The 2018 NHL Entry Draft is most known as a great draft for defensemen, but not so great overall. The Chicago Blackhawks picked fairly high in the draft and twice in the first round, but the real gem they uncovered was forward Philipp Kurashev in the fourth round.
Last season, Kurashev broke through for 18 goals and 54 points in 75 games at age 24. He skated most of the season on a line with Connor Bedard, complementing the Calder Trophy winner.
Originally drafted 120th overall, Kurashev debuted in the NHL in January 2021 at 21 years old after only 39 AHL games under his belt. He played in 54 of the Blackhawks 56 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.
Kurashev was the fifth player selected by the Blackhawks in 2018 behind Adam Boqvist (8), Nicolas Beaudin (27), Jake Wise (69), and Niklas Nordgren (74). Only Boqvist can even somewhat be considered an NHLer and Kurashev has proven much more at this stage of their careers.
It’s not as easy to compare forwards to defensemen. But since the 2018 draft is known for high-end defensemen, that’s what we’ll need to do in figuring out just where Kurashev would rank in a 2018 re-draft.
Kurashev is not the most experienced player from his draft class as some players began their NHL careers the following season while he went back to the QMJHL and moved on to the AHL the following year. There was absolutely no expectation for a fourth-round pick to make the team out of training camp the following year, so the high first-round picks got a leg up.
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Kurashev has played the 11th most games from the 2018 draft with 266. The 10 players with more games played range from 440 GP (Brady Tkachuk) to 287 GP (Yegor Sharangovich). But just because Kurashev hasn’t played as many games as 10 other players from the draft, doesn’t mean he isn’t better or has jumped them in a shorter time.
For example, Jesperi Kotkaniemi has played six seasons in the NHL compared to Kurashev’s four, but Kotkaniemi has never had a season as good as Kurashev yet and is a bottom-6 player.
Kurashev is a top-10 goal-scorer in his draft class though, ranking ninth with 41 goals and is tied with two others, Evan Bouchard and Filip Zadina. The goals range from 162 (Tkachuk again) to Quinn Hughes with 43 (99 more games played than Kurashev) amongst players with higher goal totals.
While Kurashev is more of a passer than a shooter, he still ranks lower among players drafted in 2018 in assists due to the top defensemen in the draft. He ranks 12th in assists with 75. Six of the 11 players with more assists in their career from this draft are defensemen, from Hughes with 290 to K’Andre Miller with 76.
Right around where he should be, Kurashev ranks 10th in points with 116. Since there is a fairly big games played difference between Kurashev and almost all of the players with more points from his draft, Kotkaniemi is the next above him with 161 and the most points comes from Tkachuk with 349.
Kurashev’s Landing Spot in a Re-Draft
Taking into big consideration the impact in the lineup, production, and contributions to their teams so far, where does Kurashev rank in a re-draft?
As Kurashev is a top-6 forward on Chicago, no bottom-6 forwards will rank higher than him. That much is clear cut. This would see him drafted before everyday NHLers originally picked higher in the draft like Kotkaniemi, Joel Farabee, Joe Veleno, Ryan McLeod, Jack McBain, Conor Dewar, Paul Cotter, and more.
Due to where Kurashev ranks in all the categories covered above, he’s going to land somewhere between 9 and 14 in a 2018 re-draft.
The best forwards like Tkachuk and Andrei Svechnikov rank higher than Kurashev. The draft also has Hughes, Bouchard, Rasmus Dahlin, Noah Dobson, making that six players ahead of the Blackhawks’ winger. Beyond that, Sean Durzi and Sharangovich have proven to be very effective players and may squeak in just above Kurashev, making that eight players.
Then where the pick may be in the eye of the beholder, Kurashev is very close to Kirill Marchenko, Miller, Rasmus Sandin, and maybe even Alexander Romanov. Marchenko has played fewer games, but broke out last season like Kurashev did. Miller and Romanov have been top-4 d-men for a while now and Sandin has also proven to be a top-4 defenseman. Despite Farabee being a middle-6 forward on the Philadelphia Flyers, I think he can easily handle top-6 minutes and be a top-6 player, having him right in the mix too.
Kurashev established himself as a top-6 player last season after winning an arbitration decision that hiked his salary. He proved he belonged in that role, was one of the best players on his team, and put up big numbers offensively. It may be tough for Kurashev to move up much further, but I can confidently say he ranks ninth in a 2018 re-draft.
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