Prospects

[matchesmalone]

I found some Russians. Do we have Fyodor Svechkov and Prokhor Poltapov for 2021 and Ivan Miroschnichenko for 2022?

Also maybe you already knew this but I just realized something super cool. In league stats you can click "all-time totals/season" and then even organize by age from there.

[matchesmalone]

Using this new discovery, I just found Jack Devine for 2022, Zach Stringer and Ilya Ivantsov for 2021 and... Ryan Roobreck for 2026 - oyoyoy.

Whatever you do, don't start looking at stats for the Brick Invitational.

[Josh]

For my part, it is definitely just looking ahead. 2020 is too easy. We'll get around to it, but I like the challenge of trying to predict further ahead, and it forces me to learn a lot more about the various youth leagues and tournaments around the world.

Am I just psyching myself out, or is Kiviharju beyond phenom? I don't want to use that 12 letter word for a player this age but....

I know it is getting thrown around like confetti now days, but I am a bit of a purist when it comes to language, and in theory I believe the label "generational" should only be used once a generation. Ok, maybe twice. Gretzky had Lemieux, Jagr had Lidstrom and Hasek, Crosby had Ovechkin, and now it seems McDavid has Kucherov.

It seems like everywhere Kiviharju goes, he does things nobody has done before. He was the first ever double-underaged player at the WSI U12s when he was 9, and all he did was lead defensemen in scoring. Two years later, aged 11, he played at the U13s underaged, and finished second in defensemen scoring. Then this year, he played at the U14s underaged, and finished second in the entire tournament in scoring, behind his teammate Jesse Nurmi.

Only about a barrel-full of players ever played in Finland's U16 SM-Sarja league as double-underagers, and only about a handful of them played regularly and produced, mostly recognizable names like Eeli Tolvanen, Urho Vaakanainen, Mikael Granlund, Jesse Puljujarvi, Sean Bergenheim, and a couple up-and-comers we've identified here - Joakim Kemell, Emil Järventie, Jesse Nurmi. None ever played one game triple-underaged. Kiviharju put up a respectable four points in eight games this year.

I came across an article by THN calling Connor Bedard "the next one", and mentioning Crosby and McDavid. But I think they might have the narrative wrong here. Upon further inspection, not only did Matthew Savoie outscore Shane Wright at every international event they both played, but Savoie also outscored Bedard at the same age in almost every case, including their seasons in bantam.

Who has the best chance at being a generational talent? Wright, Savoie, Bedard or Kiviharju? Or someone else I'm missing?

The only concern on Kiviharju is that his dad is listed on EP as 5'8.

I thought the same thing about Kiviharju. He looks generational, I'm not afraid to say it. As for his size, according to the following link, he's almost as tall as his Dad already at 13: https://www.lgstours.com/roster_players/32723764.

That's what I was saying about Savoie man! He looks even better than Wright.

If I had to choose, I think the best of the yet-undrafted will end up being Lafreniere, Savoie, and Kiviharju.

[Josh]

I found some Russians. Do we have Fyodor Svechkov and Prokhor Poltapov for 2021 and Ivan Miroschnichenko for 2022?

Also maybe you already knew this but I just realized something super cool. In league stats you can click "all-time totals/season" and then even organize by age from there.

Using this new discovery, I just found Jack Devine for 2022, Zach Stringer and Ilya Ivantsov for 2021 and... Ryan Roobreck for 2026 - oyoyoy.

Whatever you do, don't start looking at stats for the Brick Invitational.

Of the seven players you mentioned, we only had Zack Stringer. I will add the others and then likely post more that I've found after looking at them and their respective leagues. You can always find the current list on Post #2 of this thread.

And holy shit. I did not know about those all-time totals by season. You can also filter for playoff totals which will lead to even more discoveries. Nice!

And oh yeah, the Brick Invitational. What a thing. They had 14 tourny alumni in the 1st round alone this year, including 2 in the top 3 (Hughes and Dach) and 2 more (Turcotte and Zegras) in the top 10. Then Boldy, Knight, York, Caufield, Newhook, and Krebs went 12-13-14-15-16-17! http://brickhockey.pointstreaksites....95/news_521871

[Josh]

OK, added all the guys you mentioned as well as:

2021
Alexei Prokopenko - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...xei-prokopenko
Arseni Koromyslov - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...eni-koromyslov
Dmitri Kostenko - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...mitri-kostenko
Nikita Chibrikov - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...kita-chibrikov
Nikolai Dumchenko - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...olai-dumchenko
Pavel Mintyukov - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...avel-mintyukov

2022
Yegor Nikitin - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe.../yegor-nikitin

2026
Hayden Harsanyi - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...ayden-harsanyi

[matchesmalone]

You can always find the current list on Post #2 of this thread.

Ah, yes, of course. Quite so.

And oh yeah, the Brick Invitational. What a thing. They had 14 tourny alumni in the 1st round alone this year, including 2 in the top 3 (Hughes and Dach) and 2 more (Turcotte and Zegras) in the top 10. Then Boldy, Knight, York, Caufield, Newhook, and Krebs went 12-13-14-15-16-17! http://brickhockey.pointstreaksites....95/news_521871

Good Lord! Crazy that Jack Hughes was the lowest scoring of the top NTDP player back then. Caufield leading the thing in scoring makes me wonder which of these way too early prospects will falter due to lack of size. Also I just noticed, it looks like Turcotte and Caufield have played together every year since they were nine. And sure enough, they are both committed to Wisconsin next year.

Who do you like out of the top Swedes for 2020?

Lucas Raymond? Helge Grans? Noel Gunler? Alexander Holtz?

Isak Garfvé has my attention. My first reaction was, why the hell did he play eight SHL games when he had hardly established himself in SuperElit. Then I thought, maybe it was just because Mora was so bad, but it's not like Allsvenskan teams were playing U17 players... then I realized Mora is the team Anders Forsberg GMs for, and now I'm intrigued; does he see something in the kid?

[Josh]

Added Garfvé. Tough call for the Swedish picks. I like Raymond and Gunler most for the forwards, then Grans and Andrae for the defensemen.

[Josh]

Added:

2020
Alexei Monakhov - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...lexei-monakhov
Connor McClennon - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...nnor-mcclennon
Daemon Hunt (what an awesome fucking name) - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...37/daemon-hunt
Marko Stacha - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...7/marko-stacha
Martin Chromiak - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...artin-chromiak

2021
Lou-Felix Denis - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...ou-felix-denis

[matchesmalone]

I watched the semi-final of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup today. Canada vs. Sweden. What an insane performance by Cole Perfetti. He scored on a breakaway to tie the game at one. Then another breakaway goal to tie it at at two. Then came the shootout. He scored Canada's only goal through the first five shooters. Then for the extra shooters, where a player is allowed to shoot more than once, Perfetti scored on the next two attempts to win in. 5 for 5 on breakaways.

Also, holy crap, Quentin Byfield is a beast. Jean-Luc Foudy looked really good. And whoever wears number 5 for Canada on defense.

[Josh]

I watched the semi-final of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup today. Canada vs. Sweden. What an insane performance by Cole Perfetti. He scored on a breakaway to tie the game at one. Then another breakaway goal to tie it at at two. Then came the shootout. He scored Canada's only goal through the first five shooters. Then for the extra shooters, where a player is allowed to shoot more than once, Perfetti scored on the next two attempts to win in. 5 for 5 on breakaways.

Also, holy crap, Quentin Byfield is a beast. Jean-Luc Foudy looked really good. And whoever wears number 5 for Canada on defense.

That would be Jeremie Poirier: https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...eremie-poirier

[matchesmalone]

Cool, thanks. Poirier looked pretty solid again today against Russia, but didn't stand out like he did in the Sweden game. But then, nobody really did. Perfetti was good again. Byfield wasn't all that noticable. Foudy was Canada's most impressive player for me today. His raw skills are immense, but I have doubts about his vision/hockey sense.

[Josh]

Added:

2020
Charlie Desroches - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...rlie-desroches
Jean-Luc Foudy - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...jean-luc-foudy
Jérémie Poirier - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...eremie-poirier
Logan Morrison - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...logan-morrison
William Villeneuve - https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...iam-villeneuve

[Josh]

Added goaltender Yaroslav Askarov.

[matchesmalone]

I caught the back half of Frölunda-Brynäs this morning. Was trying to watch Ilves but apparently since some European sports streaming company bought the Liiga rights it is impossible to find free live streams.

Lucas Raymond played a regular shift for Frölunda, totalling 11:34. His skating and stick skills were amazing, obviously. But what really impressed me was his willingness to go hard to the net and battle, with and without the puck.

Looking at 2020s around the league, Alexander Holtz played 12:39 and had an assist.

I learned something new, or at least something I'd never considered. Noel Gunler and Lucas Ramberg dressed for Luleå, but neither played a single minute, and yet they were credited for a GP. I've always realized since European teams dress 13F and 7D, sometimes the 13F might only play a minute or two, but it never occurred that they would get credit for a game for not playing at all... something to watch out for.

[Josh]

I caught the back half of Frölunda-Brynäs this morning. Was trying to watch Ilves but apparently since some European sports streaming company bought the Liiga rights it is impossible to find free live streams.

Lucas Raymond played a regular shift for Frölunda, totalling 11:34. His skating and stick skills were amazing, obviously. But what really impressed me was his willingness to go hard to the net and battle, with and without the puck.

Looking at 2020s around the league, Alexander Holtz played 12:39 and had an assist.

I learned something new, or at least something I'd never considered. Noel Gunler and Lucas Ramberg dressed for Luleå, but neither played a single minute, and yet they were credited for a GP. I've always realized since European teams dress 13F and 7D, sometimes the 13F might only play a minute or two, but it never occurred that they would get credit for a game for not playing at all... something to watch out for.

Oh wow, yeah, that can definitely skew stats..