NHL Draft 2019: Grading each Vegas Golden Knights pick

The 2019 NHL Entry Draft is now firmly in the books and those prospects selected by the Vegas Golden Knights will now get the chance to impress in Development Camp, which gets underway today.

It was a productive weekend for the Vegas Golden Knights who bolstered their pipeline with eight fresh faces, including elite playmaker Peyton Krebs who was selected with the No.17 overall pick.

They addressed a number of needs across the two days of the draft in Vancouver, selecting a goalie, two stay-at-home defensemen and five forwards.

With the farm system looking a little light in certain areas, Vegas had to fill it with a slew of prospects and it was certainly mission accomplished from that point of view.

Let’s not forget either, the Golden Knights are also very good at drafting as backed up by the fact that their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, made a run all the way to the Calder Cup Finals this year, only to lose out to the Charlotte Checkers.

Their 2017 draft in particular was a strong one and it could be known as the year of Cody Glass and Nic Hague with both players looking to be on the cusp of making the leap to the NHL and having the potential to go on and be very good, if not great players in the majors.

But what about the class of 2019? Just how good will the likes of Peyton Krebs, Isaiah Saville, Kaedan Korczak and Marcus Kallionkieli go on to be?

There is obviously no easy answer to that question and we won’t know until at least a few years down the line if any of the players drafted at the weekend turn out to be hidden gems.

However, what we can do right now is grade all eight of the picks made by the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

We’ll start with the 17th overall pick and work our way through each of the five rounds the Golden Knights had selections in…

Pick No. 17:

The 2019 NHL Entry Draft got off to the best possible start for the Vegas Golden Knights who were able to steal Peyton Krebs with the 17th overall pick.

Projected by most experts to inside the top ten, and tipped to go ninth overall on our Mock Draft, Krebs was one of many offensive gems to slip down the board during a crazy first round.

Why’s that you ask? It’s simple. Krebs suffered a slight torn Achilles a month ago during workouts and that is believed to have put a host of teams off due to the stigma surrounding that particular injury.

However, people close to Krebs and he himself has insisted that he will make a full recovery and, once he does, the Golden Knights will be getting themselves a hell of a player.

Krebs, who was ranked 10th in the final NHL Central Scouting Bureau rankings for North American Skaters, is a potent and consistent points producer who tallied 19 goals and 49 assists for 68 points in 64 games on a poor Kootenay Ice team in the WHL last year.

He slots in just behind Cody Glass as the Golden Knights’ best young prospect and he’s an elite playmaker who possesses a high compete level, good hockey smarts, leadership skills and he was also regarded as one of the best passers in this year’s draft.

He’s also a two-way forward who can play a 200-foot game and who can excel in the defensive zone and in a number of key situations.

All in all, Krebs could well turn out to be the steal of this year’s draft and don’t be surprised to see him make the leap to the NHL this year or in 2020.

Grade: A+

Pick No. 41:

Vegas traded two picks to the San Jose Sharks in order to move up in the second round and select Kaedan Korczak with the 41st overall pick.

Looking to address needs on the second day of the draft, the Golden Knights front office decided that they needed a big body on the blueline and they got that with Korczak.

Standing at 6’3″ and 193 lb, Korczak is a rough and rugged shutdown defenseman who won’t put up a load offensively, but he will give other teams’ top lines a tough time.

He could be a valuable weapon on the blueline and, after one or two years in the AHL, don’t be surprised if Korczak develops into a solid top six blueliner.

Grade: B+

The Golden Knights had three picks overall in the third round, before trading one of those to the Sharks in order to move up in the second round and select Kaedan Korczak. They also had a selection in the fourth round, making it a busy middle period of the draft as the front office looked to bolster their prospects pipeline.

Pick No. 79:

Just one of five forwards taken by the Golden Knights at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Pavel Dorofeyev was projected to go a lot higher than the 79th overall pick.

Blessed with good hockey smarts, a wicked release and immense puck-handling skills, Dorofeyev was ranked as the 15th best prospect by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.

That tells you everything you need to know about the forward’s potential, but question marks over his compete level may have worked against him in the end.

Dorofeyev put up 17 goals and 14 assists for 31 points in 19 games in 2018-19 and will spend next year in the KHL. If he can learn his craft and hone his skills further, then he could prove to be another Russian gem in the NHL.

Grade B

Pick No. 86:

Committed to play for Ohio State in 2019-20, Layton Ahac is another hulking body on the blueline for the Golden Knights, who are blessed in numbers when it comes to puck-playing defensemen.

Ahac will be able to protect his team-mates and he could be transformed into a reliable and gritty shutdown defenseman in the NHL.

Grade C+

Pick No. 110:

The big theme from Vegas’ 2019 NHL Entry Draft weekend was their liking for size, with Ryder Donovan another big body to help beef up the farm system.

With 37 points (13 goals, 25 assists) in 23 games for Duluth East High School in 2018-19, Donovan is a powerful two-way forward who can be utilised in a number of key situations.

Committed to the University of Wisconsin for 2019-20, Donovan was projected to go higher than where he was eventually picked and he’ll be one to keep an eye on.

Grade C