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 Patrick – Brandon (WHL), 6’2”, 198 lbs, 18 years old, 33 GP, 20 G, 26 A, 46 P
• Nico Hischier – Halifax (QMJHL), 6’1”, 176 lbs, 18 years old, 57 GP, 38 G, 48 A, 86 P
• Gabe Vilardi – Windsor (OHL), 6’3”, 201 lbs, 17 years old, 49 GP, 29 G, 32 A, 61 P
• Cody Glass – Portland (WHL), 6’2”, 180 lbs, 18 years old, 69 GP, 32 G, 62 A, 94 P
• Casey Mittelstadt – Eden Prairie HS, 6’0”, 201 lbs, 18 years old, 25 GP, 21 G, 43 A, 64 P
• Michael Rasmussen – Tri-City (WHL), 6’5”, 215 lbs, 18 years old, 50 GP, 32 G, 23 A, 55 P
• Nick Suzuki – Owen Sound (OHL), 5’10”, 187 lbs, 17 years old, 65 GP, 45 G, 51 A, 96 P
• Ryan Poehling – St. Cloud State (NCHC), 6’1”, 183 lbs, 18 years old, 33 GP, 7 G, 6 A, 13 P
• Klim Kostin – Dynamo (KHL), 6’3”, 196 lbs, 18 years old, 8 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 P
• Elias Pettersson – Timra (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 Vesalainen – HPK (FHL), 6’3”, 209 lbs, 18 years old, 26 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 P
• Isaac Ratcliffe – Guelph (OHL), 6’6”, 200 lbs, 18 years old, 67 GP, 28 G, 26 A, 54 P
• Lias Andersson – Timra (SweAl), 5’11”, 200 lbs, 18 years old, 42 GP, 9 G, 10 A, 19 P
• Maxime Comtois – Victoriaville (QMJHL), 6’1”, 207 lbs, 18 years old, 64 GP, 22 G, 29 A, 51 P
• Alex Formenton – London (OHL), 6’1”, 165 lbs, 17 years old, 65 GP, 16 G, 18 A, 34 P
• Kirill Slepets – Yaroslavl 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 Safin – Sparta (CzeJr), 6’4”, 191 lbs, 18 years old, 24 GP, 6 G, 12 A, 18 P
• Nikita Popugaev – Prince George (WHL), 6’5”, 204 lbs, 18 years old, 71 GP, 29 G, 40 A, 69 P

Right Wingers

• Owen Tippett – Mississauga (OHL), 6’0”, 202 lbs, 18 years old, 60 GP, 44 G, 31 A, 75 P
• Martin Necas – Bmo (CZE-Elite), 6’1”, 178 lbs, 18 years old, 41 GP, 7 G, 8 A, 15 P
• Kailer Yamamoto – Spokane (WHL), 5’7”, 146 lbs, 18 years old, 65 GP, 42 G, 57 A, 99 P
• Jason Robertson – Kingston (OHL), 6’2”, 195 lbs, 17 years old, 68 GP, 42 G, 39 A, 81 P
• Lukas Elvenes – Rogle (SWE-Jr), 6’0”, 173 lbs, 17 years old, 41 GP, 15 G, 30 A, 45 P
• Fabian Zetterlund – Farjestad (SweJE), 5’10”, 195 lbs, 17 years old, 14 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 P
• Ivan Kosorenkov – Victoriaville (QMJHL), 5’10”, 187 lbs, 19 years old, 68 GP, 34 G, 29 A, 63 P
• Michael Pastujov – USA U18 (NTDP), 6’0”, 190 lbs, 17 years old, 46 GP, 6 G, 12 A, 18 P
• Kirill Maksimov – Niagara (OHL), 6’2”, 192 lbs, 18 years old, 66 GP, 21 G, 17 A, 38 P
• Nick Henry – Regina (WHL), 5’10”, 191 lbs, 17 years old

Defenseman

• Miro Heiskanen – HIFK (FHL), 6’0”, 173 lbs, 18 years old, 37 GP, 5 G, 5 A, 10 P
• Timothy Liljegren – Rogle (SweE), 6’0”, 191 lbs, 18 years old, 19 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 P
• Cale Makar – Brooks (AJHL), 5’11”, 187 lbs, 18 years old, 54 GP, 24 G, 51 A, 75 P
• Callen Foote – Kelowna (WHL), 6’4”, 218 lbs, 18 years old, 71 GP, 6 G, 51 A, 57 P
• Juuso Valimaki – Tri-City (WHL), 6’1”, 211 lbs, 18 years old, 60 GP, 19 G, 42 A, 61 P
• Nicolas Hague – Mississauga (OHL), 6’5”, 206 lbs, 18 years old, 65 GP, 18 G, 28 A, 46 P
• Conor Timmins – Sault St. Marie (OHL), 6’1”, 183 lbs, 18 years old, 67 GP, 7 G, 54 A, 61 P
• Henri Jokiharju – Portland (WHL), 5’11”, 176 lbs, 18 years old, 71 GP, 9 G, 39 A, 48 P
• Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Charlottetown (QMJHL), 6’2”, 163 lbs, 17 years old, 62 GP, 6 G, 33 A, 39 P
• Urho Vaakanainen – JYP (FHL), 6’1”, 188 lbs, 18 years old, 41 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
• Erik Brannstrom – HV71 (SweJr), 5’9”, 172 lbs, 17 years old, 35 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 P
• Eemeli Rasanen – Kingston (OHL), 6’6”, 216 lbs, 18 years old, 66 GP, 6 G, 33 A, 39 P
• Markus Phillips – Owen Sound (OHL), 5’11”, 202 lbs, 18 years old, 66 GP, 13 G, 30 A, 43 P
• Dylan Samberg – Hermantown HS, 6’3”, 200 lbs, 18 years old, 20 GP, 10 G, 18 A, 28 P
• Kasper Kotkansalo – Sioux 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 Oettinger – Boston University (NCAA), 6’4”, 218 lbs, 18 years old, 30 GP, 2.07 GAA, .927 SV%
• Stuart Skinner – Lethbridge (WHL), 6’3”, 209 lbs, 18 years old, 60 GP, 3.26 GAA, .905 SV%
• Michael DiPietro – Windsor (OHL), 6’0”, 196 lbs, 18 years old, 51 GP, 2.35 GAA, .917 SV%
• Ian Scott – Prince Albert (WHL), 6’3”, 174 lbs, 18 years old, 50 GP, 3.69 GAA, .895 SV%
• Cayden Primeau – Lincoln (USHL), 6’2”, 177 lbs, 17 years old, 30 GP, 3.16 GAA, .895 SV%
• Maksim Zhukov – Green Bay (USHL), 6’2”, 188 lbs, 17 years old, 31 GP, 2.25 GAA, .913 SV%
• Keith Petruzzelli – Muskegon (USHL), 6’5”, 180 lbs, 18 years old, 35 GP, 2.40 GAA, .918 SV%
• Jake McGrath – Sudbury (OHL), 6’0”, 158 lbs, 18 years old, 45 GP, 3.77 GAA, .896 SV%
• Tomas Vomacka – Corpus Christi (NAHL), 6’3”, 172 lbs, 18 years old, 41 GP, 2.43 GAA, .923 SV %

Podcast