Good News, Bad News, and Who the Ducks Might Draft in 2020
To kick off this way-to-early of off-season article, I am going to go with a “good news, bad news” approach when talking about the Ducks and the upcoming 2020 NHL Draft. Let’s begin.
Bad News: This current Ducks team is not good. Although they had strung together some solid play before the season was suspended, on the whole, this current team will end up finishing bottom 5 in the NHL standings and will be picking in the top 8 of the upcoming draft (maybe that is good news to some Ducks fans?).
Good News: They have made some steady progress as a team and some of the well-known prospects have all shown steady improvement. Sure, the point totals do not jump off the page for the Sam Steel’s, Troy Terry’s and Max Jones’ of the world, but all of them have improved overall as the season has gone on. “Baby steps” comes to mind when thinking of the current crop of “kids”.
Bad News: None of the Ducks current group of prospects (not named Zegras) project to be a true difference make or top line player. I am higher on Sam Steel than most, but I am a realist in thinking that he tops out as 2nd line center. I love Max Jones and the corralled chaos he brings to the ice, but he will likely end up being a third line forward/penalty killer who pots the occasional goal. I am a big fan of Troy Terry, but he looks more and more like a depth forward/power play specialist than a 1st, let alone, 2nd line winger to me.
Good News: All of the things said about Steel, Jones and Terry are valuable on a contending team. You would love to have 4 lines of difference makers, but that is not realistic. Take the Edmonton Oilers for example; they have two of the best hockey players on the planet, but have struggled to find depth. The true contenders (Boston, Washington, Tampa, etc) have depth along with their stars.
Gooder News: “Help is on the wayyyyyy” (said in Mrs. Doubtfire’s voice). The Ducks have Trevor Zegras in the pipeline along with whichever prospect they select in this year’s draft. The Ducks currently have the 5th best odds to win the number 1 overall pick and cannot pick any lower than 8th overall.
Better News: Draft talk and prospects are always fun to talk about, so let’s dive into what this article is actually about.
WHO ARE THE PLAYERS THE DUCKS MIGHT SELECT WITH THE FIRST OF THEIR TWO FIRST ROUND PICKS?
Below is a list of players picked in spots 1 through 8 over the past 5 draft years.
#1 Overall
Jack Hughes (2019), Ramsus Dahlin (2018), Nico Hischier (2017), Auston Matthews (2016), Connor McDavid (2015)
#2 Overall
Kaapo Kakko (2019), Andrei Svechnikov (2018), Nolan Patrick (2017), Patrik Laine (2016), Jack Eichel (2015)
#3 Overall
Kirby Dach (2019), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2018), Miro Heiskanen (2017), Pierre-Luc Dubois (2016), Dylan Strome (2015)
#4 Overall
Bowen Byram (2019), Brady Tkachuk (2018), Cale Makar (2017), Jesse Puljujarvi (2016), Mitch Marner (2015)
#5 Overall
Alex Turcotte (2019), Barrett Hayton (2018), Elias Pettersson (2017), Olli Juolevi (2016), Noah Hanifin (2015)
#6 Overall
Moritz Seider (2019), Filip Zadina (2018), Cody Glass (2017), Matthew Tkachuk (2016), Pavel Zacha (2015)
#7 Overall
Dylan Cozens (2019), Quinn Hughes (2018), Lisa Andersson (2017), Clayton Keller (2016), Ivan Provorov (2015)
#8 Overall
Philip Broberg (2019), Adam Boqvist (2018), Casey Mittelstadt (2017), Alexander Nylander (2016), Zach Werenski (2015)
As you can see, the Ducks can either have good or bad luck in the lottery, and they will still be in a great spot to draft a true difference making prospect. Sure, you can say a few of those names have not quite panned out yet, but overall, that is a very solid list of NHL players with the few obvious superstars.
Let us not forget the Ducks were also able to steal Zegras at 9th overall in last year’s draft, as he has now shot up the prospect rankings since that time. So for those of you tank commanders out there, take a look at the list as well as the Zegras pick and put those tanks in park (I guess they already are given the current state of things).
Now, I have listed below the top 8 prospects in the upcoming draft. This list is based on The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman’s rankings as well ESPN’s Chris Peters’ list. Note that I did not put the top goalie prospect (Yaroslav Askarov) in the top 8 as the Ducks will not be drafting him since they are set as far as goaltending goes (and he is Russian). Also note, after picks number 1 and number 2, the names are listed in no particular order, as the consensus with this year’s draft is that once you get past Alexis Lafrenière and Quinton Byfield, it is basically team preference as the top 8 seems to be deep with difference makers.
THE TOP 8
- Alexis Lafrenière – LW – 6’ 1” – 190lbs. - Rimouski-QMJHL
- Quinton Byfield – C – 6’ 4” – 215lbs. - Sudbury-OHL
- Tim Stützle – LW – 5’ 11” – 165lbs. - Mannheim-DEL
- Alexander Holtz – LW/RW – 6’ 0” – 185lbs. - Djurgarden-SHL
- Lucas Raymond – LW – 5’ 11” – 165lbs. - Frolunda-SHL
- Marco Rossi – C – 5’ 9” – 180lbs. - Ottawa-OHL
- Jamie Drysdale – RHD – 5’ 11” – 165lbs. - Erie-OHL
- Cole Perfetti – LW – 5’ 10” – 185lbs. - Saginaw-OHL
In the upcoming weeks, I will break down each individual player in their own article and link them back to this page. Regardless of where they pick though, the Ducks’ farm system is clearly set to get a shot in the arm.