Saturday, January 13, 2024

Midseason NHL Central Scouting Rankings for 2024

NHL Central Scouting has released their first official draft ranking for 2024. Let's see how the OHL players were ranked. In total, 53 were listed. I'll be releasing my own midseason rankings very shortly (likely by the end of the month), in addition to the preliminary media/scout poll See below for some commentary on these rankings.

Skaters:
1. Sam Dickinson (7)
2. Zayne Parekh (10)
3. Liam Greentree (12)
4. Beckett Sennecke (15)
5. Jett Luchanko (21)
6. Marek Vanacker (25)
7. Henry Mews (27)
8. Cole Beaudoin (31)
9. Ben Danford (32)
10. Luca Marrelli (35)
11. Gabriel Frasca (37)
12. Sam O'Reilly (40)
13. Luke Misa (45)
14. Nathan Villeneuve (51)
15. Jakub Fibigr (52)
16. Lukas Fischer (55)
17. Jacob Battaglia (56)
18. Ethan Procyszyn (59)
19. Luca Testa (62)
20. Kieron Walton (63)
21. Anthony Romani (81)
22. Mason Zebeski (86)
23. Kevin He (89)
24. Luke Ellinas (95)
25. Frankie Marrelli (100)
26. Anthony Cristoforo (101)
27. Owen Allard (109)
28. Trent Swick (111)
29. Christopher Thibodeau (115)
30. Riley Patterson (116)
31. Kaden Pitre (119)
32. AJ Spellacy (125)
33. Nathan Aspinall (126)
34. Charlie Hilton (127)
35. Jared Woolley (129)
36. Parker Von Richter (135)
37. Sam McCue (141)
38. Josef Eichler (146)
39. Bode Stewart (147)
40. Owen Protz (168)
41. Jack Van Volsen (169)
42. Marco Mignosa (173)
43. Finn Harding (174)
44. Cole Davis (184)
45. Charlie Paquette (191)
46. Rowan Topp (205)
47. Luke McNamara (216)
48. Leo Serlin (218)

Goaltenders:
1. Carter George (1)
2. Ryerson Leenders (3)
3. Landon Miller (17)
4. Karsen Chartier (23)
5. Zach Bowen (30)

For the full list, click here.

Comments:

1. I think NHL Central Scouting nailed the top five names correctly. It's not exactly the order of how my top five would look right now for the OHL, but it's the same names. 

2. While I haven't released my own midseason rankings yet (you can expect that very soon), the following players will be higher on my list: Lukas Fischer, Luke Misa, Anthony Cristoforo, Christopher Thibodeau, Parker Von Richter, and I'd have Alex Kostov and Jack Brauti ranked. Players who will be lower on my list will be: Luca Marrelli, Mason Zebeski, and Josef Eichler.

3. Based on what's out there in the public sphere, I'm sure most people are most shocked by the rankings of Luke Misa and Anthony Cristoforo. I've seen Misa in a lot of first rounds and that ranking probably places him in NHL CSS' third round. Not sure I agree with it, but I see the logic. Misa probably projects best as a solid third line option at the NHL level, so it's clear that Central Scouting views the guys they have ranked ahead as having a higher upside. As for Cristoforo, he's really struggled defensively this year on an inconsistent Windsor team. He came into the year as a potential top 50 candidate and it's beginning to seem more likely that he's a mid-late round pick now (if at all). The U18's will likely be MASSIVE for his draft stock.

4. Interesting to see Sam Dickinson ranked 7th among NA skaters. Probably puts him pretty firmly outside their top 10 (when combining lists). Again, I can see the logic. The more I've watched Dickinson, the more that I begin to believe he's probably best suited to be a solid #2-3 guy, rather than a perennial all star or Norris candidate. He's a very safe prospect, but it's clear they value the upside of a guy like Levshunov more.

5. Great to see Anthony Romani listed as a potential mid round candidate. I think it's starting to look more and more like he's a top 100 candidate and is the best re-entry guy from the OHL (apologies to Owen Allard). He's been unbelievable this year. The progression has been unreal. One re-entry guy that I would have listed is Oshawa's Matt Buckley. I think he's a draft candidate based on his terrific shot and scoring upside. 

No comments:

Post a Comment