The 2015 draft is shaping up to be an interesting event. Outdated rankings and the whispers of promises unfulfilled still permeate the official rankings and scouting reports we are privy too. It's not their fault ultimately, they release it on a schedule and it's based on the past, there's really nothing they can do. Sometimes though, things get rather egregious. Or at least from my perspective. Some players can't and won't get the respect they deserve going into the draft. Whether they are a long shot crazy pick or a dominant player falling under the radar, they just don't seem to cut it...until the real draft and a few years later. Obviously not all will make it, but it's often the mentality that counts. Are you the team that picks the 5'10 ultra skilled forward that languishes in the AHL at a PPG, or the 6'4 bruising hulk that might score 3 goals in the AHL? Depression quest aside, it's a legitimate question. Do you go for perceived stability and a "guaranteed" that is completely not a guaranteed NHL future over a long shot that has holes in their game that really need plugging or they'll be churning out PPG years in Kazan?
Well I'm not here to answer that question, just raise the awareness of certain prospects in the 2015 draft.
Ranked 84 - Rasmus Andersson - Defenseman, 18 years old, 6'0 214lbs, Barrie Colts in the OHL
50gp - 9g - 41a - 50p
What nobody is talking about yet this year is that this is a pretty bloody good time to need a defender in the draft. Rasmus Andersson is ranked 84th of North American Skaters by the Central Scouting Agency. That's right, 84th among just the NA applicable players, this includes overagers and doesn't include Europe. Roughly speaking third round at best and fourth at worst on their list. How many PPG defensemen that are known for their two-way ability go in the fourth round from the OHL? I'd have to check, but I'm guessing zero. Here's the scarier thing, Andersson played in the Allsvenskan before making the move to Barrie and he performed on par as a 17 year old as Oliver Ekman-Larsson...and...Filip Forsberg. He has performed so well that Hockeydb has him listed as a forward because he can't be this good. My main viewing experience was the U18 and Ivan Hlinka Tournament. I've only seen him play twice this year, so I can't speak as an expert on his play, but reading the work of others who follow the Colts religiously, they seem to have the same conclusion I have. This guy is pretty good. He's physical, skates pretty well, is hard to take off the puck, moves it with authority, can QB a PP...and pinches rather poorly at times in dangerous attacking plays. 84th. The scary thing is...he's outperforming Aaron Ekblad on practically the same bloody team. Now he's not as good as Ekblad, he doesn't have the same size and hockey IQ, but how he hasn't gotten any recognition or respect is absurd. I would have assumed that the ISS would have his back, considering they like to really prop up European prospects like Grigorenko (ranked number 2 all the way to the bitter end), yet again, he fails to reach their top-30. I've been on his bandwagon for two years now, so sadly I can't get off it, but I feel I'm justified for sticking with it. It's not like he came to the OHL and has struggled...he's arguably a top-5 defenseman in the league there. It's not like he wasn't playing at an extremely high level in the Allsvenskan and internationally the year before. 84th...well, if he does fall that far, some team (it'll be the Wings or Lightning let's not kid ourselves) will be laughing for days.
Ranked 49 - Anthony Beauvillier - Centre, 5'10 181lbs, Shawinigan Cataractes in the QMJHL
51gp - 34g - 42a - 76p
Now I think 49 is a bit of a poor ranking, but I get it. Beauvillier is small and small is bad. Small means he is terrible defensively and can't win face-offs. Except when it doesn't. Beauvillier is one of the best face-off men in the QMJHL, he's also surprisingly good in his own zone. He's the highest scoring draft eligible (without being passed over) player from the QMJHL. That's overall and PPG. Again, little respect, though with Beauvillier it does make some sense, he's 5'10. It almost seems inevitable that a player under 6'0 will garner less attention and value than those above that imaginary threshold of "midget" and "power forward." Regardless, he is one of the more underrated and overlooked players in this draft and his play in the second half of the season has been nothing shy of elite.
Ranked 39 - Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson - Centre, 6'1 185lbs, Omaha Lancers in the USHL
37gp - 12g - 30a - 42p
Karlsson is that rare breed of Swede that moves to the USA and plays in their developmental system. It's a pretty rare thing for foreign talent to move to the USHL, yet as America grows as a hockey nation, this could be a trend towards more of a norm. He's an impressive skater. The kind of player that can blow by opposition at a moments notice. Currently he is very near the top of the scoring board for USHL eligible players, behind several notable players who are generally in the 15-20 range, but he's right up there. The only thing I worry about are his hands, because at the U18's which is the last I saw him, he missed two breakaways in one single game. You need to give him credit for creating the breaks, but if you lack finish on them in junior, the likely hood of finishing in the NHL isn't great. It seems that he has rounded into form ultimately and he could be an interesting guy in the second round.
Ranked 133 - Ethan Bear - Defenseman, 6'0 203lbs, Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL
47gp - 9g - 20a 29p
Now I know that Thunderbirds prospects are notorious for being weird and unpredictable. Bear leads the team in points by a defenseman and filled the hard to replace boots of Shea Theodore (Anaheim) while he was in the AHL and then WJC. He had an impressive showing at the Ivan Hlinka earlier and I was impressed by his defensive reads. He has his head up all the time and seems to anticipate plays. It wasn't hard to be impressive on that IH team, but he was good. He's the fourth highest scoring defender under 18 in the WHL and again the small list ahead of him is pretty impressive (Provorov, Juulsen and Wotherspoon). Aside from the Ivan Hlinka I really haven't seen him play, but I'm doing this as a request because a certain somebody keeps sending me PM's about how good he is and why Shea Theodore is going to be a stud etc. I'm sure he thinks Seattle coffee is the best too.
Ranked 61 - Kirill Kaprizov - Left Wing, 5'10 181lbs, Metallurg Novokuznetsk in the KHL
26gp - 3g - 4a - 7p
Kaprizov is the only Russian eligible prospect to play over 20 games in the KHL this season. The 17 year old found his spot on the fourth line and stuck to it. So much so, that he signed a two year deal with Novokuznetsk which will likely kill any chance of him being drafted this year. So why talk about him? Mainly because if you've watched a player enough and have an opinion, you should spew it. I really love his speed, I really hate his "softness." Russian hockey gets a bad reputation from those who don't watch it and think it's a league of Alex Semin's. It really isn't. It's a defensive league with a surprisingly large number of predator hitters that are really only limited due to the larger ice allowing smaller players to avoid being demolished. This is a league where Chris Simon was not only a "well respected" captain...he was a folk hero. Kaprizov plays a very "European" game, a lot of speed that he can generate off a rush and really smart quick plays that can build dangerous momentum. Similar to Anton Slepyshev (Oilers), signing a KHL deal pretty much destroyed his draft eligiblity. Slepyshev found himself from the number 10 European skater and the 35th overall player in the draft to going undrafted the first year before being snatched by Edmonton in the third round when he publicly made it clear he was willing to go to the AHL once his KHL contract ended. What does that mean for Kaprizov? Likely not hearing his name called until either next year or 2017. Personally...I'd waste a conditional 7th on him...what else can you do right?
Thanks for reading. All the rankings were taken from Central Scouting, in case that comes up.