Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Draft Watch List Released

Nearly 100 current or future NCAA players highlighted in NHL Central Scouting rankings.

Draft Watch List Released
First-round NHL Draft prospect Quinn Hughes made his Michigan debut in an exhibition win on Saturday.

Two current freshmen – Michigan’s Quinn Hughes (Orlando, Fla./U.S. NTDP) and Boston University’s Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo./U.S. NTDP) – headline a list of 97 current and future NCAA players featured in NHL Central Scouting’s Players to Watch list for the 2018 NHL Draft.

Sortable: NCAA Players to Watch for 2018 NHL Draft

Nearly half of all Division I programs had a player or recruit featured on the list, with 29 schools represented. Denver and Wisconsin each had seven commits featured to lead all schools, followed by Michigan (six), Boston College (five) and Minnesota (five).

Twenty-one of the prospects on the list have not committed to a school but are playing in an NCAA-eligible junior or high school league.

Hughes and Tkachuk lead a group of five current NCAA freshmen on the list. They are joined by Michigan’s Michael Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla./U.S. NTDP), Michigan State’s Tommy Miller (W. Bloomfield, Mich./U.S. NTDP) and Minnesota’s Nate Knoepke (Farmington, Minn./U.S. NTDP), all in their second year of NHL Draft eligibility.

The recruits included in the Players to Watch list represent seven junior leagues and numerous high schools and prep schools. Forty-nine current USHL players are among those featured.