With the 61st overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, the Nashville Predators selected center Grant Mismash.
Here’s what the experts said about him leading up to the draft.
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Grant Mismash
center
committed to University of North Dakota (NCAA) for 2017-18
18, 6’0”, 183 lbs.
RANKINGS
McKeen’s: #36
ISS: #39
The Hockey News: #36
Future Considerations: #49
Central Scouting: #24 (North American skaters)
Craig Button, TSN Director of Scouting: #39
Bob McKenzie, TSN: #42
Dan Friedman of Sports Illustrated: #45
recrutes.ca: #46
TheScout.ca: #42
McKeen’s
“A versatile and gritty forward with the USNTDP, Mismash is a slightly discounted version of Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk or Kieffer Bellows. The Minnesota native spent some time at the famed Shattuck-St. Mary’s program before joining the national hothouse program. One of the better goal scorers on this year’s version, Mismash is a high energy player who, while he generally directs his energies for the benefit of his team, can be diverted a little too often, leading to the attention of the refs.”
ISS
“Grant played for the U.S. National Team Development Program where he led the team in scoring while serving 104 penalty minutes. He was a member of the United States U18 World Champions team and ended second in scoring on his team. Hard to play against, he is a strong forechecker with a strong front of the net presence. He can win battles and create space and scoring changes for his teammates. He has good puck skills himself. He is also a strong skater. He could use getting bigger and stronger to complement his style of play and needs to improve his quickness. Grant has a chance to become a Power Forward in the NHL.”
Future Considerations
“A solid two-way contributor who is able to dominate for flashes at a time in the offensive zone, providing clutch scoring from a secondary offensive role. He is a decent skater with above-average top speed, but has trouble with quickness in tight spaces, taking a few strides to accelerate fully. He’s dangerous in the offensive zone below the hash marks, as he is good at leveraging his frame and shifting his upper-body to protect the puck coming off the wall or out of the corner. He has good puck handling abilities in tight spaces and can make a quick move to lose his defender when cutting across the zone.”
Recrutes.ca
“Considered by some scouts to be the best US prospect at the start of the season due in large part to his relentless work ethic, through no fault of his own he was eventually surpassed by Josh Norris as it became apparent that the centerman had more offensive upside and overall value.”
Elite Prospects
“A talented and gritty forward that embraces the physical side of the game. With the puck, Mismash displays great offensive instincts and can be quite intuitive. Needs to work on his play in his own end and off the puck. Not an explosive skater, but mobile enough to get around the ice with haste. Positionally sound and has a knack for going to the dirty areas and making things worse for the opposition in their own end. All-in-all, a physical offensive presence that can be a really hard player to defend against.”
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- READ: What experts say about 1st round pick Eeli Tolvanen
- READ: What experts say about 3rd round pick David Farrance
- READ: What experts say about 5th round pick Tomas Vomacka
- READ: What experts say about 6th round pick Pavel Koltygin
- READ: What experts say about 7th round pick Jacob Paquette
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PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy K. Gover
