Major: Craig Button unveils his final ranking for the draft and a huge surprise lands at the 5th spot

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Elias Edmonson
June 12, 2023 (10:46)

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The excellent Craig Button is often a reference in the media world when it comes to discussing the next NHL prospects. However, the TSN analyst just unveiled his final ranking, in view of the draft, and many surprises are observed, including at the 5th rank held by the Canadien.

Craig Button wanted to rank the various prospects according to their potential, three to five years from now, and not just according to their current performances. However, according to him, the fifth-best player of the 2023 crop would be Swedish defender Axel Sandin Pellikka.

Here's the top-10 discussed by Button:

1. Connor Bedard
2. Adam Fantilli
3. Leo Carlsson
4. Matvei Michkov
5. Axel Sandin Pellikka
6. Will Smith
7. Eduard Sale
8. Tom Willander
9. Dalibor Dvorsky
10. Colby Barlow

According to his statements, Axel Sandin Pellikka would have a higher potential than the American center player, Will Smith. It would be very surprising if the Canadien missed the opportunity to draft Will Smith, should he be available when Kent Hughes speaks on June 28th.

However, it is rather surprising and somewhat worrying to note that Ryan Leonard (12th) and David Reinbacher (20th) do not even appear in the top-10 put forward by the TSN journalist. Knowing that Kent Hughes holds the two players in very high esteem and that one of them could be selected at the 5th rank, during the next draft, we are entitled to wonder if they are really the best choices available for the Tricolore.

To see the full list, it's here:

Sources : TSN