2021 NHL Draft

[Sandman]

RW Eetu Liukas,6'2"205lbs (TPS, Liiga): 3pts in 19 games playing 4th line minutes in Finland's top men's league, after posting 4pts in 5 games with 18 PIMs, as one of the youngest players on his team in the J20 league. Liukas is a modern-day power-forward with high-end defensive tendencies. He played meaningful minutes against men in the Liiga, but it sacrificed his offensive numbers, and opportunities on the international stage.

Liukas is a horse along the boards and in front of the net. He's big and strong, and physical, and finishes checks with authority. Plays mean, and won't back down from a challenge. Abrasive-fights the battles in the greasy areas, and does the dirty work. Looks for easy prey in the neutral zone. Liukas is great in the defensive zone, and has good habits, and smarts without the puck. Is trusted with PK duties (a specialty), and all other situations. Clogs lanes effectively, blocks shots, and has an active stick. Exhibits solid puck skills, a strong toolkit, and a good work-ethic. Another one of his best attributes is his hard, heavy wrist shot that he gets on net.

Liukas is an average skater-lumbering, but moves well in a few strides. Needs work, especially on his acceleration and backwards skating. If he can improve his first-step and acceleration, he'll be an absolute steal. I'm thinking 3rd/4th round.

[Sandman]

LHD Sean Behrens, 5'9"176lbs (USDP): 35pts in 46 games, second for D behind Hreschuk but with a better ppg. 3rd best D ppg in the USDP. In his two seasons playing in the USNTDP, he's amassed 39pts in 54 USHL games. 4pts in 5 games at the U-18s. He's a modern day offensive defenseman. I've been reluctant to write about him because of his size, but he's one of the best D-men available out of the US program, and there are many this year.

Behrens is one of the most enjoyable players to watch this year-he more than makes up for his size with smarts, elite awareness, high IQ, and plays much bigger than his frame. He plays like he's 6'3", defending the net, competing in the greasy areas, laying huge hits, and forcing attackers wide. Very strong. His hockey IQ is elite, he's always a step ahead. Behrens is also elite in transition, he can go end-to-end and through the other team. He uses his crossovers in the neutral zone to deceive.

Behrens' speed, skill, and intelligence helps him evade attackers and set up high-end scoring opportunities every game. He can pinch, and still get back in plenty of time. Is great at QBing a PP, can shoot from anywhere. Edge work and agility are also elite-great 4 directional skater, fun to watch him move. Only needs a step or two to get up to speed-truly one of the best skaters in this draft. Behrens is also a great defensive player-despite his size, he can separate man from puck in many ways. He makes tape-to-tape stretch passes to split the defense, and can draw 2-3 defenders as he executes controlled entries.

Behrens has a powerful shot, but he needs to work a little on accuracy-not too big a deal. There's not a lot of holes in his game, other than his size. One day, he'll be a top-4 defenseman in the NHL, and has been compared to Charlie McAvoy. Rated 57th by MacKenzie, but could go earlier.

[Tkachukwagon]

Just a reminder, the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery is being held tomorrow:

https://www.nhl.com/news/2021-nhl-dr...-2/c-324836470

The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery Draw of the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery is as follows:

Seed Team Odds
1 Buffalo Sabres 16.6%
2 Anaheim Ducks 12.1%
3 Seattle Kraken * 10.3%
4 New Jersey Devils 10.3%
5 Columbus Blue Jackets 8.5%
6 Detroit Red Wings 7.6%
7 San Jose Sharks 6.7%
8 Los Angeles Kings 5.8%
9 Vancouver Canucks 5.4%
10 Ottawa Senators 4.5%
11 Arizona Coyotes ** 3.1%
12 Chicago Blackhawks 2.7%
13 Calgary Flames 2.2%
14 Philadelphia Flyers 1.8%
15 Dallas Stars 1.4%
16 New York Rangers 1.0%

* Seattle Kraken assigned No. 3 seed with same lottery odds as No. 4 seed (10.3%)

** NHL announced forfeiture of Arizona Coyotes' 1st-round pick in 2021 NHL Draft in sanctions announced Aug. 26, 2020. Arizona being selected in either Lottery Draw will result in a re-draw.

[Heavy Jack]

Please let us pull a ChiTown and jump up into the top 5 from above top 10!! Would be the cherry on top of a so far so good playoffs after we crapped the bed this year.

[Abatedmean]

other then winning 1 or 2 that isn't possible

[Heavy Jack]

Well the top 2 it is.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Building a dataset for draft rankings to drive a range of players for Calgary ... worked perfectly last year for the most part.

Through six rankings the group that's emerging is ...

Jesper Wallstedt 7 12 11 13 10 9 10.33
Mason Mctavish 15 9 9 9 11 10 10.50
Chaz Lucius 12 10 10 16 9 12 11.50
Cole Sillinger 13 15 13 10 13 13 12.83
Fabian Lysell 10 11 27 14 12 11 14.17
Carson Lambos 22 18 14 5 15 14 14.67

Kent Johnson averages 7.00, suggests he'll be gone.

Aatu Raty averages 18.67 so less consensus.

I always find this stuff interesting, happy to update the grouping as it changes when I add rankings if there's an interest.

Added Craig Button this morning. No change to the consensus group, but Lysell falls to the last spot as Button had him at 27

9 Jesper Wallstedt 7 12 11 13 10 9 9 10.14
10 Mason Mctavish 15 9 9 9 11 14 10 11.00
11 Chaz Lucius 12 10 10 16 9 15 12 12.00
12 Cole Sillinger 13 15 13 10 13 17 13 13.43
13 Carson Lambos 22 18 14 5 15 12 14 14.29
14 Fabian Lysell 10 11 27 14 12 27 11 16.00

A tightening of the picks before and after the group as well. Kent Johnson now at 7.86 from 7.00, but still out. Fyodor Svechkov at 17.43 getting much closer to the group as well.

So far I have ...

FC Hockey
Cosentino
Ryan Kennedy
Steve Kournianos
Bob McKenzie
Craig Button
Forbes - Hockey Writers

Fire away if you guys find others that are worthy for the list. I've always been interested in Button and especially Kournianos.

[dammage79]

I'm completely sold on Chaz Lucius. Sniper RHS Center with comps to Elias Lindholm.Its almost a dream scenario getting this guy. I cant help but think he would be a top 5 pick if he didnt have his knee injury. And he still went a PPG almost after coming back. With a freshly repaired leg.

Still though, I have this thing in my head it'll be Ratys name called by tree on draft day. Can't shake it.

[Poe969]

No kids with major injury history. They need a fast C, doesn't have to be big but can't be a pushover, needs to be dynamic. At this range I think it's McTavish. If they get 1 or 2 it has to be Power or Beniers.

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I'm completely sold on Chaz Lucius. Sniper RHS Center with comps to Elias Lindholm.Its almost a dream scenario getting this guy. I cant help but think he would be a top 5 pick if he didnt have his knee injury. And he still went a PPG almost after coming back. With a freshly repaired leg.

Still though, I have this thing in my head it'll be Ratys name called by tree on draft day. Can't shake it.

Same!

[Wastedyouth]

Ok, I did not realize how well Guenther performed as a 16/17 year old. That is very interesting actually. And a right shot winger.

Perfect fit?

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Sandman

LW Ayrton Martino (USHL) 5'10"170lbs: Diminutive winger is a high-octane offensive threat. High compete level, with a non-stop motor, he never takes a shift off. Skating is elite, with fantastic balance even under duress-makes him very effective on the rush when combined with his creativity. One scout said that it seems like he gets 2-3 breakaways per game. His IQ puts him several steps ahead of the the play, and he possesses a fine shot arsenal-good release, hard and accurate. The Hockey Writers picked him as the fifth-best playmaker in this draft.

He's also been called one of the best penalty-killers in the league. His team, Omaha, has the 2nd best PK rate in the USHL. Kyle Connor had 80pts in 56 games in that same league in his draft year-Martino had 56 pts in 38 games. If you pro-rate his 38 into Connor's 56, Martino gets 82pts (he missed the first 2 months of the season due to transfer issues from the BCHL.) His points per game rate is 3rd in the league.

His issues are that he sometimes overhandles the puck, as his stickhandling is not as fast as his skating-it's said to be not that big a deal, but it can cause turnovers. He pays attention to his defense, but his aggressive nature sees him turning the other direction to offense too soon, leaving his teammates momentarily outmanned. Needs a little polish in this area. He is also a 2002 birthday. Not overly physical, but gets involved in the battle areas, has a good stick to break up plays, and the work ethic to win 50/50 battles. I've seen him mostly in the first part of the second round.

I am fairly surprised that Ayrton Martino isn't ranked higher than he is. I've seen many reports saying that he's the fastest/best skater in the draft. He's also a playmaker (which tends to translate well), has a high hockey IQ, and had good overall production.
Players with these attributes tend to succeed in the NHL. He's small, but he's not overly physical anyways.

I wouldn't be surprised if he goes way higher than projected. I also wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being a steal.

[the_only_turek_fan]

If we win the lottery, do we take Power or Beniers?

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I'd take sillinger 1st out of that group and McTavish 2nd. Unless someone falls further, if theres a solid reason not to take either of those guys then I'm all for trading down if another team loves wallstedt.

But I think Sillinger will be quite good.

Out of Lysell, Sillinger, and MacTavish who is the best skater?

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

If we win the lottery, do we take Power or Beniers?

You take Powers all day.

[neo45]

How about JJ Moser for an over-ager? Definitely ready for AHL duty after being captain of a Swiss team, and we definitely have room for him

No clue where a guy like that goes in the draft though. Passed over three times already but had a big season. 7th round flyer?

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

I am fairly surprised that Ayrton Martino isn't ranked higher than he is. I've seen many reports saying that he's the fastest/best skater in the draft. He's also a playmaker (which tends to translate well), has a high hockey IQ, and had good overall production.
Players with these attributes tend to succeed in the NHL. He's small, but he's not overly physical anyways.

I wouldn't be surprised if he goes way higher than projected. I also wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being a steal.

Kournianos has him at 20, Cosentino at 32

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Ok, I did not realize how well Guenther performed as a 16/17 year old. That is very interesting actually. And a right shot winger.

Perfect fit?

So perfect I don’t see him falling to us.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

Out of Lysell, Sillinger, and MacTavish who is the best skater?

Skating alone:
1. Lysell

--


2. Sillinger
3. McTavish

but Lysell is the least interesting in every other way imaginable. Sillinger in particular is suffering from lack of scouting/ shifting leagues this year. He was a potential top 5 contender last year.

https://www.rawcharge.com/2020/4/20/...cole-sillinger

"Only three players finished above Cole Sillinger in WHL rookie scoring, but Sillinger played 5 less games than the leading scorer and 10 less games than the rookie who finished second. Despite suffering an upper-body injury that saw him miss a month of the season, Sillinger had 45 points through 37 games by the middle of January. That put him at a 1.22 points-per-game pace — the highest by a U-17 player in the WHL since 1990."

[Sandman]

I’m excited-the Hockey News Draft Preview came today! They have the usual top 8, with Power, Edvinsson, Guenther as the top 3.