This article is part of our Darryl's Dispatch series.
2013 NHL Entry Draft Cheat Sheet
This chart should provide you with a handy guide to the recently completed 2013 NHL Entry Draft. These were the top players available in my mind, not in the order they were selected. The 2013 draft is a little thin at the top with about five players that I would consider of franchise-type ability. But there are many players who will fill important roles in the NHL as this is one of the deepest drafts in a few years.
An important note, about the last two columns, the comparables that I use are drawn from my knowledge of current or more recent NHL players from the same age in their development. For example when I compare Valeri Nichushkin with Jaromir Jagr, I am comparing the two at age 18. The list will be more helpful to you if you visualize both the comparable and the potential at the same time. This will give you a better grasp of how I see the player now and a few years down the road in their development, if they can reach their full potential. You can also look at this list in terms of managing tiers of risk.
How certain am I that a player will reach his full or close-to-full potential? In general, the top five are safe picks. The next 20 are of low risk. Players rated at 26-40, I consider medium risks with the final 20 being high risk picks.
2013 NHL Entry Draft Cheat Sheet
This chart should provide you with a handy guide to the recently completed 2013 NHL Entry Draft. These were the top players available in my mind, not in the order they were selected. The 2013 draft is a little thin at the top with about five players that I would consider of franchise-type ability. But there are many players who will fill important roles in the NHL as this is one of the deepest drafts in a few years.
An important note, about the last two columns, the comparables that I use are drawn from my knowledge of current or more recent NHL players from the same age in their development. For example when I compare Valeri Nichushkin with Jaromir Jagr, I am comparing the two at age 18. The list will be more helpful to you if you visualize both the comparable and the potential at the same time. This will give you a better grasp of how I see the player now and a few years down the road in their development, if they can reach their full potential. You can also look at this list in terms of managing tiers of risk.
How certain am I that a player will reach his full or close-to-full potential? In general, the top five are safe picks. The next 20 are of low risk. Players rated at 26-40, I consider medium risks with the final 20 being high risk picks.
2013 NHL ENTRY DRAFT
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | CLUB | LEAGUE | STRENGTHS | NEEDS WORK | COMPARES | POTENTIAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seth Jones | D | Portland | WHL | Leadership, poise, skating ability, stick handling, and vision. Elite Passer. Slapshot and wristshot are plus weapons. | Limiting lapses in intensity and focus. 1-on-1 defending. | Chris Pronger | Franchise player |
| 2 | Jonathan Drouin | C | Halifax | QMJHL | Leadership, poise, tireless, vision and awareness. Elite shooter. Skating and stickhandling are plus weapons. | Needs more upper body strength. | Patrick Kane | Franchise player |
| 3 | Nathan MacKinnon | C | Halifax | QMJHL | A physical player with immense goal scoring ability. Stickhandling, Skating and wristshot are plus weapons. | Vision and awareness limit playmaking ability and hinders his defensive play. | John Tavares | Franchise player |
| 4 | Aleksander Barkov | C | Tappara | SM-LIIGA | Poise, stickhandling, strength, vision and awareness. Elite Passer. Slapshot and wristshot are plus weapons. | Skating agility and lack of quickness reduce effectiveness. | Ryan Getzlaf | Franchise player |
| 5 | Valeri Nichushkin | RW | Dynamo Moscow | KHL | Poise, stickhandling, strength, vision and awareness. Elite Passer. Slapshot and wristshot are plus weapons. | Durability | Jaromir Jagr | Franchise player |
| 6 | Sean Monahan | C | Ottawa | OHL | Quality defender, leadership, poise, fearless, stickhandling, vision and awareness. Elite Passer. Size and snapshot are plus weapons. | Mobility and Speed | Joe Thornton | First line two-way forward. |
| 7 | Darnell Nurse | D | Sault Ste. Marie | OHL | Quality defender, leadership, skating, and physicality. | Awareness and Passing. | Brent Seabrook | First pairing shutdown defenseman with some offensive upside. |
| 8 | Elias Lindholm | C | Brynas | SEL | Quality defender, stickhandling, leadership, and awareness. | Mobility and Speed. Needs more upper body strength. | Zach Parise | First line two-way forward. |
| 9 | Rasmus Ristolainen | D | TPS Turku | SM-LIIGA | Size, awareness, and physicality. | Mobility and Speed. Endurance. | Alex Pietrangelo | #2 Defenseman |
| 10 | Adam Erne | RW | Quebec | QMJHL | Size, stickhandling, passing, physicality, and awareness. | Maturity and Endurance. Defensive play and checking. | Marion Hossa | First line forward. |
| 11 | Hunter Shinkaruk | C | Medicine Hat | WHL | Toughness, skating, and passing. | Needs more upper body strength. | Jason Pominville | First line forward. |
| 12 | Bo Horvat | C | London | OHL | Quality defender, size, physicality, and leadership. | Skating agility and lack of quickness reduce effectiveness. | Patrice Bergeron | First line two-way forward. |
| 13 | Josh Morrissey | D | Prince Albert | WHL | Quality defender, poise, vision, awareness, and stickhandling, passing, | Needs more upper body strength. | Kris Letang | #2 Defenseman |
| 14 | Nikita Zadorov | D | London | OHL | Quality defender, size, stickhandling, physicality, and skating. | Awareness. Needs to limit lapses in intensity and focus. | Marc Staal | First pairing shutdown defenseman with some offensive upside. |
| 15 | Max Domi | C | London | OHL | Fearless, vision, physicality, stickhandling, and skating. | Size and awareness. | Derek Roy | First line two-way forward. |
| 16 | Ryan Hartman | RW | Plymouth | OHL | Quality defender, size, stickhandling, physicality, and skating. | Awareness. Needs to limit lapses in intensity and focus. | Brad Marchand | Physical second line forward. |
| 17 | Ryan Pulock | D | Brandon | WHL | Quality defender, size, passing, vision and skating. | Physicality. Needs more upper body strength. | Dan Boyle | #2 Defenseman |
| 18 | J.T. Compher | C | U.S. NTDP | USHL | Vision, awareness, passing, and leadership. | Size | Mike Richards | First line two-way forward. |
| 19 | Curtis Lazar | C | Edmonton | WHL | Shooting, stickhandling, physicality, and skating. | Needs more upper body strength. Needs to limit lapses in intensity and focus. | Dustin Brown | First line two-way forward. |
| 20 | Samuel Morin | D | Rimouski | QMJHL | Size, passing, vision, and stickhandling. | Awareness. | Tyler Myers | #2 Defenseman |
| 21 | Emile Poirier | LW | Gatineau | QMJHL | Awareness, passing, vision, and stickhandling. | Skating agility. | Justin Williams | Physical second line forward. |
| 22 | Alexander Wennberg | LW | Frolunda | SEL | Quality defender, awareness, passing, vision, and stickhandling. | Needs more upper body strength. | Mikko Koivu | Second line two-way forward. |
| 23 | Valentin Zykov | RW | Baie-Comeau | QMJHL | Size, stickhandling, skating, and passing. | Vision and awareness. | Patrick Sharp | Second line forward. |
| 24 | Kerby Rychel | LW | Windsor | OHL | Shooting and physicality. | Needs to limit lapses in intensity and focus. | Chris Kunitz | Physical second line forward. |
| 25 | Andre Burakowsky | LW | Malmo | SWE.2 | Stickhandling and skating. | Physicality. | Daniel Alfredsson | Second line forward. |
| 26 | Frederik Gauthier | C | Rimouski | QMJHL | Size, skating, and Leadership. | Physicality. | Brandon Sutter | Third line two-way forward. |
| 27 | Zachary Fucale | G | Halifax | QMJHL | Awareness, poise, focus and intensity. Strong positional play. | Consistency. | Ryan Miller | #1 Goalie |
| 28 | Steve Santini | D | U.S. NTDP | USHL | Quality defender, awareness, and physicality. | Needs to limit lapses in intensity and focus. | Daniel Girardi | Second pairing shutdown defenseman with some offensive upside. |
| 29 | Anthony Mantha | LW | Val-d'Or | QMJHL | Size, skating and shooting. | Needs improve intensity and focus. | Alexei Kovalev | Second line forward. |
| 30 | Nic Petan | C | Portland | WHL | Skating, stickhandling, passing, vision, and awareness. | Needs more upper body strength. | Brendan Gallagher | Second line forward. |
| 31 | Morgan Klimchuk | C | Regina | WHL | Shooting, stickhandling, vision, awareness | Needs more upper body strength. Skating. | Jordan Eberle | Second line forward. |
| 32 | Madison Bowey | D | Kelowna | WHL | Shooting, mobility and speed. Elite skater. | Vision and Awareness. Needs more upper body strength. | Slava Voynov | Second pairing shutdown defenseman with some offensive upside. |
| 33 | William Carrier | LW | Cape Breton | QMJHL | Poise, stickhandling, vision, awareness, and passing. | Skating. | Erik Cole | Second line forward. |
| 34 | Mirco Muller | D | Everett | WHL | Size, stickhandling, passing, vision, and awareness. Elite Skater. | Needs more upper body strength. | Cody Franson | Second pairing shutdown defenseman with some offensive upside. |
| 35 | Tommy Vannelli | D | U.S. NTDP | USHL | Quality defender, size, skating, passing, vision, and stickhandling. | Awareness. | Jake Gardiner | Second pairing offensive defenseman |
| 36 | Shea Theodore | D | Seattle | WHL | Stickhandling, skating, vision, awareness and passing. | Needs more upper body strength. | Paul Martin | Second pairing offensive defenseman |
| 37 | Pavel Buchnevich | RW | Cherepovets | KHL | Stickhandling, skating, vision, awareness and passing. | Needs more upper body strength. Needs to limit lapses in intensity and focus. | Johan Franzen | Second line forward. |
| 38 | Tristan Jarry | G | Edmonton | WHL | Poise, focus and intensity. | Needs to improve on positioning. Rebounding control. | Corey Crawford | #1 Goalie |
| 39 | Laurent Dauphin | C | Chicoutimi | QMJHL | Passing, vision, awareness, skating, and stickhandling. | Needs more upper body strength. | Derick Brassard | Second line forward. |
| 40 | Robert Hagg | D | Modo | SEL | Shooting, physicality, and passing. | Consistency. Needs to limit lapses in intensity and focus. | John Carlson | Third pairing offensive defenseman |
| 41 | Jacob de la Rose | C | Leksands | SWE.2 | Quality defender, leadership, skating, and size. | Needs more upper body strength. | Jordan Staal | Second line two-way forward. |
| 42 | Nick Sorensen | RW | Quebec | QMJHL | Passing, vision, and awareness. | Needs more upper body strength. Skating. | Michael Ryder | Second line forward. |
| 43 | Connor Hurley | C | Muskegon | USHL | Passing, vision, and awareness. | Needs more upper body strength. Consistency. | Nazem Kadri | Second line forward. |
| 44 | Jackson Houck | RW | Vancouver | WHL | Fearless, awareness, stickhandling, physicality | Skating. | Steve Ott | Second line forward. |
| 45 | Anthony Duclair | LW | Quebec | QMJHL | Skating, stickhandling, vision, awareness. | Needs more upper body strength. | Matt Duchene | Second line forward. |
| 46 | Chris Bigras | D | Owen Sound | OHL | Quality defender, poise, vision, passing, awareness | Needs more upper body strength. | Duncan Keith | Second pairing shutdown defenseman with some offensive upside. |
| 47 | Ian McCoshen | D | Waterloo | USHL | Size, skating, poise, vision, awareness, and physicality. | Shooting. | Zach Bogosian | Second pairing offensive defenseman |
| 48 | Keaton Thompson | D | U.S. NTDP | USHL | Skating, vision, and awareness. | Needs more upper body strength. Consistency. | John-Michael Liles | Second pairing offensive defenseman. |
| 49 | Marc-Oliver Roy | RW | Blainville | QMJHL | Stickhandling, awareness, physicality, and skating, | Needs more upper body strength. | Pascal Dupuis | Second line forward |
| 50 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | LW | Portland | WHL | Physicality, passing and shooting. | Needs more overall body strength. | Michael Cammalleri | Second line forward |
| 51 | Eric Comrie | G | Tri-City | WHL | Awareness, strong positional play with good technique, and poise. | Durability | Carey Price | #1 Goalie |
| 52 | Ryan Fitzgerald | C | Valley Jr. | EJHL | Passing, vision and awareness. | Needs more overall body strength. | David Krejci | Third line forward |
| 53 | Justin Bailey | RW | Kitchener | OHL | Size and shooting. | Stickhandling and skating. Needs more overall body strength. | Jeff Carter | Third line forward |
| 54 | Philippe Desrosiers | G | Rimouski | QMJHL | Size, awareness, and poise. | Needs to improve on technique and rebound control. | Tuukka Rask | #1 Goalie |
| 55 | Brett Pesce | D | New Hampshire | HE | Quality defender with poise and awareness. | Physicality. Needs more overall body strength. | Nikita Nikitin | Second pairing shutdown defenseman with some offensive upside. |
| 56 | Nick Baptiste | RW | Sudbury | OHL | Skating, passing, physicality | Consistency. | James Neal | Third line forward |
| 57 | Jimmy Lodge | C | Saginaw | OHL | Vision and passing. | Awareness. Needs more overall body strength. | T.J. Oshie | Third line forward |
| 58 | Ryan Kujawinski | C | Kingston | OHL | Size, physicality, and stickhandling. | Shooting | R.J. Umberger | Third line forward |
| 59 | Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau | LW | Baie-Comeau | QMJHL | Skating and stickhandling | Needs more overall body strength. | Brian Gionta | Third line forward |
| 60 | Spencer Martin | G | Mississauga | OHL | Size, strong positional play with good technique. | Consistency and confidence. | Antti Niemi | #2 Goalie |
