Auston Matthews
Centre, 6-feet-1 1/2 inches, 210 pounds
Zurich ZSC (Switzerland)
Matthews hails from that hockey hotbed of Scottsdale, Ariz., and unconventionally chose to play in the Swiss league's first division rather than major junior or U.S. college hockey, on the grounds that it would make him more NHL ready. Matthews scored 24 goals and 22 assists in 36 games for Zurich – excellent numbers in a low-scoring, defensive-minded league – and aims to be the first U.S.-born player to be drafted first overall since Patrick Kane in 2007.
"He is a complete elite centreman," TSN chief scout Craig Button said. "He is Anze Kopitar in the way he plays the game. He might be a little bit better of a goal scorer than Kopitar, but isn't as big – and he's got an indomitable will like Peter Forsberg. You're not pushing him out of the game. You might limit him, but you're not stopping him."
Patrik Laine
Left wing, 6-foot-4, 209 pounds
Tappara (Finland)
Laine is a right-handed shot who plays the left wing and saw his stock surge, beginning with an exceptionally productive performance for Finland's world-junior championship team. Laine further cemented his reputation as a big-game player by winning the playoff MVP award in Finland's elite league, where he scored 10 goals in 18 games playing for eventual champion Tappara.
In a goal-starved era in the NHL, it is Laine's ability to shoot the puck – with power and accuracy, with a slap shot or a wrist shot – that most intrigues teams. Though Matthews has been the clear-cut choice to go first overall, Laine has been sneaking up on him on some draft boards.
There is a school of thought developing that if a particular team has a greater need for a scoring winger than a No. 1 centre and wins the lottery Saturday, they might trade out of that position and drop down to the second spot to draft Laine, who would appear to be an excellent fit on teams such as the Edmonton Oilers (to play alongside Connor McDavid) or the Calgary Flames (to play with Sean Monahan).
Jesse Puljujarvi
Right wing, 6-foot-3, 203 pounds
Karpat (Finland)
Puljujarvi is the youngest of the players ranked in the top three – he will not turn 18 until May 7 – but recently wowed scouts with a strong performance on behalf of Finland's winning team at the under-18 championships in North Dakota. Puljujarvi is 6-foot-3, 203, and Laine is 6-foot-4, 209, which makes them similar on one level because both have elite size and skill. But they differ in terms their long-term impact because Laine has more pure scoring ability, while Puljujarvi is a more, well-rounded player.
"Asking me to pick between the two of them is like asking me to pick between Teemu Selanne and Jari Kurri," Button said. "Selanne and Kurri each scored 600 goals in the NHL, each done in a different way. Did Jari Kurri show up on highlight reels very often? No. But he scored goals, killed penalties and was an unbelievable two-way player. And Selanne – he had that flair, he had that flash. They didn't call him the Finnish Flash for nothing. So depending upon what a team wants, you can't go wrong with either of them."