2023 NHL DRAFT CLASS - QUENTIN MUSTY

With the 2023 NHL Draft coming up later this month, we're profiling some of the players that may be of interest to the Flames when they make their selection at 16th overall. In this edition, we take a closer look at forward Quentin Musty of the Sudbury Wolves.

Height: 6'2" Weight: 200 lbs.
Position: Left Wing
Hometown: Hamburg, New York, USA
Final Ranking: 14th (North American Skaters)

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When you consider yourself a pass-first player - someone who emulates one of the great distributors in Mikko Rantanen - you have to love what you do.

It's an artform, after all.

A skill not bound by one's natural ability, but the extent of their creativity.

"I like a good assist more than I like scoring a goal," laughed NHL Draft prospect Quentin Musty. "My vision, my playmaking and hockey sense are my biggest attributes.

"A lot like Rantanen.

"He has a ton of skill. He's a big guy like I am, but his game has a good mix of everything. He knows when to use his size to win puck battles, but he obviously has a huge amount of skill, too, so he can clearly attack in multiple ways.

"That's been my goal of mine - to be that versatile and impact games the way he does."

At 17, Musty is something of a unicorn. The 6-foot-2, 200-lb. left-winger has a pro level shot and is one of the OHL's true game-breakers. As the former first-overall pick in the 2021 Priority Selection, the significant upside he showed back then has been on full display since.

Still, in a draft crowded with talented goal-scorers, he's isn't known purely as a sniper.

But as an innovator.

His dynamic puck-handling ability makes him an elite set-up man, either in-zone or off the rush. He has incredibly soft hands, a cunning imagination, and seemingly has eyes in the back of his head that make him a threat in all three zones, even when the passing lanes have all but dried up.

Musty had 26 goals, along with 52 helpers, for 78 points in 53 games last year. He added another four points (1G, 3A) in four playoff games, but it wasn't enough to help the Sudbury Wolves avoid a sweep by the eventual league champion Peterborough Petes.

Nevertheless, it was a year to be remember for the Hamburg, New York native.

He enters the upcoming draft as the 14th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.

"This year, I wanted to round out my game and become more of a 200-foot player and I think adding Derek MacKenzie as our coach about a quarter of the way through the year really helped me with that," Musty said. "Coming from being an assistant coach in Florida and playing in the NHL, I think that really helped bring a fresh perspective.

"He's a great guy and I think he takes everyone's development really seriously. As much as a coach's goal is to win, I think he knows that the OHL is a stepping-stone to the next level and wants to get all of his players to that level. He's really good at forming connections with players and knowing how to coach different players different ways. I think that's what makes him such a great coach - and it's certainly what resonated most with me."

A player's draft year is often a story of rapid ascension.

In Musty's case, it's now about managing that growth, setting the right goals and establishing a program that allows him to flourish in a sport that's getting faster by the day.

"Just being a big guy like I am, skating is something that I'm focusing on," he said. "That's the biggest thing I've been working on so far this off-season, as well as getting bigger, stronger, faster in the gym.

"For me, it's all about those first three steps.

"If I can improve my explosiveness, that should put me in a pretty good spot for next year and beyond."