NHL Central Scouting: Preliminary Rankings
NHL central scouting service released it’s preliminary rankings (which can be found here) heading into the 2015-2016 NHL season. At the beginning of each season, NHL central scouting releases this “prospect watch” where instead of traditional rankings like we see throughout the year, it consists of grades of A, B, or C for prospects.
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Any player ranked A is projected to be picked in the first round. B grades are projected to be taken in the 2nd to 3rd round. While C grade players are destined to be 4th rounders and beyond. These rankings can change rapidly throughout the season, but most importantly it gives us an early idea of who to watch.
Each season we see how much further scouting reaches. More and more players representing smaller leagues are evident. For example, the USHL and NAHL seem to get more and more prospects on the radar every year. Things like high-school hockey and college teams are making their mark felt, especially this season.
They’re some teams (mostly in the CHL) that are being heavily represented in the NHL central scouting’s preliminary rankings:
Cedar Rapids, USHL – 4 (four C’s)
Muskegon, USHL – 4 (four C’s)
Charlottetown, QMJHL – 4 (four C’s)
Sioux City, USHL – 4 (one B, three C’s)
Hamilton, OHL – 4 (one B, three C’s)
Saint John, QMJHL – 4 (one B, three C’s)
Red Deer, WHL – 4 (two B’s, two C’s)
Windsor, OHL – 4 (two B’s, two C’s)
Prince Albert, WHL – 5 (two B’s, three C’s)
Mississauga, OHL – 6 (two A’s, two B’s, two C’s)
London, OHL – 10 (three A’s, two B’s, five C’s)
Looks as though the teams to watch will be Mississauga and London. To think, Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner heads back to join 10 prospects in London. That could be a very interesting season for the Knights.
Just like every crop of prospects, you can always find those NHL bloodlines. This year features Brett Howden, brother of Panthers prospect Quinton Howden. Taden Rattie is the younger brother of Blues prospect Ty Rattie. Ty Amonte is the son of former Blackhawks/Rangers star Tony Amonte.
Matthew Tkachuk is the spitting image of his father and NHL legend Keith Tkachuk. Alex Nylander looks to join his brother William in the NHL, of course younger son of former NHLer Michael Nylander. Top prospect Jakob Chychrun is the son of former NHLer Jeff Chychrun.
Then there’s the younger brother of Nashville’s emerging young star. Fredrik Forsberg isn’t as highly rated as his brother Filip though. Kieffer Bellows is another top flight prospect who is son to former NHLer Brian Bellows. To round out the crop, let’s not forget about Lucas Johansen, the younger brother of Blue Jackets center Ryan Johansen.
It should be a fun season of junior hockey, between the Ivan Hlinka tournament and U20 World Juniors, they’ll be plenty of good hockey for fans to watch this year outside of the NHL.
Next: No Timetable for NHL Expansion
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