While many fantasy keeper leagues and dynasties prefer to wait until closer to the start of the NHL season before conducting their prospect drafts, some choose to hold theirs early in the summer. 

It’s not uncommon for some leagues to hold their fantasy draft before the NHL draft, which adds an extra layer of difficulty as a player’s value can change based on where they are drafted. 

I’m in a 24-team league made up of posters from the Dobber forum. We just wrapped up our five-round prospect draft last week. To give you an idea of what some fantasy general managers are thinking, below are the top 10 picks from the leagues and the reasons why each general manager chose that player. 

A bit of background into the league: Each roster has three centres, three left wingers, three right wingers, three forwards, six defensemen and a goalie in an active roster spot. We have six reserve spots and 15 minor league spots. By the time our pro draft is done and the season is underway, 960 players are already chosen. There are also four injured reserve spots, so the waiver wire gets a little barren during the season. 

It’s a head-to-head league, with points assigned in each category. For example, goals and assists are each worth one point, with a power-play point worth an extra 0.5 points. There are also points for plus/minus, blocked shots, shots, hits, PIM and faceoffs, plus goalie categories. You match up against one other team each week, and whoever has the most points at the end of the games on Sunday wins the matchup. The top eight teams make the playoffs based on their win/loss records. 

Below you’ll see the name of the player drafted, the WHL team name and the GMs name on the Dobber forum. Here is how our fantasy prospect draft went down:

1. Juraj Slafkovsky – Windsor Spitfires (Pengwin7)

This is the second year in a row that Windsor had the first overall pick, and the second year in a row he used that selection on a winger. Last year, he drafted William Eklund in the top spot. This year, he went with Slafkovsky. Pengwin’s theory is that if there’s a centre and a winger close in points, NHL GMs will draft the centers as they can be better defensively. “So if a GM is taking a wing over a center, there’s a BIG perceived offensive upside difference,” he told me. Pengwin also points out that wingers drafted in the top three selections in past NHL drafts generally turn out to be dynamic NHL players. In the salary cap era from 2005 to 2018 (any after 2018 is too recent), wingers drafted in the top three are: Bobby Ryan, Patrick Kane, James van Riemsdyk, Taylor Hall, Gabriel Landeskog, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nail Yakupov, Jonathan Drouin, Patrik Laine and Andrei Svechnikov. While the exception of Yakupov, those are some pretty good wingers. 

2. Shane Wright – Montreal Bulldogs (niconasr)

A noted Habs fan, niconasr says he has no concern about Wright slipping in the NHL draft to fourth overall. “The pendulum has shifted way too far in my opinion,” he said. “At worst, I’m getting a 60-point guy (which should still be top 10 in this draft) and at best, he proves everyone wrong and I have a superstar.” Niconasr also made note of the rumour that Wright fell in the draft because he didn’t interview well. “The game is still played on the ice and he’s got all the tools to be successful and has the highest floor of the entire draft.”

Tyler Matson on Twitter keeps track of fantasy prospect drafts. He noted on the weekend that Wright went first overall in every fantasy prospect draft until the NHL draft. Since then, Wright has been selected second, third or fourth in eight of 21 drafts that Matson has logged. Wright is still going number one in most drafts, but there’s a lot more doubt now. 

3. Logan Cooley – James Bay Cougars (InForAPenny)

This was an easy pick for InForAPenny. He had a top three of Cooley, Wright and Slafkovsky, and he was going to take whichever of the three was left. “Not a huge decision this year,” he said. Cooley finished with 27 goals and 48 assists in 51 games as a member of the USNTDP and was considered to be one of the best goal scorers and playmakers of the draft. 

4. Matthew Savoie – South Carolina Stingrays (BlackhawksFan)

BlackhawksFan was in a bit of a unique situation in our draft. Originally, another owner had taken over this team and was involved in a dispersal draft. A few weeks before our fantasy draft, that owner had to step away from the team, so BlackhawksFan took over. However, to give him time to get used to the league and player values, he was not able to make trades until after the prospect draft was over. This left him with 12 draft picks in the first five rounds, and Savoie was his first choice after the top three were chosen. “The next tier was less clear cut,” he said, but, “I think he has the highest ceiling overall for points in the next tier. Plus Buffalo, I think, was a decent landing spot as far as opportunity.”

5. Simon Nemec – Fort Francis Muskies (Burgundy)

Burgundy said he knew for months that he would be drafting either Nemec or Savoie at this spot. “I have decent depth at forward, but outside of Fox and a few decent multicat prospects, my defense really needed a stud,” he said. “Nemec sounds like a sure-fire top pair defenseman.” Nemec, who went second overall in the NHL draft, was touted by many to be the best defenseman available and has been excellent in any league or international competition he has played. 

6. Cutter Gauthier – Milton Rhinos (Belexus75)

The first of two top-10 picks for Belexus75, the WHL GM decided to go with Gauthier for a simple reason: Belexus had some other fantasy drafts that were already past the first round, and he hadn’t drafted Gauthier in any of them. However, he did add that he believed that Gauthier “was the best available, in my opinion.” Gauthier might turn out to be the best power forward from this NHL draft, and he also has a ton of speed.

7. Frank Nazar – Victoria (Loch)

In the NHL draft, Nazar went 13th overall to the Blackhawks (using the pick they received in the Kirby Dach trade), but there was no way Nazar was going to last that late in the WHL draft. There were too many people high on Nazar, including Loch. He has the “biggest offensive upside,” Loch said, “and it’s not like there’s a logjam in front of him in Chicago.” Nazar finished third with the U.S. National Under-18 team with 70 points in 56 games and has first-line potential with the Blackhawks. 

8. Jonathan Lekkerimaki – Hamilton Steelheads (Dennis)

There’s no doubt that Lekkerimaki is a great goal scorer as he produced near a goal-per-game in many international competitions. That’s including five goals and 15 points in six games at the World Juniors Under-18 championships, which led the tournament. Dennis had considered a safe pick here, but says the WHL is a league that requires home run swings to succeed. “Often those swings are goal-scoring wingers,” he said. “As potentially the best pure goal-scorer in his draft class, while seemingly being a 200ft-game, defensively responsible player most of the time (which NO one is talking about), Lekkerimaki was my guy.”

9. Joakim Kemell – Milton Rhinos (Belexus75)

The second pick in the top 10 for the Rhinos, Belexus75 again went with a prospect he hadn’t drafted in any of his other leagues. “I reached slightly for Kemell, however, I like his upside,” he said. Drafted 17th overall in the NHL draft by the Nashville Predators, Kemell’s stock rose throughout the season. Another great goal scorer, Kemell had 15 goals and 23 points in 39 games in Liiga play. Those 15 goals were the most in the league by any player under 20 years old. 

10. David Jiricek – Fort Francis Muskies (Burgundy)

Burgundy was the same GM who drafted Nemec a few picks earlier. He was planning to draft one of Nazar, Lekkerimaki or Kemell at this spot, but those three all went between Burgundy’s two picks. He considered a couple of forwards, but thought Jiricek dropping to 10th was too good to pass up. “It’s not sexy to draft two defensemen in the top 10 of a prospect draft but I really liked the idea of knowing I should be able to count on Nemec and Jiricek to deliver fantasy goodness for many years to come,” he said. 

Here is the rest of the first round:

11. Ivan Miroshnichenko, Milton Rhinos (Belexus75)

12. Marco Kasper, North London Nationals (VintageVibe)

13. Danila Yurov, Windsor Spitfires (Pengwin7)

14. Rutger McGroarty, Windsor Spitfires (Pengwin7)

15. Denton Mateychuk, Kootenay ICE (Hawkdog) 

16. Brad Lambert, Montreal Canadiens (newfcollins)

17. Liam Ohgren, Montreal Bulldogs (niconasr) 

18. Kevin Korchinski, Glasgow Kiss (Magicstew)

19. Isaac Howard, Amsterdam Red Lights (rataylor22)

20. Pavel Mintyukov, Lake Valley Thunder (First Round Pick)

21. Conor Geekie, Fort Frances Muskies (Burgundy)

22. Jagger Firkus, Lake Valley Thunder (First Round Pick)

23. Gleb Trikozov, James Bay Cougars (InForAPenny)

24. David Goyette, Lake Valley Thunder (First Round Pick)