The Buffalo Sabres will always have a piece of my heart. Watching Alex Mogilny’s #89 fly around the ice is part of how I fell in love with hockey. With that said, here’s my recap on how they drafted in, what I believe is, a very key draft for them.

1^st Round

7^th Overall: Dylan Cozens (C/RW, Lethbridge Hurricanes: WHL)
I’ve had some not-so-nice things to say about Dylan Cozens this year. Originally I really thought he might be one of those kids who dominates his competition simply because of his size and once he gets to the NHL level that size will not be as dominant and therefore he could be a bust. But I was wrong about him. Because Dylan Cozens is not the kind of kid who would allow himself to coast along, being good simply because he is big. The big kid from the Yukon has had to work for everything he has ever gotten in this game. He made his way out of the Yukon during his 2014-2015 season of Bantam and hasn’t looked back since. His playmaking, shooting, puck handling, stick handling and skating are all top notch. He’s a right handed shot who can either play center or wing. I think Buffalo sees him more as a big, power-wing of the future and a guy who can really get the puck to the net to create dangerous chances. Dylan is a solid player in his own zone too. But where I think Buffalo really nails this pick is the character of the player they got. His work ethic permeated throughout that entire Lethbridge team this season. The kid helps you win games even when he’s not scoring and when he doesn’t have the puck. It’s 110% effort all the time and it’s infectious to those around him. Through his work on the ice, he inspires those around him to work harder and be better. I imagine Dylan Cozens will be playing a top 6 right-wing role for the Sabres within the next 3 seasons.

31^st Overall: Ryan Johnson (D, Sioux Falls Stampede: USHL)
I loved this pick. I had the Devils taking Johnson at #34 on my draft board so this is not a reach at all by Buffalo. Ryan Johnson is the best attack neutralizer in this draft. In that, what I mean is: in transition when the puck is coming back through the neutral zone, Ryan Johnson is elite at disrupting the zone entry. He’s a defensive defender, through and through but do not let that fool you. His skating is excellent and his tenacity in board battles is superb. He hasn’t quite found his offensive game yet and it’s likely that most of his points through his future career are going to come from secondary assists due to him initiating the breakout with a pass. His breakout passing needs a little work, but it’s nothing that can’t get better over time. Buffalo has tried numerous times to bring in defenders and they haven’t really worked out the way they had hoped. I think Johnson is going to be a breath of fresh air for many Sabres fans as a guy who settles the game down and gives you a calming sense that everything is going to be ok when he is on the ice. I don’t know if he’ll every quite be that top pairing guy, but he’s definitely at least a solid middle pairing defenseman who settles the game down and gives his team a chance to win the game when he’s involved.

3^rd Round

67^th Overall: Erik Portillo (G, Frolunda HC J20, SuperElit)
Last season Linus Ullmark made me a little nervous. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has looked pretty good but he had offseason hip surgery in April. Hip surgery is funny for goalies because you HOPE they’ll just recover and that is that. But because of the nature of butterfly style, recover from hip surgery is never a given. Therefore I think the Sabres made a smart play here, grabbing the 6’6 Swedish netminder. Every report on this kid talks about how cool he is, and the game film I’ve watched speaks to it too. He just doesn’t get flustered or rattled at all and he really seems to thrive in situations where the game is on his glove. He was far and away the best goalie in Sweden’s under 20 league and he’s actually pretty fun to watch. You can kind of imagine him saying “nope” in Swedish every time he makes a save. When one does get by him, he has that unique, special goalie trait of shrugging it off and forgetting about it. I never really saw anybody seem to get inside his head. Goalies are so tough to project and I’m admittedly awful at it, but I genuinely believe the Sabres grabbed a good one with this kid. He’s playing in North America next year in the USHL for Dubuque and then he’s on to the University of Michigan for 2020-2021. The kid has a good development path ahead of him and Sabres fans will be able to keep a close eye on him.

4^th Round
102^nd Overall: Aaron Huglen (F, Fargo Force: USHL)
Kid played High School hockey for Roseau High in Minnesota. NHL Central Scouting had him 90^th among North American skaters and TheDraftAnalyst had him in the top 250 overall. So this kid drew the right kind of attention to himself. Huglen had some nice highlight reel plays while at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup playing with a lot of the other kids who got drafted. He’s got some jump in his step and some real slick hands. When I’ve watched him, he’s played with confidence with and without the puck. What likely happened with this pick, is they picked up on the kid after his two real brilliant goals at the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament and then followed him throughout the season, liking what they saw. Buffalo wasn’t the only team in on this kid, so they decided the 4^th was the place to grab him. I don’t really know what his ceiling is, but he’s a real interesting prospect for them. He’s eventually going to the University of Minnesota, so the Sabres will have the time to sit back and see what the kid grows into. He’s a name that 4 or 5 years from now we could look back and say, “Ohhhh THAT KID.”

5^th Round
143^rd Overall: Filip Cederqvist (LW/RW, Vaxjo Lakers HC: SHL)
A lot was made of 2^nd overall pick Kaapo Kakko playing against men as an 18 year old. The same can be said about Filip Cederqvist. He was so dominant in the Under-20 league that Vaxjo moved him up to play 33 SHL games this year. Now, in those 8 games Cederqvist only had 8 points, but Vaxjo, like many Swedish teams tends to ease in the younger kids and doesn’t give them huge minutes. In my opinion, Cederqvist is better suited for the North American game than the SHL game. His best work comes within the 10-15 foot range right in front of the goal crease. He owns that section of the ice, pounces on loose pucks and gets them going towards the goal. At 18 years old, he’s 6’1 and 187 pounds. I would expect him to finish off in the 210 range after a few more years, because the kid is really broad shouldered and looks like he has a lot of room to fill out. There’s definitely room in any NHL lineup for a slick-handed crease crasher. Probably on the longer term of development also, would expect him to be trying to crack the NHL in 3-5 years. Likely a role player and depth scorer.

6^th Round
160^th Overall: Lukas Rousek (LW, HC Sparta Praha: Czech)
Rousek is a double overager in this draft, but he really caught some eyes down the stretch this year. He was good enough to catch a 39^th overall ranking from NHL Central Scouting among available European forwards. That’s some pretty good value in the 6^th round for Buffalo here. His speed is ridiculous. His first couple strides to get going when he decides he’s going to go are like a running stride, but he gains so much momentum that he flies past people. He’s a complete puck hound. If you have it, he wants it, and he’s going to catch you and take it from you. Lukas isn’t shy about board battles, or forechecking, or backchecking. He does not care, if the puck is there and he does not have it, he wants it. This makes him an absolutely FOREBODING penalty killer to play against because as the chase man, he’s able to hassle and breakup power play zone entries before they can even get going. He’s probably a role player at best, but because he’s 20 it wouldn’t shock me to see the Sabres try to get him into the AHL this season even though he’s supposed to play in the Czech leagues. He’s very good and active in the cycle though and he has phenomenal tools at his disposal, so his ceiling COULD be higher. Development camp is really going to be the determining factor. If this guy comes in and has the development camp and preseason that I think he could have, Sabres fans could be seeing him a lot sooner than you would typically expect to see a 6^th round pickup.

Conclusion:
I absolutely love the first 3 picks for Buffalo and the 6^th round pick. The guys taken in between have potential also. There’s nobody here that you look at and say, “Why the hell would they take that kid?!” All around it was a really solid draft for Buffalo and I think the fans can relax a little because it looks like they came into this draft with a plan, and executed it. That kind of forethought bodes well for the future of a team that is far too talented to struggle the way they have these last few years.   Feel free to check out some of the videos I have linked below:

Scouching Report #7 – Ryan Johnson
Huglen Lacrosse Style for Nasty Goal against Canada | 2018 U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup | USA vs Canada
Aaron Huglen breakaway goal vs Czech Republic | Aug 6 2018 | 2018 Hlinka Gretzky
QUICK LOOK – LUKAS ROUSEK SCOUTING REPORT – 2019 NHL DRAFT PROSPECT PROFILE

I did the other two teams in the Hudson River area, so I’ll do the Islanders.

1^st Round

23^rd Overall: Simon Holmstrom (RW, HV71 J20: SuperElit)
For starters I like Holmstrom as a player. I had the Devils taking him at 55 in my draft. He’s a good player… for pick number 55. This was one of the bigger reaches in the first round I felt like, and it came from a team that I don’t think is really in the position to afford these kinds of reaches yet. There weren’t a lot of guys with Holmstrom’s blend of speed and and opportunism for goal scoring on the board at 23 and maybe that’s what the Islanders made this pick based on. Holmstrom does have an excellent nose for the net and for putting himself into positions where he can make usage of great speed and an excellent shot. There are a lot of questions about his motivation and his drive though. Questions that would dissuade me from picking him as early as the Islanders did. I can’t stress enough, I like the player, I just don’t like him picked here. He projects to maybe be a top 6 scoring winger at best, but it’s going to take the right development to get him anywhere close to that, and aside from Barzal, the Islanders have not shown great efficiency at developing forwards. The best path to development might be to let him play in Sweden for at least 2 more years.

2^nd Round

57^th Overall: Samuel Bolduc (D, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada: QMJHL)
Bolduc might have been the best actual skater of the big defenders available in the first 3 rounds of this draft. He’s 6’4, 212 pounds, but he skates more like what we would expect to see from a 5’10 defender. He played top pairing on a team where he didn’t get a lot of help and was successful. He’s a big powerful kid with the wheels to keep up as the modern NHL continues to get faster. There are some hiccups and questions about how he is in his own end. He’s good on zone entry and good at working on the peripheries, but his work down low and in front of his own net leaves a little to be desired for a kid with his physical gifts. Islanders are hoping he’s a top pairing guy someday, but I think he projects middle pairing at the NHL level, and probably for a few years. I would expect him to play 2 more years in the Q and then at least a year of AHL before he’s really ready to step in.

5^th Round

147^th Overall: Reece Newkirk (C, Portland Winterhawks, WHL)
5’11, 172 pound kid from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. Newkirk is so hard to get a real read on. He played on a great line for Portland but averaged under a point per game, playing the bulk of his season with Cody Glass and Joachim Blichfeld. Newkirk was really the complimentary 3^rd forward on this line so it’s really hard to project what kind of real skills he has on his own. This is a real boom/bust pick for the Islanders. If Newkirk can stand on his own and be a great player without being carried by superior linemates, it’ll be a good pick. If he flames out next season, the Islanders will know that he always needs to ride shotgun with somebody better. That doesn’t project well for an NHL forward. His potential ceiling is good, but his potential floor is likely outside of the NHL.

6^th Round

178^th Overall: Felix Bibeau (C, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies QMJHL)
I do not get this pick at all. Bibeau is a 3^rd year eligible player who probably could have been had the day after the draft without expending a pick. With one round left to go, I don’t think Bibeau was high enough on anyone else’s board to warrant the pick. He’s got average size and build for a player who will turn 21 mid way through his overage junior season, playing for Quebec. Rouyn-Noranda traded him after the season. His regular season both this season and last season were good, they weren’t mind blowing, or standout amazing. He really came alive in the playoffs and made a good showing at the Memorial Cup. I guess if that was all the film you saw on the kid and you’re of the “what have you done for me lately” persuasion then I could view this as a good value pick. But there was so much other 2001 birthday and even other overaged talent on the board still that this almost feels like a waste of a pick. 6^th and 7^th rounders are typically long shots anyway, but that’s no reason to just toss them away on kids you could sign for free the day after the draft. If he ever makes it to the NHL, he’s probably going to be a depth scorer at best.

7^th Round

209^th Overall: Cole Coskey (RW, Saginaw Spirit: OHL)
Another overage kid taken by Lou and company. This one makes a bit more sense because he’s a June birthday, so his draft year he may have been a bit under developed. Even in his draft year though, he was one of the better players on an exceptionally underwhelming Saginaw Spirit squad. Last year he was one of their top performers and scored 2 of their 8 total playoff goals as they were swept in the first round. This season he was even better and was 2^nd on the team in goals, while having missed about a quarter of the season. He’s average sized at 6’0 190 pounds, but he shows consistent growth and scoring through his time in the OHL. I cannot say he projects more than a depth player and it seems likely that it’ll take a couple years in the AHL to get him there. But what Coskey does have is a great attitude and phenomenal work ethic that could help push him further in the right circumstances.

Conclusion:
This draft awkwardly resembles some of the drafts that Lou and David Conte put together during their latter years with the New Jersey Devils. Simon Holmstrom’s game strongly reminds me of the scouting reports on Mattias Tedenby and Niclas Bergfors as they came up in their draft years. Bolduc is probably the best pick of the batch in terms of value and when they got him. Coskey is a good grab but he may only be a role player for them in the future. I didn’t really like this draft and if I were an Islanders fan, I would be leery about this one.

A LOT of my friends are Rangers fans. Folks, this one is for you.

1^st Round

2^nd Overall: Kaapo Kakko (RW, TPS: Liiga)
Rangers get the best wing in the draft. Kakko is the cream that rose to the top. There’s not much to say about him that hasn’t already been said. Dynamic wing, can crash the net, can score from anywhere. Without question, one of the top 2 players available in the draft. Rangers get a franchise forward who is going to dazzle their fans for years to come.  He’ll be in the lineup this season for sure and I’d be amazed if he’s not on the top line.  He projects to be the kind of player that is good for 60+ points per year and he’s likely the October front runner for the Calder Trophy.

2^nd Round

49^th Overall: Matthew Robertson (D, Edmonton Oil Kings: WHL)
Matt Robertson is a big mack truck of a defender, with the smooth hands and puck skills of a veteran puck moving defender. No nonsense or frills to his game. Just smart decision making, cool under pressure with a long reach and great passing instincts. Plays top pairing minutes now in a leadership role for the Oil Kings and I would expect that to continue on through next season. It would not shock me to see him suiting up for the Rangers to start the 2020 season. Probably starts as a third pairing defender, but quickly works his way up the ranks.

58^th Overall: Karl Henriksson (C, Frolunda HC J20: SuperElit)
In spite of his small stature (5’9) there were some who felt Henriksson was really under rated. His passing is truly elite. There was talk that he was the benefactor of playing with Lucas Raymond (2020 draft) but that simply does not account for Henriksson’s ability to find teammates with timely, accurate passes. He’s got excellent wheels and fantastic endurance. Watching him, it almost seems like as the game goes on, he gets faster, but I think that’s more the players he’s playing against wearing down. He’s always a threat to spring a teammate and if he doesn’t have a passing lane, he has the speed to get to open ice and create opportunities for new lanes to form. He’s a capable shooter, but his bread and butter is really that of a set-up man. I project him as a potential middle of the roster center who can be useful on the power play.

3^rd Round

68^th Overall: Zachary Jones (D, Tri-City Storm: USHL)
Jones was a benefactor of having several gifted players around him. Don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s not capable on his own. He masterfully overcomes his size limitations (5’9 or 5’10 depending where you look) by being a truly gifted passer of the puck. His puck movement in all 3 zones is excellent. He makes up for his lack of size by being so good with the puck on his stick. Will Butcher might not be an unfair comparison for him. We’ll have to see where his career at UMass Amherst takes him to really know how far his puck skills can carry him.

4^th Round

112^th Overall Hunter Skinner (D, Lincoln Stars: USHL)
The Rangers really gave the USHL a good look this draft. Hunter Skinner is quite the opposite of the aforementioned Zac Jones. Skinner is a 6’3, 174 pound, lanky, kid that hasn’t quite filled out his frame. Once he does, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. He has excellent athleticism and is a strong skater. His defensive game is still a bit raw, but that’ll get honed in the NCAA quite a bit. Grabbing defensive prospects in the later rounds, who are NCAA committed allows a team to really see what they’re going to get out of a kid. The NCAA game also helps condition them. If Skinner is going to have success he’s going to have to fill out a bit and hit the gym, but he’s also going to have to develop his reads and hockey IQ further. He has a good base and could one day be a middle pairing defender for the Rangers.

5^th Round

130^th Overall: Leevi Aaltonen (RW/LW, Kalpa U20: Jr. A SM-Liiga)
I was really big on Leevi Aaltonen and (full disclosure) I’m pretty unhappy the Rangers got him. I’ve described him as a similar player to Phil Kessel, except he’s also good in his own zone. Aaltonen just has that kind of straight line, blistering speed that allows him to burn past opposing players. Then he fires that same, on the move snapshot that Kessel has in his toolkit and does so with force and accuracy. Aaltonen takes example of simple physics and does so in a big way. I honestly had him going in the second round, but he’s one of those guys that was projected all over the place. Regardless of that, NOBODY had him going this late in the draft. He’s an absolute steal for the Rangers at 130. Projects to be at worst a speedy role playing forward, but more than likely, I think he eventually develops into a speedy option in the Rangers top 6. I’m not looking forward to it.

6^th Round

161^st Overall: Adam Edstrom (C/W, Mora IK: SHL)
Adam Edstrom is big. He’s 6’6 and 207 pounds and the best I can say is that he looks like a Swedish Brian Boyle. He played 15 games for Mora in the SHL as an 18 year old and only managed 1 assist, but the Swedes are known for limiting the ice time of younger players in favor of veterans. He does need to grow into his body a little bit and I imagine his final playing weight will be closer to 230 or 240. But even now, as a kid, he’s got plenty of strength on the puck and he’s a surprisingly good skater for someone his size. Long term project for the Rangers, but he could get there one day.

7^th Round

205^th Overall: Eric Ciccolini (RW, Toronto Jr. Canadiens: OJHL)
You don’t see a lot of kids from the OJHL get drafted. Those that do end up in the NHL usually go the undrafted route through college and then get picked up after their senior season. Ciccolini is a slight in build at 5’11, 160 pounds but he has puck skills for days. He’s also very well regarded for his 2 way game and how responsible he is. He’s committed to the University of Michigan. The Rangers liked what they saw enough to grab him now and watch his development shake out over the next few years. Tough to project.

Conclusion:
Rangers did quite well for themselves here. Their picks through the first 3 rounds are all excellent value picks and every one of them will be a contributor to the Rangers in some way, some day.  The 4^th round pick is kind of a wild card. The 5^th round pick is the best value of the bunch in my opinion and they round out the draft getting some size and then some skill in the 6^th and 7^th. They really took a balanced approach to the draft and got players with upsides in the later rounds with longer development paths. Gorton once again shows that he’s the man to bring the Rangers back to prominence.

Hearing some chatter about Edmonton’s draft. Personally, I think they had a pretty good one.

1^st Round

8^th Overall: Philip Broberg (D, AIK: Alssvenskan)
I was so sure the Oilers should take defense at 8, but I didn’t think they would do it. Yet here they are taking the guy who some scouts would tell you was the top defender in the draft. Most agreed that Bowen Byram was THE top guy, but you could find a few scouts that would tell you Broberg should’ve gone before him. That’s because his offensive upside from the backend is off the charts. He’s going to need the right coaching and the right development, but his size (6’3, 199 pounds) and athletic attributes are too good to pass up. He powers through the neutral zone into the offensive zone and is a natural puck carrier. He’s absolutely the kind of guy that Edmonton is going to want to have coming in a couple years as McDavid hits his mid 20s. Lack of organizational defensive depth is why Edmonton traded for Reinhart and Larsson. That vacuous hole in the organization’s prospect pool has been sated somewhat with this pick.

2^nd Round

38^th Overall: Raphael Lavoie (RW, Halifax Mooseheads: QMJHL)
It’s absurd that Lavoie was still there at 38. It’s crazy that Lavoie lasted past pick number 20 if I’m honest. He’s a 6’4 finesse player that’s built like a power forward. He has one of the best shots in the draft. I might argue he has THE best shot in the draft. He gets the puck on net with accuracy and speed. He can shoot on the move, or in the cycle. Lavoie has the skating to get to soft areas in the attacking zone and the vision to find those areas with regularity. If there isn’t a shot for him to take, his playmaking ability is also above average. He’s not a liability in his own zone either. He’s a 3 zone player with great size, skill and shot. Absolute steal for the Oilers here. Kid projects to be a middle 6 scoring winger at worst.

3^rd Round

85^th Overall: Ilya Konovalov (G, Lokomotiv Yarslavl: KHL)
Oilers grab themselves a 20 year old goaltender from the KHL who turns 21 next month. He had an obscene year for Lokomotiv this year. His numbers are stellar. He appeared in 45 games tying him for 10^th in the league and through those games had a .930 save percentage and 1.89 goals against average. Those are good numbers, but there was a substantial number of what we would consider really good goalie statistics over here. The KHL had 10 goaltenders with at least 20 starts and Goals against averages below 2.00. Konovalov though, is one of the youngest among those goaltenders and was top 10 in ever relevant goaltending stat in the league. The KHL is arguably the 2^nd best pro-league in the world with a lot of really skilled goalscorers and all kinds of open ice. It will be interesting to see if Konovalov can adjust to the traffic oriented game of many NHL teams. Edmonton does not seem comfortable with prospects Dylan Wells and Stuart Skinner at this time, and it seems unlikely that they view Shane Starrett as any kind of real solution for the future. While the Oilers look to get Konovalov to come over from Russia, he will be continually playing against world class level of competition. They could have their goaltender of the future here, but it’s really hard to project with any kind of accuracy.

4^th Round

100^th Overall: Matej Blumel (F, Waterloo Black Hawks, USHL)
Blumel is an overaged player who spent last season in the USHL. His draft year he was just invisible. He had come over from Czech juniors, after looking really good in Czech Under18s and he just fell flat. I don’t know why. I could not tell you, I wasn’t scouting him back then. I picked up on him midseason though for Waterloo when he had 47 points through 34 games. Something had clicked for the kid. His size doesn’t wow you, he’s one of those 6’0, 200 pound kids. He has excellent burst speed that allows him to create separation in transition and while moving through zones. He also exhibits slick hands and a surprisingly accurate and forceful snapshot on the move that really catches goalies off guard. It’s like he’s able to release the puck a half second before the goalie expects him to and he reaps a lot of goals this way. You’ll notice I have him listed as a Forward for his position and that’s because h can play any position on the line. That versatility really helps Edmonton out down the line. If all that wasn’t enough, he also plays with some real snarl out there and has a tendency to get under the opposition’s skin. He’s UConn bound this coming season and that should be great development time for him. He projects to be a middle of the pack forward at the NHL level, but a guy that can be counted on to provide some scoring. I think Edmonton fans will really like this kid when they get to see him in an Oilers uniform.

6^th Round

162^nd Overall: Tomas Mazura (C, Kimball Union Academy: USHS)
The late 2000 birthday center from Pardubice, Czech Republic played his junior hockey in… United States High School. Mazura was ranked 127^th by NHL central scouting among North American skaters so he definitely caught some eyes. What sticks out the most about the 6’2, 170 pound kid is his playmaking. He had 54 points in 37 games which isn’t all that impressive, but 40 of those points were assists. 40 assists is good enough for top 10 among all prep school students in nation, and his assist per game ratio of 1.08 is 3^rd in the country behind Liam McLinskey (1.61 APG) and Jackson Lacombe (1.24 APG), and Jackson Lacombe went in the 2^nd round.  Mazura has tremendous stick skills and looks really lanky. But, he catches defenders off guard with his speed and range with his stick. He’s as deft at working with the puck in tight to his body as he is at full extension and really ruined some kids days with it. His reach with his stick and confidence with it might be one of his best attributes, as he makes all kinds of plays with it. Edmonton might have found themselves something in this kid and it’ll be really interesting to track his development at Providence in the NCAA.

7^th Round

193^rd Overall: Maxim Denezhkin (C, Loko Yaroslavl: MHL)
Oilers get a ton of value with this pick. TheDraftAnalyst.com had Denezhkin ranked 74^th overall. NHL Central Scouting had him ranked as the 37^th best European skater in the draft. He was the top scorer on the MHL team that included fellow draft picks: Ilya Nikolayev, Alex Daryin, Danil Misyul, and Kirill Slepets, ALL OF WHOM were chosen before him. What the Oilers got here is a cagey center who can do it all and do it all well, in a league that is sometimes known for being a little wide open and a little sloppy. What probably allowed Denezhkin to slip is the fact that he is only 165 pound and 5’10. A lot of teams went big and heavy this draft year, but I genuinely believe skill will still win the day.

Conclusion:
The Oilers scouting department really allowed the new GM to put together a solid draft here. There are no players that really stick out as NHL long shots aside from the “Russian Factor”. Realistically though, I think Oilers fans have quite a bit to look forward to here.