My review of the 2022 NHL draft – and a detailed look on who the Dallas Stars got
It was a historic night for Slovak hockey. Also, the Dallas Stars have definitely identified an area of need in this year's draft.
The 2022 NHL Entry Draft was really something else. After a couple of years having a pandemic situation, things have seemingly returned to normalcy and we could all experience what a thrilling event the NHL draft could be – even more when a hockey town like Montreal is hosting.
Honestly, I really wouldn’t mind if the NHL got back to the times when the draft was always held in Montreal, because the atmosphere was just electric! Maybe it was a bit inflated via having your home team picking first and making all kinds of deals in the first round, but it was amazing to see nevertheless.
There were some things that I’d change for sure, like speed up the whole 1st round a bit or if you want to go more crazy in the entertainment area, have one “magic” pick after each round that is drew as an extra pick for everyone to win at a chance of 1:32 and with a bit of luck, every team can have 1 extra pick in that draft.
But back to reality.
As a Slovak hockey fan, the draft started incredibly well, with Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec going with the first two picks. For a little while, the draft board was genuinely looking like a dream come true for every hockey fan and follower of these guys since 2018-19 in Slovakia.
I really don’t want to brag but I was on this train for a couple of days coming into the draft – that if Montreal *really* picks Slafkovsky I could definitely see New Jersey picking Simon Nemec, making this a truly historic achievement for Slovak hockey.
If you don’t believe me, I have kept the receipts.
Watching the draft deep into the night in Slovakia I was ready for any scenario and for a little while, I thought the Canadiens would snag the 4th overall pick from Seattle – especially with the way Gary Bettman announced those two trades on the draft floor.
Even though Ron Francis botched the expansion draft quite a bit, he surely wasn’t budging here and took what literally fell into his hands – and that is one Shane Wright – a pick who in my opinion could have and probably even should have gone a little sooner.
But this is the NHL and even when the teams always preach the mantra – best players available – they definitely only mean that when they do not have a pressing issue within the makeup of their current roster and a holes to fill.
That directly leads us to the Dallas Stars – a team we will dissect a bit here and probably the main reason you subscribe here, right? Right?
As the first round progressed I noticed two notable names falling – Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Joakim Kemell. Stars Director of Scouting Joe McDonnell all but confirmed they were looking at the same guys and hoping they could snatch one of them at pick number 18.
When it came down to the pick number 17 and the Nashville Predators on the clock, my weird mind immediately went back to the final day of the regular season and the comeback of Arizona against Nashville that basically secured Stars a meetup with Calgary instead of butchery by Colorado – but also potentially moved them down one pick in this year’s draft. Crazy how things could’ve unfolded if the Predators held on to their 4-0 lead.
Anyways, the Predators picked falling Joakim Kemell, who was generally in the Top 10 in all of the mock drafts coming into the main event. Having no fallers available, the Stars went back to the position of need – and picked towering Swiss Lian Bichsel, who had played against men in SHL for Leksand IF.
LD Lian Bichsel - 1st round (18) - Leksand (SWE)
Bichsel is very raw but already very solid and responsible defenseman, who was predicted to go to Stars at 18 in two most recent mock drafts by ESPN and also Corey Pronman, so there wasn’t really any shock factor like in 2018, when the Stars reached a little bit and picked Ty Dellandrea instead of Joel Farabee or falling Joe Veleno.
Bichsel is living on his own away from his family in Leksand and making the most out of this life opportunity, being able to play and learn from pros while looking at his own development and achieving his goals. He assessed himself when he was playing in the Swiss juniors league and thought he needed to get better quicker – against better competition – that’s why he moved to Sweden.
SHL and especially Leksand and its staff is a great place to be for him for at least one more year, they see him as a big project too – with quite the potential reward as well. When coming into Sweden, he was lacking behind his fellow teammates in various types of drills – simply because they haven’t done any of those in Switzerland. But after a few weeks and months, he got so better at them he’s now doing them even better than Swedes that are there for their whole lifes – just a word from one of Leksand’s performance trainers.
I expect him to get better at creating offense and pimping his defensive details as well, have a strong developmental season in SHL and potentially come into North America for the 2023/24 season. He’s definitely Top 4 potential and the good thing is he is able to play on both sides of defense, something only Miro Heiskanen is able to do within the current squad.
RD Christian Kyrou - 2nd round (50) - Erie Otters (OHL)
There were some names I expected to go at 50 for the Stars like Tristan Luneau, who went to Ducks a few picks later but after doing some digging on Christian Kyrou – I can say I really like the potential upside here.
He is the oldest possible draft eligible in this year’s class (while sharing the birthday date, not year though, with yours truly) being born on September 16, 2004. He didn’t play in the covid impacted season and wasn’t on any boards last year so maybe it was a good thing for him that he wasn’t born a few hours earlier.
He projects as an offense-first type of defenseman, who is a bit smaller and has to work a bit on his skating but has a good shot and can also quarterback a power-play. I can see a Tyson Barrie type of player in him and that’s exactly what the Stars could use already this season.
The fact that he can see the developmental curve from close in his brother Jordan, playing for the Blues may only help him. This could be sneakily good value at 50 – because the Stars are betting on how fast can Kyrou actually improve from this day on. The trend from this season is encouraging.
RD George Fegaras - 3rd round (83) - Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) in 2021/22 and then Cornell (NCAA) in 2023/24
This was an interesting pick considering the spot and definitely a longer project that could potentially reap benefits no earlier than 2025. Fegaras has a great personality and will play in USHL next season before switching to NCAA and playing for Big Red – Cornell University.
That gives Stars enough time to evaluate him, because they don’t need to sign him until mid summer in 2027. He will be properly monitored by then but right now he won’t have any impact on either Dallas Stars or Texas Stars for a good chunk of the decade.
RD Gavin White - 4th round (115) - Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
Artem Grusnikov’s teammate got the Stars excited when watching the playoffs and the Memorial Cup and rightfully so. Yet another right-handed defender in this draft class with a slightly different time frame of development than the other guys, which gives Stars layers of when they can actually promote these guys to a pro environment.
White is an overager, which means that potentially in only 1 year he could be slotted in the AHL and playing against men for the Texas Stars. That gives him some advantages over let’s say Kyrou on that coveted RD spot. We may see that Grushnikov - White pairing seamlessly transitioning from OHL to AHL next summer.
G Maxim Mayorov - 5th round (147) - Loko Jaroslavl (MHL)
A total shot in the dark, as Stars scouts would say. Mayorov is Russian, which is a tough go at the moment. Moreover, he’s a goalie and those are voodoo anyways. But, he’s big and probably got the green light from Stars goalie whisperer Jeff Reese so we will see in maybe 3-4 years if the Stars have found a hidden gem in this one.
I’d personally rather take a flier on the overage goalie Nick Malik, being selected 13 picks later by the Lightning – but that’s only because I know him and not Mayorov.
W Matthew Seminoff - 6th round (179) - Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
Another connection-based pick, with Seminoff being a teammate of one the Stars top prospects, Logan Stankoven. He’s also from a team owned by Tom Gagliardi and the Stars keep the tradition of taking somebody from Kamploops almost every year. Remember Jermaine Loewen, anyone?
Seminoff needs to work on his skating but he was projected a Top 100 pick mostly so this is considered a steal already. If he works on his deficiencies that caused him to slide, the Stars could use some of his tools in 3 to 4 years time.
EliteProspects gave this Stars draft haul a B- grade and I totally agree with it. They probably could’ve done a little bit better at every pick but overall there is a good-to-great chance one or more of these prospects pan out in the long term and could become great contributors down-the-line for the Stars.
For example, Bichsel and Kyrou are such total opposites — for better or worse so far — so I can definitely project them to be paired together in 3-4 years for the Dallas Stars.
Hopefully, it may come even sooner than that.