Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Draft Watch List Highlights NCAAers

Dozens of current and future college stars among Central Scouting’s Players to Watch for 2015.

Draft Watch List Highlights NCAAers
Boston College freshman Noah Hanifin is a candidate to be a top-five pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.

More than 75 players representing 31 NCAA schools are among the players highlighted in NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list for the 2015 NHL Draft, released Tuesday.

Eleven players who are freshmen this fall are among the list, including first-round prospects Jack Eichel (Boston University), Noah Hanifin (Boston College) and Zach Werenski (Michigan). Those three lead a group of seven current or future college players who earned “A” ratings as first-round prospects. All of those players will be participating in the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game this Thursday in Buffalo.

Sortable: NCAA Players on Central Scouting Watch List | NHL.com story

In addition, 33 uncommitted players in college-eligible leagues like the NAHL and USHL are featured in Central Scouting’s list, bringing the total number of potential college players ranked to 110. The USHL, with 53 players listed, had the most players featured of any league in the world, edging out the OHL (41), WHL (39) and QMJHL (37).

Werenski leads seven current and future Michigan players on the list, just ahead of Hanifin and Boston College (6) for the most of any school. Wisconsin (5), Boston University (4), Miami (4), Minnesota (4) and Notre Dame (4) also have at least four players mentioned.

The 31 schools with at least one player highlighted represent more than half of all Division I programs.