Chasing the Draft – Consolidated Rankings

By Bob Trask – With another Saturday night in the books, the projected draft order of the teams continues to change as do the rankings of various players expected to go in the first round. Elite Prospects provides a consolidated ranking of the players that I will match up with my projected draft order to create a hypothetical scenario of how things could play out at the draft table

DRAFT	TEAM	PLAYER	POS	HT	WT	GP	G	A	PTS
1	Blue Jackets	Connor Bedard	C	5’10	185	33	39	42	81
2	Ducks	Adam Fantilli	C	6’2	187	22	16	23	39
3	Black Hawks	Leo Carlsson	C	6’3	194	31	5	13	18
4	Coyotes	Matvei Michkov	RW	5’10	148	14	4	2	6
5	Sharks	Zach Benson	F	5’10	159	40	25	41	66
6	Canadiens	Eduard Sale	RW	6’1	168	33	3	5	8
7	Canucks	Brayden Yager	C	6’0	165	48	20	35	55
8	Blues	Will Smith	C	6’0	172	36	28	41	69
9	Senators	Dalibor Dvorksi	C	6’1	201	27	4	7	11
10	Red Wings	Andrew Cristall	LW	5’10	165	36	26	36	62
11	Flyers	Oliver Moore	C	5’11	176	37	21	26	47
12	Canadiens	Calum Ritchie	C	6’2	187	42	19	23	42
13	Islanders	Colby Barlow	LW	6’1	187	42	36	27	63
14	Sabres	Riley Heidt	F	5’11	179	44	19	41	60
15	Capitals	Mikhail Gulyayev	D	5’10	170	16	2	16	18
16	Predators	Axel Sandin Pellikka	D	5’11	181	21	13	14	27
17	Golden Knights	Ryan Leonard	C	5’11	181	34	25	27	52
18	Kings	Nate Danielson	C	6’1	185	45	23	33	55
19	Flames	Ethan Gauthier	RW	5’11	176	44	17	31	48
20	Wild	Otto Stenberg	F	5’11	181	23	8	12	20
21	Penguins	Matthew Wood	F	6’3	190	27	9	15	24
22	Rangers	Gabe Perreault	RW	5’11	170	39	35	41	76
23	Jets	Jayden Perron	F	5’8	157	36	15	18	33
24	Oilers	Quentin Musty	LW	6’2	205	32	12	36	48
25	Avalanche	Kasper Halttunen	RW	6’3	207	24	0	1	1
26	Lightning	Gavin Brindley	RW	5’9	157	26	3	14	17
27	Kraken	Lucas Dragicevic	D	6’2	181	43	13	42	55
28	Rangers	David Reinbacher	D	6’2	187	36	2	17	19
29	Maple Leafs	Charlie Stramel	F	6’3	216	23	5	4	9
30	Hurricanes	Dmitri Simashev	D	6’4	201	15	0	0	0
31	Devils	Caden Price	D	6’1	181	44	5	19	24
32	Bruins	Samuel Honzak	C	6’3	181	31	17	26	43

A word of caution when comparing offensive statistics. Some of these players are competing in high level men’s leagues like the KHL, the SHL and Liiga. Others are playing against junior A competition, major junior competition or in the NCAA.

Having said that, even if you exclude Bedard and Fantilli, there seems to be some offensive gems at various positions who could be available when the Habs turn at the podium comes up. A name like Lucas Dragicevic jumps off the page as a RD who creates offense. It makes you wonder if he would be a player the Habs would target if they could acquire one more mid to later 1st round pick. Another is RW Gabe Perreault who is scoring at nearly a goal per game pace in the USHL. While it’s not the strongest competition for draft eligible players, it still impressive.

A name that doesn’t appear on this list or in many first round rankings is 6’6 goaltender Michael Hrabal. The Czech native is currently playing in the USHL and if the Habs happened to draft him, they would have 4 more years before they would need to sign him.

As mentioned, this draft order is matched up against the consolidated rankings on Elite Prospects. There are many other services including FC Hockey, Bob McKenzie, Craig Button, Grant McCagg, McKeens, Dobber Prospects, Smaht Scouting and others that rank the players differently.

Check out Elite Prospects Draft Center for the top 32 picks that the various scouting services have on their boards and compare the rankings to your favourites.

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