Every year, the MasterCard Memorial Cup is a key event for National Hockey League amateur scouts looking to finalize their respective opinions on each draft-eligible player.
The 2013 edition, set to kick off May 17 in Saskatoon, looks to be as sumptuous a buffet of soon-to-be drafted stars as any in recent memory, including a display of the projected top three picks on the last day of the round robin when the Halifax Mooseheads take on the Portland Winterhawks.
That top three of Winterhawks’ defenceman Seth Jones and Mooseheads’ forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin are sure to get the lion’s share of attention, but the tournament is full of players almost certain to go in the first round at the NHL Draft in June.
Here are the top five most intriguing draft-eligible players not named Jones, MacKinnon or Drouin at the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup (in no particular order).
Max Domi, C – London Knights
Where the skillful son of former Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi will end up getting drafted within the first round is anybody’s guess, with as much fluidity among mock drafts as anyone. Domi’s 11 goals and 32 points in 21 Ontario Hockey League playoff games were good for second most in the province behind only Mark Scheifele and perhaps his explosion can be accredited to being ranked a mere 23rd on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm draft-eligible list.
While some may knock his size at five-foot-10 and 194 pounds, he uses it to great effect, utilizing a low centre of balance, a strong lower-body and good puck skills to create offensively (a skill set akin to a certain Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain, according to London Knights’ head coach Dale Hunter).
Nicolas Petan, C – Portland Winterhawks
Sure Petan is small (five-foot-eight), but numbers don’t lie and his are as gaudy as they come. His 46 goals and 120 regular-season points were tops among anybody in the entire country (small, draft-eligible, or not), and he followed that production up with 28 points in the post-season – good enough for second most in the WHL. Even more impressive is that only 18 of those 120 points were on the power play, so clearly the Delta, B.C., native is unafraid at even strength.
Possessing of tremendous vision and speed, Petan is on a line with the WHL’s all time playoff goal scorer Ty Rattie, and fellow 120 point-scorer Brendan Leipsic, so it would serve well to pay attention whenever those three are on the ice.
Nikita Zadorov, D – London Knights
This MasterCard Memorial Cup is interesting in that most of the top forwards seem to be draft eligible while most of the top defencemen are not. London’s behemoth Zadorov, however, is an intriguing exception to that rule.
At six-foot-five and 230 pounds, he isn’t hiding from anybody, but the potential to be an effective two-way physical presence with a nasty edge seems to be there for the Russian blue-liner – and that skill set does not come along every day. His puck skills are developing at a fast rate and his bomb from the point is as fierce as any in Canadian major junior hockey.
When London’s top two defenders Scott Harrington and Olli Maata were away with their respective nations at the World Junior Hockey Championship, Zadorov stepped up in a big way and helped the Knights in not missing a step.
Zachary Fucale, G – Halifax Mooseheads
Fucale may be play behind a great team, but do not be fooled: he is the real deal. His fantastic lateral mobility mixed with an impressive technical maturity have helped the Rosemere, Que., native be Halifax’s number-one since the age of 16 when an injury felled veteran Anthony Terenzio nine games into last season.
Featured more in depth back in January, Fucale led the list of draft-eligible North American goaltenders from start to finish this campaign and though his club is loaded up front, an unheralded defence corps means he will still have to be solid for the Mooseheads to hoist the cup when all is said and done.
Bo Horvat, C/LW – London Knights
At a solid six-foot and 198 pounds, Horvat is "man-strong" and is as complete a two-way player as any in the 2013 NHL Draft (perhaps one notch below Ottawa 67’s Sean Monahan). His 61 points in the regular season is 31 more than last year and he almost completely shut down OHL scoring champion Vincent Trocheck of Plymouth in the second round.
Not only can he check, but his 16 goals in 21 post-season games isn’t bad either and his draft stock continues to rise at an alarmingly fast pace.
As a 17 year-old, Horvat takes all the key face-offs for the Knights and it would not be a huge surprise to see him sneak into the Top 10 in the draft.
