Final Rankings Before The NHL Entry Draft

Many have asked me if I will be doing a final rankings prior to the NHL Entry Draft.

The short answer is no. The long answer is in a way yes. Several weeks ago, I was asked to take part in a consensus ranking of the top 200 players available for the draft, made up of some independent scouts and other bloggers covering the OHL, WHL, QMJHL and US hockey.

Something like this takes a lot of debating, compromising and work. We are currently in round three (61-90) and will soon have that complete. As soon as we reach the 200 level and we've given it one last debate and finalized it, I will post the link here for you.

As with anything involving this size and a group of people, you may not be in total agreement, but you make your arguments and your selling points and in the end, you may not come out on top. In the end, I've thought long and hard about it and agreed to the process and am happy with the way its turned out so far, so in fairness to the work everyone else is putting into it, I find it contradicting to come up with my own list.

The final list should be complete in just a few short weeks and after a little more debate, should be made available around June 1. So I hope you will all look for it when its complete !

My Rankings for February

Here are my OHL player rankings for the NHL Entry draft as of the end of February :

1. Gabriel Landeskog
2. Ryan Strome
3. Dougie Hamilton
4. Ryan Murphy
5. Alex Khoklachev
6. Brandon Saad
7. Vladislav Namestnikov
8. Matt Puempel
9.  Nicklas Jensen
10. Shane Prince
11. Boone Jenner
12. Rickard Rakell
13. Mark Scheifele
14. Ryan Sproul
15. Tobias Rieder
16.Alan Quine
17. Stefan Noesen
18. Brett Ritchie
19. Stuart Percey
20. Scott Harrington

My Rankings for January

Small change near the top of the order and some juggling throughout.

Gabriel Landeskog

Ryan Strome

Ryan Murphy

Dougie Hamilton

Matt Puempel

Brandon Saad

Alexander Khokhlachev

Vladislav Namestnikov

Daniel Catenacci

Nicklas Jensen

Rickard Rakell

Lucas Lessio

Shane Prince

Tobias Rieder

Boone Jenner

Brett Ritchie

Alan Quine

Stefan Noesen

Scott Harrington

Stuart Percy

My Rankings for December

With the OHL season on break for the Holidays, i thought i would post my December rankings early this month. These are my top 20 ranked players from the OHL with November's placing in brackets

1.       Gabriel Landeskog – Kitchener (1)

2.       Brandon Saad – Saginaw (2)

3.       Ryan Murphy – Kitchener (3)

4.       Ryan Strome – Niagara (4)

5.       Dougie Hamilton – Niagara (6)

6.       Matt Puempel – Peterborough (5)

7.       Alexander Khokhlachev – Windsor (9)

8.       Daniel Catenacci – Soo Greyhounds (7)

9.       Tobias Rieder – Kitchener (13)

10.   Lucas Lessio – Oshawa (10)

11.   Vincent Trocheck – Saginaw (11)

12.   Vladislav Namestnikov – London (8)

13.   Boone Jenner – Oshawa (12)

14.   Shane Prince – Ottawa (20)

15.   Nicklas Jensen – Oshawa (new)

16.   Alan Quine – Peterborough (18)

17.   Stefan Noesen – Plymouth (new)

18.   Scott Harrington – London (14)

19.   Brett Ritchie – Sarnia (19)

20.   Rickard Rakell – Plymouth (new)

My Rankings for November

Due to an illness i wasn't able to get to games for a couple of weeks, but kept a close eye via television. There are some changes but all in all, the top 20 are still top 20.

1. Gabriel Landeskog - Kitchener
2. Brandon Saad - Saginaw
3. Ryan Murphy - Kitchener
4. Ryan Strome - Niagara
5. Matt Puemple - Peterborough
6. Dougie Hamilton - Niagara
7. Daniel Catenacci - Soo Greyhounds
8. Vladislav Namestnikov - London
9. Alex khokhlachev - Windsor
10. luca Lessio - Oshawa
11. Vincent Trocheck - Saginaw
12. Boone Jenner - Oshawa
13. Tobias Rieder - Kitchener
14. Scott Harrington - London
15. Austen Brassard - Belleville
16. Nicklas Jensen - Oshawa
17. Mark Scheifele - Barrie
18. Alan Quine - Peterborough
19. Brett Ritchie - Sarnia
20. Shane Prince - Ottawa

Top 30 rankings for October

Well, here it is, the top 30 rankings in my opinion, from the OHL. You should take note that this is early. I have seen each one play at least once, but others many more times. As the season goes on, and it evens out, these rankings would change of course.

1.       Gabriel Landeskog –  RW -Kitchener Rangers

2.       Brandon Saad – LW – Saginaw Spirit

3.       Matt Puempel – LW - Peterborough Petes

4.       Ryan Murphy – D - Kitchener Rangers

5.       Vladislav Namestnikov – London Knights

6.       Daniel Catenacci – Soo Greyhounds

7.       Alex Khokhlachev – C - Windsor Spitfires

8.       Austen Brassard – Belleville Bulls

9.       Ryan Strome – Niagara Ice Dogs

10.   Brett Ritchie – Sarnia Sting

11.   Dougie Hamilton – Niagara Ice Dogs

12.   Scott Harrington – London Knights

13.   Lucas Lessio – Oshawa Generals

14.   Vincent Trocheck – Saginaw Spirit

15.   Boone Jenner – Oshawa Generals

16.   Tobias Rieder – Kitchener Rangers

17.   Shane Prince – Ottawa 67’s

18.   Nicklas Jensen – Oshawa Generals

19.   Nick Cousins – Soo Greyhounds

20.   Alan Quine - Kingston

21.   Mark Scheifele – Barrie Colts

22.   Steven Strong – Belleville Bulls

23.   Stuart Percy – Mississauga Majors

24.   Stefan Neosen – Plymouth Whalers

25.   Garrett Meurs – Plymouth Whalers

26.   Spencer Abraham – Brampton Battalion

27.   David Broll – Erie Otters

28.   Barclay Goodrow – Brampton Battalion

29.   Justin Thomas – Soo Greyhounds

30.   Alex Aleardi – Plymouth Whalers

Goaltenders

1.       Tyson Teichmann – Belleville Bulls

2.       John Chartrand – Niagara Ice Dogs

3.       Tadeas Galansky – Saginaw Spirit

4.       Michael Houser – London Knights

My pre-season top 20 skaters

Matthew Puempel - Left Wing - Peterborough Petes

Ryan Murphy - Defenceman - Kitchener Rangers

Boone Jenner - Center - Oshawa Generals

Gabriel Landeskog - Right Wing - Kitchener Rangers

Brett Ritchie - Right Wing - Sarnia Sting

Justin Sefton - Defenceman - Sudbury Wolves

Dougie Hamilton - Defenceman - Niagara Ice Dogs

Austin Brassard - Right Wing - Belleville Bulls

David Broll - Left Wing - Erie Otters

Scott Harrington - Defenceman - London Knights

Brady Austin - Defenceman - Erie Otters

Garrett Meurs - Center - Plymouth Whalers


Vincent Trochek - Center - Saginaw Spirit

Ryan Strome - Right Wing - Niagara Ice Dogs

Anthony Camara - Left Wing - Saginaw Spirit

Barclay Goodrow - Left Wing - Brampton Battalion

Stuart Percy - Defenceman - Mississauga St. Michael's Majors

Michael Curtis - Left Wing - Belleville Bulls

Daniel Catenacci - Center - Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

Carter Sandlak - Left Wing - Guelph Storm

My pre-season top 5 goaltenders

Tyson Teichmann –Belleville Bulls

Jordan Binnington - Owen Sound Attack

Jacob Riley – Brampton Battalion

Shayne Campbell – Sarnia Sting

Andrew D’Agostini – Peterborough Petes