LOS ANGELES \u2014 It\u2019s NHL Draft Eve, so I\u2019ll cut to the chase and spare you the intro. Here\u2019s everything I\u2019ve been hearing in the final hours ahead of Friday night at the Peacock Theater, plus a last-minute draft ranking tweak I\u2019d make and some quotes and insights that I gathered over the course of this season.<\/p>\n
Hot names right now<\/strong><\/p>\n There are a few names that I\u2019ve been hearing a lot in recent weeks and days that I wanted to draw some attention to: Russians Daniil Prokhorov, Alexander Zharovsky and Semyon Frolov, Acadie-Bathurst Titan defenseman Will Reynolds and Czech forward Vaclav Nestrasil. There are multiple teams prepared to take Prokhorov, a 6-5 winger with secondary scoring and a nose for the dirty areas, in the first round. Zharovsky got mixed reviews coming out of Dan Milstein\u2019s Gold Star camp in Fort Lauderdale because of just how far behind the curve he is physically, but there are some that still rate him higher than people realize. I believe Prokhorov is gone in the early 20s and won\u2019t be surprised if he goes late teens. Zharovsky and Nestrasil could both go late first, and if they don\u2019t, they will be gone very early on Day 2. Frolov is viewed by some as the 1A or 1B goalie in this class to Joshua Ravensbergen. Don\u2019t be surprised if Ravensbergen slips out of the first round, either. I\u2019m less and less convinced the Predators take him with one of their late firsts.<\/p>\n Reynolds\u2019 name came a little out of nowhere in the second half. He\u2019s a big, strong, competitive D who can really skate, and while his production (16 points in 69 combined regular-season and playoff games) doesn\u2019t scream second-rounder, I believe he\u2019s going to go there now; multiple teams have him rated firmly there. It sounds like he\u2019s a couple of inches bigger than his 6-foot-2.5 listing as well. Plus, he\u2019s an August 2007 birthday, which puts him on the younger side of this class. His game translates to the NHL and what teams are now looking for in D.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom (January) to now, he had his development trajectory skyrocket,\u201d said one source on Reynolds.<\/p>\n Penguins are the team to watch<\/p>\n I was already hearing a lot about the Penguins\u00a0before\u00a0the Rangers made the decision to transfer the No. 12 pick to them to complete the J.T. Miller trade. As I\u2019ve reported, I know they\u2019d inquired with the Blackhawks about the No. 3 pick and have been aggressive in looking into moving up. It sounds like they like both Porter Martone and James Hagens a lot. I\u2019ve also heard they like Roger McQueen. I believe Martone\u2019s going top five, so they\u2019d have to jump into the 3-5 range to grab him. I\u2019m less sure Hagens goes top five, but I also believe the Flyers and Bruins like him at No. 6-7. So those are your scenarios. After polling scouts about McQueen, I believe he goes in the 8-10 range and could see any of the Kraken, Sabres and certainly Ducks take him (multiple people have linked McQueen and the Ducks to me). If McQueen\u2019s gone and they stand pat, the names I\u2019ve heard tied to the Penguins are lefty defensemen Kashawn Aitcheson and Jackson Smith (who they both spent extra time with in Buffalo at the combine and would give them a top left-shot D prospect opposite emerging righty Harrison Brunicke) and winger Lynden Lakovic, who I think is in play starting with the Penguins. Kyle Dubas has never been shy to move back, either, so I don\u2019t think that door is shut (though they need quality less than quantity after acquiring more of the former since Dubas took over).<\/p>\n Could James Hagens slip out of the top five?<\/strong><\/p>\n A little more than a year ago, Hagens set the U18 Worlds single-tournament points record with 22 points in just seven games in Finland, and entered the summer before his draft year as the front-runner to be the No. 1 pick. Now, I\u2019m starting to get the sense he\u2019s not going to be a top-five pick. As things stand right now, I don\u2019t think the Sharks, Blackhawks or Mammoth take him at 2, 3 or 4. And while I think he makes a lot of sense for the Preds at No. 5 \u2014 and I\u2019d take him there \u2014 they\u2019ve shown a lot of interest in Martone throughout this year, and I think he\u2019s likely their selection if he\u2019s there. If Martone goes before the Preds\u2019 pick at No. 5, which is a real possibility, I could see Nashville circle back to Hagens. But the chalk version that I\u2019ve got in my head right now has Hagens going No. 6 or No. 7 to the Flyers or Bruins.<\/p>\n I do know there are teams that have Hagens as their target in potential trade-up scenarios, however, and the Islanders have explored trying to add a second top-five pick, presumably to take Hagens, who\u2019s from Long Island. (Those trades almost never happen, but wouldn\u2019t that be something?).<\/p>\n A note on Malcolm Spence<\/strong><\/p>\n I mentioned it briefly on the pod last week, but I wanted to highlight a note on Malcolm Spence. (If you\u2019re faint of heart, maybe don\u2019t read ahead.)<\/p>\n I was a little surprised when Spence, who\u2019d previously been listed at 201 pounds by NHL Central Scouting, weighed in at 190 pounds at the combine in Buffalo, and it was enough of a loss that I decided to ask around.<\/p>\n As it turns out, the weight loss happened after he \u201csplit his tongue in half\u201d earlier this year. After getting it stitched, it got infected, swelled and eventually grew a blood clot. Spence ended up in the hospital after one particularly tough bus ride home, and the hospital had to bring in a dentist and an oral surgeon to lance the growth off. He struggled to eat for a while and even had trouble breathing for a time. Though he played with a bubble cage, he lost 10 pounds, and it sounds like it impacted his season.<\/p>\n Spence still finished the year with a respectable 36 goals (including five shorties, second-most in the OHL) and 82 points in 74 combined regular-season and playoff games, but he moved from the front half of the first round entering the season to the back half of the first round exiting it.<\/p>\n He has since committed to the University of Michigan and projects to play at 215 pounds in the NHL. He also did well in his interviews at the combine, by the sounds of it. I\u2019ll be interested to see where he goes on Friday night, but I\u2019d guess early 20s.<\/p>\n A last-minute draft rankings tweak<\/strong><\/p>\n Every year, in the days between the release of my final draft board and the draft itself, continued conversations and video work (normally prompted by those conversations) always seem to lead me to some flip-flopping and hair-pulling about my list.<\/p>\n This year, there\u2019s only one that I\u2019ve kept coming back to, and it\u2019s a minor one: I think I\u2019d move Cullen Potter down two or three spots to No. 18 or No. 19, which would move Jackson Smith and Lynden Lakovic up one spot each to No. 16 and No. 17, respectively, and maybe Cameron Reid up one to No. 18 as well.<\/p>\n Quotes on top prospects<\/strong><\/p>\n Skating coach Jordan Trach on Roger McQueen:<\/strong> \u201cI think he has got substantially better in the last couple of years. He was always very big and awkward and had very good skills. His skating, his body just seemed to never catch up to his muscles. He always just skated like he was too weak. He catered to his own body. When you\u2019re skating, you want to load your legs, and he would always unload his legs because he wasn\u2019t strong enough to keep them going. And truth be told, I think he is still growing. I just saw him last week, and I think he\u2019s like 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-7 now, and I think he\u2019s just going to get stronger, and stronger and stronger in his skating ability. If I\u2019m looking at my draft list, I\u2019m so excited about a 6-foot-6, right-handed shot centreman with skill. Those guys don\u2019t come around often. There are still a lot of GMs and scouts that won\u2019t argue that fact that a big, skilled guy is better than a small, skilled guy. Everyone loads up on a little more meat on their bones for playoffs. It\u2019s a part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n A scout on Matthew Schaefer: <\/strong>\u201cI think when you see him, the first thing that pops out at you is that he\u2019s an effortless skater. The second thing that jumps out is his high IQ and his ability to make plays with and without the puck. And I think when you watch games, shift after shift and game after game, he\u2019s the best player on the ice a lot of times. And he has done that at the U17 level, he\u2019s done that at the world U18 level, he\u2019s done that at the Ivan Hlinka level, and he\u2019s just a very mature, responsible player where nothing is too big for him, no situation is too big for him offensively or defensively. It\u2019s a lot of smart, simple plays. You see a lot of highlight reel plays, but he doesn\u2019t have to do highlight reel plays to be a very effective player. People talk about it being a 19-year-old tournament and the reason you talk about it being a 19-year-old tournament is because a lot of the younger guys might be physically mature enough but they don\u2019t have that pro mentality or that of a 19-year-old world junior player where a lot of the time the simple play is more effective. Schaefer has that ability to just make smart, simple, quick plays, which is what wins you hockey games.\u201d<\/p>\n A scout on Porter Martone: <\/strong>\u201cPorter brings size, a high-skill package, he\u2019s got hockey sense and good hands, and he\u2019s a big body who is always in the middle of everything. When you see Porter Martone play, he\u2019s not a great skater but he gets to where he needs to be and he\u2019s kind of a Ryan Smyth type of guy where he\u2019s always around the action, he\u2019s always around the net, he\u2019s always in the corners, pluys he\u2019s got the hand skills and the offensive creativity to be a aprt of a lot of offensive chances. I think you\u2019re looking at a pretty complete player who\u2019s got size and brings an edge to his game, so he can complement a lot of players. He can be up and down your lineup. He can be with a lot of skill players and be net-front or working the corners or he can be on the fourth line and be more physical.\u201d<\/p>\n (Photos of Kyle Dubas and James Hagens: Jeff Vinnick \/ NHLI via Getty Images and Michael Miller \/ ISI Photos \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 It\u2019s NHL Draft Eve, so I\u2019ll cut to the chase and spare you the intro.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3115,3103,1720,3113,3107,291,2995,3110,1320,2993,2997,1323,2081,3112,3104,3111,2994,1301,1302,293,3105,3108,1334,1328,2999,62,2996,3106,1304,67,132,68,2082,3114,3116,3109,292],"class_list":{"0":"post-16428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-buffalo-sabres","11":"tag-calgary-flames","12":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","13":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","14":"tag-colorado-avalanche","15":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","16":"tag-dallas-stars","17":"tag-detroit-red-wings","18":"tag-edmonton-oilers","19":"tag-florida-panthers","20":"tag-los-angeles-kings","21":"tag-minnesota-wild","22":"tag-montreal-canadiens","23":"tag-nashville-predators","24":"tag-new-jersey-devils","25":"tag-new-york-islanders","26":"tag-new-york-rangers","27":"tag-nhl","28":"tag-ottawa-senators","29":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","30":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","31":"tag-san-jose-sharks","32":"tag-seattle-kraken","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-st-louis-blues","35":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning","36":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","37":"tag-united-states","38":"tag-unitedstates","39":"tag-us","40":"tag-utah-mammoth","41":"tag-vancouver-canucks","42":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","43":"tag-washington-capitals","44":"tag-winnipeg-jets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}