Scout’s Notebook: The best handlers in the 2023 NHL Draft

There's more of an emphasis on skills development in minor hockey than ever, to the point that it's not uncommon to see specific coaches for puckhandling and shooting guiding along the sport's elite from a very young age.

The results have been dramatic at the NHL level. We're seeing players step into the league each year with incredible puck skills and the ability to light up a highlight reel and bring fans out of their seats like it's nothing.

Now, the old schoolers out there may call it showboating, hot dogging, or lean on any other sort of anachronistic criticisms of the way the game is being played these days. But the fact remains that these young players are innovators, blazing a trail for the game that'll make it more fun for everyone involved.

Today, we're going to look at some of the best and brightest puckhandlers in the 2023 NHL Draft. The next wave of offensive trailblazers. These players all tend to achieve their goals through similar methods, but there's always a little something that makes them unique from one another.

The one constant? They're all a ton of fun.