The 2023 NHL Draft runs next Wednesday and Thursday in Nashville. We surveyed dozens of prospects in the class on various subjects, from their standout teammates and outside interests to trash-talking and goalie masks.
QWhich NHL player do you model your game after?
Leo Carlsson, C, Orebro (Sweden, SHL): I'm a mix between (Anze) Kopitar, (Evgeni) Malkin, and (Aleksander) Barkov. Big centermen with great hockey sense and skills.
Tom Willander, D, Rogle (Sweden, J20): I really like how Miro Heiskanen plays. I feel like his two-way game is really good. Quite similar to me. He's a strong skater, and his transition game is super good. Not too flashy but very effective in the offensive zone.
Gabriel Perreault, RW, USA Hockey National Team Development Program: One guy I try to look at is Trevor Zegras because of how competitive, creative, and skilled he is. And growing up in Chicago, I always watched Patrick Kane.
Brandon Svoboda, C, Youngstown Phantoms (USHL): Alex Tuch's a big one for me. He uses his size and skating ability to take the puck to the net. He's offensively gifted, he's very responsible in the D-zone, and his game's got an edge to it.
Dylan MacKinnon, D, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL): Jacob Trouba. He's a very physical guy. He isn't afraid to shed the mitts. I just absolutely love the way he plays.
Adam Gajan, G, Chippewa Steel (NAHL): I like watching Andrei Vasilevskiy. He's probably the best goalie in the NHL. Just his movement and how explosive he is. He's a very confident goalie. I also like Sergei Bobrovsky.
Maxim Strbak, D, Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL): Mo Seider. He's more offensive, but there are some similarities between me and him. He's a very physical player, aggressive along the walls, retrieves the puck well, passes it well, and also contributes offensively.
Lenni Hameenaho, RW, Assat (Finland, Liiga): I don't think there's a player who is playing the exact same way as I am playing. I like to watch (David) Pastrnak from Boston, but I don't think it's exactly the same.
Jayden Perron, RW, Chicago Steel (USHL): I watch a lot of Artemi Panarin. He's a guy I try to take things from and add them to my game. You see his feet out there and the way he's able to be deceptive with his whole body.
Luca Cagnoni, D, Portland Winterhawks (WHL): I really like watching Quinn Hughes. Kind of similar size. I feel like I skate well like him. His playmaking ability is really elite, too. I really like watching Jared Spurgeon, too. He's a smaller guy, but he's really good in his D-zone.
Brady Cleveland, D, USNTDP: I like to watch a lot of Jaycob Megna on Seattle. He's a good comparison for me, just with his size and ability on the ice.
Brayden Yager, C, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL): I like to watch Nathan MacKinnon. The way he skates, he's so powerful. Also, how he shoots the puck in stride is something I'd like to emulate. I also like to watch Jonathan Toews and Patrice Bergeron for how they both play at both ends of the ice.
Caden Price, D, Kelowna Rockets (WHL): There's a lot of different guys I take things from. I'd say a guy like Thomas Chabot, a two-way, rangy defenseman who's leaned on by his team. He's a leader. He skates well. He's got good puck instincts.
Luca Pinelli, C, Ottawa 67's (OHL): A little bit of Mitch Marner and Brad Marchand. Marner has that very high hockey IQ. He's a skilled player. And he can find his teammates. Marchand is really competitive. He doesn't really care about who his opponent is. And he has a little bit of feistiness to his game.
Carson Bjarnason, G, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL): Definitely (Carey) Price. I try to have that stoicism and poise. It's a staple of my game, and it's definitely something I picked up from him when I was younger.
QIf you could steal one trait from an active NHLer, what would it be?
Connor Bedard, C, Regina Pats (WHL): That's pretty easy. I think (Connor) McDavid's speed would be the obvious answer. Having that would be nice, being able to do what he does at that speed.
Ryan Leonard, RW, USNTDP: McDavid's speed. Who doesn't want that?
Nico Myatovic, LW, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL): The physicality of Tom Wilson. I think that would complement my game really well.
Jayson Shaugabay, RW, Warroad High (US high school): Jack Hughes' skating. He's just so quick and smooth, nobody can touch him on the ice.
Nate Danielson, C, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL): (Auston) Matthews' shot. He's someone I like to watch. I'd like to have a release like him and be able to put it where he does. It's world-class.
Paul Fischer, D, USNTDP: (Rasmus) Dahlin's hands. He's got pretty silky mitts. They always help in tight-making plays.
Cameron Allen, D, Guelph Storm (OHL): Cale Makar and his deceptiveness. The way he thinks the game, he always knows how to make defenders bite or make them think he's doing something he's not. That deceptiveness is so valuable, especially as an offensive defenseman walking the blue line.
Cleveland: Brady Tkachuk's swagger and physicality.
Jakub Stancl, C, Vaxjo Lakers (J20): Everyone wants to be as fast as McDavid. But probably (Mikko) Rantanen's playmaking. He sees things that other people aren't able to see. That's what's amazing about him.
Hunter Brzustewicz, D, Kitchener Rangers (OHL): Watching these playoffs, Radko Gudas. He's just been a prick. That's a big one for me. Just watching him and learning and seeing his mentality has opened my eyes.
Ethan Miedema, LW, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL): I'm 6-foot-4, and I have pretty good skill, a good shot, and good hands. But if I want to play in the NHL, I've got to add a little bit more toughness to my game, so Matthew Tkachuk's toughness and ability and will to just get to those (dirtier) areas.
QWho's a teammate of yours in this draft class people should know about?
Zach Benson, LW, Winnipeg Ice (WHL): Daniel Hauser, our goalie in Winnipeg. Phenomenal. Can't say enough good things about him. He was the backbone of our team. We would have nights where we didn't play good, and we'd win the game 1-0 or 2-1. His movement is elite. He can move from left to right pretty quickly.
Koehn Ziemmer, RW, Prince George Cougars (WHL): A very underrated player is Caden Brown. He kind of went under the radar this year. I think he scored 20 goals (18 in the regular season). In the playoffs, he was one of our best players. He's a great forechecker, and he's gritty in the corners. He's a natural goal-scorer.
Yager: Tanner Molendyk. I got a chance to play with him at the Hlinka (tournament) and against him throughout the last couple of years. You watch him skate, and he's so effortless. He makes a great first pass, which is very important for a D-man. He's a player who should go pretty high in the draft.
Gajan: Dalibor Dvorsky. He will be maybe top five, maybe top 10 in the draft. He's a great guy in the locker room, and everybody sees what he's doing on the ice, right? He's a great leader. Of course, he has great skating, great shot, but I think his hockey IQ is special. He thinks really fast and makes great decisions on the ice.
Danielson: Our goalie, Carson Bjarnason. He gets quite a bit of attention, and he deserves all of it. The other guy who I think is a little bit underrated is Quinn Mantei. He had a really good year, and he rose a little bit in the rankings as far as North American skaters. It's good to see that and how he's getting more credit for what he does. Just a really good player. Smart. Physical.
Allen: Only one of my teammates from Guelph is draft eligible - Valentin Zhugin. He's a Russian guy. Such a skilled player and the most positive guy in the room. Such a fun guy to be around. He's underrated, for sure. As he matures and grows physically, he'll start having more of an impact as well.
Svoboda: Jacob Fowler. A lot of people know about him. He won goalie of the year in the USHL. But I think he's the best goalie in the draft, and he proved in the playoffs why he should be first. He's a great guy, too - one of my best friends on the team.
Perreault: For our team, one guy I always try to say is Ryan Fine. He's not the biggest guy, but he's so skilled and so smart, and I was really happy for him when he got rewarded with a top-six role at (under-18) worlds.
Theo Lindstein, D, Brynas (SHL): David Edstrom. Great player, and he's underrated. He was very good at the U-18s, and he showed how good he is at center. He's a big guy, a very strong guy. He's maybe not the guy who will do those outstanding things, but he's doing everything in the right way all the time.
QWhat would you do if you weren't playing hockey?
Ziemmer: Probably a hunting guide. I spent some time in the mountains hunting, so that's something that interests me. Usually, bighorn sheep and mountain goats.
Brzustewicz: I'd want to be in something with sports. A sports analyst. My favorite is Stephen A. Smith. I'd like to be him, talking about basketball and football.
Beckett Hendrickson, C, USNTDP: I've always been a big fan of firefighters. You see those guys, and you feel like they don't get as much credit as they deserve. And it carries over to hockey a little bit, where you're putting others ahead of yourself. Those guys do that every day. I even dressed up as a firefighter for Halloween once or twice.
Carey Terrance, C, Erie Otters (OHL): I'd go lacrosse. I played a lot of lacrosse growing up. Box lacrosse, mostly. I'm a Mohawk from Akwesasne, and we created the game, the sport of lacrosse.
Andrew Strathmann, D, Youngstown: Probably be a pilot.
Oscar Fisker Molgaard, C, HV71 (SHL): Might have been playing soccer or doing something inside of economics. I'm pretty good at math, so maybe something like that. My mom is working with logistics, and I find that pretty interesting, too, so maybe something like that too. Who knows?
Miedema: No. 1 would be something to do with business. I enjoy the business side of life. My dad has some rental properties, so just kind of learning about stocks now that I'm 18.
Bjarnason: Definitely baseball. I stopped playing AAA baseball around 15. I played for a good amount of years. I don't think they take many left-handed catchers in MLB, so I figure I'd switch over. (Laughs)
Kasper Halttunen, RW, HIFK (Liiga): I would be a basketball player. I just love it. I love watching the NBA, and I love playing it. Devin Booker is my favorite. I love his style off the court and on the court.
Shaugabay: Golf. I'm a scratch golfer, so if I wasn't a hockey player, I'd be taking that pretty seriously.
Bradly Nadeau, LW, Penticton Vees (BCHL): I'm putting everything into hockey right now and hoping it's going to work out. We have a farm back home (in New Brunswick), and my dad owns an excavation business. That might be something I'd want to take over if hockey doesn't work out.
Gajan: I don't have any Plan B, so I hope hockey will work out. (Laughs)
QIf you were a goalie, what would you paint on your mask?
Shaugabay: I'd have my dog on there somewhere. He's a mutt - a Great Dane, pit bull, mastiff, rottweiler. He's a big boy. Then probably something cool with the city where I'm playing.
Larry Keenan, D, Culver Academy (US prep school): A picture of my family. Maybe three stick figures: my mom, my dad, my sister.
Easton Cowan, RW, London Knights (OHL): Definitely my team's colors. Maybe something to do with my nickname, which is Cowboy. Maybe a cowboy emoji? My last name's Cowan, and I live on a farm. It works out pretty good.
Gracyn Sawchyn, C, Seattle: (Long pause) I don't know. I'd probably ask my six-year-old brother and put whatever he wants on it. He'd probably want a little-kid TV show character on it or a tractor.
Brzustewicz: Maybe my three favorite athletes: Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Brady, and Kevin Durant.
Fischer: Maybe all of my family members' names. Probably a cross, too. I'm a person of faith, so that's really big on my list. Probably the team logo and the Illinois flag.
Andrew Cristall, LW, Kelowna: Mine would definitely be pretty colorful. I would have the (Kelowna) Rockets logo on it. It's pretty cool, the Ogopogo monster yelling. Maybe put my nickname on it, too. It's AC. It'd be fun to be a goalie, actually. You can customize your pads and your mask.
Alex Pharand, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL): Probably paint something that represents Canada, Northern Ontario, and Sudbury. Maybe a lake and the Big Nickel.
QWhat's the best on-ice trash talk you've ever heard?
Adam Fantilli, C, Michigan (NCAA): Oh, I don't think I can say that. But I'll say one I heard when I was younger that made me laugh: some guy said to another guy, 'A little less snack bar, a little more salad bar.'
Shaugabay: The funniest one is when people call people pigeons. I don't know why.
Hameenaho: When I was playing in the men's pro league, there were some guys chirping about, like, 'Go play young-guy games. This is for older men.' That's one thing I heard last year. But that's actually bad for those older guys, right? That they are playing there, and I am too.
MacKinnon: I'm usually the one throwing them around. There were a couple in the last series of the playoffs. They were all asking me what I do for my team. But none of them would fight me. I told them I was a (younger player) and that I'd still fold them like a lawn chair. They got the memo. In that series, I think I was averaging like 10 pretty big hits a game. They all knew they weren't going to do anything about it.
Stancl: It was in Sweden. One guy called me 'Albi.' Do you know what that is? Albino. You're as white as a wall. A bit racist, maybe, but I remember that. I just laughed it off. No reaction.
Cleveland: We were playing Niagara University this year, and I said something to one guy, and he said, 'I have a son in the stands that would beat your you-know-what.' I didn't think that was a good chirp, but maybe he thought it was.
Miedema: It doesn't even have to be that detailed. Some guys chirp about your sister or your mom.
Sawyer Mynio, D, Seattle: Probably just that one Bowen Byram said. … Something like, 'Buddy, you're going to work a 9-to-5 in four years, and I'm going to be making ($925,000).'
Strathmann: I try not to listen to chirps. I just try to skate away. I heard my buddy chirping someone once, though. He said, 'Talk to me when you're tall enough to ride the roller coaster.' Our whole bench was laughing.
Myatovic: Maybe just the hands one. 'Are you a digital clock? Because you've got no hands.'
Pharand: Last year, someone who had a contract - I won't name any names - came by our bench and said, 'I make more money than all of you combined.' It's hard to chirp the guys who have contracts.
Halttunen: In Finland, you'll get trash-talked like once in a game. Here (in North America), it's all the time. And it just keeps me going harder, like, 'Keep talking, keep talking, I will show you.' In Finland, it's not that big of a thing. Finland is the happiest country in the world, so we're all friends.
