After taking a stable, reliable defensemen in Round 1, the Oslo Outlaws added a skilled winger in 5-9 Henrik Haapala from Finland. Haapala has wheels and hockey smarts and is a good shooter. Scouts said they would like to see him work better with teammates and pass more and people tend to compare him to Pittsburgh’s Connor Sheary, if Sheary shot more and passed less. If the depth chart doesn’t change much in the next few years in Oslo, then Haapala will be costing Robert Roosa and Jordan Martinook some ice time on left wing for the Outlaws because it’s a safe bet he will pass them.
Gothenburg Frolunda should be happy with what they got at No. 27. Canadian Spencer Smallman projects to be a dependable jack-of-all-trades kind of guy within a few years. He’s got the size and intesity to be a grinder, the offensive flair and skill to play on the top powerplay and maybe the top line later in his career. He’s clever and a capable skater, too. His lone weak spot is his inability to play well defensively. It’s like an opponent with the puck is the headlights and Smallman is the deer. Swedish fans are liking the possibility of seeing offensive-minded Smallman play with fellow Canadian draftee Dylan Sikura on Oslo ice fairly soon.
With the 28th pick in the draft, London GM Eric Smith went to Germany for playmaking winger Andreas Eder. The Bavarian is 21 years old with excellent size. He should mature into a very well-rounded player who teammates will like a lot, on and off the ice. But with Travis Konecny and young phenom Dominik Lakatos ahead of him on the right wing depth chart in London, he will have to really fight for ice time.
Isaac Ratcliffe is tall and blossoming into a goal scorer in the OHL with Guelph. His goal total jumped from 28 in 2017 to 41 in 2018. The Philadelphia Flyers have his NHL rights and in Websim, he is a prospect dependent on those first-season stats. But Lisbon GM Bryan Camara was willing to take a chance on him, making him the 29th player selected in the draft. Ratcliffe, 19, is a left wing who will eventually be competing with Max Domi, Brendan Perlini and Mats Rosseli Olsen for playing time in Portugal.
