NHL Draft followers are always intrigued by the uncertainties come draft day.
One of the biggest uncertainties is who will be sitting in the stands a lot longer than everyone thought they would. The same also goes for who hears their name called in an earlier part of the draft that everyone thought they would go.
Pinpointing these players is always difficult—especially a lack of consensus on where every player should go at what point of the draft.
That said, Future Considerations took to Twitter to see who could predict the talk of which players would be the talk of the draft because of their free fall or their early selections.
Ryan Holmer got our daily question of the day started in believing that Slater Koekkoek will be selected much higher than everyone believes he will. Holmer attributed the rise to scouts who have followed him closely enough know he is one of the best defensemen in the draft despite an injury rattled season.
Holmer is not the only one who believes Koekkoek will surprise many as Future Considerations’ scout Dan Shrader sees him as a draft day surprise. Shrader (@ShraderD) believes his shoulder injury and subsequent work ethic have both been vetted out and will contribute to the rise.
Arnaud Hudon-Turgeon (@arn24habs) believes that Mark Jankowski will be a draft weekend surprise. Jankowski, who is one of this year’s draft wildcards to begin with, is projected to go 51st overall to the Montreal Canadiens in Future Considerations’ Draft Guide.
Turgeon also went on to state Sebastian Collberg will fall much lower than many believe. Collberg has overall draft concerns due to his size and a lack of points in the top Swedish Elite League this season. Collberg is ranked 12th overall in Future Considerations’ Final Rankings.
OHL scout Brian Huddle (@BrianHuddle) countered Turgeon with a Swede he believes will go higher than many expect. Hampus Lindholm, who is three spots below Collberg in FC’s rankings, is Huddle’s projected player to be a day one draft surprise. Huddle believes a combination of Lindholm’s size and offensive ability will cause him to get an early draft day nod tomorrow night.
Huddle’s faller is much-hyped goaltender Malcolm Subban. He believes Subban could fall as late as the mid-second because of team’s injury concerns with the 6 foot, athletic goaltender from Belleville.
Finally, FC scout Brian McGee wrapped our daily QOD by believing Henrik Samuelsson will be a Friday night draft surprise. Samuelsson had an up and down year, but finished strong in Edmonton (WHL) which could contribute to a draft day rise. In Future Considerations’ Final Draft Guide, Samuelsson went one spot after Jankowski—going 52nd to Pittsburgh in round two.
Regardless of who Future Considerations’ Twitter followers and scouts believe will either rise or fall in this weekend’s draft, these players will be the topic of many discussions on the social media site when the draft is all said and done.