This year, perhaps more than in any other, the NHL Draft is the largest game of take your best guess.
The COVID-19 pandemic threw NHL teams a Sandy Koufax-esque curveball, forcing many scouting departments to adapt to a different world of player evaluation through a reliance on video sessions and trust in the word of junior league and NCAA coaches due to the lack of in-person scouting and face-to-face meetings.
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