Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2023 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow Ben Kerr, Kyle Pereira and Frederik Frandson on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects is your new headquarters for everything “NHL Draft”! Today we bring you part one of our four part 2023 NHL Draft grades series!
2023 NHL Draft Grades: Part Three
Nashville Predators: B+
Picks: Matthew Wood, Tanner Molendyk, Felix Nilsson, Kalan Lind, Jesse Kiiskinen, Dylan MacKinnon, Joseph Willis, Juha Jatkola, Sutter Muzzatti, Austin Roest, Aiden Fink
Value: Matthew Wood
Here is the last work of one GM for the 2023 NHL draft grade. In David Poile’s last-ever draft, the Nashville Predators had another decent draft. With the 15th pick in the draft, they selected Matthew Wood. Wood is a big player with a solid defensive game and a strong shot with a lot to like. He makes up for what he sometimes lacks in speed and skating with a high hockey IQ. Additionally, they also added puck-moving and strong skating defenseman Tanner Molendyk in the first-round. The Predators needed a defensive prospect and Molendyk isn’t a bad one, although Mikhail Gulyayev and Theo Lindstein were ranked higher on our rankings.
Besides the two first-round picks they also added another nine players. Many of them have some value, like Felix Nilsson, Kalen Lind, and Jesse Kiiskinen. All prospects need time to develop and might lack superstar potential, but they all add much-needed depth to the Predator’s overall prospect pool.
New Jersey Devils: D
Picks: Lenni Hämeenaho, Cam Squires, Chase Cheslock, Cole Brown, Daniil Karpovich
Value: Lenni Hämeenaho
How the mighty have fallen for this 2023 NHL Draft grade. Last year one of the winners of the draft was the New Jersey Devils. A feat they couldn’t repeat this season for several different reasons. Primarily because they simply are past the rebuild and are going for glory. They are one of the best and brightest teams in the NHL, and that does come at the cost of having limited draft capital. The Devils only had five picks, and none were in the top 50. However, they also didn’t quite hit the mark on their selections.
Their best pick was Lenni Hämeenaho, who is a big player from Ässät in the best finish league. Hämeenaho plays a mature game with a strong offensive vision. Defensively he is very engaged and works hard all over the ice. The quality is there but his shooting, skating, and playmaking need to take another step to become ready for the NHL. There were better options, like Riley Heidt and William Whitelaw available at 58th, and there wasn’t much more the Devils got out of the draft. The Devil’s draft felt mediocre and lacking due to the lack of picks and overall value from them.
New York Islanders: D+
Picks: Danny Nelson, Jesse Nurmi, Justin Gill, Zach Schultz, Dennis Good Bogg
Value: Jessi Nurmi
Another team who had limited options at the draft was the New York Islanders. Just like the Devils they only had five picks in the draft, and none in the top 45. Yet in a deep draft like this one, there were good players available. This was the case with at 49th overall, where Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Lukas Dragicevic, and Riley Heidt were available. All players ranked in the top 32 of our draft ranking but instead, they went with USNTDP forward, Danny Nelson. Firstly, Nelson is a good player. He has all the ability to develop into a strong two-way center, who can be trusted in all situations. That is a fine pickup and offers a lot of value. However, the upside of Dragicevic and Heidt seems to be significantly higher. So, while Nelson was a fine pick, it wasn’t a slam dunk when considering the players available.
The next pick came in the fourth round, where the Islanders selected Jesse Nurmi at 113th overall. Nurmi is a strong skater with a strong two-way game. He needs time to develop, especially offensively as nothing really stands out, but his defensive game is great. He has nice awareness, and he should be able to be a serviceable NHLer in the bottom six. With the 113th pick, a player with a high floor and the potential to grow offensively is good value.
New York Rangers: C
Picks: Gabe Perreault, Drew Fortescue, Rasmus Larsson, Dylan Roobroeck, Ty Henricks
Value: Gabe Perreault
It started so well for the Rangers, who were among the winners of the draft on day one. Getting one of the best prospects in terms of pure raw offensive talent in Gabe Perreault at 23rd was a steal. A gift served on a silver platter by multiple NHL teams, that the Rangers happily accepted. The Rangers will have to be a bit patient with Perreault, as he does need a few years to finetune his skillset. Especially his skating and speed. If he gets a good skating coach at Boston College, who can get him to be more explosive, his creativity and IQ could make him a 40+ goal scorer in the NHL.
However, the issue became that this was the lone value pick the Rangers made during the draft. On day two they didn’t have much, but also failed to hit the mark on any of their four picks. Drew Fortescue was taken at 90th with Denver Barkey and Jayden Perron. They also selected Rasmus Larsson at 152 with Timur Mukhanov left on the board. While they got a great player on day one, day two felt mediocre at best.
Ottawa Senators: D-
Picks: Hoyt Stanley, Matthew Andonovski, Owen Beckner, Vladimir Nikitin, Nicholas VanTassell
Value: Hoyt Stanley
Yet again a team that had a very tough draft was the Ottawa Senators. Once again, they virtually had no draft picks available and their first came at 108! That does make getting great value extremely difficult, but they were able to do the bare minimum for a passing grade. Hoyt Stanley was a decent value pick at 108th, as he is a player with some good upside. He has decent skating and moves well for a 6’3” defender. He is a project and far from a guarantee, but the upside is there. The Senators did have some higher upside options like Alex Ciernik, Luca Pinelli and Aram Minnetian left on the board, but Stanley isnt the worst pick of the draft. Outside that there really isn’t much value to be found from the draft for the Senators.
Philadelphia Flyers: A
Picks: Matvei Michkov, Oliver Bonk, Carson Bjarnason, Yegor Zaragin, Denver Barkey, Cole Knuble, Alex Ciernik, Cater Sotheran, Ryan MacPherson, Matteo Mann
Value: Matvei Michkov
The Flyers struck gold for their 2023 NHL Draft grade. This was a fantastic and much-needed draft for the Philadelphia Flyers. The team has been struggling for a long time, and finally, their fortune seems to have turned. Their savior seems to come in the form of Russian superstar Matvei Michkov, who is the only prospect with a similar ceiling to Connor Bedard. On raw talent and skill, he was the second-best player in the class. To get him at seventh was the steal of the draft. When or if he comes over, he will be the new face of the Flyers with speed, skill and an IQ rarely seen before in hockey.
The hits didn’t stop at Michkov either. Oliver Bonk was a minor reach at 22nd but offers a nice stability to the defensive prospect pool. They also added our top goalie prospect Carson Bjarnason at 51st. Late in the third round, they added Denver Barkey, who at that moment was one of the top prospects available from our rankings due to his great motor and high IQ playmaking. Cole Knuble at 103rd and Alex Ciernik at 120th were also incredible value picks in the fourth round. All in all, it was a near-perfect draft for the Flyers.
Pittsburgh Penguins: B-
Picks: Brayden Yager, Emil Pieniniemi, Mikhail Ye. Ilyin, Cooper Foster, Emil Järventie, Kalle Kangas
Value: Emil Järventie
During the draft, we also got the first indication of what the Pittsburgh Penguins can expect under Kyle Dubas. Having taken over as GM recently, the former Toronto Maple Leafs GM and the Pittsburgh Penguins selected offensive dynamo Brayden Yager at 14th overall. Yager is a player who thrives in the offensive zone. His shot is deadly, and his passing and vision are among the best in the class. If he has the puck, he is able to create a good scoring opportunity. The off-the-puck movement and transitional play need improvements making his floor quite low, but the skies are the limit for Yager.
During the rest of the draft, Dubas did what he tend to do well. Finding players who fell in the rankings due to struggles during the season for a variety of outside reasons. We have seen that with Timothy Liljegren back in 2017, who played his draft season with mono, and this draft Emil Järventie, who had a year filled with team changes got selected at 217th overall. The finish forward has a ton of offensive upside, with a deceptive shot, but also good passing. While he needs to add strength and more creativity to his game, the upside is hard to look past. It’s a gamble but due to how turbulent the season was for Järventie, there is a good chance he will rebound next season. Especially if he stays in a team and the same setup for the entire season.
San Jose Sharks: B+
Picks: Will Smith, Quentin Musty, Kasper Halttunen, Bradon Svoboda, Luca Cagnoni, Axel Landen, Eric Pohlkamp, David Klee, Yegor Rimashevsky
Value: Quentin Musty
The San Jose Sharks rebuild took a great step forward this past week during the draft. While they didn’t go for the pure homerun swing at Matvei Michkov, they still got a new face of the franchise in Will Smith. Smith will be the foundation for the Sharks as the American center has all the abilities needed to become a game-changer in the NHL. There aren’t a lot of flaws to find in Smith’s game, since he plays an extremely competent two-way game with high hockey sense and an endless amount of tools to create scoring chances offensively. In terms of a playmaking center with defensive reliability, the Sharks got the best available.
The Sharks also added Quentin Musty with the 26th overall, adding both size and further skill to the future of San Jose. Getting a player like Musty that late was a steal for the Sharks, as it adds a playmate to Smith from the get-go. While Musty needs better skating mechanics, especially around his edges, he has so much upside to his game. His shot is wicked, and his size is making him extremely tough to play against. If his skating gets improved, then the Sharks got 66% of their future first-line within this draft’s first round.
The only downside was that the second round was only just decent, with Kasper Halttunen and Luca Cagnoni being the two value picks from it. Halttunen is a fine player but with Andrew Cristall still available, the Sharks might have missed out on getting a chance to complete their future first-line in three consecutive draft picks.
Main Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
