The 2020 NHL Draft campaign opens with naming rights belonging to Alexis Lafreniere.

Whether it remains the Alexis Lafreniere Draft, well, that’s another question.

First, though, let’s start with the indisputable: The Rimouski Oceanic left winger is the unanimous No. 1 on TSN’s 2020 NHL Draft Pre-Season Top 20 Rankings. Ten out of 10 NHL scouts surveyed by TSN put Lafreniere first on their lists entering the 2019-20 season.

“Elite competitive instincts and all the attributes – size, skill, skating, hockey sense, goal scoring, playmaking, you name it – you look for in a No. 1 NHL winger, he has all of them,” one NHL scout said.

Yes, but we have heard the same thing in past years only to see a unanimous pre-season No. 1 lose the title by the time the draft rolls around, which is scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal.

Three years ago, Nolan Patrick entered 2016-17 as the unanimous pre-season No. 1, but by season’s end he was surpassed by Switzerland’s Nico Hischier. Could Lafreniere face a similar challenge from any of the other top prospects in a highly talented 2020 top end?  It includes No. 2 centre Quinton Byfield, No. 3 right winger Lucas Raymond and a pair of special scorers in a dead heat at No. 4, centre/left winger Cole Perfetti and left winger Alexander Holtz?

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So we asked the same 10 scouts who had Lafreniere No. 1 to further qualify Lafreniere's pre-season No. 1 status by choosing from the following four categories:

1. Lafreniere is in a class all by himself.

2. There is a clear gap between Lafreniere and the rest of the field.

3. There is a marginal gap between Lafreniere and the rest of the field.

4. The gap is so tight as to not really be a gap at all; that it wouldn’t come as any surprise if one or more of the top five prospects were to equal or surpass Lafreniere.

The results were interesting. And mixed.

No scout identified Lafreniere as in a class by himself.

Five scouts chose the clear-gap Door No. 2; two scouts opted for the marginal-gap Door No. 3; and the remaining three scouts basically said any one of a half-dozen other prospects will be right on Lafreniere’s heels from the start of the season. So three for Door No. 4.

One of the scouts who said Lafreniere owns a clear gap (Door No. 2) to start the season further qualified his answer by suggesting Door No. 4 is still a legitimate possibility; that the clear gap could close rapidly.

“It speaks to the quality of the other top guys,” that scout said.

It may also have something to do with the fact Lafreniere has a late 2001 birthdate (Oct. 11). Most of the other potential elite picks in this year’s draft are 2002-born players. Lafreniere missed being eligible for last year’s 2019 draft class by just 26 days.

Or as one scout put it when he ranked Lafreniere No. 1: “A year ago at the Hlinka-Gretzky (U-18) tourney, Lafreniere was clearly the No. 1 guy for (2020) and we all felt like (if he were 2019 eligible) he could push Jack Hughes for No. 1 (in 2019). This summer, when I watched him at the World Junior Summer Showcase, I thought he was only average, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out this season. There are a lot of really good players this year.”

Many scouts agree that Lafreniere doesn’t necessarily possess elite skill in any single category but is very good to great in so many of them that the total package simply can’t miss.

However, one scout said his competitiveness and will to be great are elite and – combined with way-above-average hockey sense/vision and a strong skill set to score or make plays equally well – ensure he’s a blue-chip prospect.

Another scout expressed reservations about Lafreniere's skating: “Speed, pace? His skating is good but not extraordinary. That’s something I’ll be watching.”

The Top 20 (for stats and more go to TSN.ca):

1. Alexis Lafreniere

2. Quinton Byfield

3. Lucas Raymond

T4. Cole Perfetti

T4. Alexander Holtz

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6. Yaroslav Askarov (G)

7. Hendrix Lapierre

8. Jamie Drysdale

9. Anton Lundell

10. Justin Barron

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11. Dylan Holloway

12. Marco Rossi

13. Rodion Amirov

14. Tim Stutzle

15. Braden Schneider

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16. Jake Sanderson

17. Justin Sourdif

18. Noel Gunler

19. Kaiden Guhle

20. Jeremie Poirier

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