Youngblood: Top 30 Rankings for 2015 NHL Entry Draft [Pre-Season]

Excitement is pulsating throughout the hockey world as everyone, and I mean everyone, is eager to follow the Mac versus Jack draft battle that is set to take place. Connor McDavid (aka the “Mac”) will officially begin his draft season when the Otters travel to Saginaw Wednesday, while Jack Eichel (aka the “Jack”) will use the All American game on Thursday in Buffalo to give scouts their benchmark viewing. The 2015 crop is shaping up to be one of the deepest in top-end talents in years and with that sort of competitiveness it’s surely going to be a sensational group to follow over the next ten months.

Word of Caution: Don’t be too critical of the specific draft locations of players as, for example, there isn’t much separating the 4th, 5th, 6th...12th ranked prospect from one another and as the season progresses, separation will be easier to define.

Connor McDavid, LC, Erie (OHL)
Jack Eichel, RC, Boston University (NCAA)
Noah Hanifin, LD, Boston College (NCAA)
Pavel Zacha, LC, Sarnia (OHL)
Oliver Kylington, LD, Farjestad (SWE)
Colin White, RC, US NTDP (USHL)
Mitchell Marner, RC, London (OHL)
Travis Konecny, RC, Ottawa (OHL)
Dylan Strome, LC, Erie (OHL)
Mathew Barzal, RC, Seattle (WHL)
Lawson Crouse, LW, Kingston (OHL)
Daniel Sprong, RW, Charlottetown (QMJHL)
Kyle Connor, LC, Youngstown (USHL)
Jeremy Roy, RD, Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
Zach Werenski, LD, Michigan (NCAA)
Evgeni Svechnikov, RW, Cape Breton (QMJHL)
Jeremy Bracco, RC/W, US NTDP (USHL)
Mikko Rantanen, LC/W, TPS (FIN)
Jakub Zboril, LD, Saint John (QMJHL)
Thomas Novak, LC, Waterloo (USHL)
Nicolas Roy, RW, Chicoutimi (QMJHL)
Matt Spencer, RD, Peterborough (OHL)
Jordan Greenway, LW, US NTDP (USHL)
Guillaume Brisebois, LD, Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)
Ivan Provorov, LD, Brandon (WHL)
Graham Knott, LW, Niagara (OHL)
Paul Bittner, LW, Portland (WHL)
Rasmus Andersson, RD, Barrie (OHL)
Brock Boeser, RW, Waterloo (USHL)
Nick Merkley, RC, Kelowna (WHL)

Watch List – Top 60 Potential: (alphabetical)

Jeremiah Addison, LW, Ottawa (OHL)

Filip Ahi, LW, HV71 (SWE)

Sebastian Aho, LW, Karpat (FIN)

Sebastian Aho, LD, Skelleftea (SWE)*

Ethan Bear, RD, Seattle (WHL)

Anthony Beauvillier, LW, Shawinigan (QMJHL)

Radovan Bondra, RW, HC Kosice (SVK)

Brandon Carlo, RD, Tri-City (WHL)

Erik Cernak, RD, HC Kosice (SVK)

John Dahlstrom, LW, Frolunda Jr (SWE)

Alexander Dergachyov, LC, SKA St. Petersburgh (RUS)

Travis Dermott, LD, Erie (OHL)

Vince Dunn, LD, Niagara (OHL)

Giorgio Estephan, RC, Lethbridge (WHL)

Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, RC, Omaha (USHL)

Gustaf Franzen, RC, Kitchener (OHL)

Oliver Galipeau, LD, Val d’Or (QMJHL)

Glenn Gawdin, LW, Swift Current (WHL)

AJ Greer, LW, Boston University (NCAA)

Ryan Gropp, LW, Seattle (WHL)

Brendan Guhle, LD, Prince Albert (WHL)

Sam Harding, RC, Oshawa (OHL)

Jansen Harkins, LC, Prince George (WHL)

Hayden Hodgson, RW, Sarnia (OHL)*

Cameron Hughes, LC/W, Wisconsin (NCAA)

David Kase, RW, Chomutov (CZE)

Ivan Kashtanov, RW, Sudbury (OHL)

Nikita Korostelev, RW, Sarnia (OHL)

Robin Kovacs, RW, AIK Jr (SWE)

Justin Lemcke, RD, Belleville (OHL)

Denis Malgin, C, GCK Zurich (SUI)

Hayden McCool, LW, Niagara (OHL)

Brett McKenzie, LC, North Bay (OHL)

Nicolas Meloche, RD, Baie Comeau (QMJHL)

Julius Nättinen, LW, JYP Jr (FIN)

Nathan Noel, RC, Saint John (QMJHL)

Kirill Piripenko, RW, HK MVD Jr. (RUS)

Ryan Pilon, LD, Brandon (WHL)

Roy Radke, RW, Barrie (OHL)

Chaz Reddekopp, LD, Victoria (WHL)

Aleksi Saarela, LC, Assat (FIN)

Dante Salituro, RC, Ottawa (OHL)

Tyler Soy, C, Victoria (WHL)

Blake Speers, RC, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

Mitchell Stephens, RC, Saginaw (OHL)

Keoni Texeira, LD, Portland (WHL)

Dmytro Timashov, LW/RW, Modo Jr (SWE)

Artur Tyanulin, RW, Ottawa (OHL)

Mitchell Vande Somple, LD, Oshawa (OHL)

Brendan Warren, LC, US NTDP (USHL)

Colton White, LD, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

Parker Wotherspoon, LD, Tri-City (WHL)

Dennis Yan, LW, Shawinigan (QMJHL)

*denotes re-entry prospect

Top Goaltenders: (alphabetical)

Mackenzie Blackwood, Barrie (OHL)

Callum Booth, Quebec (QMJHL)

Taz Burman, Red Deer (WHL)

Adam Huska, HKM Zvolen (SVK)

Markus Olsson, Modo (SWE)

Felix Sandstrom, Brynas (SWE)

Maxim Tretiak, CSKA Moskow (RUS)

Veini Vehvilainen, JYP (FIN)

Daniel Vladar, HC Kladno (CZE)

With a close eye on the Ontario Hockey League, watch for the following players ranked outside the Top 30 to make a strong push in their draft season with a chance to move up the rankings: