McKeen’s Hockey releases final rankings for the 2013 NHL Draft.

We have posted below an excerpt from a press release we sent out on Tuesday. Since we sent it out, we should have expected Patrick Roy to make it interesting in his first press conference, by throwing his first overall pick into the rumour mill. Welcome to the NHL, Patrick, and adding a great twist to a draft with a number of story lines developing with a month to go.

We will be finishing the Draft Guide up over the weekend and expect to publish very soon.

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“For Immediate Release: May 28, 2013

McKeen’s Hockey releases final rankings for the 2013 NHL Draft.

Following an entertaining Memorial Cup featuring eight potential first-round draft picks, we at McKeen’s Hockey are pleased to release our final ranking for the 2013 NHL Draft. The scouting profiles are available by subscription to the online edition of the draft guide, found at www.mckeenshockey.com.

We will be releasing the McKeen’s 2013 NHL Draft Guide later this week, featuring the top 120 scouting profiles, sleepers and honourable mentions, as well as the top 30 for the 2014 draft, the top 10 for 2015 and the top four in 2016.

The 2013 draft promises to be one of the deepest in many years, with three potential franchise players Jones, MacKinnon and Drouin producing memorable performances all year, including the Memorial Cup.

Beyond the big three, there are some exciting, talented prospects well into the second-round, such as Nicolas Petan from the Portland Winterhawks ranked at #46. Petan scored 10 points in five games to finish third in scoring at the Memorial Cup, after tying for the scoring lead in the WHL and playoffs in a remarkable season. He is only one example of a player that would likely be a first-round pick in most draft years.

The NHL Draft on June 30^th, 2013 in New Jersey promises to be interesting as always, with Craig McTavish actively speculating on trading the Oilers 7^th pick, and Columbus and Calgary both with three first round picks.

McKeen’s team of scouts across North America and Europe has watched these players develop all season and bring deep insight into their playing style, strengths and weaknesses and their character.

Iain Morrell, publisher of McKeen’s, comments “I have been covering the Draft almost 20 years, and this is truly an intriguing group of players. It reminds me of 2003, when Nashville was able to draft Ryan Suter in the first round and Shea Weber well into the second at 49th. An astute franchise at this draft could be laying a foundation for future championships.”

I will spare you the boilerplates and contact information and share a few more thoughts on Nicolas Petan along with his scouting profile.

The season is long for high end draft eligible players still playing in the Memorial Cup starting with the Ivan Hlinka tournament in August through to the end of May. For the top prospects, it is a pressured fill season under a spotlight, and can mean playing in excess of 100 games, barring injuries. It is a tough grind, that tests them physically and mentally, and one of the reasons many scouts have made many decisions prior to the Memorial Cup. This can be particularly true for smaller players who are still filling in their frames at seventeen years old. These reasons make Nicolas Petan’s Memorial Cup and season that much more remarkable. Just turning 18 during the tournament he is well over a hundred games, having played 96 with Portland alone this season, which included the Ivan Hlinka, and the U18 World Juniors. Petan scored ten points in 5 games in the Memorial Cup to put an exclamation point on an extraordinary season. He scored 120 points versus 35 in his rookie season, while contributing an incredible plus 68. He has answered any concerns about durability and shown leadership and competitiveness that will be hard to ignore on draft day. He will be giving teams pause for thought before the first round is done.

Here is Nicolas Petan’s final scouting profile from McKeen’s 2013 NHL Draft Guide.

McKeen’s Draft Guide – May, 2013

Grabbed the wheel last fall following some key graduations and steered a powerhouse Portland team (57-12-3) to a WHL championship .. tied for the league scoring title with teammate Brendan Leipsic, more than tripling his rookie totals from `11-12 .. led the league with 74 assists and a dizzying plus-68 rating – yet it was his emergence as a goal scorer that drew the most attention .. tied for fourth in the league with 46 goals – three back of Leipsic’s league-leading 49 .. won gold with British Columbia at the 2011 Canada Winter Games (6-4-8-12) ..

SCOUTING REPORT .. clever, highly-skilled playmaker with high-end vision and imagination .. plays a bold and gutsy style given his diminutive stature – his courage level helping offset the obvious size deficiency .. gifted puckhandler – equipped with a keen sense for pressure .. adept at drawing checkers in and creating space for others .. springy, sneaky-quick skater on a wide base – driven by flexible legs that are long relative to body size .. comfortable operating with legs spread wide – which brings his hands and stick closer to the ice, thereby enhancing control .. exhibits great presence of mind in possession – head up – deploying brief bursts of activity followed by pauses where he slows the game down and assesses options .. squirmy 1-on-1 – makes nifty little shifts and lateral cuts, and will hold the puck an extra second to get outside defenders and free up a shooting lane .. can cut at sharp angles with the puck and unload a quick, accurate wristshot at full speed .. responsible and diligent defensively – competes hard in his zone, but still labours to contain bigger opponents down low .. continued the assault in the WHL playoffs, ranking second in overall scoring (21-9-19-28), though gradually began to wear down late in an extended campaign .. a first-round talent in every way – except one.