NHL Central Scouting Releases Final Rankings for 2012

NHL Central Scouting released their final rankings for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft this morning.

Here's how the OHL representation on the list breaks down:

Skaters
1. Nail Yakupov (1)
2. Alex Galchenyuk (4)
3. Cody Ceci (6)
4. Radek Faksa (7)
5. Olli Maatta (8)
6. Brendan Gaunce (13)
7. Thomas Wilson (15)
8. Matt Finn (16)
9. Slater Koekkoek (23)
10. Scott Kosmachuk (24)
11. Tanner Pearson (25)
12. Scott Laughton (28)
13. Daniil Zharkov (32)
14. Jarrod Maidens (35)
15. Gemel Smith (37)
16. Brady Vail (38)
17. Andreas Athanasiou (40)
18. Tanner Richard (41)
19. Trevor Carrick (44)
20. Dane Fox (46)
21. Brock McGinn (49)
22. Ben Johnson (52)
23. Josh Anderson (57)
24. Matia Marcantuoni (59)
25. Artur Gavrus (60)
26. Max Iafrate (70)
27. Dylan Blujus (71)
28. Justin Kea (93)
29. Nick Ebert (96)
30. Justin Auger (107)
31. Connor Brown (110)
32. Kris Kontos (111)
33. Joel Wigle (113)
34. Chris Tierney (118)
35. Michael Clarke (119)
36. Adam Pelech (120)
37. Chris Marchese (121)
38. Troy Donnay (122)
39. Jesse Graham (125)
40. Jake Dotchin (129)
41. Cody Payne (146)
42. Zach Mitchell (151)
43. Marcus McIvor (154)
44. Patrick Watling (155)
45. Garrett Hooey (157)
46. Matthew Campagna (158)
47. Gianluca Curcuruto (160)
48. Alex Gudbranson (161)
49. Chase Hatcher (174)
50. Luke Cairns (189)
51. Patrik Machac (190)
52. Luke Mercer (193)
53. Liam Maaskant (195)
54. Zach Leslie (204)
LV Evan McEneny

Goaltenders
1. Malcolm Subban (1)
2. Jake Paterson (3)
3. Frank Palazzese (9)
4. Daniel Altshuller (12)
5. Matej Machovsky (14)
6. Michael Houser (16)
7. Clint Windsor (17)
8. Matthew Murray (18)
9. Mathias Niederberger (24)
10. Jaroslav Pavelka (27)
11. Michael Nishi (32)


HERE'S THE LINK TO THE SKATERS
HERE's THE LINK TO THE GOALTENDERS

Just some general comments...

- One thing that jumped out at me right away was how low Matthew Murray was on the goaltender list. Sure, he had a really up and down year in the Soo, but who didn't? And he was put in a pretty hard situation as the team's starter (playing well) before the disastrous Jack Campbell trade. This is a guy who NHL GM's wanted to see at the Top Prospect's Game, and who stole the show there. He's also got a chance to start for Canada at the Under 18's. If he's the 19th drafted North American goaltender in 2012, I'll eat my hat.

- I like the aggressive ranking of some under the radar guys like Justin Kea, Josh Anderson, and Joel Wigle. They're all terrific prospects that not a lot of people know about because they aren't getting a ton of ice time or putting up huge stats. But if you watch them play, they always impact the game in a positive way.

- Really like seeing Guelph's Zack Mitchell getting some attention on the list as a draft re-entry. He'll be near the top of my list of re-entries when I put it together closer to the draft.

- Conversely, I'm surprised Seth Griffith didn't get any love in that respect. He certainly deserves it.

- Shocked to see Adam Pelech so lowly ranked. He's a terrific stay at home defenseman with offensive upside. I hope he has a terrific Under 18's which would really boost his draft stock after a tough year in Erie.

- In terms of the "no shows" on the list. The highest guys from my own draft ranking (which won't be finalized until May) are Nathan Pancel, Ryan Rupert, and Warren Steele.

- In terms of the "wow he's that high" department. Brock McGinn is insanely highly ranked for me. I like him as a little sparkplug/energy guy, but he's near the back end of my top 50, not near my top 20.

Your thoughts?