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First things first, if you haven’t already, make sure you pick up Dobber’s 2018 Fantasy Hockey Prospects Report right here.

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Washington and Vegas have treated us to a very entertaining first couple of games in this year’s Stanley Cup final. They’ve both managed to survive the tough road that is the NHL season, outlasting 29 other teams. And fortunately for both teams, they have impact prospects on the way in key positions.

Nicolas Hague – VGK

Vegas’ first selection in the second round of the 2017 draft, Hague is a towering figure on skates, coming in at 6-06 and 214 pounds. During his draft year of 2016-17 Hague skated for the Mississauga Steelheads, leading the back end in scoring with 46 points and finished fourth on the team in scoring. He showed quite of bit of sandpaper in his game as well by leading the team in PIMs with 107. Looking at all defensemen in the OHL, Hague clocked came in third in goals with 18, fourth in shots with 204 and fifteenth in points.  72% of his points we primary which was actually one of the better percentages in the league. I had the chance to see him a couple times live during this season and I was never really wowed by him. But he’s certainly got my attention now as he was inarguably the best defenseman in junior hockey in 2017-18, evidenced by his CHL Defenseman of the Year award currently occupying space in his trophy case.  The newly minted Steelheads captain led the team in points, PIMs, and was second in goals. He paced all OHL blue-liners with 35 snipes on a whopping 270 shots, translating to a 12.96 shooting percentage, again a league-best for the position. His 57 primary points were three behind 2018 draftee Evan Bouchard for the lead. In addition to being named the CHL Defenseman of the Year, Hague also won the Max Kaminsky Trophy awarded to the top defender in the OHL and earned First All-Star team honours. Probably not yet ready for primetime, it will be interesting to see what he can do for an encore.

Nick Suzuki – VGK

The second of Vegas’ three first rounders, Suzuki once again terrorized the OHL during the course of his third campaign. Already with seasons of 38 and 96 points under his belt, Suzuki cracked the century mark in 2017-18 finishing the campaign with an even 100 points, one of only four players in the league to hit that number. He had a second consecutive 40+ goal campaign totaling 42 goals on 281 shots, both marks good for fourth in the OHL and again eclipsed 50 assists finishing the year with 58. He also finished fourth when it comes to primary points, posting 76, and averaged 1.19 primary points per game placing him in the top-10 across the OHL. Come playoff time Suzuki posted 12 points in 11 games as the Owen Sound Attack were bounced in the second round. Ask anyone to describe Suzuki and the first two traits they mention are his high-end IQ and hockey sense. He's consistently drawing comparisons to Patrice Bergeron. He’s a versatile player capable of playing either centre or the wing which makes him especially valuable in league with positional requirements as he has the potential for dual eligibility down the road. He still seems to be a bit underrated in prospect circles in my eyes considering he’s amassed 196 points over the past two seasons. It’ll be interesting to see where Suzuki competes come the fall as there’s not much for him left to prove at the junior level, but isn’t eligible to play in the AHL. He still seems like a bit of a longshot to crack Vegas. Could we see him moved if  Vegas take another run at Erik Karlsson as they were rumoured to have done at the trade deadline? For now, he’s gaining some experience as a member of the Vegas taxi squad.

Ilya Samsonov – WASH

I don’t often (or ever really) cover goalies in this column due to the fact of the seemingly random nature at which they can develop, but this one is worth mentioning. The crown jewel of the Washington system, and arguably the top goaltending prospect in all of hockey, Samsonov has been simply dominant since being the first goalie off the board in the 2015 draft. In the three years since being drafted, Samsonov has competed for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL sharing crease duties with Russian Ben Bishop, Vasili Koshechkin. In 72 games spanning 2015 to 2018, he posted a record of 33-16-9 with a goals-against average of 2.18 and a 0.930 save percentage. Samsonov has also competed for Mother Russian at two WJC in 2015-16 and 2016-17, winning silver and bronze medals, respectively. In the 16-17 season, he was named to the tournament All-Star team. A big body that covers a lot of net with good reflexes, he was signed by the Capitals a month ago, but that doesn’t mean we will be seeing the Magnitogorsk product in the NHL in the near future. With Braden Holtby signed for two more years and showing no signs of slowing down given his play in the Stanley Cup Final, Samsonov will likely spend at least a full year in the minors before potentially seeing any backup duty. I’d say look at Andrei Vasilevsky in terms of a development schedule.

As always thanks for checking out this week’s edition of The Journey. Enjoy game three tonight. Give me a follow on Twitter @BradHPhillips. Enjoy your weekend!

More from The Journey:  CHL Finalist Performances