Last but not least in our Community Draft Board is Lukas Cormier, an offensive defenseman with the Charlottetown Islanders in the QMJHL who ends up going 31st. Despite an injury taking him out of play for over a month last season Cormier’s shot and offensive instincts still drew attention from those across the draft community and managed to claim the final spot here.
BSH 2020 Community Draft Board, No. 31 : Lukas Cormier
2019-20 Season
Team: Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)
Statistics: 6 G, 30 A in 44 GP
Pre-draft rankings
No. 32 (North American skaters) by NHL Central Scouting
No. 26 by Future Considerations
Not ranked by ISS Hockey
No. 28 by The Athletic (Wheeler)
What’s there to like?
Cormier’s biggest strength is his offense. That isn’t to say his defense is concerning, but he’s the most dangerous with the puck on his stick or sitting at the top of the power play to either blast pucks on net or help create rebounds for teammates to clean up. He does a lot of his damage thanks to his quick release and his ability to read the play before finding a shooting lane. Although his point totals from last season aren’t eye-opening thanks to an early season injury it’s worth noting that in his first QMJHL campaign back in 2018-19 Cormier potted 15 goals and provided 21 helpers for 36 tallies in 63 games to earn the honor of being named to the league’s All-Rookie Team. Also, this may only matter for the amount of time you’re reading this article, but Cormier leads the QMJHL at the moment in scoring or the 2020-21 campaign with two goals and four assists for six points in just a pair of contests.
What’s not to like?
Part of the reason Cormier dropped from 27th at the midterm North American skaters’ rankings to 32nd in the final rankings is most likely due to size and speed. He’s listed at 5’10” on Elite Prospects, but he looks even smaller on tape which might lead to a few teams shying away from him. As a smaller defenseman it doesn’t help that his lack of blazing speed is another trait that could force teams to invest in other assets. Cormier is a good skater who more times than not is able to create space for himself with his legs. That being said there are times it’s evident he is lacking in the speed department.
How would he fit into the Flyers’ system?
In terms of the Philadelphia Flyers’ prospect pool, the need to add an offensive defenseman is pretty low. The team’s current roster features a handful of d-men with threatening o-zone presence (one of which is struggling to crack the lineup routinely as an undersized blue liner who is most effective on the power play and could be a little faster) and two of their most promising prospects are d-men with a ton of offensive upside. Whether you want to slap the label offensive or two-way on any of the current roster or prospects there isn’t as dire a need to add point producers on the back end. That being said a few years ago nobody would have said anything positive about the Flyers’ pipeline at all and there’s no guarantee what it’ll look like a few years from now so if Cormier is the best player available general manager Chuck Fletcher shouldn’t think twice.
Could the Flyers’ actually get him?
He should absolutely be there when the Flyers pick at 23, but it feels as though a lot of things would have to happen leading him to being with the Orange and Black. Cormier is pretty high on rankings of draft prospects, but he’s being mocked out in the second and even third round of some mock drafts. In his rankings mentioned above, Wheeler has him 28th on his rankings but then adds he could see Cormier still being available in the second round because of his size. If he’s still there in the second round at 54 Flyers’ fans should be happy with the pick. However the combination of knowing there will most likely be better talent on the board at 23 and he most likely will go early in the second round just means he’s sort of in a weird soft spot for Philly’s draft.
2020 BSH Community Draft Board
- Alexis Lafreniere — LW, Rimouski (QMJHL)
- Quinton Byfield — C, Sudbury (OHL)
- Marco Rossi — C, Ottawa (OHL)
- Tim Stützle — LW/C, Manheim (DEL)
- Cole Perfetti — LW/C, Saginaw (OHL)
- Lucas Raymond — RW, Frölunda (SHL)
- Jamie Drysdale — D, Erie (OHL)
- Alexander Holtz — LW/RW, Djurgardens (SHL)
- Yaroslav Askarov — G, SKA (KHL)
- Anton Lundell — C, HIFK (Liiga)
- Connor Zary — C, Kamloops (WHL)
- Seth Jarvis — RW/C, Portland (WHL)
- Jake Sanderson — D, USNTDP (USHL)
- Noel Gunler — RW/LW, Lulea (SHL)
- Jan Mysak — C, Hamilton (OHL)
- Jack Quinn — RW, Ottawa (OHL)
- Jacob Perreault — RW, Sarnia (OHL)
- Mavrik Bourque — C, Shawinigan (QMJHL)
- Dylan Holloway — LW, Univ. of Wisconsin (NCAA)
- Rodion Amirov — L, Neftekamst (VHL)
- Hendrix Lapierre — C, Chicoutimi (QJMHL)
- Kaiden Guhle — D, Prince Albert (WHL)
- Braden Schneider, D, Brandon (WHL)
- Dawson Mercer — RW, Chicoutimi (QMJHL)
- Lukas Reichel — LW, Berlin (DEL)
- Helge Grans — D, Malmo (SHL)
- Jeremie Poirier — D, Saint John (QMJHL)
- Kasper Simontaival — RW, Tappara (Liiga)
- Emil Andrae — D, HV71 (SHL)
- Zion Nybeck — LW/RW, HV71 (SHL)
- Lukas Cormier — D, Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)
