The Stanley Cup was awarded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, thus marking the end of the NHL season. Now comes the interesting part, when the league welcomes plenty of young, talented players through the NHL Entry Draft. The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their rebuild with their No. 1 overall pick, while Winnipeg gets a chance to bolster their already talented roster selecting second overall.
Having said all that, it’s time to take a look at the top prospects heading into the NHL Entry Draft. For more on the draft, check out our sleeper picks and mock draft.
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There isn’t much separation between the top two players in the draft this year with the gap between Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine being much slimmer than the one between Eichel and McDavid last year. Nevertheless, Matthews seems the perfect fit for Toronto as the No. 1 overall pick. He’s a proficient scorer—something the Leafs need—after tallying 24 goals and 46 points in 36 games as the runner-up in MVP voting in Switzerland’s top professional league.
Patrik Laine
Patrik Laine has potentially, the best one-timer of anyone in the current draft class. He has the perfect combination of size, skill, strength and vision. Just how deadly is the 6-foot-4 forward? Laine scored 10 goals in 18 playoff games to be named postseason MVP, leading Tappara to the championship in Finland’s premier professional league, Liiga. The Finnish youngster tied Matthews for most goals at the WJC, helping Finland win the gold medal. With Matthews off the board, Winnipeg should be the one to grab Laine to bolster their roster.
Jesse Puljujarvi
There are talks that Columbus could be potentially shopping this pick around. Should they find themselves still with the No. 3 overall pick, then they’ll be fools not to pick a talented winger like Jesse Puljujarvi. A powerful skater, the Finnish forward had 13 goals and 28 points in 50 games for Karpat in Liiga. The 17-year-old also tallied 17 points in just seven games for Finland at the WJC, one point shy of Jaromir Jagr’s record for under-18 players at the tournament.
Sleepers
Dylan Gambrell
Dylan Gambrell had a stellar freshman season at University of Denver, tallying 47 points in 41 games in the regular season. He followed that up with five points to knock off Boston and Ferris State to help the Pioneers make the Frozen Four as well as garner All-Tournament Honors at the NCAA West Regional.
Aapeli Rasanen
Finland is just buzzing with talent with the likes of Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi. Plenty are sleeping on this teenaged sensation Aapeli Rasanen, who’s had quite a season with Tappara Jr, scoring 19 goals and 38 points in 50 games. He was also part of the Finnish team that won gold in the U-18 tournament, scoring nine points in seven games. Rasanen scored two goals to help the Finns beat the United States 6-1.
Keep an eye on the talent making their way into the NHL. Create a betting account now and stay ahead of the pack with your NHL futures betting.
