WHO’S NO. 1?
NHL Central Scouting puts out its final prospect rankings
A dynamic winger who models his game after Patrick Kane. A centre built like Evgeni Malkin. A German-born forward who could be the next Leon Draisaitl. Or a defenceman who moves the puck like Cale Makar.
Take your pick, Ottawa Senators.
Quite possibly, one — or even two — of these top-four prospects could be yours. We just don’t know if or when it will happen.
The Stanley Cup playoffs were supposed to begin on Wednesday and the NHL Draft Lottery was scheduled for this weekend. But, like the end of the regular season and the NHL Entry Draft and pretty much everything else in between, they’ve all been put on hold because of the coronavirus.
That means the 30th-ranked Senators, who also own the 29th-ranked San Jose Sharks’ first-round pick, might not know until June or July where they will be selecting.
Based on their odds, they could have the second and third picks in the draft. Or, if the lottery balls bounce like they did a year ago when the pick Ottawa traded to Colorado dropped from first to fourth, they could end up picking fifth and sixth overall.
And yet, that did not stop NHL Central Scouting from releasing its final prospect rankings on Wednesday. After all, unlike the NHL teams that are evaluating players right up until they make their selection, their work was mostly done when the various leagues had already started to shut down.
“Unfortunately, no one got the benefit to scout playoffs, the Memorial Cup, the U-18 championships,” Central Scouting director Dan Marr said during an online conference call. “For Central Scouting, our list always comes out around this time during the first round of the NHL playoffs and before the draft lottery. We missed about 10 days. And most of our rankings is based on regular season play.”
Topping the list of North American skaters was Rimouski Oceanic winger Alexis Lafreniere, followed by centre Quinton Byfield (Sudbury Wolves), defencemen Jamie Drysdale (Erie Otters), defenceman Jake Sanderson (National Development Team Program) and centre Cole Perfetti (Saginaw Spirit).
German winger Tim Stuetzle was named the top European skater, with forward Alexander Holtz (Sweden), centre Anton Lundell (Finland), Lucas Raymond (Sweden) and winger Rodion Amirov (Russia) rounding out the top five
Nicolas Daws (Guelph Storm) and Jaroslav Askarov (Czech Republic) were named the top North American and European goalies, respectively.
“For sure, growing up it’s a dream of every hockey player,” Lafreniere said of going No. 1. “I think we’re all really excited for the draft. The team that’s going to draft me, I’m going to be really happy to join them and try to have as much success as I can.”
NHL Central Scouting does not combine North Americans and Europeans in their rankings. But if it did, it’s safe to assume Lafreniere, who had his coming out party at the world juniors where he was named tournament MVP for Canada, would be the consensus No. 1 pick.
“Alexis is quite the player when you look at every aspect of his game,” said J-F Damphousse, the regional scout for Quebec and the Maritimes. “I think you could look at every aspect as elite when you look at his skating, his puck skills … What separates him from the pack is his compete level. Any time that the game is on the line, you want him on the ice.”
Still, it would have been beneficial to see more of the prospects. Byfield, who was invisible at the world juniors, had been preparing to lead Sudbury to an OHL championship and possibly a trip to the Memorial Cup. Stuetzle had been hoping to open up some more eyes at the under18 world championships.
But now there are no playoffs. No Memorial Cup. No world championships. And there is also no draft combine, preventing teams from conducting one-on-one interviews and seeing how the prospects measure up against one another in physical fitness tests.
What you see is what you get. And for teenaged hockey players whose bodies are changing from month to month, what you’re seeing is an incomplete picture.
Take Sanderson, for example. From January to April, he improved seven spots in the order. Raymond, meanwhile, dropped from second in the mid-term rankings to fourth in the final rankings.
Would those same prospects continue to rise or fall in these lost months? We won’t know.
“Our list was pretty much completed the way we scouted all year,” said Damphousse. “We’ve seen those players a good amount of time. I don’t think this situation (with COVID-19) changed our lists. I think (the players) were recognized for what they’ve done. This list is a good resume of their season. So I feel pretty confident that our list is not impacted by the actual situation.”
The players, however, are the ones who could be impacted the most.
As Lafreniere said, it’s every player’s dream to get drafted into the NHL. But part of that dream is putting on a new suit and having your name called to the stage, where after hugging family members and friends, you get to put on an NHL jersey for the first time.
That might not happen anymore. While the NFL will hold its draft later this month virtually via phone and over Internet, the NHL has not yet decided what route it will take.
“There’s a little bit of mix emotions,” said Byfield. “You’re excited about the draft, but a little disappointed that you can’t go there.”