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We came to the conclusion of another long cycle of drafts, but this one felt much more normal than the last few years. For the most part, leagues around the world have returned to their regular schedules, giving draft-eligible players ample opportunity to improve their draft reserves throughout the year. As a result, our board has evolved and undergone significant changes since the beginning of the season, with some players making significant gains and others failing to maintain their position.
Collectively, our team has spent hundreds of hours attending games, watching movies, discussing players, and submitting reports to bring you a ranking that best reflects the opinions and views of our entire group.
Itu Siltanen | Head of Scouting / Director of European Scouting (@siltaneneetu)
Nick Richard Director of North American Scouting (@_NickRichard)
Hadi Kalakeche QMJHL Regional Scout (@HadiK_Scouting)
Kyle Watson OHL Regional Scout (@kyle_nw)
Evan Pace WHL Regional Scout (@ evanpace17)
Alexander Annan US Regional Scout (@Annun_Scouting)
Alexa Potack | Swedish Regional Scout (@alexa_potack)
Samuel Tirpak Czech / Slovak / Central European Regional Scout (@ SammyT_51)
Sebastian High | Crossover Scout (@high_sebastian)
Colin Hunter Goalkeeping Scout (@ colinhunter0)
Dave Hall Managing Editor / Crossover Scout (@ hall1289)
Pat Quinn Associate Editor / Crossover Scout (@FHPQuinn)
Without further ado, the final ranking of the DP Scouting Team for the NHL 2022 Draft:
C | Kingston (OHL) 6-0 | £ 198 | Photos: R
Nick Richard: Wright had an impressive season, leading all eligible OHL draft players to a big margin. Although Juraj Slafkovski and Logan Cooley made their own strong cases for number one on our team’s list, Wright’s work and his NHL-level marketability ultimately won.
Wright plays a sophisticated, holistic game built on an exceptional flair for hockey. He sees things unfolding ahead of time, and consistently makes strong readings to be in an advantageous position, both in attack and defense. Wright is more powerful than explosive, but has a clean stride and takes smart routes with possession as well as supporting the game. He will engage low in the defensive zone and has the ability to violate the opponent’s 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 slippery hands to find open teammates, but his biggest weapon is his shot. It separates from its blade with force from multiple release points and it doesn’t take long for it to find a rope. All these skills are underlined by his ability to quickly process what is happening in front of him and then perform under pressure from the opposition.
He may not be the most dynamic, game-breaking talent in the class, but Wright’s well-rounded game and his potential as a deadly finisher give him a pretty secure floor as a top-6 that he can play in any situation. If he continues to add pace to his game and reaches his offensive ceiling, he has all the qualities of a franchise player in the middle.
W | TPS (League) 6-4 | 218 lbs Shoots: L.
Itu Siltanen: Slafkovski has climbed in our team’s standings throughout the season, thanks in part to his outstanding performances by the national team at both the Olympic Games and the Men’s World Cup. We had a lot of worries about different aspects of his game, but his strong performances and great overall development during the season helped alleviate them. During the season, he scored 17 points in 49 League games, topped 18 points in 11 U20 SM-sarja games.
The biggest concerns of our scouts were about the pace and speed of processing, but he was also excellent in the international high-speed games, representing Slovakia. Although he is still not the greatest skater, the leap he made during the season was great. He has a strong stance and went from a very short step to a solid, powerful step. Slavkovski’s biggest strengths are definitely around his offensive game. He is a great wrestler with a sturdy stick who can do some great skills. Although he is not the most diligent shooter, he has a great wrist punch that he needs to use even more. Perhaps his hesitation in shooting has something to do with the fact that he showed some minor problems with shooting from tight spaces. However, our team has improved in this area this season. With his good skills and improved skating, he has become a great transition player who is creative after entering a zone. I like Slafkovsky’s ability to make great passes with a cut and use his creativity for offensive play. In the offensive zone, he knows how to create chances for his teammates and has a great ability to defend the puck with his big body. He is a good player on the net as he has great hand-eye coordination to make diversions and the ability to bury fights.
Although his performance in the League was not amazing, he showed solid potential there and was excellent in all the matches of the men’s national team he played. In addition to his excellent set of offensive tools, Slafkovsky’s physical maturity and European professional experience make him a high-class prospect.
C | NTDP U18 (USNTDP) 5-10 | 181 lbs Shoots: L.
Nick Richard: Cooley has been a driving force for the NTDP all season and has led the team in points per game, finishing with 27 goals and 48 assists in just 51 games. He also competed in the US Junior World Championships and again in the U18 World Championships, where he scored 10 points in six matches on the way to the silver medal.
Cooley is an electrifying offensive talent who does everything at an extraordinary pace. He is a phenomenal skater with fast legs and a powerful stride, which he uses to burn defenders in a hurry or to win competitions in short squares against contested puck. He also has great agility and work to get through the traffic and reach the middle ice for goal chances, always keeping the defenders on their feet. Cooley is always around him, intelligently supporting the game in all three zones to ensure that he is in a position to throw on loose puck or disturb the opponent’s possession. He has incredibly slippery hands and the vision to turn these fast-changing situations into an attack with his ability to identify his options in a short time and play under pressure. He is equally dangerous as a passer and as a shooter and can play power play from half the wall. For all his strengths on the offensive side, Cooley is also an influential defensive player because of the way he reads the game and uses his combination of speed and stick skills to enter lanes or push opposing players.
Aside from his below-average size, there are no real holes in Cooley’s game, and he may simply be the most dynamic offensive weapon in this class when all is said and done.
C | NTDP U18 (USNTDP) 5-10 | 181 lbs Photos: R
Alexander Annan: Frank Nazar finished another good season with the NTDP, finishing third in the team with more points per game – proving once again that he is one of the most offensive even among this extremely talented harvest of NTDP prospects.
Nazar’s game begins with his elite skating skills, a combination of high speed and sharp edges that make him a slippery puck player – his skating makes him an extremely dangerous puck bearer. Being a highly skilled player, he does most of his work by crashing into the middle of the ice and fighting the opposition head-on instead of playing outside. Nazar’s ability to make a double threat forces the defense to make difficult decisions and allows him to react quickly and take advantage of any slight hesitation in the opposition. His work in defense is commendable, as he plays with a tense engine and forks aggressively and maintains a good defensive structure, although he still lacks consistency in defense at the moment. Nazar shows incredible skills and has the potential to become a star player, but smoothing out some sequence problems at both ends of the ice may be key for him to unlock that potential.
D | HK Nitra (Extra League) 6-1 | 192 lbs Photos: R
Samuel Tirpak: The German set a record season in terms of production with Nitra in the top Slovak league, both in the regular season and especially in the playoffs, where he collected 17 points in 19 playoffs to set a new record for all defenders in Tipos Extraliga.
Nemek is an extremely intelligent two-way puck player who is in the running to be the first defender to be drafted in 2022 in more than a year and rightly so. He is a transitional beast with a solid, well-rounded game at both ends of the ice. It can well protect a quarterback with powerplay and can also defend well with its intelligent distance control. He has to work on the positioning of the defense zone and especially on the consistency of its coverage in the zone, but it is believed that there are great signs of development during the year of its design and previous views. Nemek will probably need another year at a higher level of professional hockey, such as the AHL, once elected. He could probably handle the minutes in the NHL right away, but another year of development would be helpful. If he continues to advance, he could be an excellent two-way defender in the NHL.
D | HC Plzen (Tipsport Extraliga) 6-3 | £ 190 Photos: R
Samuel Tirpak: Jiricek is a purely shooting, aggressive, offensive blue liner. He has been fighting with Simon Nemek all year for the position of the best defender in the draft and given all this, it was a close battle, the result was only a matter of preference for each scout or team. If you break down Jiricek correctly, you are not pointing to the defense first, as he is a defender in the attack who has no defense …
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