Lisbon picks a Dane; Danes take another Rasanen

Lisbon HC won’t have Steven Stamkos, John Tavares and Matt Moulson forever. But that doesn’t mean it will get easy for their opponents. Matthew Barzal and Casey Mittelstadt are among the 9 forward prospects in the system to help young star Max Domi. How the other prospects develop will likely determine how succesful GM Bryan…

Geneva has its second defenseman of Round 1

The Generals and General Manager Andy Rolling took their second defenseman in the first round and this one should be a good complement to Alexei Bereglazov. Finn Niclas Almari has the physical tools for long-term employment in the league, although scouts question his hockey sense and would like to see him think offense a little…

Picks 13-18 – 4 forwards, a D and a G

Milan has lots of talented forwards, but the Guerriero saw a need at center for someone who could create offense and with pick no. 13, they got their guy in 21-year-old Finn Aapeli Rasanen. Look for Rasanen to spend a lot of time playing with Matthew Tkachuk in the future. The draft guide said “This…

Geneva drafts the Russian ‘Bere’

GM Andrew Rolling’s Geneva Generals have a good base of young players led by Dylan Larkin and Colton Parayko, with seven forwards under 25 with PO ratings of 80 or higher, and two defensemen with the same qualities including Brandon Carlo and Parayko. If Rolling was looking for a long-term “need” then goalie seemed like…

Jokiharju a Jokerit

With the 11th pick in the draft, Helsinki followed a recipe that really paid off for them earlier this week. They selected a prospect without attributes, namely point machine Henri Jokiharju, a defenseman with the Portland Winter Hawks in the WHL and property of the Black Hawks in the NHL. Earlier in the week, the…

Forecast for St. Petersburg is Frosty

The Krassnye Zvezdy, who in the past have favored Russians, went across the ocean and out of the Draft Guide to pick Morgan Frost 10th in the Season 9 Draft. The 18-year-old from Aurora, Ontario, was also a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2017 and he spent the last season scoring 112 points…

Left wing strengthened in Edinburgh

Like Dublin – an island and a draft position away – The Edinburgh Capitals don’t have a lot in the box labeled “future talent.” They have two good young goalies, two good wingers in Mikko Rantanen and Sam Reinhart and centers Nolan Patrick and Scott Conway, but good use more young talent. They got more…

Thurkauf to join Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish don’t have a lot of quality players under 25 years of age, so General Manager Gayle Rock could afford to take players at any position she wanted with the 8th pick in the Season 9 Draft, and she opted for a left wing. Calvin Thurkauf has good size and a knack for…