Doerrie's 2023 NHL Draft Rankings: Top 64 and What Makes Team Lists Different

We're approaching Rachel Doerrie's favorite time of the hockey year with the NHL draft. Here's her top-64 draft ranking and what goes into creating a list in an NHL front office.

The Stanley Cup has been paraded down the Las Vegas Strip, which means it is officially NHL draft season. 

The last week of June and July 1 are my favorite times of the hockey year. There is a ton of movement at the draft, teams sign players to exorbitant contracts, and we start to see who wants to really shake their team up. The Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets got that party started early, but the biggest event on the calendar is the NHL draft.

All year, I have focused on releasing the rankings my draft model generates. Sure, I make the model, but I deliberately do not inject opinion until the final set of rankings. That gives me enough time to watch the players, see combine results and gain an understanding of the prospect landscape.

Making a public list is not the same exercise as a team list. Having been on both sides of the curtain, the similarities stop at “we made a list.” No one in the public sphere has their neck on the line, an owner to answer to, or a contract to renew. 

Some scouts won’t stick their necks on certain players for fear they may lose their job if they are wrong. There is a different strategy with three first-round picks than with three total picks in the entire draft. 

The public sphere can afford to be wrong on their rankings, meaning we can take more swings and rank the higher-risk players in different spots. But, if you’re an amateur scouting director whose job is on the line and you must produce an NHL player, you’re going to have a different approach.

The best example this season is David Reinbacher. Does he have the highest ceiling? No. Is he a virtual lock to be a minute-eater at the NHL level? Most scouts believe so. 

Axel Sandin Pellikka draws comparisons to some high-end offensive defensemen, but he’s small. His ceiling is much higher than Reinbacher’s, but he’s not a sure thing in the eyes of scouts. I can rank Sandin Pellikka ahead of Reinbacher because I am able to value potential more heavily than a head scout who knows he needs to produce an NHL player from the first round. 

Another example is Andrew Cristall, who will likely slide toward the bottom of the first round and, perhaps, into the second. Cristall’s toolbox is packed, but a lackluster performance at the U-18s and inconsistent play make scouts hesitant to use a high pick on him. I’d take a swing on the skill and sense, but I’m not the one who has to deal with ownership anymore.

This list is in no way, shape or form, a representation of what I believe will happen at the draft. In fact, I fully expect Reinbacher to go in the top 10. I expect other players to fall well below where I have them because of the perceived risk. 

This ranking is purely my model, with boom-and-bust considerations and watching a minimum of 10 games for each player. I tend to rank risky players with higher ceilings ahead of those with high floors and lower potential. I would alter that approach slightly in an NHL front office, but I firmly believe in favoring skill and hockey sense in a possible star over the size and physicality of a guaranteed bottom-six player.

Without further ado, here's my top 64, starting with the player who was just crowned the IIHF's male player of the year. Height and weight information come from the NHL Central Scouting final rankings.

1. Connor Bedard, C, Regina (WHL), 5-foot-10, 185 pounds

2. Adam Fantilli, C, Univ. of Michigan (NCAA), 6-foot-2, 195 pounds

3. Matvei Michkov, RW, Sochi (KHL), 5-foot-10, 172 pounds

4. Leo Carlsson, C, Orebro (SHL), 6-foot-3, 198 pounds

5. Will Smith, C, NTDP (USHL), Six-foot, 181 pounds

6. Zach Benson, LW, Winnipeg (WHL), 5-foot-9, 163 pounds

7. Axel Sandin Pellikka, D, Skelleftea (SHL), 5-foot-11, 176 pounds

8. Oliver Moore, NTDP (USHL), 5-foot-11, 188 pounds

9. Dalibor Dvorsky, C, AIK (Allsevskan), 6-foot-1, 201 pounds

10. Ryan Leonard, RW, NTDP (USHL), 5-foot-11, 192 pounds

11. Gabriel Perreault, LW, NTDP (USHL), 5-foot-11, 165 pounds

12. Matthew Wood, RW, UConn (NCAA), 6-foot-3, 193 pounds

13. Eduard Sale, LW, Brno (Czechia), 6-foot-2, 174 pounds

14. Andrew Cristall, RW, Kelowna (WHL), 5-foot-9, 167 pounds

15. Brayden Yager, C/RW, Moose Jaw (WHL), 5-foot-11, 166 pounds

16. Dmitri Simashev, D, Yaroslavl (KHL), 6-foot-4, 198 pounds

17. Tom Willander, D, Rogle (J20 Nationell), 6-foot-1, 180 pounds

18. Colby Barlow, LW, Owen Sound (OHL), Six-foot, 190 pounds

19. Quentin Musty, LW, Sudbury (OHL), 6-foot-2, 200 pounds

20. Daniil But, LW, Yaroslavl (MHL), 6-foot-5, 203 pounds

21. Samuel Honzek, LW/C, Vancouver (WHL), 6-foot-4, 186 pounds

22. David Reinbacher, D, Kloten (Switzerland), 6-foot-2, 185 pounds

23. Calum Ritchie, C, Oshawa (OHL), 6-foot-2, 185 pounds

24. Mikhail Gulyayev, D, Omsk (KHL), 5-foot-10, 172 pounds

25. Otto Stenberg, C/W, Frolunda (J20 Nationell), 5-foot-11, 180 pounds

26. Riley Heidt, C, Prince George (WHL), 5-foot-10, 178 pounds

27. Nate Danielson, C, Brandon (WHL), 6-foot-1, 185 pounds

28. Tanner Molendyk, D, Saskatoon (WHL), 5-foot-11, 182 pounds

29. Oscar Fisker Molgaard, W/C, HV71 (SHL), Six-foot, 163 pounds

30. Gavin Brindley, RW/C, Univ. of Michigan (NCAA), 5-foot-9, 165 pounds

31. Jayden Perron, RW, Chicago (USHL), 5-foot-9, 163 pounds

32. Gracyn Sawchyn, C/RW, Seattle (WHL), 5-foot-11, 157 pounds

33. Ethan Gauthier, RW, Sherbrooke (QMJHL), 5-foot-11, 175 pounds

34. Bradly Nadeau, C, Penticton (BCHL), 5-foot-10, 161 pounds

35. Beau Akey, D, Barrie (OHL), Six-foot, 170 pounds

36. Koehn Ziemmer, RW, Prince George (WHL), Six-foot, 202 pounds

37. William Whitelaw, RW, Youngstown (USHL), 5-foot-9, 173 pounds

38. Michael Hrabal, G, Omaha (USHL), 6-foot-6, 209 pounds

39. Lukas Dragicevic, D, Tri-City (WHL), 6-foot-1, 190 pounds

40. David Edstrom, C, Frolunda (J20 Nationell), 6-foot-3, 185 pounds

41. Charlie Stramel, C/W, Univ. of Wisconsin (NCAA), 6-foot-3, 212 pounds

42. Oliver Bonk, D, London (OHL), 6-foot-2, 180 pounds

43. Timur Mukhanov, LW/RW, Omsk (MHL), 5-foot-7, 178 pounds

44. Trey Augustine, G, NTDP (USHL), 6-foot-1, 183 pounds

45. Caden Price, D, Kelowna (WHL), 6-foot-1, 185 pounds

46. Alex Ciernik, LW/RW, Sodertalje (Allsevskan), 5-foot-11, 176 pounds

47. Danny Nelson, LW, NTDP (USHL), 6-foot-3, 202 pounds

48. Carson Rehkopf, C/LW, Kitchener (OHL), 6-foot-2, 193 pounds

49. Noah Dower Nilsson, C, Frolunda J20 (J20 Nationell), Six-foot, 174 pounds

50. Anton Wahlberg, C/W, Malmo (SHL), 6-foot-3, 194 pounds

51. Hunter Brzustewicz, D, Kitchener (OHL), Six-foot, 190 pounds

52. Kasper Halttunen, LW/RW, HIFK (Liiga), 6-foot-3, 207 pounds

53. Kalan Lind, LW, Red Deer (WHL), Six-foot, 158 pounds

54. Maxim Strbak, D, Sioux Falls (USHL), 6-foot-2, 205 pounds

55. Lenni Hameenaho, RW, Assat (Liiga), Six-foot, 173 pounds

56. Theo Lindstein, D, Brynas (SHL), Six-foot, 180 pounds

57. Aram Minnetian, D, NTDP (USHL), 5-foot-11, 192 pounds

58. Etienne Morin, D, Moncton (QMJHL), Six-foot, 180 pounds

59. Aydar Suniev, LW, Penticton (BCHL), 6-foot-2, 198 pounds

60. Felix Nilsson, C/W, Rogle (J20 Nationell), Six-foot, 174 pounds

61. Nick Lardis, RW, Hamilton (OHL), 5-foot-11, 165 pounds

62. Mathieu Cataford, RW, Halifax (QMJHL), 5-foot-11, 190 pounds

63. Carson Bjarnason, G, Brandon (WHL), 6-foot-3, 186 pounds

64. Andrew Strathmann, D, Tri-City (USHL), 5-foot-11, 187 pounds

Be sure to also check out THN's final NHL draft rankings and Tony Ferrari's draft rankings.