2017 NHL Draft Preview: Best Players Available

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The NHL Draft begins tonight with the first round. 31 players will find a new home with an NHL organizations as they receive the call to the next level of their careers.

It should be an eventful night with many picks and potential trades.

Flyerdelphia has you covered with your guide to the best players available in the draft at each position. Here are the top 10 at each position with some information about the player and his stats from the previous season.

Additionally, you'll find links to all of our draft prospect profiles from the past couple of weeks.

Centers

  • Nolan PatrickBrandon (WHL), 6’2”, 198 lbs, 18 years old, 33 GP, 20 G, 26 A, 46 P
  • Nico HischierHalifax (QMJHL), 6’1”, 176 lbs, 18 years old, 57 GP, 38 G, 48 A, 86 P
  • Gabe VilardiWindsor (OHL), 6’3”, 201 lbs, 17 years old, 49 GP, 29 G, 32 A, 61 P
  • Cody GlassPortland (WHL), 6’2”, 180 lbs, 18 years old, 69 GP, 32 G, 62 A, 94 P
  • Casey MittelstadtEden Prairie HS, 6’0”, 201 lbs, 18 years old, 25 GP, 21 G, 43 A, 64 P
  • Michael RasmussenTri-City (WHL), 6’5”, 215 lbs, 18 years old, 50 GP, 32 G, 23 A, 55 P
  • Nick SuzukiOwen Sound (OHL), 5’10”, 187 lbs, 17 years old, 65 GP, 45 G, 51 A, 96 P
  • Ryan PoehlingSt. Cloud State (NCHC), 6’1”, 183 lbs, 18 years old, 33 GP, 7 G, 6 A, 13 P
  • Klim KostinDynamo (KHL), 6’3”, 196 lbs, 18 years old, 8 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 P
  • Elias PetterssonTimra (SweAl), 6’1”, 156 lbs, 18 years old, 43 GP, 19 G, 22 A, 41 P

Left Wingers

  • Eeli Tolvanen – Sioux City (USHL), 5’10”, 189 lbs, 18 years old, 52 GP, 30 G, 24 A, 54 P
  • Kristian VesalainenHPK (FHL), 6’3”, 209 lbs, 18 years old, 26 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 P
  • Isaac RatcliffeGuelph (OHL), 6’6”, 200 lbs, 18 years old, 67 GP, 28 G, 26 A, 54 P
  • Lias AnderssonTimra (SweAl), 5’11”, 200 lbs, 18 years old, 42 GP, 9 G, 10 A, 19 P
  • Maxime ComtoisVictoriaville (QMJHL), 6’1”, 207 lbs, 18 years old, 64 GP, 22 G, 29 A, 51 P
  • Alex FormentonLondon (OHL), 6’1”, 165 lbs, 17 years old, 65 GP, 16 G, 18 A, 34 P
  • Kirill SlepetsYaroslavl Loko (RusJr), 5’10”, 165 lbs, 18 years old, 41 GP, 8 G, 10 A, 18 P
  • Ivan Chekhovich Baie-Comeau (QMJHL), 5’10”, 173 lbs, 18 years old, 60 GP, 26 G, 33 A, 59 P
  • Ostap SafinSparta (CzeJr), 6’4”, 191 lbs, 18 years old, 24 GP, 6 G, 12 A, 18 P
  • Nikita PopugaevPrince George (WHL), 6’5”, 204 lbs, 18 years old, 71 GP, 29 G, 40 A, 69 P

Right Wingers

  • Owen TippettMississauga (OHL), 6’0”, 202 lbs, 18 years old, 60 GP, 44 G, 31 A, 75 P
  • Martin NecasBmo (CZE-Elite), 6’1”, 178 lbs, 18 years old, 41 GP, 7 G, 8 A, 15 P
  • Kailer YamamotoSpokane (WHL), 5’7”, 146 lbs, 18 years old, 65 GP, 42 G, 57 A, 99 P
  • Jason RobertsonKingston (OHL), 6’2”, 195 lbs, 17 years old, 68 GP, 42 G, 39 A, 81 P
  • Lukas ElvenesRogle (SWE-Jr), 6’0”, 173 lbs, 17 years old, 41 GP, 15 G, 30 A, 45 P
  • Fabian ZetterlundFarjestad (SweJE), 5’10”, 195 lbs, 17 years old, 14 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 P
  • Ivan KosorenkovVictoriaville (QMJHL), 5’10”, 187 lbs, 19 years old, 68 GP, 34 G, 29 A, 63 P
  • Michael PastujovUSA U18 (NTDP), 6’0”, 190 lbs, 17 years old, 46 GP, 6 G, 12 A, 18 P
  • Kirill MaksimovNiagara (OHL), 6’2”, 192 lbs, 18 years old, 66 GP, 21 G, 17 A, 38 P
  • Nick HenryRegina (WHL), 5’10”, 191 lbs, 17 years old

Defenseman

  • Miro HeiskanenHIFK (FHL), 6’0”, 173 lbs, 18 years old, 37 GP, 5 G, 5 A, 10 P
  • Timothy LiljegrenRogle (SweE), 6’0”, 191 lbs, 18 years old, 19 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 P
  • Cale MakarBrooks (AJHL), 5’11”, 187 lbs, 18 years old, 54 GP, 24 G, 51 A, 75 P
  • Callen FooteKelowna (WHL), 6’4”, 218 lbs, 18 years old, 71 GP, 6 G, 51 A, 57 P
  • Juuso ValimakiTri-City (WHL), 6’1”, 211 lbs, 18 years old, 60 GP, 19 G, 42 A, 61 P
  • Nicolas HagueMississauga (OHL), 6’5”, 206 lbs, 18 years old, 65 GP, 18 G, 28 A, 46 P
  • Conor TimminsSault St. Marie (OHL), 6’1”, 183 lbs, 18 years old, 67 GP, 7 G, 54 A, 61 P
  • Henri JokiharjuPortland (WHL), 5’11”, 176 lbs, 18 years old, 71 GP, 9 G, 39 A, 48 P
  • Pierre-Olivier JosephCharlottetown (QMJHL), 6’2”, 163 lbs, 17 years old, 62 GP, 6 G, 33 A, 39 P
  • Urho VaakanainenJYP (FHL), 6’1”, 188 lbs, 18 years old, 41 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
  • Erik BrannstromHV71 (SweJr), 5’9”, 172 lbs, 17 years old, 35 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 P
  • Eemeli RasanenKingston (OHL), 6’6”, 216 lbs, 18 years old, 66 GP, 6 G, 33 A, 39 P
  • Markus PhillipsOwen Sound (OHL), 5’11”, 202 lbs, 18 years old, 66 GP, 13 G, 30 A, 43 P
  • Dylan SambergHermantown HS, 6’3”, 200 lbs, 18 years old, 20 GP, 10 G, 18 A, 28 P
  • Kasper KotkansaloSioux Falls (USHL), 6’1”, 189 lbs, 18 years old, 47 GP, 1 G, 11 A, 12 P 

Goalies

  • Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – HPK Hameenlinna (FinJrA), 6’4”, 196 lbs, 18 years old, 35 GP, 1.66 GAA, .917 SV%
  • Jake OettingerBoston University (NCAA), 6’4”, 218 lbs, 18 years old, 30 GP, 2.07 GAA, .927 SV%
  • Stuart SkinnerLethbridge (WHL), 6’3”, 209 lbs, 18 years old, 60 GP, 3.26 GAA, .905 SV%
  • Michael DiPietroWindsor (OHL), 6’0”, 196 lbs, 18 years old, 51 GP, 2.35 GAA, .917 SV%
  • Ian ScottPrince Albert (WHL), 6’3”, 174 lbs, 18 years old, 50 GP, 3.69 GAA, .895 SV%
  • Cayden PrimeauLincoln (USHL), 6’2”, 177 lbs, 17 years old, 30 GP, 3.16 GAA, .895 SV%
  • Maksim ZhukovGreen Bay (USHL), 6’2”, 188 lbs, 17 years old, 31 GP, 2.25 GAA, .913 SV%
  • Keith PetruzzelliMuskegon (USHL), 6’5”, 180 lbs, 18 years old, 35 GP, 2.40 GAA, .918 SV%
  • Jake McGrathSudbury (OHL), 6’0”, 158 lbs, 18 years old, 45 GP, 3.77 GAA, .896 SV%
  • Tomas VomackaCorpus Christi (NAHL), 6’3”, 172 lbs, 18 years old, 41 GP, 2.43 GAA, .923 SV %

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