THW NHL Prospects & Draft Substack - Nov. 17, 2023
Welcome to the THW NHL Prospects & Draft Substack newsletter, with all the latest from our great team of writers.
In today’s edition, we have a look at Juraj Slafkovsky’s development, the best Flyers prospects playing in the NCAA, an Islanders prospect getting his footing, and much more!
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Now on to the good stuff…
Canadiens Slow Development of Slafkovsky is the Right Choice
November 14, 2023 by Trege Wilson
When the Montreal Canadiens drafted Juraj Slafkovsky first overall in the 2022 Draft, general manager (GM) Kent Hughes stated they were not drafting the best 18-year-old now but the best player from the draft in five years. Montreal is in Year 2 of having Salfkovsky and, production-wise, things have been underwhelming.
With only 10 points in his rookie campaign and two points this season, fans have been uneasy about whether this controversial pick was the right choice, but with the Habs in a rebuild, management does not see any rush to have Slafkovsky be a solid producer. Instead, they are trying to develop him into a better player overall and the best player from the draft five years from now.
Flyers Prospects Report: NCAA D1 Players
November 13, 2023 by Matthew Ward
The Philadelphia Flyers currently have nine draft picks playing NCAA Division 1 college hockey. This group consists of seven forwards and two defensemen spread out across different programs in the United States.
Forward Cutter Gauthier, one of the organization’s top prospects, is off to an outstanding start with Boston College. Other prospects, such as Massimo Rizzo and Devin Kaplan, have put up big numbers for their schools in the first 10 games of the 2023-24 college hockey season. As the Flyers continue with their rebuild, many of these college players are getting valuable experience with top-tier college programs that can prove invaluable towards a smooth transition to the NHL-level game.
Islanders’ Prospect Iskhakov Is Finding His Scoring Touch
November 12, 2023 by Mike Fink
The Bridgeport Islanders were struggling to score and find offense of any sort against the Springfield Thunderbirds on Nov. 11. That is, except for Ruslan Iskhakov. He scored both of the Islanders’ goals including the overtime winner to give them a much-needed 2-1 victory.
The goals weren’t just impressive, but they particularly showed how Iskhakov can pick apart an opposing goaltender. Even when a goaltender is having a great game, he can find the back of the net with his accurate and effective shot. More importantly, the two-goal game signaled that Ishkakov’s scoring ability could take him and the Islanders to another level.
2024 NHL Entry Draft: Horn’s Early Top-16 Mock Draft
November 2, 2023 by Logan Horn
We’re a few weeks into the 2023-24 NHL season and now is the time that many hockey fans turn to the upcoming draft, especially fans of NHL teams who are outside of the playoff race. If your team isn’t going to be much fun to watch this year, the least you can do is have some fun dreaming of the great prospects they could land in the 2024 Draft.
I am using the NHL standings as of November 1, 2023 and teams are ranked by points percentage rather than point totals. This is obviously a super early mock draft so it is more an exercise in showing off the top prospects and how they could land on draft day rather than an example of the teams most likely to be picking this early. Teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins have had horrid starts to the year but are expected to bounce back eventually while teams like the Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken have a chance to stick around in the draft lottery conversation all year.
Last Edition’s Poll Results
Last time I asked you who has the best name in the 2024 NHL Draft class and the winner, by a very narrow margin, is Tij Iginla. I can’t deny he’s got a sweet name though I can’t help but think that a part of what makes it awesome is nostalgia for his dad, legendary Calgary Flames winger Jarome Iginla.
Zayne Parekh landed in second with 31% of the votes which I think is fair, but the biggest surprise to me was that Sacha Boisvert got zero votes! I think either you guys haven’t tried saying his name aloud or maybe didn’t take enough French classes in school but Boisvert (pronounced something like “Bwa-vair”) is the slickest name in this draft class for me no contest.
Our next poll is about the team nearly guaranteed to have the best chance of landing the first overall pick in the upcoming Draft, the San Jose Sharks.
New Poll!
NHL Awards - NHL 2023-24 Calder Trophy Predictions
Draft Coverage - 2024 NHL Draft: Horn’s Top 32 for October
2024 NHL Mock Draft - Horn’s Early Top-16 Mock Draft