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.
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!
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)
Gracyn Sawchyn is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect and he plays for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds.
Sawchyn is originally from Grande Prairie, Alberta, but ended up playing 14U AAA and 16U AAA in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area.
He played for the Minnesota Lakers 14U AAA team in 2018-19 and then joined the Shattuck St. Mary’s 14U AAA team for the following season. Sawchyn remained at Shattuck in his DY-2 and played for their 16U AAA team.
After his 2019-2020 season with Shattuck 14U AAA, he was selected in the 2020 WHL U.S. Prospects Draft by the Red Deer Rebels.
Last season, Sawchyn played for the USNTDP U17 squad and instead of remaining with the USNTDP U18 squad for this season, he opted to sign a contract with the Thunderbirds. Seattle had acquired his contract from a 2021 trade with Red Deer.
This season, Sawchyn has been a point per game player and has been a dependable playmaker for the Thunderbirds. As of March 8, 2023, Sawchyn has recorded 18 goals and 40 assists in 58 games.
Player Profile
D.O.B – January 19, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’11″ Weight –165 lbs Position – Center Handedness – Right
Sawchyn’s Style Of Play
Offense
Sawchyn does a great job of taking advantage of small areas of space and delivering passes through them to the slot.
He does such a great job of using whatever space is given to him and that comes in handy since he will struggle to navigate the puck in tight situations when driving the puck in towards the slot. Sawchyn will try to stick-handle the puck through tight spaces, but doesn’t always have the speed to completely escape the pressure.
When pressure is light, Sawchyn has good handling and strong mobility that he can leverage when driving play, but he has struggled to navigate through tighter waters. So, when Sawchyn does use his reach to extend the puck into the small gaps of ice that he has, he looks to pass through the gap. He has to make the pass since most of the time he struggles to generate enough east-west speed to shift around the attacker and enter into the slot with possession of the puck.
If both of his forward teammates are working the puck down low in the corner and behind the red line, he is skating along the perimeter line. But, if there is only one teammate behind the red line with the puck and they are facing heavy pressure, Sawchyn does a good job of providing an outlet lane. With the outlet, his teammate can feed him the puck and then Sawchyn looks to quickly re-distribute the puck to a teammate in the slot.
If he’s got his back turned to an attacker and the pressure is intensifying, he will look to leverage his backhand to quickly distribute the puck to an open teammate in the slot. He’s got pretty good range on his backhand and will use pivots nicely to open up a bit of space for himself to use when looking to distribute. That’s led to quite a few high danger chances for Seattle.
Should he run into pressure at the perimeter mid-rush, he will look to complete drop passes to teammates who are skating behind him. If a drop pass doesn’t seem like a realistic option to re-distribute the puck cleanly, he will opt to complete a lateral feed. While it’s not a pass to high or medium danger, lateral passing at the perimeter has led to success especially on odd-man rushes where the pressure is drawn to Sawchyn, but his teammate has quite a bit of breathing room.
Sometimes when in low danger mid-cycle, Sawchyn will be a bit indecisive with the puck when pressure is closing in on him and in those situations he will either end up taking a shot from low danger or passing the puck to a defenseman along the blue line.
Sawchyn can be gritty and physical in the offensive zone when he needs to be. But, I would like to see him build up his frame so he can be stronger on the forecheck with impactful shoulder checks that lead to changes in puck possession. Sawchyn does the dirty work and goes down low hunting for loose pucks on routine. After corralling the puck, should he draw pressure that intensifies quickly, he has the mobility Once he draws pressure as he is skating out from the red line, he pivots and find just a little bit of space to hit a teammate in stride who is headed to the slot.
Sawchyn doesn’t just look to be physical on the forecheck. He will also utilize his reach too. Sawchyn will extend his stick out when skating behind attackers and pick-pocket with ease.
Sawchyn does a good job of shifting his positioning according to where his teammates are. Should a teammate shift a little further out to the corner, Sawchyn usually spots that and reacts by skating into the slot to provide a medium and/or high danger passing lane for his teammates. He times it so that the teammate gets open space to capitalize by timing the pace just right. That’s led to one-timer bar down goals.
When it comes to his shooting range, he has found success with his snap shot from medium and low danger throughout the season. He keeps his stick-blade open to elevate the puck and nets bar down goals. Sawchyn finds success with his shot from range when the pressure in front of him is relaxed and the opponent has provided him with a decent amount of open space.
Defense
Sawchyn’s role defensively is more passive than assertive and that can be largely attributed to his skating. He has the crossovers and leans on his edges nicely to build up acceleration and then retain that acceleration where shifting lanes, but he has yet to develop a power stride and that means that his ability to silence the rush is a bit limited. If a skater is in an ear-shot, Sawchyn can close in on him, but if Sawchyn has to muster up quite a bit of north-south speed to catch up to an attacker, he will struggle to completely close on them. There are moments in the corners where he is assertive and looks to leverage his physicality to shoulder check and cause puck disruption, but its in situations in which he doesn’t have to skate too far to shut down the cycle.
When he does get in range of an attacker at open ice, he will use his reach to cause puck disruption by extending his stick blade out to make contact with the puck. He does a good job of corralling the puck quickly after silencing oppositional puck movement with his reach. Sawchyn will use his reach to quickly capture the puck and then push the puck closer to his frame. Plus, his reach comes in handy should he accidentally extend the puck too far out into oncoming traffic and has to maneuver the puck closer to his body to secure possession.
Transitional Play
When defending in the neutral zone and reacting to the opposition’s rush, he does a good job with his positioning to take away space that the attackers were looking to utilize. He’s prepared for the rush and when the rush starts to develop in the Thunderbirds’ offensive zone, Sawchyn takes on more of a conservative role and parks himself at the edge of the neutral zone to take away space and be ready to take on the rush head on. When the rush tries to enter the neutral zone, his positioning forces the attacker to pass the puck immediately after entering the zone to a teammate along the boards.
Just like he does in the offensive and defensive zones, he uses his reach nicely when the opposition has control of the puck. Sawchyn uses his reach to extend his stick out to try to knock the puck off of the attacker’s stick. If he is skating behind the rush, he will look to stick lift and cause puck disruption when in range.
Not only does he look to extend his stick to poke check and stick lift, but he also does a good job of using his stick to take away passing lanes. When he’s slightly further away from the attacker by skating in a centered lane, he will extend his stick out to match where oppositional skaters (who don’t have the puck) are to take away potential passing options for the attacking puck carrier.
Sometimes he isn’t able to truly disrupt the rush though, but, I do like the effort. Not every poke checking attempt will lead to a capture of the puck, especially when the north-south speed of the attacker is far greater than Sawchyn’s speed. But, if the attacker is looking to move the puck east-west to dodge Sawchyn’s pressure, Sawchyn has the crossovers and the edge work to stay aligned. He will cut off the attacker and force the attacker to dump the puck.
When the Thunderbirds are in control of the puck and driving the rush, more often than note Sawchyn is a secondary puck mover and not the primary. But, there are shifts in which, Sawchyn looks to skates end-to-end with the puck and facilitate the rush. It’s usually in situations where the pressure is a bit more relaxed and he can rely on his crossovers to shift east-west around the attacker. He’s got the reach to extend the puck further out when implementing said crossovers to keep the rush alive by pushing the puck away from the attacker. Should he navigate the puck into tight pressure along the boards, he will try to push the puck underneath the stick of the attacker and look to reclaim possession of the puck. Unfortunately, sometimes he’ll push the puck too far and he doesn’t have the reach to regain possession. But as I mentioned above, he isn’t the primary puck mover in transition and you can usually find him creating outlet lanes for the primary puck mover to utilize should the primary find himself in pressure that he can’t navigate out of. With all of that said, if Sawchyn can develop a power stride, he could be the primary puck mover, but without the power stride, he will struggle to create the north-south speed he needs to truly be the primary puck mover on the rush.
Skating
I’ve touched on Sawchyn’s skating throughout the report, so this section is going to brief and high-level instead of very in-depth.
Sawchyn’s has excellent crossovers that powers his acceleration, but he doesn’t have the power stride to combine with it and that limits how much speed that he can manufacture when skating north-south. It also means that reacting to changes in puck movement when he is slightly further out and closing off that attacker from pushing the puck forward can be a bit daunting. With all of that said, there are moments especially defensively, where he ends up coasting instead of deploying skate extensions because he knows that he can’t get himself into position to shut down the oppositional puck movement. If Sawchyn can develop a power stride, he is going to be stronger at closing in on attackers and will see a role change in the neutral zone. He will end up being the primary puck mover for his line in transition.
Projection
Sawchyn has excellent vision and does well at taking advantage of situations with limited space. He will get the pass off. As I mentioned in the offensive section, he is constantly looking to re-position himself as his teammates shift their own positioning so that way he can constantly provide his teammates with quality passing lanes should they need to pass. That has lead to goals at 5v5 for Sawchyn.
I believe that Sawchyn can be a well-rounded offensive asset at the NHL in a middle six role. But with where Sawchyn is right now in his development, I would put deploy him as a winger instead of a center. He doesn’t have a power stride yet. If he does develop a strong power stride, I would definitely without a doubt deploy him at center because the combination of his handling, mobility and strong north-south strides would pave the way for Sawchyn to create more chances on his own with the puck in medium and high danger. In addition, I want Sawchyn to have the ability to create opportunities for himself off puck and he’d have far less of those opportunities mid-cycle in a center role. Also, you have to consider that he is usually isn’t the primary transporter in the neutral zone. But, if he can develop that power stride then I’d want to him to move into a center role as his role with possession of the puck would lead to far more scoring chances at center given the many tools that he has in the toolbox.
Latest Update
March 8, 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!
Brayden Yager is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect and he plays for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. Yager was selected 3rd overall by the Warriors in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.
Prior to playing for the Warriors, he had played U15 AA hockey for the Martensville Marauders and U18 AAA hockey for the Saskatoon Contacts. In Yager’s shortened second U18 AAA season (6 games), he was averaging almost two points per game. When the WHL returned, Yager was called up to Moose Jaw.
Yager is now in his third season with the Moose Jaw Warriors and has been a point per game player (1.14 points per game – as of February 27, 2023).
Player Profile
D.O.B – January 3, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –6’0″ Weight –165 lbs Position – Center Handedness – Right
Yager’s Style Of Play
Offense
Yager’s shot is the best asset that he has. He does a great job of targeting top shelf and taking advantage of the areas in which the opposing goaltender is failing to eliminate. Check out this goal from a mid-February game against Prince Albert. Once in medium danger, Yager identifies that the opposing goaltender is giving up too much space top shelf on the far side and takes his shot.
He doesn’t always look to elevate his shot. Sometimes shooting at the low corner is all he needs. In the below clip (early February game against Edmonton), he sees the opposing goaltender start to shift over in the butterfly. Yager knows that the goaltender won’t be able to get himself to get a pad on the puck and takes advantage.
Yager has found success in the offensive zone when he has acquired open space. Instead of forcing his way through the offensive zone and weaving in heavily pressured areas, Yager looks to quickly distribute the puck once entering the zone with the puck. Usually by the time Yager gets to the perimeter the puck is out of his hands. Once he makes the pass, he immediately skates into open space. Then the teammate that he distributed the puck feeds the puck back to him. Yager loves the give and go and it’s paid off a few times throughout the season.
The attention of the attackers deviates from Yager to the teammate that he passed to. He knows that’s the moment where gets into range. Yager then nets a backdoor passing lane.
While he is finding quite a bit of success in the offensive zone, he struggles to get to dangerous areas with the puck on his stick. When Yager draws pressure, he struggles with puck manipulation and stick-handling around pressure when it intensifies.
Here is an example of Yager driving the puck into the offensive zone and trying to manipulate the attacker in towards the boards but then doesn’t push the puck around the attacker. The attacker then manages to close in on him.
So, instead of trying to maneuver his way through tight traffic, he looks to complete a perimeter pass.
Even with that said, Yager does possess great mobility and handling. He just struggles to use it in tight situations. When the pressure is far more relaxed, he does use his mobility and handling to create separation.
Since he struggles to create space for himself with his handling in tight pressure, he will look to make a more risk averse pass than a more dangerous one when pressure closes in on him along the half-wall. Completing a more dangerous pass would likely mean that Yager would have to extend the puck away from the attacker to open up a passing lane.
Yager does implement quality pressure on the forecheck. He has the speed to get himself into position on the forecheck and will jump into loose puck battles. But, he does slow down a tad too early. He shortens the length of his stride too early and that creates tight puck battles. Should he win possession and it was a rather tight battle, he will struggle to navigate out of the pressure. Ideally, I’d like to see Yager learn to use his body weight to push off of attackers to open up separation for himself when he can’t manage to stick-handle the puck around the attacker.
Defense
In the defensive zone, when the attack is mid-cycle, he will drop back and stand on guard in the slot. His approach is more relaxed. Yager is waiting for the attack to try to enter into medium and/or high danger areas. When the attack is on the rush, he does look to put pressure on the attacker who doesn’t have possession of the puck and is skating into the slot to open up a dangerous passing lane for his teammate on the wing. Yager doesn’t take away the passing lane when he stays in pursuit, but he looks to put himself into a position in which he could shut down the attack when the attacker captures possession and tries to pivot / turn towards the net.
Against Zach Benson (above). Against Connor Bedard (below).
Yager is a reliable puck mover. He doesn’t always carry the puck out of his zone. Yager will opt to distribute if he is deep in his own zone. He does a great job of identifying teammates breaking out and hitting them in stride when he is under pressure deep in his own zone. In situations in which the pressure is a bit more relaxed and he’s deep in his own zone, he will still opt to pass and look to get the puck into the hands of a winger further up in the zone. That has led to a lot of give and go transitional play as Yager will look to pass to his wingers along the boards and then skate into open ice in the neutral zone. After skating into the neutral zone, his teammates then hit him in stride. Sometimes it’s very rewarding. Take a look at this clip from a December game against Calgary.
But, if Yager is further up in the defensive zone, immediately after corralling a loose puck, he uses good crossovers to drive him out of the defensive zone with the puck. Yager does react well to changes in pressure should they intensify while driving the rush. If pressure skates at him right as he is about to get to the blue line, he finds a tight lane, passes and gets the puck to an open teammate in the neutral zone.
Transitional Play
Yager stays well-aligned to attackers skating up the middle who don’t have possession of the puck when the opponents are driving the rush at speed. He isn’t actively looking to take away the passing lane, but he is right there and can close in on the attacker quickly should they net possession of the puck.
Should there be rapid changes in puck movement in the neutral zone and Yager is further back from the attacker who he is looking to close in on at open ice, he musters up enough speed to get just behind the attacker. His speed stalls a bit when he closes in on the attacker. I’d like to see him work on keeping pace incase the attacker looks to accelerate his speed just at the moment in which Yager slows down.
When Yager skates from blue line to blue line with possession of the puck, he usually doesn’t take on much pressure in those sequences. As mentioned earlier on in the report, Yager will struggle with stick-handling / navigating the puck out of tight spaces. So, if he starts to navigate towards daunting pressure he’ll look to distribute the puck before the attacker can close in on him. If pressure is slightly more relaxed, Yager will rely on his crossovers to shift lanes and build up acceleration to drive the rush into the offensive zone.
Skating
Yager has excellent crossovers. He nets excellent acceleration with his crossovers and then adds to his speed with power stride extensions. His power stride extensions allow him to be a strong north-south skater and he can pair that with his crossovers to quickly change up his lane with pressure comes into play.
When skating back on the backcheck, he uses his crossovers to generate speed and then shifts into straight line stride extensions nicely to stay aligned to the attack. But, as I mentioned earlier on in the report, Yager doesn’t end up skating all the way to the attacker’s positioning. He ends up slowing down his stride a bit too early and then ends up slightly behind the rush. Yager will also start to slow down his stride length a bit too early when engaging in loose puck battles.
Projection
NHL head coaches are likely to debate whether or not they would place Yager at center or wing at the next level. Yager’s ability to use his power strides to get into open space to key up back door passing lanes is something that you will see far less of if Yager would be deployed at center at the next level. Instead of looking for opportunistic passing lanes for his teammates to use to feed him the puck, he will have to be the main driver of play and the pressure is only intensifying faster at the next level which means that Yager’s stick-handling in tight spaces will have to improve. If he’s deployed as a winger, he is going to do what he does best and that’s leverage his speed off puck to get into open ice. But, if he is deployed as a center at the NHL level, he will likely have to play more of a conservative role at times and that will mean that he playing further back in the offensive zone. If I’m drafting Yager, I want to leverage his shot and I don’t want him stuck under pressure along the perimeter.
With all of that said, if you take Yager and move him to the wing, I see him being a top six winger at the NHL level. He’s going to create give and go opportunities. Yager is going to score one-timers and backdoor goals. But, I do think that playing center at the next level will hinder his offensive upside.
Latest Update
February 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!
Andrew Cristall is currently the seventh ranked player in our Preliminary rankings and is currently fifth in total points in the WHL and fourth in points per game.
This is Cristall’s second full season in the WHL. Last year he amassed 28 goals and 68 points in 61 games for the Kelowna Rockets. He was third on the team in points in 2021-22 behind NHL draftees Pavel Novak and Colton Dach.
The undersized winger continues to impress as the season has gone along in 2022-23. Unfortunately, a lower-body injury has sidelined Cristall recently and caused him to miss the CHL Top Prospects game. However, Cristall’s point production and high-end microstats continue to push him up in Smaht’s rankings.
Player Profile
D.O.B – February 4, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’10″ Weight –167 lbs Position – Left Wing Handedness – Left
Cristall’s Style of Play
Offense
What makes Andrew Cristall such a dynamic offensive weapon and a top offensive prospect in this class are his elite traits: playmaking/puck skill, his vision, his ability to read plays two or three puck touches before they develop, and his ability to make high-end plays under pressure.
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. Kelowna uses him specifically to transport the puck through the neutral zone where Cristall will move the puck from the wing to the center lane. Once there he then has an arsenal of tools that he utilizes to get the puck into the offensive zone and then work his way to the dangerous parts of the ice either himself or through a pass.
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. He’s consistently leading his forwards into areas of the ice that they may not have been going or putting pucks into open spaces that allow his other forwards to change their route and find themselves with the puck and space. While his linemates aren’t holding him back; they also aren’t top caliber prospects or high-end future draft picks. He continues to make everyone on the ice look better offensively and it’s a testament to his unselfishness and ability to spring open his teammates.
Cristall isn’t just a perimeter player. Using his puck skill he’s able to shift his weight on his edges and put pucks under and around players sticks. He is a constant highlight reel waiting to happen and if he gets you off balanced he’s going to get by you with ease.
Even when he doesn’t have a successful transition there’s still a moment of awe that happens that makes you respect the creativity and skill of Cristall. The clip below is a perfect example. Cristall freezes a player at the red line and opens up space for him to continue carrying the puck to the blue line. He then uses a deceptive fake to the backhand to throw the defender on their heels and then loses the puck trying to put the puck between the defender’s skates at the blue line
Should he have hit #14 on the blue line as a safer option? Perhaps. There’s a defender within a few feet of #14 and they have no momentum hitting the blue line so I’d surmise it becomes a chip-and-chase or dump-in situation. However, when he does get through it’s always ending up in plays like this:
The only player that is as puck dominant in the CHL right now comparted to Cristall is Connor Bedard, and honestly the work rates between the two are much closer than you’d think. Cristall is the only other CHL player with a 50% offensive zone involvement, and his involvement comes with one of the datasets best carry-in percentages into the offensive zone. This often results in Cristall facilitating play to the dangerous areas of the ice where he uses his patience to speed manipulation to open up different passing lanes to get secondary options.
There are a few concerns with projecting Cristall’s offensive game. The major concern is that he lacks separation speed and doesn’t pull away from defenders when he gets a step on them. In the WHL he’s mitigated this with absolutely jaw-dropping puck handling and adept start-and-stop maneuvers to create space. However, his inability to generate speed through crossovers and a lack of power in his thin framewhen skating in a straight line does cause slight pause given his size.
A secondary concern of mine is more in the minute details of Cristall’s game and does tie back to his skating to a degree. Cristall often will drift on rushes and find himself gliding to the corners of the ice if he can’t find a primary or secondary pass option on the rush. By failing to continue to move his feet he has cut off any sort of escapability he might have to curl back up the wall and maintain control of the puck. This has been noted more than a couple of times in my viewings and thus has made it into the report.
Defensive Game
Cristall’s game is not predicated on defensive engagement. He is often off the screen on defensive rushes and the last man back on the forecheck, nor is he actively engaging deeper in the zone on the boards defensively to keep play on the outside as a winger. His play as a weak side defender has been the most interesting at even strength because you can see how smart he is reading plays and where the puck lanes are that opposing defenseman or forwards would try to thread a cross-ice pass. However, a typical sequence for Cristall in the defensive zone looks pretty similar to this:
However, I do see glimmers of defensive engagements and process thinking that make me believe that he won’t be a sieve in the defensive end as he develops. For one, I really liked his very abbreviated stint on the penalty kill. He showed an intensity on the boards and challenging shooters that I did not see at even strength through all my viewings. Couple this with his ability to continually pick off passes and I believe there’s more to the defensive game than what the tape says at five-on-five.
He can be a bit soft on the boards, but his ability to play the middle of the ice as an F3 forechecker is good so long as he gets his feet moving. If he’s unable to read the play or isn’t fully engaged on the puck it can lead to him over-reaching with his stick which has led to some bad penalties.
What the Data Says
This is where things get fun with Cristall. Cristall leads the entire data set in the number of:
Dangerous pass attempts
Dangerous pass attempts completed
Total passes by a forward
Total passes by a forward completed
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.
His shot attempt rate at 5-v-5 is below Bedard’s but above any other CHL player. He’s the only other player besides Bedard (who is at 60%!) in the CHL who is above a 50% (50.3%) offensive transition involvement rate.
What does this all mean? His point production isn’t a fluke. It’s the product of his high work rate and his ability to complete dangerous pass attempts and to get dangerous shot attempts off at even strength. Truthfully, had he not had a rough patch of puck luck, he could be 5-10 points higher than he currently is.
Bedard is the best offensive weapon in this draft.
Cristall is this draft’s premier playmaker.
Projection
The valuation of Cristall is going to be a polarizing one across the NHL draft industry. There is inevitably going to be a sector of the community that looks at his size, lack of elite speed, and lack of tape to suggest he can play further down the lineup and push him down the board as a first round pick.
I, however, land very bullish on Andrew Cristall. From the defensive blue line onward there isn’t a player I get more excited to see with the puck on their stick than Andrew Cristall. His ability to make his teammates better offensively combined with his ability to pull off very high end skill moves give me all the confidence that he’s a projectable offensive player in the NHL.
Cristall lands at #4 on my North American rankings list. I have debated Benson and Cristall most of the year and still lean on Benson’s 200 foot game over Cristall. However, if your team is in need of offensive firepower and an engine for play creation and a half-wall quarterback on the power play? Cristall is going to make teams look silly for passing on him in the top 10.
Latest Update
February 23, 2023
stats from InStat and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Austin Garret. If you would like to follow Austin on Twitter, his handle is @BMaster716.
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!
Colby Barlow is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible prospect and plays for the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.
Barlow played U15 AAA hockey for the Toronto Marlboros and averaged 1.38 points per game (34 games played). His U15 AAA season was his last season prior to his selection in the OHL Draft because of the pandemic. Barlow was selected #8th overall in the first round of the 2021 OHL Draft by the Attack and made his OHL debut the following season.
As of February 14, 2023, Barlow is up to 38 goals and 29 assists. Throughout this season, Colby Barlow has been a consistent scorer for the Owen Sound Attack. He is constantly finding open space in dangerous areas and keying up passing lanes for his teammates to exploit.
Player Profile
D.O.B – February 14, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –6’1″ Weight –187 lbs Position – Left Wing Handedness – Left
Barlow’s Style Of Play
Offense
Colby Barlow knows exactly what he needs to do in order score goals. Get to high danger. Establish open ice. He does that on repeat. Every shift. He is looking to acquire open ice to create passing lanes and then quickly get a shot off at net-front. Barlow has found success in high danger areas off of the rush and mid-cycle. He does a good job of hanging in stride with his puck carrying teammate on odd man rushes to provide a back door option at net-front. When mid-cycle, Barlow acquires open ice to quickly get his hands onto rebounded pucks at the doorstep, but he also does it to key up a one-timer backdoor option for his teammates.
Sometimes, he might be slightly behind his teammate with the puck, but he knows to drive to the net. He knows to drive to the net because he still can provide said teammate with a secondary option.
Every now and then you will see Barlow score a low danger goal like this one against Flint. But, the bulk of his goal scoring is coming off of opportunities at net-front after he has acquired open space.
Barlow isn’t the primary transporter of the puck when in transition. So usually he isn’t the F1, but there are a few shifts per game in which he does end up driving the puck into the offensive zone. When he does, if pressure seems to be a bit daunting right off the bat, he will delay at the point and went till a teammate comes near him so he can execute a clean drop pass. When he is driving to the net with possession of the puck, should he encounter strong pressure from an opposing defenseman, he doesn’t have the shiftiness / mobility to maneuver around said defenseman. Barlow isn’t really using his frame either. I’d like to see Barlow start to push into pressure when he has control of the puck, so that he can keep the defenseman at a distance while he extends the puck out away. When he does see pressure tighten up, he usually settles for a shot from range.
He also doesn’t use his frame to push into pressure when working the puck along the half-wall boards and pressure is right on him. I’d like to see him use his frame to dictate to open up space for himself or pivot out and skate towards the interior. Instead of using his upper body strength to create separation, he skates the puck back towards the blue line and looks to pass back to the point.
I also noticed that Barlow does look down at the puck quite a bit when pressure is closing in on him and he is along the boards. When he looks down at the puck, he is delaying what he does next. That allows the pressure to close up in on him and trap him.
When on the forecheck, he does look to utilize his crossovers to build up speed to get to the loose puck before an attacker gets to the puck. Should the attacker beat him to the puck, Barlow doesn’t look to close the gap to trap the attacker. Instead, he backs off a bit. At this point in his development, Barlow is still working on using his body more and more on the forecheck when he is in pursuit of the puck but can’t net the speed to get to the loose puck before the opposing attacker can. He also has the reach to be an effective poke checker on the forecheck, but isn’t extending his stick when he is in range of the puck carrying attacker.
Barlow isn’t really a playmaking forward. As stated earlier on, he is usually the forward looking to establish open ice in high danger to capitalize off of tip-ins and one-timers. But, as a result of cycling the puck and working the puck down low, he collects plenty of primary assists on passes in which he had to make with pressure closing in on him. In addition, sometimes opportunities do open up in high danger where he takes a shot on net, collects his own rebound and completes a lateral feed across the doorstep to a fellow teammate crashing the net. The opposing goaltender can’t shift over in time to make the stop.
Transitional Play
Barlow does a good job of closing in on attackers with the puck when mid rush along the boards. By closing in on them, he forces them to dump possession of the puck into the Owen Sound zone. Over the course of the season, I’ve seen Barlow extend his out his stride more and more to build up speed when he is looking to shift into place to trap the attacker. That allows Barlow to cover more distance.
Like in the defensive zone, he does a good job of skating near puck carrying teammates and providing them with a passing lane. It doesn’t matter how much pressure the puck carrying teammate is dealing with. Barlow is always close by. More often then not, after acquiring possession of the puck, he quickly looks to re-distribute the puck to a teammate further up in the zone. Even under pressure, Barlow does a good job of identifying tight passing lanes to exploit and can wire passes underneath the stick of the attacker who is positioned in front of him.
As mentioned earlier on in the report, Barlow isn’t the primary transporter of the puck when he is on the ice. He is more of secondary transporter. But, when he does have the puck, is determined to lead the rush and encounters tight pressure, he does a good job of keeping the puck secure. Barlow will leverage his reach to extend the puck away from the attacker who is positioned next to him. When he skates up to the blue line, should he face pressure immediately from an opposing defenseman, he will look to initiate a chip and chase.
Defense
In the defensive zone, Barlow is usually seen working the perimeter and putting pressure on opposing attackers along the point. When he reacts to a quick pass or a sudden change in oppositional puck movement, he tends to be a second late with his positioning. I’d like to see Barlow be quicker from a stand still position. If he can work on his activation from a stand still position, he will be able to keep pace and take away options for the attacker.
Barlow does a good job of providing open passing lanes for his defensive partners to complete outlet feeds once they pick up possession of a loose puck.
Not only does he net the open ice to key up the passing lane, but he also is efficient and quick with his distribution after obtaining possession. A lot of one touch passing. That comes in handy since he doesn’t always have the speed to navigate out of tight pressure. So, when pressure is closing in on him, he can quickly identify a teammate to pass to and executes the pass cleanly. His quality scanning allows him to identify a teammate with speed who is skating towards the neutral zone and then he delivers passes to hit his teammates in stride. That leads to quite a few zone exit passes per game. Not only is he getting the puck up the ice, but that allows him to take the pressure off of him so he can skate into the offensive as the F2 or F3 and get right to high danger. That allows his teammate to then hit Barlow in stride in high danger.
More often then not Barlow is distributing the puck to either an open teammate who is further down in the defensive zone or a teammate who quickly managed to establish open ice in the neutral zone. But, there are some shifts in which he carries the puck out of his zone and drives the rush. Should he encounter heavy pressure, he will double back and then use his crossovers to gather acceleration as he drives the puck back up through the zone.
Skating
Barlow generates quite a bit of speed with his crossovers and he will rely heavily on them when he is looking to facilitate the rush. Not only does it allow him to generate speed, but he relies on his crossovers to double back or change direction when he runs into too much pressure.
When you look at Barlow’s forward stride, it’s a bit short. But, he is working on extending his stride length and does so from time to time. He’s clearly been working on his stance when in stride as he is more bent and shifting more weight when in stride than he was earlier on in the season. If the deployment of Barlow’s lengthy stride extension can become more consistent, Barlow will be stronger on the forecheck and will be able to get to puck quicker then he does now. Improvements to this speed could also have a positive impact on his physicality. Many areas of Barlow’s game will improve as a result of a more consistently deployed power stride.
Projection
Colby Barlow is wired to create passing lanes to high danger. It doesn’t matter if on the rush or mid-cycle. Barlow has identified open ice and a lane for his puck carrying teammate to utilize. It’s led to quite a few 5v5 one-timer and tip-in goals at the OHL level. Barlow should find quite a bit of success at the NHL level and can be an effective top six goal scorer at the next level. If he can unlock that power stride, it will only lead to more points at 5v5 in the NHL. The NHL is all about speed and timing. With improved speed and if paired with top six distributors, he could put up 40+ point seasons at the next level and play a Tyler Toffoli-like role.
Latest Update
February 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!
If you would like to listen to this episode, you can find an embedded link from SoundCloud below. Our podcast can also be found on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Champagne / Brandon Wheat Kings
Carson Bjarnason is a 2023 NHL Draft eligible goaltender prospect and he plays for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. Bjarnason grew up just east of Brandon in Carberry, Manitoba. Prior to joining the Wheat Kings, Bjarnason had played U15 AAA hockey for the Southwest Cougars (Oak Lake, Manitoba based) and U16 Prep School hockey for RINK Hockey Academy (Winnipeg, Manitoba based). Bjarnason wasn’t drafted in the WHL draft. He was listed and then signed by Brandon in September of 2021.
Player Profile
D.O.B – June 30, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –6’3 Weight –181 lbs Position – Goaltender Catches – Left
Bjarnason’s Style Of Play
Bjarnason has some excellent tools on his tool-belt. He is quick, shifty, does an excellent job of tracking the puck from the point even when dealing with an attacker trying to shield his vision and has a great glove. Bjarnason stays well aligned to oppositional puck movement when the puck carrier is shifting the puck from east – west in front of him. In high danger situations, Bjarnason does a good job of using his athleticism when reacting to tough saves. He’s flexible and can go into the splits when needed.
If his leg pad isn’t in place to shut down a shot a net front, he will extend the leg pad out to shut the door. Check out this toe pad save against Josh Filmon from high danger.
As mentioned above, Bjarnason does an excellent job of tracking pucks at the point when he was quite a bit of traffic at net front. Keeps his head on a swivel, reacts in time to the shot coming from the point and traps it.
Not only does he track pucks well, but he also reacts to them quickly. Check out this shot attempt from Brayden Yager. Bjarnason reacts quickly, shifts over and shuts the door.
Bjarnason has a good glove and doesn’t have much trouble grabbing a shot coming from medium and high danger. He shifts around from having his glove positioned underhand to having it overhand. Bjarnason’s overhand glove positioning allows him to react quickly to shots coming up chest level.
Here are a few overhand glove save clips.
Using his glove in an overhand position also allows him to take up more space in net. I’ll touch on this a bit later on in the report, but Bjarnason does give up a decent amount of space top shelf when in the crouch and in the butterfly. I’d like to see him extend his glove overhand more when in the crouch and in the butterfly as that will take away space top shelf towards the right for the opposing puck carrier to use.
Bjarnason does make underhand saves. Usually he will extend his glove underhand when squared up to the puck carrier. His underhand positioning allows him to quickly trap shots that hit him in the chest. While he can be efficient with his glove extended underhand, he does give up a lot of rebounds to high danger when facing shots from the slot and his glove is positioned underhand while Bjarnason is in the crouch and the butterfly. He struggles to glove the shot and instead it ricochets off of the glove and into high danger.
Bjarnason doesn’t just have a good glove, he also has a good blocker and does a good job of extending his blocker out at the precise moment to make contact with the puck when facing a shot. The extension of the blocker allows Bjarnason to react in time and push the puck into medium and/or low danger areas.
When protecting the post, he will use RVH. Not VH. If Bjarnason is in an RVH stand and he is observing an attacker skating along the red line from the corner to the slot, he struggles to take away room top shelf and sometimes that leads to goals against. I’d like to see Bjarnason use a VH stance in those situations and then drop into the butterfly when the puck carrier gets to the doorstep. The VH stance takes away more space when defending against puck carriers along the red line and takes up more space on the far side top shelf.
Sometimes when protecting the post, he overlaps the post and that means that he is giving up quite a bit of space on the far side. He needs to be more cautious with overlapping because when oppositional puck movement is moving from side to side, he has to cover more ground when shifting over.
Bjarnason drops into the crouch when the puck carrier is skating into the slot is at the perimeter line. Sometimes his positioning is too far out in the crease and it seems that he is overcommitting to the edge of the crease when facing shots coming from glove side. With his stance, he is giving up a bit too much top shelf. I don’t mind seeing Bjarnason position himself along the edge of the crease, but if he is looking to stand there regularly when facing shots glove side, I’d like to his crouch stance improved a bit. When in the crouch, he slouches a bit and that is opening up space top shelf when he is the edge of the crease. But, it’s not just in the crouch, you will notice the same when Bjarnason is in the butterfly.
Projection
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.
Latest Update
January 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_.
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!
Zach Benson is a top prospect eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft.
He has spent the last three seasons, including this one with the Winnipeg ICE of the Western Hockey League. The Chilliwack, BC native was selected by Winnipeg 14th overall in 2020 bantam draft following a dominant season with the U15 Prep Yale Hockey Academy putting up 30 goals and 86 points in 30 games.
At the time of writing this, Benson is in the midst of a terrific season and is 3rd in WHL scoring amassing 23 goals, and 56 points across 34 contests. Benson was also selected to represent Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Under 18 tournament this past summer, where he put up 2 goals and 5 points in 7 games, good for 3rd on the Canadian squad.
Player Profile
D.O.B – May 12, 2005 Nationality – Canadian Draft Eligibility – 2023 Height –5’10″ Weight –150 lbs Position – Center Handedness – Left
Benson’s Style Of Play
Offense
Zach Benson strives when his team is on offense. In terms of forwards in this entire 2023 class, no one thinks the game with and without the puck better than Zach Benson. In my viewings of Benson, I have picked up on many offensive tendencies, all of which led to very successful offensive opportunities. The first being his play on the half-wall and in the corners without the puck. Benson is a hound for retrieving loose pucks. Think Zach Hyman. Once he has control of the puck after a strip, I’ve seen Benson time and time again feather 10ft passes through sticks and skates from below the goal line, setting up teammates for prime scoring opportunities.
Love the way Benson plays below the goal line… feet always moving, quick, crisp passes. Great at feathering it through skates and sticks… #2023NHLDRAFTpic.twitter.com/YdwNK5pYDT
With the puck, Benson is a wizard. This all starts with how he surveys the ice. He uses effective shoulder checks even when possessing the puck, that allow him to read plays ahead of his opponents. Benson is great at finding pockets of space when in the offensive zone that allow him extra time to fetch out that next pass or shot. Benson is a terrific distributor of the puck. He uses a variety of different pass types to successfully execute different plays. Like I mentioned above, he is great at dishing little 5-10ft passes from below the goal line and is extremely precise when doing so. He is also effective feathering cross seam passes across the ice, especially to the back door. He is a great match for power forwards that like to crash the net. If you have your stick on the ice at the net front, Benson will find you.
Benson’s shot has not been one of his highlight features in his draft year. Benson’s ability to find teammates cross ice after a fake shot has been a real tool for him. One thing I’ve noticed however, is that he seems to take awhile, and looks uncomfortable shooting coming out of a fake pass. I’ve looked at this closer and notice that many of the instances he has trouble getting that shot off quickly is the weight transfer has already occurred. All the energy he stores in his legs is being wasted on the fake pass, leaving him little to no strength coming through the shot release. In the grand scheme of things, I’m not overly concerned with Bensons shooting mechanics, nor his shot power. I don’t anticipate Benson to ever come in on the rush, and burry snap shots under the bar like prime Phil Kessel, but I do think once he fills out his upper half, and bulks up a bit that he will have an above average shot. The mechanics are certainly there.
Defense
One thing I love about Benson’s game defensively is how involved he is. Every loose puck battle, every zone exit, it feels like Benson is involved in a meaningful way. As a centerman, the ownness is on him to support his defenseman in deep and along the sideboards, he does a great job supporting them, and avoiding defensive zone turnovers. The key to avoiding turnovers is quick decision making. Benson keeps his head on a swivel and is constantly looking to see if or when pressure may come. When supporting his defenseman and receiving the puck, Benson makes very quick decisions with the puck. His zone exit passes are crisp, and he’s great at leading his passes. In other words, finding his wingers in stride so that they have speed coming through the neutral zone.
Zach Benson is so efficient.
Challenging the puck carrier. Never over committing his positioning. Adjusting. Passing vision. Communication. Catching passes he shouldn't pass. Winning loose puck battles. Repeat. #2023NHLDraftpic.twitter.com/B855aamxaM
Off puck play is equally as important as play with the puck. From my viewings I find that Benson is actively trying to find soft spots, mainly in the neutral zone where he can make himself available to receive a pass, and transition play the other way. Although Benson is virtually always involved in the play, I find that it’s this area of his game where he can become a bit disconnected. When Benson is looking to be an outlet on the breakout, he can get caught hovering, ultimately leading to him being a bit of a passenger in transition. This is a very specific issue, and one that likely doesn’t carry too much weight. Every time I’ve noticed this from him, I’ve wound back the footage and watched what’s going on in the defensive zone. It’s typically clumsy plays from the backend, and failed breakout passes. As Benson climbs the ranks, these types of plays will only become more routine. Overall, not an aspect of his game I’m overly concerned with.
Transition Play
I sound like a broken record, but Benson’s head is ALWAYS on a swivel! That’s no different when he is transition. This eases so many different aspects of play in transition. It ensures he’s in open ice where he can get the puck up quickly to his wingers. When not carrying the puck Benson lets his edges go on display, in attempt to open himself up for receiving a pass up ice. When successfully orchestrated, and Benson is flying through the neutral zone in transition, good luck. He is so deceptive using shoulder fakes and uses give and go’s with teammates to get into the offensive zone, and set up quality opportunities.
Transition Data
I’ve tracked data from four of Benson’s games this season. In those four games, he attempted 26 zone exits, with a success rate of 69.2%. In other words, 18 of his 26 zone exits were completed, with what I deemed to be control of the puck. In those same four games, he attempted 56 zone entries (this includes special teams) in which he was successful at gaining the offensive zone on 66% of those entries.
Skating
I can’t get over how well Zach Benson uses his edges. It’s eerily similar to what I see in Mitch Marner’s game. Not only is he shifty and able to carve out space for himself with tight turns, and shifty plays to keep the puck in at the line, but he uses his edges to build up speed in all zones. He moves up ice so effortlessly, and unlike a lot of younger players, he keeps his feet moving all the time. Benson is a perfect example of leveraging speed to find open areas to counteract his slighter frame. This is great for accepting outlet passes from teammates engaged in puck battles along the boards. This opens the ice for him, and he’s benefitted from many grade A scoring chances because of it. When in on the forecheck, I love the way Benson incorporates crossovers to stay glued to his target defender. His lateral mobility is great.
Exemplifies everything I love about Zach Benson. Glued to attacker, great agility to force turnover, explosive crossovers to transition to offense. Once in zone, he reads off his wingers and hovers into pocket of space for the finish. pic.twitter.com/99Xg4bWqZk
From a technical standpoint, Benson’s smaller frame allows for a lower center of gravity. Why is that important? Well in hockey especially a low center of gravity increases balance and stability. This allows Benson to change direction quicker when he is lower to the ground. That, paired with his great edge work and crossovers combine for a very dominant skater. Looking at mechanics quickly, he has great bend in his knees, which discussed above, helps with lateral mobility. He also has impressive ankle flexion, which will aid in maintaining good balance while in stride.
Projection
While I don’t necessarily see Zach Benson reaching the top of the superstar bucket, (Tavares, Kane, Stamkos etc…) I do envision him being a cornerstone piece for the franchise that selects him this June.
When thinking of a player comparison, I get drawn to a few different players. From an offensive skills standpoint, I personally see a lot of similar traits to Cole Perfetti. Great vision, feet always moving, and just very technically sound with every movement. Benson has a motor on him though that never stops running. To me, very similar to watching Brayden Point roam around. There just seems to always be a certain intensity when both of them are on the ice and hunting down pucks. Both great at carving out pockets of space, and tremendous at distributing or finishing plays themselves.
Benson carries with him a massive question mark. When a team steps up to the podium in June, will they be selecting Benson as a center or a winger. That is to be determined, but here is my stance. My gut tells we winger. When his motor is running high (which is most of the time) he plays a very textbook left wing. Forechecking in deep, attempting to turn the puck over, and then looking to set up a teammate from below the goal line. When I think of Benson, this is where I see the majority of his success. Here’s what’s caused me to go back and forth a few times. His coverage in the defensive zone, and just overall defensive awareness, are not tools to sneeze at. Playing lots of center for Winnipeg this season, he has shown very good ability to fulfill all centerman duties in the defensive-zone. My conclusion. Benson will just fine playing either position and quite frankly I envision him getting looks at both whenever he is ready to crack an NHL lineup. The ultimate x-factor as to where he will stick will be his face off success. In the WHL this season, he is operating at just 38.5%. If this area does not see improvement, I think he’ll line up on the wing, while assuming many of the center duties in the defensive zone. His skills defensively are just too good to completely over look.
As it stands currently, I have Benson at #5 on my personal rankings. When the dust settles at the end of the year, I anticipate Benson remaining in the top 10, and likely somewhere in the #4 to #7 range.
Latest Update
January 21, 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.
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!
