NHL Central Scouting has released their final rankings for the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Below is a breakdown of how OHL players were ranked.
SKATERS
1. Sam Bennett (1)
2. Aaron Ekblad (2)
3. Michael Dal Colle (5)
4. Nick Ritchie (7)
5. Brendan Perlini (8)
6. Jared McCann (10)
7. Anthony DeAngelo (14)
8. Ryan MacInnis (20)
9. Robby Fabbri (21)
10. Josh Ho-Sang (22)
11. Nikolai Goldobin (24)
12. Eric Cornel (25)
13. Roland McKeown (27)
14. Brendan Lemieux (28)
15. Nick Magyar (32)
16. Dylan Sadowy (33)
17. Hunter Smith (39)
18. Connor Chatham (46)
19. Michael Bunting (49)
20. Aaron Haydon (54)
21. Blake Siebenaler (55)
22. Alex Peters (56)
23. Spencer Watson (59)
24. Darby Llewellyn (64)
25. Mike Amadio (68)
26. Kyle Jenkins (69)
27. Christian Dvorak (71)
28. Josh Sterk (84)
29. Matthew Mistele (88)
30. Ryan Foss (91)
31. Josh Wesley (111)
32. Santino Centorame (113)
33. Kevin Lebanc (115)
34. Stefan Leblanc (123)
35. Stephen Desrochers (125)
36. Yannick Rathjeb (129)
37. Blake Clarke (134)
38. Patrick Sanvido (140)
39. Niki Petti (143)
40. Jacob Busch (152)
41. Chandler Yakimowicz (153)
42. Jaden Lindo (154)
43. Kyle Pettit (161)
44. Cordell James (165)
45. Stephen Harper (166)
46. Jacob Middleton (172)
47. Brandon Prophet (174)
48. Frank Hora (176)
49. Zach Bratina (186)
50. Alex Lintuniemi (187)
51. Kyle Wood (191)
52. Alexander Mikulovich (192)
53. Bryan Moore (195)
54. Phil Baltisberger (197)
55. Daniel De Sousa (204)
GOALIES
1. Brent Moran (3)
2. Alex Nedeljkovic (4)
3. Brandon Halverson (6)
4. Matthew Mancina (12)
5. Devin Williams (15)
6. Jack Flinn (25)
7. Ken Appleby (27)
HERE (Skaters & Goalies) are the links to the complete lists.
General thoughts...
- Comparing it to the midterm, some of the biggest "risers" are Nick Magyar (52-32), Dylan Sadowy (89-33), Darby Llewellyn (113-64), Hunter Smith (140-39), Josh Sterk (195-89), Santino Centorame (AB-113), Stephen Desrochers (AB-125), and Patrick Sanvido (AB-140).
- Some of the "fallers" were Roland McKeown (15-27), Aaron Haydon (28-54), Alex Peters (36-56), Matt Mistele (51-88), Brandon Prophet (76-174), Nikita Yazkov (77-AB), Jacob Middleton (87-172), Blake Clarke (93-134), Jaden Lindo (96-154), Alexander Mikulovich (108-192), Cristiano DiGiacinto (117-AB), and Nikita Serebryakov (17-AB).
- Comparing it to my own list (at the moment), Jacob Middleton is the one that really stands out. I don't have him incredibly high, but I do think that he deserves to be higher than where CSS has him ranked. It's tough being the top defenseman (as a young player) on a bottom of the standings team.
- Interesting call for CSS to have Brent Moran leapfrog Nedeljkovic. It'll be interesting to see how they both do at the Under 18's. I see the reasoning behind it (size and improvement), but I still prefer Nedeljkovic.
- In terms of absences, I think the biggest surprise is Cristiano DiGiacinto. The suspension at the end of the season hurt, but he brings a lot of things to the table that could make him an attractive selection for NHL clubs.
- I don't agree with Zach Bratina falling as significantly as he did. I actually expected him to be a riser considering how well he has played since the trade to North Bay.
- Otherwise, there weren't a ton of MASSIVE surprises, just minor gripes. In particular, I thought they did a pretty good job with the top 15-20ish (save maybe not having Fabbri higher, but we all knew that he wanted be ranked high on CSS due to his size).
Interesting that Sam Bennett is #1, some see him as a J Toews. Seemed to me Reinhart was the flavour of the month. I'm wondering if they are looking at age of Bennett. Ekblad seems like he will go #2 or #3.
ReplyDeleteAre you as high on Bennett?
I'm definitely as high on Bennett. He and Ekblad are 1A) and 1B) for me right now. I think I still give Ekblad the nod, but it's super close.
ReplyDeleteBennett is such a smart and well rounded player. He really doesn't have any major flaws and projects as the type of guy who can have an impact on a franchise the way Jonathan Toews has in Chicago.
I was reading Lowetide and he made this comment on Sam Bennett.
ReplyDelete"He posted a poor 5×5/60 and even though his underlying numbers look good the qual comp was soft and he didn’t have tough zone starts."
Does this influence your opinion of him
Where do you think Sam Bennett would have gone in last years draft ?
ReplyDeleteRe; Lowetide and Sam Bennett
ReplyDeleteHe was joking about the advanced stats.
To answer some questions about Bennett...
ReplyDeleteRE Last Year's Draft:
As much as I like Sean Monahan, I would have taken Bennett ahead of him and I think he's the better prospect. Bennett has a lot of the same qualities Monahan has (the hockey IQ especially), but is the more dynamic skater and the more physically aggressive player.
RE the stats from Lowetide
Sounds like Allan was joking about the advanced stats as someone else mentioned. That said, I'll take what I have seen on the ice over those anyway. In all the games I've seen Bennett play, I don't think I've ever seen him have a bad game. He's about as consistent as they come. His effort level is unwavering and in combination with his skill level, makes him the top prospect that he is.
Would you make this trade?
ReplyDeleteSean Couturier for Edmonton's # 3 pick in the draft