T-11. (9) RW William Whitelaw 5’9″, 175 pounds. 3rd round (#66 overall), 2023 NHL Draft. Projection: second line scoring winger. Stats: 10g-7a-17pts, 37gp for Wisconsin (NCAA). Transferred to the University of Michigan for next season. How we ranked him: Curtis (11), Matt (10), Mike (11)
*loses the tie-breaker based on highest individual ranking (we'll reveal that prospect tomorrow)
Why we ranked him here: Whitelaw is a pure goal scorer. He plays the game at a high pace in the offensive zone, buzzing around and looking for open space to generate offense. He can score in a variety of ways when he gets the puck.
Be it a deke, a quick release shot, or an accurate one-timer; Whitelaw is one of the best scoring prospects in the entire system. Like Luca Pinelli, he would probably be a top-5 prospect in a lot of other systems around the league. But, also like Pinelli, Whitelaw is undersized and will always need to be the hardest working player on the ice. Good news: he doesn't seem to have a problem with that.
Running through the prospects ranked 20-11, I legitimately believe that all of these players have NHL potential. Knazko could work his way out of that discussion with another underwhelming season, but he has not yet, in my opinion.
Whether or not all of these guys make it as Blue Jackets, will have to wait and be seen. But, this is certainly a prospect pool loaded with both top-end and depth talent. Worst case scenario, the team has some really valuable trade chips in this range. We should all be really excited for what the future may bring.
Tomorrow, we'll dive into the top-10 prospects for the Blue Jackets. It's one of the best groups in the entire league, so stay tuned!