Welcome to year two of the Sound Of Hockey Big Board for the NHL Entry Draft. It’s back and better than ever.

What is the Big Board? It’s a compilation of reputable draft analyst and public scouting service lists and an overall composite ranking built on those lists. We gathered ranking data from 19 sources.

Then we consolidated those various ranks into a single composite ranking by a weighted geometric mean calculation. Why do we use geomean? Read up here. Weights were assigned based on our assessment of the depth of experience, sourced reporting, or scouting insight factored into the component lists themselves. Bob McKenzie’s list will be weighted heavily when it is added, for example.

In addition we have compiled rankings from several data and analytics sources. By a similar weighted geomean process, we then tabulated those into a separate “analytics” ranking for each of these prospects. The main composite ranking referenced above is built from the primary scouting sources only.

I included my own rough NHLe calculations as a source on the Big Board, but those numbers are factored into these rankings at very low weight and only become significant for prospects who are unranked by any other source. I explained why I did this in an earlier post.

Finally, the Sound Of Hockey Big Board provides information on each player’s measurements, statistics, and playing experience in the 2022-23 season, mostly drawn from Elite Prospects, NHL Central Scouting, and the NHL Draft Combine. In fact, based on what we have seen, we believe the Big Board is the most comprehensive single source in providing this information anywhere.

And the Big Board provides all of this for almost 7000 draft eligible prospects. (That is not a typo. Last year the Big Board covered almost 700 prospects. This year it is almost 7000.) 

So, without further ado, you can find the Sound Of Hockey Big Board in Google Sheets HERE. 

Important note on using the Sound Of Hockey Big Board: If you want to filter the data by various categories, highlight row 3, then select “Data,” “Filter Views,” and “Create New Temporary Filter View.” This will allow you to manipulate the data in a way visible only to you.

Here is a snapshot of top 64 prospects in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, sorted by the overall composite rank:

Rank	Name	2023 Team	2023 League	Position	Hand
1	Connor Bedard	Regina Pats	WHL	C	R
2	Adam Fantilli	Univ. of Michigan	NCAA	C	L
3	Leo Carlsson	Örebro HK	SHL	C	L
4	Matvei Michkov	SKA St. Petersburg	KHL	RW	L
5	Will Smith	USNTDP	USNTDP	C	R
6	Zach Benson	Winnipeg Ice	WHL	LW	L
7	Ryan Leonard	USNTDP	USNTDP	RW	R
8	Dalibor Dvorsky	AIK	HockeyAllsvenskan	C	L
9	Oliver Moore	USNTDP	USNTDP	C	L
10	David Reinbacher	EHC Kloten	NL	D	R
11	Axel Sandin Pellikka	Skellefteå AIK	SHL	D	R
12	Matthew Wood	Univ. of Connecticut	NCAA	RW	R
13	Colby Barlow	Owen Sound Attack	OHL	LW	L
14	Gabe Perreault	USNTDP	USNTDP	RW	L
15	Nate Danielson	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL	C	R
16	Dmitri Simashev	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	KHL	D	L
17	Eduard Sale	HC Kometa Brno	Czechia	LW	L
18	Brayden Yager	Moose Jaw Warriors	WHL	C	R
19	Samuel Honzek	Vancouver Giants	WHL	LW	L
20	Tom Willander	Rögle BK J20	J20 Nationell	D	R
21	Quentin Musty	Sudbury Wolves	OHL	LW	L
22	Calum Ritchie	Oshawa Generals	OHL	C	R
23	Daniil But	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	KHL	LW	R
24	Otto Stenberg	Frölunda HC	SHL	C	L
25	Andrew Cristall	Kelowna Rockets	WHL	LW	L
26	Gavin Brindley	Univ. of Michigan	NCAA	C	R
27	Mikhail Gulyayev	Omskie Yastreby	MHL	D	L
28	Riley Heidt	Prince George Cougars	WHL	C	L
29	Bradly Nadeau	Penticton Vees	BCHL	LW	R
30	Oliver Bonk	London Knights	OHL	D	R
31	Ethan Gauthier	Sherbrooke Phoenix	QMJHL	RW	R
32	David Edstrom	Frölunda HC J20	J20 Nationell	C	L
33	Lukas Dragicevic	Tri-City Americans	WHL	D	R
34	Gracyn Sawchyn	Seattle Thunderbirds	WHL	C	R
35	Michael Hrabal	Omaha Lancers	USHL	G	L
36	Jayden Perron	Chicago Steel	USHL	RW	R
37	Tanner Molendyk	Saskatoon Blades	WHL	D	L
38	Oscar Fisker Molgaard	HV71	SHL	C	L
39	Kasper Halttunen	HIFK	Liiga	RW	R
40	Nick Lardis	Peterborough Petes	OHL	LW	L
41	Anton Wahlberg	Malmö Redhawks	SHL	C	L
42	Theo Lindstein	Brynäs IF	SHL	D	L
43	Charlie Stramel	Univ. of Wisconsin	NCAA	C	R
44	Koehn Ziemmer	Prince George Cougars	WHL	RW	R
45	Trey Augustine	USNTDP Juniors	USHL	G	L
46	William Whitelaw	Youngstown Phantoms	USHL	RW	R
47	Beau Akey	Barrie Colts	OHL	D	R
48	Carson Rehkopf	Kitchener Rangers	OHL	LW	L
49	Luca Cagnoni	Portland Winterhawks	WHL	D	L
50	Caden Price	Kelowna Rockets	WHL	D	L
51	Danny Nelson	USNTDP	USNTDP	C	L
52	Etienne Morin	Moncton Wildcats	QMJHL	D	L
53	Alex Ciernik	Södertälje SK	HockeyAllsvenskan	LW	L
54	Carson Bjarnason	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL	G	L
55	Hunter Brzustewicz	Kitchener Rangers	OHL	D	R
56	Lenni Hameenaho	Ässät	Liiga	RW	R
57	Aram Minnetian	USNTDP	USNTDP	D	R
58	Maxim Strbak	Sioux Falls Stampede	USHL	D	R
59	Kalan Lind	Red Deer Rebels	WHL	LW	L
60	Aydar Suniev	Penticton Vees	BCHL	LW	L
61	Luca Pinelli	Ottawa 67’s	OHL	C	L
62	Nico Myatovic	Seattle Thunderbirds	WHL	LW	L
63	Easton Cowan	London Knights	OHL	RW	L
64	Roman Kantserov	Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk	MHL	RW	L

Rankings sources

Here are the scouting sources sources we used (so far) in building the Big Board:

• NHL Central Scouting (link): 453 prospects split into 4 separate lists
• Elite Prospects (link) (top 32 free; full list $$): 136 ranked prospects
• McKeen’s (link) (top 32 free; full list $$): 224 ranked prospects
• FC Hockey (link): 300 ranked prospects
• Dobber Prospects (link): 100 ranked prospects
• HockeyProspect.com (link): 32 ranked prospects
• DraftPro (link) (top 32 free; full list $$): 240 ranked prospects
• Corey Pronman of The Athletic (link) ($$): 127 ranked prospects
• Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (link) ($$): 100 ranked prospects
• Chris Peters of FloHockey (link): 100 ranked prospects
• Craig Button of TSN (link): 96 ranked prospects
• Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet (link): 32 ranked prospects
• Smaht Scouting (link): 100 ranked prospects
• Tony Ferrari of The Hockey News (link): 100 ranked prospects
• Peter Baracchini of The Hockey Writers (link): 128 ranked prospects
• Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News (link): 120 ranked prospects
• Recruit Scouting (link): 100 ranked prospects
• Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff (link): 150 ranked prospects
• Bob McKenzie of TSN (link): 96 ranked prospects

We also compiled the following data and analytics sources (so far):

• Chace MacCallum (link): 75 ranked prospects
• Scouching (link): 82 ranked prospects
• Hockey Prospecting (link) ($$): 403 ranked prospects split into 2 separate lists
• Thibaud Chatel (link): 794 ranked prospects
• Rachel Doerrie (link): 64 ranked prospects
• TopDownHockey (link): 200+ ranked prospects

Caveats on using the Big Board 

At this point, a few more words on the Big Board and its uses are likely in order.

First, when you click through to the full composite draft board (here is another link), you will see that many of the individual rankings are grayed out beyond the top handful. This is because those rankings are behind a paywall. To get to Corey Pronman’s full ranking of prospects, for example, a subscription to The Athletic is required. While we utilized all of the individual rankings listed above to develop our composite list, we will not be sharing subscriber-only individual rankings in the public version of the composite big board.

Second, the Big Board does not reflect our view on these prospects. We at Sound Of Hockey have read reports, watched some videos, and crunched a few numbers. I’ll be putting up a few thoughts of my own before the draft, but that is not what this exercise is about. The Big Board is simply a tabulation of the rankings of others. A player’s ranking has nothing to do with whether any of us here “like” the player or not. (I can assure you that, personally, I like Thunderbirds goalie Thomas Milic very much, for example.)

Third, and finally, it bears emphasis that a “composite” ranking is not the be-all and end-all. In many ways, finding the “best” public list and trusting it is preferable. A consensus board cannot explain why one prospect is ranked higher than another, and it certainly cannot displace the work of scouts or draft reporters.

But a composite ranking can provide some added information. Think of it as the cherry on top of the sundae, not the sundae itself.

How so? Last year I used the case of Brad Lambert as an example. This year Andrew Cristall could be an instructive case. Both players are talented but viewed as risky and had widely varying rankings on individual public boards. How do we synthesize that information? A composite approach can exploit the wisdom of the crowd. Cristall’s final ranking may blend the upside and risk, placing him in a “fair” or “expected” position.

Local connections in the draft 

For a team already loaded with drafted prospects, the Sound Of Hockey Big Board sees six more Seattle Thunderbirds having their names called during the 2023 NHL Draft:

• C Gracyn Sawchyn (ranked No. 34 on the Big Board)
• LW Nico Myatovic (No. 62)
• G Scott Ratzlaff (No. 88)
• G Thomas Milic (No. 171)
• LD Jeremy Hanzel (No. 175)
• LD Sawyer Mynio (No. 198)

This projection of six drafted players would trail only the U.S. National Team Development Program in total draftees. This is yet further confirmation of the remarkable team GM Bil La Forge has assembled. (More coming on that soon. Yes, that’s a tease.)

Beyond the Thunderbirds, there should be no shortage of local connections in the draft. One of the top defensemen in the draft is Lukas Dragicevic of the Tri-City Americans (No. 33). G Tomas Suchanek (No. 151) also has chance to get drafted from the Americans. C Tommaso De Luca (No. 168) and D Sage Weinstein (No. 206) of the Spokane Chiefs have a shot. And, from the Everett Silvertips, C Austin Roest (No. 172) is a good bet to be drafted as well.

Final thoughts

The 2023 NHL Draft kicks off in just two weeks, on June 28, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. PT. In the meantime, here again is a link to the 2023 Sound Of Hockey Big Board. Bookmark it, share it, and consult it between now and the draft. Keep it close by during the draft itself because the data in it is a pretty strong indicator of what the Kraken (and other teams) will do. In the meantime, similar to last year, we’ll return before the draft with some opinions on Big Board value targets and with a Seattle Kraken mock draft.