Prospects

[matchesmalone]

Trying to keep a running list.

2023:

1. Connor Bedard
2. Matvei Michkov
3. Adam Fantilli
4. Leo Carlsson
5. Will Smith
6. Colby Barlow
7. Dalibor Dvorsky
8. Quentin Musty
9. Aram Minnetian
10. Calum Ritchie
11. Eduard Sale
12. Brayden Yaeger
13. Lukas Dragicevik
14. Kasper Halttunen
15. Andrew Cristal
16. Matthew Wood
17. Zach Benson
18. Jesse Kiiskinen
19. Mikhail Gulyayev
20. David Reinbacher
21. Koehn Ziemmer
22. Noah Dower Nilsson
23. Charlie Stramel
24. Daniil But
25. Axel Sandin-Pellikka
26. Otto Stenberg
27. Ryan Leonard
28. Nate Danielson
29. Cam Allen
30. Oscar Fisker Moller
31. Michael Hrabel
32. Max Strbak
33. Gabe Perreault
34. Theo Lindstein
35. Riley Heidt
36. Jesse Nurmi


2024:

1. Aron Kiviharju
2. Cole Eiserman
3. Henry Mews
4. Ivan Demidov
5. Berkly Catton
6. Macklin Celebrini
7. Maxim Masse
8. Konsta Helenius
9. Zayne Parekh
10. Emil Hemming
11. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
12. Will Skahan
13. Nathan Villeneuve
14. Karl Sterner
15. Tanner Howe
16. Veeti Vaisanen
17. Christian Humphries
18. Adam Jecho
19. Paul Mayer
20. Alfons Freij


2025

1. James Hagens
2. Michael Misa
3. Malcolm Spence
4. Jordan Gavin
5. Henry Brzustewicz
6. Anton Frondell
7. Porter Martone
8. Masun Fleece
9. Jakob Ihs Wozniak
10. Dakoda Rheume-Mullen
11. Roger McQueen
12. Gabriel D'Aigle
13. Samuel Misak
14. Will Sharpe
15. Liam Kilfoil

[matchesmalone]

Zayne Parekh looks legit.

[matchesmalone]

Scoring totals for top NTDP U18 players against NCAA Di opponents:

Forwards

Gabriel Perreault 5'11 LW/C 16-16-15-31 +15

Will Smith 6'0 C 16-9-20-29 +12

Ryan Leonard 5'10 RW/C 16-13-14-27 +13

Oliver Moore 5'11 C 14-9-12-21 +11

Danny Nelson LW 6'3 16-5-7-12 +4


Defence

Aram Minnetian 6'0 RD 16-4-7-11 +4

Zeev Buium 6'0 LD 16-1-9-10 +10

Drew Fortescue 6'3 LD 16-0-9-9 -2

Paul Fischer 6'1 LD 11-0-8-8 +2


Will Smith is going to be something special. One of my main scouting focuses now days is on pro-translatability, where you have on the one hand prospects who are immensely skilled but are coach's nightmares (Gleb Trikozov, Fabian Lysell) and on the other hand, players who are coach's dreams but maybe not the most skilled in the world (Cole Sillinger, Liam Ohgren come to mind). But then every once in a while you have those rare breeds who bring the best of both worlds (Lucas Raymond, Logan Cooley are prime examples). Smith falls into the third category. Immensely skilled and not at all afraid to use it where appropriate, but knows how to pick his spots and when to make the simple play. Uses his linemates fantastically well, both directly creating chances for them, but also putting them in positions to use their skill and make plays themselves. Somewhat reminiscent of Logan Cooley; Cooley is a little craftier with his puckhandling, but Smith is a little bigger and I think a little bit of a better playmaker.

Gabe Perreault is kind of the inverse of Smith, and perhaps this is part of why they're so perfect together. Incredibly skilled, but pro-translatability is a major question mark. Kid loves to create his own offence and often takes a lot of risks to do so, but up to the NCAA level, he's been tremendously successful in doing so.

Ryan Leonard is interesting. First and foremost he's a meat-and-potatoes two-way forward. He's a grinder, gets around the net, can kill penalties, but I also think his skill is under-rated. A player that can create his own odd man rushes and then can beat guys one on one is going to be a pretty intriguing prospect.

Oliver Moore is the most under-rated of the bunch. Just by virtue of being a pure center he gets stuck on the second line behind Smith, and they very often roll out the big line of Perreault-Smith-Leonard all together while Moore centers the second line with much lesser offensive talents. Very fast skater with high hockey IQ and some pretty good skill makes him a virtual lock to be at least a useful PKer and bottom six forward at the NHL level, something along the lines of an Andrew Cogliano. Considering that's sort of a floor, and something like Mike Richards would be a ceiling, NHL teams are going to have their eyes on this player starting around the middle of the 1st round.

On defense, I'm obsessed with Aram Minnetian of late. Have been for a while now actually. Utterly dynamic; I couldn't name another defenseman in this draft I'd rather have carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Escapabilty off the charts. As a converted forward, he's very much a work in progress not only in the defensive zone, but also in other areas specific to defensemen. If he was playing for almost any ordinary CHL or USHL team instead of an all-star team, he would almost certainly run the top powerplay, but Zeev Buium is a one-man circus tightrope walking the offensive blueline (on par with the like of Heimosalmi and Luke Hughes in their draft years). Buium usually plays the left point on the top powerplay, opposite to Will Smith. Minnetian has a ton of room to grow as he continues to learn to be a full-time defenseman, and so his all-around upside is simply off the charts,. Buium is a late birthday and not draft eligible until 2024, but I'm starting to think he will go very high in that draft. On top of his offensive zone abilities, his +10 rating seems to support the eye test when it suggests he's very sound defensively as well.

Paul Fischer reminds me a fair amount of Ryan Chesley - decent size at around 6' or 6'1, and a solid, intelligent two-way defenseman, but I think I like Fischer's offensive upside a little better than Chesley's.

[Josh]

Check out Nela Lopušanová!

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/879313/nela-lopusanova

At only 14 years old, she was the MVP and scoring leader of the women's WJC. She currently plays in the top U16 Slovakian league and has a points-per-game pace good for 2nd place. That's the top league, not the top women's league. It's the same league that last year's 1st overall NHL draft pick Juraj Slafkovsky played in at that age. And her pace is better than his was.

She's also as big at 14 as Cole Caufield is at 22..

[matchesmalone]

1. Connor Bedard
2. Matvei Michkov
3. Leo Carlsson
4. Adam Fantilli
5. Will Smith
6. Dalibor Dvorsky
7. Calum Ritchie
8. Zach Benson
9. Colby Barlow
10. Aram Minnetian
11. Matthew Wood
12. Ryan Leonard
13. Brayden Yager
14. Mikhail Gulyayev
15. Eduard Sale
16. David Reinbacher
17. Oliver Moore
18. Daniil But
19. Gabe Perreault
20. Andrew Cristall
21. Otto Stenberg
22. Lukas Dragicevic
23. Charlie Stramel
24. Axel Sandin-Pellikka
25. Samuel Honzek
26. Jesse Kiiskinen
27. Kasper Halttunen
28. Noah Dower-Nilsson
29. Koehn Ziemer
30. Nate Danielson
31. Theo Lindstein
32. Trey Augustine
33. Dmitri Simashev
34. Riley Heidt
35. Jesse Nurmi

[matchesmalone]

1. Connor Bedard
2, Matvei Michkov
3. Leo Carlsson
4. Adam Fantilli
5. Dalibor Dvorsky
6. Will Smith
7. Ryan Leonard
8. Eduard Sale
9. Zach Benson
10. Mikhail Gulyayev
11. David Reinbacher
12. Calum Ritchie
13. Colby Barlow
14. Nate Danielson
15. Matthew Wood
16. Brayden Yager
17. Gabe Perreault
18. Aram Minnetian
19. Axel Sandin-Pellikka
20. Daniil But
21. Oliver Moore
22. Samuel Honzek
23. Kasper Halttunen
24. Theo Lindstein
25. Caden Price
26. Lukas Dragicevic
27. Riley Heidt
28. Charlie Stramel
29. Andrew Cristall
30. David Edstrom
31. Otto Stenberg
32. Dmitri Simashev

[matchesmalone]

2024

1. Macklin Celebrini - Two way center in the mould of Toews or Bergeron. Highly skilled and creative but maybe not as dynamic as you'd hope for a first overall pick.
2. Konsta Helenius - Celebrini is more mature, physically and stylistically, but Helenius might be the higher long-term upside player.
3. Aron Kiviharju -
4. Cole Eiserman
5. Cayden Lindstrom
6. Ivan Demidov
7. Henry Mews
8. Charlie Elick
9. Sam Dickinson
10. Beckett Seneke
11. Adam Jiricek
12. Zayne Parekh
13. Cole Beaudoin
14. Michael Hage
15. Berkly Catton
16. Emil Hemming
17. Zeev Buium
18. Ondrej Kos

Adam Jecho
Markus Loponen
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Maxim Masse
Anthony Cristoforo
Nathan Villeneuve
Veeti Vaisanen
Sebastian Soini
Tanner Howe
Christian Humphries
Cole Hutson
Karl Sterner
Will Skahan
Tomas Lavoie
Matthew Virgilio

2025
1. James Hagens
2. Michael Misa
3. Malcolm Spence
4. Henry Brzustewicz
5. Porter Martone
6. Jordan Gavin
7. Jacob Ihs Wozniak
8. Matthew Schaefer
9. Roger McQueen
10. Brady Martin

Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen
Jake O'Brien
Filip Ekberg
Viktor Eklund
Logan Hensler
Liam Kilfoil
Reese Hamilton
William Moore
Cole Chandler
Masun Fleece
Donato Bracco
Emile Guite
Anton Frondell
Caleb Desnoyer
Jackson Smith
Ty Peddigrew
Kayden McGuigan
Peyton Kettles

2026
1. Gavin McKenna
2. Ryan Roobroek
3. Beckham Edwards

Brady Wassilyn
Kent Greer
Oliver Torkki
Rasmus Rinne
Noah Kosick
Arseni Ilyin

2027
Landon Dupont