NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings of the year last month. We broke down the rankings, highlighting some of the top prospects and trends of the 2022 draft class + an interactive Excel dashboard of the 4 final lists.
North American Skaters By League
The CHL - consisting of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL), dominate the overall pool with 57.8% of all North American prospects coming from 1 of the 3 leagues.
Top 10 North American Skaters
Top 50 North American Skaters By League
OHL - 15
WHL - 11
USNTDP - 10
USHL - 6
QMJHL - 4
The OHL (15) and WHL (11) lead all other leagues in top 50 prospects, with just 4 prospects going out of the QMJHL. The USNTDP is, again, a huge producer of top talent, listing 10 prospects in the top 50, as well as 9 in the top 30 (leading all other leagues) and 3 in the top 10.
CHL Top 30 Skaters
The U18 IIHF World Championships in Germany last month were huge for the majority of the USNTDP prospects, with Rutger McGroaty* (8G 1A), Logan Cooley (3G 7A), Cutter Gauthier* (3G 6A), and Frank Nazar (3G 6A) all showing off their abilities over the 6 games.
* Unreal hockey name
Rutger McGroaty - ‘04 Forward - USNTDP
#22 North American Skater
Commit : Michigan
USNTDP Skaters
7.56% of NA Skaters - 30% of Top 30 NA Skaters
Some intriguing prospects from the USNTDP are Lane Hutson and Seamus Casey, both slightly undersized defenseman who can move the puck and have strong instincts on both sides of the puck, paired with fluid strides.
Logan Cooley - ‘04 Forward - USNTDP
#2 North American Skater
Commit : Minnesota
Sioux Falls led all USHL clubs with 5 prospects listed, followed by 6 different clubs with 3 prospects (Muskegon, Madison, Chicago, Sioux City, Dubuque, and Green Bay). Adam Ingram of the Youngstown Phantoms is the highest listed prospect out of the USHL at #27, with all 6 prospects ranked #50 & under being forwards.
USHL Skaters
12% of Top 50 NA Skaters - 14% of NA Skaters
Adam Ingram leads all USHL prospects at #27, with 5 players between #36 - #46. 2 Dubuque prospects, #161 ‘02 Stephen Halliday and #209 ‘03 Connor Kurth lead all listed prospects in regular season goals with 35.
Adam Ingram - ‘03 Forward - Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
#27 North American Skater
Commit : St Cloud State
Sam Rinzel from Chaska High in Minnesota at #19 is the highest High School prospect, followed by Ben McDonald of Noble & Greenough at #50 and Michael Fisher of St Marks (MA) at #52.
#125 ranked prospect Leo Gruba from Hill Murray HS in Minnesota was the highest High School player selected in the recent USHL Phase 2 draft, selected by Fargo with the 5th overall selection.
High School Prospects By State
MN - 9
MA - 8
NH / RI / CT - 2
IN / NY / Ontario / Quebec - 1
Northeast High School Skaters
6.6% of NA Skaters
NCAA Skaters
Top rated NCAA prospect Jack Hughes (no relation to the Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils or brothers), is actually the son of new Montreal GM Kent Hughes. A total of 3 prospects are projected to go in the top 6 rounds from NCAA programs.
North American Goaltenders By League
As with the North American skaters, the WHL and OHL lead the way for 32 North American goalie prospects this year, with 6 of the top 10 coming out of the CHL. Both Dylan Silverstein and Tyler Muszelik from the USNTDP are listed the top 5.
Top 20 North American Goaltenders
Both Silverstein and Muszelik, both in the 6’0”- 6’2” range, bring a mix of technical skating and approach to the game, with athleticism and flexibility to be able to make the secondary / desperation save.
Dylan Silverstein - ‘04 Goaltender - USNTDP
#3 North American Goaltender
Commit : Boston College
Tyler Muszelik - ‘04 Goaltender - USNTDP
#4 North American Goaltender
Commit : New Hampshire
International Skaters By League
The junior leagues of Sweden, Finland and Russia do have the most prospects overall, but only the Swedish Jr league has significant # of prospects in the top 20, and the only junior league with a prospect in the top 10 (#8 Liam Ohgren). Both the SHL and Liiga have 3 prospects each in the top 10, all of whom with high upside.
Slovakian native Juraj Slafkosky has emerged as the top international skater, with countryman Simon Nemec not far behind at #3. Slafkovsky could be a great fit in New Jersey with the 2nd pick of the draft (if the Devils don’t trade the pick). He brings a shooters mentality with size and long reach, perfect for the Devils smaller but speedy forward group.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki has jumped up many prospect lists, after leading the recent IIHF U18 World Championships in points, with 5 goals and 10 assists, including the backbreaking goal vs the USA to give Sweden the 6-4 lead + 3 assists.
Brad Lambert at #10 is another prospect who has been on most NHL team’s radar since last year. The smooth skating playmaker has struggled producing this season, but may be the most gifted skater and puck handler in the draft.
International Goaltenders
Excel Dashboard
Instructions
The file is set to filter by 1 league at a time. Simply select the league on the left hand side and the data table will update with the correct prospects. To start back with all leagues selected, simply click the clear filters button (Shown below).
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