Unranked* yet Talented MHL Prospects in the 2019 NHL Draft

After some heavy research and watching a ton of MHL games I came up with a list of 100 intriguing first time NHL Draft eligible prospects. I narrowed down the list to around 50 with extra viewings for each player. Then I realized that several very talented players were left outside the Central Scouting or other major hockey agency rankings.

That got me thinking, why not rank those unranked prospects and highlight their strengths and weaknesses.There are way too many top 31 mock drafts with the same group of players and not much about others.

Finding a top six winger or a mobile two-way defender in the 6th or 7th round is the ultimate scouting Holy Grail. It would be amazing to witness one these unranked prospects get selected by an NHL franchise and turn out to be a regular NHL player in the next few years.

Everyone uses some kind of rating system and most of them are fine. I came up with one that fits my needs and used it to track prospects. With a scale from 1.0 to 5.0 where 1.0 is ‘extremely bad’, 5.0 is ‘legend’ and 2.5 would be average among first time draft eligible prospects.

From Monday to Thursday I’ll be publishing 4 scouting reports per day of these unranked prospects. On the player page you will find a shift-by-shift game video. Do they deserve to be drafted by an NHL team on Saturday?

Monday: Bardakov (C), Pylenkov (D), Romayev (LW), Shablovsky (LW)

Tuesday: Garayev (LW), Astashevsky (C), Antipin (D), Chizhikov (RW)

Wednesday: Ibragimov (RW), Lukichyov (D), Kazakov (LW), Svanenbergs (F)

Thursday: Zakharov (LW), Galkin (G), Merkulov (C), Zaitsev (RW)

The Unranked group has 3 defenders, 12 forwards and 1 goalie (the goalie is draft eligible for the second time but he’s been playing extremely well and won the MVP of the MHL playoffs – as the goalie of the losing team in the final round).

[update Feb 20th, 2020]

Prospects selected in the 2019 NHL Draft – 1: Ibragimov (RW) by San Jose Sharks #164

Prospects debuted in the KHL – 8: Pylenkov (D), Romayev (LW), Shablovsky (LW), Antipin (D), Chizhikov (RW), Svanenbergs (F), Zakharov (LW), Galkin (G)

Prospects debuted in the VHL – 3: Astashevsky (C), Lukichyov (D), Merkulov (C)

Prospects waiting for their debut in the VHL / KHL – 4: Bardakov (C), Garayev (LW), Kazakov (LW), Zaitsev (RW)

It’s worth noting that both Kapitan Stupino’s prospects Garayev and Kazakov have already signed Professional contracts with their affiliate KHL team HK Sochi.

Merkulov played a few games in the MHL and VHL at the start of the season, but he decided to join the USHL. His stats can be viewed here

With no VHL affiliate team for Russkie Vityazi, Bardakov and Zaitsev will need more time to develop in the MHL. Pylenkov, their teammate from last season, became an KHL regular defenseman for the HC Vityaz and that definitely boosted his development.

Bardakov was a high risk / high reward type of prospect last season and his motor and skill level were his biggest weapons. He wasn’t able to control his radical intensity and physicality this season and he already pilled up more penalty minutes (149 PIM) than last season (122 PIM). Last season he won the MHL Most Penalized Player ‘award’ and right now is in first place but with only 9 PIM ahead of the next most penalized player…

*unranked by Central Scouting