Danielson is great at attacking the middle of the ice which makes up for his lack of a finishing touch because it leads to a plethora of chances that good line mates could finish at a solid clip. Musty is an athletic winger who can beat goalies with his hard shot or by crashing the net and scoring in tight. 2022 WHL Prospects Draft Results - First Round #1 - Medicine Hat Tigers Name: Gavin McKenna Position: Forward Hometown: Whitehorse, Yukon Team: Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna U18 Prep Stats: 35 GP - 23G-42A-65 points #2 - Tri-City Americans Name: Jackson Smith Position: Defence Hometown: Calgary, Alta. Elite Prospects - CCHL Bantam Protected Draft 2023. 2 pick in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection and an OHL First All-Rookie Team member. Players from non-North American countries are allowed to be added in the CHL Import Draft which is held in June. And he always seems to be around it. The . Hes also outscoring most of the WHL for that matter, dominating the opposition when he has possession. WHL News. Evasive. His gifts in control of the puck are undeniable. But youll also see him make the heady escape play out of his own zone under pressure at five-on-five, or slide into a passing line to intercept a pass, or disrupt an opposing carrier with a tight gap and active stick. More and more his game has shown dimension inside the offensive zone so that he can make things happen shift after shift out of all of his effort plays up and under sticks. Perron is so agile that his lack of size and strength dont often hinder his game, however he will need to develop a bit of a physical game (like Logan Stankoven) if he wants to grow into his full potential as a top-six forward in the NHL. He works hard when hes on the ice, making high effort plays without the puck that give me more confidence that he will continue to play as a center in the NHL. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. His consistency, effort, speed, and skill make him a coachs dream even though he doesnt have the dynamic offensive qualities of some of his peers. Hes great along the wall on the cycle, but he can also occasionally make a play that pulls you out of your seat. Hes got a great release. Hes got smooth hands. The WHL Bantam Draft is an annual outing, in which the Club's of the Western Hockey League select players who have graduated from bantam. A few of the players who have moved up substantially on this board are Zach Benson, Oliver Moore, and Colby Barlow. Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month. Hes got everything else you look for in a dynamic play creator, too. A number of years ago, WHL Clubs were allowed to list first-year bantam players as of a set date in September. He has shown a knack for making big plays at big moments. His June birthday makes him one of the younger players on this list and he has already accomplished a lot, including leading a Slovak Hlinka Gretzky Cup team that featured Juraj Slafkovsky and Filip Mesar in scoring as an underager, producing well above a point per game in Swedens J20 level last year, and now producing in his draft year in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan (while clicking at two points per game in stints back down at J20). Oliver Moore is one of the best skaters in this draft class with blazing speed and solid agility. 4 pick in the 2019 Bantam draft (a year ahead of when most of the plethora of other top WHL names on this list were selected). While there are some great prospects in the top-five of the draft, theres no doubt that Bedard is the reason teams are tanking. He has also shown a little more fire. (Maksim Konstantinov / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images), how strong the 2022 draft class was for Slovakia. Hes got smooth skating mechanics. While Bedard scores by trying to shoot a wrister as hard as possible, trying to punch a hole through the goalie, Michkov will outsmart the defense and score by finding holes in coverage. I wondered if my thoughts were altered by the late start and had an effect on how I viewed. Yager is a prospect that I fully expect to still be drafted very early on draft day, I just havent been that impressed with his game this year. William Whitelaw, C, Youngstown Phantoms (USHL), 56. Hes the go-to center for the Cougars in the faceoff circle. The midseason ranking divides into six tiers. Beyond his natural skill in possession, he also impresses with his smarts with the puck, his cerebral play style, and his ability to play to his linemates. close. Increasingly, Ive been impressed by his agility in and out of breaks and cuts (his skating is a real asset for him and particularly impressive through his edges and crossovers, though he can get going the length of the ice too). The biggest arguments against him are his size and skating, since a 5-foot-10 winger often needs to be an above average skater to make an impact in the NHL and Cristall is not quite there. He uses his body to gain inside positioning on defenders and shields pucks effectively. Name. Hes excellent in puck protection twisting away from coverage to make things happen along the boards. Not Clayton Keller. His statistical profile is really strong and continued progress in his skating (which has also noticeably improved this year) will keep it that way into the NHL. Hes great at changing speeds in transition to separate himself from defenders before either making a move around them or passing to an open teammate. 1 or No. Theres work to do to get a little quicker from a standstill, and that leaves some believing hes more of a mid-to-late first than an upper-half-of-the-first guy, but hes better suited as a playmaker and finisher than a power forward type anyways. Mazden Leslie, RHD (Vancouver) Im not all that worried about either (5-foot-9, 160 pounds) because he has the tenacity and elusiveness that smaller players need to have to make a difference at the NHL level these days. The 2022 WHL Prospects Draft Pre-Show begins with co-hosts Chris Wahl and Taylor Rocca at 8:30 a.m. PDT, with live draft coverage beginning at 9 a.m. PDT. WHL Network. Jake Leschyshyn (/ l s n / leh-SIH-shuhn; born March 10, 1999) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He can beat you on the perimeter with his skill (highlighted by excellent one-on-one hands-on defenders). If he were guaranteed to be coming to the NHL next fall, a centre, and an inch or two taller, hed have a nearly perfect profile for me. As always, Ive broken down the full ranking into tiers to give you a better sense for the fluidity within groupings and the drop-offs between them. I like the way he has learned to hunt and come up with pucks, too. The top pick in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection, Musty is one the focal points of the Wolves offence and would be their leader in shots on goal, assists and points were it not for a few weeks lost in January to a hand injury (following up on a strong showing at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this summer). I think the bigger question is whether hes going to be more of a middle-six or a top-six one? The U18 teams first line of Smith, Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault has been piling up points and attention (deservedly so) this year, but Ive been as impressed by Moore and the offence he has created as the focal point of its second line. Arttu Karki, LD, Tappara U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 49. He has now impressed me wherever Ive watched him (NCAA, USHL, Five Nations, U18 Worlds, world juniors, etc.) Leschyshyn played junior hockey for the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats in the Western Hockey League, serving as . Hes a versatile, hard-working player who excels in pretty much every facet of the game, gets to the middle of the ice, and makes plays around the net through skill and timing. He has scored some highlight-reel goals in the WHL but he also excels at finding pockets of space off of coverage and remaining involved on offence and defence. The SHL demands a lot of players when it comes to physicality and defensive effort, both of which Carlsson has excelled at. Hes a versatile, high-RPM player who makes things happen when hes on the ice and pulls teamates into the fight with his scrappy, competitive, never-stop style. Sign up for EP Premium to create your own ranking. The WHL Bantam Draft is an annual outing, in which the Clubs of the Western Hockey League select players who have graduated from bantam. Then you add in instincts off the puck to get open even when hes a marked man, an improved physical engagement (hes really quite feisty and competitive), some underrated skill as a puck thief, and youve got a superstar prospect. But at this point in time theres also only one player in the history of the U.S. NTDP who has produced at a higher points per game clip in their draft year than Perreault has this season: Jack Hughes. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. And while he may not be a driver on a top-six line, its not hard to imagine him as a first- or second-line playmaker who makes finishing plays off of a drivers work and does damage on PP1. Hes also got an accurate shot from midrange, and regularly picks corners. Hell make plays through seams. Id like to see him go past effective and really take over more, but he makes his fair share of plays, hes a sub-.500 teams leading scorer, and it does feel like he has middle-six centre written all over him. His head is always up and on a swivel and he does a good job pre-surveying the ice when hes going back to get pucks through frequent shoulder checks. This may be a little low given that, but also underscores the strength of this draft. Hesa clever beyond belief, maneuverable facilitator and playmaker who plays the game with a light touch and a heady spatial awareness of not only where his teammates are, but where he is in the flow of play (and relative to defenders). Welcome to my March ranking of the top 64 prospects eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft. When you think youve got him trapped, you usually dont. We also invite you to ask us about our policies or feel free to let us know how we can better serve your privacy concerns. Yager has been on the radar in Western Canada for some time now, and hes got some real pedigree to his profile and cache to his game to support it. When you package all of that skill with a dogged work ethic that keeps him around pucks all the time, and youve gota tremendous player. He can run the wall or the point on the PP, effortlessly picking coverage apart and feathering pucks through seams. Western Hockey League. Though hes currently still nursing a lower-body injury he suffered in early January, before that, it didnt take long watching this years Kelowna Rockets to realize just how much offence he creates for himself and his teammates. Hunter Brzustewicz, RD, Kitchener Rangers (OHL), 43. He loves attacking defenders and beating them in one-on-one skill battles. Carlssons ability to find and make space off the puck is also impressive for such a young player playing against grown men. The way that Fantilli plays wouldnt really fly in the SHL where you need to be dependable at all times, and Carlssons maturity, reliability, and his clear understanding of what makes him great are the reasons he has succeeded in a top pro league as a teenager. He has regularly blown me away in viewings these last couple of years (at Hockey Canadas showcase two summers ago, in games where he looked like a man among boys in the USHL, and now again at various points throughout his historic freshman year at Michigan, where he was the best player in college hockey from the jump andseems to have found another level of late). He was more impressive than his already-impressive 61-points-in-68-games season last year (where he led the Cougars in scoring), and the same is true in his strong production on a middle-of-the-pack Cougars team this year. Paul Fischer, LHD (NTDP) He has also proven to be a bit too good for the OHL, scoring over 30 goals in his draft-1 year and not being on pace to eclipse the 50-goal mark. Riley Heidt C, Prince George Cougars, 5-foot-11. Michael Hrabal, G (Omaha) The son of longtime NHLer Yanic Perreault and brother of Ducks prospect Jacob, Gabe doesnt have his dads defensive acumen or his brothers build (hes listed at 165 pounds now), but hes an intuitive, highly-intelligent player who sees the play develop offensively at a more advanced level than his two family members did/do and than almost anybody in the draft does. Oliver Bonk, RD, London Knights (OHL), 48. For all the talk about how strong the 2022 draft class was for Slovakia, Dvorsky leads another excellent group into 2023. Tyler Peddle, LW (Drummondville) WHL Behind The Scenes - 2023 Road to Nashville. Hes just a rock-solid, projectable two-way defenceman. There are many whove settled on Perreault as more of a mid-to-late-round first because of the combination of his skinny frame and the linemates he plays with. Scouts are fascinated by his power forward package and size down the middle (following a move to centre from the wing as a 16-year-old). Sign up for premium. Noah Dower Nilsson is purely an offensive player at this point, but hes a very skilled one. Ill be shocked if he doesnt become a playmaking top-six centre and PP1 creator. Priority Draft including defenceman Blake Fiddler, picked first-overall by the Edmonton Oil Kings. His production has been disappointing so far this year, but his talent as a high-skill puck carrier is still clear.Otto Stenberg scores his first SHL goal and point! He can slow it down and pick things apart or hurry up his passes through holes. His skating is excellent, and his high energy level makes him a possession monster. He is agile enough that I expect hell be very successful on zone entries in the NHL some day, giving his team a chance to control play in the offensive zone whenever he touches the puck. His ability to make plays offensively both off the rush and inside the zone (where hes got slick skill in traffic, great instincts off of the puck, and a lunch-pale approach) also gives me a lot of confidence that hell continue to progress. He goes to the front of the net and will bail out to make effort plays. After playing on Russias Hlinka Gretzky team twosummers ago, But played to a point-per-game level in the MHL as one of its top 2005s last season and began his draft year on a tear in the MHL, scoring 11 goals in his first 15 games of the season before earning a mid-October promotion to the KHL for the first time (he has since scored his first two pro goals and has bounced between the KHL and MHL). If he were a little bigger, hed be a scouts dream. Michkovs brilliance comes primarily from his ability to read and process the play at an extremely advanced level, make his decisions quickly, and execute on them with incredible proficiency, whether thats ripping a patterned shot (his one-timer, his standstill wrister, his curl-and-drag, etc. He takes smart routes with and without the puck, he has become a reliable three-zone player, and the skill is there (hes got superb puck control skill). This year, wearing an A as a 17-year-old with the Generals, hes been arguably their most consistent forward while playing a key role on the penalty kill and late in games in the faceoff circle (where he is really strong). Roman Kantserov, RW (Magnitogorsk) He keeps his head up in the neutral and defensive zones and is a confident puck carrier on exits and entries. I think hell stick at centre, too (nice to see him at 53 percent in the circle so far this year). I think the former outcome is the more likely, which is why Id probably steer clear of him in the teens (where some believe he belongs).