2022 NHL Draft Rankings

[CTJoe]

2 hours ago, Curt said:

Slafkovsky isn’t a C or a RD, but I would be happy with him depending on how the board falls.

A lineup with Tuch, Thompson, Cozens, and Slafkovsky seems like it would be a handful.

Slafkovsky was the best player on the ice last night.  Bernier was really good too just missed way too many shots and ended up not making a difference.

[kas23]

If I want a young RHD playing in Buffalo within 1-2 seasons, I’m going to pick him with our first pick. I look at Johnson and Muel and it seems like any defender taken past the top 15 takes much longer to develop than a forward. If we do end up going forward first, then we must be looking to fill the right side with either off-hand players or FAs (not a good sign). 

[Brawndo]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

Not to nitpick but you mean Braeden Schneider who was taken 19th by the NYR. Sanderson is LHD Sens took right before Drysdale.

What are Nemec’s and Jircek’s defensive games like because that is what the Sabres really need on the backend, a RHD that can anchor Dahlin or Power and let them play their game offensively.

Of the two Jiricek is the more defensive typ, but he can move the puck and contribute offensively as well

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Of the two Jiricek is the more defensive typ, but he can move the puck and contribute offensively as well

Nemec is safer. Jiricek has more risk. 

Jiricek is mean in the defensive zone

[Crusader1969]

 

im not too worried about wingers in the coming years 

top 9 wingers for next season would be 

Skinner Tuch

Quinn JJ

Olofsson Krebs

with Okposo and Asplund being able to fill in 

soon enough Rosen, Kisakov, Poltapov and others will be knoking on the door as well

which leads me to think Sabres draft 7 or 8 and pick up Jiricek  

 

 

[LGR4GM]

10 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

 

im not too worried about wingers in the coming years 

top 9 wingers for next season would be 

Skinner Tuch

Quinn JJ

Olofsson Krebs

with Okposo and Asplund being able to fill in 

soon enough Rosen, Kisakov, Poltapov and others will be knoking on the door as well

which leads me to think Sabres draft 7 or 8 and pick up Jiricek  

 

 

Wooo slow down now. Rosen, Kisakov, and Poltapov have as much chance to make the NHL as they do to never make the NHL. 

[LGR4GM]

Midseason top 10: 

1) Shane Wright, he missed all of last year and I think that shows a little. I would honestly send him back to the CHL if I were to take him first overall. I think his defensive game is well developed but his offense lacks some of the multiple layers of manipulation you want to consistently see. Personally I think he has looked better as the season has progressed. 17pts in his last 10 games. 

2) Logan Cooley, I almost put Savoie here but Cooley just does slightly more for me. He's more of a passer than a shooter but he has layers of deception to his game and can really play all over the ice. Just a nice well rounded player with a May bday. 

3) Simon Nemec, he will be an NHL player in the next 2 years. Calm under pressure, good passing, good skating, good size, good strength. He is just a good player and if you don't need him to be the guy stirring the drink as your #1 defender, he is going to do great. I think he's a safer pick than Jiricek and Jiricek sadly slides a little because he is injured and we don't get to watch his second half unfold.

4) Matthew Savoie, lots of skills and lots of ways to show them off. For me the issue is that the production isn't matching the eye and so I put Cooley above him. He plays an up-tempo unrelaxing attacking style of game. He is a good skater with a nice shot and excellent passing. If he were to have a better NHL career than Cooley, it would not surprise me. 

5) Frank Nazar, some of you might be like... wtf? I have a crush on Nazar and I didn't always. In his last 10 games Nazar is 8g, 9a, +7 rating and he does everything I want in a player. He is fast, smart, creative, nice shot, and he can process layers of the defense exceedingly well. His issue is he sometimes is overly creative and gets into trouble but he works hard and I think as he matures he will put it all together. The ceiling is high here. He's a fearless attacker and honestly might overtake Cooley. Cooley, Savoie, and Nazar are really close for me. 

6) Juraj Slafkovsky, oh my sweet baby Jesus. Do you like 6'4" guys who can shoot and have silky soft hands and good skating? Well have I got a guy for you. He has a big frame he will use to help himself but he's more like Tage than Tuch in terms of dishing out punishment at his size. He does have nice hands and a burgeoning shot. You are betting a little on him but when he's not in the J20 crushing it, he is playing against men in the top Slovak league and the Olympics show that he's on the precipice of making that jump at the men's level to fully impactful. 

7) David Jiricek, I love Jiricek. If I have a crush on Nazar I have an absolute obsession with Jiricek. He is a 6'3" mean SOB in his own end and I am talking RAGE FILLED HATE MONSTER. He is a good skater who can get better and has a very hard shot. He loves rushing up ice and I laughed when Wheeler talked about noticing some of his more subtle passing because it really jumps out if you can find some clips of Jiricek. I think he has more creativity than Nemec and also he loves transporting the puck up ice. Just look at the skating and deception as he activates off the point and eventually scores a deflected goal. He has stick skills that I just don't think Nemec possesses. He is riskier though as there is more development needed here than with Nemec.

8.) Danila Yurov, the book on Yurov is that he is very good with few weaknesses. Good skating, stickhandling, passing. He attacks with pace and has a mature and well rounded game. There is creativity with his rushes and his passing. His shot is meh to be honest but that's something that could be worked on. His defensive game is very good and developed which is why he has seen super limited KHL time (5minutes a night). Good floor but lower ceiling due to only okay puck skills and shooting. He only trails Michkov in MHL ppg and that's pretty good considering he is in his DY. 

9) Brad Lambert, as you see in the HM, I almost did not include Lambert. He has all the skills in the world. He is a great skater, great hands, nice shot, layers of attacks and deceptions. When he is on his game he might be the most skilled player in this draft. He lacks the 2way game of Wright but everything else is up there. Why is he 9th? The guy is a head case who can't put it all together in the pros as he tries to do things 1v1 and it doesn't work. He keeps bouncing around teams and his dad is supposedly heavily involved with that. Basically he doesn't get enough playing time so he picks up his sticks and goes elsewhere. I don't want to deal with it, we had a dysfunctional locker room for years and I don't have time for a prima dona that seems to have hit a wall at the pro level. Love what I see but I don't trust his attitude. He has 1 goal in Liiga going back to the WJC break. Again, lots of skills but it isn't translating and I think that is on him. 

10) Liam Ohgren, I made the mistake last year of not putting Ville Koivunen higher. Dude is currently rocking 27 points in 40 Liiga games and won't turn 19 until mid June, Lambert is 6 months older and couldn't buy a 2nd assist in the Liiga. So with that said let's get to Ohgren who is currently destroying the J20 to the tune of 48pts in 23 games. Yes you did read that correctly, he has 27goals in 23 J20 games. In fact he has 24pts in his last 10 games (12g, 12a) and as I often say follow the production. Now he has played 23 SHL games and has 2pts which seems bad but 18yr olds don't typically fair great in pro leagues like the SHL... see Isak Rosen. So how is Ohgren doing it? Well he is a dynamic passer in that he is somewhat Krebs like, the puck gets to him and he already knows where it needs to go. He attacks the middle of the ice and is not content to simply pass around the outside, if you can watch a game of his do it.

His defensive skills are well developed and he isn't afraid to engage physically. Skating is strong and I think his puck skills are underrated along with his shot. He is just one of those smart players that keeps getting better while not necessarily flashing anything that screams ELITE! and I find that those types of guys slide a bit but end up better than the guys who have something scouts cling too. I like Ohgren a lot because he looks like a hockey player. He just strikes me as a guy that will never really wow you but always seems to get points and make little plays all over the ice that help your team. Kinda like Sam Reinhart for many years. In the tracking data we have from pick224, Ohgren is a full 0.4ppg above the next closest person and if we just do ev/p1 he is 0.55ppg. Sure he has 2 good teammates to consider but he's outproducing them by a bunch too. He is smart, efficient, and skilled enough for that to be deadly. 

Honorable mention: Joakim Kemell, he had a really hot start and everyone lost their minds. This was almost Brad Lambert. Kemell has done nothing since the end of October including a 10 game pointless streak. There is some skill there for sure but idk if there's consistency. 

[LGR4GM]

Speaking of Yurov. This means he has 18pts in his last 10 games. Quick note that the two 4pt games came in 9-1 and 11-2 wins. 

 

[Flashsabre]

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/peters-mid-season-2022-nhl-draft-rankings/

The more rankings I see the less enthused I get for this draft.

[Flashsabre]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Midseason top 10: 

1) Shane Wright, he missed all of last year and I think that shows a little. I would honestly send him back to the CHL if I were to take him first overall. I think his defensive game is well developed but his offense lacks some of the multiple layers of manipulation you want to consistently see. Personally I think he has looked better as the season has progressed. 17pts in his last 10 games. 

2) Logan Cooley, I almost put Savoie here but Cooley just does slightly more for me. He's more of a passer than a shooter but he has layers of deception to his game and can really play all over the ice. Just a nice well rounded player with a May bday. 

3) Simon Nemec, he will be an NHL player in the next 2 years. Calm under pressure, good passing, good skating, good size, good strength. He is just a good player and if you don't need him to be the guy stirring the drink as your #1 defender, he is going to do great. I think he's a safer pick than Jiricek and Jiricek sadly slides a little because he is injured and we don't get to watch his second half unfold.

4) Matthew Savoie, lots of skills and lots of ways to show them off. For me the issue is that the production isn't matching the eye and so I put Cooley above him. He plays an up-tempo unrelaxing attacking style of game. He is a good skater with a nice shot and excellent passing. If he were to have a better NHL career than Cooley, it would not surprise me. 

5) Frank Nazar, some of you might be like... wtf? I have a crush on Nazar and I didn't always. In his last 10 games Nazar is 8g, 9a, +7 rating and he does everything I want in a player. He is fast, smart, creative, nice shot, and he can process layers of the defense exceedingly well. His issue is he sometimes is overly creative and gets into trouble but he works hard and I think as he matures he will put it all together. The ceiling is high here. He's a fearless attacker and honestly might overtake Cooley. Cooley, Savoie, and Nazar are really close for me. 

6) Juraj Slafkovsky, oh my sweet baby Jesus. Do you like 6'4" guys who can shoot and have silky soft hands and good skating? Well have I got a guy for you. He has a big frame he will use to help himself but he's more like Tage than Tuch in terms of dishing out punishment at his size. He does have nice hands and a burgeoning shot. You are betting a little on him but when he's not in the J20 crushing it, he is playing against men in the top Slovak league and the Olympics show that he's on the precipice of making that jump at the men's level to fully impactful. 

7) David Jiricek, I love Jiricek. If I have a crush on Nazar I have an absolute obsession with Jiricek. He is a 6'3" mean SOB in his own end and I am talking RAGE FILLED HATE MONSTER. He is a good skater who can get better and has a very hard shot. He loves rushing up ice and I laughed when Wheeler talked about noticing some of his more subtle passing because it really jumps out if you can find some clips of Jiricek. I think he has more creativity than Nemec and also he loves transporting the puck up ice. Just look at the skating and deception as he activates off the point and eventually scores a deflected goal. He has stick skills that I just don't think Nemec possesses. He is riskier though as there is more development needed here than with Nemec.

8.) Danila Yurov, the book on Yurov is that he is very good with few weaknesses. Good skating, stickhandling, passing. He attacks with pace and has a mature and well rounded game. There is creativity with his rushes and his passing. His shot is meh to be honest but that's something that could be worked on. His defensive game is very good and developed which is why he has seen super limited KHL time (5minutes a night). Good floor but lower ceiling due to only okay puck skills and shooting. He only trails Michkov in MHL ppg and that's pretty good considering he is in his DY. 

9) Brad Lambert, as you see in the HM, I almost did not include Lambert. He has all the skills in the world. He is a great skater, great hands, nice shot, layers of attacks and deceptions. When he is on his game he might be the most skilled player in this draft. He lacks the 2way game of Wright but everything else is up there. Why is he 9th? The guy is a head case who can't put it all together in the pros as he tries to do things 1v1 and it doesn't work. He keeps bouncing around teams and his dad is supposedly heavily involved with that. Basically he doesn't get enough playing time so he picks up his sticks and goes elsewhere. I don't want to deal with it, we had a dysfunctional locker room for years and I don't have time for a prima dona that seems to have hit a wall at the pro level. Love what I see but I don't trust his attitude. He has 1 goal in Liiga going back to the WJC break. Again, lots of skills but it isn't translating and I think that is on him. 

10) Liam Ohgren, I made the mistake last year of not putting Ville Koivunen higher. Dude is currently rocking 27 points in 40 Liiga games and won't turn 19 until mid June, Lambert is 6 months older and couldn't buy a 2nd assist in the Liiga. So with that said let's get to Ohgren who is currently destroying the J20 to the tune of 48pts in 23 games. Yes you did read that correctly, he has 27goals in 23 J20 games. In fact he has 24pts in his last 10 games (12g, 12a) and as I often say follow the production. Now he has played 23 SHL games and has 2pts which seems bad but 18yr olds don't typically fair great in pro leagues like the SHL... see Isak Rosen. So how is Ohgren doing it? Well he is a dynamic passer in that he is somewhat Krebs like, the puck gets to him and he already knows where it needs to go. He attacks the middle of the ice and is not content to simply pass around the outside, if you can watch a game of his do it.

His defensive skills are well developed and he isn't afraid to engage physically. Skating is strong and I think his puck skills are underrated along with his shot. He is just one of those smart players that keeps getting better while not necessarily flashing anything that screams ELITE! and I find that those types of guys slide a bit but end up better than the guys who have something scouts cling too. I like Ohgren a lot because he looks like a hockey player. He just strikes me as a guy that will never really wow you but always seems to get points and make little plays all over the ice that help your team. Kinda like Sam Reinhart for many years. In the tracking data we have from pick224, Ohgren is a full 0.4ppg above the next closest person and if we just do ev/p1 he is 0.55ppg. Sure he has 2 good teammates to consider but he's outproducing them by a bunch too. He is smart, efficient, and skilled enough for that to be deadly. 

Honorable mention: Joakim Kemell, he had a really hot start and everyone lost their minds. This was almost Brad Lambert. Kemell has done nothing since the end of October including a 10 game pointless streak. There is some skill there for sure but idk if there's consistency. 

Where is Jiricek on the Risto scale meaning where is his hockey IQ?

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Where is Jiricek on the Risto scale meaning where is his hockey IQ?

Hmm, I am unsure currently. Most of what I have watched of Jiricek is his international play because I have no idea how to find Czechia games. I think he is smarter defensively but again, I could be wrong there. 

[LGR4GM]

19 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/peters-mid-season-2022-nhl-draft-rankings/

The more rankings I see the less enthused I get for this draft.

I wouldn't be. Every draft produces good players, some just have more good players than others. 

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Speaking of Yurov. This means he has 18pts in his last 10 games. Quick note that the two 4pt games came in 9-1 and 11-2 wins. 

 

Skill level, Sabres recent interest in Russians, likelihood of picking 5-8, have me wondering if Sabres are looking at him more closely than the C/RHD coveters might be comfortable with,

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Skill level, Sabres recent interest in Russians, likelihood of picking 5-8, have me wondering if Sabres are looking at him more closely than the C/RHD coveters might be comfortable with,

I don't think so. They went Russia heavy because they could get the stats and data out of Russia last year they needed to be comfortable with the picks. This year with most places playing full seasons, they should have a deeper analytical pool. 

[Flashsabre]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Hmm, I am unsure currently. Most of what I have watched of Jiricek is his international play because I have no idea how to find Czechia games. I think he is smarter defensively but again, I could be wrong there. 

Jiricek is a question mark for me until we see what his IQ is. Drafting another Risto early will not move this team forward.

Personally I think you can have too many Russians on a team. Not a big fan of drafting Yurov unless he is head and shoulders above the other options  at the Sabres pick. You have to hope Polpatov and Kisakov make it after spending high picks on them and Novikov looks like a keeper for the back end.

I think I feel underwhelmed because we haven’t seen a lot of these guys for 2 years and it leads to a lot of questions about guys, even in the top 10. Wright hasn’t taken off, guys like Cooley, Savoie, Nazar are small, has Nemec peaked as far as upside already, Kemell has disappeared, Lambert has character questions, Jiricek need to see what his IQ is. Slafkovsky seems like the home run swing pick in the top 10.

I’m sure these guys will turn out fine, just seems like an underwhelming group especially compared to the 23 group that looks like it will have a lot of high end depth to it.

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Flashsabre

[LGR4GM]

Don't compare to 2023, that draft is special. 

[Curt]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

Jiricek is a question mark for me until we see what his IQ is. Drafting another Risto early will not move this team forward.

Personally I think you can have too many Russians on a team. Not a big fan of drafting Yurov unless he is head and shoulders above the other options  at the Sabres pick. You have to hope Polpatov and Kisakov make it after spending high picks on them and Novikov looks like a keeper for the back end.

I think I feel underwhelmed because we haven’t seen a lot of these guys for 2 years and it leads to a lot of questions about guys, even in the top 10. Wright hasn’t taken off, guys like Cooley, Savoie, Nazar are small, has Nemec peaked as far as upside already, Kemell has disappeared, Lambert has character questions, Jiricek need to see what his IQ is. Slafkovsky seems like the home run swing pick in the top 10.

I’m sure these guys will turn out fine, just seems like an underwhelming group especially compared to the 23 group that looks like it will have a lot of high end depth to it.

 

Yes, 2023 looks like an amazing draft.  2022 looks like an average draft.  It’s just fine.  It’s still good to have 3 first round picks.  I doubt it would have been as easy to acquire 3 1st round picks in the 2023 draft.

9 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Don't compare to 2023, that draft is special. 

Pretty much this.

[Two or less]

3 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/peters-mid-season-2022-nhl-draft-rankings/

The more rankings I see the less enthused I get for this draft.

I like Peters but he lost me when Wright wasn't #1.

[Buffalonill]

Take Slafkovsky never look back hes going to be that Draisaitl  Talent where you say well he should have gone 1st overall

[Flashsabre]

5 minutes ago, Two or less said:

I like Peters but he lost me when Wright wasn't #1.

His whole argument seems to be Cooley plays faster so that justifies it.

[Curt]

5 minutes ago, Two or less said:

I like Peters but he lost me when Wright wasn't #1.

I feel the same, but I believe that this ranking was published a couple weeks ago, and I don’t know when Peter’s submitted it.  It could be an evaluation that is already close to a month old.

It seems Wright’s play has improved some recently.  If he keeps it up I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wright go back ahead of Cooley in Peter’s rankings at some point.

[Two or less]

4 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Take Slafkovsky never look back hes going to be that Draisaitl  Talent where you say well he should have gone 1st overall

I like him a lot too but idk if he has Leon type potential. I also really like Miroschnichenko, who by the way, works out in Buffalo. Sabres have excellent Intel on him.

[Flashsabre]

7 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Take Slafkovsky never look back hes going to be that Draisaitl  Talent where you say well he should have gone 1st overall

I think someone jumps on him as high as number 2. His Olympics are going to catapult him very high on some teams lists.

[Two or less]

6 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

I think someone jumps on him as high as number 2. His Olympics are going to catapult him very high on some teams lists.

Even with his 1 goal in 21 games in the Finnish Liiga?

[LGR4GM]

26 minutes ago, Two or less said:

I like him a lot too but idk if he has Leon type potential. I also really like Miroschnichenko, who by the way, works out in Buffalo. Sabres have excellent Intel on him.

Wait, back up. 

Miroschnichenko works out in Buffalo? When?