[sureLoss]

Red Line report calling big, fast, skilled power forwards the strength of the 2017 draft and potentially weak for defencemen.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...ards/92829180/

We’re a few weeks into the season and a couple of things seem pretty clear about what we’re going to see in next June's draft in Chicago: Big, fast, skilled power forwards. Lots and lots of them.

In fact, Red Line's 12 of 13 rated prospects, and 16 of our top 18, are forwards. The top five spots overall are occupied by forwards, and the smallest of them is Maxime Comtois, listed at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds.

Red Line’s top two prospects, Nolan Patrick and Gabriel Vilardi, just returned from summertime injuries and are already doing major damage. The top five grouping is shaping up to be pretty special. Kristian Vesalainen was an absolute beast through August’s World Junior evaluation tournament and early season play in Sweden’s top pro league, and Michael Rasmussen tallied eight goals in the season’s first seven games.

One other bold prediction: More than one goaltender will be selected in the first round. Yeah, that’s right, we said it. We know it’s not in vogue to take goalies early, it’s a strong year for netminders, led by the superb Ian Scott out west and Michael DiPietro in Ontario.

What we will not see early and often at next year’s draft are defenseman -- particularly those from North America. The only true highly skilled blueliner this year is Sweden’s Timothy Liljegren, and even he has been a mild disappointment in the early going.

Beyond him, Finland’s Juuso Välimäki and Miro Heiskanen may represent the second tier of skilled rearguards. The only two North American defensemen we see in the mix as potential first rounders at this point are Cal Foote and Nicholas Hague, both of whom are more in the mold of huge, physical shutdown defenders.