McKeen’s 2018 NHL Draft Rankings: December 2017 – Top 62

For the second time this season, and the last time before the annual prospect bonanza that is the World Junior Championship, McKeens Hockey is pleased to present an update to the 2018 draft list.

With more hockey under our belts – and more pertinently, the belts of the players – we are expanding our list this month. We have watched a lot more and they have played even more than that. This list now goes to 62, showing the players that our team of scouts envisions as being worthy of selection in the top two rounds next June in Dallas.

The list will grow and change over the remaining months of the season, but this is where we see things today. You can consider the ordinal ranking below to be our view of things should the prospect season end now and this is all that NHL teams had to go on.

For example, Russian import Alexander Khovanov has yet to suit up with the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) – or anywhere else for that matter – after contracting Hepatitis A before the season began. He is incredibly talented, but his illness is more serious than the common bouts with mononucleosis that many teenagers (not just hockey prospects) contract. Should Khovanov return to full health in the near future, he could not just reach this list, but has hinted at first round potential in the past.

Andrei Svechnikovof the Barrie Colts. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Unlike him, fellow Russian CHL import Andrei Svechnikov has played enough this year before breaking his hand that we are still comfortable ranking him second overall. The fact that he jumped from Muskegon off the USHL to what had been a struggling squad in Barrie and shown zero degradation of his scoring talents, has remained prominent in our minds. The additional note that his injury is not extreme and that he is expected to return shortly (perhaps for the WJC) allows us to make the choice of slotting him at #2 without too much hesitation.

If there was any hesitation at all, it was due to the continued excellence of another European import to the CHL, in Filip Zadina, a Czech star who has been ripping up the QMJHL for Halifax. While we have all been immensely impressed by Zadina’s exploits in the Maritimes, we ultimately chose to keep Svechnikov on the silver medal winner’s podium due to a combination of his longer track record in North America, his rangier, more projectible frame, and his four additional months of youth. Nevertheless, we are happy to bump Zadina up two spots from fifth on last month’s list to third. Zadina’s ascent and the associated downward shuffle was the only change in the top seven from our initial ranking.

Joe Veleno, Saint John Sea Dogs, photo courtesy of the QMJHL

The next change of note goes to Joe Veleno, the former “Exceptional Status” in Saint John. Veleno is still very talented and having a fine season for the Sea Dogs, but the fact that he has not taken a noticeable step forward between last year and today causes us to question his upside more audibly. He was dropped down from eighth to 13^th. Ty Smith is the big beneficiary, as the undersized Spokane blueliner leapfrogged both Veleno and Jared McIsaac to the eight slot. There was some debate between those two among our scouts, but for now, the Westerner’s dynamic offensive game gives him the temporary edge.

Noah Dobson on Acadie-Bathurst. Photo courtesy of the QMJHL.

To avoid the risk of getting caught up in every player who moved up or down one or two spots, we will move ahead to highlight the ascendance of Noah Dobson, who has leapt from 20 to 14 in the past month. His continued strong play with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan has assured our scouts that his hot start has not been a flash in the pan. He is the real deal, as well as being one of the few likely first round blueliners to have prototypical size.

With Dobson moving up, Ryan McLeod dropped by four spots (13 to 17). He is still playing well, but there is some speculation that some of his production may be the result of playing with a star-studded Mississauga squad in the OHL.

Before jumping into the second round, it is somewhat notable that each of the bottom five players in last month’s list (Adam Ginning, Ty Dellandrea, Jesse Ylonen, Allan McShane, and Rasmus Sandin) have dropped into the second round, making way for some new faces. Joining the tail end of the first round this month are K’Andre Miller, a highly athletic defender with the USNTDP, Evan Bouchard, a pure offensive defensemen with London, Jonny Tychonik, this year’s start from the BCHL, who is about to get a showcase at the WJAC, Grigori Denisenko, who some scouts suspect has top ten upside, and Alexander Alexeyev, a Russian defenseman playing a strong two-way game with Red Deer.

The most striking note about our second round projections is the extreme depth of the 2018 Swedish class. In addition to front runner Rasmus Dahlin, fellow top five prospect Adam Boqvist and mid-round pick Isac Lundestrom, the projected second round includes no fewer than nine players currently in Sweden.

SPISSKA NOVA VES, SLOVAKIA - APRIL 16: Pavel Azhgirei #23 of Belarus plays the puck while Sweden's Adam Boqvist #3 defends during preliminary round action at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. (Photo by Steve Kingsman/HHOF-IIHF Images)

The rest of Europe is not as intriguing this year, with only three Finnish players, two Russians, two Czechs, and one Swiss national projected in the top 62.

The North American class suggests that this is the year for teams to shore up their blueline depth with solid, if not dynamic prospects available from all corners of the hockey globe. The dynamic ones tend to be smaller and first round prospects (Boqvist, Quinn Hughes, Ty Smith, Ryan Merkley, Jett Woo, Calen Addison) while more rounded players, albeit ones without the same degree of carrying tools, will populate the second round.

For a change, the WHL seems to be the weak sister among the CHL leagues, lacking both high end talent (only four projected in the first round) as well as depth, with only two more western names called in round two. In other words, the QMJHL will nearly match the WHL without going outside of Halifax (three projected first rounders).

The USHL should show strong again. Most of that is due to a stellar group with the USNTDP, including four projected first rounders (Oliver Wahlstrom, Joel Farabee, Bode Wilde, and K’Andre Miller), but with depth in the second round as well, including Mattias Samuelsson, Adam Samuelsson (not related), and Ty Emberson. Outside of the hothouse program, Chicago’s Blake McLaughlin and Sioux City’s Sampo Ranta both also project as strong second round selections.

Finally, we expect to see the first few goalies come off the board in the back half of the second round. There were a few candidates for the honors, but at this stage, the strongest candidate is Czech wunderkind Jakub Skarek, who has been solid in a starter role with Dukla Jihlava in the Czech men’s league and should be the starter for the second year in a row for the Czech entry at the WJC. Also worthy of a second round pick is Olivier Rodrigue, who is somewhat undersized, but already a proven workhorse with Drummondville, of the QMJHL. He was stellar at the pre-season Ivan Hlinka Memorial.

We expect to dig deeper into the depths after the WJC, but we can at least let on that among the players considered, but not selected, for the top 62, many of the names in the discussion were CHL-based players. Some of those players will have some time to shine higher up their respective lineups over the coming weeks as many of the leagues’ elite talents will be in Buffalo trying to gain national glory. Although relatively few draft eligible players will be playing in the WJC, many will be given more rope with which to demonstrate their abilities as the elder statesmens’ minutes will need to be carried.

Expect even more movement in our next installation and then for the rankings to gradually crystalize. Until then, this list should give you plenty to discuss.