Most places, like the Athletic, usually have a list with small paragraph description and then separate articles with deeper dives into players. For Pronman's list, just click on his name in the same article that the paragraph from which you quoted. It's the same for his top 10/11 ranked prospects and will continue putting them out for other players as time goes on before the draft.

To help, here is the article on Byram, which has a section with videos dedicated to defensive play: https://theathletic.com/9...-quick-ascent-to-the-nhl/
- L_B_R

That's a pretty impressive breakdown of Byram's game. Go Bo Go!

Look at the teams who have won the cup in recent years, what do they all have in common? They have top 2 way centers.

2008 Datsyuk
2009 Crosby
2010 Toews
2011 Bergeron
2012 Kopitar
2013 Toews
2014 Kopitar
2015 Toews
2016 Crosby
2017 Crosby
2018 Backstrom

All of these centers get selke votes in most years. All this defense wins championships starts with the most important part of the game, the center ice position. Win the draw, control the puck and the pace. Don't have the puck, chase it down and take it back. This is what all these type of players do for you and can shut down other teams best players. The Preds and Blues have had great defensive teams in previous years and what has that led to? And what have those teams lacked? Now the Blues add Ryan O'Reilly and they're in the cup final, against Patrice Bergeron of course. Draft the best skilled 2 way center you can find and look for your next Hjalmarsson type d man. You don't need him to score you need him to defend. Plenty of the other d men we have drafted have the offensive capabilities, but finding someone to sellout defensively would be great.
- JohnnyHockey19

Goaltender, #1 Center and a wheelhorse Dman. If a team has those as the underpinnings of its roster it will do a lot of winning.

Look at the teams who have won the cup in recent years, what do they all have in common? They have top 2 way centers.

2008 Datsyuk
2009 Crosby
2010 Toews
2011 Bergeron
2012 Kopitar
2013 Toews
2014 Kopitar
2015 Toews
2016 Crosby
2017 Crosby
2018 Backstrom

All of these centers get selke votes in most years. All this defense wins championships starts with the most important part of the game, the center ice position. Win the draw, control the puck and the pace. Don't have the puck, chase it down and take it back. This is what all these type of players do for you and can shut down other teams best players. The Preds and Blues have had great defensive teams in previous years and what has that led to? And what have those teams lacked? Now the Blues add Ryan O'Reilly and they're in the cup final, against Patrice Bergeron of course. Draft the best skilled 2 way center you can find and look for your next Hjalmarsson type d man. You don't need him to score you need him to defend. Plenty of the other d men we have drafted have the offensive capabilities, but finding someone to sellout defensively would be great.
- JohnnyHockey19

and it will be Bergeron again by next week.

Corey Pronman from The Athletic has this to say about the dman:

"Byram is my top ranked defenseman in this draft class. He was often asked to play 30 minutes a game for the Giants, showing immense offensive potential, including leading the WHL playoffs in scoring. Byram is a high-end skater with the ability to lead a rush and close gaps. He's got quick-twitch feet and a great first step. He's very active with his skating, as I often see him join rushes and lead ones, and he can activate well off the blueline. He's very skilled."

For once, it would be nice if a draft site described how well a defenseman defends.

85 words, and not 1 about his defensive prowess.
- scottak

He did actually, I just didn't post it all. Corey had a nice breakdown over Byram's overall game.

and it will be Bergeron again by next week.
- bogiedoc

Or O'Reilly who is also a pretty good 2-way center.

KING COLE: Diminutive goal-scoring machine Cole Caufield takes a big leap up #TSNHockey Director of Scouting @CraigJButton’s final prospect ranking ahead of the 2019 #NHLDraft

The Final 93-Player List: https://t.co/ga4kNSbJfm #DraftCentre pic.twitter.com/t09WR4lobO

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 6, 2019

That is simply not true. Both of them play defense pretty well and got better as the season went on. It's fair to say they are a work in progress on the defensive side far more than on the offensive side where both of them are already exceptional.

I watched a couple London games this season - one early in the season and the other a playoff game and the improvement in the d-zone was very noticeable. He is very much a Swedish d-man in that he plays positional and stick check defense more so than the North American "take the body" style - but he will be at least adequate and with additional improvement/experience and strength added to he (still) 18 year old body he could be better than adequate defensively to go along with his elite offensive skill.

I've seen 3 or 4 youtube "every shift" videos of Byram and the progress made through the season is evident with Byram too. One of the "every shift" videos was from a game on September 30th and he was actually playing the right side and he lost position a lot. Even though he recovered quickly it was still noticeable that he wasn't in the right position all the time. Then another "every shift" youtube from later in the season and a playoff game should much better positioning - less mistakes. He also played on the left side in all the games I saw after that early season game. The point is he played pretty good defense with fewer mistakes as the season went on.

There's no denying both Boqvist and Byram will hang their hats on their offensive game but both will be at least good enough defensively to be star players because of their offense and that will be a very good thing for the Hawks.
- EbonyRaptor

Hey ER, have you ever come across anyone who has evaluated if one style is more effective/efficient than the other. There are obvious aesthetic differences which some like more than others, but as far as preventing goals, driving possession, etc is one style better?

KING COLE: Diminutive goal-scoring machine Cole Caufield takes a big leap up #TSNHockey Director of Scouting @CraigJButton’s final prospect ranking ahead of the 2019 #NHLDraft

The Final 93-Player List: https://t.co/ga4kNSbJfm #DraftCentre pic.twitter.com/t09WR4lobO

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 6, 2019

- DarthKane

Foreshadowing? Going to LA?

Foreshadowing? Going to LA?

- Chunk

KING COLE: Diminutive goal-scoring machine Cole Caufield takes a big leap up #TSNHockey Director of Scouting @CraigJButton’s final prospect ranking ahead of the 2019 #NHLDraft

The Final 93-Player List: https://t.co/ga4kNSbJfm #DraftCentre pic.twitter.com/t09WR4lobO

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 6, 2019

- DarthKane

So if the Hawks list looks anything like this we are all in for a surprise unless it is Byram.

This really stood out in the playoff game I watched last month.

Byram isn't an overly physical defenseman, but he does not shy away from contact. The Raiders targeted Byram but he just kept going and was the best player on the ice.

Having Boqvist, Beaudin, Mitchell and Jokiharju in the pipeline shouldn't deter the Hawks from drafting Byram. He's different enough from all those guys and likely will be better than all of them.

That being said, we all know the Hawks are drafting Cole Caufield.
- DarthKane

That ain't happening regardless of your man or boy crush on him. It's Byram and it's the right move to make. 😎

That ain't happening regardless of your man or boy crush on him. It's Byram and it's the right move to make. 😎
- BGKarras

KING COLE: Diminutive goal-scoring machine Cole Caufield takes a big leap up #TSNHockey Director of Scouting @CraigJButton’s final prospect ranking ahead of the 2019 #NHLDraft

The Final 93-Player List: https://t.co/ga4kNSbJfm #DraftCentre pic.twitter.com/t09WR4lobO

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 6, 2019

- DarthKane

It is interesting to see who he has dropped down his list. Some guys favored around here down outside the top 10.

It is interesting to see who he has dropped down his list. Some guys favored around here down outside the top 10.
- breadbag

Still two weeks left.

Plenty of time for movement up and down all of the lists.

For no apparent reason....

Those highlight clips never show the Byram's defensive side - except for putting the opponent over the board early in the clip - that would make the difference, I think.

If he is the BPA - and would be the best defensive prospect of those that the Hawks have drafted recently - I don't see how they can pass on him - no matter how many defensive prospects are now in the system.
- StLBravesFan

This question has between asked by others too: Is his above average JUNIOR level physical tools combo disguising an average or less than average hockey IQ defensively...such as: When last man back frequently goes cross ice pass or make weak passes out (that in the pro game get swallowed and regurgitated and opposition looks, and the the early departures out and his teammates cough it and he is pass the centre line already, and yes, he can on the his strong back pedal close the gap and stifle carriers/ receivers, but flat footed or not in full push or glide, he looks like his awareness as part of a defensive system, where he has to shift to another man, he looks slow if close to stationary inns end. use saying Don't kill this messenger. I trust Kelley.

To piggyback on your thought - yes, there is not many defensive highlights. The other thing that stood out to me while I was watching the clip in the blog was, there were sure a lot of overtime games. He scored what, 5 overtime goals? Is BB high on the list for his offensive skills, or defensive skills? Is he a better Gus?
- powerenforcer

When he makes the entry play and he is damn good on entries, he really has a sound calm surgeon like way of separating and making scoring plays happen against other JUNIOR players.

It is interesting to see who he has dropped down his list. Some guys favored around here down outside the top 10.
- breadbag

Button is the supposed ~expert on prospects I least agree with every year. I do agree with him rating Broberg higher than some others because I think he's stellar.

Wiz, in your opinion....what’s a later round boom or bust C prospect that you like?

I was leaning towards Cozens for weeks, but seems like I would prefer taking BB #3 and then a C in rounds 2 (if Spencer Knight is off the board) thru 4. I haven’t watched much tape...but looking at the profiles, I seem to have high opinion on C’s Guskov, Protas, or Newkirk as later round picks.

I do like the LW Tracey 2nd round pick on your mock for us 👍🏻
- DrewDawg

There is a lot of good choices there in the second, believe me, we could get very lucky there too.


As far as bust of boom for the hawks, I think they go into the 6th and 7th following their board which means the prospect very well will be a lesser light if he makes the NHL he is a BOOM. There are looks of Russians to like lingering around and almost every kid on the USA team IS a viable prospect cough, Owen Lindmark),
https://www.draftsite.com...ayer/owen-lindmark/32242/
and I like
Juuso Pärssinen a centre who plays wing too for TPS Turku,
https://www.draftsite.com...uso-p%C3%A4rssinen/32372/
physical Sasha Mutala in the late 5th
https://www.draftsite.com...layer/sasha-mutala/30051/

But I really think they are going to use the lower picks and two 4th rounders to work the board and get them selves into the 3rd because it is "juicier"than usual - go look at my 3rd round and whether I am right on in my second or off and these guys in the 3rd round fly off early, there are more interesting choices than every before.
So either the sport is progressing or my overactive exuberance is far more rose colored than the present reality of the junior game.

Corey Pronman from The Athletic has this to say about the dman:

"Byram is my top ranked defenseman in this draft class. He was often asked to play 30 minutes a game for the Giants, showing immense offensive potential, including leading the WHL playoffs in scoring. Byram is a high-end skater with the ability to lead a rush and close gaps. He's got quick-twitch feet and a great first step. He's very active with his skating, as I often see him join rushes and lead ones, and he can activate well off the blueline. He's very skilled."

For once, it would be nice if a draft site described how well a defenseman defends.

85 words, and not 1 about his defensive prowess.
- scottak

Because that expert gets his opinion after talking to the coaching staffs when he goes to games. Look at his past lists past years and see how they hold up against reality...

and Beaudin can't physically git er dun defensively yet (or maybe ever?) Who knows....Opposing power forwards will eat these guys up every time. Not tough enough.
- Return of the Roar

I dunno I think Beaudin used what he has a s strengths and was very good in junior both ways.

- DarthKane

So that's the bad news. But the good is you won't have to stay up too late to watch him play if the Kings draft him. (Can never be sure, but there's a rumor you would like to see Caufield chosen).

I know I’m probably in the minority here but, I think the atrocious team defense starts with the forwards not the Dmen.
- walleyeb1

Agree.
Make the Saad/Toews line more defensively responsible (take Kane off it) add Kahun or new acquisition.)

Keep Caggiula and Kampf on the 4th line and add someone like Tanev.

That upgrades the overall team defense right away.

ADB - Strom - Kane - pretty much pure offense.

Kubalik, AA (or Kahun or new acquisition), Perlini/Sikura. Pretty good 3rd line.

Hey ER, have you ever come across anyone who has evaluated if one style is more effective/efficient than the other. There are obvious aesthetic differences which some like more than others, but as far as preventing goals, driving possession, etc is one style better?
- Chunk

No, I've never heard/read a comparison. The "Euro style" defense is probably a result of the bigger ice surface where the attacking player has more room to skate around the defender so the defender counters with maintaining a gap and using his stick to shutdown the attackers options. The North American smaller ice surface means the defender can use his body more because the attacker has less room to maneuver around the defender - hence less reliance on the stick check. There's probably more of a blend in the NHL now with so many Euro player in the league and many of them playing in N.A. before getting to the NHL.

Boqvist appears to play positional defense pretty well - he knows where to be and what to do - his weakness is his weakness - he can be out-muscled. But then there aren't too many d-men that have his offensive skills that also have superior physicality - Hedman, Doughty, Burns, and probably only a handful of others.

Which is why I would like Byram. At 6'1" and 195lbs at 17 years old - he will probably be a 200+ lbs players by the time he breaks into the NHL and he has shown he can be physical. I acknowledge the criticism Wiz states when he questions his defensive awareness but that can be improved upon and if that is no longer a problem he has everything else needed for a true #1 d-man.

- DarthKane

Love that show so much, hahaha!!

I really think it will be Turcotte or Byram, they have their eyes set on those two. Unless there is a monkey wrench in one of the first two teams (which is a huge unlikely if) then that changes things, but not towards CC. I see him going 5th or 6th. I've been wrong before though.

So that's the bad news. But the good is you won't have to stay up too late to watch him play if the Kings draft him. (Can never be sure, but there's a rumor you would like to see Caufield chosen).
- 6628

I live on the left coast so that wouldn't be an issue.... but it doesn't matter since the Hawks will be drafting him.