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The 2020 NHL draft has come and gone, spurring takes both about this year and, inevitably, the 2021 draft. Let's survey the results and projections.

2020

Michigan players and commits who went in the recently completed NHL draft:

Bonus: 18 minute scouting video by a guy with an outrageous French accent

Brendan Brisson: #29 overall, Las Vegas. Vegas's GM is Kelly McCrimmon, who played for Red in the 1980s. (Apparently back then you could play in major junior and then go to college. Weird.) Hopefully that means the Knights will be inclined to leave him in college for a while.

There were a few rankings that had Brisson about ten spots in front of where he actually went. Scott Wheeler of the Athletic had him #35 but still thought that he was a good pick for Vegas. From his lips to Michigan Hockey Summer's ears:

My big worry with Brisson has less to do with his talent and more to do with his timeline. He’s an excellent shooter, both from a standstill through his one-timer and wrister but also in motion through his snapshot. He was the best player on the USHL’s best team, playing the style the Steel are built for: crafty, careful, poised. But I think it could take him three or four years to find that next level against bigger, stronger competition in college — and eventually in pro. I don’t think his talent grades out so highly that he’s the one-and-done type at Michigan.

That would be amazing. One asset Michigan has: Brisson's agent isn't worried he'll sign with someone else if he stays in college, because it'll be his dad.

[After the JUMP: third round alpaca out of nowhere]

Thomas Bordeleau: #38 overall, San Jose. Everyone said early second round for Bordeleau and that's where he went. Wheeler has an extensive profile of him that went up yesterday. Bordeleau is an odd duck because most of his early development happened in Switzerland:

“(Switzerland is) doing a really good job with development. They’ve got something good going on there with forcing kids at a young age to play small area games all the time. There was never any full ice games, we always had tournaments where there were two games going on at the same time on the same ice. I think it helped me a lot for my hockey IQ and my visual skills,” Bordeleau said. “It was a different way of learning the game. Just growing up and learning how to find sweet spots on the ice, learning young how to do give and gos to get open into smaller areas, I think it really helped me. I’m really, really grateful for the way they taught me how to play. I still have a lot of that in me.”

Fohr quickly noticed that Bordeleau takes faceoffs differently than is typically taught in North America, too. Sébastien, who was known as a faceoff specialist in his time in the NHL, taught his son how to take draws with both hands.

“(Bordeleau) was our best faceoff guy hands down,” Fohr said. “He actually flips his stick over to the opposite side and pulls both sides of draws back like he’s on his strong side. You don’t see that very often. He’s a lefty but he’ll take faceoffs as a righty and pull it straight back.”

Michigan plans to keep him at center and put him on a power play. As a result of the profile Wheeler says he "love[s]" the Sharks picking him at the spot he did since he "became the clear driver of the NTDP’s offence over the last two seasons."

Also here's an unusual take:

NHL Network compared Thomas Bordeleau to Michael Peca.

"Tenacious defender...his anticipation of developing plays is at a uniquely high level for players in this age group."

(H/T @eliteprospects)

"Wicked wrist shot....dynamic zone entry machine".

(H/T @mckeenshockey)

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 7, 2020

To date I haven't seen any other takes talking up Bordeleau's two-way game as a prime asset. Wheeler's profile has quotes from NTDP coaches noting that he had no interest in that side of the game upon arrival but improved a lot. Meanwhile Peca won the Selke award twice and operated as a second or third line defensive ace for much of his career.

Jackson Hallum: #91 overall, Las Vegas. Hallum was a deep sleeper unranked by the CSB and the super in-depth guys who have top 200 lists, and he went in the third round. This was a test of how draftnik you are. McKeen's: failed.

A second player who wasn't on our boards goes to Vegas in Jackson Hallum. I have nothing.

— (((Ryan Wagman))) (@RAWagman) October 7, 2020

Steve Kournianos: passed.

Thank you, Vegas. They draft speedster Jackson Hallum from STA at No. 91. Kid easily is one of the draft's fastest skaters but also makes precision plays off the rush. Headed to Michigan so you'll be hearing about him plenty. pic.twitter.com/PI9yvz3QnI

— Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) October 7, 2020

Hallum is currently scheduled to come in for 2022 after two years in the USHL. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets bumped up due to attrition or if Adam Fantilli decides to take another route.

Hallum was the only real surprise of the draft from a Michigan perspective. Everyone else went more or less where they were projected to. I was not even aware that Hallum was eligible for this draft (failed), because no one had said word one about him.

Ethan Edwards: #120 overall, New Jersey. The Devils' SB Nation site has a comprehensive collection of everything said about Edwards. Wheeler gave the Devils a thumbs up:

Edwards is one of the best skaters on his edges in the draft, plays one of the more aggressive gaps in the draft, and uses his feet to open up lanes for himself in the offensive zone.

His production wasn't great this year but it sounds like that might be puck luck. Scouting on him is really positive:

Devils take heady defender Ethan Edwards at 120. Like his upside at a future top-4 and has good speed. pic.twitter.com/LDTPSiKcTH

— Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) October 7, 2020

Fair chance that he has a breakout USHL season and makes that draft slot look like a steal.

Edwards was on the ice with the Sioux City Musketeers when he found out, and got mobbed in the locker room:

The moment Ethan Edwards’ dream came true. You got a great one @NJDevils @NHLNetwork pic.twitter.com/wxfT8OtN7D

— Sioux City Musketeers (@Musketeerhockey) October 7, 2020

He'll play in the USHL next year and come in for 2021.

Jacob Truscott: #144 overall, Vancouver. Vancouver's pick also drew praise from Wheeler:

I really liked the Jacob Truscott pick in Round 5. I think he has a stronger case as a potential depth piece than some of the other NTDP kids who went ahead of him. He could become a smart, two-way defender at the next level but Truscott has always been a victim of a skillset that lacks a dynamic quality.

A guy without a major standout quality that still gets drafted in the fifth round is likely to be a long-term productive collegian.

The departed. For what it's worth, Michigan decommits Cole Perfetti (#10 overall) and Antonio Stranges (4th round) got drafted. Both used Michigan as a placeholder in an effort to manipulate the OHL draft. Perfetti was unsuccessful; Stranges did manage to direct himself to London in the second round. No other former commits got drafted. In the course of checking on this I discovered that Andrei Bakanov is back in Russia playing in the KHL, which is probably a first.

2021

This was set to be the Michigan draft even before they managed to flip Matt Beniers away from a Harvard commit at the last second. Now it is absurd. Corey Pronman's 2021 preview has Michigan recruits/players at #2, 3, 5, 8, and 17 overall:

• #2 Owen Power, D: dubbed the "main challenger" to Aatu Raty for #1 overall(!), which would be the first time in program history that a Michigan player went first overall. (Jack Johnson, who went third, has the record for highest Michigan draft selection.)
• #3 Kent Johnson, C: "elite stick skills and offensive IQ … fantastic passer … average skater … dynamo with the puck on his stick."
• #5 Matthew Beniers, C: "elite competitiveness … highly intelligent offensive player who makes a lot of plays in the middle third of the ice."
• #8 Luke Hughes, D: "Hughes family skating ability … skilled puck-mover … may not have the truly game-breaking ability of his brothers … great feet and size combination"
• #17 Mackie Samoskevich, F: "doesn’t have great size at just around 5-foot-10, but he has everything else …great skater with great hands"

The first three of those guys are already on the team. In addition, Dylan Duke has gotten some attention as a potential first-rounder and is likely just outside Pronman's top 35, and Michigan has a solid shot at grabbing Adam Fantilli, the odds-on favorite to go first overall in 2023.

Further down the road, Michigan has three of the top ten 2004 birthdate players in North American—ie, including CHL kids—and Fantilli would be a fourth.

This is Kentucky basketball stuff.