He is a special player and looks like he will become a franchise-defining player for whoever selects him, when he finally makes it to North America that is. The son of longtime NHLer Yanic Perreault and brother of Ducks prospect Jacob, Gabe doesnt have his dads defensive acumen or his brothers build (hes listed at 165 pounds now), but hes an intuitive, highly-intelligent player who sees the play develop offensively at a more advanced level than his two family members did/do and than almost anybody in the draft does. Hes got gallops, cutbacks, crossovers, all of it. His actual statistical profile is good without being great, though. Theres just this elusiveness to his game where you never know where hes going with the puck. Watch out for Stenberg in the last months of the season, hes been playing better and better and I think hell go in the first round despite his lack of production in the SHL this year. Publishing date 2023-01-18 User Anonymous Views 922 Favorited 0 Share Embed 2023 Whl Bantam Draft hes patient under pressure and can find his way out of trouble weaving and swerving through holes or away from sticks. . He has the potential to make a real impact in the NHL as soon as next year considering his success on both ends of the ice in Sweden thus far. He projects as a pass-first playmaking centre with a middle-six floor, first-line potential, and clear PP value (in multiple roles, too, because hes great around the net and below the goal line but can also run it from the flank). Wins it in OT for !!! He takes smart routes with and without the puck, he has become a reliable three-zone player, and the skill is there (hes got superb puck control skill). We believe in fully disclosing the methods to which we collect and use your personal information. The SHL demands a lot of players when it comes to physicality and defensive effort, both of which Carlsson has excelled at. His average SHL TOI is around 4:30, so this should be a confidence boost for the 2023 top prospect.In the J20 Nationell, Stenberg has 20pts (8G, 12A) through 23 games.pic.twitter.com/H36RVcNC4H Alexa Potack (@alexa_potack) January 24, 2023, Otto Stenberg scores his first SHL goal and point! Dvorsky has shown solid defensive play so far against men and his vision and puck skills have looked right at home, especially on the power play. The Chiefs hold the first-overall selection, as determined by the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft Lottery on June 2, 2021. (other than Brad Lambert who's half Sask) but we'll see how the kids develop. Sign up for EP Premium to create your own ranking. Fantilli is currently averaging about one and a half points per game on a University of Michigan team filled to the brim with talent. He is on the younger side of the draft class with a July birthday so he has plenty of time to grow into the potential that he has shown thus far and increase his draft stock. Kalan Lind, C/LW, Red Deer Rebels (WHL), 46. Cameron Allen, RD, Guelph Storm (OHL), 62. Its powerful when it needs to be and light and adjustable when it needs to be. Jacob Fowler, G (Youngstown) Only Hughes. The raw potential is there in spades and the production is starting to catch up to it. The only player to ever score at a rate of two points per game on the U18 team for a full season is Jack Hughes, you might have heard of him. At the time of writing, he leads all defenseman in points per game and is on pace to have one of the most impressive offensive seasons in league history amongst defensemen of any age, not just draft eligible ones. Jake Leschyshyn (/ l s n / leh-SIH-shuhn; born March 10, 1999) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ravndahl spent parts of three seasons with the Prince Albert Mintos program, recording 25 points in 50 games played. From my first live viewing of him two Octobers ago in St. Catharines when he looked like the Generals most talented forward in just the second game of his OHL career, to his four-goal, seven-point series in Oshawas six-game first-round defeat against the Frontenacs, to his Hlinka performance this summer, to my most recent live viewings of him both in Oshawa and in Langley at the CHL Top Prospects Game, Ritchie has consistently impressed me. More and more his game has shown dimension inside the offensive zone so that he can make things happen shift after shift out of all of his effort plays up and under sticks. The 2021 WHL Prospects Draft is scheduled for Thursday, December 9, 2021. Last year, he led Prince George in goals (30) and finished second in points (57, one back of Heidt). I think theres a small chance he becomes a star or close with the right development, too. Carlssons ability to find and make space off the puck is also impressive for such a young player playing against grown men. However, his real calling card is his shot which ranks near the top of the draft class in terms of deception and power. Ondrej Molnar, LW (Erie) Benson has been electric for the Western Hockey Leagues (WHL) Winnipeg Ice this year, and has been the teams best player more often than not even though teammates Conor Geekie and Matthew Savoie were both selected in the top-11 of the 2022 Draft. Hell make plays through seams. He sustained an injury during the World Juniors that has kept him out of play for a while, but hopefully he can return to dominating the WHL soon. Chloe Primarano is the first ever female to be selected in a WHL Bantam Draft. When hes around it, he can be a handful. Jesse Nurmi, LW (KooKoo) Thats three more defencemen than my preliminary ranking, and while none still rank in the top 10 (which would be a first if it holds), theres a trio in the conversation for the 11-20 range and a ton of worthwhile second-round options behind them. January 2023 WHL Draft Ranking update | Top-80 Joel Henderson Final Thoughts: John Reid Memorial Tournament 2023 Joel Henderson 10 Puck Touches: Day Three and Four - 2023 John Reid Memorial Tournament Joel Henderson 10 Puck Touches: Day Two, 2023 John Reid Memorial Tournament Joel Henderson The way he drops the puck into the middle of his stance and then explodes it off of his blade almost without any forward motion to indicate the shots coming is remarkable. Tom Willander, RD, Rgle BK J20 (J20 Nationell), 57. His skills make him very well suited as a center at the next level with good size, a coveted right-handed shot, good defensive habits (kills penalties quite well), and solid faceoff results. Western Hockey League. Connor Bedard has made the competition for first overall a one horse race, absolutely dominating at the World Juniors where he clearly looked several steps ahead of his competitors Adam Fantilli and Leo Carlsson. My best guess at a player who has great skill but might slide on draft day due to his height is Gavin Brindley. Theres his variety of shooting stances above and beyond that pop off of his hip (right down to his curl-and-drag, his one-timer, and his feel off of his backhand). . Hes also highly creative despite his goal-scoring tilt. Hes got a great release. pic.twitter.com/ZNwH9wYcC0. The WHL Bantam Draft is an annual outing, in which the Clubs of the Western Hockey League select players who have graduated from bantam. With the World Junior Hockey Championship coming. That is, of course . Im not sure there has ever been a player Connor Bedards age in the history of hockey who has been able to shoot the puck like he can. Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Still, though he is a dominant junior player and could chase down a 50-goal season this year, its also fair to ask if his advanced growth gives him less runway for improvement (he really does look like a man already). Hes also well-regarded as a great kid who is easy to coach and understands whats required of a centre. He has shown a knack for making big plays at big moments. His near point-per-game production at the top of the Huskies stat sheet comes a year after he led the BCHL in goals (45 in 46 games) and points (85) for a 1.85 points-per-game clip that stands as the most productive 16-year-old season in the league in decades, besting Alex Newhook(1.47), Kyle Turris (1.26), Tyson Jost (0.98), and Kent Johnson (0.81) while being four months younger than Johnson was at the time. Auston Matthews had Patrik Laine, Jack Hughes had Kaapo Kakko, and Alexis Lafreniere had Quinton Byfiled, its hard for top prospects to separate themselves from the pack but Bedard has done just that.WELCOME TO THE BEDARD SHOW! Hell make the soft play to the middle of the ice from the perimeter, or go there to get to rebounds or position himself on screens/tips. 4 pick in the 2019 Bantam draft (a year ahead of when most of the plethora of other top WHL names on this list were selected). Its impossible not to. Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month. Yager is a prospect that I fully expect to still be drafted very early on draft day, I just havent been that impressed with his game this year. 10 Puck Touches: . Id like to see him go past effective and really take over more, but he makes his fair share of plays, hes a sub-.500 teams leading scorer, and it does feel like he has middle-six centre written all over him. Dvorsky is a highly-talented and intelligent playmaker who can threaten defenders and coverage in a variety of ways, whether thats carving them up in control and finishing cleanly from the home plate area, or sliding off of coverage to find pockets of space to get open into. Sandin Pellikka had a great showing for Sweden at the World Juniors, and is now probably the favourite to be the first defenseman drafted in 2023. I love the way he slows down the game, adjusts and maneuvers his frame and shades pucks. Oliver Moore is one of the best skaters in this draft class with blazing speed and solid agility. Hes got really good edges and mobility, though he doesnt have the speed in straight lines to pull away from faster chasers. 2002 Rankings. Its all there. Brayden Yager has been talked about in the public scouting sphere for nearly as long as Connor Bedard, being drafted third overall in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and winning the CHL Rookie of the Year award last year on the back of a remarkable 34-goal, 59-point rookie season. If he can become a second-pairing offensively-inclined defenceman at even strength, and a PP1 QB, that has value in the middle of the first round. Nobody can defend his inside-out cut into that low, hard wrister of his at the junior level. Hes got superb vision and ranks among the best in the class at dissecting coverage as a passer. Problem-solving. And while hell fade in stretches, the talent level is clear. Hes a hard worker who makes his team better whenever he steps on the ice. The best way to define Fantilli is the way one USHL source once described him to me: Hes a horse.. I see clear, projectable top-six tools as a play-creating winger and Im not the least bit worried about him doing it against NHL defences because of how hard he is to pin down. Tomas Suchanek, G, Tri-City Americans (WHL), 59. Good luck taking the puck away from him because he can easily move around you with his excellent skating or truck through you with his solid 6-foot-2, 185-pound frame. He has also shown a little more fire. He profiles similarly to David Jiricek physically, but with a more defensive tilt to his game. Dmitri Simashev is a very intriguing prospect with the size/skating combo (6-foot-4) that is so coveted in the modern NHL. 2023 NHL Draft: Breaking down the WHL Defensemen in the CHL Top Prospects game Joel Henderson. Though he doesnt play the game with some of the shine of the three players in front of him, Carlsson, the top Swede in the draft, has emerged as my clear No. He was theNo. Will Smith has established himself as one of the very best prospects in this draft with his continued dominance as a member of the United States National Team Development Program where he is scoring just under two points per game. So far, his offense has only improved, even considering the increased competition. One of my favourites in the 2005 age group, Wood is the youngest player in college hockey this season (he was, for a moment, its only 17-year-old) and has stepped right in to become an impactful player on a good UConn team (albeit as a winger after playing mostly centre at the Jr. A level). His playmaking skills either at full speed or after settling in the offensive zone are impressive and make him a very mobile and skilled threat whenever he has the puck. There have been Lane Hutson (2022 Draft), Olen Zellweger (2021 Draft), Logan Stankoven (2020 Draft), and Cole Caufield (2019 Draft), to name a few. While that bent-sideways cannon that he has off of his right hip is his defining quality, its not the only tool he has that is singular, either. I believe Michkov could still easily be the second overall pick even though hes playing in Russia and has a contract that will keep him playing in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for three full seasons following the draft. Mazden Leslie, RHD (Vancouver) He excels in puck battles, whether along the boards or in front of the net, even against grown men in Finland. When you package all of that skill with a dogged work ethic that keeps him around pucks all the time, and youve gota tremendous player. He can definitely drift a little at five-on-five but his eyes light up and his head swivels when the puck lands on his stick, and skill plays against the grain usually follow.