After drafting Julius Miettenen toward the beginning of the second round, the Kraken returned at the end of the round to draft a third-straight center prospect, Nathan Villeneuve of the OHL Sudbury Wolves. The pick used to select Villeneuve was the selection acquired from the Rangers in the trade that sent Alex Wennberg to New York at the trade deadline in March.

If Villeneuve’s junior team sounds familiar, it’s because Seattle Kraken prospect David Goyette has played his entire junior career for Sudbury. Both Goyette and Villeneuve were drafted as centers and selected in similar spots in the draft—Goyette No. 61 overall in 2022 and Villeneuve No. 63 overall in 2024. Beyond that, their profiles are fairly different. Goyette is a skilled, playmaking forward who recently has been skating more on the wing. Villeneuve is a grit-and-grind, two-way center.

Evaluating Villeneuve, the prospect

Villeneuve’s motor never stops running. He beats junior competition with pace and work ethic. In particular, he delivers tenacious effort on defense, backed up by smarts and skill to shut down opponents.

He also qualifies as a pest, which is a high compliment in hockey parlance. Though he’s not a large player (he’s 5-foot-11), he nonetheless brings a menacing style, playing physically through the echo of the whistle. Add to that an agitating on-ice vocabulary, and fists that have been known to fly, and you have the archetypical “hard to play against” player—the player you only love if he plays for your team. The smile says it all really.

At the Scouting Combine in Buffalo, Nathan Villeneuve and Anthony Romani inquired about photos from the podium and FloHockey had their backs👍
Of course, we made sure to get a few shots just from us after they were drafted to the @SeattleKraken and @Canucks!#NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/4EUzaq0t4v

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) June 29, 2024

I watched at least a half-dozen of his games between monitoring Goyette and getting a feel for Sudbury’s 2024 NHL Draft prospects. His physical edge, not to mention a fight or two, always stood out. So too did his pro-ready movements and game. He’s not flashy but it all looks NHL-translatable, at least in a depth role.

Scouts see a true center in the long term, perhaps as a third liner or an outstanding fourth-line player.

But several analysts noted that he is one to watch for a late breakout beyond his current checking profile. Why? First, he has a high-end pedigree, having been drafted No. 3 overall in the 2022 OHL Draft on the strength of a well-rounded skillset.

Second, he was a bit limited by context during the 2023-24 season. He played behind a top-heavy all-star group of forwards for Sudbury this past season. Players like Goyette, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Quentin Musty consumed crucial offensive 5-on-5 minutes and No. 1 power-play opportunities. In this context, he was asked to drive a third line and take key penalty kill minutes, along with a second unit power-play role. Villeneuve excelled in his assignments, but there should be an opportunity for more offense with a top-six role and top-unit power-play time.

Particularly encouraging is this nugget from Elite Prospects: “Third-line minutes didn’t prevent Nathan Villeneuve from scoring at a near-point-per-game pace. Through the regular season, he amassed even-strength primary points per minute at a higher rate than Beckett Sennecke, Jett Luchanko, and multiple first-round NHL draft picks.” Sennecke was drafted No. 3 overall.

Both Corey Pronman of The Athletic and Elite Prospects see near-NHL-average skills across the board. When you combine that with a relentless work ethic and a coming opportunity to be a featured offensive player in the best junior league in the world, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that Villeneuve will avoid typical prospect setbacks and continue to ascend.

Nathan Villeneuve player profile

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Plus-Minus
2021-22	Navan Grads U18 AAA	HEO U18	30	26	41	67	79	–
2021-22	Navan Grads	CCHL	7	0	0	0	18	–
2022-23	Sudbury Wolves	OHL	55	12	10	22	57	-4
2023-24	Sudbury Wolves	OHL	56	23	27	50	58	10

Grading the pick on the Sound Of Hockey Big Board

The Sound Of Hockey Big Board had Villeneuve as the No. 91 overall prospect. Superficially, one might surmise that Seattle would have had a shot at nabbing the forward at either of its third-round picks (pick Nos. 73, 88). However, Bob McKenzie’s scout-informed list had Villeneuve at No. 73 overall, and my data score analysis put Villeneuve at No. 71. These data points suggest Villeneuve may have been a candidate to go off the board shortly after pick No. 63 if Seattle did not draft him.

So, I don’t have issue with where the Kraken took Villeneuve, assuming they didn’t want to lose the player, nor do I have many qualms with the player himself. He’s precisely the type of player I love to watch.

My questions by this point in the draft were more focused on the players Seattle was bypassing—Zeev Buium at No. 8, Andrew Basha at No. 40, and now, at No. 63, a number of players with higher public scouting marks and scoring data profiles, including Henry Mews, for example. Seattle was having a solid draft, but was it leaving value on the table? Surely, Seattle’s draft board said no, and only time will tell.

Villeneuve’s highest rankings tracked on the Big Board came from HockeyProspect(dot)com, which had Villeneuve as the No. 29 overall prospect in the draft, Scouching, which had Villeneuve at No. 52, and McKenzie, who had the Sudbury center at No. 73. NHL Central Scouting had him as the No. 60 North American skater.

Video scouting Villeneuve

Scouting breakdown

Strengths:

“[Villeneuve’s] an all-around forward who plays with good pace and isn’t afraid to mix it up along the boards. Villeneuve loves to spend time causing havoc in front of the net and plays a strong off-puck game compared to many others around this point in the list. His energy and feistiness will give him a shot in the NHL, even if he doesn’t have the pure skill to burn.” – Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff

“Villeneuve’s a feisty, high-pace attacker with a lockdown defensive game. When he’s not throwing hits and winning battles, he’s eliminating off-puck threats and pickpocketing the puck carrier. When the puck arrives on his stick, he instantly takes the middle or starts a give-and-go to attack the zone with speed.

“The high-pace transition game allows Villeneuve to create scoring chances off the rush, often by cutting in front of the defense or dropping the shoulder to cut to the net. He always makes sure to establish body positioning en route.” – Elite Prospects

Weaknesses:

“Villeneuve is bound to be penalized by NHL scouting staffs for his violation of the OHL’s social media policy that saw him earn a lengthy suspension (15 games) for inappropriate game-related comments, bringing his judgment into question…

“An early pick in his OHL draft year, Villeneuve has yet to truly reach his upside as an OHL player. His creativity and playmaking ability have not translated as well as anticipated, leaving some concerns over his NHL upside. However, he possesses a solid floor, but also some intrigue over his offensive ceiling once he receives more ice time.” – McKeen’s

Final thoughts

For me, Nathan Villeneuve wasn’t the highest-ranked player on the board when he was picked. Add in his involvement in and 15-game suspension relating to allegations that Sudbury players discussed putting a bounty on Barrie defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson after Aitcheson hit Villeneuve in a Jan. 18, 2024, game, and I admit to feeling some doubt about the wisdom of the pick at the time. That said, assuming Seattle is confident there are no lingering off-ice judgment concerns with the young man, I like Villeneuve’s game. I’d expect him to show well at the team’s Development Camp, which starts on-ice work on Tuesday, and follow that up with a step forward for Sudbury during the 2024-25 season.