2018 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Rankings

Past the halfway point of the season now, NHL Central Scouting has updated their rankings for 2018.

Here's a look at how the OHL players fared. A total of 61 were ranked. And of course, if you wanted to compare, here's my midseason top 50. Also, see below for my thoughts on the list.

Skaters:
1. Andrei Svechnikov (1)
2. Evan Bouchard (5)
3. Barrett Hayton (6)
4. Serron Noel (9)
5. Akil Thomas (10)
6. Rasmus Sandin (15)
7. Ryan McLeod (16)
8. Ryan Merkley (21)
9. Blade Jenkins (24)
10. Kody Clark (28)
11. Kevin Bahl (30)
12. Allan McShane (33)
13. Giovanni Vallati (38)
14. Sean Durzi (39)
15. Declan Chisholm (42)
16. Alec Regula (43)
17. Nico Gross (47)
18. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (58)
19. Cam Hillis (59)
20. Carter Robertson (61)
21. Merrick Rippon (63)
22. Curtis Douglas (70)
23. Pavel Gogolev (75)
24. Ty Dellandrea (76)
25. Mitchell Hoelscher (82)
26. Albert Michnac (84)
27. Caleb Everett (86)
28. Liam Foudy (91)
29. Sam Bitten (94)
30. Connor Corcoran (96)
31. Tyler Tucker (104)
32. Matthew Struthers (108)
33. Peter Stratis (116)
34. Maxim Golod (118)
35. Riley Damiani (119)
36. Matthew MacDougall (121)
37. Brady Lyle (127)
38. Billy Moskal (130)
39. Aidan Dudas (131)
40. Nathan Dunkley (132)
41. Mac Hollowell (133)
42. Rickard Hugg (134)
43. Hugo Leufvenius (136)
44. Renars Krastenbergs (137)
45. Justin Brazeau (141)
46. Brandon Saigeon (143)
47. Hunter Holmes (149)
48. Connor Roberts (150)
49. Luke Burghardt (153)
50. Adam Thilander (155)
51. Kirill Nizhnikov (161)
52. Adam Liska (162)
53. Justin MacPherson (163)
54. William Ennis (173)
55. Damien Giroux (177)
56. David Levin (183)
57. Linus Nyman (202)
58. Maxim Grondin (211)
LV. Zack Malik
LV. Dennis Busby

Goaltenders:
1. Jacob Ingham (3)
2. Jordan Kooy (13)
3. Nick Donofrio (17)

If you're curious to see the full list, you can find it here. 

Here are my thoughts:

1. In comparison to my list, here are the biggest discrepancies:
I Have Higher:
Kirill Nizhnikov (-28)
Damien Giroux (-25)
Nathan Dunkley (-25)
David Levin (-25) 
Dennis Busby (-24)
Brady Hinz (-23) - Not Ranked
Riley Damiani (-19)
Adam Liska (-19)
Aidan Dudas (-17) 
Owen Lalonde (-17) - Not Ranked
Alex Gritz (-14) - Not Ranked
Ty Dellandrea (-12) 
Connor Roberts (-12)
Cam Hillis (-9) 

I Have Lower:
Mitchell Hoelscher (+23)
Liam Foudy (+22)
Maxim Golod (+15)
Peter Stratis (+14)
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (+14)
Declan Chisholm (+13)
Sam Bitten (+11)
Nico Gross (+10)
Blade Jenkins (+9)
Rasmus Sandin (+8)

2. There are definitely some major differences between my list and the one released by Central Scouting. There are some real oddities for me. The low rankings of Nathan Dunkley, Aidan Dudas, Riley Damiani, and Ty Dellandrea are head scratching. In particular, Dunkley, Dudas, and Damiani are all ranked below the likes of Michnac, Mitchell Hoelscher, Sam Bitten, and Maxim Golod. Some of those guys are undersized themselves. So I just don't get it. 

3. I wanted to touch on Hoelscher. Yes, he shows up as the player with the biggest discrepancy (in terms of CSS having him higher than I), but I'm actually quite happy to see that. I've mentioned a few times this year on the blog and on social media that I'm a huge Hoelscher fan. I'm shocked they have him that high (even with me liking him, I wouldn't have him that high), but he's a solid player and is better than the numbers he's putting up.

4. Amazingly high number of draft re-entries listed. This isn't shocking to me. Looking around the OHL (and the CHL), the number of potential candidates is massive. Tons of players who were previously passed over have had sensational seasons. Durzi isn't a shock as the top ranked one. He deserves it. What does shock me is the absence of Joey Keane, Jakob Brahaney, and Tyler Burnie, three of the league's top re-entry candidates. Keane, in particular, screams NHL pro to me and he's only one year off being draft eligible. I honestly thought he would be in the 60-75 range on this list.

5. One last thing to touch on is the high ranking of Serron Noel. This one seems to be being used as the example of what's wrong with NHL Central Scouting on the whole. People see Noel as a huge kid whose offensive stats aren't terrific and point to CSS' fascination with size. But they aren't alone in having Noel high in the rankings. Many do, including me. Noel is an extremely raw player who is just scratching the surface of what he is capable of. Do I think he should be a first round pick? No. But this guy is a legit top 45 talent because of what he could become.