Tough decisions loom on draft day

Justin Froese, the head of western scouting for FC Hockey, a scouting and information service for hockey prospects, believes Schneider has the edge among the aforementioned group.

“He’s one of the better all-around defencemen in the draft. Not top-tier upside like [Erie Otters’ Jamie] Drysdale and [U.S. National Team defencemen Jake] Sanderson, but he’s a guy that can go in and hold his head above water playing defence now,” Froese said.

While there is much debate over which of Guhle or Schneider will go first to teams looking for a defenceman, Froese believes the processing ability of Schneider could separate him.

“I think he’s a better thinker, a better puck manager, and I think there’s even more upside,” Froese explained. “It’s really going to come down to preference and taste of who’s going to be on the board.”

If Schneider does go first, it’s likely that Guhle follows closely behind.

“Guhle’s a big, quick, physical puck separator. He gets a lot of reps in all situations [in Prince Albert]. He does a really good job of swallowing up pucks at the line and stopping play, being aggressive in the neutral zone and providing a bit of secondary offence,” Froese explained.

Ultimately, he believes it comes down to the small details where Schneider offers more deceptive elements and an ability to create plays under pressure, but he expects Guhle’s game to continue to grow moving forward.

Central Scouting has Guhle as number eight, and Schneider at number nine among North American skaters. This season, the 2002-born Guhle finished third among draft-eligible WHL defencemen with 40 points, while Schneider had 42. Lethbridge Hurricanes defenceman Alex Cotton led all defenders with 67 points, and is ranked 79th in North America.

Wiesblatt’s wow-factor

Next on the list is Wiesblatt, who Central Scouting ranked at 19^th among North American skaters, sixth among Western Hockey Leaguers. For Froese, he has Wiesblatt further up that list, considering him the third best draft-eligible player from the dub.

“The thing I like about Wiesblatt… is the amount of layers he has in his game and the improvement he showed down the stretch,” Froese said.

Early in the season, he considered Wiesblatt to be a raw talent that liked to shoot the puck, but struggled to generate opportunities for his linemates and use his ability to put the opposition in difficult positions. As the year went on, he grew into a leading role.

“As the year came on, yeah he was putting up the numbers, but he was doing the things away from the puck that were generating those numbers that maybe go a little bit unsung,” Froese explained. “Definitely going forward, I could see him being a guy that outplays his [draft] position, simply for the fact that he’s got so many layers and versatility, that aren’t simply average, that he can go with.”

Wiesblatt was fifth among draft-eligible WHL players with 70 points in his sophomore season with the Raiders.

Late bloomer

A little further down the list, Kosior’s name pops up as the 98^th rated North American skater after his first year with the Raiders.

Undrafted in the WHL’s bantam draft, Kosior stayed in midget as a 16-year-old where he starred with the Tisdale Trojans before making the jump to Prince Albert, registering 23 points in his rookie year.

Froese isn’t sure whether Kosior will hear his name called in the draft, but if he does, he can understand why.

“He’s a guy that I viewed as the third best defenceman on the team, and there was a lot of veteran presence and carry over [from the 2019 championship] there,” Froese said.

“As the year went on, he became more prone to play a confident game breaking out of his own end and playing under pressure and even a bit of offence sprinkled in. There are elements for him to take a big jump forward in his development.”

Based on the improvement Kosior showed through his first WHL season, Froese acknowledged teams would likely project plenty of growth moving forward.

Uncertainty with Usau

The last Raider listed by Central Scouting is forward Ilya Usau, ranked at 108 among North American skaters after a 52-point rookie season with the Raiders. As a 2001-born player, this is Usau’s second year eligible for the draft, which can make it even more challenging to stand out from the crowd.

“There’s a lot of things you can hang your hat on there, and a lot of different ways he plays the game,” Froese said.

He believes Usau does many things well at the WHL level, but he’s not sure if there is enough there to make him stand out for NHL scouts. Having said that, he believes there is opportunity for him to forge a career.

“At best, I think he goes late [in the draft] or goes undrafted, makes a case in minor pro for a couple years, and maybe [pushes] for NHL opportunity down the road,” he said.

Draft headlines

To lead things off, it’s widely expected that Rimouski Oceanic forward Alexis Lafreniere will be the first player taken by the New York Rangers.

Next up, the Los Angeles Kings hold the second pick, and the prevailing belief is that forward Quinton Byfield of the Sudbury Wolves, or German Tim Stuetzle will be their selection.

At third overall, the Ottawa Senators are expected to take whichever forward the Kings don’t take, and then things get interesting with Detroit holding the fourth pick before Ottawa selects again at fifth.

On top of the typical draft-day intrigue, there is plenty of trade chatter around the league, with teams fighting to create salary cap space moving forward. As a result of COVID-19 and the business impact, the salary cap will not be going up in the league anytime soon, which had been the general expectation for many executives when contracts were agreed on over the last few years.

Among the prominent names involved in trade talks are two Arizona Coyotes: defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Taylor Hall.

Round one of the draft goes tonight at 5 p.m., rounds two through seven will be held tomorrow beginning at 9:30 a.m.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden

by Trevor Redden

Tough decisions loom on draft day

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