5. Corson Ceulemans – Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
It’s imperative to be careful of comparisons at this point in draft development. For example, there have been multiple people who have compared Corson Ceulemans to Cale Makar. Yet, Ceulemans is almost exclusively being mocked somewhere in the mid teens to the 20s. There’s no way if this player truly was the second coming of Makar, that he would be even considered in that area at this point.
Still, Ceulemans has the chance to pull a Jake Sanderson, where he rises 20 spots in the draft to get taken in the top ten. He’s been good in the AJHL, and he could take that league by storm before going to the University of Wisconsin in the 2022-23 season. That feels really far away, and if he makes the strides he could make, there’s a chance he will be in the NHL before every hitting the ice for the Badgers.
He’s going to be one of the youngest prospects in this draft, but he’s already 6’2 and close to 200 lbs. He could grow beyond that this season, which would help his draft stock even more. Taking a player like Ceulemans gives a tea more time to develop him. This would make a lot of sense if the Devils are choosing a player between 15 and 20. Maybe if the Devils get another 1st-round pick like they did last season, or if they have a better-than-expected season, Ceulemans is a player to watch for Devils fans.
He’s already making good decisions with the puck, and his decision making will only get better. This is a prospect who will either rise up draft boards, or could be someone worth stealing in the top 20.