2022 NHL Draft Preview Feat. Hadi Kalakeche (Dobber Hockey)
Join the Hacks for episode 69 of the Fantasy Hockey Hacks Podcast! This week we’re previewing the 2022 NHL Entry Draft with Dobber Hockey’s QMJHL Scout and Associate Editor – Hadi Kalakeche! Find out which players have the most upside for fantasy hockey next season, bold predictions, draft rankings and more! Also, find out who makes John’s List, Headlines and free agency rumours from around the NHL.
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Highlights:
- The Edmonton Oilers may be pursuing Claude Giroux, who also managed to make John’s List…
- Hadi Kalakeche (QMJHL Scout and Associate Editor for Dobber Hockey) helps us preview the 2022 NHL Entry Draft
- Shane Wright or Juraj Slafkovsky at #1?
- What is Frank Nazar’s ceiling?
- Which players are relevant for fantasy hockey next season?
- Which players provide the best category coverage?
- Way too early Calder Candidates for 2022-2023
- Winners of the Dobber Hockey prize packs giveaway are announced!
- The head coach carousel continues around the NHL
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John’s List
If you have been listening to our podcast for a while, you’ve undoubtedly heard about “John’s List”; which is basically John’s $h!t list of players past and present. We’ve decided to make this a regular segment on the podcast and will include it in the blog for fun as well. If you have any suggestions for players we should add to the list, let us know!
Claude Giroux – A number of sources have reported that the Edmonton Oilers will pursue the former Flyer’s captain in free agency.
The Edmonton Oilers have interest in pending UFA forward Claude Giroux per @PierreVLeBrun. Giroux is still great two-way winger, legit 1st line forward. He can also play on both wingers. He would be huge addition for Edmonton for sure. pic.twitter.com/qjLVQ9qAI4
— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) July 4, 2022
Headlines With The Hacks | June 27 – July 4, 2022
The 2021-2022 regular season has wrapped, but if you’re planning to defend your fantasy hockey championship next season be sure to get your draft kit from our partner, Left Wing Lock. Stay tuned for details.
News This Week
- We now have the injury list from the Tampa Bay Lightning. And it’s long!
- Brayden Point – Torn Quad
- Anthony Cirelli – AC shoulder joint sprain in NYR series and then dislocated is other shoulder in the Avs series – he will need surgery
- Corey Perry – AC Shoulder joint sprain.
- Brandon Hagel – Fractured foot (Florida Series)
- Nick Paul – AC Shoulder sprain and MCL tear
- Ryan McDouagh – mangled finger (NYR Series)
- Nikita Kucherov – MCL sprain
- Bellemare – MCL sprain before playoffs
- Report out of Florida is that Anthony Duclair suffered an Achilles tendon injury while doing off season training. This would be a big loss for the Panthers, Duclair had a career season last year with 31 goals and 58 points. A number of sources have mentioned a complete achilles tear, and a very lengthy recovery. Update: Duclair had surgery to repair his injured Achilles’ tendon. He is expected to return mid season
- The Avs Injury report is out now and they had a few players hurt as well
- Darcy Kuemper – eye – was seeing the optometrist up to 2-3 times a day to re-train his eye. Looks like it worked out well for him.
- Valeri Nichushkin – broken foot (those pics were nasty)
- Andre Burakovsky – broken foot, broken thumb
- Nazem Kadri – broken thumb
- Samuel Girard – broken sternum (ouch!)
- Darren Helm – abdominal tear
- We have a trade to announce! Kevin Fiala has been traded to the Los Angeles Kings for the 19th overall pick in the 2022 draft and D Brock Faber. Fiala, who is an RFA, then signed a 7 year contract extension worth $7.875 million per season.
- Jesse Puljujarvi is on his way out of Edmonton according to Tom Gazzola and Mark Spector. Read the full article here. Apparently there are at least 4 teams (Spector mentioned the Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks as possibilities) interested in Puljujarvi, and a 2nd or 3rd round pick is the expected return.
- “Puljujarvi is deemed “a play killer” inside the Oilers dressing room, it is believed, where two of the best centremen in the world have not been enough to turn Puljujarvi into a legitimate Top 6 winger in the NHL. The puck dies on his stick in the offensive zone too often to continue to saddle Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl with such a winger on a regular basis.” -Mark Spector
- Bob Boughner has been relieved as head coach of the San Jose Sharks.
- Nick Paul signed an extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning. 7 year, $22.05M (3.15M AAV) contract.
- Brock Boeser has signed a 3 year $6.65 million AAV contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks
- Jim Montgomery was hired as the 29th head coach of the Boston Bruins
- Rick Bowness has been hired to be the next head coach of the Winnipeg Jets
- We have another trade to announce! The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for Phillippe Meyers and Grant Mismash. Meyer’s contract allows him to be bought out for a cap credit.
- Jake DeBrusk has rescinded his trade request from the Boston Bruins.
NHL Draft & Dobber Hockey Prospect Report Feat. Hadi Kalakeche
Dobber Hockey 2022 Prospects Report
Need To Know
- For our listeners that are not familiar, could you give us a quick summary of what the Dobber Hockey Prospect Report is, and what sort of information readers can expect to find?
- How many Dobber Staff work on this report each season?
- How much does the Prospect Report cost? I’ll leave a link to the web page for anyone interested in purchasing.
2022 NHL Entry Draft
The Draft Class (General Overview)
- Tell our listeners about this draft class in general. It sounds like it’s maybe not quite as deep as past seasons?
- Is there a potential superstar in this draft class?
- Is there a lack of quality goaltenders in this draft? I noticed in your draft rankings that there were no goaltenders until later in the 3rd round?
- Which goaltender in this draft has the greatest potential, and who would his NHL comparable be?
- Does New Jersey trade the #2 overall pick? Do we see a couple significant trades at the draft?
Player Projections & Discussion
Let’s talk about the top 5 players in this draft, based on the mock draft that you and Dave Hall completed. i.e. scouting report, short-term impact (NHL-ready), and long-term outlook:
- DH Rank:#1 | Shane Wright
- 3YP: 30-35-65
- NHL Comparable: Patrice Bergeron
- DH Rank:#2 | Juraj Slafkovsky
- 3YP: 30-35-65
- NHL Comparable: Kaapo Kakko
- DH Rank:#3 | Logan Cooley
- 3YP: 20-45-65
- NHL Comparable: Trevor Zegras
- Craig Button compared him to Sebastian Aho, calling him the “Slickest” player in this draft.
- DH Rank:#4 | David Jiricek
- 3YP: 15-30-45
- NHL Comparable: Brent Burns
- DH Rank:#5 | Simon Nemec
- 3YP: 10-40-50
- NHL Comparable: Adam Fox
- DH Rank:#10 | Kevin Korchinski was a major riser in TSN’s final draft rankings, moving up 14 spots to #11 on Bob McKenzie’s list. What can you tell us about him in terms of projections and comparables?
- 3YP: 5-35-40
- NHL Comparable: Thomas Chabot
- DH Rank:#11 | Frank Nazar
- 3YP: 30-45-75
- NHL Comparable: Mitch Marner
- According to the Prospect Report, Nazar has the highest offensive ceiling of any player in this draft, and you personally had him ranked as high as #2 – why is he ranked outside the top 10 by so many scouts? #11 in the prospect report, Bob McKenzie has him ranked at #15, and Craig Button at #25!?
- DH Rank:#19 | Brad Lambert has fallen a bit in this draft, but do you think he could be a top-10 talent? How do you see him developing long-term?
- 3YP: 25-35-60
- NHL Comparable: Matt Duchene
- DH Rank:#24 | Jiri Kulich moved up 22 spots in TSN’s final draft rankings, what is your assessment of him?
- 3YP: 25-20-45
- NHL Comparable: Valeri Nichushkin
- DH Rank:#27 | Ivan Miroshnichenko fell 13 spots in TSN’s final draft rankings. Miroshnichenko was as high as #2 in pre-season rankings and #6 in mid-season rankings – what is your assessment of this player? Could he eventually be a top-5 or top-10 player from this draft?
- 3YP: 25-30-55
- NHL Comparable: Timo Meier
- Of the players we’ve discussed, which ones are the most NHL-ready in your opinion?
- Are there any other sleepers in this draft based on consensus rankings? i.e. players that you are bullish on that others may not be.
- What is your assessment of Reid Schaefer? Ranked #47 by Dobber Hockey, Craig Button at TSN has him pegged as the Oilers selection at #29; and Bob Stauffer (Oilers Now) has mentioned that name several times over the past few weeks.
Fantasy Hockey For Next Season (Season-Long/Keepers/Dynasty)
- For season-long fantasy hockey drafts, which players/prospects have the ability to make an impact next season? i.e. who are you taking a late-round flyer on? NOTE: Can include prospects outside of this year’s draft.
- Who has the most fantasy hockey upside in this year’s draft?
- Let’s talk about specific category coverage for players from this draft:
- Top Goal Scorer (Goals, Shots):
- Top Playmaker (Assists):
- Top Power Forward (Hits, PIMS, Multi-Category):
- Top Offensive Defenceman (Points, PPP):
- Outside of this year’s draft, is there a goalie prospect in the Prospect Report that could make an impact at the NHL level next season? Yaroslov Askarov, Daniil Tarasov?
- Who are your way too early Calder Candidates for next season?
Dobber Hockey Giveaway
Dobber Hockey has generously provided the Fantasy Hockey Hacks with 5 prize packs to give away to our listeners/followers! Each prize pack includes a copy of the Dobber 2022 Fantasy Hockey Prospect Report; and 2022-2023 Fantasy Hockey Guide! I am a long-time reader of the Fantasy Hockey Guide, and would strongly recommend it to all fantasy hockey managers looking to win their league. The prospect report is new for me, and I’m looking forward to diving into that soon. On July 4th, Hadi Kalakeche, Associate Editor & QMJHL Regional Scout for Dobber Prospects will be joining us as we preview the 2022 NHL Entry Draft!
CONTEST WINNERS:
- Winner #1: Nick Campano (@Nooch99)
- Winner #2: Sasha Lagarde (@SashaLaGarde)
- Winner #3: WC (@W_82)
- Winner #4: Robbie McGrayne (IG)
- Winner #5: Dane Weir (DaneWeir_23)
📣Giveaway Time!📣
Big thanks to @DobberHockey for generously providing 5 prize packs for our listeners/followers!
Enter to win 2022 Fantasy Prospects Report & 2022-2023 Fantasy Guide!
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— Fantasy Hockey Hacks (@FHHacks) June 21, 2022
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