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Some 2023 NHL Draft Picks who are Proving to be Steals
(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).
Now, with the 2023 NHL Draft only taking place four months ago on Jun 28th and 29th, this article may seem a little premature to some, given the fact that such a short amount of time has elapsed. But I assure you, after you read just what kind of production these prospects have been turning out this season, you, too, will be a believer.
To start, we could easily talk about a player like Matvei Michkov, who fell to the Flyers at seventh overall and is playing at almost a points-per-game pace in the KHL right now. Or perhaps Gabe Perreault, who is currently Boston College’s leading scorer despite them having multiple top ten picks on the roster like Will Smith, Cutter Gauthier, and Ryan Leonard. This, of course, came after Gabe had to wait until the Rangers practically ran to the podium to take him 23rd overall this summer. However, teams are supposed to hit on their first and second-round picks. Where you can begin to decipher the good from the great general managers is the talent they are able to acquire in the mid to later rounds.
Yegor Sidorov
Like the Anaheim Ducks did when they selected Yegor Sidorov (an 18-year-old from Belarus) in the third round this summer, 85th overall. Yegor, or as he is more commonly referred to as Egor, is a 6’0 183 pound winger who can play both sides of the center. The Ducks found Egor playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Saskatoon Blades. Where last season this elusively creative player somehow managed to score 40 goals and 36 assists for 76 points in just 53 games. Now, why so many teams chose to pass on a player operating at a rate of 1.43 points per game in his draft year is beyond me, but I’m sure Anaheim was elated to add this offensive threat to their arsenal.
But as good as Egor was last season, I wouldn’t mention him in this article if he wasn’t producing at a higher rate this year. Now, at 19 years old, Sidorov finds himself back with the Blades for perhaps his third and final season because so far this year, in 23 games played, Egor has managed to score in bunches totaling 21 goals (thanks to his excellent one-timer) and nine assists for 30 points to date. An average that, if he can maintain, projects him to finish the season with 60 goals and 26 assists for 86 points.
A player with this type of creativity and goal-scoring ability won’t remain unsigned for long. Expect the Ducks to be waiting in the Blades locker room after their final game this season so they can ink this player to his first of many professional contracts.
Denver Barkey
The next player worth mentioning is the Flyers’ 95th overall pick from this past summer, Denver Barkey. This diminutive center, who stands at just 5’9, must have reminded general manager Danny Briere a lot of himself, seeing that he was able to generate nearly a point per game last season while playing for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). This plus player has an innate ability to put defenders in some sort of state of hypnosis, as they all just seem to forget about the man they are supposed to be covering and focus on him. This allows Denver to create space for his teammates so they can set themselves up to put home a perfect pass that he somehow manages to place right on the blade of their stick. While Barkey finished last season with 59 points in 61 games, he is currently on pace to blow those totals right out of the water, seeing that he is projected to score 37 goals and 57 assists for 94 points this season. All of this, mind you, comes with him also maintaining a +14 rating right now that projects to him finishing the season a +40!
Denver’s game will prove to translate well at any level simply because when he is on the ice, he makes everyone on the line with him better! He even proved this recently when he made multiple highlight reel passes to current Flyers players in their preseason games. So please don’t sleep on this player, as I’m predicting many more great things will come from him soon enough.
Luca Pinelli
Moving on now to a player who was taken still later in the draft and is currently paying the team that drafted him dividends, we find Luca Pinelli. Another undersized center that the Columbus Blue Jackets took in the fourth round this summer with the 114th overall pick. Like Barkey, Pinelli never seems to take a shift off. Leaving it all out on the ice, Luca has become known as a duel threat. He is a player who is equally as dangerous in the offensive zone as in his defensive zone. So much so that he was able to finish last year a +30, but while being defensively responsible is great and will undoubtedly help you get to the next level. You have to be capable of a bit of offense, too. And Luca is proving this season that he can do just that. In 22 games played thus far, Pinelli has been able to drive the play to the toll of 17 goals and eight assists for 25 points. A feat that, if he continues along this pace, will see him end the season with 53 goals and 25 assists for 78 points.
While his lack of size may hinder or delay Pinelli’s quest to the NHL, his ability to make plays and put the puck in the back of the net will not.
Hampton Slukynsky
As we all know, building a team is not all about scoring goals. You also need someone who can prevent them. So, it was with this thought in mind that the Los Angeles Kings decided to draft USA-born goaltender Hampton Slukynsky in the 4th round with the 118th overall pick. Hampton is a 6’1 190, pound netminder who plays with some flair. He plays so aggressively that you rarely see him inside the blue paint when the opposition is in on a rush. Hampton is always out-challenging the shooter.
Nevertheless, once his team is pinned down inside their zone, Slukynsky manages to deny opponents with his lightning-quick reflexes and stretch arm strong like elasticity. Using these traits to his advantage, Hampton recently won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships in 2022-2023 and is currently playing for the Fargo Force, where he is undefeated with a 9-0-0 record while more impressive yet maintaining a league-best 1.53 goals-against-average and stopping a league-leading .927% of the shots he has faced to this point. However, that’s not all. Slukynsky also leads the league with three shutouts to his credit.
Hampton has accomplished all this while equally splitting time in the net with his older goaltending partner, Anton Castro. So, you can just imagine what his numbers could be if he had the net all to himself. A chance (if he keeps up this kind of play) that he will have next season when he is due to play for the Northern Michigan University Wildcats.
Many teams and scouts over the years have slept on this guardian of the blue paint, but that’s ok. Because the Kings did not, now they can just sit back and watch their young netminder continue to develop. With any luck one day, they may just see Hampton turn pro and get a chance to don their classic black and silver jersey.
Aiden Fink
The last player we will discuss in this article is a former Prospect Watch guest that the Nashville Predators took in the seventh round 218 overall this past summer. Aiden, who now plays for the Penn State Nitty Lions, is having a fantastic freshman campaign, scoring nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in just 15 games played thus far. To put his production to this point into some perspective, that’s a seventh round prospect who is currently just one point off the pace of Macklin Celebrini, who most NHL scouts have listed as the first player due off the board this summer. I know Fink is a year or so older than Celebrini, but to even be considered in the same company as a player like Macklin proves Aiden is on the right track.
I don’t know about you, but I think Nashville may have just put other teams on notice with this one. Many people have been sleeping on players coming out of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) for some time now. And honestly, I don’t know why, seeing that last season, all Aiden did was score 41 goals and 56 assists for 97 points in just 54 regular season games played for the Brooks Bandits and then managed to continue to win both back-to-back AJHL Championships and back to back Centennial Cups.
Fink is for sure a player to continue watch grow playing in the NCAA, for he can do it all offensively, especially in big games. Yes, I do believe Barry Trots and the Preds got some good value out of this pick, and he should continue to excel once he reaches Music City.
While these are a few of many promising prospects to come out of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, I believe these are the ones that have offered their respective teams the most bang for their buck. (I.E., draft stock used on them) to this point. Who knows, in a few years, if their early production since being drafted continues to pay off, they just may find themselves earning a chance to turn pro by signing an entry-level contract.
Like Father Like Son? Two 2024 Draft Eligible Prospects who are hoping to step out from their Father’s Shadow
Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla (left) celebrates his second period goal with Andrew Cristall (middle) and Gabriel Szturc (right) in the team’s 6-3 win against Swift Current on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Prospera Place. (@Kelowna_Rockets/X)
Every year, come draft day, you’ll notice a couple of prospects being taken by a team with some familiar surnames who turn out to be the offspring of hockey royalty. Sadly, despite having the same blood coursing through their veins, most fail to ever live up to their fathers’ accolades.
This year may be a different story, though. In the 2024 NHL Draft, there will be two prospects with profound NHL lineage that will be worth keeping an eye on.
The first goes by the name Tij Iginla, who you may have guessed is the son of the former Calgary Flames Hall of Fame winger Jarome Iginla. Over the course of his 20 year NHL career, Jarome was able to tally 625 goals and 675 assists for a total of 1,300 regular season points. Additionally, it was Jarome’s gritty style of play (that saw him come to be respected by everybody who did not live in Edmonton) that helped him collect every offensive award over the years that the NHL could dream up. Whether it be the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award, the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, or the NHL Foundation Player Award, Jarome managed to collect them all. And that isn’t even mentioning the multiple Olympic Gold medals he won that are probably sitting on his mantle right now.
So it should go without saying that Tij will have some pretty big skates to fill once an NHL club selects him this summer. But, it is a task he seems up for, given that he has already won a Western Hockey League Championship with the Seattle Thunderbirds last year and is currently scoring at a rate of 1.15 points per game for the Kelowna Rockets this season. That’s right, through just 20 games played so far this year, Tij has totaled 15 goals and eight assists for 23 points. If that wasn’t impressive enough, I’ll have you know that if he continues on this pace, Tij is projected to finish this season with a very respectable 51 goals and 27 assists for 78 points!
Now, while you may see a lot of similarities to their games, make no mistake about it: Tij is his own man. And in saying that, I’m sure he is looking forward to being drafted to prove just that. Currently, most mock drafts have Tij going somewhere in the second round, but with his stock surging right now, the sky is the limit, so we will just have to wait and see where he ends up.
Next up is another player from a noble bloodline. And that is Aatos Koivu, the son of former NHL’er Saku Koivu. Like Jarome Iginla, Saku saw his career span much longer than most, playing in 18 NHL seasons and totaling over 1,100 games. During that time, Saku compiled 255 goals and 577 assists for 832 regular season points.
Since it’s been ten years since Saku last laced up the skates, his son, who is also a center, now finds himself of age to be drafted and is hoping for an NHL team to come calling, much like they did for his dad did back in the first round of the 1993 Entry Draft.
Only Aatos appears to be facing an uphill battle, seeing that he is currently being overlooked because of the immense amount of talent coming out of Finland this year. But, I assure you this is a gross oversight by the masses because Aatos has been gifted Saku’s handle and finishing ability. To prove this, all you have to do is look at the numbers he has been able to put up this season. While playing for the famed TPS’s U18 Team, Aatos did not appear challenged, scoring 15 points in 15 games. So, the franchise recently moved him up to their U20 Team, where in five games played, Aatos has improved upon his previous one-point-per-game average to the toll of him now netting five goals and three assists for eight points which brings his average to 1.6 points per game versus what was supposed to be more challenging competition.
If Aatos can continue with his recent success, I believe he will not only have his name called this summer by an NHL team but very well could be considered a steal of this draft class.
That’s why, with all this being said, I believe both Iginla and Koivu 2.0 will have all the means necessary to step out of their father’s shadow and embark on their own journey to greatness.
The Flyers Continue to Struggle on the PP, yet No Change is in Sight
Photo Credit NHL.com
This past off-season, the Philadelphia Flyers organization made many changes to their personnel. From the front office, we saw a new President of Hockey Ops be named in Keith Jones, a new General Manager in Danny Briere, and even a new Director of Player Development be named in Riley Armstrong. More importantly, though, came the actions taken behind the scenes once these three were in power. For far too long, the Flyers have given the clubs’ former head coaches and GMs the boot without any thought of replacing the lesser-known people behind the scenes who are actively working with their prospects on a daily basis.
That was until both Jones and Briere came to power. These two former players understood that it takes more than a king to build a castle. So, they set out to deconstruct this franchise down to the cornerstones that have been the foundation of this franchise for a long time. Yes, indeed, there were so many moves this off-season to personnel that it seemed like Grand Central Station around their practice facility in Voorhees, NJ. The team’s firings, promotions, and new hirings involved many aspects of the club, whether it be the Medical Staff, Pro Scouting department, or Player Development, all saw their fair share of changes this off-season.
And for good reason! Case in point, the firing of the underperforming former Flyer Kjell Samuelsson was long overdue. Kjell was gifted a job immediately after hanging up his skates for the last time some 23 years ago. He spent the last ten years running the teams’ player development program and the previous 13 years before that serving as a coach for the Phantoms. In my mind, Samuelsson was a major reason why the Flyers haven’t had an elite-level prospect come out of the organization’s farm system for some time. Think about it: the only successful prospects that have come out of the Flyers system have come directly from playing in the NCAA or CHL and made the jump to the Flyers immediately or shortly after their arrival. These players include Travis Konecny, Carter Hart, Joel Farabee, and Cam York. Meanwhile, high-level prospects like Morgan Frost, Isaac Ratcliffe, Kirill Ustimenko, German Rubtsov, Pascal Laberge, and Felix Sandstrom, who all had extended stays with the Phantoms, either developed at an extremely slow rate or not at all.
Some notable additions since the firing of others have been the likes of John LeClair and Patrick Sharp being named as special advisors to Hockey Operations and the former All-Star Dany Heatley being brought in as a pro scout.
But despite all these positive moves being made, it baffles me that the club has failed to address one of its biggest disappointments: its power play. Over the last few seasons, the Flyers power play unit has ranked amongst the league’s worst.
In the 2021-2022 season, the power play unit was run by NHL tough guy Ian Laperriere. He was an NHL veteran who played 1,083 NHL games throughout 16 seasons, where he only managed to amass just five power-play goals. Now, while Lappy is an amazing guy, and his determination and devotion to his team while playing (I.E., him sacrificing his body to block a shot with his face not once but twice in one season for the Flyers) will never be questioned, I think the decision to place a guy who made a career by being willing to drop the gloves to come to the aid of a teammate, to run the power play should be.
And here’s why! During the 2021-2022 season, when Ian was in charge of the 5 on 4. The Flyers finished the season ranked dead last on the man advantage. Scoring just 30 goals on the season while on the PP, the Flyers could only convert on their chances for a very laughable 12.6% of the time.
Seeing this problem, management demoted Lappy to being the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. A role in which he proved to excel at, seeing that he took the Phantoms farther than the Flyers got last season, with the Phantoms losing in the qualifying round of the playoffs.
But while, this decision by the Flyers proved to be wise and provided them an opportunity to bring in a much more qualified person for the job. Their decision on who that person might be, was not! Back in July 2022, the Flyers decided to replace Lappy with a less talented career knuckle dragger in Rocky Thompson, a player who, during his short 25-NHL game career, never scored a single goal or an assist. Let alone see any kind of power play time. Hell, I don’t even think Rocky amassed that much ice time, given that most instances he was just put out there long enough for the puck to drop and for him to ask the guy standing across from him if he wanted to go.
Now, I’m not saying either one of these guys is a horrible coach. I’m merely raising the question, why might management think it wise to put multiple people in charge of running the power play unit that spent their careers rearranging people’s faces instead of scoring goals?
I’m serious; before joining the Flyers bench staff, Rocky’s coaching resume was as follows. He spent two seasons heading up the San Jose Sharks power play unit, where they finished 29th overall in the 20-21 season and 22nd in the 21-22 season. Not to mention that Thompson was rumored to be let go from his duties in San Jose after nearly getting into a fight with the Sharks star forward Evander Kane in the locker room. I mean, I guess old habits die hard, right?
To further prove that Rocky Thompson might not be the right man for the job here in Philly. Let us look at last season when the Flyers finished dead last in power play percentage with him behind the bench, drawing the X’s and O’s on the whiteboard. Under Rock’s tutelage, the Flyers only converted on their chances 15.56% of the time. In total, the team scored just 35 goals last year on the man advantage while the league’s best Edmonton Oilers managed to net 89 goals and were converting 32.36% of their chances.
This year is no different. With Thompson still somehow managing to keep his job here in Philadelphia, the Flyers find themselves currently tied with the St. Louis Blues for the league’s worst power play yet again. Having only scored four goals so far this season on the man advantage, the Flyers success rate while on the PP this year is a shockingly low 7.69%. To put that into perspective, the league’s best team on the man advantage this year, the New Jersey Devils, are currently finding the back of the net 38.46% of the time on the man advantage—scoring an impressive 20 power-play goals so far this season. Mind you, this is with the Flyers now having Couturier and Atkinson back from injury, as well as having the talented youngsters’ Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster directly being inserted into the lineup.
This recurring nightmare could have been avoided if the Flyers chose to relieve Thompson of his duties at the end of last season and, in turn, continue to fall back on their perpetual nepotism and hire someone much more qualified for the job like former Flyers great Mark Recchi, for example.
Mark is a three-time Stanley Cup-winning Hall of Famer who played 10 of his 22 seasons in the NHL with the Flyers. And, over the course of his illustrious career, he was able to score 577 goals and 956 assists for a total of 1,533 points. What’s even more noteworthy about his accomplishments in terms of this article, though, is the fact that 200 of those goals came while playing on the power play! A feat that ranks him only four goals behind “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky, who finished his career scoring 204 power-play goals.
But Mark did not only score goals while on the power play. He also was able to tally up 369 assists while on the man advantage as well. This feat brought him to an unfathomable career total of 569 power-play points. Folks, that’s more than Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Brett Hull, or Gordie Howe.
I’m not just pulling a name out of a hat here. Since Recchi has retired, he has spent time being a senior advisor to the Dallas Stars, a developmental coach, and an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins (where he added two more Stanley Cups rings as a coach), the New Jersey Devils, and most recently the Columbus Blue Jackets where he still holds a job with today running their power play after being brought on in late September of this year.
Obviously, Mark Recchi was but an example for this article, and he would not be an option if the Flyers were to act now to correct this issue. But this at least shows that there was a much more qualified candidate out there to be had. It’s sad that because of the Flyers’ unwillingness to act, they missed out on a fantastic opportunity to gain someone already in the franchise’s circle of trust that could have helped out this team moving forward.
With that being said, at this point, I think something still needs to be done. Thompson has become totally ineffective. He has lost the respect of the locker room. And I can’t blame the players for that. Again, I’m not saying that he is necessarily a bad coach, just that Rocky has never even stepped foot on the ice during a power play opportunity, let alone scored a goal during one. So how do you expect these young players who don’t even remember watching him play to respect him? At least with someone like Recchi, they would have been able to appreciate what he is saying and be willing to go out and try it because the man’s hands are loaded down with six rings. Five of them saying Stanley Cup Champion, and one of them saying Hockey Hall of Fame Member.