2019 NHL Draft: Jeremy’s Winter Rankings
By Jeremy Davis
5 years agoHappy new year! Welcome to 2019 ladies and gentlemen. I recently published another edition of our consolidated industry draft rankings, but we are now officially in the same calendar year as the next NHL draft and I have yet to publish any personal rankings for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Well that changes today.
What follows is my own personal list of the top 75 prospects available for selection this coming June. Following the format that I used last year, the list itself below is complete with a variety of biographical and statistical data, which I’ll detail prior to the list.
Before I get into some notes on the players themselves, I have some general notes on my ranking process, which remains consistent with what I have published in previous seasons.
First, these rankings are mine alone. While I bounce ideas off of my co-writers, the list-making process itself involves no coordination with other members of Canucks Army (the final profiles that we publish in May and June will of course be a combined effort), and while I pay close attention to the lists of others in the industry, they have very limited influence on how I order my own list.
Second, it’s no secret that my rankings are heavily influenced by statistics. Numbers-based methodology has a guiding hand in shaping the outline of my rankings, before lays of context and nuance are peeled away. For me, viewing a prospect is more of a cross-checking process than a starting point. I use personal viewings to see if there are extenuating circumstances that should result in a player being higher or lower than I have them.
Reiterating what I wrote last year, I believe that tangible results are of the utmost importance. If a player is good, they should be putting up strong numbers; if they aren’t putting up numbers, they need to have a good reason. Sometimes those reasons show up in contextual numbers (e.g., if they’re team related or luck related), but sometimes they don’t (such as nagging injuries or psychological factors). If the issues are related to factors in the latter group and they aren’t public knowledge, that’s when we (the prospect hobbyists) are at a serious disadvantage to NHL teams, who have the access and resources to dig far deeper into prospects. That cannot be understated or forgotten; we are doing the best we can with the information that is available to us. The player assessment section in my Spring Rankings from last year covers this in some greater detail.
Watching the Prospects
I do make an effort to lay eyes on each prospect as much as possible (which gets more difficult each passing year with life other demands, if I’m being honest). There are a variety of ways that I go about doing this. For starters, I live just a handful of minutes from the Langley Events Centre, allowing me to check out prospects when they roll through town (check out this article for a review of which draft eligible players are playing in the vicinity of Vancouver this season), usually as a fan with my kid(s) rather than a member of the media.
Then there’s online viewing. I have access to the various CHL Live feeds, as well as Hockey TV (which streams the BCHL and USHL, among other less prominent leagues), and whatever streams I can find from Europe. YouTube is a friend as well, but scouting from highlights alone is almost always an ill-advised misadventure. You need to see how a player is performing the 95% of the game when they aren’t putting up points. That’s why I have so much appreciation for people that put together shift-by-shift videos, like Burgundy Rainbow or Hockey Prospect Centre, but the cream of the crop is Anthony at ProspectShifts.com, who publishes shift-by-shift videos daily (subscription fee required, but absolutely worth it).
A Rundown of the Statistical Measures Used
What follows is a brief description of each of the stats referenced in the tables below.
- Age: Exact age to two decimal points, calculated as of September 15th, 2018. That date is used for draft purposes – anyone with an exact age greater than or equal to 17.00 and less than 18.00 as of that date will be eligible for the first time at the 2019 draft.
Production Measures
- Box Cars: GP, G, A, P stand for the standard Games Played, Goals, Assists, and Points, during the 2018-19 regular season.
- INV%: Involvement Percentage, or the percentage of team goals that the player had a point on. This has been a pretty standard prospect measurement for a while (I even use a variation of it within my pGPS model), but I particularly like this title for the metric, which was coined by @scouching.
- 5v5 PrINV%: Similar to INV%, but this metric considers only 5-on-5 team goals that the player had a primary point (a goal or first assist) on.
- ePrP60: Estimated primary points per 60 at 5-on-5. Estimated in conjunction with the eTOI metric described below.
- SEAL: The SEAL adjusted scoring value. SEAL stands for Situational, Era, Age, and League. Here’s a rundown of the current iteration of SEAL, which evolved from a technique that Garret Hohl pioneered for the 2015 draft.
- Sh/GP: Shots on goal per games played.
- Sh%: Shooting percentage.
On-Ice Measures
- eTOI: Estimated 5-on-5 Time on Ice. This has long been estimated by the proportion of events (goals for and against) that a player is on the ice for relative to the total for their team.
- GF%: Percentage of 5-on-5 on-ice goals scored in favour of the player’s team.
- GF%rel: The difference between the player’s on-ice GF% relative to the team’s GF% when the player is off the ice.
- GD60rel: Relative goal differential per 60 minutes, based on eTOI. This differs from GF%rel above by taking into account ice time. When there are two players with the same GF%rel, the one that gets more ice time will be of greater benefit or detriment to his team. GD60rel accounts for this.
Cohort Measures
pGPS is an ever-evolving metric, and while the principles of the model stay roughly the same, the formulations and terminology change from time to time. The following are the definitions of the statistics used in the latest version.
- XLS is Expected Likelihood of Success for the player, based on how similar players performed at the NHL level. Rather than the likelihood of simply playing games in the lineup, this number purports to measure the likelihood of being a regular fixture on the top four lines or top three defence pairs.
- Top XLS is the Expected Likelihood of Top 6/Top 4 Success. Similar to the XLS percentage above, this version predicts the likelihood of the player being a top six forward or top four defenceman.
- XPR is Expected Production Rate, the weighted average prime production rate per 82 games of statistical matches that played at least 100 NHL games.
Certain metrics are only available for certain leagues, depending on how easily available the data is to the public. I’ve spent a good portion of my spare time over the past several months developing scrapers for new leagues, meaning that we have more information at our fingertips than ever before. Here’s a run down on which metrics are available in which leagues.
- pGPS: I can run pGPS data on about 20 leagues right now, so at the top of the draft, it’s easier just to say which leagues it doesn’t do. For the purposes of this list, the missing leagues are: the VHL (Russian tier 2 league), MHL (Russian Junior), SM-Liiga Nuorten (Finnish Junior), the US High School circuit, and the OJHL.
- SEAL: Dependent on availability of situational scoring data. SEAL adjustments are currently available for all CHL leagues (WHL, OHL, QMJHL), BCHL, USHL, NCAA, SHL, Allsvenskan, Finnish SM-Liiga, Czech Extraliga, and J20 Superelit. KHL is normally included, but I have a bit of a snag in my scraper that will be fixed in due time.
- INV%, GF% and GF%rel: Dependent on availability of on-ice records for goals on game sheets. Currently available for all the leagues listed above under SEAL, with the exception of the BCHL.
Given my time constraints, this article was put together over the course of several weeks. I have done my best to keep the numbers as current as I can. The counting stats on this list are current to January 5th, 2018. The prospect model data is current to December 24th, 2018.
Player Notes
Before the big list itself, I have picked out a group of noteworthy players for which I have drummed up extra tidbits of information.
Like every other prominent draft ranking, I have Jack Hughes sitting at the top of my board, which is exactly where he belongs. Second only to Clayton Keller and Auston Matthews in points in USNTDP U18 history, and second to none all-time in points per game. As I mentioned in the consolidated rankings, Jack Hughes is likely capped by an artificial ceiling of sorts that will prevent him from matching league-adjusted scoring rates from the likes of Kaapo Kakko (2nd), who has been quite productive in the Finnish Liiga. Kakko is extremely dynamic in the offensive zone, showing a great degree of poise and control against professionals, oozing out of his puck protection, playmaking, and positioning. His defensive game needs work: as a winger, he can jump early and leave his teammates in poor situations, and he doesn’t pressure opponents in any way that threatens to turnover pucks. That will drive some coaches nuts, which could unfortunately inhibit his opportunity depending on who he plays for. The fact is, however, that he’s a special player and his offensive acumen will carry him to great heights in the NHL.
The third and fourth best prospects, to me as well as most other prognosticators, are Western League centres Dylan Cozens and Kirby Dach. Their rank order is still pretty debatable at this point, though I have Cozens ahead by a hair. A statistical comparison between the two shows Cozens with a edge in just about every metric, even if it’s only a slight one in some cases.
| Dylan Cozens | Player | Kirby Dach |
| 17.60 | Age | 17.65 |
| 35.3% | INV% | 36.5% |
| 29.4% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 24.4% |
| 2.61 | 5v5 ePr60 | 1.82 |
| 1.43 | SEAL | 1.24 |
| 3.12 | Sh/GP | 2.86 |
| 63.3% | GF% | 56.4% |
| 12.8% | GF%rel | 1.1% |
| 66% | XLS% | 52% |
| 51% | Top XLS% | 42% |
The above stats are current to December 24th, 2018.
Vancouver Giant Bowen Byram is my top defenceman, and the only blueliner in my top ten. Byram is an absolute workhorse for the Giants. His average ice time, while not publicly published, must be at least in the mid-20’s per game. He runs Vancouver’s power play, gets plenty of time on the penalty kill, and hardly leaves the ice in close and late situations. I attended a game where Byram was out every second shift (with a variety of partners) from the middle of the second period on through the end of the game. He shows a great amount of poise with the puck, although that can occasionally deteriorate under the weight of his ice time. Ryan Biech provided an in-depth scouting report on Byram earlier in the season, which you can find at The Athletic.
Two more centres occupy my 6th and 7th spots: Kootenay’s Peyton Krebs and Barrie’s Ryan Suzuki. My dominant memory of Krebs is from his draft-minus-two season, when he made his WHL debut and put up six points in six games as a 15-year old. Fast forward a couple of seasons, and Krebs is now the captain and leading scorer of an abysmal Kootenay Ice squad. Kootenay is in the midst of swirling relocation rumours, and while announcements have been habitually delayed, it does seem inevitable that the Ice will end up in Winnipeg. Guy Flaming of the DUB Network postulates that a move to an NHL market would mean the franchise needs to hold on to a star like Krebs at all costs, which could rule him out of potential movement at the upcoming WHL trade deadline. Why does this matter? It means that Krebs will likely continue to play for a subpar team and will subsequently be dealing with muted numbers and no playoff run heading toward the draft.
Ryan Suzuki, meanwhile, is the younger brother of Nick Suzuki, drafted by Vegas, acquired by Montreal in the Pacioretty deal, and now starring for team Canada at the World Juniors. We were high on Nick in his draft season in his draft year in 2017, rating him 8th (he eventually went 13th), and Ryan shares many of the qualities that make his older brother a special prospect. Extraordinary levels of playmaking and intelligence set him apart from the rest of his OHL brethren, and his skating and shooting aren’t far behind.
Coming in at 8th is Hamilton sniper Arthur Kaliyev, who’s blowing away all draft eligible CHL competition this year in terms of goal scoring and point production. I mentioned some of the concerns around Kaliyev to Ryan Biech in a roundtable discussion for The Athletic: namely that he’s more of a beneficiary than a generator. I’ve tracked entire games where Kaliyev plays overs 20 minutes minutes and never sets up a teammate for a single shot attempt at even strength. He sure does take a lot of shots though and a large portion of them of dangerous shots from the slot; part of the recipe there is getting into open positions to get those opportunities, which is a skill in itself. Kaliyev’s production, if it continues, will help him go high in the draft, but if he ends profiling as a finisher who needs someone else to set him up, he may go in the teens or 20’s when the draft rolls around.
This collection of peers is otherworldly though.
I’m quite a bit higher on undersized Moncton winger Jakob Pelletier (12th) than most, which seems a little silly considering that he’s put up 50 points in 35 games so far this season. At 5-foot-9, he’d have trouble getting drafted in the top couple of rounds just a half-dozen years ago, but the NHL has moved on since then, and players of Pelletier’s stature are having all sorts of success. Pelletier has the third highest SEAL adjusted scoring rate of my sample following only Kakko and Kaliyev.
Another pint sized dynamo that seems to be flying under the radar is Nicholas Robertson (16th), younger brother to Dallas Stars prospect Jason Robertson (starring on USA’s U20 squad in Vancouver). Robertson has a very late birthday for his draft year (just four days before the cutoff), which, combined with a height of 5-foot-9, is a recipe for being overlooked early on. Still, he’s having a great year for the Peterborough Petes and after just a couple of viewings, he has become one of my early underrated favourites. He has that waterbug quality to his game, and uses his agility to dart into dangerous soft spots on the ice to receive and redistribute pucks. He clearly prefers to set up teammates, and his hands and vision allow him to be very successful at this, but he can score as well.
This set up on an Adam Timleck goal is absolutely bonkers.
Trevor Zegras (19th) has plenty of fans among draft prognosticators, and his numbers with the USNTDP are excellent. Maybe I’m just catching him on the wrong games, but I just haven’t been impressed with what I’ve seen from Zegras when I actually watch him though. He’s struck me as more of a passenger than a driver, and while his hands are undeniably good, they can’t always get him out of jams that his brain gets him into.
It shocks me to a degree that Mikko Kokkonen (22nd) isn’t getting more attention at this point. The Finnish blueliner has already accumulated more points in the SM-Liiga than Miro Heiskanen did in his draft year, and he’s done it in half a dozen fewer games. Kokkonen isn’t without his challenges – he skates himself into trouble enough to put a question mark on his ability to read the play, and that shot share of about 40% (yes, Liiga publishes Corsi numbers) is pretty horrendous – though it’s partially reconciled by the fact that he has a Zone Start Ratio of 37.5%, meaning that he’s started nearly twice as many shifts in the defensive zone than the offensive zone (subject of course to the limits of the effect of zone starts on shot shares).
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Connor McMichael (27th) has had opportunity thrust upon him, playing for a rebuilt London Knights team that has either dealt its star forwards to other teams or lost them to the NHL, and has recovered nicely to lead the OHL’s Western Conference to this point in the season. McMichael has a lot to do with that – the first time eligible centre in currently leading them in goals and points. He’s popping in all manner of draft analytics as a result, and I haven’t seen anything in a couple of viewing sessions that would constitute a major red flag. Currently 39th by my consolidated rankings table, I think he’ll be a riser over the second half of the season.
I took a liking to Seattle’s Dillon Hamaliuk (30th) early on in the season; he jumped to a very strong start, backing up great point totals with impressive highlights. It was enough to keep me checking in on him throughout the season. His production tailed off a bit, but he remained at close to a point per game until significant injury knocked him out of the lineup and will force him to miss the remainder of the season. The prognosis of that injury will have a great effect on where he is selected, and even being limited to just 31 games make knock him down a round or more.
I’ll be honest, I’m not really sure why many are as high on Philip Broberg (33rd) as they are. Certainly the skating is there; Broberg loves to carry the puck and does it at speed. The issue is that these rushes frequently result in nothing as a drives along the wall and fails to convert an entry into a viable scoring chance for himself or others. His numbers in the Allsvenskan this year (no goals, seven assists in 27 games) are not bad for a draft eligible player in a pro league, but they aren’t high end numbers that should net him a spot in the conversation of best defenders in the draft. I see his rushes, already iffy in terms of success, only becoming less effective as the level of competition increases, and I’m not sure he has enough other skills to fall back on to become an impact player at the NHL level.
I’ve got my first overage prospect at 39th in Brett Leason. Twice undrafted, Leason played a prominent role for Canada at the World Juniors before their early exit, and has been an absolute force this season with the Prince Albert Raiders. Being the engine powering a team that has only lost five times in 39 games this season has a way of getting people’s attention.
You might remember a brief kerfuffle last season when former CanucksArmy contributor Vanessa Jang brought a pair of young Swedish twins to the attention of Canucks fans right around the time that the Sedins were gearing up for their farewell tour. The Wahlgren twins shared similarities with the Sedin twins beyond being zygotic anomalies – they played similar positions and even played for the Sedins’ pre-NHL organization, MODO. I did a little piece on the Wahlgrens back then, throwing a bit of cold water on the notion that they be the next Swedish twins to make the jump to the NHL. Eight months later, Max Wahlgren (63rd) is making a case to not only be drafted, but to be drafted in the second or third round. Things aren’t as rosy for brother Joel, who’s producing at about half the rate of Max.
2019 NHL Draft Winter Top 75
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 1 | Jack Hughes | C | 17.34 | 5.10 | USA | USHL | 25 | 10 | 38 | 48 | 31.3% | 10.3% | 1.13 | 1.38 | 4.20 | 2.4% | 15.9 | 52.9% | -13.7% | -1.76 | – | – | – |
| 2 | Kaapo Kakko | RW/C | 17.59 | 6.01 | FIN | Liiga | 27 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 26.7% | 21.4% | 1.22 | 1.84 | 4.70 | 7.1% | 16.4 | 55.6% | 3.6% | 0.27 | 58% | 49% | 62.2 |
| 3 | Dylan Cozens | C/RW | 17.60 | 6.03 | CAN | WHL | 38 | 22 | 30 | 52 | 35.3% | 29.4% | 2.61 | 1.43 | 3.12 | 17.5% | 17.4 | 63.3% | 12.8% | 1.60 | 66% | 51% | 59.9 |
| 4 | Kirby Dach | C | 17.65 | 6.04 | CAN | WHL | 39 | 16 | 30 | 46 | 36.5% | 24.4% | 1.82 | 1.24 | 2.86 | 14.0% | 17.9 | 56.4% | 1.1% | 0.11 | 52% | 42% | 56.5 |
| 5 | Bowen Byram | D | 17.26 | 6.01 | CAN | WHL | 37 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 27.8% | 14.3% | 0.78 | 0.90 | 2.94 | 9.6% | 19.2 | 55.8% | -2.4% | -0.20 | 58% | 41% | 37.1 |
| 6 | Peyton Krebs | C/LW | 17.63 | 5.11 | CAN | WHL | 37 | 14 | 33 | 47 | 43.2% | 27.5% | 1.43 | 1.17 | 2.78 | 14.6% | 18.4 | 34.5% | -2.0% | -0.24 | 38% | 20% | 47.8 |
| 7 | Ryan Suzuki | C | 17.30 | 6.00 | CAN | OHL | 36 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 32.4% | 14.1% | 1.13 | 1.20 | 2.48 | 11.7% | 15.4 | 55.6% | 9.1% | 1.03 | 42% | 21% | 46.7 |
| 8 | Arthur Kaliyev | LW | 17.22 | 6.02 | USA | OHL | 39 | 29 | 30 | 59 | 44.4% | 31.1% | 1.87 | 1.60 | 4.09 | 17.3% | 17.9 | 52.6% | 18.2% | 2.04 | 93% | 78% | 61.1 |
| 9 | Raphael Lavoie | C/RW | 17.97 | 6.04 | CAN | QMJHL | 36 | 19 | 23 | 42 | 25.0% | 20.0% | 2.15 | 1.17 | 3.77 | 12.0% | 16.2 | 63.0% | -8.7% | -0.96 | 21% | 7% | 43.0 |
| 10 | Matthew Boldy | LW | 17.45 | 6.02 | USA | USHL | 31 | 19 | 14 | 33 | 28.3% | 25.8% | 2.63 | 1.31 | 3.91 | 18.6% | 16.6 | 57.9% | -6.6% | -0.83 | 33% | 33% | 66.0 |
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 11 | Vasili Podkolzin | RW | 17.23 | 6.01 | RUS | VHL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | Jakob Pelletier | LW | 17.53 | 5.09 | CAN | QMJHL | 38 | 21 | 34 | 55 | 35.2% | 20.2% | 2.10 | 1.58 | 4.09 | 14.8% | 16.5 | 74.1% | 22.6% | 2.90 | 55% | 49% | 62.4 |
| 13 | Cole Caufield | C/RW | 17.70 | 5.07 | USA | USHL | 31 | 26 | 11 | 37 | 22.6% | 12.9% | 1.67 | 0.94 | 4.18 | 17.4% | 13.1 | 46.7% | -21.9% | -2.74 | 22% | 12% | 51.2 |
| 14 | Cam York | D | 17.69 | 5.11 | USA | USHL | 30 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 13.2% | 9.7% | 0.94 | 0.64 | 2.36 | 0.0% | 17.4 | 70.0% | 13.3% | 1.67 | 16% | 8% | 38.7 |
| 15 | Alex Newhook | C | 17.63 | 5.11 | CAN | BCHL | 34 | 20 | 41 | 61 | 39.1% | 25.4% | – | 0.58 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11% | 0% | 29.0 |
| 16 | Nicholas Robertson | C/LW | 17.01 | 5.09 | USA | OHL | 25 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 29.6% | 26.0% | 2.63 | 1.21 | 4.00 | 13.8% | 14.9 | 63.0% | 8.0% | 0.87 | 48% | 31% | 56.3 |
| 17 | Alex Turcotte | C | 17.55 | 5.11 | USA | USHL | 9 | 5 | 5 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Anttoni Honka | D | 17.94 | 5.10 | FIN | Liiga | 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9.8% | 4.5% | 0.27 | 0.81 | 1.93 | 3.4% | 15.1 | 31.3% | -17.3% | -1.47 | 15% | 15% | 37.9 |
| 19 | Trevor Zegras | C | 17.49 | 6.00 | USA | USHL | 30 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 32.7% | 28.6% | 2.78 | 1.53 | 2.40 | 16.7% | 17.3 | 72.2% | 16.7% | 2.08 | 0% | 0% | 0.0 |
| 20 | Nolan Foote | LW | 17.79 | 6.03 | USA | WHL | 37 | 20 | 15 | 35 | 36.8% | 24.0% | 1.56 | 0.88 | 3.52 | 15.5% | 14.0 | 50.0% | 5.4% | 0.48 | 33% | 16% | 42.6 |
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 21 | Thomas Harley | D | 17.07 | 6.03 | USA | OHL | 38 | 6 | 26 | 32 | 23.6% | 7.5% | 0.41 | 0.88 | 2.09 | 5.8% | 22.2 | 42.9% | -5.8% | -0.67 | 59% | 40% | 38.3 |
| 22 | Mikko Kokkonen | D | 17.66 | 5.11 | FIN | Liiga | 34 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 16.4% | 7.3% | 0.62 | 1.20 | 2.66 | 1.3% | 10.4 | 52.6% | 7.7% | 0.61 | 70% | 70% | 46.4 |
| 23 | Matthew Robertson | D | 17.52 | 6.04 | CAN | WHL | 32 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 17.5% | 9.1% | 0.62 | 0.74 | 2.37 | 7.0% | 19.2 | 55.8% | 3.7% | 0.40 | 49% | 30% | 26.2 |
| 24 | Victor Soderstrom | D | 17.55 | 5.11 | SWE | SHL | 22 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6.7% | 0.0% | 0.00 | 0.16 | 1.68 | 6.3% | 18.8 | 66.7% | 23.8% | 0.76 | 31% | 23% | 28.6 |
| 25 | Samuel Poulin | LW | 17.55 | 6.01 | CAN | QMJHL | 39 | 15 | 26 | 41 | 26.9% | 22.5% | 1.89 | 1.10 | 3.56 | 11.6% | 16.8 | 65.4% | 16.4% | 1.80 | 18% | 7% | 43.2 |
| 26 | Albin Grewe | C/RW | 17.48 | 6.00 | SWE | Superelit | 19 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 37.3% | 22.9% | 2.14 | 0.81 | – | – | 17.1 | 76.9% | 17.3% | 1.76 | 58% | 16% | 38.5 |
| 27 | Connor McMichael | C | 17.67 | 6.00 | CAN | OHL | 36 | 25 | 20 | 45 | 28.8% | 25.6% | 2.86 | 1.31 | 3.61 | 19.6% | 15.5 | 66.0% | 4.5% | 0.53 | 50% | 28% | 51.3 |
| 28 | Nathan Legare | RW | 17.68 | 6.00 | CAN | QMJHL | 39 | 26 | 29 | 55 | 32.4% | 20.5% | 1.77 | 1.39 | 3.82 | 16.2% | 18.0 | 63.6% | 1.3% | 0.14 | 43% | 24% | 49.7 |
| 29 | Moritz Seider | D | 0.00 | 0.00 | GER | DEL | 23 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.0% | – | – | – | 0.63 | 8.3% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 30 | Dillon Hamaliuk | LW | 17.88 | 6.03 | CAN | WHL | 31 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 27.7% | 21.3% | 1.94 | 0.88 | 2.76 | 13.8% | 13.8 | 47.5% | -0.8% | -0.09 | 19% | 7% | 35.2 |
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 31 | Simon Holmstrom | RW | 17.31 | 5.11 | SWE | Superelit | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 30.0% | 41.7% | 3.93 | 0.62 | – | – | 10.9 | 100.0% | 58.8% | 4.62 | 8% | 6% | 52.1 |
| 32 | Nils Hoglander | LW | 17.74 | 5.09 | SWE | SHL | 28 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6.3% | 0.0% | 0.00 | 0.16 | 0.88 | 18.2% | 10.7 | 30.0% | -27.1% | -1.22 | 32% | 17% | 31.8 |
| 33 | Philip Broberg | D | 17.22 | 6.03 | SWE | Allsvenskan | 27 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8.2% | 6.3% | 0.29 | 0.36 | 2.30 | 0.0% | 21.4 | 48.0% | -16.5% | -0.86 | 23% | 1% | 17.8 |
| 34 | Alex Beaucage | RW/LW | 17.14 | 6.02 | CAN | QMJHL | 40 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 26.8% | 20.4% | 2.07 | 1.33 | 3.26 | 15.8% | 16.6 | 75.0% | 10.9% | 1.17 | 36% | 22% | 54.4 |
| 35 | Alex Vlasic | D | 17.28 | 6.06 | USA | USHL | 30 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 9.4% | 6.5% | 0.89 | 0.51 | 0.73 | 12.5% | 12.2 | 42.9% | -26.6% | -3.32 | 39% | 22% | 29.4 |
| 36 | Lassi Thomson | D | 17.97 | 6.00 | FIN | WHL | 38 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 24.7% | 11.8% | 0.60 | 0.65 | 2.79 | 7.4% | 17.6 | 54.5% | 14.8% | 1.31 | 31% | 16% | 23.5 |
| 37 | Maxim Cajkovic | RW/LW | 17.70 | 5.11 | SVK | QMJHL | 33 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 29.0% | 21.7% | 1.39 | 0.73 | 3.10 | 8.9% | 14.8 | 35.8% | 11.3% | 1.67 | 6% | 2% | 41.7 |
| 38 | Cole Mackay | RW | 17.26 | 5.11 | CAN | OHL | 38 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 22.9% | 11.8% | 1.25 | 0.98 | 2.29 | 14.1% | 14.1 | 61.2% | 10.3% | 1.26 | 32% | 13% | 40.9 |
| 39 | Brett Leason | C | 19.38 | 6.05 | CAN | WHL | 33 | 28 | 38 | 66 | 43.8% | 33.7% | 3.95 | 1.34 | 5.42 | 16.7% | 16.2 | 84.3% | 20.4% | 2.49 | 100% | 36% | 43.0 |
| 40 | Daniil Gutik | LW | 17.04 | 6.03 | RUS | MHL | 24 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0.0% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 41 | Pavel Dorofeyev | LW/RW | 17.89 | 6.00 | RUS | MHL | 15 | 13 | 11 | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 42 | Matvei Guskov | C | 17.62 | 6.01 | RUS | OHL | 28 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 16.2% | 13.5% | 1.94 | 0.73 | 1.96 | 9.8% | 11.9 | 70.0% | 9.8% | 1.14 | 11% | 3% | 34.9 |
| 43 | Valentin Nussbaumer | C/W | 17.97 | 6.00 | SUI | QMJHL | 30 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 22.2% | 14.9% | 0.93 | 0.60 | 1.47 | 15.9% | 15.0 | 25.0% | -7.1% | -0.98 | 3% | 1% | 31.9 |
| 44 | Luke Toporowski | LW | 17.43 | 5.10 | USA | WHL | 38 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 21.0% | 10.8% | 1.07 | 0.78 | 3.15 | 9.6% | 11.9 | 55.9% | 7.5% | 0.77 | 18% | 8% | 40.9 |
| 45 | Henry Thrun | D | 17.51 | 6.02 | USA | USHL | 31 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 18.9% | 19.4% | 2.08 | 0.97 | 1.27 | 28.6% | 15.7 | 55.6% | -10.1% | -1.26 | 40% | 40% | 35.9 |
| 46 | Spencer Knight | G | 17.41 | 6.03 | USA | USHL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 47 | Marcus Kallionkieli | F | 17.49 | 6.01 | FIN | USHL | 25 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 29.2% | 26.1% | 1.83 | 0.93 | 2.67 | 23.2% | 18.7 | 66.7% | 20.5% | 2.07 | 43% | 16% | 43.0 |
| 48 | Phillip Tomasino | C | 17.13 | 6.00 | CAN | OHL | 37 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 23.2% | 22.2% | 2.57 | 1.17 | 2.78 | 15.7% | 14.6 | 75.0% | 15.6% | 1.76 | 37% | 18% | 47.2 |
| 49 | Matias Maccelli | LW | 17.92 | 5.11 | FIN | USHL | 31 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 36.7% | 20.0% | 1.71 | 1.09 | 3.04 | 17.7% | 16.2 | 59.5% | 3.6% | 0.38 | 15% | 8% | 57.1 |
| 50 | Billy Constantinou | D | 17.48 | 6.00 | CAN | OHL | 37 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 16.5% | 10.1% | 1.01 | 0.63 | 2.06 | 7.6% | 14.9 | 51.0% | 1.9% | 0.24 | 27% | 13% | 30.7 |
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 51 | Jake Lee | D | 17.18 | 6.02 | CAN | WHL | 35 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 18.4% | 7.7% | 0.52 | 0.63 | 1.74 | 3.7% | 18.8 | 50.0% | 3.8% | 0.46 | 35% | 21% | 25.0 |
| 52 | Bobby Brink | RW | 17.19 | 5.10 | USA | USHL | 19 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 45.8% | 27.3% | 1.96 | 1.65 | 3.32 | 23.8% | 19.3 | 67.7% | 16.6% | 1.69 | 0% | 0% | 0.0 |
| 53 | Tobias Bjornfot | D | 17.44 | 6.00 | SWE | Superelit | 24 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 12.7% | 6.7% | 0.70 | 0.21 | – | – | 15.7 | 76.7% | 17.0% | 1.78 | 4% | 3% | 21.5 |
| 54 | Artemi Knyazev | D | 17.70 | 5.11 | RUS | QMJHL | 33 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 19.6% | 11.4% | 0.83 | 0.53 | 2.21 | 12.5% | 12.5 | 50.0% | 12.3% | 1.22 | 20% | 10% | 25.4 |
| 55 | Sasha Mutala | RW | 17.36 | 6.01 | CAN | WHL | 34 | 9 | 13 | 21 | 20.9% | 21.8% | 1.58 | 0.69 | 2.31 | 10.4% | 15.7 | 58.1% | 18.1% | 2.05 | 10% | 4% | 35.6 |
| 56 | Judd Caulfield | F | 17.49 | 6.03 | USA | USHL | 31 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 22.6% | 6.5% | 0.83 | 0.89 | 1.00 | 0.0% | 13.1 | 60.0% | -2.9% | -0.36 | 0% | 0% | 0.0 |
| 57 | Dmitri Sheshin | F | 17.29 | 5.07 | RUS | MHL | 31 | 13 | 15 | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 58 | Blake Murray | C | 17.20 | 6.03 | CAN | OHL | 36 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 22.3% | 13.5% | 1.21 | 0.72 | 2.19 | 20.6% | 16.0 | 59.1% | -1.7% | -0.18 | 28% | 10% | 41.3 |
| 59 | Ben Brinkman | D | 17.95 | 6.01 | USA | NCAA | 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12.8% | 8.3% | 0.60 | 0.53 | – | – | 13.4 | 71.4% | 32.5% | 2.71 | 19% | 12% | 30.4 |
| 60 | Brayden Tracey | LW | 17.30 | 6.00 | CAN | WHL | 36 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 30.3% | 17.2% | 1.12 | 0.98 | 2.70 | 12.3% | 17.8 | 63.4% | 16.4% | 1.51 | 32% | 15% | 42.7 |
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 61 | Lucas Feuk | C/W | 17.57 | 6.00 | SWE | Superelit | 28 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 37.2% | 29.4% | 1.88 | 0.66 | – | – | 17.8 | 51.1% | 17.3% | 2.04 | 16% | 11% | 41.6 |
| 62 | Danil Antropov | RW | 17.74 | 6.02 | CAN | OHL | 37 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 22.1% | 18.5% | 1.84 | 0.90 | 1.85 | 14.3% | 14.4 | 62.2% | 6.4% | 0.71 | 20% | 7% | 38.4 |
| 63 | Max Wahlgren | C/W | 17.35 | 6.00 | SWE | Superelit | 26 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 24.7% | 25.0% | 2.58 | 0.59 | – | – | 13.6 | 73.1% | 17.0% | 1.63 | 12% | 8% | 45.9 |
| 64 | Samuel Fagemo | LW/RW | 18.51 | 6.00 | SWE | SHL | 22 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 25.0% | 28.6% | 0.90 | 1.02 | 2.33 | 10.2% | 18.9 | 66.7% | 18.8% | 0.85 | 50% | 37% | 53.3 |
| 65 | Robert Mastrosimone | C | 17.64 | 5.10 | USA | USHL | 22 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 27.0% | 22.5% | 2.27 | 0.89 | 3.47 | 18.6% | 14.0 | 50.0% | -2.8% | -0.34 | 19% | 4% | 35.6 |
| 66 | Adam Beckman | C | 17.35 | 6.01 | CAN | WHL | 39 | 17 | 13 | 30 | 22.4% | 21.5% | 1.64 | 0.82 | 2.41 | 20.7% | 15.1 | 60.0% | 17.8% | 1.87 | 25% | 13% | 42.6 |
| 67 | Michael Gildon | F | 17.24 | 6.01 | USA | USHL | 28 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 17.0% | 14.8% | 3.81 | 0.78 | 1.44 | 30.8% | 7.0 | 85.7% | 27.4% | 3.65 | 31% | 8% | 36.8 |
| 68 | Xavier Simoneau | C | 17.33 | 5.07 | CAN | QMJHL | 27 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 20.0% | 15.1% | 2.57 | 1.17 | 2.44 | 16.7% | 11.2 | 59.4% | -9.0% | -1.14 | 11% | 8% | 45.9 |
| 69 | Ilya Mironov | D | 17.50 | 6.03 | RUS | MHL | 22 | 1 | 5 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 70 | Kaedan Korczak | D | 17.63 | 6.03 | CAN | WHL | 39 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 18.7% | 11.5% | 0.60 | 0.50 | 2.23 | 2.6% | 17.2 | 50.0% | 7.1% | 0.62 | 26% | 10% | 20.1 |
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Height | Nat. | League | GP | G | A | P | INV% | 5v5 Pr INV% | 5v5 ePr60 | SEAL | Sh/GP | Sh% | eTOI | GF% | GF%rel | GD60 rel | XLS% | Top XLS% | XPR |
| 71 | John Beecher | C | 17.45 | 6.03 | USA | USHL | 30 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 13.0% | 13.8% | 2.26 | 0.61 | 1.40 | 7.1% | 10.6 | 63.6% | -1.1% | -0.13 | 10% | 2% | 25.3 |
| 72 | Sergei Sapego | D | 18.94 | 6.02 | BLR | WHL | 30 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 19.8% | 13.3% | 2.01 | 0.79 | 1.71 | 14.6% | 13.7 | 86.1% | 20.3% | 2.67 | 51% | 30% | 29.1 |
| 73 | Vladislav Kolyachonok | D | 17.31 | 6.02 | BLR | OHL | 27 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 18.1% | 3.9% | 0.31 | 0.62 | 1.39 | 0.0% | 16.7 | 43.9% | 2.1% | 0.27 | 24% | 10% | 28.9 |
| 74 | Ryan Johnson | D | 17.14 | 6.00 | USA | USHL | 23 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 14.5% | 8.8% | 0.63 | 0.50 | 1.16 | 4.5% | 15.2 | 46.2% | 1.3% | 0.14 | 7% | 4% | 28.3 |
| 75 | Tag Bertuzzi | C | 17.57 | 6.01 | CAN | OHL | 29 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 7.8% | 5.3% | 0.89 | 0.29 | 1.69 | 8.2% | 9.3 | 33.3% | -22.2% | -2.95 | 4% | 1% | 22.8 |
The counting stats on this list are current to January 5th, 2018. The prospect model data is current to December 24th, 2018.
Sources: Raw data for pGPS is from Elite Prospects and Hockey Reference. Raw data for SEAL adjusted scoring and on-ice metrics is from whl.ca, ontariohockeyleague.com, theqmjhl.ca, ushl.com, bchl.com, swe.hockey.se, hokej.cz, collegehockeyinc.com, collegehockeynews.com, liiga.fi, and en.khl.ru.
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