Last week, we discussed who was projected in the general area of the 20th overall pick held by the Kraken. Like most of this draft, it’s heavy on forwards, but that’s fine; this is a good draft, and there’s plenty to be gained from picking up a little extra fire power.
So let’s look up the draft board, and see if anyone could shake loose for the Kraken!
Starting first, Skellefteå’s dynamite defender; Axel Sandin Pellikka
- Position: Defenseman
- Height: 5’10
- Weight: 181 lbs.
- Hometown: Gällivare, Sweden
- Current Team: Skellefteå AIK (SHL)
- Last Year’s Point Total: 36 points in 31 games in the J20 Nationell (16 goals, 20 assists), 5 points in the SHL (2 goals, 3 assists)
I promise you, you’re not gonna find a more scandinavian name than Axel Sandin Pellikka in this draft. You just can’t find another one.
Sandin Pellikka comes to this article from the Skellefteå AIK (or AIK for short) system; and he’s made his time in the spotlight by being a holy terror on AIK’s junior-20 blueline; capable of some truly impressive skating and stickhandling for an 18 year old.
He can skate laterally in such a natural, slick, smooth way that allows him to open up holes in the enemy defense to allow his sniperlike shot to make it all the way to the goaltender…and more often than not, past them; he led the J20 Nationell in defenseman scoring and it’s easy to see why on highlights; he’s just a tremendous pain to deal with on the backcheck as his superb mobility allows him the opportunity to put his already good stickwork and speed against you, and more often than not, burn you for getting caught off guard, and AIK was more than happy to have him representing them as a result. 5 Points at his age for a defender against grown-ass men is pretty darn good, and with time, he’ll be able to add strength and experience onto these tools to potentially create a gamebreaking defender.
Why could he fall to Seattle?:
He’s short.
At 5’10 and with a lot of people extrapolating from Vegas’ cup run that you need big defenders to win (I would argue that you need good defenders who can facilitate defense and offense in equal measure), Sandin Pelikka’s frame could very much become a major discussion point for the kind of Traditional NHL Hockey Man who crops up in scouting circles. A kid with the kind of tools Sandin Pelikka has can and probably should overcome that minor issue, but with the bar for “good prospect” being so high for this particular draft, little things like that can seriously negatively impact a prospect’s stock, especially if they’re in a position where size is valued.
Still, if the Kraken can get a guy like Sandin Pellikka? I would be more than happy with the choice.
Up next, the eternally unselfish Calum Ritchie
- Position: Center
- Height: 6’2
- Weight: 187 lbs.
- Hometown: Brampton, Ontario, Canada
- Current Team: Oshawa Generals (OHL)
- Last Year’s Point Total: 59 points in 59 games (24 goals, 35 assists)
Calum Ritchie is the ultimate playmaking center. The kind of guy you can build an entire power play around just because of what he brings you.
Ritchie plays in the OHL, where he gained notoriety for just how mature his ability to read defenses truly is. He is often found using his impressive stickwork to confound his opponents and drag out offensive zone time, waiting for the perfect moment to get off a laser-accurate pass in order to get one of his teammates on the board. His skating is pretty good, but what makes him so potent is his mind; Ritchie is a player for whom offense-first skaters dream of; creating space and using space created to further facilitate scoring chances, and when he was on his game, there were few who could stop him this season in making a hell of an assist for the Gens.
Why could he fall to Seattle?:
The Playmaker’s curse.
Calum Ritchie is huge, he can skate, he can pass better than most of the guys he plays with, and he can see the offense and where it could build a scoring chance before it even gets there.
The problem is that while Ritchie is both unselfish and good at playmaking…he defaults to it. He can have games where he absolutely is the best player on the ice and it’s obvious to see, but he prefers to make the easy pass, let the more aggressive players handle zone transition, try to keep the game off his stick. As a result, he had a good year, but the rest of this class easily clears much of his offensive production. This has left a lot of people with real questions on how his game actually translates to the professional setting; pro level hockey comes at you a lot faster than it does in the OHL, and if your go-to is the safest possible thing while you’re capable of so much more? It’s frustrating, to say the least.
But if you can get him out of that habit? You have a very dangerous kind of player you could build a new dimension of your attack into.
Now, onto Pointz-God Gabe Perreault
- Position: Right Wing
- Height: 5’11
- Weight: 165 lbs.
- Hometown: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Current Team: United States National Development Program (USHL/NTDP)
- Last Year’s Point Total: 132 points in 63 games. (53 goals, 79 assists)
Calum Ritchie is a player you could build a line around. Gabe Perreault is much in that same vein, only much, much more potent.
The dual-citizenship holder is a devious little playmaker who prefers the game to come straight to him so he can force the opponent to keep guessing. His impressive stickwork and incredible offensive instincts make him a player that spent his time with the National Development Team as a points-factory; bringing him and his linemates the kind of point totals that almost sound made up.
Why Could he fall to Seattle?:
Acceleration…and Association.
For all the good things I’ve said about Perreault, one area he absolutely lags behind is in his edgework and ability to be explosive. When he gets moving he has the speed to hang with the best of them, but that lack of quick acceleration robs him of his ability to be even more potent with the puck. This can come with time and experience, but it’s a priority for someone so skilled.
Further…there’s the tricky thing of separating Perreault from his linemate and almost certain Top 5 draft pick Will Smith (no, not that one. This one.) who was similarly unbelievable at this level of the game. For as good as Perreault was this year, and he was “shattering Auston Matthews records”-level good…it’s hard to know what exactly he has away from Smith. Can he elevate lesser players to greater heights with his playmaking? Or is he merely the result of having a really good linemate? That’s something he’s gonna have to answer for the rest of us as he makes his way to Boston College.
…Where he’s going to be playing with Smith again.
Better make a good impression with the Eagles!
Going across the pond again, it’s Eduard Šale!
- Position: Right Wing
- Height: 6’2
- Weight: 174 lbs
- Hometown: Brno, Czechia
- Current Team: Kometa Brno
- Last Year’s Point Total: 14 points in 43 games (7 goals, 7 assists)
A good way to tell if a European player is a quality choice is if he’s playing on his organization’s top team by 18. Even the best of the European crowd may have to spend time in the U20 leagues for a bit just due to the harsh realities of the top teams trying to win, not trying to develop. Šale is not one of those players, because he was able to play nearly an entire season on Kometa Brno’s top squad, where he gained quite a bit of interest for his punishing shot, and his devious hockey sense.
Šale is the kind of dude who gets into the mix of a forecheck and makes himself dangerous no matter what; a player can be right on top of him, and he’ll still be able to put that cannon of a shot to good use, and if he can’t get a shot through, he’s adept at tight quarters passes that keeps the play, and scoring chances, alive. He’s earned a lot of comparisons to Boston’s David Pastrnak, and while I can definitely understand that comparison, I think a more apt comparison would be someone like Martin Necas in Carolina; someone with a real dynamism and forechecking intelligence that isn’t truly seen until he’s had a few years in the show, after which point he becomes nearly indispensable for the NHL squad he happens to end up on.
Why could he fall to Seattle?
Strength, and Aggression.
Šale is a pretty slight 174, and while he has the hockey smarts and stickhandling to get out of most situations, where he struggles is with physicality due to his slim frame. In fairness, he isn’t really trying to be an ass-kicker, but his board-play suffers greatly against players who can get position on him. As for Aggression, what I mean by it is that Šale, for all his strengths when it comes to moving the puck forward, can kind of pull himself back and try to let the play come to him when he could otherwise continue it. It robs him of the ability to generate turnovers, and I imagine this has something to do with his Strength; there’s no point in trying to cause a ruckus if you’re going to going to get turned inside out or pinned to the boards, and so meat and exercise are a major focus for his development.
Otherwise…there’s real firepower in that shot.
The Dynamic Tom Willander
- Position: Defenseman
- Height: 6’1
- Weight: 179 lbs
- Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
- Current: Rögle BK J20 (J20 Nationell)
- Last Year’s Point Total: 25 points in 39 games (4 goals, 21 assists)
Willander will be playing for Boston University this upcoming year, as he’s opted to forgo his time at Rögle to play in the NCAA. Hockey East should be very concerned about this decision, because he is going to be a hassle no matter what part of the ice he’s on, because he will be straight up in your mouthguard on every shift where he doesn’t have the puck…and setting the Terriers off to the races or even finishing a BU sequence where he does.
Willander is known best for being an extremely active skater. His acceleration and speed are good, and he doesn’t shy away from contact; giving him an edge that most people don’t usually associate with European hockey (it’s there, it’s just not getting mashed against the boards.) and as a result, he makes for a very difficult player to get around as a forechecker. He’s either right up on top of you trying to peel the puck away from you or forcing you to try and take yourself out of the play to try and strip the puck from him. It’s for this reason he helped his J20 version of Rögle into the U20 championships, where he won it all, and helped the U18 Swedes to a silver medal at the U18 World Junior Championships. If there’s a player who can turn his skating into an opportunity, it’s him.
Why could he fall to Seattle?
Focusing down.
Eyes On The Prize’s Patrik Bexell described Willander as a Jack of All Trades, Master of None and generally agree with that assessment. He does pretty much everything right…but he doesn’t do them to the same extent as Reinbacher or Sandin Pelikka. He’s quietly effective, and very useful at either end of the ice…but he has relatively little to show for it points-wise where he could be finding himself a real edge as a goalscorer, nor a reputation as a true bruising player. If he can use his time at BU to develop a real understanding of the North American and tune that shot and pass up to be more dangerous while there, he could really find a good place for himself.
But no seriously, could Reinbacher fall to Seattle?
We’ve already discussed David Reinbacher in our last piece, and in the time it’s taken me to write a second article about the draft, his stock in it has only risen further and further higher; going from the mid 10’s to the top 10, and it’s only getting higher with time. Reinbacher apparently made a big impression on scouts as the days wane, and with nobody truly sure what the Canadiens are gonna do with Pick #5, Reinbacher could end up not just being really good, but a Top 5 draft pick, one of the highest for an Austrian player…ever.
It’s exciting times in Hohenems!
Why could he fall to Seattle?
Honestly? I’m not holding out hope for it. At this point, Reinbacher’s work and the general belief that defensemen in the First Round are so hard to come by that unless several teams believe that they cannot go a minute without any number of players we’ve covered so far. I’d be more interested at this rate by Tom Willander or Axel Sandin Pellikka.
However these players end up going, the Kraken have a wealth of interesting choices ahead of them, and I can’t really think of an out-and-out wrong answer for them (it’s probably a goaltender. They can figure that out without giving up a first rounder for that), and I hope you’re ready for Round 1 of the NHL Draft, which begins on Wednesday evening at 4pm PT.
It is on ESPN so…yeah, if you’re a cord-cutter, might be time to hit the bar.
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