NHL Central Scouting released its mid-season draft rankings Wednesday. As it always does, their list is split up into four categories: skaters playing in North America, skaters playing in Europe, goalies playing in North America and goalies playing in Europe.
Nolan Patrick, the favourite to be selected first overall at the 2017 NHL Draft, retains his spot atop the North American rankings despite missing all but eight games due to injury this season. However, in those games with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, Patrick has totalled six goals and 13 points.
However Timothy Liljegren, the projected No. 2 prospect for the draft, fell to No. 7 among European skaters and behind Finnish defender Miro Heiskanen. Liljegren has also missed a lot of playing time this season due to a bout with mono and was sent down to Timra in Allsvenskan recently. He has since been called up and is expected to return to Rogle’s Swedish League lineup soon.
Here are the top 10 rankings in each designation. You can find the full list here at NHL Central Scouting.
And be sure to check out Jeff Marek’s “Top 31” draft rankings for the month of January.
NORTH AMERICAN SKATERS
| Midterm Rank | Player | Position | Last Amateur Club | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick, Nolan | Center | Brandon | WHL |
| 2 | Hischier, Nico | Center | Halifax | QMJHL |
| 3 | Vilardi, Gabriel | Center | Windsor | OHL |
| 4 | Tippett, Owen | Right Wing | Mississauga | OHL |
| 5 | Mittelstadt, Casey | Center | Eden Prairie | HIGH-MN |
| 6 | Rasmussen, Michael | Center | Tri-City | WHL |
| 7 | Tolvanen, Eeli | Right Wing | Sioux City | USHL |
| 8 | Glass, Cody | Center | Portland | WHL |
| 9 | Valimaki, Juuso | Defenseman | Tri-City | WHL |
| 10 | Makar, Cale | Defenseman | Brooks | AJHL |
EUROPEAN SKATERS
| Midterm Rank | Player | Position | Last Amateur Club | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kostin, Klim | Left Wing/Center | Dynamo Moscow | RUSSIA |
| 2 | Pettersson, Elias | Center | Timra | SWEDEN-2 |
| 3 | Andersson, Lias | Center | HV 71 | SWEDEN |
| 4 | Vesalainen, Kristian | Left Wing/Right Wing | Frolunda | SWEDEN |
| 5 | Necas, Martin | Center | Brno | CZREP |
| 6 | Heiskanen, Miro | Defenseman | Hifk | FINLAND |
| 7 | Liljegren, Timothy | Defenseman | Rogle | SWEDEN |
| 8 | Vaakanainen, Urho | Defenseman | Jyp | FINLAND |
| 9 | Safin, Ostap | Right Wing | Sparta Jr. | CZREP-JR. |
| 10 | Westerlund, Filip | Defenseman | Frolunda | SWEDEN |
NORTH AMERICAN GOALIES
| Midterm Rank | Player | Position | Last Amateur Club | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petruzzelli, Keith | Goalie | Muskegon | USHL |
| 2 | Scott, Ian | Goalie | Prince Albert | WHL |
| 3 | Oettinger, Jake | Goalie | Boston University | H-EAST |
| 4 | Primeau, Cayden | Goalie | Lincoln | USHL |
| 5 | Zhukov, Maksim | Goalie | Green Bay | USHL |
| 6 | Rasmussen, Dayton | Goalie | Tri-City | USHL |
| 7 | Dipietro, Michael | Goalie | Windsor | OHL |
| 8 | D’orio, Alex | Goalie | Saint John | QMJHL |
| 9 | Skinner, Stuart | Goalie | Lethbridge | WHL |
| 10 | Keyser, Kyle | Goalie | Oshawa | OHL |
EUROPEAN GOALIES
| Midterm Rank | Player | Position | Last Amateur Club | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luukkonen, Ukko-Pekka | Goalie | HPK Jr. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 2 | Eriksson Ek, Olle | Goalie | Farjestad Jr. | SWEDEN-JR. |
| 3 | Tarasov, Daniil | Goalie | Ufa 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 4 | Samoilov, Alexander | Goalie | Cska 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 5 | Soderblom, Arvid | Goalie | Frolunda Jr. | SWEDEN-JR. |
| 6 | Patera, Jiri | Goalie | C. Jr. | CZREP-JR. |
| 7 | Makiniemi, Eetu | Goalie | Jokerit Jr. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 8 | Beck, Benjamin | Goalie | Ec U18 | RBHRC U18 |
| 9 | Lehtinen, Lassi | Goalie | Lukko Jr. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 10 | Sklenar, Juraj | Goalie | Slovakia U18 | SLOVAKIA-JR. |
