DBTB –
Welcome to NHL Draft Day. Tonight 32 kids will have their dream come true, which is amazing and something to celebrated, no matter what happens after tonight. As my kids get older and I see how their love for their favorite sports manifests itself, how easy it is to be distracted, how much work they’re willing to put in, how excited they get on the way to the games, practices, camps and fields, I have an even greater respect what these kids go through to be considered as 1st round draft choices in their chosen sport. So I tip my cap to every one of them, their coaches, teammates, families and friends. Having had teammates who played in the show, won Cups and all manner of titles from juniors to college to the NHL, it never struck me that much because I was in the middle of it. But now, able to look from afar to have some perspective on it, it’s a pretty amazing feat.
Sorry for being sappy!
So, as I type this on Thursday night, less than 24 hours before the Draft gets underway, there are still a LOT of moving parts. Obviously, we’ve already discussed the Peterka trade to death. I felt like it had been coming for a long time, but it arrived and now it’s in the rearview. I do hope it works out for the best for our Sabres as well as for Peterka and his family. We still have a number of assets floating around the rumor mill…Jack Quinn, Alex Tuch, Bo Byram, Matty Samuelsson, the #9 overall pick, assorted prospects. There’s talk that some, none or all could move by Saturday afternoon. Speculation is out there that the Sabres could move up, down, or out of the 1st round entirely. Who knows? Either way, it’s very interesting.
Some rumors swirl around the Islanders wanting to get back into the Top 10. Might the Sabres bite on that? Is #9 low enough to get the players the Islanders want (James Hagens, presumably)? Who knows? Utah is reportedly shopping #4. Or they could select Brady Martin, as some rumors suggest! Or someone else entirely. What’s real? What’s the Matrix? No one knows. If Utah passes, Boston seems the obvious candidate to select Martin at #7. Unless they trade their pick!
Honestly, I have no idea who the Sabres might take. From 2-11, the players could go in just about any order. And someone could go off the Board entirely to jump on Roger McQueen, Kashawk Aitchison, or Lynden Lakovic, and I would not be the least bit surprised. If the Sabres do trade down…I would target Jack Nesbitt. He’s a favorite of mine, and he could be one of those players who we say in 5 years ‘how did that guy not go higher in the Draft?’
As for my Board, do not mistake it for a Mock Draft. For those interested in such exercises, my latest and final Mock Draft is up on DBTB for your reading pleasure. This, instead, are my personal rankings. Where I would place players if I were a Head of Scouting or GM or whatever. So you can laugh at my rankings when the actual Draft happens, mock them in a year, 5 or even 10 years from now! The Internet is forever! For example, here’s the top of my Big Board from 2020:
TIER I:
- Alexis LaFreniere, LW, QMJHL
- Quinton Byfield, C, OHL
- Lucas Raymond, W, SWE
- Tim Stutzle, C/LW, GER
- Jamie Drysdale, RHD, OHL
- Jack Quinn, RW, OHL
- Marco Rossi, C/W, OHL
- Connor Zary, C, WHL
- Noel Gunler, W, SWE
- Alexander Holtz, W, SWE
- Anton Lundell, C, FIN
- Rodion Amirov, RW, RUS
- Cole Perfetti, W, OHL
- Jake Sanderson, LHD, US NTDP
- Slava Askarov, G, RUS
- Dylan Holloway, C/W, NCAA
- Lukas Reichel, W, GER
- Brendan Brisson, C, USHL
- Thomas Bordeleau, C, US NTDP
- Seth Jarvis, RW, WHL
Some hits and some misses there, eh? I had Peterka down at #37, almost right where he was chosen. And I had some ugly misses: Alex LaFerriere of the Kings at #120. Andrei Nikishin, he of the ‘best defenseman not in the NHL’ fame, of the Canes at #145! Mason Lohrei of the Bruins at #162 (yikes!), and Sabre legend Devon Levi all the way down at #217! Tough breaks. So remember to use this Board in moderation…I rarely know what I’m talking about!
As for how I make these seemingly flip decisions? I focus primarily on elite traits. Size, speed, shot, strength, smarts…these are what elevates players on my list. Then, skill sets. Specifically, if the skill set is something that my team requires, something that is missing from their current prospect pool. I try to be as unspecific as I can, but somehow, it always ends up being influenced by where the Sabres are in one way or another. Positional value does have a small role as well, as does level of competition. But for the most part, it’s a projection. Sometimes, I hit it…other times, I am way OFF! So be warned!
One other item: if a player has two stars next to their name, that’s an over-ager. Meaning they were eligible for last year’s Draft (or one prior to that) but did not get drafted. Just to clear up any confusion.
Now, sit back and relax and enjoy some good old fashioned Draft prognostication. Thanks everyone for reading and look forward to Night One of the Draft. Woo…ha, Sabres on the warpath, Woo…ha…
TOP 150 BIG BOARD:
#1: Mike Misa, 6’0 C, OHL
#2: Caleb Desnoyers, 6’2 C, QMJHL
#3: James Hagens, 5’10 C/W, NCAA
#4: Porter Martone, 6’3 RW, OHL
#5: Matthew Schaefer, 6’1 LHD, OHL
#6: Anton Frondell, 6’1 C, SWE
#7: Carter Bear, 6’1 LW, WHL
#8: Radim Mrtek, 6’6 RHD, WHL
#9: Viktor Eklund, 5’11 LW, SWE
#10: Brady Martin, 6’0 C, OHL
#11: Jake O’Brien, 6’2 C, OHL
#12: Jack Nesbitt, 6’4 C, OHL
#13: Cullen Potter, 5’10 LW, NCAA
#14: Roger McQueen, 6’5 C, WHL
#15: Sasha Boumedienne, 6’2 LHD, NCAA
#16: Logan Hensler, 6’2 RHD, NCAA
#17: Ryker Lee, 6’0 C, US HS
#18: Bill Zonnon, 6’3 C/RW, QMJHL
#19: Vaclav Nesterasil, 6’4 RW, USHL
#20: Kashawn Aitchison, 6’2 LHD, OHL
#21: Kurban Limatov, 6’4 LHD, RUS
#22: Lynden Lakovic, 6’4 W, WHL
#23: Braeden Cootes, 5’11 C, WHL
#24: Jackson Smith, 6’4 LHD, WHL
#25: Ben Kindel, 5’11 C/W, WHL
#26: Blake Fiddler, 6’4 RHD, WHL
#27: Cole Reschny, 5’10 C/W, WHL
#28: Alex Zharovsky, 6’1 RW, RUS
#29: Milton Gastrin, 6’2 C, SWE
#30: Jacob Rombach, 6’6 LHD, USHL
#31: Semyon Frolov, 6’3 G, RUS
#32: Carter Amico, 6’6 RHD, US NTDP
#33: Cole McKinney, 6’0 C, US NTDP
#34: Ed Genbourg, 6’2 W, SWE
#35: Josh Ravensbergen, 6’4 G, WHL
#36: Theo Stockselius, 6’2 C/W, SWE
#37: Justin Carbonneau, 6’1 LW, QMJHL
#38: Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, 6’3 RW, SWE
#39: Danill Prokhorov, 6’6 RW, RUS
#40: Malcolm Spence, 6’1 LW, OHL
#41: Max Psenicka, 6’4 RHD, CZE
#42: Will Horcoff, 6’5 W, NCAA
#43: Henry Bruzustewicz, 6’2 RHD, OHL
#44: Peyton Kettles, 6’5 RHD, WHL
#45: Shane Vanshagi, 6’3 C, NCAA
#46: Erik Nilson, 6’0 C, SWE
#47: Malte Vaas, 6’2 LHD, SWE
#48: David Bedkowsky, 6’5 RHD, OHL
#49: Cam Reid, 6’0 LHD, OHL
#50: Will Moore, 6’2 C, US NTDP
#51: Michal Pradel, 6’4 G, SVK
#52: Gus Hillstrom, 6’2 C, SWE
#53: Jack Murtaugh, 6’0 C, US NTDP
#54: Mason West, 6’6 RW, US HS
#55: Nathan Behm, 6’2 RW, WHL
#56: Matthew Gard, 6’5 LW, WHL
#57: Filip Ekberg, 5’10 LW, OHL
#58: Simon Wang, 6’6 LHD, OJHL
#59: Lasse Boelius, 6’1 LHD, FIN
#60: Tomas Pobezal, 5’11 C, SVK
#61: Tyler Hopkins, 6’1 C, OHL
#62: Carlos Handel, 6’1 RHD, QMJHL
#63: Atte Joki, 6’2 C, FIN
#64: Vojtech Cinar, 6’1 LW, CZE
#65: Tomas Poletin, 6’0 LW, FIN
#66: Pyotr Andreyanov, 6’0 G, RUS
#67: Hayden Paupanekis, 6’4 C/W, WHL
#68: David Lewandowski, 6’1 C/W, WHL
#69: Jan Chovan, 6’2 C, FIN
#70: Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, 6’0 LHD, NCAA
#71: Jack Ivankovic, 6’0 G, OHL
#72: Mikkel Eriksen, 6’0 C, NWY
#73: Michel Svrcek, 5’10 C, SWE
#74: Brady Peddle, 6’3 LHD, USHL
#75: Cooper Simpson, 6’1 W, US HS
#76: Adam Benak, 5’8 C, USHL
#77: Bogdan Pestretsov, 6’3 LHD, RUS
#78: Melvin Novotny, 6’1 LW, SWE
#79: Matous Kucharcik, 6’4 C, CZE
#80: Ben Kevan, 5’11 C, USHL
#81: Mace’o Phillips, 6’5 LHD, US NTDP
#82: ** Kristian Epperson, 6’1 LW, OHL
#83: Theo Hallsqvith, 6’2 RHD, SWE
#84: Sean Barnhill, 6’5 RHD, USHL
#85: Samuel Meloche, 6’3 G, QMJHL
#86: ** Bruno Idzan, 6’1 W, USHL
#87: Max Westergard, 5’11 LW, SWE
#88: Mason Moe, 6’1 C, USHL
#89: Ethan Czata, 6’1 C, OHL
#90: Max Agafonov, 6’2 RHD, RUS
#91: Aiden Lane, 6’1 RW, CCHL
#92: Tinus Klobar, 6’4 C/W, SWE
#93: Teddy Mutryn, 6’1 C, USHL
#94: Kieren Dervin, 6’2 C, CCHL
#95: Danill Skvortsov, 6’4 LHD, OHL
#96: Alexander Medvedev, 6’1 G, OHL
#97: Artyom Gonchar, 6’0 LHD, RUS
#98: Lucas Beckman, 6’2 G, QMJHL
#99: Conrad Fondrik, 6’0 C, US NTDP
#100: Mads Klyvo, 6’2 LW, SWE
#101: Stepan Hoch, 6’4 LW, CZE
#102: Viktor Klingsell, 5’10 W, SWE
#103: Mateo Nobert, 6’0 C, QMJHL
#104: Edison Engle, 6’2 LHD, USHL
#105: Ayrtom Vilchinsky, 6’6 LHD, RUS
#106: ** Charlie Cerrato, 6’0 LW, NCAA
#107: Noah Read, 6’0 LW, OHL
#108: Will Reynolds, 6’3 LHD, QMJHL
#109: Will Belle, 6’4 W, US NTDP
#110: ** Aiden Park, 6’1 C, WHL
#111: Eduard Bondar, 6’5 RHD, QMJHL
#112: Alex Huang, 6’0 RHD, QMJHL
#113: ** Francesco Dell’Elce, 6’1 LHD, NCAA
#114: Kirill Yemelyanov, 6’0 C, RUS
#115: Linus Funck, 6’3 RHD, SWE
#116: Owen Griffin, 5’10 C, OHL
#117: Carter Klippenstein, 6’3 C, WHL
#118: ** Asanali Sarkenov, 6’4 RW, WHL
#119: Luke Vlooswyk, 6’4 RHD, WHL
#120: Tommy Lafreniere, 6’1 C, WHL
#121: Everett Baldwin, 6’0 RHD, US HS
#122: Roman Baushov, 6’6 RHD, RUS
#123: ** Sam Laurila, 6’1 LHD, USHL
#124: Liam Pettersson, 6’2 LHD, SWE
#125: Jasper Kuhta, 6’3 C, FIN
#126: ** Andrei Trofimov, 6’2 G, RUS
#127: Dimitri Iseyev, 5’9 C/W, RUS
#128: Shawn Carrier, 5’10 C/LW, QMJHL
#129: Matthew Grimes, 6’1 LHD, USHL
#130: ** David Granberg, 6’2 C, SWE
#131: ** Roman Luttsev, 6’1 C, RUS
#132: Maxim Schafer, 6’4 LW, GER
#133: LJ Mooney, 5’7 RW, US NTDP
#134: David Roszival, 6’1 W, CZE
#135: Arvid Drott, 6’1 RW, SWE
#136: Blake Vanek, 6’4 W, US HS
#137: Nathan Maloney, 6’1 RHD, AJHL
#138: Cameron Schmidt, 5’8 W, WHL
#139: Burke Hood, 6’4 G, WHL
#140: Anthony Allaine-Samake, 6’0 LHD, USHL
#141: Jasper Inkinen, 6’0 W, FIN
#142: Ryan Miller, 6’0 C, WHL
#143: Viggo Nordlund, 5’10 W, SWE
#144: Charlie Trethawey, 6’1 RHD, US NTDP
#145: Patryk Zubek, 6’3 LHD, SVK
#146: Tomas Mikel, 6’4 RHD, USHL
#147: ** John Stout, 6’2 LHD, USHL
#148: Brent Solomon, 5’11 RW, US HS
#149: Ashton Schultz, 6’0 C, USHL
#150: Xander Velliaris, 6’3 LHD, OHL