2019 Draft

Many, many scouts say Dach is a top 3-5 pick, and I can certainly agree, as well as Turcotte should probably be considered too.

Knight is good, but not top 5 good. Goalies are too risky to take so high (Jack Campbell, Mark Visentin, etc)

Think Foote could probably be higher too, but all in all a lot can happen in a years time! At this time last year Dahlin wasn't supposed to be the #1 prospect, so it will be exciting to see what happens!

Pretty sure Dahlin has been the undisputed 2018 #1 OA pick since he was like 15 years old. Kid played in the World Juniors as a 16 year old on a very good 96' born team which had players like Nylander and "KempBAE" on it.

Some scouts had him behind Svechnikov when he was still playing SuperElit. When Frolunda gave him a shot at the senior level his stock skyrocketed and was never doubted as #1

Kaapo Kakko will be in the top 3... I can tell you that. Some scout like to say that he is a Laine playmaker... Just watch his highlights from the u18... He was better than Hughes

Who would Dach and Turcotte replace in the top 5? I mean obviously Knight but who else?

The same can be said about multiple players outside of the top 5 such as Arthur Kaliyev (I know he didn't play in the U18s), Alex Turcotte, and Cole Caufield.

Turcotte's name I threw out there not because he is right now, but he very well could contend for a top 5 spot depending on how this next season plays out. Hughes is really the only "lock" for top 5 at this point imo, as there are more than 5 top 5 caliber players. 2019 is a deep class so it'll be a tight race right up to draft day likely.

The reason I say that about Knight is the last time there was a top 5 goalie pick was in 2005. 12 years ago. Since then the average pick the first goalie is selected has dropped to 27th. Even some pretty elite goalie prospects haven't made the first round (Carter Hart, Ilya Sorokin, Ilya Shesyorkin, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, etc.)

About Knight, I am hearing rumors though about the next Jonathan Quick, but better. So I jumped to the conclusion that he could be an American Carey Price and put him 5th. Oettinger was drafted in the first round and Knight is better than him so I thought about putting him higher.

In my mind, Alex Newhook is going to be a top 3 in the draft but may drop in the top 5. He has all of the things a team wants in a player he has an all-around game, he just needs to show off his skills on the big stage when he goes to B.C. next year.

What do you think about the second round?

Maybe not 5th, but I could easily see him going to a late lottery team if he keeps improving his game. Could he be the first to crack the top 10 since Price? It's possible, but unlikely imo. It's tough to assume when a goalie will be drafted, because team needs have to be there. Carter Hart is legit the next Carey Price and he didn't go until 48th in 2016, despite showing numbers that far exceeded Price's.

Newhook is a very intriguing prospect. Just compare him to other CJHL top 10 picks at 16:

Alex Newhook - 45 gp, 22 g, 44 a, 66 pts, 1.47 ppg
Cale Makar (4th overall 2017) - 54 gp, 10 g, 45 a, 55 pts, 1.02 ppg
Tyson Jost (10th overall 2016) - 46 gp, 23 g, 22 a, 45 pts, 0.98 ppg
Kyle Turris (3rd overall 2007) - 57 gp, 36 g, 36 a, 72 pts, 1.26 ppg

Newhook actually isn't committed to Boston College until the 2019-20 season, so it'll be interesting to see if he stays in the CJHL like the 3 listed above, or if he pulls something like Nick Henry did and takes a chance with Halifax in the QMJHL (his CHL rights are owned by them), which might be intriguing to him to play with the likes of Zadina, Bouchard, Gravel, etc.

One name I definitely could see in the 2nd round is Mikko Kokkonen, who split time between Jukurit's senior and junior teams as well as Kettera in the Mestis. He's currently supposed to start in the Liiga next season, and had an outstanding junior year last year (26 points in 38 games, he's a defenseman I should say). He was supposed to be a pretty top pick for 2019, but his stock has taken a major drop due to him simply not replicating the year he had last year. As well as I could probably see Anttoni Honka, younger brother of current Stars defenseman Julius Honka, make a push for the draft next year. He's posting numbers better than his brother did, especially since Julius never played in the Liiga, versus Anttoni just finished playing 20 games with JYP this season, and had a .5 ppg.

I'm sorry about Honka and Kokkonen I forgot them in my draft, they were supposed to be at 42 and 43. I am a huge fan of Newhook because he followed my cousin's hockey journey and his father actually spoke with my uncle about where he should go for hockey. Newhook and my cousin both came out of Newfoundland, went to St. Andrew's went to the Grizzlies before going to NCAA D1. I really hope that the Canadiens win 2nd in the lottery in 2019 to draft him.

I know a kid that was with the Clippers this year and he said Newhook is unreal. It sucked to see they lost out of playoffs. I watch the RBC Cup almost every year and was really looking forward to seeing them there. He's got more than enough talent to pass Turris as the highest drafted, but it definitely won't be easy. Lots of great players that will be competing to follow Hughes at this point.

I would've like to see him win the RBC Cup. Hughes has taken over the draft but I would like to see an upset at some point in the year where he drops to #2 just for a bit of time before taking over again. I think that it would be a good test of his skill.

Would definitely test his character and how he faces adversity. Likelyhood he drops is slim to none though. Broke Matthews' USNDTP single season scoring record at a year younger than when Matthews set it