It’s only fitting that the draft is held in Montreal, and it couldn’t have been better scripted with the Habs winning the lottery. They are poised to make a historic first overall pick under the guidance of their new management team. This will be the 19th draft in the NHL. It never gets old. It’s like Christmas in July. By now most of our readers will likely have honed their knowledge of the prospects that could potentially be drafted by their favorite NHL team. What I am about to present is my personal order plan for the first round. This is not a sham plan. I have not spoken to any of my former colleagues to gain insider information about their thoughts or possible strategies. I present this as if I were still on the scouting staff and about to hit the draft table. Here’s an inside look at my process:

  1. After analyzing cumulative reports for players from around the world, I break down each region and list the prospects in descending order of interest
  2. Each area is analyzed against each other. The final list begins to take shape as players are removed from their region’s list and placed in descending order on the global list. Not all regions are created equal. There are years when the first five picks all come from North American leagues. Conversely, there are years — like this one — where it’s highly likely that at least three players in the top five will come from Europe. List building is fluid from year to year and can only be done thoroughly without bias.
  3. After the final list is completed, the strategy begins to take shape targeting players in trade-up, trade-down, or “take the pick” scenarios. Note 1: The average NHL scout will see between 175-200 games per year and submit over 1,500 game reports. Analytics adds another layer to the process and plays a role in list preparation and strategic planning. Now that I’ve provided the Coles Notes version of my process, here is my final roster for the 2022 NHL Draft: No. 1: Logan Cooley No. 2: Shane Wright Good. 3: Juraj Slafkovsky
    Good. 4: Simon the German No. 5: David Jiricek No. 6: Cotter Gauthier
    No. 7: Matthew Savoie
    No. 8: Joakim Kemel
    No. 9: Marco Casper
    no. 10: Jonathan Lekkerimaki No. 11: Danila Yurov No. 12: Kevin Korczynski No. 13: Denton Matejchuk no. 14: Pavel Midyukov No. 15: Frank Nazar No. 16: Isaac Howard no. 17: Jimmy Snuggerud No. 18: Noah Ostlund No. 19: Conor Geekie No. 20: Ivan Miroshnichenko No. 21: Liam Ohgren No. 22: Ryan Chesley No. 23: Owen Pickering No. 24: Lane Hutson Good 25: Jiri Kulich No. 26: Luca Del Bel Belluz No. 27: Nathan Gaucher No. 28: Rutger McGroarty No. 29: Seamus Casey No 30: Matias Havelid No. 31: Calle Odelius no. 32: Alexander Perevalov No. 33: Owen Beck No. 34: Brad Lambert No. 35: Lian Bichsel No. 36: Jager Firkus STRATEGY NOTES • I picked Logan Cooley over Shane Wright because I think he has the higher ceiling offensively. I was also impressed with the level of competition Cooley displayed in every screening. That’s not to say Wright isn’t going to be a great pro. He has all the makings to be a fantastic NHL player. Wright has a higher floor than Cooley, but Cooley is more elite in my opinion. • I rate Denton Mateychuk at No. 13 and think he’ll be available in that slot (colleague Sam Cosentino had him 26th in the mock draft). I also get the feeling that other teams don’t rate him as highly as I do. This is a scenario where I would get on the phone to gauge the interest of the next five teams behind me to see if they are interested in trading. I might be able to get an extra pick in the second round with the trade and still get the player I want. Note: Risk/reward is always in play with this type of trading. The other reason I’m not concerned with this proposed deal is my comfort level with the players ranked between Nos. 14-18 on my list. In the event that the team I was traded to were to select Matejchuk, I would be getting a quality player and an extra pick in return. • Before anyone says it, there are only 32 picks in the first round…I know! The truth is, this draft has the potential to be one of the most unpredictable first rounds since I entered the league. I truly believe any of the names on my list could go in the first round. When I follow trade and exchange scenarios, it is vital to make sure my value system is in place in case the phone rings. • The art of scouting is not an exact science. No one knows for sure what this draft class will look like in the next few years. The process always leads to healthy discussion (and sometimes angry passion!). Discuss with each other or give me feedback on why you feel passionately about a player and where you think he deserves to be on this year’s final list.