See Lane Hutson article here. Patrick Lortie
The Ducks already have one of the best prospect pools in the NHL, which doesn’t even include Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale who have both “graduated” to the NHL. After adding Pavel Mintyukov at 10th overall, they get another solid player in Liam Öhgren at #22. Öhgren is considered to be a solid, all-around player who has one of the highest floors in the draft. With Öhgren, you know what you’re getting. For the Ducks, at 22 this is a tremendous pick. Öhgren can develop into a really good top-six player, and with McTavish and Zegras already in the organization, Öhgren would slide in perfectly as a secondary player on that team. Öhgren is a smart player with a great shot, and solid skating and he’s the kind of player that every NHL team would love in their middle six. And that isn’t to say Öhgren has a low ceiling. He is a prototypical low-risk, high-reward kind of player and a great pick for the Ducks at 22. Ryan Praught
Swinging on a defensively-responsible and highly-mobile puck-moving defenceman is never a bad idea, especially past the 20th overall pick. Odelius is exactly this. He’s one of the better in-zone defenders in the class and is able to play a fairly physical game as well. While he may slip in the draft due to a relatively quiet U18 tournament, he’d be a high-value selection in this range. St. Louis likes its defensive defencemen, and Odelius has that side of the game covered while adding an element of offensive distribution and puck-moving to their ranks. Sebastian High
Jagger Firkus’ strengths lie in playing with the puck on his stick. Firkus has a really good shot and possibly even better hands. He can routinely beat goalies with his shot, and can use his hands to put himself into great positions to use that shot. He even scored a Michigan goal as a member of the Moose Jaw Warriors. The other aspects of his game are okay. He isn’t an explosive player, or a great defender (something that will force him to be a winger in the NHL), but they aren’t major deficiencies. Sometimes Firkus can overestimate his abilities in attempting a highlight reel play which leads to a turnover, especially in his passing. More often than not, Firkus will attempt a pass that would have been incredible if he made it through the seam, but more often than not will lead to the puck going the other way. Once he gets a handle on his abilities and plays within his means, there is certainly NHL upside here. Joshua Rosa
Across the board, Zhilkin is a reliable, talented, promising two-way center at 6’1″ and 189 pounds and is a stable and solid pick for a team like the Leafs at 25th overall. With players like Nick Robertson, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, and Rasmus Sandin there to offset the Matthews, Marners and Nylanders, I feel as though Zhilkin would fit right and benefit greatly from the talented cast around him. Toronto’s AHL team was admittedly a bit of a toass this year, lacking much besides promising mid-range youngsters in Jospeh Duszak and Alex Steeves, along with an AHL regular in Brett Seney. Rebuilding a roster akin to the Calder Cup champs of old will no doubt be helped by prospects like Zhilkin, and should the Leafs choose to keep the pick, I could see him being a solid selection at 25th overall. Scott Cowan