Perfetti's junior coach: 'He's the best player in this draft'

Saginaw Spirit center Cole Perfetti finished second among all CHL skaters with 111 points this season, but concerns over his size and speed could cause him to fall out of the top five in the 2020 NHL Draft.

For his part, Spirit head coach Chris Lazary thinks any team that passes on Perfetti would be making a huge mistake.

“It does not matter if you’re faster. It matters how you think and process and break teams down and cut laterally," Lazary told The Athletic's Scott Wheeler. "And I don't think there’s a better player in this draft than Cole Perfetti at doing that. I know I'm his coach but I think he's the best player in this draft because of that."

Rimouski Oceanic winger Alexis Lafreniere is the consensus top player in this year's draft, while many project Sudbury Wolves pivot Quinton Byfield to go No. 2 overall. However, Lazary believes Perfetti will be better than both of them in the prime of his career.

"I try to picture him at 24 or 25 with his skill set as he gets stronger, like who will be a better player than Cole Perfetti? To me, it's nobody," he said.

Perfetti, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 177 pounds, produced 37 goals and 74 assists in 61 games with the Spirit this season. NHL Central Scouting ranks him fifth among North American skaters, but Marco Rossi, who ranks sixth, could end up going ahead of Perfetti on draft day. As could a handful of European skaters, including Tim Stutzle and Alexander Holtz.

The NHL could reportedly hold its draft as early as June 5.