NHL Central Scouting Releases Midterm Rankings

NHL Central Scouting released it's midterm rankings for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft today.

Below is how players from the OHL stack up.

Skaters
1. Nail Yakupov (1)
2. Radek Faksa (4)
3. Olli Maatta (6)
4. Brendan Gaunce (11)
5. Matt Finn (15)
6. Cody Ceci (16)
7. Slater Koekkoek (17)
8. Daniel Zharkov (19)
9. Gemel Smith (20)
10. Jarrod Maidens (21)
11. Tanner Pearson (22)
12. Scott Kosmachuk (23)
13. Andreas Athanasiou (24)
14. Brady Vail (32)
15. Thomas Wilson (33)
16. Scott Laughton (40)
17. Matia Marcantuoni (42)
18. Trevor Carrick (45)
19. Dane Fox (48)
20. Ben Johnson (49)
21. Dylan Blujus (52)
22. Adam Pelech (54)
23. Artur Gavrus (56)
24. Tanner Richard (58)
25. Garrett Hooey (61)
26. Chris Tierney (63)
27. Michael Clarke (66)
28. Nick Ebert (70)
29. Max Iafrate (78)
30. Connor Brown (85)
31. Jake Dotchin (88)
32. Chris Marchese (97)
33. Kris Kontos (99)
34. Marcus McIvor (113)
35. Troy Donnay (115)
36. Jesse Graham (119)
37. Matthew Campagna (120)
38. Patrick Watling (121)
39. Chase Hatcher (125)
40. Liam Maaskant (134)
41. Brock McGinn (135)
42. Patrik Machac (147)
43. Gianluca Curcuruto (148)
44. Charlie Dodero (152)
45. Josh Anderson (161)
46. Alex Gudbranson (167)
47. Ty Bilcke (169)
48. Joshua Brown (176)
49. Justin Auger (179)
50. Joel Wigle (182)
51. Brandon Devlin (183)
52. Joseph Blandisi (195)
53. Cody Payne (200)
LV - Alex Galchenyuk
LV - Evan McEneny

Goalies
1. Malcolm Subban (1)
2. Matt Murray (2)
3. Jake Paterson (5)
4. Daniel Altshuller (7)
5. Frank Palazzese (11)
6. Matej Machovsky (17)
7. Clint Windsor (20)
8. Michael Houser (22)
9. Jaroslav Pavelka (27)
10. Andrew D'Agostini (29)
11. Mike Morrison (32)
12. Keegan Wilson (35)

Links to the full lists can be found here and here

Some general thoughts...

- Galchenyuk's inclusion as a "limited viewing" candidate...right at the end of the first round of North American skates would suggest that Central Scouting still seems him as a first round talent. Kind of odd though, to be honest. I'd say...either actually rank him...or put him at the bottom of the list with Evan McEneny (also out for the year with a knee injury).

- If Scott Laughton continues to play as he has lately, no way he remains at number 16 for the OHL (and number 40 in NA) on the final list. Way too complete of a player with offensive talent to be that low.

- Nick Ebert's ranking should come as no surprise seeing as CSS lift him outside the top 25 of the OHL on the preliminary list. At this point, I think it's safe to assume Ebert has dropped himself out of contention for the first round.

- Gianluca Curcuruto's ranking really jumped out at me. He's had a disappointing season, but that seems a bit low to me.

- Brandon Devlin also got a low ranking. He's got too much potential at both ends of the ice to be that low IMO.

- Interesting that Eric Locke didn't get ranked. He's number 27 on my list. Locke's lack of ranking just goes to show you how divided the scouting community can be on a player. I know that Redline Report previously had Locke in their first round (not sure where he ranks now on their list).

- The lack of the Rupert twins is also shocking. They may be small, but they've got pretty much everything else going for them. I didn't expect them to be high (with the penchant placed on size on CSS's rankings), but not ranked is odd. I certainly don't agree with it.

- If Justin Auger continues to score goals and put up points, there is absolutely no chance he remains that low. Nearly 6'7 and heating up offensively...sign me up for his hype train.

What are your thoughts?