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1993 Draft Final Rankings |
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Rank |
Player |
Team |
Position |
Comments |
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1 |
Chris Pronger |
Shawinigan Cataractes |
Defense |
Pronger is as close to a lock to go #1 as we have had in years. If so,
he will become the second straight defenseman to go first overall,
following Sergei Gonchar last year, and 5th overall (Larry Robinson,
Brian Leetch, Niklas Lidstrom). Pronger possess a little bit of
everything from those names. He has the size of Robinson, the hockey
intelligence of Lidstrom, and the play making ability of Leetch. Throw
in terrific skating and a mean streak and you have a player who will
anchor a blue line for a decade. He may not do it in his first year,
but by the time he is 20, look for him to be among the league leaders.
He was this year's Defenseman of the Year in the NJFHL and makes this
truly the 'Pronger' draft. |
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2 |
Tim Thomas |
Sudbury Wolves |
Goalie |
Paul Kariya has been a consensus #2 pick most of the year, but Central
Scouting is going with goalie Tim Thomas. Thomas has done what no other
goalie has done in NJFHL history and that is win the Goaltender of the
Year award three straight years! Put another way, he won it every season
he played! Patrick Roy won it twice. Martin Brodeur won it twice. They
are the only multiplie award recipients in NJFHL history. Thomas didn't
have as good a record as previos years, but he still had the best goals
against average and save percentage. He may be the best goaltending
prospect to emerge from juniors. And while we admit drafting a goalie
this early is a huge gamble because no one can know how they will
develop, he seems to be as close to a sure thing as there is. |
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3 |
Vaclav Prospal |
Peterborough Petes |
Forward |
Central Scouting has always put a premium on recent performance and,
because of that, we can't in good conscience put Kariya ahead of Prospal
as the top forward. Prospal looks like a slick playmaker and was one of
just two players with 50+ assists. He also has a good shot that resulted
in 30+ goal that led him to leading the league in scoring by 6 points.
He is a great skater and isn't afraid of battling in the corners. He may
not be as electrifying as Kariya, but he out-scored him by 16 points and
that is just too much of a gap to ignore. |
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4 |
Paul Kariya |
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds |
Forward |
The most skilled player in the draft, Kariya had a bit of an off year,
though still managed 67 points in 57 games. His shot is sneaky good and
he likes to unleash it often as one of only 4 forwards with 100+ shots.
His puck distribution skills are top notch, but he needs finishers to
play with. If the team picking #2 doesn't need a goalie, Kariya has a
good chance of going there, particularly if the team needs a finisher.
If they need a play maker, Prospal may be a better pick, but really no
team can go wrong taking this kid. |
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5 |
Saku Koivu |
Kamloops Blazers |
Forward |
Koivu is yet another small forward with tonnes of skill. He plays a very
similar game to Prospal but maybe with more of a chip on his shoulder.
Koivu is also a pure play maker. He led all players with 53 assists. He
doesn't have much a shot and that will be what prevents him from being a
#1 centre if he doesn't work on it a lot. He fired almost 100 shots but
had just 24 goals, giving him a shooting percentage of 14.70%, lower
than all but one player in the top 20 scoring forward. |
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6 |
Bryan McCabe |
Peterborough Petes |
Defense |
We'll get back to smaller forwards with lots of skill in a moment.
Interrupting that parade is Bryan McCabe, a 2-time NJFHL All-Star.
McCabe is an offensive blue liner who plays a reckless game at both ends
of the ice. Of course, it often works out in the offensive end.
Defensively, though, it often leads to him sitting the penalty box.
That being said, he is the type of blue liner who brings it all the time
and he has tremendous offensive instincts. As he matures and develops
his defensive skills, he will be a top pairing blue liner. |
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7 |
Brendan Morrison |
Kamloops Blazers |
Forward |
And back to the small forwards who pass the puck well. Morrison is
cracked from the mold of Kariya, Prospal, and Koivu and will likely be
snapped up in the top ten by a team who needs a potential top line, but
likely second line, centre, but misses out on the top three. Morrison
finished 3rd in assists with 49 and actually proved to be dangerous on
the power play, where he scored 13 of his 26 goals. Defensively, though,
he is a mess and will need serious attention before he sees NFHL action. |
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8 |
David Vyborny |
Ottawa 67's |
Forward |
Vyborny was the only player to hit the 40-goal plateau and that can't be
ignored. It was 6 more than the next highest of 34 by Kariya. He had 14
power play goals, so most of his damage was done at even strength. He
doesn't have the greatest puck handling skills and plays a perimeter
game. But he obviously has some scoring instincts. Scouts and GMs will
have to make a decision if that one skill is tranlatable to the NFHL. If
so, he could be a nice pick up in the middle of the round. If not, he
could slide down even further. |
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9 |
Alexandre Daigle |
Shawinigan Cataractes |
Forward |
There may be no player who brought Central Scouting meetings to
arguments faster than Daigle. He plays a seemingly effortless game, and
we actually mean effortless. He doesn't look like he cares too often.
Yet he still managed 48 assists and 68 points in 60 games and finished
with a terrific +19 rating. But he doesn't try hard. He doesn't engage
much. He doesn't shoot much. He doesn't seem to work hard. Yet the
skill is undeniable. Some of our scouts have him going in the top three
based on skill and believing a team can tap into some reservoir of
desire. Others have him as a draft bust any higher than the 2nd round.
We tend to split the difference, but always lean towards skill. |
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10 |
Steve Sullivan |
Sudbury Wolves |
Forward |
We might as well end the top ten with another small forward. Sullivan
missed 9 games this season and, if not, could have finished in the top 5
in league scoring. He is one of the fastest skaters and has used that
speed to break open defenses. He finished with 29 goals, more than all
but 5 players, all of whom played at least 5 more games than him. Very
tenacious on the puck, but plays a very clean game. If teams think his
injury issues aren't something to worry about, look for Sullivan to go
even higher. |
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