My boy Max (@TPEhockey) has set us up with another sweet 2019 NHL draft prospect report. Give him a follow on Twitter for more!

As the 2019 NHL Entry Draft approaches two candidates for the top goaltender of the draft class have pulled away from the rest. Dustin Wolf and Spencer Knight have shown potential unrivaled by the rest of this year’s draft class, the 2018 class, and the 2017 class. In 2019 we expect at least one of Knight or Wolf to crack the first round.

Dustin Wolf spent the 2017-18 season playing backup to Philadelphia top prospect Carter Hart. With that Wolf was handed the starting position when Hart was out from illness and the World Juniors. In that time he showed his immense potential as he won CHL Goaltender of the Week and finished the season with a save percentage of .928 in 20 games that put him at 2nd in that category only behind the previously mentioned Carter Hart. Wolf was named to the American Hlinka Gretzky team and took the starting job.

Wolf has accomplished a lot, but let’s get into his game. Wolf’s game is highlighted by his technical play that is common with a lot of upcoming high-level goaltenders. Every movement is calculated and crisp. He doesn’t panic when out of position and makes a recovery using his skating ability and edges. Wolf is a butterfly goaltender and makes a lot of his movements on his knees. He’s good at sealing the ice which prevents him from opening up holes when moving.

Another quality to his game is his puck tracking and vision. Screens and tipped shots don’t phase him since often a shot is taken through a screen and Wolf can easily find it and pick it out of the air.

The hits on Wolf are his size and ability to take up the net. He measures in at about 183cm (6’0”) which is under the expected height for a top goaltending prospect at 188 (6’2”). This doesn’t combine well with his lack of aggressiveness. Wolf relies a little too much on his lightning quick reflexes and could come out of his net more to take away space. Although this isn’t a huge issue as it’s something he could easily fix as he progresses his game.

The most outstanding quality of Wolf is his unmatched puck handling ability.

The Everett Silvertips basically have a 3rd defensemen on their team in Dustin Wolf. Multiple times a game he will come out to the faceoff dot to jump-start a breakout. Other times he will come out to the top of the circles to make a pass to a winger as the opposing team changes. This has resulted in Wolf putting together 4 points in 20 games. This would place him ahead of 10 players on his team in terms of points per game. Out of 27 players on the Silvertips that played 10+ games, he ranks 21st in total points.

From what I’ve seen Dustin Wolf is the best puck playing goaltender in junior hockey right now.

The next player in contention for the 1st round is Spencer Knight. Knight spent last year playing in the US Development Program. As a 16 y/o he played most of the season with the U17 team but got a significant amount of time playing with the U18 team. Knight was also sent to the U18 World Juniors and took the starting spot and played fairly well. Lastly this summer he was one of four goaltenders that played at the World Junior Summer Showcase. In limited appearances, Knight performed well enough to become a serious contender to be named to the U20 World Juniors in December.

Knight’s game is a lot like many of the top goaltenders that have been drafted throughout the past few years. He is a big guy at 191cm (6’3”) who is a great skater and focuses on puck tracking. Knight is good on his edges which allows him to use his outstanding athleticism to move quickly across the crease. He moves quickly and explosively across the net, except he often can’t control these movements. This causes him to often end up out of position after a slide taking him past his post which makes it hard to recover. The best quality to Knight is his aggressiveness and ability to take up the net. Knight can come out, make a save, and recover to his post with his edges and athleticism. The troubles with Knight come from his lack of control, as mentioned previously, and his weakness in his high glove.

Wolf and Knight are the only real contenders for the 1st round but there are other interesting prospects to watch.

Nolan Maier is next in line, he plays for the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL and had a solid run last season. Maier is good at reading the game and has above-average athleticism. The biggest concern with Maier is his lack of consistency as he got lit up off easy goals multiple times last season.

Hugo Alnefelt is also an intriguing prospect out of Sweden. Alnefelt dominated in the J18 Elit league, a U18 league in Sweden, and got some opportunities with the HV71 U20 squad where he struggled. Although Alnefelt was great at the Hlinka tournament and also was outstanding in a recent summer tournament.

The last prospect that needs to be highlighted is Roman Basran of the Kelowna Rockets. I’ve written about Basran before as he was one of my sleepers for this draft. This was because Basran played great in the WHL but in a very small sample size. He started the season with his youth team before moving up to play with the Rockets. He only played 10 games, and if he can replicate his success into a whole season then he will be a very talked about player.

The 2019 goaltending class is very strong compared to past years. Rarely do we see multiple goaltenders challenge for spots in the 1st round. While there aren’t any Ilya Samsonovs or Andrei Vasilevskys this year’s top 2 prospects should be highly coveted. Comparing this year to last year we saw Olof Lindbom and Oilers pick Olivier Rodrigue go in the 2nd round. Those two are most comparable to Nolan Maier and Hugo Alnefelt who will likely go mid to late 2nd round. In the end, 2019 is a great year to watch for goaltending prospects.