TOP 100 PROSPECTS

ONE SCOUT COMPARED Kleven to Mark Tinordi, which gives you a good idea of what kind of defenseman he is. It’s tough to find a current comparable because so few D-men in today’s game play the way Kleven does. One is Adam McQuaid, but he didn’t play this season. “He’s a throwback,” one scout said. “You can’t find guys like him. He’s an absolute horse, and when he hits guys, it makes an impression.” Kleven’s game with the puck isn’t bad, but he’s not going to do anything fancy or creative with it. He scored three goals last season for USA Hockey’s NTDP under-17 team and two for the under-18 team this season. He’s more likely to pound it off the glass in his own end and pound it on the net in the offensive zone than anything else. “He’s an old-school D-man in that he’s got size and power, but he’s not a new-school D-man who makes a lot of smart plays with the puck,” another scout said. “He’s a meat-and-potatoes guy.” The question is where he will fit into an NHL lineup. Playing with the right type of partner, the upside is second pair, but more likely he’s a consistent third-pair guy. CHANCES ARE CORMIER and Kleven will be taken close to one another, which means going to different teams. That’s too bad, because they’d be a nice yin-and-yang pairing, totally opposite, but a great complement to one another. Cormier is everything Kleven is not. Cormier’s offensive instincts are off the charts. He’s often seen leading the rush in junior, and it’s not uncommon to see him below the opponent’s goal line. “The electric fence doesn’t go up at the offensive blueline for Lukas Cormier,” one scout said. “He has great offensive instincts.” The knock on Cormier is his spotty defensive game, but scouts see a player willing to compete in his own end. What he has is tougher to learn than what he lacks. “His defense is what holds him back,” another scout said. “But that’s why we have coaches. They’re supposed to be able to teach that.” Cormier also has a good shot and finds open spots in the opposition zone, but he’s not going to be an NHL regular until he defends better. “He needs a ‘B’ game to supplement his pure offensive game,” another scout said, “and we haven’t really seen that yet.” THE SON OF former NHLer Sebastien Bordeleau was born in Houston, lived a bit in Switzerland, but was mainly raised and played youth hockey in Montreal. He didn’t even know about the NTDP until family friend Jim Hughes – the father of Jack, Quinn and Luke – told him about it. But for the past two seasons, Bordeleau has worn the Stars and Stripes, and steadily improved. “When you watch them play, his game jumps out at you,” said one scout. “He’s an active player, he has the puck a lot, and good things happen.” Like his father, Bordeleau lacks size, but it didn’t seem to affect him with the NTDP, where his schedule included games against big, heavy college teams such as Notre Dame and Cornell. “He’s the NTDP’s best playmaker and No. 1 center,” said another scout. “He makes guys around him better, he is strong on his feet, he is a good skater with very good edge work. “He finds seams to set guys up, and he’s competitive. He goes to the tough areas to make things happen. I’ve been really impressed with him in the college games.” Bordeleau is committed to the University of Michigan next season. WHEN YOU GET to this point in the draft, the chances of a player being more polarizing among scouts grows much higher, and Ponomarev is one of those players. Some scouts really like him, others not at all. Consider what two scouts had to say about him. Scout No. 1: “He was almost a point-a-game player in the Quebec League without ever really putting himself out there. His compete is below average. He makes a lot of his plays from the outside because he’s good enough to do it. It’s harder to do that in the NHL.” Scout No. 2: “I don’t think you find a guy out there who likes the game more or works harder than Ponomarev.” It was a good idea for Ponomarev to come to the QMJHL this season. To a lot of scouts, he showed a promising two-way game, one that will get even better if he can improve his strength and skating. The skill is there for him to evolve into a third- or fourth-line center in the NHL. “He’s competitive and smart, and he’ll chip in offensively,” another scout said, “but I don’t think he’s going to be a big offensive player.”

ASK THE SCOUTS about Mukhamadullin and be prepared for a lot of different answers – though universally, they all like pronouncing his name. A mainstay on Russian international teams, the blueliner holds intriguing promise. “The attraction is the size and skating,” said one scout. “He has very good presence on the ice. He’s capable with the puck and makes nice plays.” That’s the good-cop version of Mukhamadullin. For the bad-cop version, let’s go to another one of our experts. “I am not a fan,” said another scout. “I appreciate the size and skating, and he’s got a big shot – a good one-timer on the power play – and his gaps are good. But for a guy his size, he’s gotta play a lot harder and take better care of the puck. I have not been impressed, and that’s in four different settings. Russia likes him, but I can’t get on board.” Domestically, Mukhamadullin was hard to get a beat on because his ice time in the KHL was limited. In the playoffs, he skated in just two of six games for Ufa, averaging a little more than three minutes per contest. His ice time was basically the same during the season. WHEN IT COMES Smilanic’s upside, you don’t have to get too complicated with matters. “The attraction is the package,” said one scout. “Size, skating, skill.” If there was an example of a player who would have benefitted greatly from the world under-18s being played and the draft combine going off as usual, Smilanic would be it. The talented pivot had to push through injuries (including a high-ankle sprain) and mononucleosis during his draft year after being one of the top scorers on the 2018-19 edition of the NTDP’s under-17 squad. His production was impacted as he went in and out of the lineup. That meant fewer viewings and some question marks. “He has very good speed, very good shot, average IQ,” said another scout. “Injuries have been an issue, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.” Some other scouts aren’t sure if Smilanic’s game translates to the next level. Originally committed to his hometown University of Denver, Smilanic reopened his options this season and eventually switched to Quinnipiac, where he’ll be far from Colorado but still surrounded by talent. AFTER WATCHING Perreault put up 30 goals in the OHL as a 16-year-old last season, scouts were intrigued and excited to see what he would do in his draft year. Even though he continued to display his scoring chops, it’s fair to say a good number of scouts came away a little disappointed, particularly in the first half. The son of ex-NHLer Yanic, Perreault is nothing like his father on the ice. “Yanic was all about attention to detail,” one scout said, “and this kid is all about pure skill and doesn’t always work hard and do all the things that are necessary, but he does have the talent to score goals.” Perreault has good hands and offensive instincts. He’s a high-end thinker in the offensive zone with the hands to match. “He’s a guy who teases you with his hands and his shot,” another scout said, “then disappoints you with his invisibility and lack of compete.” Whether Perreault becomes an NHLer will depend on whether he can adapt his game the way his father did. Yanic Perreault was an offensive dynamo in junior but developed into one of the best third-line faceoff specialists in the NHL later in his career. OF THE THREE big Germans in this draft, Reichel has the most pedigree while also being the earliest in his development curve. The son of longtime DEL pro Martin Reichel and nephew to ex-NHLer Robert Reichel, Lukas also has a cousin who plays in the AHL in Kristian Reichel of Manitoba. Lukas was part of that fun all-draft line at the world juniors, playing with Tim Stutzle and J.J. Peterka. “Lukas lacks the same mileage of the other two, and he’s probably the least physically mature,” said one scout. “He’s a bit of a dark horse. His ceiling might be perceived as lower, but because of his development curve, he might end up having a higher ceiling than Peterka. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the end.” Back in Germany, Reichel provided depth scoring for a Berlin team that featured ex-NHLers Maxim Lapierre and James Sheppard. “He’s a good skater, and the brain is there,” said another scout. “He’s a nice complementary piece and detailed, but I don’t see elitelevel skill. I see a guy who can help you win and chip in where he can, but I don’t think offense is going to drive the day for him.”