The Scouching Blog

Scouching's Final 2021 Draft Rankings

7/15/2021

For starters, the accompanying video can be found at this link, so check that out once you're done reading this! If you're coming from the video, welcome to the full writeup!

What a year. To be honest, I'm exhausted. I need a break. It's been nonstop tracking and video production in my spare time since about August 2019 for me. While I love doing the work and providing you wonderful people with all the information I've gathered, it's a lot of hockey. This year didn't bring many changes to my workflow, and I'm of the belief that if you've done your homework, even setting aside the players who haven't played, you should still be able to come away with a strong group of players for this year's draft. I don't see much in the way of elite game-changing talent, but certain names could grow into such players. I do see a lot of really interesting high upside, low floor players that could develop into useful core pieces, or struggle to gain a comfortable role in the NHL. Come draft day, I feel like I'd much rather be drafting in the 8-12, and 20+ ranges of the first round more than anything, and just pile up a stash of 2nd and 3rd round picks to swing on a bunch of interesting names. Unfortunately for me, as of time of writing, Team Scouching is looking at just three names to add, but I'm really hoping some good ones slip.

As always, we'll be streaming through both days of the draft, so be sure to set your reminders for Day 1 and Day 2! If you have any last minute questions, there will be a Scouching Live on Wednesday night at 9:30pm EST, and another one on Friday, starting at noon, so be sure to check those out as well!

If you're a Patron of the project, you can view my rankings as they change over the year, with the full list unlocked at the $25 tier along with my full data sheet of >700 skaters and goaltenders' data.

If you're new here, I generally tend to think of my rankings in "Tiers", which attempts to group players into a pool from which I feel the order could be interchangeable, with the numbers ordering the players as how I might push for them in a draft discussion. I find that it creates much more balanced and nuanced discussion, especially considering these players are so young and may have wildly different potential trajectories that may differ reasonably depending on which NHL organization picks them up.

The data I am including is partially derived from pick224.com, operated by the great Dave MacPherson. Without him, my work would be far less complete and valuable, so give him a follow. If you're unfamiliar, here is a breakdown of the metrics included:

NHLeS - Age, league and position adjusted measure of prospect value. 20+ is generally 1st round with some limitations for European men's league players.
INV% - Player involvement in team offense on average.
P1/60 - Estimated primary points per 60 minutes of ice time.
ESGF/60 - Estimated even strength goals scored while on the ice per 60 minutes.
ESGA/60 - Estimated even strength goals against while on the ice per 60 minutes.
OffCat% - Percentage increase in goals for rate at even strength relative to their team.

DefCat% - Percentage decrease in goals against rate at even strength relative to their team.

TotCat% - Percentage increase in goals differential at even strength relative to their team.

Without further ado, behold an early-final rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft, along with explanations of some the decisions made. As always, thank you all for your support, I hope you and yours are safe and well and remain so.

Tier 1

This tier has largely stayed the same for months, and I’m still relatively confident. All of these players are, or either could very easily be joys to watch that teams could potentially build strong teams around, or use to continue building strong teams with.
Luke Hughes is basically a full year younger than many players in this range, and I think that gives him huge potential for growth. He’s a player that will only be limited by his willingness to patch the defensive holes in his game, and his willingness to use linemates consistently without taking on too much responsibility himself. However his individual talent with the puck on his stick is undeniable, and the potential is limitless as long as he’s willing to round out his game and mature as a kid looking to become a pro athlete in the 2020’s.
What more can I say about Fabian Lysell? I don’t think I’d take him #1, but I love the potential of his game if he can learn to push and pull the flow of the game a bit better. He’s extremely active, covers ice extremely well, and plays with extraordinary pace already. Continuing to put in the work necessary to get stronger and more dynamic should help him earn more ice time and gain more confidence and experience against adults in the coming years.
Jesper Wallstedt is doing something no draft eligible goaltender has ever done before by playing in the SHL, and hasn’t been destroyed doing so. He faces heavy dangerous shot workloads and doesn’t look out of place, he’s palpably technical, and if there is potential #1 upside, consistent, quality goaltending makes success far easier. At some point, the risk of taking a goalie with this profile will become easier to digest as the potential of other options becomes somewhat limited quickly relative to Wallstedt, and I still feel like a team will take a chance on him later than he should go. He just gives me a good feeling, which may not be great analysis, but I’ve greatly enjoyed watching him all season, even if I’m usually on team “no goalies in the first round”. Most goalies aren’t Jesper Wallstedt.
I’ve had Matthew Beniers at #1 through all of 2021, but if someone wanted to convince me of William Eklund being #1, I’d have time for the discussion. I like Beniers’ projectable 200-foot, high intensity game with great playmaking potential, but Eklund’s offensive creativity, evasiveness, dual threat offense, and ability to navigate into open ice with pace and speed is just a ton of fun to watch. Injuries and illness put a damper on his season, but if that means he starts to slip in the draft, if his medical checks all come back clear, he could easily start entering steal territory. Beniers might be an easier, more projectable option with a lot of growth potential, but Eklund has that flash and professional results that can’t be ignored.

Tier 2

I’ve had to split the top 12 in half here, and all the defensemen are in this group. I have concerns about all of these players to truly become the most impactful NHL players in the draft class, but they should all become perfectly useful core pieces to build with.
I’m still an Aatu Raty believer through all the stuff that’s been said. He’s documented as having struggles managing his expectations of himself over this season, and I just came away thinking this was a great player who was locked behind mental limitations. The ol’ “gripping your stick too hard” thing… His offensive transition game is better than the Liiga Finns I tracked last year, and was a huge driver of shot attempts for his team without much support. I think that the right team could hit a home run with this player if you just get on his level and get him reset.
Dylan Guenther is a strange one. I was underwhelmed by his U18 performance, but the playmaking intelligence and patience with the puck is really impressive. I’m not entirely sure his offense translates as much as his gobsmacking point totals may indicate due to his lack of high end dynamic footspeed, and his shot selection was frustrating at times, but as a complementary offensive piece in a top six, I can see it for him.
Mason McTavish, top five pick? I mean, maybe. He’s got a heck of a shot, solid pace and skill to his game, and tenacity that is hard to find in this draft. I feel like he can settle in on a teams 2nd or 3rd line with power play upside as a perimeter threat, but I think there are players that are bigger swings on some potentially bigger impact. That being said, I don’t think there’s a player that has improved as dramatically as McTavish since where he was last season.
Speaking of bigger upside, Kent Johnson. I think there’s a ton of room to grow, and I do hope my report didn’t come off as disrespectful. His mind for the game and skill level are a ton of fun, but sometimes it can get the best of him, and more experience and patience should refine things to make him the skilled and unpredictable offensive weapon.
The defense here could be tackled as a whole. I’m curious about the raw potential in Simon Edvinsson’s refined defensive talent and if he can learn to manage the puck with more confidence and consistency, I wonder about Brandt Clarke with some serious improvement to his speed generation and full stride agility, and while I’m cooler on Owen Power, there’s potential with the offensive rush talent and offensive pass vision he showcases with the puck. I think there’s a lot of work to do to make him as impactful as he could be, but I’ll be fascinated to see how his career goes.

Tier 3

These are all players that I think have a ton of potential as useful complimentary pieces with plenty of potential for more with development.
My thoughts on Matthew Coronato are well articulated but I feel most confident of anyone in this group that he’ll be a guy coaches don’t mind playing with his smarts, creativity under pressure, and dual threat offense. He may not score as much as he has with Chicago, but with some quicker and skilled wingers, I could easily see Coronato being a relatively valuable forward with centre capabilities down the road.
Rest assured that I would’ve made a Logan Stankoven report if I could’ve. I just didn’t have enough data. I adore, and I mean adore watching Logan Stankoven play. The data I do have is simply put, spectacular. An 80% DSAT, 21 DPass/60, 15 iDSAT/60, a 78.7% OCZT, and a 75% Pass% makes him one of the most devastating offensive players available. Yes, he’s small, and his level of involvement in transition is questionable, but when he’s got the puck, goodness gracious. If he’s available in the 2nd round, just draft him. Just do it.
I’ve bumped up Cole Sillinger since putting out his report. The scoring talent, and potential for playmaking based on his play with Medicine Hat brings me comfort that his individualistic results are Sioux Falls-related rather than Sillinger underperforming. The shot quality, the skill under pressure, and burgeoning physical intensity is interesting, and he could at least be a devastating power play winger really solid upside.
Sometimes I go back on early Scouching Reports and rethink things in retrospect. That has not happened with Fyodor Svechkov. He’s such a dynamic and crafty forward with excellent defensive habits. Svechkov is on his way to SKA St. Petersburg to develop further and I’d expect better linemates to elevate his game beyond where he is now. He may be a slow burn, but if NHL teams forget about him and he starts slipping, look out.
Simon Robertsson? Same deal as Svechkov. I still think there's a great offensive player there. Very skilled, great shot, smart evasion skill with the puck, and improving on his feet year over year.

Tier 4

This group is a total mess and I have no idea what to really think. It’s a group of players who I think could be useful, perfectly usable lineup players at their respective positions, players who are clearly raw with strong fundamentals with unclear lineup potential at the moment, and players largely held back by dramatic inconsistency.
The best example of the first to me is Oskar Olausson of HV71. There’s skill, intensity, pressure application without the puck, intelligence and patience with the puck, but once Olausson left the J20 levels, a number of areas of tracked data completely cratered as he was rarely getting the puck from teammates, and didn’t manage to do much with it when he got a chance. I do like his ability to pressure opponents and apply pressure, and his combination of vision with the puck and practical skill to evade a layer of pressure here and there. Is there a top six guy here? I’m not so sure, but is he an NHL player that could play a few different roles? Sure.
The best example of the second to me is Ayrton Martino. The pass vision, shot quality, open ice vision in the neutral zone, and raw offensive output is so much fun to watch. There’s going to need to be some development to his agility and ability to push the pace of the game in order to maximize what he could be, but if he does, he could be a heck of a scoring winger.
For the latter group, William Stromgren could be a player drafted well before his ranking on my list, and I could absolutely see why. The combination of size, skill and quickness to hit his top speed is unlike many in the draft, but the trouble is that he can disappear into the background of the game for stretches, or at least be far, far less effective than when he’s at his best. If he’s dialed in, he’s evasive, pace-y, can humiliate defenders, and has great finishing talent. If a team is focused on players and what they could be, Stromgren could be a surprise pick on day one.
I haven’t said a ton about Francesco Pinelli so far this year, and that’s largely because I have no idea what he is, or what he’s going to be. I see smarts with his puck possession and slippery pass work in multiple areas of the ice, but projecting him to the NHL still feels tough for me when everything gets ratcheted up.
It seems like Carson Lambos is a bit of a black sheep in this year’s draft, considering his nondominant play in Finland, and WHL play that was cut far too short. In watching my tape I have on him, I came away impressed with his defensive positioning and ability to close gaps efficiently in the neutral zone to turn play around. He seemed uncomfortable on big ice, and certainly seemed outmatched in the Liiga with his pursuit defense and being a step behind. I still think there’s a solid player here with time, but it’s hard to view him through the same lens as a year ago. Hopefully he can figure it out and continue building his game.
Up the Stromgren Alley, Nikita Chibrikov is another example of a player where once in a while, you see tremendous skill and speed. There’s so much flash there when it comes out, but for such long stretches, especially defensively, I just wanted to see more from Chibrikov. He was inactive without the puck, inconsistent driving results successfully offensively, but that flash is hard to ignore. He’s a bit of a project with big upside, but patience will likely be necessary.
Chaz Lucius might also be a guy picked much higher than I have him ranked and I’d be okay with it. There are just so many names ahead of him that I think project a bit better, but with Lucius’ injury issues, he very well could be underperforming his potential through no fault of his own. His thinking and skill under pressure is excellent, finding pockets of space to play around in and get shot attempts from in tight is easily projectable. I question how much of his scoring will translate without being a player known for being in the right place at the right time for tap-ins, and getting shots off when goalies aren’t expecting them. The pace and defensive involvement is questionable, but if he’s taken as in the top half of the first round, I understand why, even if it wouldn’t be my first suggestion.

Tier 5

This is a fun, fun range full of big swings and relatively safer picks that I've enjoyed watching a ton.
I already regret having Zellweger this late, but I've come too far. In reality, he should be a tier up and closer to 28 or 29. He's so shifty, creative, and drives offense so, so well. He's small and not an elite level skater in some areas of the discipline to me, but he's got the advantage of youth and still being really effective on his side. While I think there's a universe he tops out in the AHL without skating and defensive gap management improvements, I also believe patience will pay off with this guy and the right team could turn him into a great puck mover in the NHL.
I was probably too low on Chayka for far too long this year. I know what I saw with Guelph, and I'm convinced CSKA completely transformed his game to be far more defensive. There's so much data that indicates that he was extremely inactive in transition, an extremely conservative D-to-D passer, a volume shooter in the offensive zone, and basically being relegated to "zero offense allowed" in the Russian leagues. His MHL games towards the end of the year seemed to allow him to stretch out a bit more, and you saw the puck carrying potential he has, and that's the area I'd want to exploit more. He was not the same player this year, and objectively wasn't great, but I think there's something to be unlocked there.
I get asked about Zach Dean a lot. I like the guy, but I just can't take the plunge as the first name I'd draft. He's quick on his feet, and slippery with his passing, but I see him struggle with physical pressure in the QMJHL, I see inconsistencies by game when tracking him, and I'm just not sure about how well he projects to the NHL. As the 2nd or at worst 3rd player my team picks, I could absolutely be swayed based on how creative and quick he is.
I keep watching my tape of Sean Tschigerl and just think there's so much to work with there. He's not perfect, can have trouble settling pucks and overhandling them in the offensive zone, but the set of hands, shot quality, and tremendous offensive transition efficiency is enough to like that he's in this range.
Heimosalmi showed what he was capable of in the U18s in my opinion. You could see signs with the skating, gap management and skill he brought in the Finnish U20 level, but he wasn't quite putting it all together at both ends. He did that in the U18, and I think he could be a great snag if he slips a bit.
Othmann is a weird one to me. His office seems to be tight to the left of a goaltender right along the goal line offensively. He’s a nice straight line player with the puck who can be deceptive with his quick feet, even if he isn’t really generating a ton of speed with them. He’s got a heck of a shot though, I just have never felt he’s a massive potential needlemover. Nice bottom six, physical player with a great shot, absolutely, but I’m not sure he’s the first name I call in the draft.
Alexander Kisakov is a curious one. He's an MHL scoring wizard who plays very non-MHL hockey. He plays with pace, he attacks the middle, he applies pressure often, but it's in the MHL, and players that play that brand naturally seem to stick out in a sea of low-pressure opponents, which spooks me. Prokhor Poltapov is another one. Yes, you saw his power game on display in the U18s, but I've seen a lot of him, and while I think there's a potential bottom six energy player who can maul around the net, I didn't see it a ton, and when I did, it was also against MHL competition. They're weird ones, they spook me, but as the 2nd name off the board, I could do it.
The analytics I tracked on Ceulemans were often very good in the AJHL. There’s skill, there’s evasion through a layer or two, especially in the offensive zone, there’s straight line defending and physical imposition at times, and lots to think is perfectly fine, I just am skeptical of the pace of his game and the projectability of his offensive game. With his defensive game being a questionable side with regards to lateral gap control and structured rush, I just get the feeling he’s a defender gone before I’d be ready to take him, and I’ll snag a name like Olen Zellweger, Brent Johnson, or others in the 2nd round or later.
I'm sticking my neck out on Lukas Gustafsson. I just believe there's something there so, so much, even in a limited sample. I think there's value in finding players who maximize every minute they get, even if they only play 5 minutes, and Gustafsson did that with the Chicago Steel. He's got skill, great lateral mobility to close gaps, but will need to strengthen as he could get beaten wide physically more often than I'd like, but he was often involved. In fact, I tracked 5 games of his, and nobody was involved in more total blueline transitions than Gustafsson. He's a player I also believe didn't quite trust his skill with the puck as much as he could, as I found him gaining possession, surveying the ice, ignoring open space or close linemates, and firing a stretch pass that went for an icing. I just get the feeling that more experience and patience will take this guy a long way, and I'm almost positive he'll land on Team Scouching unless some team feels the same as me.

Tier 6

Zach Bolduc is a guy I’ve really tried with. I’ve tracked multiple games, watched a lot to see if I’m missing anything, and I just can’t see how he’s a first round selection, let alone a top 20 pick. He’s extremely passive defensively, a receiver of passes in the neutral zone rather than a breakout source, he chases play that pushes the envelope too far for me, and I just don’t see the 5v5 skill or potential for offensive production at a high enough level that he’s a guy I have ranked high. His production seemed to take off after Xavier Cormier came to town, who is a name I might bring to an NHL camp, but Bolduc had a tough year, and his data didn’t really show anything otherwise.
I've come around on Shai Buium recently. I think there's a solid raw package to work around that revolves around his skill level. His weight shifts with the puck are deceptive and can drive offensive play effectively, albeit infrequently. He's a work in progress, and I think he's a reasonable bet in the 3rd round or so, but I feel as though a team will make the bet much earlier than that. Bryce Montgomery also falls into this category to an extent. Love the raw fundamentals for a guy his size and curious to bet on.
Oliver Kapanen with a skating coach and major gains over the next few years could be very interesting. I love his smarts, quick skill moves, and off-puck offense, but projectability is a concern without improvements on his feet I think.
I can totally see why people may have Cole Jordan very high on their boards, and while I think he could be a top-40 player, I think that would require a major reprogramming of his style of play. At times, he's a wet blanket defensively, at others, he is definitely not. He's a great generator of pure speed, but doesn't pull it out very often, and his puck decisions can be hasty and inaccurate. Another long term project but I dig the potential.
Samu Salminen scores points, but watching my tape back, I don't know how he projects to the men's level at all without significant skating and intensity improvements. He's a great puck protector at low pace, and can battle through pressure with nice dual threat offense, but nothing really feels entirely projectable to me, which spooks me, even though he's scoring a ton.
Zack Ostapchuk is one of the last players I tracked a few games of, and I see real potential for the big, skilled north-south winger. He's creative, quick, crafty with complex pass vision, and physical if need be. I wouldn't be surprised to see a team jump up and snag him because "beeg", but it wouldn't be outlandish to me. As a mid round, projectable energy player with a bit of upside, he's a curious one for sure.
Kalle Ervasti is one I've been championing for a while, and while he's a work in progress, he does things for a defender that I don't see a ton of in this year's class. His feet are extremely active, he challenges puck carriers aggressively with skill and mobility, and his defensive transition results were excellent. With the puck, he's got a calm side, taking care of pucks well, but he can step up in the offensive end and get involved from time to time. He's a raw player who needs to work on his defensive zone play, but he's a good one if you need someone to bet on late.
Samuel Helenius just keeps dropping on my list over the course of the year, almost to the point where I think I have him too low, but I just don't know what he could be in the NHL outside of a bottom six centre if he fills out a bit. He's huge but not massive, and while his mobility is notable for someone his size, I still question how much you can extract out of him considering how inactive he has been in my tracking. Once in a while you see him bash pucks through traffic well, but far more often, it's hard to identify his impact at the Liiga level.
I saw Danila Klimovich at the U18s just like everyone else, and he could be an interesting pickup for teams looking for a triggerman with deceptive skill, but he's still a project to me.
Janis Moser being picked way ahead of this spot to the right team could very well be a possibility in my view. He's a 21 year old but after tracking him, you can clearly tell why he was a captain in the Swiss National League at that age. He's calm, poised, creative with his rush patterns, stable with his passing, with a nice shot and a bit of deception to step up from the blueline from time to time. I think there's some kind of NHL defender there, even if it's a low ceiling, but he should be some kind of player. His physical game may get exposed a bit on smaller ice, but his positional play, and intelligence with the puck seems to overcome that in my data.

Tier 7

I've got interesting feelings about this last group. I've seen flashes of stuff I like, but the entire package just might not be there right now.
Alexander Suvorov is a player I've had in the corner of my eye a lot. Caught him while tracking Dmitri Kuzmin and his near 30% INV% against Belarusian professional teams is notable, with a spot on the national team here and there in exhibition games. He's a crafty little bugger, but he's a ton of fun to watch. I may wait a year and see how he plays against better competition in the KHL, but I think there's value here and as a late round swing, he could be an interesting option.
David Gucciardi is... perplexing. On one hand, his skill offensively combined with his shot is quite lovely, and his neutral zone positioning and long reach closes out breakouts more often than many others. On the other hand, his physical pressure application is not great, he can take the foot off the gas for extended periods, and I just felt that his head wasn't quite in the game far too often. He'd carry pucks into traffic and pass pucks into no-man's land, but I still think there is an interesting set of fundamentals to build with if he's a later round option for your team.
I saw Wyatt Johnston in the U18, and I just don't reeeeeally know how to feel. I love the shot, he's got nice one-touch skill, but I haven't been nearly as taken with his game as a whole as many others. I've seen him in the first round on some boards, and I think that's a risk on a low-sample player that I'd let someone else take.
Luke Levandowski was a guy that was brought up to me privately and I just love the skill there is with this guy. He's raw, but produced well in high school, and you could see the wheels turning in the USHL with Chicago. He's quick on his feet, quick with his moves, and passes pucks with a ton of creativity. A nice low-risk bet on skill for sure.
On that note, Conner Roulette is a bit of a different case study, as I don't quite see the pace out of him that I see out of Levandowski, and Roulette's defensive game is... questionable... However, his skill and maneuverability is noteworthy, and his offensive creation metrics I tracked were great. I'm still skeptical of him as an NHL player due to his lack of involvement and palpably significant lean in the offensive direction, but there's something there.
The evasion under pressure that Evan Nause brings is definitely very good, but beyond that, I haven't seen much that really projects with him. His data across the games I tracked was not great, and while I saw what people are telling me to see that puts him significantly higher, the more I watch, the more I see outside of those things that need a lot of work. If he's gone by the 3rd round, that's okay with me, and while I think there's potential, I think you're really banking on future development.
Mikey Milne stuck out after good metrics in limited time last year, but I've loved the pure skill he brought this year. He's a pretty prototypical skilled offensive player who can attack the middle and play with creativity, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I didn't get the chance to track him, but his Pick224 data was great, and to my eye, he drove play well for Winnipeg.
I just had to put Dario Sidler on here. He was on The Watchlist for a few months, but after seeing him at the U18, and rewatching my tape of him, there's such a weird little hockey player there. On one hand, he's almost certainly not an NHL player, but on the other, I get the feeling he'll be a player that will continue to improve as he earns more ice time in the Swiss pro levels, and just keep getting better. By the time he's say, 25, could he be looking for an NHL contract after excellent offensive seasons in Switzerland? I could see it. He's a remarkable little skater on defense with great skill and an ability to complete passes that puts him ahead of many defenders tracked. He's basically a non-factor physically, but he tries, which is nice. He's rambunctious, but bounces off guys. His gap management will need to significantly improve as well, but he's just so dang fun, earned National League time with Zug, and if you're really, really patient, this could be a very fun pickup.

The Watchlist

Ah yes, here we are with The Watchlist. These guys are players where I don't see them ranked often, but they're players that have caught my eye for individual traits that might be worth putting on a list for camp invites or re-entry selections if they go undrafted.
Justin Ertel demolished the Maritime Junior A level, but he's big and creative. I don't really like the mobility a ton, even at that level, but he's got skill and vision.
Kyle Masters, Theo Angesved, Jonathan Myrenberg, Tyson Galloway, Ivan Zivlak and Jeremy Hanzel are all defenders who can skate, but have major holes elsewhere. For Masters, Angesved and Hanzel, they get exposed defensively and have awareness issues positionally, but they're so dang mobile. Galloway, Myrenberg and Zivlak are all nice skaters, but I want to see more... oomph out of them. Galloway's offensive puck management is just... poor. Zivlak's is wildly inconsistent and doesn't work off his strengths super well, and Myrenberg is another inconsistent one but strikes arguably the best balance between offense and defense, but I just want to see a bit more in the future.
Yeah, Suchkov and Bashkirov are still here. I like them both. Maybe not draftables, even if Suchkov is a Team Scouching member, but camp invites or future ELC candidates? Heck year.
Josh Doan is in here. He's a D+1 playing with Chicago, and I'm not sure I buy as much hype as I've seen out there on him, but I like his physical strength and willingness to battle through pressure, with a side of finishing ability. He's a curious one that I'm sure will be drafted way, way before I'd pick him, but it also just feels like teams are going to value him and invest heavily into him due to his style of play and who fathered him, so maybe he'll be an NHLer after all.
Libor Nemec is a very interesting one I caught onto later on this year. A really young Slovakian playing with Lukko's powerhouse junior team, he's a big kid with slippery skill and a great knack for the ol' "get your stick on the puck below the goal line and free it up in front of the net" kind of thing. His skating needs some work, but seems heavily improved from what I saw of him in 2019-20. I doubt he's picked, but he's here so I don't forget he exists next year.
Jakub Altrichter go zoom zoom brr brr deng and I like the data, so here he is. Not analytical, I know, but if you're reading this far, you can be rewarded with a little silliness.
Valdemar Johansson is a player I'm convinced would be on more radars if the J20 year wasn't canceled. He was just getting started after earning a promotion from the J18 level, and looked rock solid with skill, mobility, and a wicked shot. Another player I probably wouldn't draft, but definitely one I'm keeping an eye on for next year. Theo Jacobsson is right up that alley as well, with the positional smarts and quick hands he brings, but there ain't much beyond that just yet.
I just can't shake the feeling I have with Evan Werner. I think there's something there with time. He's got Cole Caufield-esque vibes on the ice with how shifty and quick he is on his edges, being deceptive with his mobility and skill, and can absolutely blast a puck into the net. He lead his NAHL team in goal scoring, and was the most productive draft eligible NAHLer in a big sample. I know that may not sound like much, and we're talking about Watchlist guys, but Kyle Kukkonen is a more highly regarded player who not only scored at a lower rate, but his lack of pace and speed seemed to get exposed with a -8 in 19 games. Yes, plus/minus is a terrible evaluatory stat, but it is illuminating when no other player on the Minot Minotauros quite matched that pace of allowing more goals than his line scored. I want to see Werner in the USHL at least, but I'm curious.

That's it. I'm probably extremely wrong, but sometimes that happens. I think of picking prospects like picking stocks. Different investors and funds may have wildly different philosophies, they may find success, but there are still strong fundamentals you can explore and try to make the best decisions possible. Just like stocks, there's no such thing as the perfect player, no matter how much research you do. Things will happen outside the player's control that will affect their trajectory and it's important to be mindful of that. I still stand firmly behind my work, and I hope you all have enjoyed what I've put out over the last season.

Thank you so, so much to any and all of you for watching, listening and reading my content. There's lots planned for 2021-22, so don't go too far. To my Patrons and YouTube Members, thank you all so much for your financial support. I've got some beeg ideas for the platform and I can't wait to get them off the ground. For some reason, this is the work I've latched onto, but it means the world to have an audience that not only likes what I do, but is willing to step up and discuss where they may disagree with me in a civil way. It's all greatly appreciated, and I'm looking forward to whatever is coming in the future.

All the best, be well, get that vaccine, and hopefully I'll be able to actually get out there and meet some of you in person one day.

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