Three candidates who could potentially to fall to the Leafs at 25 on draft day, per our scouting consultant
Count 'em down, ladies and gents! THREE days left until the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. I don't know about you, but this is one of my favourite days of the year and it's always circled on my calendar. Not only are we formally introduced to the stars of tomorrow, but we're also treated to some creative trades. Who doesn't love that?!
The Leafs, along with 31 other NHL clubs, have been doing their due diligence to get to know the draft-eligible prospects this year. Among those the Leafs interviewed during the NHL Draft Combine last month were names like Rutger McGroarty, Filip Mesar, Marco Kasper, Jagger Firkus, Owen Pickering. These are all players who are expected to be available at various spots in the 15-30 range, which means the Leafs are likely not averse to moving up or down if there's a player on the board that they really like.
But, what about players who are on the board who are ranked higher that end up on a bit of a tail spin? It happens EVERY draft - prospects who plummet down the draft rankings on draft day for no apparent reason, or for reasons of shallow judgement. Sometimes, teams pass on a player due to an awkward skating stride, their diminutive size and stature or even simply because their path to the NHL may take a bit longer than desired.
Samuel Tirpak, a scout who recently departed from the team over at Dobber Prospects and a scouting consultant with Maple Leafs Insider, took some time to go through the various draft rankings floating around and pinpointed a few potential draft day "fallers" on Bob McKenzie's draft rankings who he believes could potentially fall to the Leafs at #25. The names that Sam zeroed in on were Frank Nazar III (15th), Jiri Kulich (18th) and Ivan Miroshnichenko (19th).
Where did these players land on Sam's draft rankings? He had Nazar at 6th overall, Kulich at 25th and Miroshnichenko at 29th. Interestingly enough, he has both Kulich and Miroshnichenko sliding to an area within the Leafs' range, but has Nazar going much earlier than McKenzie.
As far as Kulich and Miroshnichenko go, the reason for their potential slides on draft day are pretty much exactly what you think. For Kulich, it's his path to the NHL. Tirpak views Kulich as someone who could take 2 years or more to reach the NHL level (if teams do right by the player and allow him to adjust to the North American game before feeding him to the lions). He does mention though that Kulich is one of those prospects who could just as easily go in the top 10-14 range as he could the 24-28 range. He's already playing against men in the Czech league, so that's one plus for him.
As for Miroshnichenko, we all know of his Hodgkin's Lymphoma diagnosis and the fierce battle that followed. Thankfully, though he did miss significant playing time over the past year plus, he has finally been cleared to resume playing hockey. Once considered a lock to go in the top 5-7, nobody really knows where Miroshnichenko will go in the draft following his battle with cancer.
If Miroshnichenko falls to the Leafs at 25, the 2022 NHL Entry Draft could be an absolute HEIST for the Buds. Tirpak likens Miroshnichenko's game to that of countryman Ilya Kovalchuk, though he acknowledges that it may be unreasonable to suggest that the 18-year-old may reach the same heights that his 39-year-old counterpart did at the NHL level. Miroshnichenko is his own player and is a very unique talent, but the circumstances surrounding him coming into the draft very much makes him a wild card. He could go in the top-10, he could go in the 20-30 range. Nobody knows. The one thing we do know is that at one point, this kid was dubbed "the next great Russian".
Frank Nazar III might be the most interesting name of these 3. There are some questions of the level of consistency in his game, which can sometimes be overlooked by scouts, but Nazar is also one of the smaller players ranked inside of the top 15. We saw it with Marco Rossi, we saw it with Cole Caufield, and most recently, we saw it with Logan Stankoven. For whatever reason, GMs are willing to pass on highly skilled players just because the measuring tape says 5'10 or under. Nazar may be a bit of a different situation than the others, because he does reside at that 5'10 marker, which isn't exactly small, but it's not large either by NHL standards. You just never know.
Nazar's biggest weaknesses are the details in his defensive game. There are skills that he will need to develop in order to be effective at both ends of the ice, which is actually a fairly common concern with a lot of these young offensive players who have that ability to shoot the lights out or who thrive in a playmaking capacity. A lot of them aren't sure how to play without the puck. That can be learned and for a smart young man like Nazar, it shouldn't take long. The USHL/USTNDP product will have plenty of time to work on the details over the next year or two in the NCAA, as he is committed to the University of Michigan this fall.
Nazar is definitely the biggest long-shot to slide down into the 20's. The skill set is just too good. That said, if he does make it into the mid-teens as McKenzie suggested in his rankings and maybe slides a few spots to 16 or 18, the Leafs should absolutely explore the idea of trading up to get him. I feel like he's going to be one of the players from this draft class that we look back on in a few years and wonder why he didn't go higher.
If you'd like to check out more of what Sam is thinking, be sure to check out the thread below and his top 64, including some honourable mentions (the tweet link shared above).
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 4 | 187 ANSWERS Three candidates who could potentially to fall to the Leafs at 25 on draft day, per our scouting consultant If all 3 of these players fell to the Leafs at 25, who should the Leafs take? | ||
| It's Frank Nazar III.. don't be stupid.. | 75 | 40.1 % |
| Ivan Miroshnichenko | 72 | 38.5 % |
| Jiri Kulich | 40 | 21.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
