LOOKING BACK AT THE 2016 PROSPECT DRAFT

Last summer each team selected two prospects (players who have never played an NHL game and under 25 years old). In total 40 prospects were selected. This look back will only look at players who played at least 1 game in the NHL in 2016 – 2017. 15 of the 40 prospects (30%) never played in the NHL in 2016 – 2017.   11 prospects played more than 60 NHL  games. 

Having the 1st pick in the draft allowed Corktown to select Austin Mathews, who is not only our best prospect but & already one of the NHL elite. A generational player in the same mold as Conner McDavid, and Sidney Crosby.

The scoring system used was 5 to 1.
60+ NHL games would range from 3.5 to 5.0
30 – 59 NHL games would range from 2.0 to 3.4 
Under 29 NHL games would range from 1.0 to 1.9

This is not to diminish the potential value of prospects who did not play in the NHL in 2016 – 2017. As an example of planning a year ahead.  Indiana drafted Nolan Patrick, who is currently the expected #1 pick in the 2017 NHL draft. He certainly has great future MWHL potential but in this look back he not be a MWHL contributor in 2017 – 2018.

Seven (7) MWHL teams had both of their prospects play in the NHL this past season. It is always difficult to say who made the best pick in the 1st round. Certainly Mathews was the class of the year but he was a gimme pick. The best pick appears to be 20th and final pick of the 1st round when Alamo selected defense man Zack Werenski. Werenski stepped into a top four defenseman with solid defensive play and an ability to quarterback the power play. Great Pick Alamo. 
In the 2nd round the best pick was not even drafted by the NHL, but was a 24 year old Russian Nikita Zaitsev who was selected by Thunder Bay with the 30th pick of the draft. Zaitsev played on Toronto’s (NHL) top defensive pair and help lead a young team to the play – offs. Rumor has it that many teams stayed away from Zaitsev because of his age and because his agent told the MWHL GM’s he would not sign with a team where it did not snow. Looks like Thunder Bay was a perfect fit. 

An interesting fact of the 2016 Prospects draft was that no goalies were selected. 

Here are the Top Ten 2016 MWHL Prospects:
10. Jaccob Chychrun                        (Alamo) [12] 68 – 7-13-20           Look Back Rating 3.8
9. Nikita Zaitsev                             (Thunder Bay) [30] 82 – 4-32-36                             4.0
8. Jim Vesey                                   (Thunder Bay) [11] 80 – 16-11-27                          4.0
7. Christian Dvorak                         (Hampton) [23] 78 – 15-18-33                                4.1
6. Mathew Tkachuk                         (Minneapolis) [7] 76 – 13-35-48                              4.4
5. Ivan Proporov                             (Bathgate) [9] 82 – 6-24-30                                   4.5
4. Mitch Marner                              (New Jersey) [3] 77 – 19-42-61                               4.6
3. Zack Werenski                            (Long Beach) [20] 78 – 11-36-47                             4.7
2. Patrick Laine                              (Jagr) [2] 73 – 36-28-64                                          4.8
1. Austin Mathews                          (Corktown) [1] 82 – 40-29-69                                  5.0

Team Ratings:
1. Thunder Bay [8.0] Jim Vesey 4.0 and Nikita Zaitsev 4.0.
2. Long Beach [6.1] Zack Werenski 4.7 and Tyson Jost 1.4
3. Bathgate [6.1] Ivan Proporov 4.5 and Jacob Vrana 1.6
4. Hampton [5.1] Evgeney Sechnikov 1.0 and Christian Dvorak 4.1
5. Corktown [5.0] Austim Mathews 5.0
6. Jagr [4.8] Patrick Laine 4.8
7. Second City [4.6] Clayton Keller 1.1 and Nick Schmaltz 3.5
8. New Jersey [4.5] Mitch Marner 4.5
9. Minneapolis [4.4] Mathew Tkachuk 4.4
10. Lansing [4.4] Mikael Sergachev 1.1 and Pavel Buchnevich 3.3
11. Alamo [3.8] Jakub Chychrun 3.8
12. Columbus [3.5] Kyle Conner 1.7 and Julius Honka 1.8
13. Scottsdale [3.0] Timo Meier 3.0
14. Lakeland [1.6] Jesse Puljujarvi 1.6
15. Ripon [1.3] Dylan Strome 1.3
16. California [1.0] Mathew Barzal 1.0
17. Chicago, Brentwood, Indiana and Wausau

No draft review would be complete without a check of the last player drafted.
#40 [Corktown] selected Julien Gauthier Just 19 years old Julien played the first part of the 2016-2017 season with Val d’Or before he was traded to the St. John Sea Dogs.  Both teams are in the QMJHL. It should be noted that after the trade St. John’s gave Gauthier the “C”. He is 6-4 and 225 – already a boy in a man’s body. Drafted into the NHL in the 1st round of 2016 Entry Draft by Carolina with the 21st pick. He has played well at every step in his development. Injured part of this current season he play just 43 games but was just below a point a game. Most scouting reports project him as a bottom six grinder with a scoring touch in the NHL. His future is still ahead of him. Corktown’s concern will he get his NHL opportunity in the coming season or will they have to let him go per the MWHL’s three year Prospect rule. Only time will tell.

The current top Prospect for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft is Nolan Patrick. Indiana pulled out their crystal ball when the selected under age Patrick to be their 1st selection (#15 overall) in the 2016 MWHL Prospects Draft. The 2017 NHL draft does not appear to be a s strong as the last two drafts were, but Nolan is still a stud and Indiana’s willingness to reach deep into the future looks like it will provide a big payoff in the 2018-2019 MWHL season.