There's enough of a skill set there, though, that I think his potential is high. Once you move beyond Lafreniere, Byfield stands tallest among top 2020 NHL Draft prospects — literally and figuratively. Forty-three have been drafted and reached the NHL but only six were selected in the first round, and only four have been selected in the top 10. There’s no debate about who the best goaltender is heading into the 2020 NHL Draft. Sure, there will likely be a first-round pick spent on a goalie this year, but outside of that, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding this group. Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski Oceanic, QMJHL – Two years before his draft eligible season, Lafreniere topped the... 2 . The 18-0 Barca Women, Ringside Seat: Why you will enjoy the Juan Francisco Estrada-Roman Gonzalez rematch, Mercedes back on top despite Hamilton spin, Where the star 2020 NHL draft prospects land on 'The Auston Matthews Scale', 2020 NHL draft rankings: Top 100 prospects, Everything to know for the 2020 NHL draft: Analysis, rankings and more. C Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers. With the 2020 NHL Draft fast approaching, we will soon know where many talented prospects will be developing their game. There's still a lot of work ahead, but Garand's game intrigues me. One of the main factors I weigh heavily when evaluating goalie prospects is their track record: do they have a history of stopping pucks for a long time? TOP PROSPECTS - Seamus Casey (D) U.S. National U17 Team: USDP: 33 : 8 : 21 : 29 12 Askarov has all of the essentials for a first-round pick. He performed well, too, posting a .920 save percentage. Although the Finns don’t have a 2020 draft prospect with the hype of an Aleksander Barkov or Patrik Laine or Kaapo Kakko, the overall depth of the class remains formidable from both the skill forward and two-way defenseman categories. Commesso has not been as hyped as some U.S. National Team Development Program goalies of the past, but his numbers were pretty remarkable this season. He has solid mechanics and a good frame to be molded into a quality goalie prospect. Bruins’ Offense Needs Some Lineup Changes, A Night to Remember: Wild’s Kaprizov Scores First Career NHL Hat Trick, Buffalo Sabres Having Trouble Selling First Tickets Since Pandemic, 3 Takeaways From Avalanche’s 2-0 Victory Over Kings, 3 Takeaways From Lightning’s 6-Game Road Trip, Revisiting 4 Bold Blackhawks Preseason Predictions. This began with a solid season playing in the VHL, showing that he is a consistent, athletic starter with a great all-around toolkit. NHL Draft: Top 31 prospect rankings for 2020 1. Askarov also became the youngest goalie to earn a win in the KHL, when he made 23 saves on 25 shots in his one and only start for SKA St. Petersburg against HC Sochi. Vehvilainen is another … But the second is Daws' marked year-over-year improvement. Lafreniere solidified his status as the top prospect with 10 points over five games for Canada at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. Jamie Drysdale came out of the gate in a cannon. He maximizes his size with good technical skill and some polish. There are some stellar prospects on the radar. Last Season Stats for HIFK (SM-Liiga): 10G, 18A, 28P, 44GP 7. I wrote an article for The Prospect Network on the Top-10 American Prospects for the 2020 NHL Draft pre-pandemic, which can be found here. NHL Central Scouting rank: 5th (among EU goalies). The rankings have been created and compiled by our worldwide network of scouts. While Askarov looks close to a sure thing, the other tenders in the class have a lot to prove in the coming years to reach the NHL. Second-year eligible Hlavaj has made a much better case for himself to be selected in 2019-20. The Omsk, Russia native has been described by some as the best goalie prospect since Carey Price, who went fifth overall in 2005 to the Montreal Canadiens. This leaves you with a prospect that can be viewed as a major risk not worth a fifth-round gamble, or a goalie with third-round potential who is being undervalued due to a shift to a new hockey world. Bednar will be an interesting one to watch at the draft. What set Blomqvist apart was his calm, strong play in net. Here is what I had to say with regards to Berard: “Berard is an interesting player, being yet another smaller forward prospect at 5’9 155lbs. Over the entire history of the NHL, only 96 of the 810 goaltenders who have appeared in NHL games are right-catch goalies, according to NHL.com's all-time record book. Here is the first edition of Second City Hockey’s Road to the NHL Draft covering top prospects eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft in Montreal. While he will likely be selected this year, it won’t happen until Round 5 at the earliest, and he will be labeled as a project rather than an impact prospect. He’s a natural center who can play the wing, which he did on occasion for the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last season. A first round pick of the Florida Panthers, Knight has all the physical tools to be a successful NHL goalie. He has a huge frame and cuts down angles well. With the 2019 NHL Draft upon us, we've taken a moment to preview the class of players eligible for next year's 2020 NHL Draft. When you look at the total package, Commesso has it all, and will be one of the names you look back on in five years as a player who is making some noise in the AHL or even the NHL. While the Stanley Cup Championship was as good as ever, the 2019-20 NHL season left something to be desired for fantasy hockey managers. NASHVILLE (The Draft Analyst) — Finland always produces premier talent for the NHL draft, and this year should be no different. He spent last year adjusting to North American hockey with the Lincoln Stars and really seemed to take off this season with Sherbrooke, earning the QMJHL's defensive rookie of the year honors by posting a .915 save percentage in 39 games. Joel Blomqvist may not the biggest goalie available at the 2020 draft, but he is one of the best available. So, one franchise is going to pull a great value goaltender out of the mid-rounds of this draft. He might not make a lot of noise at first, but he has already shown that he can compete with the best in his class and has the fight to develop into an NHL-caliber player. Garand had a pretty sturdy team in front of him and plays sharp. Either way, he is incredibly talented and shouldn’t be overlooked this draft. CONSOLIDATED RANKING TOP 32. Our … In this NHL Draft Ranking, we've ranked the top-31 prospects available and listed ten honourable mentions to watch as well! The following spring, he was the U18 team's primary starter at the World U18 Championship where he helped Russia earn silver, going all the way to overtime in the final against host Sweden. Nick Malik is one of those prospects that you are either all-in on, or you want nothing to do with. Jamie Drysdale, Top NHL Prospect. Playing for one of the top clubs in that league always makes things a little trickier for a North America timeline, but an NHL team drafting a goalie would not, or at least should not, expect that player to be entering the league at 18 anyway. But 2020 NHL draft prospect Askarov stands out even among those few for so many reasons. But 2020 NHL draft prospect Askarov stands out even among those few for so many reasons. When you look at goaltending, however, there are some question marks. While his statistics were mixed after a stellar 2018-19 season, they told the story of a young goalie who could dominate aspects of the game while still struggling with some of the fundamentals. In club play, Askarov played 18 games in the VHL, Russia's second-tier pro league, setting a record for a U18 goalie for games played in that league. Despite this, he still posted a solid 2.64 GAA along with a .913 SV%. While his international play may leave a bit to be desired, he has proven that the skill is there to be an NHL prospect, despite being an overager in the QMJHL. In terms of international play, he has been overshadowed by one of the best European prospects of the 2021 draft, Jesper Wallstedt. This tournament showcased the poise and talent of Miftakhov, and he is the kind of prospect that any franchise would love to have in their system. Over 3 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix. • Teams that drafted new top prospects » Yaroslav Askarov is special. Bednar brings a lot of raw talent to the table. The rebound control could certainly be better, but I think he's just really starting to discover his game. Updated hourly with news and features from over 150 writers worldwide. His signature moment came in a semifinal during that tournament, in which he made 40 saves through regulation and overtime against Team USA. Hlavaj has a lot of the tools but still needs refining. 18 year-old Spencer Knight leads our list after a stellar 2018-2019 season. 7 on my most recent top 100 overall prospect ranking. Here at THW, we have been high on Malik, which you can see by his third-round selection in our full writer mock draft back May. MCKEEN'S HOCKEY TOP 32. Listen here ». Internationally, Askarov has been a revelation. When you have one player like Askarov dominating so much of the pre-draft conversation, it can be a bit hard to get a full perspective on a class. Askarov is the clear top goalie in the 2020 NHL Draft. He had some nice showings internationally, too, including at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and U18 Five Nations while sharing the net with highly touted 2021 draft prospect Jesper Wallstedt. Commesso moves cleanly in the crease with good positioning and sharp technique, and he gets post-to-post well. While playing as an 18-year-old in the Jr. A SM-liiga, he dominated play, winning 26 of his 31 starts with a .931 SV%. But 2020 NHL draft prospect Askarov stands out even among those few for so many reasons.. While living in his shadow, Clang posted a 2.00 GAA and a .939 SV% throughout his four international starts in 2019-20. He won't turn 18 until late August. Related: New Era of Goaltenders Will be Led by Yaroslav Askarov. Another so-so performance at the U18 Five Nations tournament in February humanized Askarov a little more. If he finds the right situation, he could be one of the steals of the 2020 NHL draft. What stands out, however, is how good he was in the WHL this season. In 16 VHL games, his save percentage is .922. The numbers were not very inspiring in 2019-20, but the workload he got at 17 is truly distinctive. Related: Calle Clang – 2020 NHL Draft Profile. However, once he started playing in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), he struggled to adapt to the North American game. While there will always be players who get a bit overlooked due to their situation, Clang will likely be selected below his actual potential. Though his team was outshot 35-13 in the final by an absolutely loaded Canadian squad that featured multiple projected high picks for this year's draft, Askarov made 33 saves -- including a late-game flurry -- to preserve a 3-2 win for the Russians. He's especially hard to beat down low and is as explosive a goaltender as I've seen going post to post. Our NHL Draft Rankings are released monthly from September through February. Surprisingly the first defenseman selected in the 2020 NHL Draft, Sanderson led the US U18 National Team in assists and was a member of the gold-medal-winning United States World Juniors team. Affiliated Rankings. The top Slovakian draft prospect for the 2021 draft, Myklukha’s upside is a notch below previous Slovak forwards such as Martin Chromiak in 2020 and Maxim Cajkovic the year prior. Kärpät’s Joel Blomqvist is trying to be next in line as the top-ranked Finnish netminder for 2020, and a likely top-100 pick on draft day. So that's Askarov. While the Stanley Cup Championship was as good as ever, the 2019-20 NHL season left something to be desired for fantasy hockey managers. The one big event where Askarov performed below expectations just so happened to be the one everyone sees. 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The number of Russian netminders continues to grow in the NHL, with Vasilevskiy winning the most recent Vezina Trophy, Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky becoming one of the highest-paid netminders in the league, Igor Shesterkin rising as the toast of Broadway with the New York Rangers, and New York Islanders fans salivating over the arrival of Ilya Sorokin. Don’t trust any 1 expert? He played hard minutes against men in the Czech Republic’s third highest professional league and didn’t look out of place. Spencer Knight (Florida Panthers) 6’4″ 196 USHL. — Top Shelf Prospects™ (@TSPhockey) October 8, 2020 FORWARDS It will be easy to see a pattern with all of these forwards, as none of them are taller than 5’10”. With all due respect to Quinton Byfield, Tim Stutzle, and a host of other talented prospects with franchise-changing potential, this draft has belonged to Rimouski’s Alexis Lafreniere for several years. *click on the goalie name and be taken to his kickass profile page - game logs, compare vs. the organizational goalies, shot data and more! The goalie carousel occurred during free agency yet again, so let’s see how their values have shifted by looking at our top 25 fantasy hockey goalie rankings. NHL Central Scouting rank: 3rd (among NA goalies). One wonders how much he can benefit from instruction from an NHL team's goaltending coach because he's still so raw. After being passed over at the 2019 draft, Samuel Hlavaj was given an opportunity to showcase his full game when he was selected by the Sherbrooke Phoenix during the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft. Drew Commesso is in an interesting position heading into the 2020 draft. While everyone agrees that it is extremely hard to predict how goalies will turn out, all the signs point to him (Blomqvist) being able to become an NHL starter one day. One of the things that does make Askarov a rarer breed is that he's a right-catching goalie. That said, there are a number of goalies who are likely to start coming off the board in the late second round, and into Rounds 3 and 4. However, he is more than just a big-bodied player, as he has the athleticism to stay mobile and get the most out of his frame.eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'thehockeywriters_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_0',830,'0','0'])); Since the 2018 season, Bednar has been playing against men in the Czech professional league.
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