Lukas Dragicevic might be one of the top offensive defenders in the 2023 NHL Draft. He led his team in scoring in his draft season, which is rare even for forwards to do.
A lot of his profile screams clear first-round draft pick but there’s a chance he doesn’t get his name called until the draft’s second day.
Birthplace: Richmond, British Columbia
Date of birth: April 25, 2005
Shoots: Right
Position: Defence
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 194 lbs.
Team: Tri-City Americans (WHL)
Dragicevic’s season with Tri-City was a great performance offensively. He had 15 points and 60 assists in 68 games, well over a point-per-game. Among all WHL defencement, he was fourth in scoring behind just overager Ben Zloty, Olen Zellweger and Stanislav Svozil. If you consider first-year draft-eligible players, he was first by over 20 points over his nearest rival.
There is absolutely no questioning Dragicevic’s offence. But before we get to that, we need to get to the elephant in the room. Or, as in the tracking data below, the red square on the chart.
Dragicevic is a defender in name only. Quite frankly, he’s just not very good at it.
Don’t take my word for it. Here’s EOTP’s Hadi Kalakeche in his draft ranking blurb on the Canadian.
“If the puck goes the other way, however … ouch. He is the worst rush defender I’ve ever scouted. His backward stride is all sorts of wrong, his pivots are slow, and even when the winger coming down his side is as bad a skater as he is, he has no idea what to do to stop him.”
Yeah, so there’s a lot to take in here. First is the skating. He’s just not a very good skater, and that affects him most in the defensive zone and in transition defence where his instincts just aren’t there.
There is a reason for this, in fairness to Dragicevic. Up until a few years ago, Dragicevic played forward. He’s still learning the art of defence and despite that is playing at a high level.
The good thing is that it is something that can be improved. There are plenty of players who have improved their skating and defensive play as they got older, and that is something that will need to happen for Dragicevic to make the NHL. No matter how good his offence is, he needs to not be a liability in his own end or defending the rush.
Dragicevic does seem to know where he should be and the plays he should make without the puck, but the issue is that his skating and change of direction just doesn’t allow him to get there fast enough.
Now that the bad part is out of the way, let’s get to the offensive side of his game. The reason he’s even close to the first round picture is a testament to how good he is on that side of the puck.
There’s not just one element of his game that makes him good offensively. He knows where to go, and he has the puck handling ability to draw defenders in and then make them look foolish either with a rush or a pass to an open teammate.
His transition game with the puck is one of the best aspects of his game. He’s essentially a fourth forward out there right now, and his offence plays at even strength and on the power play. He’s deceptive with the puck and from the offensive blue line in, he’s just an all-out dangerous player. He’s able to beat you with a shot or make a perfect pass to a teammate after creating a lane.
Final Rankings
Dobber Prospects: #59
Elite Prospects: #38
FCHockey: #60
Hockey Prospect: #38
Hadi Kalakeche: #51
McKeen’s: #20
Bob McKenzie (TSN): #35
NHL Central Scouting: #18 (North American skaters)
Corey Pronman (The Athletic) #31
Scott Wheeler (The Athletic): #35
Not everyone is sold on his ability to become an NHL defenceman but almost everyone agrees he should be drafted by the end of the draft’s second round.
The thing you need to ask yourself when you consider Dragicevic is whether you think the weaknesses in his game can improve. If you are a team that has a development staff that can focus on his defensive skating and routes, then you draft him and let him work on that.
There are enough positives in his game to have you want to take that leap of faith. The fact he hasn’t played the position very long shows that he might have more runway than someone else in his situation that has played the position since they were younger.
Once you get out of the top end of any draft, you are not getting a perfect prospect. You are getting someone with flaws and you are either projecting that their strengths will carry them or they will improve their weaknesses.
The thing for Dragicevic is that he doesn’t have to become a shutdown defenceman to bring value. If he can become even an average defender, the offence is so good that you have a top-four defender easily that can be a huge asset to your team.
An NHL team that trusts its process will be more likely to draft Dragicevic, give him some pointers, and see how his next two WHL seasons go. There’s so much rawness and potential that a team will likely take a chance within the first 40 picks of the draft.
Patrik Bexell
