Developed by InStat Hockey
We’ve come to the conclusion of what has been another long cycle draft, but this one seemed a lot more normal than the last two years. For the most part, leagues around the world returned to their usual schedules, offering draft-eligible players ample opportunity to improve their draft actions throughout the year. As a result, our board has evolved and undergone significant changes since the start of the season, with some players winning important and others not maintaining their position.
Collectively, our team has spent hundreds of hours watching games, watching movies, discussing players, and submitting reports in order to give you a ranking that best represents the views and opinions of our entire group.
Eetu Siltanen | Head of Scouting / Director of European Scouting (@siltaneneetu)
Nick Richard | American Scouting Director (@_NickRichard)
Hadi Kalakeche | QMJHL Regional Listening (@HadiK_Scouting)
Kyle Watson | OHL Regional Scout (@kyle_nw)
Evan Pace | WHL Regional Listening (@ evanpace17)
Alexander Annun | US Regional Listening (@Annun_Scouting)
Alexa Potack | Swedish regional listening (@alexa_potack)
Samuel Tirpák | Czech / Slovak / Central European Regional Listening (@ SammyT_51)
Sebastià Alt | Crossover Scout (@high_sebastian)
Colin Hunter | Goalkeeper listening (@ colinhunter0)
Dave Hall | Editor Manager / Crossover Scout (@ hall1289)
Pat Quinn | Associate Editor / Crossover Scout (@FHPQuinn)
Without further ado, the final classification of the DP Scout Team for the 2022 NHL Draft:
C | Kingston (OHL) | 6-0 | 198 pounds | Filming: R
Nick Richard: Wright had an impressive season, leading all players eligible for the OHL draft by scoring by a wide margin. While Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley made solid cases for number one on our team’s roster, Wright’s work and NHL-level projectability won in the end.
Wright plays a refined and complete game based on an exceptional sense of hockey. He sees things unfolding prematurely and constantly makes blunt readings to be in advantageous positions, both offensively and defensively. Wright is more powerful than explosive, but he has a clean slate and makes smart routes with both possession and support of the play. He will commit down to the defensive zone and has the ability to interrupt opposing possessions and send the game in a positive direction for his team. In the offensive zone, he is a double threat who can manipulate the passing lanes with his smooth hands to find open teammates, but his biggest weapon is his shot. It comes off its blade with power of multiple release points and does not need much time to find thread. All of these skills are accentuated by his ability to quickly process what is happening in front of him and then run under the pressure of the opposition.
He may not be the most dynamic and innovative talent in the class, but Wright’s full play and potential as a lethal finalist give him a fairly solid ground as a pivot of the top six he can play in all situations. If you keep adding rhythm to your game and get to your offensive ceiling, you have all the tools of a franchise player in the middle.
W | TPS (Liiga) | 6-4 | 218 pounds | Portraits: L
Eetu Siltanen: Slafkovsky rose to our team’s ranking throughout the season, due in part to his excellent National Team performances at both the Olympics and the Men’s World Cup. We had a lot of worries about different aspects of his game, but his good performances and his great overall development during the season helped ease them. During the season, he scored 17 points in 49 league games, in addition to 18 points in 11 SM-sarja under-20 games.
The main concerns of our explorers were their pace and speed of processing, but they have also been excellent in high-paced international matches, representing Slovakia. Although he is not yet the best skater, the leap in development he has made during the season has been fantastic. He has a strong posture, and has gone from having a very short step to a solid, powerful step. Slafkovsky’s strong points are certainly around his offensive game. He is a great record player with a strong stick, who can make great skill moves. Although he is not the most diligent shooter, he has a great shot in the wrist that he should use even more. Perhaps his hesitation in shooting has something to do with the fact that he has shown some minor problems with shooting from confined spaces. However, our team has also seen improvements in this area this season. With his good skills and improved skating, he has become a great transition player, creative after the entrances to the area. I love Slafkovsky’s ability to make great hook passes and use his creativity for offensive play. In the offensive zone, he is able to create chances for his teammates and has a great ability to protect the disc with his big body. He is a good forward player as he has great hand-eye coordination for redirects and the ability to bury rebounds.
While his production at Liiga was not incredible, he showed solid potential there and was excellent in every match of the men’s national team he played for. In addition to his excellent set of offensive tools, Slafkovsky’s physical maturity and European professional experience make him a high-end prospect.
C | NTDP U18 (USNTDP) | 5-10 | 181 pounds | Portraits: L
Nick Richard: Cooley was an NTDP scorer all season and led the team in points per game, finishing with 27 goals and 48 assists in just 51 games. He also adapted to the U.S. team at the abbreviated World Juniors, and again at the Under-18 World Championships, where he scored 10 points in six games on the way to a silver medal.
Cooley is an electrifying offensive talent that does it all at an exceptional pace. He is a phenomenal skater with fast feet and a powerful step that he uses to burn the defenders of the rush or win short-area races on contested records. He also has great agility and cutting-edge work to weave between the traffic and reach the middle ice for goal opportunities, always keeping defenders on his heels. Cooley is always around him, cleverly supporting the game in all three zones to make sure he is in a position to throw himself on loose discs or interrupt possession of the opposition. He has incredibly smooth hands and the vision to turn these fast-changing situations into attack with his ability to identify his options in a short time and make moves under pressure. He is just as dangerous as a passerby and a shooter and can also run a powerplay from the middle wall. Despite all his strengths on the offensive side, Cooley is also an impressive defensive player for the way he reads the game and uses his combination of speed and stick skills to get into lanes or pressure opposing players.
Aside from his below-average size, there are no real holes in Cooley’s game and he could be the most dynamic offensive weapon in this class when all is said and done.
C | NTDP U18 (USNTDP) | 5-10 | 181 pounds | Filming: R
Alexander Annun Frank Nazar culminated another good season with the NTDP, finishing third in the team scoring well over one point per game, proving once again that he is one of the best offensives even among this extremely talented gang. of NTDP perspectives.
Nazar’s game begins with his elite skating skill, a combination of high-end speed, and sharp edge work that makes him a slippery disc player; his skating makes him an extremely dangerous disc carrier. As a very skilled player, he does much of his job by driving in the middle of the ice and fighting in the face of the opposition instead of playing outside. Nazar’s double-threat ability forces the defense to make difficult decisions and allows him to react quickly and take advantage of any slight hesitation from the opposition. His work in defense is commendable, as he plays with a bewildered engine and advances aggressively and maintains a good defensive structure, although he still has no consistency in defense at the moment. Nazar shows incredible skill and has the potential to become a star player, but solving some consistency issues at both ends of the ice may prove to be key to him being able to unlock that potential.
D | HK Nitra (Extraliga Type) | 6-1 | 192 pounds Filming: R
Samuel Tirpák: Nemec made a record production season with Nitra in the top Slovak league, both in the regular season and especially in the playoffs where he collected 17 points in 19 playoff games to set a new record for all Tipos defenses . Extralliga.
Nemec is a highly intelligent two-way drive engine that has been in the conversation for being the first defense in the 2022 draft for more than a year, and rightly so. It is a transitional beast with a solid, well-rounded play at both ends of the ice. He can play the quarterback well and he can also defend a career well with his clever control of the gap. He has to work on the positioning of the defensive zone and, above all, the consistency of his coverage in the zone, but the belief is that there have been great signs of development throughout his year of draft and previous visualizations. Nemec will probably need another year at a higher level of professional hockey, such as the AHL, after being selected. I could probably handle the NHL minutes right away, but another year of development would be beneficial. If he continues to progress, he could be an excellent two-way NHL defender.
D | HC Plzen (Tipsport Extraliga) | 6-3 | 190 pounds | Filming: R
Samuel Tirpák: Jiricek is a pure blue, aggressive and offensive. Throughout the year he has been fighting with Simon Nemec for the position of best defense in the draft and all in all it was a close battle and the result was just a matter of preference for each scout or team. If you are making a proper breakdown in Jiricek, first you are not aiming at the defense, as he is a defender of the first offensive who has no defense …