TOP 100 PROSPECTS

THE CONSENSUS ON Mercer is the difference between him being a first-liner and a middle-six forward comes down to how much he improves his skating. However, his mobility deficiencies weren’t enough to keep him from being the most surprising player to make Canada’s world-junior team. Aside from skating, Mercer ticks off just about every box. He’s determined and hardworking, plays well at both ends of the ice and has complementary offensive skill. He can play up and down the lineup and adapt to almost any style of game. “He knows where to give up the puck and he knows where to go to get it back,” said a scout. “He’s competitive, he’s on the puck, he’s in the guts of the action. He’s got really good awareness, a real good feel for where he needs to be and when he needs to be there.” Mercer is another player who has rocketed up the charts with his play in the QMJHL. Making the Canadian WJC team, even though he didn’t play a big role, made people notice. “He became a very good player this year,” said another scout, “but he has to get a lot stronger and work on his skating.” YOU MIGHT NOT notice Bourque in warm-ups, and you might even have to make an effort to appreciate what he does during the game, but he’s one of those players who makes his team better by doing everything well. “There’s no flash to his game,” said one scout. “It’s all substance. He can score, he can make plays, he can kill penalties, he can play the point on the power play. He’s just a smart, smart player. And he’s competitive.” Bourque is a little undersized by NHL standards, but he makes up for it by using his superior hockey sense to his advantage. Some scouts see a player who continues to improve and will surprise a lot of people at the NHL level. Others see a good, but not necessarily elite talent who will likely be a middle-six player at the next level. The latter group would like to see more consistency in his game. He isn’t great in any one area of the game, but he’s very good in all areas. “I love Mavrik Bourque,” said another scout. “He’s one of those players you’d better not sleep on. He’s going to be better than (some) players selected ahead of him.” THANKS TO BEING the first overall pick in the 2017 WHL bantam draft, Guhle has been in the spotlight for a while, but it hasn’t fazed him. The slick-skating blueliner has already won a league title and played in the Memorial Cup for the Raiders, while also earning silver with Canada at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. “First and foremost, what I like about him is his skating ability,” said one scout. “He’s on top of the ice, has really good edges, his pivots to track and defend are very quick, and he’s got some bite to his game as well. I’ve seen him throw open-ice hits. He closes the gap really quickly. He’s defensively responsible and he has offensive upside.” The younger brother of Anaheim blueliner Brendan Guhle, Kaiden has the type of profile that NHL teams value, even if he doesn’t put up big numbers. “Physically, he’s like a man,” said another scout. “When he hits you along the boards, you’re not moving. He’s a pro-style kind of player. He plays on both special teams, and while I don’t know if he’s that power-play guy at the pro level, he’s a big horse out there.” LIKE MERCER A few slots higher, Zary is a smallish forward whose biggest need is to work on his skating. But Zary also makes up for his deficiencies with a high hockey IQ and an ability to execute plays. He moves his feet and you can tell he wants to get there, but scouts would like to see a little more explosiveness in his stride. “He’s not big and fast,” said one scout. “But he’s not slow and small, either.” There remains a lot to like. As much as the skill level, scouts also like the versatility Zary brings to the game. He can play on the first line and power play, but he’s also defensively responsible enough to kill penalties. “I saw him early in the season at (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and I left thinking, ‘I don’t know if I have to watch him play again,’ ” said a scout. “That’s how confident I was in his game.” Zary’s success at the next level will largely be determined by what strides he makes in his skating. Perhaps it will come as he gets stronger, but there is definitely much room for improvement. “He’s got that ability to be a complete second-line player in the NHL,” said another scout.

LAST SEASON, Barron consistently showed decent skill and a promising all-around game, and it was expected he’d really take off in his third QMJHL campaign. But instead he seemed stuck in neutral when he was healthy and endured a setback when a blood clot kept him on the sidelines for almost three months. It also didn’t help that he played for a rebuilding team. Still, some scouts see a skill set that will intrigue NHL teams. “He’s a really good skater with good size, and he’s a right shot,” said one scout. “He doesn’t generate a ton of offense, but he can join the rush to make a four-man attack, and that’s how he can get points. He was the best defenseman in both games when the ‘Q’ played Russia.” Other evaluators are less excited but still see value in Barron’s game. “He’s kind of a vanilla, but in a spicy vanilla way,” said another scout. “He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He’s in good position, he takes up space, he doesn’t get beat 1-on-1, and he makes a good first pass, but you can’t really say he creates a lot of offense or that he’s very physical. He’s not a shutdown defender.” IT’S QUITE CLEAR that Hockey Canada digs what Schneider does. Not only did he help Canada win gold at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, but he was also named a top-three player on the national side’s 2019 world under-18 squad. Schneider was then invited to the 2019 World Junior Summer Showcase in Michigan, and inspired a lot of praise from WJC assistant coach Andre Tourigny at the December camp as well. Though Schneider didn’t make the cut, he’s in a great position to succeed next year. “He’s a typical pro defenseman who will probably play in the NHL for 15-20 years,” said one scout. “Big body, physical, skates very well, has a little bit of offense to his game. Just an all-around, terrific D-man who is responsible in his own zone. He’s strong. He plays like a pro now.” Schneider played on the second-unit power play in Brandon, but experts see him more as a penalty-killing ace. The key will be to play within himself. “He’s a really fluid skater,” said another scout. “When he tries to do too much offensively, he doesn’t always execute thoroughly. He can gain space with his mobility, not his skill.” AN ACCOMPLISHED junior star, Nybeck helped Sweden win its first gold at the world under-18s in 2019. Domestically, he was the top scorer in the SuperElit junior league. “He’s a skilled forward who makes plays,” said one scout. “The size and maybe the speed are something to watch on projection, but he’s got the offensive upside, with really good vision and creativity.” Nybeck got a generous tryout with HV71’s SHL squad this season, and though he had only one point in 15 games, the experts in Europe thought he fit in well and didn’t look out of place. The overarching concern is how he converts his dominating game against teens into something practical in pro. “He plays a very up-tempo style,” said another scout. “He’s skating all the time and is hungry to score. Despite his size, he gets his nose in there. I wouldn’t say he’s a physical player, but he’s always digging for pucks. The concern is his style is junior-oriented. He’ll take the puck and do a lap in the offensive zone, things he won’t do at the next level.” Because of that, some believe he’ll drop into the second round. GUNLER’S NAME regularly makes the rounds on Twitter as he’s a source of fascination due to several national-team snubs. But for the scouts, the gossip about the kid’s attitude was over the top. “He’s a great scorer with a good shot and good speed,” said one scout. “Things stem from a couple fallouts with coaches, talking back when they criticized his game. He’s got a tag, but it’s overblown. He is immature but usually that goes away. He played games with the top team, so he can’t be that much of a problem.” One theory for the snubs (including last year’s world under-18 squad) is Sweden already had Lucas Raymond and Alex Holtz as scoring wingers, so why risk a spot on Gunler if he might be a problem? A groin injury kept him out of an under-19 tournament this year. Gunler bounced around the lineup with Lulea but put up decent numbers as a teenager. “It’s not easy to crack the lineup in Lulea,” said another scout. “His game is scoring and being on the power play and he’s not getting the ice time to do that. He’s a good kid. There’s stuff to figure out, but he’s tracking the right way.”