We’re less than two weeks away from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, so fans around the league are poring over draft prospect profiles for the players their teams could pick. We’ve done some ourselves!
There are hundreds of prospects in the draft, playing all over the world, so all of us must rely on the professionals who go through hours of film and share their perspectives. Sometimes there is consensus, and sometimes disagreement, but none of that guarantees NHL results. Development, deployment, health, and a good bit of luck all contribute to a prospect’s success.
With that in mind, I wanted to pull draft year profiles of current Columbus Blue Jackets to see how the evaluation of their 18 year old selves compares to the NHLers they are today.
There’s enough material to make this a series, but for today we’ll start with players who are all forwards currently under contract with Columbus (but not necessarily drafted by Columbus – and profiles from team sites may not be related to who ended up drafting the player), and who have at least 100 NHL games under their belt. Make your guesses and share them in the comments, then go back to the bottom of the post and check your results.
Player A
PLAYER A is one of those guys that just puts it all together. He’s got a nice build and has shown sizable improvement year-to-year so far in his junior career, a sign that he’s going to keep getting better as he reaches the professional ranks. He’s a strong two-way player and he’s got strong vision, which you’ve likely read about half the players in this draft.
If there’s any knock against PLAYER A it’s his skating, but again, he’s shown the ability to improve his game and he has every other piece of the puzzle so far, so he should be a solid player in the NHL when he gets there. – Travis Hughes, SBNation
Strengths: Any team that drafts PLAYER A will be getting a relentless worker and a terrific physical presence on the forecheck. He is a high character guy who will be a leader and the next level. PLAYER A has first round talent and a big body to go with his top notch intangibles.
Weaknesses: PLAYER A is not the strongest skater in the 2011 NHL Draft, which limits his upside. PLAYER A may not ever develop into a first-line center, but he will be a valuable second or third line forward.
NHL Player Comparison: Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia: PLAYER A has the potential to develop into the type of two way forward teams will covet. Much like Scott Hartnell, he does not possess the elite high-end offensive skills, but gets by on his drive and willingness to compete for loose pucks. – Matthew Fairburn, Bleacher Report
PLAYER B
Hard-nosed speedster who leads the (junior league) with 20 goals in just 24 games. PLAYER B is a quick, dual-threat forward who can bury the puck as well as he can dish it. He has excellent vision and will utilize hard, accurate cross-ice passes to improve the quality of a scoring chance. His speed allows him to create time and space when the ice seems clogged, but he’s an even bigger threat in open ice – he rarely makes mistakes on odd-man rushes and will not telegraph his next move. PLAYER B controls the puck with speed through the neutral zone and uses accurate lead or drop passes if he senses a defender will vacate a lane. He may not look big, but he is strong enough to come away with pucks during one-on-one battles with bigger opponents. PLAYER B is a relentless forechecker who finishes his checks and can win key faceoffs. – Steve Kournianos, The Draft Analyst
PLAYER B loves to score goals. His shot is decent, and he can beat goalies from distance (usually with the help of a screen or a change in angles), but he typically scores from in tight. He doesn’t drive the puck to the net (he doesn’t really have the size to do so), but he darts in and out of danger areas, gets his stick on rebounds and quickly deposits them into openings. – Jeremy Davis, Jets Nation
PLAYER C
A lightning quick teen who plays significant minutes in the senior league, PLAYER C is a dynamic offensive talent who is mature and can handle playing against older competition. PLAYER C is an excellent skater who can handle the puck and make plays off the rush. Rarely does he look overmatched despite being the youngest player in the circuit, and he finished as one of the top scorers (1g, 7a) at the Division IA under-20 WJC. His strong showing in the league playoffs (10 points in 12 games after 19 in 40 during the regular season) helped his draft stock. He is a very good stickhandler and makes quick directional changes with or without the puck. He rarely looks overmatched for a kid just days from (the next year’s) eligibility playing against adults, mostly because he’s confident, strong and unpredictable. – Steve Kournianos, The Draft Analyst
PLAYER C will never be a two-way player and that’s not what he’ll be drafted to be. If he develops into an NHL player, it will be as a dynamic playmaker with an offensive mindset who can help his team score goals and win hockey games. However, you can’t succeed in the NHL without knowing your defensive responsibilities.
In non-traditional hockey countries, kids don’t get the kind of professional training that Canadians or Americans have. Scoring goals and being a purely offensive player is enough, skating or defensive deficiencies don’t really matter for a player like PLAYER C. And once they do, and these kids become professionals, it’s almost too late. – Janik Beichler, The Canuck Way
PLAYER D
PLAYER D has really quick hands, shifty moves; explosive speed and this really small centerman could stickhandle in a phone booth. He has the determination and big time skill to prove the doubters wrong about his size, similar to Martin St. Louis. The teenager can make bigger players miss their checks while sliding off them with his elite edge control and quick skating. The small player will need to add muscle mass and weight to be able to play at the more physical NHL Level but he has time to mature. PLAYER D has scored goals at every level of hockey as he’s a pure scorer which is an asset that can’t be taught. – Hockey’s Future