Re-draft 2022: Filip Mesar not even ranked by Corey Pronman

Even if it’s a little early to draw conclusions on the recent drafts, it’s still fun to assess the progress of NHL prospects.

And Corey Pronman is an expert on the subject.

The journalist from The Athletic did the same for the 2023 draft, where David Reinbacher fell, and he also did the same with the guys who were drafted in 2022. Here’s what you get.

New post @TheAthleticNHL: Re-ranking the 2022 NHL Draft class https://t.co/tObHAWytay

– Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) October 16, 2024

Of course, you won’t be surprised to learn that Juraj Slafkovsky is still ranked number one. In fact, he’s alone on his island in the “All-Star Game caliber player” category of the rankings.

The Habs have no representatives in categories #2, #3 and #4. You have to go to category #5 (middle of the line-up) to find a player ranked #15: the excellent Lane Hutson.

Going from 62nd overall to 15th is no mean feat.

Owen Beck has not moved at all (33rd overall), while defenseman Adam Engstrom is now ranked #35. Basically, it’s a 92nd overall pick.

It’s shaping up to be a great year for the Habs… but you’ll have noticed that there’s one player the Habs drafted in the first round that I didn’t name: Filip Mesar.

There are other players who weren’t named, but Mesar must be a special case.

Pronman didn’t rank the 225 players selected at the auction, but he didn’t put Mesar in the 115 players who were ranked. Does this mean anything?

What I observe is that he ranked 115 players (which is not a round number) and has a category called “has a chance to play games” in his 2022 draft rankings.

If he’d made a top-100 and Mesar wasn’t in it, that would be one thing. But here, you have to wonder if he simply didn’t rank the 115 guys he sees playing in the NHL…. while leaving Mesar out.

Note that all the other guys drafted in the first round appear in the top-55 of the rankings. The “lowest ranked” are in the category projected to play NHL games.

But Mesar is not in the top-115. If you do “control+f” to search for his name, you’ll see it appear… in the article’s comments.

We know he didn’t have a great career in the OHL, but now he’s got to stand up in Laval. It’s not a bad start according to his coach Pascal Vincent, but let’s just say that right now, he’s not living up to the expectations of a first-round pick. It’s up to him to rise to the occasion.

Filip Mesar needs to raise his game to reassure everyone of his potential and his trajectory. But the young Slovak, the 26th overall pick in 2022, remains determined to prove he deserved that draft spot.https://t.co/ZztNMTbjb8

– Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) October 16, 2024

Overtime

– The Avalanche forward could return in a month.

Colorado forward Valeri Nichushkin is eligible to be reinstated by the #NHL on November 13th. #Avs

– Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) October 15, 2024