So we don’t know yet which team (almost certainly) will choose Alexis Lafreniere first overall in the NHL 2020 Draft. On the plus side, the lottery draw of the giveaway determined picks two to eight from the NHL 2020 Draft. With that in Mind you, let’s reflect on which players will represent the top eight choices through PHT’s simulated draft.
Actually, maybe you should consider this as a simulated draft of simulated drafts. Maybe call it a consensus of consensus?
PHT compiled the top 10 rankings from 11 different mock drafts / lead ratings / large dashboards to put together a mix of mock drafts for the Draft NHL 2020. If that doesn’t provide enough “consensus consensus” consider how some of those drafts were compiled simulated.
As an outstanding example, TSN’s Bob McKenzie surveyed 10 explorers and presented that consensus. So this is a riddle wrapped in a bacon-cooked puzzle, but for draft mock-ups for the NHL Draft 2020. Or something like that.
For more information on the process behind this simulated draft for the NHL 2020 Project, see the bottom of this post. You’ll also find links to each of those 11 lists. What a value!
Note: These rankings were compiled before the draw was drawn, so yes, this leans toward the “best player available” logic.
Lafreniere, the almost unanimous first selection of the Draft NHL 2020
1. MYSTERY TEAM PLACEHOLDER – Alexis Lafreniere
Give credit to Cam Robinson of Dobber Hockey for being the brave soul who didn’t rank Lafreniere first. Before gathering torches and hairpins, keep in mind that Robinson simply ranked the winger second, and warmly praised Lafreniere.
Corey Pronman of Athletic projects that Lafreniere is a “fundamental player”. Others falter between calling him a franchise player or, more modestly, a front-line winger. Maybe right off the bat.
So will Lafreniere be special, or just really good? A team in the qualifying round will be happy to find out.
(Pause for inevitable jokes about the tank).
[Click here for more on the NHL Draft Lottery.]
The debates of the second election could be interesting
2. Los Angeles Kings – Quinton Byfield
Once moving beyond Lafreniere, Byfield ranks among the best prospects for the NHL Draft 2020, literally and figuratively. Robinson ranked Byfield ahead of Lafreniere, believing that Byfield has the potential to eventually beat the likely top pick.
Now, not everyone ranks Byfield second among the prospects. Athletic’s Scott Wheeler wonders (sub required) if some immersive opinions boil down to overexposure. Wheeler praised many aspects of Byfield’s game:
He’s huge, his skating has become enough force that he can really propel the pace through the middle of the ice, he has excellent disco ability for a player his size, and he’s surprisingly creative for his size. He is also one of the youngest players in the draft, so he has time to discover the rest.
Sometimes NHL teams overvalue Huge Hockey Humans.
That said, it is different when that Human Huge Hockey boasts a discernible hockey skill. If Byfield rounds it up, who knows what his roof might be? He also plays in the middle, so Byfield could possibly make the Kings really tough in the middle alongside Anze Kopitar (who is certainly old but still effective).
(Or someone else will get a potentially fantastic center.)
3. Ottawa Senators – Tim Stutzle
Let’s go from size to speed.
In the eyes of a healthy number of explorers, Stutzle is the second most attractive prospect.
“If there’s anyone in this draft who could go through Lafreniere for years to come, it’s this guy,” an anonymous NHL scout told Bob McKenzie of TSN about Stutzle. “It’s because of skating.”
Stutzle may come in second, however there are some pundits who barely squeeze the speedy German into the top seven. We will have to see how the senators see the sprinter. As far as we know, Ottawa could try something bold with its two first-round players.
Room for movement after the top three prospects in the NHL Draft 2020 drill
4. Detroit Red Wings – Jamie Drysdale
Believed to be the best defender in the Draft NHL 2020, Drysdale should draw a lot of attention. Experts praise Drysdale’s skating, not just speed, but strong edge work, as one of its best qualities. However, experts diverge on the impact Drysdale may have.
The Red Wings selected Moritz Seider during the 2019 NHL Draft, so they might prefer a striker. But … honestly, they need a little bit of everything after a deeply disastrous season. Red Wings simply need to choose who they believing is the best player available.
5. Ottawa Senators – Marco Rossi
From Cole Caufield to Alex DeBrincat, it feels as if every draft has at least a polarizing and undersized perspective. Rossi is looking to stick to that bill for the 2020 NHL Draft. The 5-foot-9-inch striker inspires a variety of rankings, with some choosing Rossi as third.
Count Rossi as one of those smaller strikers you could describe as a fighter. Still, Pronman and others are concerned that Rossi is not quick relative to his size.
Will we see another smaller and more skillful player slip? That depends on how the senators and other teams (above / below them?) See Rossi’s potential. Ottawa could end up just being willing to play (slightly) one from Stutzle or Rossi, too. We’ll see.
(Also, the gap between Drysdale and Rossi was small, even though they are very different players.)
6. Anaheim Ducks – Lucas Raymond
More than one expert ranked Raymond in fourth place. Among them, Robinson praises Raymond as “an explosive winger who is equally dangerous with his shot or pass” and who has a rare “escapability”.
The Ducks need all the offensive hit they can take, so Raymond, or another striker, would make perfect sense.
7. New Jersey Devils – Cole Perfetti
Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino describes Perfetti as “a magician in the offensive zone with his ability to change the rhythm and find teammates.”
That said, Perfetti inspires a variety of ratings, as some are concerned about his skating (at least for a 5-foot-11-inch player slightly on the smaller side).
Personally, I think Perfetti should have a letter grade raised for having a tremendous name.
8. Buffalo Sabers – Alexander Holtz
McKenzie made an interesting comparison between Holtz and Swedish prospect Lucas Raymond:
Holtz, who plays on both the left and right sides, has one of the best shots in the draft and is among the best natural scorers. If Raymond is sometimes interrogated for being on the perimeter, Holtz gets high marks for getting inside and playing a more difficult game.
The Devils have blocked some high-end advanced talents, but Holtz could be the sniper that really powers a game maker like Jack Hughes, for example. That said, the Demons really do need defense as well (and many other things), so it may be because of whether or not they believe Holtz is a potential 40-goal scorer (as Robinson believes).
(As a side note … there were some close results from this experiment, but Perfetti and Holtz ended in a stalemate.)
Preliminary honorable mentions for the NHL 2020 draft
- Yaroslav Askarov (sometimes spelled Iaroslav) – Goalkeepers don’t go in the first round very often. Despite that trend, Askarov has a shot at the top 10. Hey, if a goalkeeper seems as unmissable as the goalkeeper’s prospects can be, then it might be worth the risk, right?
- Jake Sanderson – A team looking for a defender might prefer Sanderson to Drysdale. Overall, it’s considered the second best blueliner by copywriter drills, but that can vary.
- Anton Lundell – Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News describes this center as “practically plug-and-play”. Lundell had good older hockey players. Still, some wonder about its positive side. When he did well in the rankings, Lundell generally peaked at 9th or 10th.
- Jack Quinn – At Quinn’s 10th place, Cosentino described Quinn as one of the “best scorers in his class.” Selfishly, I’m trying to get Jack Quinn to join either Jack or Quinn Hughes during their career. In an ideal world of chaos (are we living in a less than ideal world of chaos)? The three form a team.
Simulated draft method for the NHL 2020 draft, and further reading
To reiterate, PHT collected the top 10 rankings of 11 simulated drafts / drafts. All the lists came out in April at the earliest, while several were released this week.
You can see the results in this awkward spreadsheet. Here are the employees and / or writers who produced such lists (note: some articles may require subscriptions):
MORE: Lafreniere Head of the 2020 Prospective Class
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James O’Brien He is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Leave a line at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
