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2016 NHL Draft Preview: Meet Hockey s Next

Generation

GettyRinger illustration

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For all the ragged magnicence of the NHL playos, and with all due respect
to that admirable slog, theres something so refreshing every year about the
rst couple of weeks after the Stanley Cup. A fortnight of absurdity,
speculation, and truly bizarro-land vibes begins with the NHL Awards show in
Las Vegas, builds with the eager frenzy of the NHL draft, and blasts us into the
oseason with a showcase of trades and free-agent signings that light up the
landscape like Fourth of July reworks. No longer is the hockey world
dominated by the last two teams standing; this is the time to be reminded that
there are 30 NHL franchises 31 soon! and that even the most beleaguered
among them might remember laughter one day.
The 2016 NHL entry draft, held this Friday and Saturday in Bualos
revamped downtown arena district, has all the makings of a particularly
raucous time, and not just due to all the rabid locals who will be on hand to
check out the player the Sabres select eighth overall. The roads from Toronto
will be lousy with Maple Leafs fans caravanning down to see their team
choose rst overall for the rst time since selecting the beloved Wendel Clark
in 1985. (Both the Sabres and the Leafs have amassed double-digit numbers
of draft picks, so theyll be busy beyond the rst round.) And really, the First
Niagara Center will be inundated with visitors from everywhere north of the
Falls: Six of the top 10 lottery picks are held by Canadian franchises, whose
fans are as passionate as they are tortured.
Each year the NHL draft has its reliable quirks: those terrible/perfect photo
shoots; that annual yearbook photo of Daryl Katzs kid; and the gleeful wehave-a-trade-to-announce interruptions from Gary Bettman. Theres a chance
the commish could be particularly chatty on Friday. With many teams
bumping up against the salary cap, and with a Las Vegas expansion draft on
the horizon, this draft could feature a fair bit of day-of wheeling and dealing.
(Already, some choice dim-bulb rumors have been ying.)
And this is all before you even consider the crop of young talent that will be
showcased at the NHLs most hopeful event. Theres Auston Matthews, the
Arizona-born sensation who got to this point with the help of a Ukrainian
skating coach and a stop in Switzerland. Theres Patrik Laine, the young
Finnish breakout star who conducts interviews like hes FaceTiming with bae.
Theres the son of an NHL Hall of Famer and a baby-faced rookie general
manager looking to make a splash and a whole lot of teams giving this
analytics thing a fair shake.

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To choose a rst-round draft pick is to enter the uncertain business of

extrapolation: Which twitch may turn into a tic? Whats a phase, and whats
personality? With the way they obsess over IQs and growth curves and
theories of development, NHL scouts and executives often sound like the
neurotic parents of newborns. Matthews and Laine, the presumptive one-two
selections in Friday nights rst round, were born only seven months apart.
But in circles like these, where time is measured in weeks and progress in
percentiles, that kind of gap can feel like forever.

Auston Matthews Goals ZSC Lions

For Matthews, a square-jawed and silky-pawed center who grew up a rink rat
in the literal hockey hotbed of Arizona, its not so much those seven months
that matter as it is two measly days. Were Matthews born just a little bit
earlier back in September of 1997 on the 15th, instead of the 17th he
would have been eligible for last years draft. Instead, in the grand tradition of
so many bright young things armed with ambition and time to spare, he spent
a gap year in Europe.
Eschewing the typical routes of NCAA hockey or Canadian juniors for a roster
spot with the Zurich Lions of the Swiss National League A, Matthews scored

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46 points in 36 games. Having played mostly 3-on-3 hockey in an obeat

mini-rink facility outside Scottsdale for much of his formative years,
Matthews has stickhandling skills that are rare for a player of his size and an
agility honed through lessons with an eccentric skating guru. Hes also a
poster child for how the leagues oft-ridiculed Sun Belt strategy can broaden
hockeys base. (In his Wednesday announcement about the Las Vegas
expansion team, Bettman made a point to say that Matthews got hooked on
hockey thanks to the Arizona Coyotes.) Should Matthews be selected by the
Maple Leafs, his knack for carving out some breathing room in an otherwise
smothering situation would presumably come in quite handy.
Of course, theres no guarantee that he will be the Leafs pick, particularly
after the last few months that Laine (pronounced Line-ah) has had. After
Team Finland took the silver medal in last months World Championship a
major international tournament that features dozens of established NHL
players Laine, who just turned 18 in April, became the competitions
youngest MVP. (Weeks earlier, he was named the top postseason player in the
Finnish Liiga.) Laine not only broke a scoring record for a player of his age
that had existed since 1939, he doubled it.
With his lopsided grin, Laine makes for an entertaining interview, reclining
with earbuds and drawling in Desiigner-like cadence about using Coca-Cola
cans for target practice. He spoke of dealing with his white-blond hair like it
was some sort of owering plant, telling TSN, I let it grow all season and then
cut it down. For some prospects, being on the younger side can introduce
uncertainty, but Laines recent play at such a tender age is one of his
noteworthy assets. If Matthewss biggest edge when it comes to being the rst
overall pick is playing center; Laines top selling point is that he plays older.
Hes in the ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine-ninth percentile! a proud
parent and/or scout might crow.

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Patrik Laine Interview on NHL Draft Lottery 20...

Laine is part of a strong Finnish draft class that also includes Jesse Puljujarvi,
who is widely projected to go third, and Olli Juolevi. Matthew Tkachuk, the
son of Keith that U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer whose last name was an
onomatopoeia for his crushing style played with Matthews in the U.S.
National Team Development Program and is another lottery candidate.
Canadians Pierre-Luc Dubois, Logan Brown, and Jakob Chychrun will likely
be o the board early. Not so much with Sean Day, who, at age 15, became the
fourth prospect to be granted Exceptional Player Status, allowing him to
compete in major juniors a year early. He has struggled to live up to the
designation ever since, a reminder that even so-called sure things arent
always so.
In some ways, Day might be lucky: He enters Friday night with low enough
expectations that he could well turn out to be a steal. The draft is an inexact
science: For all the preparation that goes into it, for all the projections and
emotions, it often comes down to making educated guesses, trying ones best,
and understanding that everyone develops at his own rate. The last time the
NHL draft was hosted by Bualo, in 1998, the rst, sixth, and 171st picks
were Vincent Lecavalier, Rico Fata, and Pavel Datsyuk: a Stanley Cup winner,
a spectacular ameout, and a future rst-ballot Hall of Famer, respectively.

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This is why drafts are intriguing and frustrating and completely inscrutable.
You just never know how those silly babies are going to grow up.
An earlier version of this piece didnt clarify that Keith Tkachuk is a member of
the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, rather than the Hockey Hall of Fame. Also,
Alexander Nylander was mentioned in a list of Canadian prospects; Nylander was
born in Canada but grew up in Sweden. Hes been removed from that list.

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