Over the next few weeks leading into the 2023 NHL Draft, we’ll be counting down the Top 100 prospects in this year’s class based on Daily Faceoff’s list. Today, we have No. 35 Beau Akey, No. 34 Charlie Stramel, No. 33 David Edstrom, No. 32 Nick Lardis, and No. 31 Gavin Brindley.
No. 35: Beau Akey
Date of Birth: February 11, 2005
Nation: Canada
Position: Defence
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 170 lbs
Scouting Report: “While most eyes have been on Brandt Clarke in Barrie this year, it’s hard to ignore Akey jumping up 30 points this year. He does an excellent job of rushing the puck down the ice from his own zone and he panic-passes the puck far less these days.” – Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff
No. 34: Charlie Stramel
Date of Birth: October 15, 2004
Nation: United States
Position: Forward
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 216 lbs
Scouting Report: “After a strong World Junior Championship performance, Stramel capped things off with a good second half with Wisconsin. There’s no shortage of teams that want the services of the 6-foot-3, 216-pound forward with a high hockey IQ. Sure, the offence didn’t follow, but he’s a pain in the rear end to play against.” – Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff
No. 33: David Edstrom
Date of Birth: February 18, 2005
Nation: Sweden
Position: Centre
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 187 lbs
Scouting Report: “Edstrom wasn’t previously ranked, so this is a huge jump, for sure. Getting to see him in person really opened my eyes to his skating and hockey IQ, and he’s a strong dual threat as a shooter and a passer. Edstrom has a big frame at 6-foot-3 and uses it to his advantage, and he scored everywhere he played this year. Scouts really sold me on him.” – Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff
No. 32: Nick Lardis
Date of Birth: July 8, 2005
Nation: Canada
Position: Right Wing
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 168 lbs
Scouting Report: “Late-season dominance can be very misleading, but there might not have been a more interesting forward down the stretch than Lardis. After putting up just 19 points in 36 games with the Petes, he blew up with 25 goals and 46 points in 33 games with Hamilton before going on a tear in the playoffs.” – Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff
No. 31: Gavin Brindley
Date of Birth: October 5, 2004
Nation: United States
Position: Right Wing
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 157 lbs
Scouting Report: “Small but feisty, Brindley went under the radar in Michigan, largely due to Fantilli’s heroics. He’s as competitive as it comes, and he’s a solid straight-line skater, but there’s still some room to improve from an overall puck skill and hockey sense standpoint. Another year of college will help.” – Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff
More from the 2023 NHL Draft Top 100 Countdown…
- No. 100-96: Jesse Nurmi, Francesco Dell’elce, Quinton Burns, Griffin Erdman, Matthew Soto
- No. 95-91: Hoyt Stanley, Tristan Bertucci, Easton Cowan, Arvid Bergstrom, Ryan Fine
- No. 90-86: Felix Unger Sorum, Martin Misiak, Connor Levis, Aydar Suniev, Jordan Tourigny
- No. 85-81: Ignat Lutfullin, Rasmus Kumpulainen, Cole Knuble, Tanner Ludtke, Albert Wikman
- No. 80-76: Aiden Fink, Emil Jarventie, Felix Nilsson, Andrew Gibson, Nico Myatovic
- No. 75-71: Joey Willis, Theo Lindstein, Alexander Rykov, Andrew Strathmann, Matthew Mania
- No. 70-66: Alex Ciernik, Lenni Hämeenaho, Denver Barkey, Coulson Pitre, Jakub Dvorak
- No. 65-61: Adam Gajan, Aram Minnetian, Danny Nelson, Carson Rehkopf, Luca Pinelli
- No. 60-56: Mathieu Cataford, Etienne Morin, Jacob Fowler, Jesse Kiiskinen, Hunter Brzustewicz
- No. 55-51: Trey Augustine, Cameron Allen, Roman Kantserov, Carson Bjarnason, Gavin McCarthy
- No. 50-46: Koehn Ziemmer, Maxim Strbak, Tanner Molendyk, Michael Hrabal, Bradly Nadeau
- No. 45-41: Noah Dower Nilsson, Kalan Lind, Timur Mukhanov, Luca Cagnoni, Jayden Perron
- No. 40-36: Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Caden Price, Kasper Halttunen, Gracyn Sawchyn, Daniil But
