The Athletic has produced a significant amount of 2020 NHL draft-related content today, issuing a staff mock draft, Scott Wheeler’s list of his 100 best prospects available, and now The Athletic’s Max Bultman has posted a list of his best 2nd round picks.
Detroit picks 32nd overall, 45th overall and 56th overall in the 2nd round, and they own the 63rd and 65th picks as well, so, in theory, anyway, the Wings will have multiple and significant opportunities to stack their roster with prospects who “fall out” of the first round.
Bultman has zeroed in on 6 potential 2nd round picks, and I’m going to afford you a glance at his take on the “local kid”:
Jean-Luc Foudy, C, Windsor (OHL)
Pronman’s rank: 49
Wheeler’s rank: 62
Central Scouting rank: 33rd among North American skaters
Why he fits: And speaking of upside, here you go. Based on his rookie year in the OHL, Foudy was in early first-round conversations for 2020. He scored 49 points in 63 games as a 16-year-old. But after a slight downtick in production as a sophomore, both Wheeler and Pronman have him ranked in the back half of the second round.
Pronman gave Foudy a 60 grade on his skating, hockey sense and puck skills, with physical game and Foudy’s shot the two below-average areas. Foudy is 5-11 and the brother of Blue Jackets prospect Liam Foudy, who scored at a similar rate to Jean-Luc in his draft year before going 18th overall and then surging past a point-per-game in the following season. This year, Liam Foudy was on the Blue Jackets’ playoff roster as a 20-year-old.
“Jean-Luc Foudy, like his brother, is an excellent skater,” Pronman wrote in his scouting report. “He has more skill than his brother, though, showing the ability to make difficult plays with the puck individually and as a distributor. His combination of speed and skill makes him elite at gaining the offensive zone with possession. I think he’s a very good passer, but some scouts think he’s selfish and wheels too much with the puck. I don’t mind it but he does like to dance around the perimeter looking for plays.”
Continued (paywall); I really like Foudy, Wiesblatt and Khusnutdinov, three of Bultman’s other picks.
