2021 Draft

[NWTHabsFan]

Hockey Canada named its skaters for the U18s that start later this month, on April 26, in Texas. A much more stacked team than usual since they are not competing with CHL playoffs as per usual. Heck, it is great news for the OHL kids as at least they get to play meaningful hockey, although there might be some serious rust for those that have not gone overseas. No kids picked from the Q, which might be mainly because of the length of time away from their league given the double quarantine impacts. The major omission would be L’Heureux, as Bolduc is injured and Bourgault aged out as a 2002 born.

Interesting to see the team having two under-agers. In addition, Zhilkin is a December 2003 born, so a 2022 draft eligible but not technically underaged. Shane Wright is a 2004 and Connor Bedard is 2005. Both are exceptional status kids, so not a huge surprise that Hockey Canada is giving them an early taste.

Sweden should have a very strong team and the USA is always strong due to the NTDP team having played together for two straight years by the time the IIHF U18s are held.

TSN should announce its coverage soon, as it holds the tv rights for Hockey Canada events.

[NWTHabsFan]

The answer as to why no players from the Q at the U18s.

[folatre]

That is interesting. Thanks, NW.

You probably saw Pronman's latest mock draft/draft rankings. I am not sure which it is since some draft pundits say they order the kids in terms of where they think they go in the draft, although in the case of Pronman I would say he is ranking them based on who he believes projects as the better player.

Your boy Guenther is #1. The remainder of the top 10 is: Hughes, Power, Beniers, Johnson, Lucius, Eklund, Clarke, Chibrikov, Wallsetdt.

Obviously at this stage of the process, I would surely think Timmins is honing in on kids likely to be available in the 15-25 range.

[NWTHabsFan]

Apr 2, 2021 20:57:43 GMT -5 folatre said:

That is interesting. Thanks, NW.

You probably saw Pronman's latest mock draft/draft rankings. I am not sure which it is since some draft pundits say they order the kids in terms of where they think they go in the draft, although in the case of Pronman I would say he is ranking them based on who he believes projects as the better player.

Your boy Guenther is #1. The remainder of the top 10 is: Hughes, Power, Beniers, Johnson, Lucius, Eklund, Clarke, Chibrikov, Wallsetdt.

Obviously at this stage of the process, I would surely think Timmins is honing in on kids likely to be available in the 15-25 range.

Guenther is a bust lol. The Oil Kings scored nine unanswered against Red Deer last night and he did not get a point.

[NWTHabsFan]

Today is the final day of the Minnesota state hockey championships for the Class A (smaller) and Class AA schools. A normally packed Xcel Centre is very quiet for this version. This tourney is the most attended and watched of high school state championships in the country. Given the Americans’ love of football, baseball and basketball, that s something.

Why am I talking MN high school hockey? You know why. TT loves to pick kids from there and Skilly and folatre are both anxiously awaiting the answer to who is the next biggest MN high school kid that Timmins will pick....lol.

I have talked about Scott Morrow out of Shattuck’s on the prep circuit, but the state high school league has a number of names that could hear their names from the mid rounds onwards.

Eden Prairie is in the AA finals today and are lead by forward Carter Batchelder and D Luke Mittelstadt. They beat Maple Grove in the semis in OT last night, a team with stud forward Kyle Kukkonen who has the highest ppg in the state and is second in overall points. Maple Grove Defender Henry Nelson is also a guy that should get drafted as a very good two way D.

Other names include two way D Joe Palodichuk from Hill-Murray and D Jack Peart from Grand Rapids. All six of those guys are Mr. Hockey finalists.

F Brody Lamb lead the state in scoring and scored six goals in his Class A quarter finals. He plays for the state A championship later today.

Long live the State of Hockey.

[NWTHabsFan]

TSN posted its broadcast schedule for the IIHF U18s. They will show all of Canada’s preliminary round games and also an extra Sweden preliminary game. They will also show two quarter final games, both semis, and the bronze and gold medal games. It is always a great pre-draft event as a best-vs-best event just before the draft. Lots of the top 2021 kids will be there as well as a handful of the exciting under-agers from the promising 2022 and 2023 drafts. The event does exclude a few 2021 draft eligible prospects as it is based on the 2003 birth year, so kids with late 2002 birthdates eligible for the NHL draft will have aged out of this year’s event (Sept 16 - Dec 31).

TSN coverage starts on Tuesday, April 27 in just over two weeks.

[GNick99]

Apr 11, 2021 10:45:39 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

TSN posted its broadcast schedule for the IIHF U18s. They will show all of Canada’s preliminary round games and also an extra Sweden preliminary game. They will also show two quarter final games, both semis, and the bronze and gold medal games. It is always a great pre-draft event as a best-vs-best event just before the draft. Lots of the top 2021 kids will be there as well as a handful of the exciting under-agers from the promising 2022 and 2023 drafts. The event does exclude a few 2021 draft eligible prospects as it is based on the 2003 birth year, so kids with late 2002 birthdates eligible for the NHL draft will have aged out of this year’s event (Sept 16 - Dec 31).

TSN coverage starts on Tuesday, April 27 in just over two weeks.

That's good because I haven't watched any prospects this year.

[NWTHabsFan]

As time has passed, the cancellation of the OHL season has seemed more and more likely given the worsening health situation in Ontario. It is finally official. Quite a blow for the largest supplier of drafted kids (about 20% per their news release). The top end kids like McTavish, Clarke, Pinelli, and Othmann have all played some games in Europe and will get some more at the U18s, but scores more have gone a long time between meaningful game action. Scouts will have watched them for a number of years leading up to their draft year, but have they developed further, have they plateaued, etc? It will be interesting to see how this plays out on draft day as there are lots of OHL kids that will get drafted. The chances of some steals and some misses do increase with a missed development year.

[GNick99]

Bob Mckenzie had his mid season rankings on yesterday. He had Oil King Guenthier as #2 prospect. Still has Owen Power # 1

[NWTHabsFan]

One WHL kid I probably have not talked enough about is Kamloops Blazer forward, Logan Stankoven. If you have not heard of him yet nor have seen him play, he will be part of the exciting Team Canada at the U18s that start next week. He is undersized, but man does he have an elite wrister and some pretty god hockey IQ. He is rated as a mid to late first rounder on most lists except for Bobby Mac’s recent list where he comes in at 44.

Here are some highlights from his rookie season last year.

Speaking of Kamloops, they are playing very well and score a lot. One guy who has picked his game up since Stankoven has left to quarantine for the U18s is 2023 draft eligible Connor Levis. A big kid from BC, he is part of a really exciting quartet of forwards for the Dub in 2023: Connor Bedard (exceptional status, double under-ager at U18s, early #1 pick favourite with Michkov - also at U18s) the two Sasky boys Yager and Heidt, and aforementioned Connor Levis. When you also add in Danielson, Lind and Ziemmer, that is a lot of talent up front from the league normally known for its D and goalies. Let’s hope rinks open up next season so I can see a few of the lads live when they join the league for their rookie season (other than Bedard, who quite clearly is there already).

And folatre, I talked about the Dub and did not mention the Oil Kings or Guenther once (at least until now).

[NWTHabsFan]

Apr 20, 2021 17:45:10 GMT -5 GNick99 said:

Bob Mckenzie had his mid season rankings on yesterday. He had Oil King Guenthier as #2 prospect. Still has Owen Power # 1

In case you missed it (ICYMI), here are links to his top 100 list and his show on the top 32...I keep forgetting Seattle is picking this draft and in third spot.

[GNick99]

Apr 21, 2021 12:26:00 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

One WHL kid I probably have not talked enough about is Kamloops Blazer forward, Logan Stankoven. If you have not heard of him yet nor have seen him play, he will be part of the exciting Team Canada at the U18s that start next week. He is undersized, but man does he have an elite wrister and some pretty god hockey IQ. He is rated as a mid to late first rounder on most lists except for Bobby Mac’s recent list where he comes in at 44.

Here are some highlights from his rookie season last year.

Speaking of Kamloops, they are playing very well and score a lot. One guy who has picked his game up since Stankoven has left to quarantine for the U18s is 2023 draft eligible Connor Levis. A big kid from BC, he is part of a really exciting quartet of forwards for the Dub in 2023: Connor Bedard (exceptional status, double under-ager at U18s, early #1 pick favourite with Michkov - also at U18s) the two Sasky boys Yager and Heidt, and aforementioned Connor Levis. When you also add in Danielson, Lind and Ziemmer, that is a lot of talent up front from the league normally known for its D and goalies. Let’s hope rinks open up next season so I can see a few of the lads live when they join the league for their rookie season (other than Bedard, who quite clearly is there already).

And folatre, I talked about the Dub and did not mention the Oil Kings or Guenther once (at least until now).

Certainly has the stats. We don't need small skill but if he can be another Debrincat, I say pick him.

[NWTHabsFan]

The IIHF U18s start today in Texas. Canada’s first game is tomorrow. Canada will be without sniper Cole Sillinger due to COVID protocols, so they wil only have 13 forwards for the tourney.

Here is TSN’s broadcast schedule for the event.

Tues April 27 9pm ET SWE vs CAN TSN1
Wednesday April 28 9pm ET CAN vs LAT TSN1
Friday April 30 9pm ET SUI vs CAN TSN5
Saturday May 1 5pm ET LAT vs SWE TSN2
Saturday May 1 9pm ET CAN vs BLR TSN4

Monday May 3 2pm ET Quarterfinal TSN4
Monday May 3 9pm ET Quarterfinal TSN1

Wednesday May 5 5pm ET Semifinal TSN1
Wednesday May 5 9pm ET Semifinal TSN1

Thursday May 6 5pm ET Bronze medal TSN3
Thursday May 6 9pm ET Gold medal TSN3

Canada’s group has CAN, SWE, SUI, BLR, LAT
The other group is a beast with USA, RUS, FIN, CZE, GER

[NWTHabsFan]

Team Canada make their debut tonight against Sweden, who won their opener 5-1 yesterday against Belarus. Tonight’s game features the top two teams in Canada’s group, so it will be key for playoff seeding and some group bragging rights. Sweden are the defending U18 champs. Lots of expected first rounders from 2021 on display tonight, and both countries have a few other expected first rounder that are no longer eligible due to late 2002 birthdays: Power, Johnston, Eklund, Wallstedt etc. Oh yeah, and the expected first overall picks from 2022 and 2023 will be playing for Canada too, in Shane Wright (team captain) and Connor Bedard.

The craziest game on opening day was the highly anticipated USA-RUS battle. The Americans ran up a 5-1 lead early in the second only to lose 7-6 in OT. The USA are missing a few key players though. Top defender Luke Hughes is out with an ankle/foot injury, and key forwards Lucius, Boucher and Gasseau, and steady defender Martin all seem to have been dropped off the lineup due to COVID protocols. Russia got goals from their top forwards expected to go in the next three drafts: Chibrikov (2021 and team captain), Miroshnichenko (2022), and Michkov (2023).

[NWTHabsFan]

Lineups for tonight.

[folatre]

The draft lottery is June 2. However, I trust at this point in time that Montreal will not participating in that event.

[NWTHabsFan]

Day 2 of the U18s was a wild one too. The marquee matchup between CAN and SWE was a very unexpected blowout. Canada’s depth and talent is quite something. Finland gave the Russians some of their own medicine scoring twice with under three to play to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 in a shootout. Svechkov scored twice for the Russians but also had two penalties in OT. The no-name Germans battled the USA hard to a 5-3 win for the Americans. Defender Gallagher lead the way with 2 PP goals. And the upstart Belarus team blew out the Swiss 7-1 in another game that many expected to be a close one.

Belarus was lead by a three goal performance from Danila Klimovich. He now leads the tourney with four goals in two games. It won’t last, but this is a guy who was not on most scout’s radars, so this tournament is a bit of a coming out party for him so far. One of the other Belarus goals was a lacrosse style goal, so these kids are playing loose and having fun. If they keep this up, they should get third in Canada’s group ahead of SUI and LAT.

Speaking of Latvia, that is Canada’s next opponent tonight. Game time is 9pm ET on TSN.

Oh yeah, if this is what rust after 14 months between games looks like for Shane Wright...wowza. That kid can shoot and play.

[NWTHabsFan]

A fun story. The international man of mystery, Belarus’ Danila Klimovich #20. Seems to have a favourite spot on the ice.

[NWTHabsFan]

Only two games yesterday, but both were good in their own way. Finland kept up its trend of exciting comebacks against the Czechs, winning 6-5 in a wild one. With about 8 to play, the Czechs held a 5-3 lead when Finland started to claw back with some PPs. The comeback was lead by highly regarded sniper Samu Tuomaala who had two goals and an assist in that stretch, including the winner with 17 seconds left. Those kind of clutch performances help boost draft stock with scouts, so let’s see how he continues to do this tourney. So far, the Finnish games have been two wild ones. This is a U18 tourney, so although these are the best in the world, they still are teenagers prone to mistakes and emotional ups and downs. It makes things more unpredictable and fun.

On that subject, the other game on the docket looked like a laugher on paper. But, someone forgot to tell Latvia to roll over and give Canada the two points without a fight. The Latvians played their heart out. Their goalie made 48 saves and had the game of his life. They constantly clogged up in front of the net and life tough for Canada with constant puck pressure. Canada sat out Shane Wright and Corson Ceulemans for non-COVID precautionary reasons (likely resting slight aches). Unlike other weaker teams that just play five guys back in front of the net, as the game wore on the Latvians gained more confidence and started to press the game forward too. Canada lacked its usual intensity and the Latvians fed off it. In the end Canada prevailed 4-2 thanks to a last minute PP goal from McTavish. He was good last night with a 2g 1a night. Logan Stankoven was a buzzbomb all night too, working hard in all zones and scoring one of Canada’s goals. Guenther had the other. Gaudreau was in net for Canada, and made some great saves to keep the pressing Latvians at bay, especially in the second half. The true star was 17 Latvian goalie Karlis Meszargs, who stood on his head and looked absolutely heartbroken at the end when they came up short. It is fun to see guys come out of “nowhere” with big performances in these international tournaments.

Canada has the day off today, but there are four other games in play today. All teams have played two games so far, so half way through the preliminary round for playoff round seeding.

[GNick99]

Apr 27, 2021 20:18:16 GMT -5 folatre said:

The draft lottery is June 2. However, I trust at this point in time that Montreal will not participating in that event.

You never know way things are going

[NWTHabsFan]

Day 3 in the books, and the legends of young men grow.

Belarus won 6-2 over a tired Latvia with Klimovich scoring 2 more goals. All six of his goals have been PP goals.

Russia had a strong game against Germany and prevailed 5-1. The star of the night was 16 year old Matvei Michkov with four stinking goals! He is a 16 year old eligible for the 2023 draft, so he is definitely giving Bedard a bit of “hold my beer” performances. Top 2021 eligibles Chibrikov and Svechkov are likely solidifying their first round status with their steady play.

The Czechs were better than the USA for most of the game, but goalie Mbereko was the star and kept them in it. 2022 defender Hutson won it for the Americans in the shootout 2-1. Pastujov with the tying goal in the third. I know the Americans are always gold medal favourites with their NTDP team culminating two years together with this tourney, but I just don’t think they have the chops to get a medal this year. Missing Hughes and Lucius is huge for a team without a lot of depth in top end talent.

Sweden continues to generally underachieve. They were outplayed by the Swiss for over a period, and then the Swiss got into major penalty trouble. All 3 Swedish goals were on the PP in a 3-1 win. Sweden is better than they have shown so far.

Canada faces Switzerland tonight. The Finns play Germany. The Finns could actually win the group of death with a win tonight and tomorrow against the USA.

Here are Michkov’s first three goals. A lacrosse goal, and goal mouth scramble and a between the legs shot. I have watched him a fair bit this season as he plays with Gordin on SKA1946. He is legit, and only 16.

[NWTHabsFan]

As much as I have bemoaning the surprising play of the Swedes, here are three of their top draft eligibles connecting on a nice PP goal.

Edvinsson to Lysell to Dower Nilsson.

[NWTHabsFan]

Finland totally blowing Germany out of the preliminary round.

Off to USHL playoffs, here are two guys I like for the draft. Broz and Peart (also Mr. Hockey from Minn...just saying).

[GNick99]

Apr 30, 2021 11:07:03 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

As much as I have bemoaning the surprising play of the Swedes, here are three of their top draft eligibles connecting on a nice PP goal.

Edvinsson to Lysell to Dower Nilsson.

We haven't done much drafting Swedes. If Norlinder don't live up to the hype, I probably wouldn't go there again.

[NWTHabsFan]

Two blowouts last night in the U18s. Finland never took the foot off against Germany in a huge 10-0 pounding. Lots of offensive contributors in this one, including some of their usual suspects. Canada dominated the Swiss 7-0 and made them pay for their indiscipline with five of those goals coming on the PP. Francesco Pinelli was the star with three goals and an assist. Milic made 11 saves for the shutout.

Final day of the preliminary round today. The FIN-USA game has first place implications. CAN-BLR should be a good test for Canada, who can clinch with at least one point tonight. This will be Canada’s first look at goal scoring wizard Danila Klimovich. Don’t take penalties or if you do, watch for him on the left circle for the Ovi one-timer. Just saying.

[NWTHabsFan]

Preliminary play wrapped up yesterday at the U18s. Michkov scored another three goals as part of Russia’s 11-1 blowout of the Czechs. He now has 9 goals and is tied for second in U18 history for most goals from a U17 player. Chibrikov and Svechkov in on the rout as well. Sweden put their best effort forward with a 7-0 win over winless Latvia. The Finns and Americans were part of another crazy thriller. The USA tied in from Gallagher with 3 seconds left and won it in OT from Pastujov’s second of the night. The Finns still win the group. Canada held off the pesky Belarus boys with a 5-2 to win their group. Shane Wright was back after missing two games and scored a pair, as did Mason McTavish. McTavish has had a good tournament and annoys me a bit since he has likely played himself out of our pick.

Quarter final matches are set for Monday.

RUS-BLR
CAN-CZE
FIN-SUI
SWE-USA

It looks like TSN will show the Canada and the USA game. On paper, the USA Sweden game looks like the best matchup. A bit of a toss up for me.

Here is Pastujov’s OT winner. He has good hands but he definitely is not a burner out there.

[NWTHabsFan]

TSN is showing two of the four quarterfinal games today.

Canada vs Czech Republic 4pm ET TSN1/4

Sweden vs USA 9pm ET TSN1

Players to watch as follows:

Canada: Wright (2022), McTavish, Stankoven, Clarke, Bedard (2023), Pinelli, Guenther
Czech Republic: Svozil, Tichacek, Jiricek (2022)
Sweden: Lysell, Edvinsson, Strömgren, Rosén, Robertsson
USA: Pastujov, Behrens, Hutson (2022), Savage

[NWTHabsFan]

And then there were four...and the right four in my opinion. Canada, Russia, Finland and Sweden all advanced to the semi finals with wins yesterday.

For Canada, it was a case of suspect Czech goaltending and the Connor Bedard show. The 15 year old had his coming out party with a very impressive five point night with two goals and three nice assists. With eight different goal scorers, the final was a 10-3 rout. That depth of talent up front was just too much for the Czechs.

Belarus were the storybook team to this point, but the Russian depth ended up being too much. Russia jumped out ahead and Belarus clawed their way back to within one, as it was 3-2 after two. The Russian skill up front was just too much and they prevailed 5-2 in the end. Michkov scored his 10th of the tourney. The record is 14, from two guys named Ovechkin and Caufield.

The Swiss played a very tight and good game with the Finns, but in the end Finland found just enough offence to escape with the 2-0 victory. Goals from Salminen and exciting puck moving defender Heimosalmi were the difference against the Swiss, who struggled to score all tournament.

The matchup that most were looking forward to was a good one, but maybe not the nail biter that many imagined. Both the USA and Sweden have had their share of ups and downs over the last week, but this was a chance to park that and get a spot to battle for medals. In the end, it was really solid goaltending from Lindbom and two consecutive beauty goals from Lysell that converted a tight 1-1 game into a 3-1 game. Lysell’s first goal came under a minute after Pastujov had scored on the PP to give the Americans a huge boost in front of their home crowd, only to see the moment tilt the other way for most of the rest of the game. Sweden played a solid team defensive game and full marks on their win. They get a rematch with Canada now and hope to erase all the memories of that 12-1 embarrassment in the preliminary round. For the USA, it will be the first time since 2003 that they don’t get a medal. Quite an impressive run for the NTDP.

Semi finals are set for tomorrow.

Canada vs Sweden 5:00pm ET TSN

Russia vs Finland 9:00pm ET TSN

Players to watch for the new teams you may not have seen yet:

Finland: Tuomaala, Koivunen, Heimosalmi, Salminen, Lambert (2022)

Russia: Michkov (2023), Miroshnichenko (2022), Chibrikov, Poltapov, Yurov (2022), Svechkov

[NWTHabsFan]

U18s semifinals today.

CAN-SWE @ 5 ET
RUS-FIN @ 9 ET

With a Habs game in between, it can be a full shift in the man cave lol.

[NWTHabsFan]

Canada books its first gold medal game spot since 2013. They outplayed Sweden, but really blew open a 2-1 game in the third with total domination. Six unanswered goals in that period to rout Sweden for the second time. Shots were something like 28-3 in the period. Sweden’s only goal was a nice snipe in the second by Rosén on a 5 on 3. The kids were more than alright. Shane Wright had four points and Connor Bedard had the hat trick.

Bring on Russia (or Finland). Second semi is tonight.