2023 NHL Entry Draft Sleepers
Each year here at HockeyBuzz, I select a "Draft Sleeper" of the year a couple weeks before the NHL Draft: a player or players whom I believe are underated in the publicly available rankings (but may be higher in NHL teams' internal ranking) and/or whose ceiling may exceed their consensus selection range. I started it in 2014 and have done some variation on it each year with the exception of 2020-21.
It's not a prediction of whom I think the Flyers will take with a certain pick. The only time that it ended up with Philadelphia picking my "sleeper of the Draft" player was in 2017 when I
tabbed Soo Greyhounds center Morgan Frost. The Flyers at the time only had a single pick (2nd overall, which they used on the ill-fated Nolan Patrick selection). It wasn't until Draft day that the Flyers traded Brayden Schenn to St. Louis and received the 27th overall pick of the 2017 Draft (Frost) and a 2018 first-round pick (Joel Farabee, 14th overall).
There have been other years where the Flyers picked someone whom the scuttlebutt had as a Draft riser: a player said to have shot up teams' ranking in the second half of the season or were receiving an exceptionally high amount of scouting attention relative to their public projections. Examples of the former was the way
Samuel Morin rose in 2013 and especially the way
Travis Sanheim rocketed in 2014 from a projected middle-round pick to the first-round range.
Drafting is an inexact science, and I don't pretend to be a trained scout. I'm a layman who watches a lot of hockey. There are more misses than hits in this exercise. So the usual caveat holds: take it all with many grains of sale.
For 2023, my Sleeper of the Year is Swedish forward David Edstrom. A two-way center with good size (6-foot-3, 187 pounds), Edstrom had a solid 2022-23 season in Sweden for Frölunda at both the J20 and even the SHL level (two goals, four points in 11 games). He capped it off with a very impressive U18 World Championship for Team Sweden, posting five goals and eight points in seven games.
Edstrom plays with strong attention to detail. He's an unusually savvy player on both sides of the puck for an 18-year-old. He's not a fancy stickhandler or dazzling playmaker but he's demonstrated above-average checking ability, makes a lot of subtly clever plays, is heavy on the puck and has demonstrated soft hands around the net. He's not a speedster but he's not a plodder, either. Skating won't be an issue. He's deceptively quick.
Edstrom is strong on the walls, which stands out even in the big-rink game,and is particularly well-suited to the smaller rink in North America. He's adept at taking the puck to the net and isn't intimidated by playing in the "greasy" areas of the ice.
Although he's only projected in the first round range in a smattering of public rankings -- Craig Button ranks the player 22nd overall, Chris Peters has him 23rd, McKeens ranks the player 31st -- there is considerable scouting buzz about Edstrom being a potential pick in the latter half of the first round. He has a high floor (NHL bottom six) with a moderate (top nine) ceiling.
The 2023 Draft is a good one for Swedish prospects. Leo Carlsson is projected to be taken in the top three or four picks. Tom Willander has shot up the rankings to where some consider him a top-two defenseman in this year's Draft class, along with Austrian defenseman David Reinbacher. Offensive-minded defenseman Axel Sandin Pellika isn't universally loved by scouts (but he's ranked very high in some public projections and other scouts are bullish on his offensive upside.
Anton Wahlberg, like Edstrom, is a player who generated buzz as the 2022-23 season progressed. He was a second-half riser who won't turn 18 until July 4. Wahlberg emerged as a regular starter in the SHL for Malmö and also performed well for Team Sweden at the U18 Worlds. As with Edstrom, Wahlberg plays a heavy, North American style game. His demonstrated offensive upside is a bit below Edstrom's but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't there. Public rankings generally have Wahlberg in the second-round round but he's bumped up to the late first-round range in McKeen's (28th) and Craig Button's (29th) rankings. McKeen's likens Walhberg to San Jose's selection of a similar-styled prospect, center Filip Bystedt, with the 28th overall pick last year.
On the North American side, OHL speedster Nick Lardis benefited greatly from a trade to the Hamilton Bulldogs (46 points in 33 games_ and potted four goals at U18s for Team Canada. Lardis dazzled in physical testing at the 2023 Draft Combine, including a demonstration of surprising strength by doing 15 pull-ups (more than any other attendee) and placing first in all three force plate jump tests.
There is first-round intrigue around London Knights defenseman Oliver Bonk, whom I personally have on the radar as a candidate for the 22nd overall pick. His public rankings are generally on the late first-round to mid-2nd round bubble. Bonk made big strides defensively this past year, and also had a 40-point (10g, 30a) offensive season. He's not exactly under-the-radar, however, as his name has been out there a few years as someone who could become a high-end NHL Draft pick. Oliver is the son of former NHL player Radek Bonk, played for Team Canada at the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup.
Bonk's Knights teammate, Easton Cowan, is more in the traditional sleeper mold. His best portion of the OHL season came down the stretch and the playoffs. Cowan, who turned 18 on May 20, is a hard-working two-way winger who had offensive surge, too, as he closed with a rush to finsh with 20 regular season goals and potted nine playoff goals in 20 games. Cowan's linemate, pint-sized center Denver Barkey, finished similarly well. Barkey's public rankings are in the early second/mid-third round range while Cowan's public rankings vary from mid-second to late-third round range. I think Cowan's actual selection spot will be in the top 60 range.
Quick Hits: June 11, 2023
1) On last night's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, Elliotte Friedman discussed trading interest in Flyers center/winger Scott Laughton. Video is below:
2) I'm well aware of the rumors surrounding the Hockey Canada investigation about which players might come out unfavorably in the final report once it becomes public. However, I don't believe it's appropriate to speculate or comment until there is clarity.
3) Congratulations to Flyers Alumni defenseman and former Lehigh Valley Phantoms coach Kerry Huffman for his selection to the Peterborough Petes Hall of Fame. Congratulations as well to Don Saleski for his selection to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (Delco Chapter). Saleski's induction will be at the 41st annual banquet at Springfield Country Club on June 25, 2023.
4) Yesterday was the anniversary of both the 1997-98 Philadelphia Phantoms Calder Cup championship and the 2004-05 Phantoms Calder Cup championship. For a look back,
click here.
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