Current and future college players fill NHL Central Scouting's midterm rankings for the 2015 NHL Draft, released Tuesday. Jack Eichel (Boston University), Noah Hanifin (Boston College) and Zach Werenski (Michigan) give NCAA schools two of the top three players in the North American rankings and three of the top six.
In all, 95 current or future NCAA players are featured in the rankings, representing nearly half of all Division I programs (27 of 59).
Sortable: NCAA Players in Midterm Rankings | NHL.com Story
Seven of those 95 players are currently playing college hockey, led by Eichel, Hanifin and Werenski. Twenty-three of the 95 are currently playing in NCAA-eligible junior or high school leagues, but have yet to commit to a school.
A few more notes on the 95 players in the rankings:
Eichel, Hanifin and Werenski have a chance to become the highest drafted players from the college ranks since Rick DiPietro and Dany Heatley went 1-2 in the 2000 NHL Draft. Erik Johnson (No. 1 in 2006) and James van Riemsdyk (No. 2 in 2007) are the most recent NCAA representatives among the top two selections, though both were taken out of the U.S. National Team Development Program.
Each of the last 13 NHL Drafts has seen at least 60 current or future NCAA players selected, a trend that certainly seems likely to continue based upon these rankings. This year's NHL Draft will take place June 26-27 in Sunrise, Fla.