Dylan Cozens is a player that I have ranked lower than the consensus. I have seen many people have him in the conversation at pick No. 3, but that is a bit too high for me. Cozens has a big frame (6’3, 183lbs), but isn’t an overly physical player. Ideally, you’d like to see him use his size more to his advantage. When you combine his size with his elite skating abilities, the potential is there to be a dominant physical specimen in the NHL. Cozens has a great shot and is more of a “shoot first” guy but doesn’t have the highest of skill levels, which limits him as a playmaker. Cozens physical attributes make him a very intriguing prospect, but I just don’t believe Cozens has the upside as guys like Alex Turcotte and Trevor Zegras. I believe Cozens will be fixture in the top-6 of the team that drafts him for many years to come.

Cole Caufield is a player who has a knack for scoring goals. He’s a diminutive sniper (5’7 165lbs) who scored 72 goals this past season. With regards to his skating, he won’t blow you away. Caufield isn’t a very good skater, but he most definitely isn’t a bad skater. He has shown flashes of playmaking ability in the last two years, but not enough to warrant not being labeled as one dimensional. His ability to shoot the puck makes him as highly touted as he is. He’s got an elite shot with an ultra quick release — one of the best we’ve ever seen. All of the shots in his arsenal come with great power and are deadly accurate. The knocks on Caufield are due to his size (Who could’ve seen that coming?) and the fact that he played on a team of top prospects. The concerns about his size are a crock. As for him playing on a team of top prospects, it certainly didn’t hurt his offensive output. However, his ability to score goals is at such a high level that I wouldn’t put it past him to score 50+ goals on a team in the CHL. I think Caufield will be a prolific goal scorer in the NHL who pots ~40 goals per year.

Peyton Krebs is yet another very good center prospect in this draft. Krebs is a player who lacks size but makes up for it with his skating, skill, and compete level. He’s a great skater, albeit not an elite one, who uses his agility and elusiveness to maneuver around opposition players. His niche is playmaking — he’s one of the best in the class when it comes to passing. Krebs always knows where his teammates are and is often able to find the soft spots in the defense to generate his quality scoring chances. He’s probably not going to be known for scoring many goals at the next level. His shot is pretty average, and although he has a quick release — he only scored 19 goals in 64 games this season. Krebs’ effort and tenacity on every shift is next level and his hard work will earn him extra points. Another thing that needs to be noted with Krebs is the season he just had. On an absolutely terrible Kootenay Ice team (21st in the WHL), Krebs had 19g-49a-68p in 64 games played. Of the 181 goals that Kootenay scored this season, Krebs had a point on 37.6% of them, the highest percentage among draft eligibles in the WHL. In the end, I think Krebs ceiling will be that of an elite second liner or a low end first liner.

Kirby Dach is the third of the three highly rated forwards coming out of the WHL. Dach is a big playmaking center (6’4, 200lbs) who plays a game eerily similar to that of Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf. He has the potential to be a good skater, but he needs to improve his acceleration if that is to be the case. Dach is a quality playmaker who can be very fun to watch when he is on his game. His vision and passing is right up there with the best in the class. He shot is decent, but he could do with using it more. When he started shooting the puck more as the season went on, he started scoring more goals. As great as he sounds, It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. From November till around January, Dach went AWOL. I caught one of Saskatoon’s games live back in December and Dach was just flat out terrible. He also seemed to lack compete and give minimal effort in that stretch where he was bad. Similar issues to that of Arthur Kaliyev but I feel that Dach warrants the criticism a little bit more. Dach had 24 games this season in which he was held without a point, including 7 games straight in December. By no means did he have a bad draft year, but when his season ended I was left wanting more. All in all, I think there is risk with Dach, but he undoubtedly has the highest upside among the WHL forwards. Will he hit his ceiling? It remains to be seen.

Tier 4 – My fourth tier consists of players who *should* be impact players at the NHL level. These players have holes/question marks in their game that prevent them from being ranked higher.

Nick Robertson is truly one of my favorite prospects eligible in the draft. He’s a smaller, very skilled, playmaker (5’9 170lbs), but I think I’ve made it clear that size doesn’t matter very much to me if a player can really play. Robertson can either score the goals, or he can set them up. He is a relentless player who brings 110% on every shift, and will sometimes get rewarded with an easy goal or an assist due to the tenacity he brings. Robertson’s raw point totals don’t look very inspiring, but he was the primary driver of Peterborough’s offense this season. Robertson is an average skater, and that is what keeps him from being a higher ranked prospect in my book. People seem to forget he’s only 4 days away from being eligible for the 2020 Draft. He seems like a player that David Quinn would love, for what it’s worth.