Tag Archives: Jan Mysak

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers Draft Talk: The Experts Picks for Edmonton So Far…

Tell me this isn’t all a bit too convenient for real life. The NHL expands the playoffs to include 8 more teams because reasons. Then! The NHL draft lottery is held and those teams as a group are given the 2nd best odds of winning the Alexis Lafreniere sweepstakes and they do?! Not only does this set up ANOTHER live TV event to determine the winner of the play-in losers but it shafts teams who are in desperate need of a player like Lafreniere…

Now, as a draft geek, I’d love nothing more than the opportunity to draft the latest French-Canadian phenom. I’m confident in saying that he’s going to be more impactful from a goal-scoring perspective than the last left-winger Edmonton drafted first overall. I mean topping an average of 20-goals/yr shouldn’t be that hard for a talent like this, should it? But the reality is, this is the Oilers’ best chance to go deep into the COVID Cup playoffs. This roster is as deep as it’s been since 2006, deeper than 2016 I’d argue. So I’m happy to be drafting at 20th overall or later if that ends up the case.

Who could the Oilers be looking at in or around 20th overall? Well, let’s see who the experts have Edmonton taking in their mock drafts or their latest rankings.

Cam Robinson (@hockey_robinson) – Dobber’s Prospects – 

  • Kaiden Guhle – LD – Prince Albert (WHL) – 6’2, 186lbs

“Strapping blueliner with great mobility and a keen eye for defending. Has the potential to be a minute-muncher down the line, albeit with a somewhat limited offensive ceiling. Safe.” – Robinson (source)

I’ve read that Guhle compares well to Darnell Nurse. He’s very athletic, he’s one of the better skaters in the draft on the blueline, and he’s got a mean streak.

I can’t see Edmonton taking another defenseman with their first-rounder this year. From all indications, my sources have more or less said that the Oilers will be looking to select a forward with skill.

Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) – TSN – 

  • Lukas Reichel – LW – Berlin (DEL) – 6’0, 170lbs

“Reichel is a very good skater with great combination of speed and quickness. He is constantly moving and participating in the play even when he doesn’t have the puck. Reichel has very good puck-skills and a great shot. He isn’t afraid to battle for pucks in the corners or go to the dirty areas of the ice which shows his pro-like style. Reichel has shown great hockey sense on both sides of the puck; he is already pretty good defensively which is a positive sign for his NHL future. He isn’t all that flashy, but he is very efficient, and he has legitimate middle-six upside at the NHL level. He is also pretty young for his draft class.” – Jokke Nevalainen (source)

What I like about this player is that he’s very good in the muck. If you’re a team who needs a winger to dig about in the corners or on the walls, Reichel is one of the best players in the draft at doing this. He doesn’t seem to care how big his opponent is either. He wins a lot of puck races and battles because of this regardless of his slight stature. Could be a real handy player to have alongside a highly-skilled center.

McKeen’s 2020 NHL Draft Guide

  • Hendrix Lapierre – C – Chicoutimi (QMJHL) – 6′, 179lbs

“Lapierre may just be the draft’s biggest wildcard this year because of his head and neck injuries. He entered the year as a potential top five pick and now is not even a guaranteed first rounder. However, the Oilers are a team that I believe are positioned to take a chance on Lapierre. They have tried to address their blueline the last few years in the first round, so the Chicoutimi center would certainly give them another offensive weapon in the future.” – Brock Otten

I’m torn on this player. He played 19 games in the ‘Q’ before shutting it down and only scored two goals… Not great but like Otten, I’ve got a feeling that Lapierre is high on Edmonton’s draft list but there’s a feeling that he’ll be long gone by the time the Oilers are selecting according to one of my sources. If you’re taking this player, you’re convinced his neck issues are behind him and you’re taking as much time as needed, or more, with regards to his development. Meaning, he gets the maximum amount of time in junior, then two or three years in the AHL.

For me, what the team decides to do with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will tell me how they plan on developing the club’s future. Taking Lapierre when the team has McDavid, Draisaitl, and RNH ahead of him for the next five seasons doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Steve Kournianos (@thedraftanalyst) – The Draft Analyst – 

  • Emil Andrae – LD – HV71 J20 (Superelit) – 5’8″, 181lbs

“Andrae is a reliable one-on-one defender with a short gap who looks to deliver hits and battle hard for positioning. He may be on the smallish side, but Andrae has a very high compete level and it shows in the way he continues to fight for pucks and uses his lower-body strength and rapier-like stick thrusts. Andrae uses superior anticipation and short routes to intercept passes ranging from chips to cross-ice attempts, and he transitions from defense to offense as well as any of his peers. He also is a solid bodychecker who plasters unassuming puck carriers to the boards or line someone up for a jarring open-ice hit” – Kournianos

Another left-shot defender but this one only a shade taller than Kailer Yamamoto is probably not what the Oilers are looking for right now. I haven’t seen a lot of this player but from what I have he looks like a great puck mover. A smooth operator indeed. I’m just not sure how long his career would be if he was playing the role of Darius Kasparaitis AND Sandis Ozolinsh… As interesting as it sounds, I reckon he’ll fall to the second or third round.

Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) – The Athletic – 

  • Ridley Greig – C – Brandon (WHL) – 5’11”, 165lbs

Greig’s name kept rising in the final months of the season and scouts have told me they expect him to be a first-round lock due to how skilled he is and how hard he competes on the ice. I can see the Oilers valuing those attributes a lot, especially down the middle where the organization doesn’t have a lot of young depth. – Pronman

Now here’s where my previous point about draft a center hits a bit of a wall. Why draft Greig over Lapierre when they’ve got 97, 29, and 93 all locked up and the answer is, the Wheat King brings a different toolbox to the job site than Lapierre. He’s got some Martin Lapointe in him that I’m sure Ken Holland would love. If Lapierre isn’t helping out on offense or is being shut down, how else is he contributing? Can he excel in the muck like Greig can? I’m not so sure he can.

I’d be a little shocked if Mark Greig’s boy was drafted in the first round. He’s good but I think there are some better players that could be taken in the top-31 picks. That said, a team looking to increase its depth and character might take him before the first round is up.

The Hockey Prospect Black Book

  • Connor Zary – C – Kamloops (WHL) – 6’0″, 177lbs

“Zary is a multi-faceted, duel-threat center who might be more translatable on the wing. Arguably his best skill attribute are his hands. He has an excellent set of hands that he can use to break down opposing players at a consistent rate. His hands seamlessly blend into his release, giving him a fairly difficult wrist-shot for a goalie to pick up on. He can catch and release the puck, yet find difficult to hit seams on a goalie. There’s a good balance between accuracy, power, and timing with his shooting talent. He can make high-end passes and knows how to stretch out his passing options and readjust his passing lanes by slowing down the play. What really stands out the most is the deception. His competitiveness is also a plus. He’s consistent at getting into high danger areas, and isn’t afraid to use his body in tight to the net when looking to get a rebound. He can hit as well.”

When I watched Zary at the Top Prospects game I was really impressed. He was very creative with his playmaking and seemed to be in the right place at the right time offensively. Out of the centers discussed in this post, I think I like Zary the best. He’s got wonderful hands and he attacks the middle of the ice with no qualms. Maybe that could bite him in the ass at some point but Matt Barzal has done okay so far. Zary’s skating will need to improve a bit going forward as he looks like he’s got heavy boots. Not much waterbug in his game, he’s more of a straight-ahead skater.

At the start of the year, I was really into Dylan Holloway. I liked everything about the kid and that he dominated the AJHL as a 17-year-old was the catalyst. He had a slow start to his time in Wisconsin but I’m confident he’ll really pick it up in his 2nd season there whenever that gets started.

But as the season wore on, a Czech player caught my eye during the World Juniors and then continued to draw my attention as he made the hop over the Atlantic to play for Hamilton (OHL), his name is Jan Mysak.

An electrifying player in my opinion. Once he’s fully developed physically, he has the potential to be a real game-breaker at the next level. Might I say Pastrnak-like? Probably not to that point, but I’m confident in saying that he could be an effective triggerman at the NHL level.

Now, you’re not going to mistake Mysak for Ryan O’Reilly. Mysak scores goals and contributes to offense primarily and I’m okay with that. I really hope the days of taking elite offensive talents and trying to mold them into 200ft two-way players is over. Imagine if they tried to do that with Pavel Bure back in the day or Teemu Selanne? I don’t think so!

The reason I brought up Holloway is that I think there’s a possibility he may slip from around the 10-14 spot to possibly the 18-22 spot depending on who jumps up. It would be a very difficult decision for me to pick just one of these players as I’m a big fan of both. With that in mind, if Zary, Holloway, and Mysak are available when the Oilers draft, I reckon it’s a win/win/win situation for the club if they take one of them.

Do you have a personal preference for who the Oilers should pick? Let us know in the comments below or over on Twitter (@beerleagueheroe)!

Puck Racism

The sales are starting to trickle in with this design and I’m going to spam the hell out of it on my website and the BLH Hockey Instagram because I feel passionate about it and I feel like Hockey is Diversity deserves the proceeds that I’ll be donating to them.

So, please. If you’ve got an extra $20 lying around and you want to do a good thing for good people, click the pic down below and grab a t-shirt, a mask, a onesie, a tank top, or some stickers.

Hockey is Diversity is a German group whose aim is to draw attention to the ethnic diversity in society, which goes beyond the sporting borders in order to sensitize people interculturally. The diversity that has long been regarded as an enrichment in sport as a melting pot of people of different ethnicities, cultures, and religions should also be transferred to society.

Click the pic and help support this worthy cause! Portions of the proceeds will go to Hockey is Diversity!

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, International, NHL, NHL Entry Draft

Edmonton Oilers: 2019 Hlinka/Gretzky Group A Preview + Thoughts on the Oilers Defense Past 2019

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is set to kick off on August 5th and run until the 10th in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia. For those of you that are new to the competition, it’s basically the world’s best under-18 players going head-to-head. Canada has won 22 of the last 28 contests and are looking to repeat as champions after winning last year’s edition of the tournament that was played in Edmonton and Red Deer.

Today’s Group A preview comes to us from the mind of Max L. (@TPEHockey)

Canada:
The Canadians are an early favorite to run away with this tournament due to their combination of high-end talent and depth. They occupied 5/10 of the top 10 scorers at the U17s last year. The team will be without 2020’s top prospect in Alexis Lafreniére due to him being a late 2001 born player rather than 2002. Nonetheless, the team has plenty of high-end talent, and anything less than a gold medal is a failure for this squad.

In net, the Canadians have various options. The go-to guy will likely be Dylan Garand of the Kamloops Blazers who has a strong 16-year-old season with the team. They also have Tristan Lennox who is a late birthday eligible for the 2021 draft. Their defense is where it gets crazy. Canada has 4 or 5 first-round talents on their blueline including Jamie Drysdale, Jeremie Poirier, Kaiden Guhle, and Lukas Cormier. With the prominence of their blue line, Canada doesn’t lack forwards either. The consensus #2 guy for the 2020 draft, Quinton Byfield, will play for the team. The 6’5” monster dominates with his ridiculous skating ability and high-end skill set. Other potential 1st rounders include Cole Perfetti, Connor McClennon, Hendrix Lapierre, Jack Neighbors, and Theo Rochette.

Finland:
The Finns have been a dominant force in hockey as of late, but this year may be a little different. Their 2002 born and 2020 draft class lacks a ton of talent, but there is hope. They’ll be without consensus top 5 prospect Anton Lundell due to him being a late 01 which is a huge hit to their roster. Finland has a chance at competing for a medal, but they’ll likely be steamrolled by a team like Canada. Although they could be a very exciting team.

The team features a few stars that will come up in later drafts that everyone should have an eye on. Underaged Brad Lambert will likely make this team and he is nothing short of phenomenal. He is one of the best upcoming Finnish players we’ve ever seen, but not eligible until 2022. Lambert has far exceeded the benchmark put up by a player like Kaapo Kakko at the same age. Aatu Räty is also a top player as he’s the #1 prospect for the 2021 draft. Other players to look out for are Veeti Miettinen, Valterri Karnaranta, Roni Hirvonen, and Kasper Puutio.

Czech Republic:
Czech hockey has seemed to be getting weaker as of late and the trend may continue. There isn’t much to be expected from this team, but there are a few good players.

In net Jan Bednar and Jakub Malek will compete for the starting job. Both are top prospects for 2020. On defense, we can expect to see Stanislav Svozil who is a 1st round prospect for the 2021 draft. The only real forward of note is Jan Mysak. Mysak could compete for a top 10 root in the 2020 draft after his time in the Czech pros as a 16-year-old. He had a remarkable playoff run with HC Litvinov where he scored 5 goals and 4 assists in 6 professional hockey games at 16.

Switzerland:
The Swiss team this year won’t be fun to watch. With only one real prospect they don’t stand a chance. They lost dual citizen Theo Rochette to Canada, a huge hit to the program. Their only guy to watch is Noah Delemont who served as an assistant captain for Switzerland at the U18s.

The Group B preview written by Keith Fries (@keithfries) will be posted tomorrow as well as a little rumor on the Oilers search for their third-line center.

The Oilers Defence Past 2019/20

Earlier this week I tweeted out a video of Darnell Nurse fluffing a 10ft pass and it caused a bit of an uproar amongst some of his biggest fans. My point was, and has been for some time, that even though he’s a tough son of a bitch and he can skate like the wind (when there’s an open lane), his decision making, IQ, and passing isn’t up to snuff for a player who is looking at Jacob Trouba’s new $8M per year deal as his own deal is expiring after this season.

Personally, I think his numbers are propped up by playing most of his career TOI with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. At least over the previous three seasons, it looks that way,

  • Connor McDavid – 1583:55 min
  • Leon Draisaitl – 1517:54 min
  • Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 1275:37

Who are the three guys who stand at the blueline during warm-ups each game again?

And don’t ask me why Todd McLellan, for the most part, and Ken Hitchcock, to a lesser degree, decided to do this. It’s obvious that Nurse was a drag on the team’s best forwards. Here are his possession metrics in all strengths With/Without/Player without Nurse during the same three seasons,

  • McDavid: 53.09%/44.25%/58.18%
  • Draisaitl: 52.09%/44.87%/57.85%
  • Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 48.31%/47.13%/52.50%

Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.

For a game where the defensemen are evolving every year, it’s just not a good look on a defender who can’t move the puck without having to take it himself, to have such poor metrics. And Look, Nurse isn’t the only one, he just happens to be the one that might be asking for the moon in his next deal. Sam Girard (COL) just signed a 7-yr deal with $5M per year and I think they compare quite well and think that’s the ideal AAV for Nurse to sign that would help not only the team going forward but possibly himself should he make it for 5 years and walk himself into free agency.

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So, when people tell me that you can’t move him because he was the team’s highest-scoring defender last year and he’s only 24 or that he’s the Oilers best blueliner, I think you have to look into those 40+ points he got last year and realize that approximately 25% of them came on the PP, which isn’t a bad thing but he probably wouldn’t have gotten them had Klefbom (or Sekera) stayed healthy. Also, his secondary points (19) nearly match his primary (22) and his SH% almost doubled from the season prior (3.09% to 5.10%).

Getting back to the powerplay for a moment, do you think that Nurse will be playing a lot of minutes with the man advantage with Joel Persson and Caleb Jones most likely making the team next season? And what about that when Evan Bouchard is on the team?

My argument isn’t that Nurse is a bad player even though I’m presenting some pretty damning evidence that doesn’t really speak to the pluses of his game. I’m saying he’s not worth what Trouba makes right now and he’s never been an offensive defender.

I want Darnell Nurse to be the next Chris Pronger, but as weird as it sounds, he’s not as mean as Pronger was. He looks it when it’s time to throw down, but Pronger was as dirty as he was mean. Could Darnell be like that? Absolutely and I’d love to see it.

What I truly desire for Nurse is for him to embrace the shutdown role. Really dig in on being amazing defensively for this team so that they can pair him with a righty who needs a clean-up man in order to be the best player he can be for the Oilers. But in order to do that, he can be doing things like this,

If you think that the Oilers would have a gaping hole in the toughness department without Darnell, you need to watch a bit more of William Lagesson. This guy is as tough as nails plus he can skate and pass the puck and I think if I’m being honest, his progression is part of the reason I think I feel comfortable with the idea of moving Nurse.

Tying all of that in with the title of this portion of the post, IF Anton Thun decides he’s going to be brave with Holland like he was with Chiarelli, I don’t think it’s going to end up well. In addition to that, we’ve heard from pundits covering the team that this group of defensemen could be getting a facelift. Now whether that comes internally or externally, my belief is that the Oilers are looking for better puck-movers and more offense from the blueline.

After this season, I would project the defense to look something like this if Nurse re-signs,

Oscar Klefbom/Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse/Evan Bouchard
William Lagesson/Caleb Jones

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I do believe that this year will be the last time we see Kris Russell and Matt Benning in Oilers gear. Joel Persson is also a question mark past this upcoming campaign, so I didn’t include him.

If Nurse doesn’t re-sign and is moved, I think the defense would look like this,

Klefbom/Larsson
Lagesson/Bouchard
Jones/Bear

I know. It looks awfully green and it is, at the NHL level, but Lagesson, Jones, and Bear will have had multiple seasons of experience in the AHL and most likely games in the NHL too. Bouchard would have one full year (probably) and if Tyler Benson can get the push after one year, why not Old Man Bouchard? Can’t forget how Bouchard was the team’s best passer as a 19-year-old in his stint last year.

That group of defenders CAN move the puck extremely well and I’d be willing to bet that we’d soon forget about the toughness and puck-rushing that Nurse brings today not to mention the return on a trade for him would most likely net Edmonton a pretty good forward…

Let me reiterate this one more time, I don’t want Nurse traded. I want him to sign a team-friendly contract that pays him what he is worth long-term. But in the event that his camp is asking for too much money, I do believe the organization depth would give the Oilers the ability to field offers on the defenseman and allow them to upgrade the roster.

FYI: Almost 14 years to the day, Chris Pronger was traded to the Oilers for Eric Brewer, Jeff Wowitka, and Doug Lynch. The anniversary of that trade is very soon and I asked my followers on Twitter what the equivalent of that deal would look like today if we were using this roster? Would it be Nurse, Lagesson, and Bear for Victor Hedman? Let me know your idea in the comments below!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Edmonton Oilers Rumor: Should the Oilers Have Their Eyes on These Two Russian Players? + @TPEhockey’s Top 10 for the 2020 NHL Draft

What a great hockey game the Edmonton Oilers played versus the Washington Capitals last night. They’re really starting to remind me of the 2016 roster who could play any way you wanted. Wanna run and gun? Cool. We’ve got the pieces to do that. Wanna play a button-down defensive game? No problem. We can do that too. Wanna chuck knucks? Well, you get the point.

It was a full-team 60-minute effort to keep Ovechkin and co. off the boards let alone have Ovi and Kuznetsov finish the game dash three. Lucky for the Caps, Braden Holtby was standing on his head or that game could’ve looked different.

I hope we can see more of that on the weekend where we’re slated to get our first proper look at 6’7″ goalie Mikko Koskinen. I reckon Jesse Puljujarvi will draw back in on the 3rd line as well. I feel bad for the kid but the situation is what it is.

I do want to say this though on Pulju. At some point Yamamoto is going to get hurt, almost all little guys who play the style he’s playing do and whenever that happens that’ll be Jesse’s opportunity to take advantage of. But for the time being, he has to play his ass off on the 3rd line because there’s no way McLellan is going to put him ahead of Yamamoto or Rattie when he returns.

So Elliotte Friedman posted in his 31 Thoughts this week that Vlad Namestnikov and Sergei Bobrovsky are a couple of names that might be entering the trade market, my words not his.

I feel like Namestnikov has the tools to be a top-6 player in the NHL but might not be the coach’s favorite where ever he’s gone if you know what I mean. When I watched him earlier this season, he looked like a kid who had very good technical skills and was really good on his skates edge-wise but he wasn’t getting that much ice-time.

For whatever reason, this is the second team that he’s failing to catch on with.

As for Bobrovsky, I don’t think that the Oilers cap can survive a hit of the magnitude he’s looking for. I think I’ve heard that he’s looking for Carey Price numbers and that simply isn’t going to work in Edmonton. His play this season hasn’t really been all that inspiring either.

Do you think that either of those players would benefit the Oilers either on the short-term or the long-term?


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Our emerging prospects expert Max from TPE Hockey is back with a glimpse into the draft of 2020. This draft is looking like it might be top-heavy as many of its eligibles are making themselves known early and often. If you took in any of the games at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton this summer you would’ve noticed a good number of 2020 prospects had very good games.

Let’s get into Max’s top-ten 2020 NHL draft prospects!

1) Alexis Lafreniére LW (Rimouski Océanic, QMJHL) – 185cm, 87kg
Lafreniére is the talk of the draft. He holds 25 point in 15 QMJHL games and is one point away from being the league’s leading scorer. He dominated the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and was tied as the leading scorer and captained Canada to gold. Lafreniére dominates with his exceptional hockey IQ and utilizes his skill and soft hands to put himself on highlight reels. Rimouski had high expectations for him when he was selected 1st overall in the 2017 QMJHL Draft. Lafreniére has lived up to and exceeded all expectations.

2) Noel Gunler LW/RW (Luleå HF, SHL) – 185cm, 80kg
Of all undrafted prospects, Noel Gunler is the name to watch going forward. He has been on the radar for a while, but only this season has he rocketed up the rankings. Gunler has the same point and game totals as Lafreniére except in the SuperElit (Sweden U20) and leads the league and scoring. After 15 games of complete dominance in that league, he was promoted to the SHL. In only his second game he registered a goal and an assist against Malmö. In that game, Gunler had one of the best performances of a player his age in the SHL. Virtually every time he stepped on the ice he had or created a scoring opportunity. Gunler now has 3 points in 3 SHL games. If he plays more game like the one against Malmö then Gunler is in serious consideration for 1st overall.

3) Quinton Byfield C (Sudbury Wolves, OHL) – 194cm, 97kg
Byfield is one of the most physically impressive players in this draft. The 2018 OHL Priority Selection 1st overall pick is a big, tall power forward with amazing speed and skill. His height and weight make him one of the most physically imposing players we’ve seen at his age. Despite his size, Byfield is a fast, agile, and has great puck skills. In other words, he’s an athletic freak. Scoring wise, Byfield started off very strong but went on a 5 game pointless streak. Even though he had that pointless streak he still holds 10 points in 12 OHL games for the Sudbury Wolves. It’s also worth keeping in mind that Byfield is one of the younger eligible players for this draft. With all of this, Byfield has to pick up the pace to keep a top 3 spot. He still has all the attributes to make him a top 2 pick, but he needs to score.

https://twitter.com/NHLProspectsYT/status/1046761024475541505

4) Marco Rossi C (Ottawa 67s, OHL) – 176cm, 79kg
In my mind, the most underrated prospect in this draft is Marco Rossi. Being Austrian, Rossi hasn’t played in any top division international tournaments. Exposure was especially limited last year as he also played in the Swiss league. In Switzerland, he was the 5th leading player in points per game as a 16-year-old against 20-year-olds. He then decided to play in the CHL and enter the CHL Import Draft where he was stolen at 16th overall by the Ottawa 67s. Playing for Ottawa this season, he started slow. In his first 6 games he only scored 2 points, but in his next 8 games, he scored 14 points. In those 8 games he’s outscoring Alexis Lafreniére in terms of points per game, and in the slightly tougher OHL. Rossi uses his flashy skill and speed to take over when the puck is on his stick. He’s challenging Quinton Byfield and could end up ahead of him by next month. Time will tell if he earns the spot as the top OHL prospect.

5) Anton Lundell C (Helsinki IFK, Liiga) – 185cm, 83kg
Early this season Lundell was named to the HIFK pro team at the Champions Hockey League, which is a competition between the top European league teams. He performed well but was held pointless in 3 games. He then started the season with the HIFK U20 team in which he scored 11 points and 9 games and earned a spot with the pro squad. With HIFK in the Liiga Anton Lundell has put up 5 points in 9 games. Lundell has shown his great mind for the game as he scores at a staggering rate for his age. Keep in mind that 2019’s consensus #2 pick, Kaapo Kakko, played only 6 games in the Liiga as a 16 turning 17-year-old.

6) Lucas Raymond RW/LW (Frölunda HC, SHL) – 179cm, 75kg
Lucas Raymond became the first 2002 born player to compete in the SHL this season. Raymond has great playmaking ability but also has an underrated scoring ability. Raymond is all about skill, speed, and work ethic. Before his SHL promotion, he scored 17 points in 13 games but is pointless in 4 SHL games.

7) Alexander Holtz RW/LW (Djurgårdens IF J20, SuperElit) – 183cm, 83kg
The biggest faller since the beginning of the season is Alexander Holtz. He’s only at just over a point per game over 12 SuperElit games. Holtz is a sniper with a pro-caliber shot that tears apart junior aged goaltenders. Holtz also has an underrated playmaking game that he showed when he played with Lucas Raymond at the Hlinka tournament.

https://twitter.com/NHLProspectGIFS/status/1040932485461430272

8) Kasper Simontaival C (LeKi, Mestis) – 175cm, 78kg
Simontaival became the first 2002 born player to play professional hockey earlier this season. He started with Tappara in the Finish Liiga where he registered 2 assists in 5 games. Simontaival looked good in the Liiga but was demoted to the Finnish 2nd league likely so he could get more ice time. Over 3 games Simontaival has 3 assists. He is a pure playmaker with great hockey sense. In multiple international tournaments with the Finnish U18 team, he has 0 goals and 16 assists over 10 games.

9) Yaroslav Askarov G (SKA-Varyagi im. Morozov, MHL) – 188cm, 71kg
The only goalie in the top 10 and 1st round is Askarov. He was, in my mind, the best goalie at the Hlinka tournament despite being a year younger than most of the competition. He then proceeded to play in the MHL where he as shut down every team he’s competed against with a .934 Sv% in 14 games. These are similar numbers to what Andrei Vasilevskiy put up at the same age, but Askarov will end up playing more games.

10) Jan Mysak F (HC Litvinov, Czech) – 180cm, 80kg
Out of all the players in my top 10, Jan Mysak has gotten the least attention. Mysak has played in the Czech pro league and scored 4 points in 13 games. As a younger 2002, who is still 16, it’s impressive that he cracked the pro roster right out of the gate. It shows that his team has a lot of trust in him as a player. Mysak is also highly touted by the Czech international teams as in a Czech article the coach of the team said that they are seriously considering him for the U20 team at the World Juniors.

Give Max a follow on Twitter @TPEHockey if you’re a draft nut like me. He’s constantly throwing out updates and opinions on prospects!

A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!
Grab this sweet Nintendo parody shirt! Click the image above!