"We clearly don't have the flashiest or sexiest prospects in the league right now, but our prospect pool is the deepest in the league. We've attempted to maintain a balance the best we could."
Currently, the team has 125 total prospects under its control. Corfield says the following players have been re-assigned to the "reserve-prospect" list: Center Tyler Cammarata, wingers Frederick Tiffels, Jens Looks, and Blaine Byron. Defenseman Josiah Didier will also be sent to the reserve.
Those players have either terminated their contract with the NHL team that owned their rights or seem locked into an AHL/ECHL level of play.
Making up the main Dayton prospect list moving forward are 31 centers, 17 right wings, 12 left wings, 33 defensemen, and 26 goaltenders. Corfield is aware he has a surplus of dmen and an apparent shortage of wingers, especially left-wingers.
"Yes, that's true and in each of the last two drafts, we felt our needs were served best by taking the guys we did. In 2018, our last 11 picks were "non-winger" picks because our scouts liked the guys we took better. This year, we were able to find a few wingers we did like in the last three rounds." said Corfield.
"At some point, we'll identify a few teams that seem to be a good match for us in terms of needs and try and move a few dmen prospects out and bring in a few more wingers."
Asked which picks from this year's draft he was most excited about, Corfield listed the first player chosen by the Musicmen in the draft, OHL standout Tye Felhaber, netminders Lukas Parik, Mat Robson, Jake Kielly and Arturs Silovs as well as other draftees Pavel Shen, Max Crozier, Nikita Palychev and 11th rounder Mikhail Shalagin.
"Again, we didn't draft any blue-chip kids in this draft, we know that. What we did get were 49 young men, each has a package of skills that we like. Will all make the NHL? Of course not. But, we feel a few at each position will be players of impact within 2-4 years. We'll monitor each closely and as they get promoted, we'll figure out how they can best help us."
Asked if there was one kid, in particular, the fans should keep their eye on, Corfield said, "I'd keep an eye on Kirill Tyutyaev, who will play his 2nd season in the Russian junior league. He led his team in scoring - by a lot last year and finished 8th overall in the MHL in scoring. I also have to mention another kid we were thrilled to draft - Mikhail Shalagan - came in second in scoring after missing over 20 games. He posted the highest points per game in the entire league. If they can both develop, they could be major contributors for us here in Dayton."
