The yearly series continues as I do a deep dive on past BRHL drafts to see who made the best and worst picks. Last years look of the 2018 draft can be found here.

http://new.brhl.net/article/view/1007

You can also have a look at the 2017 draft here.

http://new.brhl.net/article/view/941

With these lists every year, there is typically some change after I post. Some players are trending UP while others are trending DOWN. In past seasons, we've seen guys like Patrik Laine, P.L. Dubois and Josh Norris perhaps be ranked a bit too high, while guys like Tage Thompson, Jesper Bratt, Jordan Kyrou, Jeremy Swayman and Gabriel Vilardi were ranked too low. A lot can change in one season as evident by Swayman and Vilardi's performances this year.

Lets have a look at 2019. Compared to the 2018 draft, it lacks the high end talent and depth. It wasn't the strongest draft class. It does have more depth then 2017 but 2017 had some monster talent at the top (Matthews, Fox, McAvoy, M. Tkachuk) just to name a few. 2019 will probably go down as your average draft class, where you'll have 1 or 2 superstars, a bunch of allstar quality players to round out the top 10, some above average players in the middle of the first round and then some depth pieces to finish the round. This was not a draft where you could expect to land an allstar with a late 1st.

In past drafts, Bryce and Kevin typically cleaned up and drafted some good players with later picks. Bryce continued tradition with a 3rd round steal in Dmitry Vornkov (75th overall). His Alex Newhook (10th overall) pick was decent as well but the rest of the draft was a dud. Anthony made a great pick drafting Matias Maccelli (46th overall) in the late 2nd round. Maccelli is a borderline top 10 pick in this draft. I also liked Steve's pickup of Pyotr Kochetkov (74th overall). Goalies usually provide the best value on draft day. Before I move on, I'd like to show recognition to a couple other well drafted picks from Sober Ty and Garrett. Artem Zub (168th overall) and Jordan Spence (101st overall) are both very solid defensemen.

At the top of my list, its a no brainer. Jack Hughes is the best player from this draft. I don't see that changing once its all said and done. This draft was very heavy on American born players at the top. Cole Caufield and Matthew Boldy could be interchangeable at #3 and #4. Very similar career paths and Despite trending downwards, Trevor Zegras still comes in at the #7 spot. This season will be a big determining factor on whether he is actually a top 10 player in this draft class or not. I am expecting a rebound from him.

The first defensemen on the board was Moritz Seider at #2. No brainer here, clearly the best defensemen this draft has to offer. It gets a bit more interesting after that though. I have Bowen Byram ranked at #8 and Thomas Harley ranked at #9. Harley has come in strong as of late and could surpass Byram as early as next season in my books. Harley was a great pick by Tim of the Devils who selected him 16th overall.

The top Canadian born player in this draft was Dylan Cozens. I ranked him #5 on my list. Personally, I don't see Kirby Dach surpassing him for this spot. Cozens was a great Kevin pickup at 11th overall. Kevin also selected Kirby Dach at 4th overall.

Besides Kochetkov, Matias Maccelli was one of the most impressive draft picks. I have Maccelli at #11 on my list, but is a guy who can sneak into the top 10 next season. A lot depends on Dach's health. Alex Newhook's game took a step forward last season with the Habs and is also a guy who may pass Dach if Dach cannot stay healthy. Newhook was selected by Bryce at 10th overall, and falls just short of that draft ranking. Still a fine selection though.

Other big risers this past season were Cam York, Shane Pinto and Nils Hoglander. Each one came in at #13, #14 and #15 on my list. York took a step forward in his first full NHL season and looks like a solid two way defensemen. Shane Pinto had a solid first season in the NHL in 2022-2023 but surpassed that last season when he scored at a pace of 54 points. Pinto could be higher on this list and is a threat for the top 10. Hoglander also had his breakout seaosn last year with 36 points. For now, he looks to be a lock for the Canucks top 6 so I am expecting even better numbers from him next season.

Lets talk about Kaapo Kakko. This was a pick made by Dan at #2 overall. Kakko was the consensus 2 pick in this draft, I don't believe anyone would argue with it. No one expected Kakko to have his worst season in year 5. Things were looking up for him when he scored 40 points in 2022-2023, but they came crashing down hard. At this point in Kakko's career, a change of scenary is needed. He still comes in at the #16 slot because of that 40 point season, but he is a player trending downwards quickly. Unfortunately, this comes in as the worst pick of round 1 for me.

The next tier of guys are all at similar points per game, and are just starting to become NHL regulars. Dmitry Voronkov (75th overall), Philip Tomasino (18th overall), Pavel Dorofeyev (40th overall), Nick Robertson (20th overall), Connor McMichael (13th overall) and Arthur Kaliyev (22nd overall) all slot in at #17, #18, #19, #20, #21 and #22. Some of these guys could be interchangeable. For instance, Dorofeyev has played the least amount of games but looked impressive during his short stint in the NHL. Does he drop lower then a guy like Arthur Kaliyev who already has almost 200 games under his belt?. Kaliyev is trending down, but it could be a deployment issue, just like Nick Robertson. I expect this to be a make or break it season for both Robertson and Kaliyev. Guys like Dorofeyev, Tomasino and McMichael dont have this issue as they have shown to have the trust of their teams. In this tier, I do expect Tomasino and McMichael to break through and be higher then the rest by next season.

In this next group we find another goalie. This time Spencer Knight (6th overall). Knight was the first goalie selected in both the BRHL and NHL draft. Mental Health issues aside, Knight still has a lot of promise to be a future NHL starter. I believe he gets back on track this season and sticks in the NHL for good. Another guy who could be much higher on this list next season, ala Jeremy Swayman. Dustin Wolf (66th overall) also falls into this same category. A great pickup by Rex in the 3rd round. Wolf is getting his chance to shine this season in Calgary and could be another guy who has a big rise. Its not out of the question to see Wolf's stock jump that of Knight. Both these goalies have big seasons ahead of them. Wolf comes in at #30, but only due to a lack of NHL games played.

Some guys who did not make the top 31 include Jusso Parssinen, Raphael Harvey-Pinard, Zac Jones, Jackson LaCombe, Mads Sogaard, Philip Broberg and Valterri Pusstinen. Jackson LaCombe is the guy I am most interested in. There is a case for him already being in the top 30 after his rookie season. I fully expect him to be a top 30 guy next year as he takes a bigger step forward in his development. Philip Broberg is a guy who has played his best hockey in the last month as his contribution in the Stanley Cup finals opened a bunch of eyes. I do believe Broberg has an extra gear left and will have his case for a top 30 spot next season as well.

To summarize, my favorite picks of this draft include Kochetkov (drafted by Steve 74th overall), Maccelli (drafted by Anthony 46th overall), Voronkov (drafted by Bryce 75th overall), Dorofeyev (drafted by Sober Ty 40th overall), Zub (drafted by Sober Ty 168th overall), Spence (drafted by Garrett 101st overall) and the duo of Caufield/Boldy (drafted by Kevin and Rob at 14th overall and 17th overall).

The worst picks of this draft were Kakko (drafted by Dan 2nd overall), Turcotte (drafted by Jared 7th overall), Podkolzin (drafted by Rob 8th overall), Soderstrom (drafted by Eric D 12th overall) and Poulin (drafted by Tim 21st overall).