains an issue once he gets some more consistent KHL time. Regardless, he still plays a very strong overall defensive game against pro competition, which is quite an impressive feat.
Transitional Play
Simashev thrives in offensive transitions; combining smooth skating with his good hands and long reach, his outstanding puck control shines when rushing up ice, allowing him to weave around opponents in the neutral zone with relative ease. But he doesn’t lock himself into one solution in transition; he has strong problem-solving skills that enable him to navigate complex situations as they present themselves. This—combined with the aforementioned excellent skating and puck control—makes Simashev a truly dangerous option in transition. While skating up ice, he’s constantly scanning, reading the ice and the play in front of him very well on the fly, and adapting his decisions of carry / pass accordingly. When he sees an opening, he rarely passes up the opportunity to do it all himself, creating numerous beautiful solo rushes.
With the puck in transition, he generally likes to get to the middle in the neutral zone, in order to open up more avenues for the zone entry. If he’s on the rush and hands the puck off to a wing for the entry, he’ll typically continue his momentum and drive the middle through the offensive zone to draw the defenders back and create space, or be a passing option. Otherwise, when rushing the puck in himself, he doesn’t get angled to the outside too often; he’s fairly inside driven and tries to take the puck to the middle whenever possible, rather than trying to power his way around the outside.
His passes in transition are generally crisp and precise—although there is the occasional soft pass cross-ice, which probably won’t fly in the NHL—but timing is the real key to his passing game. On breakouts, he deceives opponents by delaying with the puck on his forehand, and the moment a lane opens up, he strikes precisely without hesitation. In general, I almost never see him try to force a pass if he doesn’t have a good option, and he tends to find the best option available to him. He has great awareness and sees passing lanes extremely well; he spots quality lanes the instant they appear, and capitalises on them more often than not. As well, he’s not afraid to use the boards to his advantage on outlet passes, and he’s quite accurate with them too.
Skating
Simashev’s size / skating combo is at the top of this draft; he’s a borderline elite skater; the word that comes to mind is ‘fluid’. He’s a really fluid, agile skater in all directions; he looks effortless on the ice, and brings great lateral mobility which lends itself to strong rush defense, and excellent separation ability. He’s very smooth in his movements, and has really strong mechanics / fundamentals: good first steps, exceptional balance, really great edgework, great with pivoting, changing speed, and shifting directions or transitioning between backward and forward motion.
Due to his size, he can appear less fast than he is, but you’d be surprised by how much ground he can cover quickly when he needs to. He uses long powerful strides to generate enough straight line speed to catch even some of the faster players if he’s caught behind the play. When he’s not skating in a straight line, his stride is more quick and short, and he instead uses crossovers to generate speed and create separation.
Projection
It’s difficult to find clear flaws in Simashev’s game; he’s already a very sound, solid player overall. In my mind, there’s no doubt that he’ll be a top-4 defenseman in the NHL, it’s just a question of how much more, and how far the offense will come. It’s more a game of projection and development rather than translatability with Simashev, which is what makes him a tricky one to evaluate, and the reason why some can look at him and declare him a pure defensive defender, and others like myself can look at him and claim he has some of the highest upside in the draft; it’s all especially subjective in cases like his.
Obviously, if you’re putting much weight on production, you won’t be as impressed with him as someone who’s more interested in the eye test, but ultimately it boils down to how you value and project different aspects in a player like defense, offensive flashes, physical tools and how they’re used, among others; things that can be all over the scale of value depending on the scout. Which is why someone like me might have him as high as 5 on my board at times, and others may have him outside of their first or even second round. Don’t get me wrong, I think he has no business going outside the first round, but barring a late-season surge in interest, it’s certainly possible. Regardless of when he goes, I can’t shake the feeling that he could be something special.
At the same time, I feel that there’s a decent chance that the team who picks Simashev is inclined to mould him into your typical physical shut-down defender with limited offense, and that’s a damn shame. There’s so much more beneath the surface with Simashev, and I would love to lean towards developing the offensive side of his game, because I think he has the potential to be one of the better overall defensemen in the NHL one day. Will he get there? Time will tell, but don’t count him out just yet.
In conclusion, I see Simashev developing into a solid #1 defenseman for many teams. He probably won’t put up mind-blowing offensive numbers, but I think he’ll still bring a very good offensive output for a defenseman, on top of a tremendous defensive game. That’s an incredibly valuable asset to have on your team, and worth a look in the top 10.
Latest Update
April 12, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Gray Matter. If you would like to follow Gray on Twitter, his handle is @grismatter.
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Nico Myatovic is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect, who plays for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Myatovic is from Prince George, British Columbia and played with the Cariboo Cougars organization. He was taken in the sixth round of the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft by the Seattle Thunderbirds and made his WHL debut the following season (2020-2021).
This season, Myatovic tallied 30 goals and 30 assists in 68 games. The majority of his points were at 5v5 (49 points out of 60 points were at even strength). Myatovic does a good job of using his frame to establish presence in the slot and that has led to quite a few re-direction and rebound goals.
Player Profile
D.O.B – December 1, 2004 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –6’2″ Weight –181 lbs Position – Right Wing Handedness – Left
Myatovic’s Style Of Play
Offense
As I mentioned in the introduction, Myatovic generates quite a few points off of rebounds and deflections and he does so by cementing space for himself in high danger. He usually looks to position himself in the slot when his teammates are running the cycle in low danger. When his teammates are against the corner boards and facing a lot of pressure, Myatovic looks to provide a passing option along the boards. But, if you are watching Myatovic mid-cycle, more often then not he will be at net front screening the goaltender. This season, Myatovic has had quite a bit of success with rebounds, deflections and tip-in goals and it can be largely credited to his positioning.
Here is a rebound goal against Everett.
In the below clip against Victoria, he skates behind Kevin Korchinski and provides him a passing lane in the slot.
The bulk of his 5v5 goals at the WHL level this season have come as a result of positioning in the low slot, but if Myatovic is carrying the puck behind the red line he’ll look to try his luck on wrap around far side goals.
In the clip below, he scores off of a wrap around backhand shot against Red Deer.
Here is another wrap around goal. This time around against Kamloops.
Myatovic’s shot selection is an area in which I would like to see a bit more fine tuning. Sometimes, he will end up shooting from long range at the point when he has enough space to skate to the perimeter. If he can get the puck to the perimeter, he has a far better chance of getting puck past the net-minder. If Myatovic has the puck closer to net front, but still in low danger, he will look for the precise moments in which a teammate of his is screening net front.
When driving the rush, if he draws tight pressure immediately, he will look to complete drop passes to teammates who are skating right behind him. In situations in which pressure is there but light, Myatovic will struggle at winning separation north – south and thus he will look to pivot out on a dime to draw that separation.
If he is behind the red line with the puck and pressure has picked up to the point where the attack is on his back, he has shown that he can use his upper body strength to get out of danger. But, he’s not consistent at navigating out of that type of pressure. Regardless of whether or not he can ultimately fend off the pressure, Myatovic does an excellent job of keeping the puck secure in those vulnerable situations.
When mid-cycle and he has the puck in low danger along the half-wall boards, if a teammate is skating into space down low, he will look to hit them in stride with a pass. But, should he have possession of the puck at the point, he will usually try to pass the puck to a fellow teammate in low danger. He doesn’t look to complete a dangerous pass from that far out. If he doesn’t spot anyone with open space in low danger, he will end up putting a low danger shot on net. I would like to see Myatovic test his long range passing ability to try to hit teammates in stride when he is at the point and he sees a teammate skate towards open space in the slot. I understand the drive to get the puck to a teammate in low danger because the chances of turning over the puck are far less, but I’m ok with the occasional turnover if it means that he tried to get a puck through a tight lane to a teammate skating into space down low.
Myatovic’s forechecking is quite good.
Myatovic is good at taking away space on the forecheck and using an active stick to trap the attacker skating up the boards with the puck. He does a good job of using his lengthy crossovers to build up speed and close in on attackers who are trying to drive a breakout. Myatovic’s reach allows him to have much quite a bit of a range when extending his stick out to take away space for the attacker on the breakout. Not only will he extend his stick out to take away space when in range, but he will poke check to cause puck disruption. If he is skating behind the rush, but is making a last ditch effort to put pressure on the attacker, he will swing out his stick to cause puck disruption. With all of that said, Myatovic has an excellent active stick and uses it quite nicely on the forecheck.
He works hard along the boards in low danger / behind the red line to put quality pressure on the puck carrier. Myatovic will finish checks, but doesn’t complete the check in time to cause puck disruption. But, he does force the attacker to complete a quick pass with danger closing in on him.
If he sees a teammate tied up in a puck battle that he is clearly struggling with, Myatovic will help out the teammate by positioning himself on the other side of the attacker and poke-checking the puck free.
Defense
In his own zone, Myatovic gets into position to apply pressure up at the point. But, he does drop back to support his goaltender and defenders with an extra man at net front. Myatovic comes to net-front to take away space for attackers in high danger. When one of his defenseman is out of position because they had pinched up in the offensive zone, he defends center ice well in their absence and takes away space so an attacker who grabbed control of the puck off of a pass couldn’t skate to net-front. Myatovic took away space from behind.
While Myatovic uses an active stick to take away space in the offensive zone, he doesn’t use his stick all that much to take away space defensively. He will extend his stick out, but he isn’t taking up space with it. Instead of using an active stick defensively, he looks to leverage his frame more and more when defending.
Speaking of using his stick, should loose pucks break free, Myatovic uses his reach to grab a hold of pucks quickly. His reach also allows him to extend his stick out further and grab onto pucks when they are slightly further out.
Should his teammates be engaged in tight puck battles, Myatovic does a good job of providing an outlet lane for said teammate. When he gets his hands on the puck and draws pressure, he can pivot out of pressure and finds another lane to use instead of forcing the puck into pressure. If he is up along the boards with the puck and pressure is taking away space for him to use to skate away from the boards, he will look to distribute the puck off of the boards to a teammate further up in the neutral zone.
Transitional Play
Usually he is facing the oppositional rush in the neutral zone. Myatovic will regularly drop back and cover for his defenseman when they are out of position. As mentioned earlier on, Myatovic is very good at taking away and does so once again in neutral zone. He takes away space regularly and forces attackers to dump the puck into the offensive zone when they are looking to storm in.
When leading the rush from zone to zone to zone, if he runs into a heavy wall upon entering the offensive zone he will dump the puck and go chasing for it to try to regain control and hope for enough separation down low. Should pressure intensify at his side and those he doesn’t have much breathing room, he will look to pass underneath the attacker’s stick shaft to keep the puck moving up the ice by getting the puck closer up to the offensive zone blue line. If he has bit of ice to work with while driving up the ice, he will extend the puck to the opposite side (away from pressure) or position the puck further out in front of him to secure the puck when pressure has drawn to him but he intends to push the puck up the ice.
Skating
Myatovic has excellent pivots and crossovers that make him dynamic in transition when he has possession of the puck. He can shift around pressure and drive away. Myatovic will react to puck movement changes quickly, pivot and go into full stride on a dime to keep alignment.
His lateral crossovers have helped him to quickly activate and take away space in each zone. Check out this clip of Myatovic using his lateral movements to shift over when reacting to oppositional puck movement. Takes away space and neutralizes the rush attempt.
While Myatovic does possess lengthy stride extensions, he does hunch over a bit when in full stride. That hurts him in 50-50 loose puck battles in which the attack is neck-and-neck. His speed allows him to keep in pace, but he doesn’t have the speed to get the inside track to loose pucks in those tight battles.
Projection
I project Myatovic to be a middle six winger at the next level. He has the tools to be a power forward on a scoring line at the NHL level. I believe he will more than likely come off the board in the second round. Myatovic’s tools are very projectable to the NHL and he will feel like a safe bet for NHL scouts.
Ultimately, I’d like to see Myatovic further develop his physicality in all three zones and look to leverage his long range passing more and more to get pucks to the slot when he is in low danger. In the defensive zone, I’d like to see Myatovic use more of an active stick, but if his physicality improves I believe that it will only translate into Myatovic using an active stick more and more to isolate attackers. But, right now, I’m very content with tools that I see in Myatovic and I would bet on him at the NHL Draft in round two.
Latest Update
April 11, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
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Denver Barkey is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect and plays for the OHL’s London Knights. He grew up just north of Toronto in Newmarket, Ontario.
Prior to joining the London Knights, Barkey had played with the Markham Majors U14 AAA and the Toronto Titans U15 AAA squads. Due to the pandemic, Barkey never had his U16 AAA season, but the Knights front office was satisfied with what they saw in his OHL DY-1 season (draft year minus one). Barkey was selected by London with the #16th overall pick in the 2021 OHL Draft.
This season is Barkey’s second season with the Knights and he’s been rather effective at 5v5. The majority of Barkey’s 57 points have come at 5v5 (stats of March 26, 2023). He does such a good job of utilizing his handling to net separation in tight pressured situations to create more space for himself prior to shooting. That’s led to a few medium range goals this season. Barkey also is quick with his distribution and constantly completes one touch passes. He keeps his head on a swivel to make sure he knows exactly where his teammates are even when he doesn’t have possession of the puck.
Player Profile
D.O.B – April 27, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’8″ Weight –174 lbs Position – Center Handedness – Left
Barkey’s Style Of Play
Offense
Barkey plays a very high tempo game and he is very shifty. His crossovers and edge work allow him to change skating lanes on a dime and retain speed. Barkey’s mobility and edges come in handy when he has to navigate around pressure. He will pivot out of pressure and complete a quick pass on routine.
Check out the below clip in which he pivots out of pressure near the corner and completes a pass to Jackson Edward along the perimeter.
Here is an example of Barkey using his mobility to shift around an attacker at the offensive zone blue line. He wasn’t able to get the puck away from danger at the end of the clip, but there was no way that he was going to get away from three opponents in close proximity.
Not only does Barkey do a good job of using his mobility to get the puck around pressure, but he also does a good job of identifying and taking advantage of tight passing lanes when pressure intensifies. He will complete passes above and below the stick of the attacker when driving up the wing and looking to get the puck in the hands of an open teammate skating into the slot. He’s been able to key up quite a few London Knights goals this year by passing underneath or above the stick / triangle.
Exhibit A.
Exhibit B.
If he runs out of real estate and has a teammate in close proximity, he will look to complete a drop pass. That allows him to reset his own positioning to create a passing lane to high danger for his teammate to use. But, even if the teammate is slightly further back Barkey has no trouble completing a behind the back pass.
When on the forecheck, Barkey does a good job of keeping himself aligned to the oppositional puck carrier. He has good east – west speed thanks to his crossovers and that allows him to keep pace when the puck carrier looks to shake free. In closely contested loose puck battles, Barkey will extend out his stick blade to lift the attacker’s stick. He catches the attacker off guard and manages to secure the possession of the puck.
If his teammates are engaged in puck battles behind the net, Barkey looks to provide lateral passing lanes should his teammates win control of the puck. Usually, Barkey will look to redistribute the puck immediately and pass to a teammate in the low slot in hopes that his pass will lead to a high danger scoring chance.
When it comes to his shot, he has found the most success at 5v5 in the low slot. Barkey constantly looks to key up passing lanes to the low slot for his teammates to utilize. For instance, check out Barkey’s backdoor goal against Owen Sound from late February. Easton Cowan feeds the puck through a rather tight cross ice passing lane and Barkey puts a quick shot on net.
While most of his goals have come as a result of Barkey establishing open ice without the puck down low, he has capitalized on a few goals off the rush at even strength this season. His crossovers allow him to change lanes quickly when he spots an attacker looking to skate towards him at speed. The attacker is looking to force Barkey to skate towards low danger once entering the zone, but Barkey’s crossovers and edge work can net him the separation needed to get him into high danger. That has led to goals like this one.
Defense
Barkey does a good job of taking away time and space for an attacker looking to enter into the slot when he is further away from the attack. He will skate towards the attacker and once he gets in range he extends his stick out to completely take away space. When behind the red line and along the half-wall, he looks to put pressure on vulnerable attackers who has their back turned to him. Barkey then extends his stick out to make contact with the attacker’s stick to force the puck free.
Barkey does a good job on mop up (retrieving loose pucks) duty. Should an opponent dump the puck in or a turnover is created at the blue line and the puck breaks free, he is quick to the puck and quick to distribute the puck to an open teammate. Once he has possession of the puck, should he draw tight pressure, he will look to complete a give and go with one of his defensemen to get the puck away from pressure and start the rush. If the pressure is light and he spots a teammate open further down, once he grabs a hold of the loose puck, he will quickly fire a backhand feed to said teammate.
Transitional Play
When defending against the rush in the neutral zone, Barkey usually skates at center ice so that way he can react to puck movement on either of the wings. Barkey does a good job of reacting quickly to puck movement and uses his crossovers to keep pace with the puck carrier. Once he has the pace he looks to close the door by eliminating space to the inside and forcing the puck carrier to skate along the boards.
Barkey does an excellent job of constantly providing potential passing lanes for his teammates to utilize as bail out passes should the pressure get too daunting. He will look for open ice down by the offensive zone blue line so that his defensemen can send him stretch passes that lead to odd man rush and breakaway opportunities.
When in possession of the puck and driving the rush, Barkey does a good job of finding tight passing lanes in transition and using them especially when under immediate threat. Should the pressure seem light, Barkey will either look to use his crossovers to shift lanes to avoid the threat or use his reach to shift the puck past the attacker. When he does look to extend the puck out with his reach, he goes from leveraging his crossovers to leveraging his forward stride. His forward skating stride extensions are short and thus when using his reach to push the puck around pressure he doesn’t have the escapability with his forward stride. But, he can use his crossovers to shake free.
Skating
As mentioned earlier on, Barkey is shifty and agile. He gains all of his power and acceleration through his crossovers. His crossovers power him up the ice when he is in possession of the puck and driving the rush. Barkey will lean on his edges to retain speed and then redeploy crossovers when looking to shift lanes away from pressure. When he doesn’t have possession of the puck, sometimes he will coast into each zone once presence in the zone has already been established by his linemates. But if he knows that he can get enough speed to react to a counter attack, he can quickly shift into gear with his crossovers.
In the transitional play section, I briefly touched on Barkey’s forward stride and some of the limitations that he has with it as a result. Since his extensions are short, he struggles with north – south speed and with the said sometimes he doesn’t have the separation speed when attacking the slot straight on. But, Barkey seems to be well aware of his limitations with his forward stride and knows that he can use his pivots and edges to shake free of pressure.
Projection
I believe that Barkey ends up on the wing at the next level in a middle six role.
Barkey reminds me a bit of Mats Zuccarello. He has the ability to navigate around pressure in every zone and can identify tight passing lanes to utilize on the fly. Barkey has a playbook full of tactics to get out of pressure and doesn’t hesitate. He executes.
While he has predominantly played center for the London Knights, I don’t see him playing center at the next level. He has shown that he can navigate around threats with his crossovers at the OHL level, but at the NHL level, he is going to need a power stride as well if he is to be deployed at center. If he can unlock the power stride, he could potentially play center at the NHL level.
Latest Update
March 31, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
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Quentin Musty is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect and plays for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves. Musty is from the Buffalo suburb, Hamburg, New York. He spent his youth in the Buffalo area and played for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres 13U AAA and 14U AAA squads.
For his 16U AAA season, he played in four games for the North Jersey Avalanche squad. He got hurt doing his 16U AAA and missed more than 75% of the regular season. According to Ted Goldberg of Spectrum News 1, Musty had suffered “a torn labrum in his left shoulder (the same shoulder that experienced a growth plate injury and a dislocation in the previous two years)”,
The Sudbury Wolves drafted Musty following his 16U AAA season with the first overall pick in the 2021 OHL Draft. Musty made his OHL debut the following season and is now in his second season with the Wolves. This season, he has averaged 1.44 points per game and 78.6% of his points have come at 5v5.
Player Profile
D.O.B – July 6, 2005 Nationality – American Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –6’2″ Weight –205 lbs Position – Left Wing Handedness – Left
Musty’s Style Of Play
Offense
There is a lot to cover in this section. But, let’s kick things off with looking at how well Musty does at adapting to pressure because its been one of the drivers behind his ability to regularly create at 5v5.
When he runs into traffic at the perimeter that seems daunting, he’ll look to redistribute and quickly identifies the open lane to use. For instance, here is a lateral feed that he completed to Kocha Delic once he hit a wall of multiple attackers. It ended up being a primary assist.
But, he doesn’t just loop to use lateral feeds for distribution when he is in a pinch due to increased pressure. He will look to complete drop passes and/or complete passes through the legs when he runs of breathing room.
Here is a pass that he completed through the legs against Sault Ste. Marie.
While he will deviate from the positioning of the attacker(s) and look the pass away from pressure, if a teammate finds open space past the attacker(s), he will pass through tight gaps to get the puck to the open teammate. Check out this pass in which Musty managed to get the puck through a very tight lane to Sudbury teammate Evan Konyen.
His stick-handling can be very inconsistent. Musty will bobble pucks when at open ice and trying to pull the puck around a defender. His struggles with bobbling pucks happen more and more when trying to navigate the puck in tight. While he does bobble pucks in tight, he has good reach and he will use it to push pucks away from pressure. That has allowed him to pass the puck out of tight pressure when along the boards. He’ll push the puck the puck to the opposite side when the attacker engages and then sends the puck along the boards to a teammate in the corner. When the attacker engages, he doesn’t use his size to push back on the attacker to open up separate and then using his handling to shake himself free.
When he is facing tight pressure from an attacker, but this time at open ice, he will test the defender with his stick-handling. As long as he isn’t taking on multiple attackers, he will look to dangle. Check out this clip of Musty dangling against a defenseman in a matchup with Sarnia.
I briefly talked about his reach when it comes to his ability to secure the puck against tight pressure along the boards, but his reach also allows him to grab onto loose pucks that go slightly wide of him. He will skate into loose pucks, grab possession quickly and can use his reach to nab pucks quicker then opponents who are skating in tow. After securing the puck, should he find himself with an uncontested shooting lane at range, he will rip a shot top shelf far side. When you give Musty an open shooting lane, he will burn you. He does a good job of identifying how far pressure is from him and shoots the puck before the attacker can completely close in on him.
Should he have an attacker on him, but Musty just wants a bit more room before taking the shot, he will complete a toe drag to get just the separation he needs to put an accurate shot on net from range. That’s come in handy quite a bit. But, that’s not the only trick up his sleeve. He will leverage slap shot fakes to buy space as well. Check out this clip from a game against Owen Sound.
He will also curl and drag too. As I said, he’s got plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
Got another clip to check out. Musty delays the shot to open up slightly more space for himself in this sequence against Sault Ste. Marie.
Musty does a great job of cementing himself in high and medium danger areas when off puck in the offensive zone. That’s allowed him to capitalize on one-timers throughout the season. Check out these one-timers.
Here is one against North Bay in early March.
And here is a one-timer in a game against Sault Ste. Marie from mid March.
Musty’s forechecking is a bit of a work in progress. He has the speed to attack north – south to close in on attackers with control of the puck, but he is stopping a second short of the attacker and that gives the attacker enough time and space to skate away from Musty. Musty also struggles to retain speed and build upon when changing from skating north – south to skating east – west. Thus, he gives up a bit too much spaces to puck carrying attackers when they decide to move east – west once Musty skates towards them at speed.
When going for loose pucks and an attacker is fighting for the puck along side him, Musty will look to push into the attacker with his shoulder to deter the attacker and get the inside track to the loose puck.
When Musty brings the puck into the offensive zone and encounters pressure at the point, sometimes he will struggle with his decision making. Sometimes he seems slightly too eager to pass the pass and that has led to passes missing target. For instance, I’ve witnessed Musty carry the puck into the zone on the wing, encounter pressure and immediately pass to center ice. The teammate who Musty intends to hit on stride is still further enough back in the neutral zone and thus he won’t be able to hit the teammate in stride. There are also instances in which Musty carries the puck into the zone, but doesn’t really have a plan to get around the pressure at open ice. He ends up skating towards the boards and hoping that he will be able to create space for a teammate to find a centered spot in the slot by deviating his positioning and drawing the pressure to him. But, by the time Musty is in position to make the pass, the pressure closes in on him along the boards and he is trapped.
Defense
When it comes to defending in his own zone against the rush, he has excellent north – south speed that he can rely on to put himself in a situation where he can defend the slot and take away a passing option down low. By targeting the attacker without possession, he forces the puck carrier with possession to deviate from passing to high danger.
But, Musty doesn’t implement the same pressure on every oppositional rush. If Musty is further down the ice compared to his line-mates, he will coast into the defensive zone and let his line-mates handle the first few interactions off of the rush.
While the opposition is running the cycle, Musty will shift his positioning from defending the point to skating down to the red line to provide an outlet lane should one of his teammates pick up possession of the puck. When Musty gets to the red line, he doesn’t look to be physical. He is simply providing the outlet passing lane.
When Musty is looking to cause a change in possession, he leans in with his reach to either knock the puck off of the stick of an attacker or to grab a puck quickly before an opponent can. His reach allows him to cause puck disruption even when he isn’t completely aligned to the attacker. If he is a step or two back, his reach has enabled him to grab a hold of pucks cleanly.
When in control of the puck and looking to create a breakout, should forecheck pressure amount, he does a good job of problem solving and finding a method of distribution that he can use to get the puck away from the threat. In the clip below, you will see Musty push the puck through his legs and simultaneously turn his back to the attacker. With his back turned to the attacker, he then looks to skate east – west to see if he can find enough separation to peel away. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen, but since he drew the attacker and ended up skating east – west, he managed to find an opportunity to complete a drop pass to a teammate who had quite a bit of breathing room.
When Musty gains control of the puck, he doesn’t like to hang onto the puck for long. Instead, he looks to distribute the puck quickly to a teammate in the neutral zone. He won’t shy away from attempting passes through tight lanes and will attempt saucer passes when facing impending pressure and doesn’t have the ability to net enough separation after being in a stand-still position. If Musty is along the half-wall with possession and his back is turned to pressure closing in on him, he does a good job of identifying teammates in stride who are skating towards the neutral zone and hits them in stride with a backhand pass.
Transitional Play
When it comes to defending in the neutral zone, Musty leverages his north – south power stride to maintain quality alignment with the oppositional puck carrier driving the rush. While he isn’t rather physical in either the offensive zone nor the defensive zone, Musty does use his frame from time to time in the neutral zone to take away space. When he skating hip to hip with the puck carrying attacker, he extends his shoulder towards the attacker’s back to make it difficult for the puck carrier to continue using that lane to go the offensive zone.
Another example.
When applying pressure along the boards in the neutral zone, Musty will look to be physical, but most of his checks are coming too late. He makes contact with the puck carrier but after the puck carrier has re-distributed the puck. There are some checks in which Musty extends the shoulder or hip sooner to neutralize the threat, but he isn’t consistent with it.
Similarly to his play in the offensive and defensive zones, Musty does a good job of utilizing his reach to cause puck disruption when skating north – south. He will look to target attackers who are skating up the boards with the puck as they are bit more limited with where they can put the puck.
When it comes to moving the puck from zone to zone, Musty is called upon regularly to drive the rush. But, he doesn’t always look to complete controlled entries. When skating up towards the blue line, if he sees a teammate skating up to the blue line with who has more pace then he has, he will look to hit them in stride. Should he decide not to pass and instead complete a controlled entry, he has the reach and the handling to swerve his way through pressure in the neutral zone. But, should pressure increase as he gets near the offensive zone blue line, he will dump pucks in to initiate a dump and a chase.
In those shifts in which Musty isn’t leading the rush, he looks to grab open ice near the offensive zone blue line to tee up an intriguing passing option for the teammate with control of the puck. That has led to a few breakaway goals.
Skating
I’ve talked about his skating throughout the report. So, I really want to keep this short and sweet.
Musty has an excellent power stride. He will use it quite regularly to keep speed on the breakout and maintain positioning (both when Sudbury has the puck and when they don’t). But, Musty can be selective at times on when he uses his stride to react to puck movement. If he is further back behind his teammates, he usually decides to be the last one back into the Sudbury zone and coasts in.
When it comes to his east – west skating, Musty struggles with retaining speed once shifting from north – south. His crossovers aren’t picking up a lot of momentum and thus he struggles to get the necessary speed to hang with the attack should they deviate from north – south. With that said, that limits Musty’s ability to forecheck / backcheck east – west unless he initially went into stride going east – west.
Projection
I believe that Musty is a top six winger at the next level.
Musty has an excellent shot from range, distributes quite well off of the rush and does a great job of creating space for himself. His ability to create consistently at 5v5 is a credit to how well he handles pressure. Musty will take advantage of tight lanes when looking to thread the needle and will look to complete drop passes when hitting a wall. He’s got so many tricks that he can rely on to open up space when he is right about to shoot. There are times where he struggles to navigate the puck around tight pressure, but it’s become far less frequent as the season has gone on.
The next step in his development is to work on his physicality. He has the frame and the power stride to get himself into situations where he can shut down puck movement, but a lot of the time, he ends up following through on the check too late. At the NHL level, Musty will be called upon to provide more physicality and so he will need to do a bit more fine tuning next season. Plus, if he can work on building up momentum with his crossovers when changing directions, he will be a handful to deal with when he is bearing down on you. You won’t be able to pivot out because Musty will be able to keep pace and pivot when you pivot.
Latest Update
March 28, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
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Riley Heidt is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect currently playing in the WHL for the Prince George Cougars.
Heidt, a native of Saskatoon, played his minor hockey in his hometown for the Saskatoon Contacts Under-18 AAA program. From there, he was selected 2nd overall by Prince George in the 2020 WHL bantam draft. This was the draft choice directly preceding Regina’s selection of Connor Bedard.
Last season with Prince George, Heidt was a bright spot on a very average Prince George squad. During the 2021-2022 season, Heidt amassed 21 goals and 37 helpers for a 58-point total over 65 appearances. Thus far this season, Heidt has scored 22 goals and added 57 assists for a 79-point total across 59 games.
Player Profile
D.O.B – March 25, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’11″ Weight –179 lbs Position – Center Handedness – Left
Heidt’s Style Of Play
Offense
Riley Heidt is one of the more premier offensive play drivers in this class. He loves to play in the offensive zone with the puck on his stick. When given time and space with the puck, Heidt is simply a killer. He has a lethal shot, that personally I think gets overlooked because of his great play making ability. It’s not often that playmakers can also be major contributors shooting the puck, but that is Riley Heidt, especially on the powerplay. One thing I would love to see more of from Heidt is when he has a defender closing in on him while he winds up a one-timer, receive the pass and cut to the inside just a bit. This changes the angle for the goal tender and creates a lane around said defender. I have seen David Pastrnak pull this move off on multiple occasions. Assuming you get the shot off quickly (which Heidt does) it is a deadly attribute to possess.
Underrated shooter as well. Especially via clapper. Will do damage on an NHL PP. pic.twitter.com/79VO0HYasR
When carrying the puck into the offensive zone with possession, Heidt can maintain his speed, ultimately separating himself from his defender. A great tool of his as his distribution skills allow him to flourish after beating that first defenseman. On top of that, he has the confidence in his puck handling to go east, west. This allows him to draw defenders thus leaving a teammate wide open on the weak side. Check out this clip below, as if exemplifies this to a tee.
Fishing through some clips for the Heidt report. How bout that play into space?!
When it comes to distribution, Heidt is great in all facets. At a high completion rate, he pulls off many cross-ice passes, passes through skates and sticks in tight, and one touch passes. There are two different aspects that make Heidt’s playmaking elite. 1) He gets the puck off his stick so quickly while not sacrificing any accuracy and 2) He’s extremely confident that when he attempts a pass it will be successful. Any sort of hesitation causing any kind of delay completely change the odds of success.
Great find at the back door. Two things that make Heidt's passing great 1. Confidence 2. Doesn't sacrifice speed for accuracy. He has both pic.twitter.com/9oDuTqbqU8
While in the act of defending, Heidt does a great job putting himself in positions to break up passes and eliminate opponents’ options to the middle of the ice. He is constantly surveying and understanding where the opposition is, while reading what they will do one, even two plays before it happens. Heidt’s awareness is by far his best defensive attribute as he is always engaged in the play and responsible in his own end.
When defending in close, Heidt uses his mobility to shut down the attackers’ options side to side. He loves defending going north, south as his quick stick and ability to stop and start causes many turnovers. Similar to someone like Mitch Marner, Heidt has a great grasp of the idea of playing the puck into a space he knows the attacker can’t get to. In Marner’s case, we see it a lot in the offensive zone, but Heidt likes to play the puck into space along the wall, using his stick as well as body position to leverage the oncoming attacker. Retrieving the puck in space allows Heidt an extra spilt second to make a pass up ice, or back to an open defenseman.
If Heidt doesn’t see a play he can make going stick on puck, he has no qualms about engaging physically and throwing his weight around. He does a great job timing body checks, where his focus is clearly on separating the player from the puck, not just driving through his opponent as violently as he can. See below for an example.
Impressive how Heidt engages defensively when he doesn't have a stick-on-puck play available. His intent is solely to separate the player from the puck. I love that. pic.twitter.com/NbnpeVfqtz
In transition, Heidt loves to carry the puck. He is often the Cougar carrying the puck through the neutral-zone, and ultimately into the offensive zone. He is a smaller, slighter built center who can avoid checks and pressure from defenders, but also can bounce off his defenders, while keeping control of the puck and keeping his feet moving. He’s great at drawing pressure right as he enters the offensive zone. That allows him to throw passes into soft coverage cross ice. Even if a shot in open ice is not available, those plays into open ice have allowed Prince George to set up and get prime scoring chances.
While defending the rush, Heidt attempts to use his quick stick to intercept passes. This is where his hockey sense really pays dividends. His reach isn’t overly impressive, and as a result does struggle at times picking off passes that slightly taller players may knab. With that said, he is seemingly always a step ahead, and has no issues struggling to read opponents passes through the neutral zone.
When his opponents drop back to reset, Heidt has the straight line speed, and willingness to be the F1 deep, and does a great job getting in close, forcing the opponents hand. Many times he forces the opposition into a rushed decision and play, and on occasion turns the puck over. A lot of players will hang closer to the their opponents blueline knowing that they may not have the speed to track back, that is not the case with Heidt. He is eager to turn pucks over knowing full well that he has the capability to get back in the play should the opposition break out cleanly.
I notice it mainly when down big in games, and especially in the neutral zone, but Heidt seemingly has a tendency to take himself out of periods. He leaves by the way side his hungry puck-hunting style where he is glued to puck carriers and looking to force turnovers. He’s coasting around with no real purpose, and just going through the motions with stick placements and other details. It feels as though this may be a maturity thing more than anything, and quite frankly, having more on the line at the pro level may snap him out of this. I will be curious to watch next season as he takes a step closer to the NHL.
Skating
Heidt has a powerful, mechanically sound skating stride. His slighter frame allows for a lower center of gravity. This allows him to protect the puck better in tight as well as bounce off opponents’ pressure. His stride incorporates good knee bend and ankle flexion allowing for his mobility to be top level. Ultimately this helps to facilitate his constant scanning of the ice, while getting himself to areas where he can be dangerous.
Projection
I believe that Riley Heidt possesses the characteristics needed to be a high-end, middle six center. His attention to playing down low paired with his hockey sense, are the main attributes I think he can enhance and feed off that will allow him to play center at the next level. Offensively he has outstanding distribution skills that won’t be lost at the next level, and quite frankly probably take away from some of the chatter surrounding his shot and release. The puck is on and off his blade so quickly, and Heidt has an absolute cannon for a one timer. I have no questions as to whether Heidt can play on an NHL powerplay. He most definitely can, and will.
For Heidt, the next step is filling out his body. Adding some muscle will make him heavier on the puck and make it even harder for defenders to strip the puck off of him. This will lead to further grade-A scoring chances. Overall Heidt is a very strong two-way defender who will almost assuredly hear his name called on day 1 of the NHL Draft.
Latest Update
March 23, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Ben Jordan. If you would like to follow Ben on Twitter, his handle is @BJordanNHL.
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Michael Hrabal is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible goaltender prospect and he plays for the USHL’s Omaha Lancers.
Hrabal hails from Praha (Prague), Czechia and played in the HC Sparta Praha system (U16, U17 and U20) for the past few years before coming over to the United States.
Hrabal had multiple options on the table when coming to North America. He was taken in the 2021 USHL Futures Draft by the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the ninth round and was taken in the CHL Import Draft by the Regina Pats. Hrabal is a UMass commit and has opted to play in the USHL to keep his NCAA eligibility.
In August of 2022, the Fighting Saints had traded Hrabal with a 2023 9th round pick and a 2024 10th round pick to the Lancers for a second rounder in the 2023 USHL Futures Draft.
This season, he has split the net (50-50) with Swiss goaltender Kevin Pasche. Pasche has fared slightly better than Hrabal in net, but not by much. As of March 18, 2023, Hrabal had a 3.18 GAA and a .899 SV% in 26 games played. Pasche had a 3.07 GAA and a .901 SV% in 26 games.
Player Profile
D.O.B – January 20, 2005 Nationality – Czech Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –6’6 Weight –209 lbs Position – Goaltender Catches – Left
Hrabal’s Style Of Play
When you watch Hrabal play in net, the two skills that you see immediately is speed and post security. He’s athletic and nimble. Hrabal uses his speed and athleticism nicely to shift his positioning while sprawling out to shut down high danger shots. He has excellent post security, he takes away a lot of space in net when the opposition is driving the puck in the corner and behind the red line. In addition to his post security, he does a good job of widening himself and taking up space down low.
I’ve grabbed a lot of highlight reel saves for Hrabal. You will be entertained. Check out this sequence in which he sprawls out and quickly re-shifts his positioning to ensure that he eliminates space to shut the door. But, I like the decision that Hrabal took to sprawl out. He selected the moment in which he had multiple teammates near the crease and the teammates are taking away high danger shooting lanes. That forces the shooter to shoot low and Hrabal sprawling out takes away the low shooting lanes.
Take a look at this toe pad save. A quick extension of his right led pad and Hrabal takes away space down low. The attacker has to shoot top shelf when skating east – west and that would be very tough to pull off. Hrabal doesn’t leave much space at all.
Here is another excellent toe pad save to check out.
As you have seen in the last few clips, Hrabal has quick reactionary movements and extends out his leg pad at exactly the right moment.
In the next clip, you’ll see how fluid and quick Hrabal is when reacting to a centered pass to the slot from the half-wall while standing up. He quickly shifts over to shut the door on a backdoor threat.
While he is speedy with shifting over when standing up, he does struggle with speed when shifting over in the butterfly. In the second half of the season, Hrabal has struggled regularly with shifting his positioning quickly in the butterfly and will opt to stand up before shifting over. Unfortunately, that has led to a few backdoor tip-in goals.
Here is an example of Hrabal trying to shift over laterally in the butterfly, but his speed when shifting over isn’t quick enough to react to the shot.
Hrabal’s rebound control is quite good. He routinely pushes pucks to low danger and uses his size well to do so. Hrabal will extend his blocker out and times it right to make contact with the puck. Same with his pads and his stick.
Hrabal will cough up a few high danger rebounds during each game. The high danger rebounds that he coughs up usually comes as a result of Hrabal struggling to glove pucks. Instead of gloving and trapping the puck, the puck ends up ricocheting off of the glove.
Hrabal does a great job of tracking puck movement from further out when he has traffic in front of him. He manages to shift past the attacker with ease consistently when facing an attacker who is looking to eliminate his sight lines. Should the attacker continue to move around the crease east-west, Hrabal re-shifts his positioning to keep his eye on the puck. His ability to quickly re-shift to open up sight lines has led to a lot of gloved shots in traffic. Sometimes, he won’t be able to get his glove on the puck and he’ll opt to push the puck with his blocker to low danger, but he does do a great job of nabbing those shots with his glove.
Here are a few clips of him gloving pucks with traffic at the crease.
Sometimes, you will notice Hrabal struggling to track the trajectory of the puck. An opponent will shoot for the far side and Hrabal won’t react according to where the puck is headed. That has led to Hrabal misidentifying where he should extend his glove or blocker. Hrabal has the ability to be an NHL goaltender, but he does need to work on tracking the trajectory of pucks going far side because if he doesn’t he will then face shooters targeting the far side on repeat.
Projection
Hrabal does project to be a starting NHL goaltender, but there are a few areas in his game that will need refinement in order to get him NHL ready. I’d like to see Hrabal shift quicker to shooting threats who are in back door areas. When in the butterfly, he is struggling to shift over in time and take on shots squared up. With that said, Hrabal is forced to make more desperation saves. In addition, as I just mentioned in the above paragraph, he also needs to address reading the trajectory and reacting with a well-placed glove extension on far side shots.
Hrabal does offer great post security, quick re-shifting when standing up, athleticism and the ability to maintain sight lines when traffic intensifies at the crease. Those attributes are exactly what I’m looking for in a goaltender. Hrabal does have some areas to work on, but offers more than others in the 2023 NHL goaltending class.
Latest Update
March 18, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
Looking for other scouting reports? Check out the Prospects tab for our other scouting reports.
Need a scouting report on a particular prospect, contact us today!
Connor Bedard is the most dynamic offensive threat in this draft class, period. He compliments his above average skating legs, with the ability to process the game at lightning quick rates. He already has an NHL caliber shot even from tough angles, and a ridiculously quick release. His elite hands allow him to manipulate defenders and free up time and space leading to him uncovering his desired quality offensive opportunities. With a toolbox the size of his, offensively, I see him being a star at the NHL level from day one. (Ben Jordan)
Adam Fantilli has continued to impress since the preliminary rankings. While any thoughts of Fantilli challenging Bedard for the first overall selection were wiped away at the World Juniors: don’t let that damper what Fantilli has done. He continues to lead the NCAA in scoring as an 18 year old freshman, his microstat profile continues to showcase a dynamic offensive weapon, and then there’s just the wide array of highlights that you can see in his report. While others try to bite at the heels of Fantilli for the #2 spot: he continues to lead the pack at the mid-term. (Austin Garret)
Carlsson has been playing extremely well at the SHL level this season for Örebro. In the offensive zone, he will take over the cycle and will move laterally quickly to shift away from pressure as he sees that if he moves laterally he will skate into a quality passing lane that he can exploit. Carlsson’s vision and stick-handling can get him out of well-pressured jams in all three zones. He will find quality passing lanes in the neutral zone when looking for a teammate in stride to pass to and has no issue with maneuvering the puck around tight pressure. Carlsson hunts for loose pucks with speed and has the physicality to deliver quality checks along the boards to cause puck disruption in tight board battles. Carlsson is a prospect that we see being a reliable playmaker and playing in a line one role at the NHL level. (Josh Tessler)
A smart, dynamic goal-scoring winger, Michkov dictates play when he’s on the ice. With constant delays and changes of pace, baiting poke-checks to freeze defenders just enough to get by them, making up for his lack of a high-end top speed. Making give-and-go plays all along the ice, using his teammates effectively, he’s not afraid to turn back in transition in order to maintain possession and open up new opportunities. He finds open ice extremely well and always positions himself to be a great passing option in the offensive zone. All this is designed with the end goal of creating space for himself in dangerous areas to let his lethal shot fly. He may look small, but he’s not easily knocked over, and he doesn’t shy away from physical battles; his physical game has improved a lot over the course of the season as he’s gotten stronger, and it should improve even more from here. There are flashes of great playmaking ability, but it’s not consistent; his ideas and vision are great, but the execution is often poor. Overall, since moving teams, he’s been playing a much more projectable game, and not trying to do everything himself so much, which was an issue before, as well as playing a much better defensive game, though it’s still not a strength of his. He has the potential to be a game-breaking talent, but it’s not a guarantee, although I’m less concerned than I previously was. (Gray Matter)
The Connor Bedard Hype Train has prevented Benson from having the spotlight this year. Benson is one of the most talented players in this draft class and has true top line upside due to his elite hockey sense, work ethic and playmaking ability. If Benson can add a step or two to his skating speed, this is a player that could routinely be near the top of the league in scoring. He can truly do it all in the offensive zone and is a threat with his passing, shooting and hockey sense. What Benson lacks in explosive speed he makes up for in creativity and work ethic. There isn’t a single player in this draft class that works as hard as Benson does in all three zones. (Matthew Somma)
There are prospects that have a high-end ability to create and distribute the puck for dangerous scoring plays, then there is a gap, and then there is Andrew Cristall. What separates Cristall from other players I’ve watched or tracked in North America is his unique ability to send players to space before a play ever develops. Cristall’s data looks sublime as well. He has completed more dangerous and total pass attempts than the next forward has attempted. To put this in perspective: Zach Benson has attempted 59 passes and Cristall has completed 62. People will worry about his size and straight line speed, but his physical tools and playmaking ability are truly top-end for this draft class. (Austin Garret)
7. Oliver Moore
Moore is the second most involved player in offensive transitions in North America behind Connor Bedard. He’s sending almost a quarter of his passes to dangerous areas of the ice, and is among the higher end shot generators in the class. Put this with his suberb skating and edgework, dogged mentatlity of being hard on pucks defensively, and his puck skill: Moore has risen to the top 10 of our rankings and still could climb higher. I’d like to see him carry the puck into the dangerous areas of the ice in the offensive zone and not just on the rush, but he’s been showcasing his offensive accumen the last few months. (Austin Garret)
8. Will Smith
There isn’t much to add to his profile since the last ranking. He’s still one of the most fun players to watch with the puck on their stick in this entire draft. His small area skill and deception techniques are high end. He’s still not supporting much in the defensive zone and I don’t know if he’s going to be the main puck transporting option on an offensively minded line in the NHL. However, as a pure offensive talent with the right pieces around him, Smith could be an absolutely deadly weapon for an NHL team. (Austin Garret)
I think Brindley might be the most underrated player in this draft. He’s a great shot generator, gets into dangerous areas of the ice to take his shot, and his positive regression in puck luck has seen him soar up the scoring ranks in the NCAA. He’s a creative passer and able to thread passes under pressure to players to spring transition and shot assists. He’s involved in 47% of his line’s successful offensive transitions, which is 10% more involved than Fantilli. He’s sent 16% of his passes to dangerous areas compared to Fantilli’s 18%. Lastly, for the last month Fantilli and Brindley have been on the same line and the two of them look the part of the best two forwards Michigan has. Brindley is undersized, but he plays 3 inches bigger than he is. I want all of the Brindley stock, and I think he’s just beginning to scratch the surface of his offensive ceiling. (Austin Garret)
10, Eduard Šalé
In terms of raw talent, the Czech winger is top five in a stacked 2023 draft. The combination of elite hockey sense, vision, anticipation, passing ability and silky hands that he has at age 17 put many current NHL 1st liners to shame. He is also a plus skater who already plays hockey at an NHL type “pace”, and can utilize his beautiful hands at high speed. Additionally, on the cycle, even without the puck, he helps create space for all his team-mates and causes head-aches for the opposition. On top of that he has an above average, if awkward at times, release, and can pick a corner at both 5v5 and on the Power-play. So how is he not in legitimate contention for top 5 in the draft right now? Well, he has been buried on the 4th line most of the season in the Extraliga, despite outplaying several forwards ahead of him. Furthermore, he needs to develop physically to be able to translate his game to the pro level, as well as iron out some kinks – often around being too aggressive and putting himself and his team in a bad position – in the defensive zone and on breakouts. But with some patience? The Brno native could turn into a franchise calibre player down the line. (Alex Appleyard)
11, Axel Sandin Pellikka
My personal favourite player so far this year, Sandin Pellikka is a ton of fun to watch. He’s the best offensive defenceman in this class; great mobility; really quick hands; a hard, accurate shot; and most of all, exceptional passing ability. His hands make him a master of walking the line, they’re mesmerising in their quickness, and the real danger is his ability to fire a dangerous shot or a perfect pass off of any one of those moves; that freezes defenders, and essentially allows him free reign over the blue line, because no one wants to try him. If they do, it usually ends with some ankle breakage, followed by a dangerous scoring chance. High speed and mobility combines with his handling skill and deceptive fakes to make him an excellent option in transition, carrying when possible, but never ignoring passing lanes when there’s a good option. His defensive game has improved a lot over the course of the year; his rush defence was always solid, but still in the defensive zone he can struggle a bit to keep up, even at the junior level. But as I said, it’s improved, and unlike some other offensive D-men in this draft, I see no reason why he won’t become an above average–good defender. Aside from maybe defensive retrievals, where he’s not particularly deceptive and can struggle to escape pressure, which will only become more prevalent on smaller ice, and with the speed of the NHL; but I’m not too worried; I’m pretty certain that’ll improve as well. (Gray Matter)
Leonard’s jump can be attributed to his increased passing metrics in my dataset. His ability to be a finisher and his ability to be a physical presence in the defensive zone contine to highlight his impressive season. His ability to go end-to-end coupled with his his ability to fill any role needed on his line in the NTDP has allowed him to see a multitude of opportunities in different aspects of the game. (Austin Garret)
If it weren’t for Andrew Cristall, Jayden Perron would be the premier playmaker available in the draft. His ability to use puck movements to pull defenders out of position and open up passing lanes is genuinely remarkable. Especially off the rush, he’ll frequently enter the offensive zone with control and scan for all options before picking the specific gap in the opposition to exploit for a dangerous chance. This playmaking and creativity are undoubtedly at the forefront of what Perron offers but combined with his shiftiness and tremendous puck skills, you’re looking at quite the offensive juggernaut. At 13th overall, it’s a home run swing, but the upside justifies it. (Jordan Malette)
Danielson is a player that any coach would love to have on their team. His 200-foot game is already miles ahead of a lot of the other forwards in this draft class and he possesses some intriguing offensive tools as well. Danielson’s skating and hands are high end and he gets the puck to dangerous areas when he’s in the offensive zone. Some scouts may question his offensive ability, but Danielson has done well while having little to no support on his junior team this year. Danielson projects as a strong two-way center with second line upside. (Matthew Somma)
In my opinion, Simashev is quite possibly the best defenceman in this draft, and by far the best defensive player. I pushed for him to be higher than this, but I’m accepting 15. He’s fluid on his skates, and very mobile, especially for a guy his size. He shuts down plays before they start; he reads and anticipates play very well, stepping up in the neutral zone with perfect timing to prevent entries without taking himself out of the play. He uses his size effectively and protects the puck really well, extending his long reach and using his free arm to shield off pressure. He’s not the most physical yet, but I think that’ll come when it’s necessary, he doesn’t really need to be right now, and he won’t take himself out of the play to throw a pointless hit. But don’t underestimate his offence either, there’s a lot more potential there than he gets credit for. If he has the puck, good luck getting it away from him; he controls the puck exceptionally well and adapts to pressure instantly, weaving through defences in transition and making it look easy. He’s a breakout wizard, great at escaping pressure with the puck, recovering it along the boards and combining his skating and puck protection to evade incoming pressure; he sniffs out contested pucks and turns them into offensive rushes in an instant. The stats still don’t suggest a very offensively skilled defenceman, but then you’ll watch him pull off like five insane plays in one shift that no other defenceman in this draft does, and you start to really see the potential that he has. To me, his upside is some of the highest in this draft, and I really believe that he can be a good #1 defenceman in the NHL some day. (Gray Matter)
A dynamic and elusive offensive defenceman; with the puck on his stick, Gulyayev is a treat to watch. He’s an elite skater with great speed and mobility, I’d say he’s pretty comfortably the best skater in this draft among defencemen. This alone leads to so much offensive potential which shines in transition, adapting quickly to pressure, he extends his reach to one side before shifting to the other, giving himself extra room to manoeuvre around opponents and maintain his speed and momentum. He’s shifty and deceptive in the offensive zone, walking the line, using all kinds of fakes to open up passing lanes and showcase his offensive creativity. But the defensive side is a bit more . . . questionable. He generates speed so quickly, and is just so fast that he can get away with a lot offensively and still catch up to the opposing rush, but it’s hard to say how far that’ll take him in the NHL. His defensive game is quite far behind, he relies mostly on his skating to just zoom around the defensive zone, without a semblance of defensive structure or order in the chaos, and his play anticipation in the defensive zone is quite poor. His mobility allows him to hold his own in the MHL, but it won’t be that simple in the NHL. At the moment, his defensive game isn’t close to projectable, he doesn’t really seem to get the basics of defensive positioning or the fundamentals of defense overall, and I haven’t noticed that improve much yet. That said, it’s not impossible, and to me, the mobility and offensive skillset he possesses is too good to pass up at this spot. (Gray Matter)
Riley Heidt is one of the more premier skaters in this 2023 class. He has extremely great edges and accelerates very quickly in all zones. Heidt excels with the puck on his stick when he’s using his skating ability to create separation from defenders. His skating is also an asset for him in transition where he is great at carrying the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. When Heidt is on the ice, he wants the play to run through him, and I love that. Through all my viewings thus far, I have never questioned his drive or willingness to drag himself and his teammates into the fight. With Heidt I see a player that could make the leap as a center in the NHL. Before he can make that leap he’ll want to improve his overall strength which will aid in his play along the wall and in puck battles down low. (Ben Jordan)
18. Dalibor Dvorsky
February was the month in which we finally saw Dalibor Dvorsky start finding success with his shot at 5v5. Prior to February, the bulk of his goals were coming on the power play when he had a lot of space in front of him. But, in February, Dvorsky was doing quite a bit more off puck work in the offensive zone and that allowed him to generate open space for himself down low. Generally speaking, Dvorsky is more of a passenger than he is a play driver and playmaker at 5v5. Given that he is finding more success off-puck, should he remain at center in the future, whichever club takes Dvorsky will need to pair him with a winger who tends to lead the charge from a transitional perspective. (Josh Tessler)
19. David Reinbacher
There has never been a draft eligible defenseman in the NLA (top Swiss league) who has been so good at aged 18. Roman Josi? Nope, the young Austrian is better at the same age, and even if he barely develops from here will be the best Austrian blue-liner of all-time. He skates well, reads the game at a high-level, has great gap control and is fantastic in transition. In fact, he has very few weaknesses. However, he also does not have the high-end, stand-out skills that make you think he has a good chance of being a legit #1 NHL defenseman. Will he reach the dizzying heights of a player like Josi as he grows and matures? Almost certainly not. But Reinbacher will very likely grow into a top four NHL defenseman, with a solid chance of being a good #2. (Alex Appleyard)
One of the more fun players in the draft, high-skill and high-energy, Mukhanov is quick, shifty, and brings a bit of everything. He’s fast, skilled; he can thread a slick pass, or change the angle and fire a laser beam; he can forecheck, backcheck, carry in transition, support in transition, even defend decently well thanks to his high motor. He can do just about everything, and all with great intensity; the only thing he hasn’t been able to do this year is score a lot of points, but ignore those, ‘cause he’s a hell of a player; he generates so many offensive opportunities, it’s absurd that he doesn’t have more points. The only real drawback is his size and strength, he’s not gonna win a lot of physical battles right now; he gets outmuscled easily, and it’s pretty easy to imagine him being unable to drive play in the NHL, and ultimately falling flat offensively. But still, I don’t know that I’d consider him a boom-or-bust type, I’d say he’s a safer option than many. His intensity all over the ice, forechecking, defending, I think he’ll still be able to play a bottom-six role if the offence doesn’t work out. (Gray Matter)
I was quite sour on Musty early on in the season, leaving him off our preliminary list. Especially at the Hlinka, he was taking on way too much trying to beat the first, second, and sometimes a third layer of defense on his own. It was backfiring almost every sequence, and watching these plays unfold was frustrating. Fast forward to today, his skill is being applied more practically now, and it is paying off for him. His creativity and puck skills allow him to beat that first layer of defense easily, but he now frequently dishes it off to a teammate rather than attempting another move. His skating will need to improve, but I don’t see a reason to believe why it can’t. There’s tons of skill and upside here, and if everything goes right, an offense-contributing top-six winger is certainly within reach. (Jordan Malette)
Gracyn Sawchyn is the brains steering the ship in Seattle. There may not be another player in this draft that can think it the way Sawchyn can. In each of my viewings of him, there were multiple instances where it felt like he was plays ahead of his teammates. As you can imagine, this led to many broken plays, especially in the offensive zone for his opponents. He has such a great set of hands, and he showed this in the CHL top prospect game. His raw stickhandling ability to get out of tight areas with the puck, and ability to manipulate defenders (the top ones of his peer group) was awesome. Sawchyn seems to always be attacking the net going downhill. His play in the defensive zone is calm and refined, and always willing to make the risk adverse play to up the puck. (Ben Jordan)
Brayden Yager, seemingly one of the more polarizing names brings with him a straight line, puck dominant style of play that for me is hard to overlook. Yager gets around the ice in all areas very well thanks to his elite ability to see plays unfolding. This makes up for some of the skating deficiencies that I see with Yager. There’s no denying his straight-line skill, and his ability to rip shots from wherever and whenever he has space to do so, but for Yager to work his way up this board I’m looking to see him more involved in transition. Right now he’s too much of a passenger, and when he struggles to create space for himself, he can become a ghost for many shifts at a time. (Ben Jordan)
There isn’t a player in this draft that excites me as much as William Whitelaw. The pace and dynamic skill set are a lethal combination that is the exact type of player I’m looking for early on day one of the draft. He can be absolutely electric dangling through defenders and can certainly create a ridiculous highlight reel. However, what drove me to be a touch bearish on Will is prioritizing shots from low danger and the inability to access high danger consistently. Especially at the USHL level, I’d like to see him look for dangerous passing options more often rather than a low-quality perimeter shot. The tools are certainly there for a top-ten player in my books, but I want to see them applied more frequently to be willing to make that swing on the upside. (Jordan Malette)
There are many details of Luca Pinelli’s game to appreciate, but I’ll keep it brief and focus on my three favourites. Firstly, Pinelli constantly scans to find open pockets of space to sneak into. You can typically find him hovering high in the offensive zone, looking for the right time to pounce into space to be available for a dangerous pass. Once he gains that slight separation from defenders, he can unleash a one-timer that can beat the goalie from medium to long range. Next, I appreciate Luca’s tendency to keep his puck touches short and rarely overextend his possessions. He’s always looking for passing options to advance play, and the attack rarely breaks down on his stick. And finally, Luca never arbitrarily forces the puck up ice at all costs. Pinelli routinely turns back to reset to escape immediate pressure, buy time, and allow a teammate to get open for a controlled exit pass. It’s a minor detail, but it speaks to his prioritization of puck possession which is a significant component of my evaluation process. (Jordan Malette)
26. Calum Ritchie
Ritchie is a difficult player to evaluate. At times, flashes of skill jump off the page, but they aren’t super frequent. He sometimes showcases top-end creativity and puck skills to dangle his way to dangerous areas, which excites me about his upside. Still, most of the time, I see a player who uses body positioning to protect the puck and leverages that physical advantage to extend possessions along the exterior. He offers value in transition typically as the player transporting the puck through the neutral zone which makes me think there’s a solid floor of a depth centerman at the very least. (Jordan Malette)
27. Beau Akey
One of the players Smaht will rank significantly higher than consensus. I was pounding the table for Akey to be a backend first round pick due to his offensive ceiling. He’s one of the best passers in my dataset and shows a remarkable amount of skill for a player that is rarely talked about as a first round pick. He doesn’t activate as aggressively as some of his peers which may account for his production numbers to be slightly below some of his CHL counterparts, but he makes up for it with his four-way skating mobility and flashes of high end skill. I’ll continue to bet on a player that generates transitions and facilitates play in the offensive zone. (Austin Garret)
Hrabal is the top goaltender prospect in the 2023 NHL Draft class. He is a reliable goaltender, who has excellent size and speed. When protecting the post, Hrabal owns the post. He forces the shooter into trying to shoot for the far side as he doesn’t leave an open spot for the shooter on the short side. With his size and speed, he is quick to react to changes in puck movement. So even if a shooter thinks he has a quality backdoor option, Hrabal can react in time to take it all the space away and force the attacker to try to get the puck up towards the far post and in. When traffic intensifies right in front of him, he shifts his head around the attacker to maintain a sight line on the puck carrying attacker. He constantly moves his head to react to the attacker (the one in front of him) shifting over a bit as the attacker is looking to eliminate Hrabal’s sight lines. In addition, he has an excellent glove and will capture shots from the slot with ease. If you are looking for a reliable goaltending prospect who is already well developed, Hrabal fits the bill. (Josh Tessler)
29. Samuel Honzek
Honzek moves so well for his size. He does a great job getting to the inside, and possesses good hands and vision which will provide offense at the pro level. Although his skill won’t dazzle you like some others in this class, there is a pro frame with a tool box of compliments that will make him a sure fire 3rd line contributor, with middle six upside, and the tools to play center ice at the next level. (Ben Jordan)
30. Bradly Nadeau
Nadeau continues to be one of the most involved players in successful offensive transitions in my North American dataset. While he can cheat for offense still; I do like how he’s operating on the rush with his secondary options as of late and there’s a lot of projectable tools to go along with his high-end skating. (Austin Garret)
31. Matthew Wood
A big-framed player who has intelligence and a heavy accurate shot. He uses his body well to shield from defenders, protecting the puck, and making a quick move. Wood has the ability to be flashy, but he will have to work on his skating to make his game more well-rounded, mostly his food-speed. (Clare McManus)
A heavy power forward equipped with a pro hockey frame and above average shot. There’s a lot to like with Barlow but there are many aspects of his game that I am not sold will translate to the next level. He has great hands in tight areas, and can unleash a bomb of a wrister, but to see him reach his potential, he’d benefit immensely from a centerman with vision and distribution skills. He has the body to retrieve pucks down low and win puck battles but is not super engaged in carrying the puck into the offensive zone. He can kill penalties at the next level, and could slot in on a power play unit, giving him some versatility. Would love to see Barlow develop his play off the puck, as well as the ability to stay engaged with the play in the defensive zone. (Ben Jordan)
He’s got excellent hands and mobility that he can rely on to create space for himself. Stenberg leverages his crossovers to build up quality acceleration and momentum, but then can use his pivots to shake off pressure. His handling then allows him to complete shake free of pressure and find a shooting / passing lane to use. On the forecheck, Stenberg uses his mobility and speed to get himself into position, but he isn’t using his body / frame to cause puck disruption. I’d like to him work on using his frame combined with his speed and mobility to silence oppositional puck movement. Stenberg is likely to be a winger instead of a center at the NHL level as he usually isn’t driving the rush from the back end and has a bit more success with his shot when he can establish open ice for a quality passing lane instead of driving the puck into space. I could see Stenberg in a middle six winger role at the next level. (Josh Tessler)
Denver plays at a high pace which is the obvious standout in his game. His footwork enables him to navigate pressure with agility and gain separation with a few strides. He can be a pest on the forecheck, disrupting attempted zone exits and forcing turnovers. Finally, I am most impressed with his ability as a playmaker, especially off the rush. He can identify passing lanes and exploit them before they close, creating chance after chance. Denver’s combination of pace and creativity off the rush offers are great building blocks for an exciting prospect. (Jordan Malette)
35. Oscar Fisker Mølgaard
Simply put, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard needs to be talked about a whole lot more than he is right now. The 6’0” 165 lb center didn’t leave his home country of Denmark for Sweden until the 2021-22 season, and less than 18 months later he found himself centering the second line on HV71’s SHL squad. Fisker Mølgaard is a highly intelligent, hardworking center who displays an advanced understanding of inside play both offensively and defensively. He’s a strong skater and is constantly in motion, scanning and surveying the ice in front of him. Despite his slight frame, he’s capable of winning puck battles vs. players far bigger and heavier than he is due to his high compete level and tenacity. Though the tools and flashes of playmaking are apparent and intriguing, it’s unclear just how much point production there will be at the NHL. The playmaking can be inconsistent and he doesn’t boast an NHL calibre shot to this point. There are questions about just how much offensive upside there is at the next level, and that may be a deciding factor in whether he hears his name called on day 1 or day 2. Still, the recent upward trajectory and the high-end tools make him an intriguing player to track as we get closer to June. (SpokedZ)
36. Lukas Dragicevic
Dragicevic is an incredibly smart defender with excellent offensive ability. He’s a fantastic playmaker and will be able to score at the NHL level as well. The biggest concerns with Dragicevic are his skating and defensive ability, which is what is keeping him out of our first round at the moment. If Dragicevic’s poor skating can improve, then it’s likely that all aspects of his game will improve. He already has strong hockey sense and offensive tools. Dragicevic’s big question will be whether or not he can keep up once he reaches the pros. If he can, then there’s potential for a top four role with some power play time as well. He could reach 40-50 points if that’s the case. If not, then he may be relegated to a third pairing or the AHL. (Matthew Somma)
Molendyk was the best defender in the CHL Top Prospect game in my opinion, and he has continued to be one of the best CHL defenders since the preliminary rankings. He’s been great at defending the blue line with his gap control and I’ve really liked his activation strategy this past month. Given his strengths in the defensive zone and his continued development in the offensive zone he remains one of the best North American defenders in my opinion. (Austin Garret)
38. Charlie Stramel
A physical forward who not only can bring a physical presence on ice, but also a show of offensive ability. The power-forward is strong on the rush up ice and has the ability to make it difficult for the opposition in puck battles and in front of the net. Stramel is a very versatile player and has the IQ and skills to succeed at the next level he plays at. (Clare McManus)
39. Kalan Lind
Lind carries with him a not so common blend of physicality and scoring touch. This season he has really embraced the role of being a smart, hard to play against defensive forward, that has shown he can chip in offensively when the opportunities present themselves. Fearless screening goalies and in the defensive zone, does a great job closing off pass lanes and forcing play to the outside. (Ben Jordan)
The tools that Bjarnason has makes him a rather intriguing goaltender prospect for the 2023 NHL Draft. The athleticism, the glove, the blocker and the puck tracking are excellent. He is showing that he can react quickly to puck movement and shut down scoring chances on routine. He extends his blocker and pads out just in time to push pucks to low danger areas. Bjarnason keeps his head on a swivel and does an excellent job of puck tracking even when traffic builds up at net front is a tool that will come in handy at the NHL level when the opposition is bigger and faster.
The area that I would like to see improvement on the most is his stance. If Bjarnason can improve his crouch and butterfly stance in net to take up more space, those tools are going to blend nicely and thus he has NHL starter potential written all over him. (Josh Tessler)
41. Gabe Perreault
A great playmaker who possesses strong vision, Perreault is a real threat on the ice as he has good speed and the ability to be a heaven presence on the forecheck. He is a very intelligent player and brings a creative style of play when he is on the ice. In small ice or plays along the wall, Perreault tends to make smart decisions with the puck on his stick as well as his body. (Clare McManus)
42. Alex Čiernik
If you are looking for someone who is constantly looking to key up give and go opportunities, Čiernik is someone to keep an eye on. He loves to key up give and go opportunities while driving up the neutral zone. When Čiernik is skating up the ice, he scans and looks for teammates along the boards right at the blue line. He delivers a pass to them and they drive the puck into the offensive zone. Čiernik enters the zone as the F2 and looks to establish open ice for himself in a medium and/or high danger spot. Then that allows the teammate who received the pass from Čiernik to deliver a pass back to Čiernik that could potentially generate a quality scoring chance. Prior to moving up to Allsvenskan, Čiernik had been producing at an excellent pace at 5v5 in Swedish J20 play. Since joining Södertälje in Allsvenskan, he is struggling to adapt to the amount of pressure that he is facing. The pressure at the next level is far more assertive and in his face. While he does have the stick-handling to navigate out of tight pressure, the speed that he has isn’t creating enough separation as he is netting in J20 play. But, he is doing a great job of navigating out of space and passing to high danger areas. (Josh Tessler)
43. Caden Price
One of the more intriguing case studies thus far has been Caden Price. His play at the Hlinka left people thinking that this may be a top 10 pick in the 2023 draft. He has since had some consistency struggles in Kelowna. To me it boils down to this: this kid’s got all the tools to become a truly elite puck mover at the next level but is very early on in his development track. There are consistency concerns at this very moment. Looking strictly at the tools, he is a premier puck distributor with elite vision and creativity. In his own end he uses his agility to shake forecheckers and afford himself a bit of extra time to start breaking the puck out of his zone. (Ben Jordan)
44. Daniil But
6’5, over 200lbs, with skill to boot? The kind of base-skill set that NHL GMs go to bed dreaming about. The giant winger’s stand-out asset is his booming shot, and can score from virtually any position, he also has quick hands that can evade pressure in tight spaces and make eye-watering moves to cross-up defensemen either on the rush or on the cycle. He is also committed defensively and rarely takes a shift off. On the power-play he can be a menace drifting between the slot and the left half-boards. He is also good at getting to weaker seams around the net to finish off chances. He has good potential, the kind that makes you think there is a 2nd line NHL winger inside somewhere. However, he will need to improve his awkward skating, play the game at a higher pace, and use his size more to fulfil that. (Alex Appleyard)
45. Trey Augustine
Technically sound, Augustine is a fluid goalie who is good at reading the play and can move quickly to react to pucks, especially going side-to-side with his lateral movements. His glove hand is definitely one of his best abilities as he can use it in lots of different ways. He possesses decent size standing at 6 ‘1″. Overall he has solid stats and could challenge netminder to be the first goalie gone in the draft. (Clare McManus)
Cagnoni has been very tough to get a read on throughout his draft year. Our last ranking installment I was confident we had a 1st round player on our hands. I have not seen his offensive game develop quite how I’d had hoped. His mobility and edge work is undeniably a strength, but where he struggles is the starts and stops going north south. His mobility and four-way skating has allowed him to keep up defensively and be positionally sound while doing so, but once in transition and carrying the puck up ice, I have grown less confident in the player. This is a scenario where team matters. Cagnoni needs to get selected to a team that has a strong development program and can help him unlock all the skating tools. If that happens, I am confident in a bottom four defenceman who can stick around for awhile at the NHL level. (Ben Jordan)
47. Martin Mišiak
A two-way centerman, although he can play winger too, Misiak is a very competitive player who brings decent offensive skills with solid skating abilities. He has a strong shot and uses it to his ability in open ice. Misiak can also serve as a smart playmaking forward as well. He will need to get stronger as he moves on to the next level. (Clare McManus)
48. Andrew Strathmann
An offensive minded defenseman who likes to be creative with the puck on his stick. The North Dakota commit has a few flaws in his game that will need to be fixed if he wants a shot at the pro level. He tends to give up the puck in dangerous areas which can lead to turnovers. He can skate well and use his shot to his best ability. But sometimes gives up a passing opportunity because of his poor decision making. (Clare McManus)
49. Matthew Mania
Jumping into the rankings is Matthew Mania. His dataset has been good all year for me, but I’ve questioned his skill level a lot for the first 4-5 months of the year. While he’s able to facilitate transitions at a level worthy of the ranking; I’m not quite sure he possesses above-average NHL skill levels to be deceptive enough to be a threat in the offensive end in the NHL. However, he does flash moments where he’s able to manipulate oncoming defenders and move into space to create plays. (Austin Garret)
50. Aydar Suniev
Aydar Suniev has been lighting the lamp for the Pentiction Vees routinely throughout the season. Suniev has an excellent shot from range even in contested situations. But, he can also create space for himself by pushing play around pressure at open ice and then quickly using the space that he created by putting a quality shot on net. When Suniev is off-puck in the offensive zone, he is looking to establish open ice down low and that has led to quite a few high danger passes coming his way. (Josh Tessler)
51. Alexander Rykov
An energetic, smart, and defensively responsible forward, Rykov probably won’t have a massive offensive impact in the NHL, but he’ll bring some decent speed and a good motor, along with a smart, well-rounded, and relatively low-risk game. He doesn’t excel at any one particular thing, but he’s just solid across the board, and he thinks the game well. He’s elusive, especially along the boards, he spins off checks well and accelerates quickly to escape pressure. He’s a good skater, but he plays a bit too fast at times, particularly away from the puck, not slowing down in space and just skating full speed in a straight line; but this isn’t a frequent occurrence in his game, and I don’t see it as a long-term concern. He puts himself in good spots offensively without the puck, and he’s a skilled passer, able to adapt his passes to different situations. He reads play well, and he probably won’t wow you very often, but he’ll just make smart, simple plays all the time; and bring a great motor, always active and making an effort at both ends of the ice. (Gray Matter)
52. Noah Dower Nilsson
If drafts were just about skill, creativity and talent then the Swedish pivot would be locked-in as a first round pick. He has deft and deceptive hands, the vision to pick out a perfect pass from no-where, great touch in any situation, and a plus shot to boot. This combination has led to him decimating the J20 Swedish Junior league this season. His 52 points places him top 10 all-time in u-18 scoring in the league with games left to play. However, there is more to hockey than just an offensive skill-set, and these areas are where Dower Nilsson must improve. His skating is not “bad” but merely average, but what is more concerning at times for such a high-skilled player are his poor decisions with the puck and lack of intensity. If he can rectify those issues in the coming years then he can certainly become a very good 2nd liner at the NHL level. (Alex Appleyard)
53. Theo Lindstein
While the points don’t necessarily jump off the page, left-shot defenseman Theo Lindstein has put together quite the impressive draft year in Sweden. He’s featured in 32 SHL games for Brynas, often times playing upwards of 16 minutes in a top-4 role. He’s a beautiful skater with a fluid stride and uses that skating to his advantage both offensively and defensively. He flashes patience and deception when moving the puck up the ice, either skating out of trouble himself or finding a teammate with open ice in front of him to skate into with the puck. Lindstein defends well in transition and against the rush with good gap control and a disciplined stick. He’s also a tremendous passer capable of finding passing lanes and creating his own. He occasionally has issues with in-zone defending and needs to add a decent bit of strength before taking his game to the next level defensively. At times, he can be guilty of being overly patient carrying the puck up ice and will take too long in his decision making. This can lead to turnovers and odd-man rushes the other way, but should be correctable as he continues to mature. (SpokedZ)
54. Tom Willander
Tom Willander is a big, mobile, right shot defenseman playing for Rögle BK. He’s a very intelligent defenseman who uses his high-end mobility to evade forechecking pressure and make life easy for teammates with a successful first pass. He’s solid defensively both in-zone and against the rush, and he plays a conservative style that enables him to play relatively mistake free hockey. That conservative style is effective in his own end, but it also limits his projection from an offensive standpoint. He oftentimes will rely on hopeful shots from the point instead of experimenting with the tools in his arsenal, ultimately hindering his ability to be an offensive threat on a consistent basis. That being said, he’s currently second in points among draft-eligible defenseman playing in the J20 with 23 in 37 games. If he can occasionally step outside of his comfort zone and add a layer of unpredictability in his offensive game, he has a chance to be drafted early in the second round. (SpokedZ)
55. Lenni Hämeenaho
The Finnish winger is the type of player that you can’t help but liking. Does he have a great shot? Yes. A high skill-level? Yes. Good passing? Yes. But it is his compete level and attention to details that make you want to root for him. He is a joy to watch on the boards and in puck-battles, despite being physically underdeveloped. He often comes out of a pile with the puck, and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time in close. His IQ is impressive for his age, and he is rarely out of position in any zone. He is well-rounded and mature, and this has led to him more than holding his own in Liiga this season. His skating still needs some work, and he will also need to play faster on smaller ice, but if he keeps developing he will be a very good NHL 3rd liner with a chance of featuring on a 2nd line. (Alex Appleyard)
56. Felix Nilsson
The Stockholm native is a player who has came on leaps and bounds over the course of this season. His game is centered around his high IQ. Nilsson is a facilitator. He links up everyone around him on ice, and is virtually always free to relieve a team-mate from pressure. Play is rarely ever stuck in his teams end when he is on the ice as a result. You often get the sense that he would do the job of both his defensemen and his wingers better than they can, and know what they will do before they themselves know. He drives play, and is a plus passer and shooter, while being aware and engaged in the defensive zone. He might not be “elite” in any area, but he is above average virtually everywhere. Down the line he could grow into a reliable 3C in the NHL who can play with anyone and prosper. (Alex Appleyard)
57. Nick Lardis
Nick Lardis has a fantastic shot which has been at the forefront of his success in Hamilton. Either off the rush or catch and release, Nick is a threat to score from almost any angle or distance. Lardis is always hovering around the offensive zone, looking to find a split second of open space to be open for a pass that will allow him to unleash a shot quickly. He plays at a high pace and can push defenders on their heels, which makes for the occasional highlight reel goal when combined with his slick hands. It’s an upside swing, but one that makes sense as we get into the mid to late 2nd round. (Jordan Malette)
58. Carter Sotheran
Carter Sotheran is having an impressive rookie campaign with Portland in the WHL this season. He has been the perfect partner for Luca Cagnoni on the blue line, providing excellent defensive play and physicality. Sotheran is able to create all of the space necessary for Cagnoni to work in all three zones and has largely been underrated because of it. Sotheran’s size, strong straight line speed and elite work in his own end make him a very projectable draft prospect. With his skating and defensive play, it’s easy to see how he could be a top four defenseman. The only real question our staff has about Sotheran’s game is whether or not his offensive game will ever be good enough for a top four role. Right now, he shows that he can make simple passes and smart decisions with the puck, but he doesn’t take risks and is limited offensively. (Matthew Somma)
59. Coulson Pitre
Pitre is a versatile forward that has shown the ability to play up and down the lineup and on both special teams units. In the CHL top prospects game, he spent time on a line with Connor Bedard and did not seem out of place. He’s very strong on his skates, and has a mechanically sound stride that makes it difficult for opponents to turn the puck over. He has strong board play, where he has a strong stick retrieving loose pucks and winning 50-50 battles. When in transition he moves the puck accurately and quickly and does a decent job reading the play. There are times, especially when Flint has been down late in games where he has forced the issue a bit and force fed passes into areas that led to turnovers. (Ben Jordan)
60. Étienne Morin
I love Morin with the puck on his stick. He’s one of the best in the QMJHL offensively, forward or defenseman, at creating scoring opportunities by reading plays and manipulating defenders. His data set is a bit of a roller coaster and almost all of it is due to a lack of physicality and poor acceleration as a skater. Morin doesn’t pass well under physical duress and struggles to separate from forecheckers and defenders when escaping pressure that he is too prone to turnovers. However, with a bit more strength and skating development he could turn out to be a PP2 QB you find in the second round. (Austin Garret)
61. Quinton Burns
Quinton Burns is a solid rush defenseman. He usually maintains good positioning. Burns stays well-aligned with the rush in the neutral zone and looks to force oppositional dump-ins into the Kingston zone. He then uses his lengthy stride to put him on the inside track to the loose puck. When the attacker who is engaged in the loose puck battle with Burns closes in on him, Burns does a good job of utilizing the boards to pass the puck off of. Burns is more of a defensive defenseman and will need to continue to work on developing his east-west speed and pivoting to ensure that he can stay aligned to puck carriers who are rather shifty. I would project Burns to be a second pairing defenseman and hopefully if he can develop stronger east-west speed that will only pave the way for more physical defending and closing out pressure at a faster rate. (Josh Tessler)
62. Kasper Halttunen
The Finnish winger is one of the players who has seen his draft-stock fall the most over the course of the 2022-23 season. Going into the year there was some chatter of him being a potential top 10 pick. But this season he has struggled. He has not been helped by a brutal looking concussion he sustained in October from a massive hit to the head that put him out for a month, he has also not been helped by playing for the lowest scoring team in Liiga, and he certainly has been pretty unlucky. But he has also not helped himself. Despite being a big, powerful winger with good skating, great hands and a lethal shot he has just one point in 27 Liiga games, he has also not set the world on fire at the international level. His IQ has been exposed at times and it also seems like he can let frustration or boredom creep into his game and negatively impact the things he does well. Does he still have top six upside? Certainly. But he will have to mature a lot and get better in relation to the finer details of the game. (Alex Appleyard)
63. Anton Wahlberg
Anton Wahlberg is another prospect out of Sweden who has recently seen his draft stock rise, and one who I fully expect scouts & GM’s to fall in love with thanks to his 6’4”, 190 lb frame and aggressive style. In the junior ranks, he’s able to use that size and strength to take over games and dominate against smaller players with ease. He’s also a decent skater for a player his size . He’s scored multiple highlight reel, coast to coast goals in the J20 this season due to the fact that nobody can take the puck off him. Now graduated to Malmo’s SHL team, he’s not able to rely solely on his size and strength. He’s learned to play a more calculated, mature game with more of a focus on the finer details. Over time, he’s adapted quite well and started to produce points after his recent promotion to the top six. He continues to take strides defensively as well, and has shown he can be a useful two-way forward. If he can add layers to his game offensively beyond just being a bull in a china shop, he has the foundational tools to become a decent middle-six power forward. (SpokedZ)
64. Arvid Bergström
Arvid Bergström is a shifty mobile puck moving defenseman, who defends rather well but at a distance. He is more of a reactive defenseman, but does use his positioning well when defending against the rush to force dump and chases. Bergström has good acceleration that he leverages to get to loose pucks cleanly. Should he encounter a heave forecheck, he’s shown that he can use pivots to shake free and complete a zone exit pass. Bergström does need to work on closing out gaps quicker as sometimes he ends up giving a bit too much room. In the offensive zone, Bergström should start looking to utilize his mobility and speed while pinching to drive pucks into the slot. (Josh Tessler)
HM. Noel Nordh
Whenever I watch Brynäs, I always come away impressed with Nordh; he seems to be flying under the radar a bit, and I quite like him. A power winger with a good motor and a nose for the net, on top of good physical tools and puck protection ability. He’s always active away from the puck and is very efficient in his off-puck routes. He does a good job of attacking the inside, actively scanning and finding lanes to the inside without the puck and positioning himself in open space, constantly adjusting his speed and repositioning to remain a passing target. The upside may not be the highest with Nordh, he lacks stand-out offensive tools, his shot is underwhelming and he doesn’t show much creativity in his playmaking; but there are moments of really impressive maneuvers to take the puck to the middle and drive the net under pressure, and his offense comes alive when he can get in tight to the net. He’s good defensively, and regardless of the offensive upside, his game should lend itself to a good 3rd line role in the NHL, and maybe more if all the stars align. (Gray Matter)
HM. Maxim Štrbák
A valued right-handed defenseman who uses his reach and long stick to his ability to break up plays. He is very good on the defensive end of the game, applying physical pressure. He does have a show of offense as well. This past year he was an important part of team Slovakia at the World Juniors. (Clare McManus)
HM. Matthew Soto
When it comes to Matthew Soto it’s all about what could be for me. When scouting players I often take notes of when players make me gasp or mutter in amazement. Soto is one of the players in which it’s always a treat to see what he’s going to do. He hasn’t quite put it all together in the OHL this year. Sometimes he puts himself into positions where passing options aren’t going to be ideal, and other times he makes a play no one could have possibly thought he’d pull off and he ends up without a scoring option. However, given his birthdate, I think Soto is the bet I’d make in this year’s draft where the late birthday and patience could reap benefits given the tools that he possesses. (Austin Garret)
HM. Jacob Fowler
Another Youngstown Phantoms draft-eligible, Flower is a great positional goaltender who, like Augustine, uses his great glove hand to his ability when on the ice. Laterally he moves well and possesses decent size in net. The Florida-born netminder and Boston College commit has put up some amazing stats for the Phantoms in his two year tenure with the team. So far this year he has a record of 20-8-3. (Clare McManus)
HM. Oliver Bonk
Oliver Bonk has been able to develop his positional awareness in the defensive zone throughout this season. He’s a great puck carrier and excels carrying the puck through the neutral zone, with the ability to make decisions on the fly, and execute accordingly. His ability to control gaps has been above average and shows great agility and control while doing so. Decent first pass defenseman that can find the outlet guy. (Ben Jordan)
