2012 NHL Draft Consensus Top 100 - April Update

The April update is all about Teuvo Teräväinen. The 5'10" 172 pound forward (he can play both sides) from Jokerit of the Sm-Liiga has rated as a second-round prospect for most of the year. In our initial consensus top 100, Teräväinen ranked 34th. He dropped with each update - 38th, 43rd, 48th - until February when he jumped back to 34th. This month he jumped 25 spots to number 9.

The first draft analyst to notice him was Corey Pronman from Hockey Prospectus who rated Teräväinen as a top 10 talent back in February, when everyone but Craig Button had him ranked lower than 28th. Since then, all of our source services except Red Line Report have moved Teräväinen into the top 10.

The young forward scored 11 goals and tallied 7 assists in just 40 regular season games for Jokerit, impressive totals for a 17-year-old playing in a professional league. But it was Teräväinen's Sm-Liiga post-season that caught the attention of all of the other services. In 9 post-season games, he scored twice and added 4 assists and was a +6. He tied for the team lead in goals and assists, led the team in points and +/-, and headlines in Finnish newspapers.

His performance impressed Button enough to slot him in at 6th, to the Anaheim Ducks, in his first mock draft.

The only drawback to Teräväinen's game is his size. at just 5'10" and 172 pounds, he could be overwhelmed on the smaller NHL ice, but Pronman thinks his skating and agility will help to alleviate concerns:

He's small guy and that's his main issue but he does have a decent compete level. But he's an impressive skater with a great first few steps who can get to a dangerous top speed that puts defenders on their heels, while also showing the ability to change gears quickly, and is very elusive from a standstill. He's a smart, creative player who knows how to miss checks and open up lanes.

His skill level is at the very top of the 2012 class, Pronman notes:

His combination of quickness and speed is a great asset but his possession skills are even better. He has high-end puck skills which when combined with the ability he has with his feet, allow him to make very rapid movements with the puck and create space for himself in an instant.

Pronman's description, combined with Teräväinen's highlight reel below call to mind the Oilers' Jordan Eberle, especially his moves to the backhand.

The final word on Teräväinen comes from Pronman: "He's a top 10 prospect and a first line talent." Combine Teräväinen's rise with Mikhail Grigorenko and Ryan Murray's incremental drops - is there a possibility Teräväinen can crack the top 5?

The sources for the consensus list are Bob McKenzie, Redline Report, Future Considerations, ISS, Craig Button, Hockey Prospectus, The Scouting Report, and Win Shares via Nick, A.K.A. Mathletic.

• Mikhail Grigorenko dropped to 3rd behind Filip Forsberg, but given the considerable coverage his failings against Halifax have received, he's likely to drop again in May. His intangibles have been questioned for the last few months and falling out of the top 5 because of a perceived lack of care, grit, heart or work ethic isn't out of the question.
• Pontus Åberg is up from 19th in January to 11th today, passing countryman Sebastian Collberg who sits 14th after peaking at 10th in December. Both are lightweight burners with skill, but Collberg was held without a point in 40 SEL games this season.
• Of note for Oilers fans - Dalton Thrower has moved from 77th in September to his current rank of 31st. Given the Oilers predeliction for 2nd round defensemen and Thrower's proximity (he plays for the WHL's Saskatoon Blades), he could be the Oilers' selection at 32 in June.
• Henrik Samuelsson's move to Edmonton hasn't helped his draft stock. His rankings: 21 - 20 - 24 - 25 - 37 - 38 show that scouts might think there is more pest than skill in Samuelsson's game.
• If the draft were to follow the consensus list, the Oilers would select Nail Yakupov, Jordan Schmaltz and Victoria's Steven Hodges, the biggest mover on the April list, up 45 spots. Unfortunately, a Russian forward and an American defenseman don't fit the Oilers' recent drafting modus operandi.
• The Flames, if the draft were to roll by this list, would draft Sebastian Collberg in the 1st round and Regina's Chandler Stephenson in the 3rd.
• It wouldn't be a consensus update without mentioning Nick Ebert. Ebert dropped another 7 spots to 52nd, and is now in danger of dropping out of the second round. His rankings in sequence: 5 - 10 - 15 - 22 - 45 - 52. What's wrong with Ebert? Every person I've talked to has the same complaint: work ethic and desire, both in game and during practice. An OHL scout said that the more a team values intangibles, the lower Ebert is going to go on their board.