Anaheim Ducks select Sasha Pastujov in the 3rd round

The Ducks built upon their great pick of Olen Zellweger, with an even better selection in Sasha Pastujov at 66th overall. The 6’-0”, 184 lb winger put up monster point totals this past season with the USNDTP. He scored 30 goals and had 35 assists, for 65 points in 41 games. This point per game total is the 5th best point per game total by a draft-eligible player on the USNDTP program in the past 20 years. As a point of reference, Zegras has the 11th best point per game total.

Pastujov thrives in the smaller areas of the games. He is able to shield the puck away from defenders and stickhandle his way out of trouble along the boards, and then once he does that he is able to pick a great pass to a teammate or using his great shot to find the back of the net. He can make passes or shots in a variety of ways and from a variety of different angles. Basically, when the puck is on his stick, good things happen.

The issue with his game and why he fell to the 3rd round is he can disappear when the puck is not on his stick. His foot speed is not the best so he can end up behind the play or be found standing around not really trying to create. So there are concerns about his game translating to the NHL level due to that.

Having said that, I am actually not that concerned by it because even with those issues all he did this past year was score and put up points, which last I looked is important in hockey. Scott Wheeler’s assessment of Pastujov is spot on:

I think Pastujov’s a little misunderstood. Some scouts see mediocre acceleration and top speed and worry about his ceiling. I see an inventive playmaker who can do a lot with the puck and produced at an extremely high rate as the program’s most dangerous offensive player when Lucius was out. He’s got excellent touch, regularly pulling pucks through feet and sticks and into space. But he also mixes in fakes and stutter-steps to create transition separation or go inside-out on defenders. You seldom see players who did what Pastujov did this year run into any trouble becoming top college players. He can run a power play, he’s dangerous around the net because of his ability in tight spaces, and he’s a superb passer through bodies who can slow the play down and dictate with his poise or speed it up with his ability to quickly react to openings in coverage.

Here’s U.S. NTDP head coach Dan Muse on Pastujov: “All he does is score and put up points. He’s a guy that has the great shot but he’s also got the playmaking ability. I love the fact that he wants the puck in key situations and moments in the game. Everybody will say that they want it, but he shows it time and time again. … And then his overall game has come a long way. If you look back over our last six-to-eight games, I can guarantee you’ll find a big shot block in every one of them from him. That says a lot about the work he has put in away from the puck. I wasn’t seeing as much of that earlier in the year. He has been dedicated to making those contributions all over the ice.”

Wheeler had Pastujov ranked 14th in his ranking.

See below for Jfresh’s prospect card, which utilizes TopDownHockey’s model:

The Ducks got three potential top 10 talents in the 2021 draft with their first three selections in the draft. 5 years down the line we may look back on the 2021 draft as the one that put the Ducks over the top.