A few of our scouts from this season were asked to give us what they think are some ‘hot takes’ on the 2020 NHL draft. That is views or opinions that are a bit of a shock to the public consensus but that they believe could or actually will happen. Educated thoughts from our evaluators after two years watching these prospects develop and seeing the NHL talent hounds following their every move.
First up is Dan Stewart, DraftPro Editor and Director of Scouting.
“Yaroslav Askarov, the drafts top rated goaltender, has been rumored to be a top-15 pick for some time now. His most likely destinations being Edmonton at #14, Carolina at #13, New Jersey at #7 or even Ottawa at #5, however, Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings will select the talented netminder at #4 overall as they see him as a big part of the rebuild in Motown.” – DS
“Kingston winger Martin Chromiak has NHL playmaking skill, an underrated power game and is just scratching the surface of his potential. He is primed to become one of the 2020 Drafts top offensive talents and will make many a scout kick themselves in a few seasons for letting him get away.” – DS
“Kamloops Goaltender Dylan Garand may not have the six-foot-three two hundred pound size that NHL teams crave but he will go on to have a 15-year NHL starters career and make many NHL teams and their scouting staffs look silly for passing him over multiple times in the 2020 NHL Draft.” – DS
“AVTO Yekaterinburg Defender Daniil Zaitsev not Shakir Mukhamadullin as many projected is trending to become the next Alexander Romanov (MTL). He is an underrated two-way defenseman, an All-Star in the MHL this season, who will not be selected in the first two rounds but instead surprise the NHL team that does pick him by destroying the WJC in 2021 before crossing the ocean to start his NHL journey.” – DS
Next is Matt Morrison, DraftPro North American Scout.
“Justin Barron of Halifax in the QMJHL will be selected on day two but will become the second best right shot D, besides Drysdale, even despite injury concerns and a lack of offensive pop shown in his draft year.” -MM
“The second overall selection of LA, playmaking center Quinton Byfield cements himself as the best player from the 2020 Draft Class in just a few short years usurping the top selection Alexis Lafreniere for that title.” – MM
“United States U-18 Development Team Goaltender Drew Commesso becomes a NHL starter whose career will end up just as strong as lottery pick Yaroslav Askarov when it is all said and done. Commesso however has to wait until the second day of the draft to hear what team he is going to suit up for.” – MM
“Barrie center Evan Vierling, a super skilled playmaker who was just starting to show his sky-high potential, puts up crazy offensive numbers this coming season and ends up a steal after he is selected somewhere in rounds two or three of the draft.” – MM
“Tiny but highly competitive Seth Jarvis ends up the Brayden Point of the draft where nobody knows why he wasn’t taken higher that he went in five years time. He has the skill and determination combination to lead an NHL team in scoring one day.” – MM
Here is DraftPro’s Head Scout Jared Brown and his hot takes.
“Jean-Luc Foudy’s inconsistent season with Windsor that dropped his draft stock gets fully forgotten after he tears up the OHL and turns out to have one of the best DY +1 seasons. Proves his talent and athletic ability to everyone. Turns out to be a second day draft steal.” – JB
“Luke Evangelista gets drafted in the third round but continues to showcase his high-end offensive capabilities and puts up close to 100 points in his DY +1. Proves to be a first round talent that was buried on a deep London team.” – JB
“Mitchell Miller of Tri-City in the USHL turns out to be one of the best, steady, all-situations, two-way defenseman from this draft and goes on to have one of the longest careers in the NHL as a top four defender. – JB
“Landon Slaggert goes somewhere in the middle rounds but turns out to be a reliable, hard-working gritty NHL winger that supports the elite players on his line extremely well, playing in the top six role for many years.” – JB
“Oft injured center of Chicoutimi in the QMJHL, Hendrix Lapierre, gets picked towards the end of the first round, gets healthy and uses his skill and smarts to become an elite #1 centre that has a NHL career that rivals top two pick Quinton Byfield.” – JB
“HV71 center Zion Nybeck ends up not panning out as a top six forward as he has a hard time adjusting to the NHL due to his size and lack of speed. Bounces around a few teams throughout his NHL career before finishing as a SHL regular.” – JB
Moving over the Atlantic and we hear from Joel Lander DraftPro European Scout.
“Diminutive but highly competitive and offensively creative HV71 defender Emil Andrae ends up as the best defenseman from this draft but will not be drafted on day one in the first round.” – JL
“Anton Johannesson, the tiny but smooth passing defender from HV71 will become the biggest steal in the draft when Detroit’s super scout Håkan Andersson lobby’s GM Yzerman into selecting him in the third round.” – JL
“HIFK two-way center Anton Lundell who some see as a top-10 pick and others see limited skills will become a Selke trophy winner in the NHL one day.” – JL
And last but certainly not least Julius Dabrowski another DraftPro European Scout adds his takes.
“Winger Rodin Amirov, currently playing with Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL, becomes a top five point producer, and staple top six NHL scorer, from this draft class when looking back ten years from now.” – JD
“Goaltender Vsevolod Skotnikov of Krasnaya Armiya Moskva in the MHL will have an equally successful career as the drafts top selected goaltender Yaroslav Askarov will enjoy.” – JD
“NHL teams will forget about the ‘Russian Factor’ and select more Russian born and trained prospects than ever before in this year’s draft” – JD
Thanks for reading.
We would love to hear both your thoughts on our hot takes as well as any you might have by posting them on twitter using the hashtag #DraftPro.