The NHL’s Central Scouting Service has released its early-season listing of the top North American players eligible for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft from Canadian Junior A leagues and U.S. high school and prep school ranks.
Players are divided into four cagetories: A-rated players are predicted to be selected in the first or second round of the 2008 draft; B-rated players are considered potential mid-round selections; C-rated players are plotted as late-round picks; players CSS scouts haven’t seen enough to form an evaluation fall under the limited viewing category.
Next month, Central Scouting will release its list of draft-eligible collegians to watch as well as ratings of the top 25 prospects from the United States Hockey League and the U.S. National Team Development Program. The Central Scouting Service mid-term rankings appear in January.
The list below contains only those players who have verbally committed to college programs. The full prospect list can be found at NHL.com.
| CSS Canadian Junior A/U.S. High School and Prep School “Players to Watch” | |||
| A Ratings | |||
| Player |
Pos.
|
Current Team | College Commitment | |
| Mark Alt |
D
|
St. Paul (Minn.) Cretin Derham-Hall H.S. | Minnesota | |
| Joe Basaraba |
F
|
Faribault (Minn.) Shattuck St. Mary’s | Minnesota Duluth | |
| Nick Bjugstad |
F
|
Blaine (Minn.) H.S. | Minnesota | |
| Charlie Coyle |
F
|
South Shore (EJHL) | Boston University | |
| Max Gardiner |
F
|
Minnetonka (Minn.) H.S. | Minnesota | |
| Zane Gothberg |
G
|
Thief River Falls (Minn.) H.S. | North Dakota | |
| Kevin Hayes |
F
|
Dedham (Mass.) Nobles Prep | Boston College | |
| Brock Nelson |
F
|
Warroad (Minn.) H.S. | North Dakota | |
| B Ratings | |||
| Player |
Pos.
|
Current Team | College Commitment | |
| Daniel Carr |
F
|
St. Albert (AJHL) | Union | |
| Mac Carruth |
G
|
Wenatchee (NAHL) | Minnesota Duluth | |
| Grayson Downing |
F
|
Westside (BCHL) | New Hampshire | |
| Cody Ferriero |
F
|
Byfield (Mass.) Governor’s Academy | Boston College | |
| Alex Guptill |
F
|
Brampton (OJHL) | Michigan | |
| Caleb Herbert |
F
|
Bloomington (Minn.) Jefferson H.S. | Minnesota Duluth | |
| Justin Holl |
D
|
Minnetonka (Minn.) H.S. | Minnesota | |
| Christian Isackson |
F
|
Mendota Heights (Minn.) St. Thomas Academy | Minnesota | |
| Ben Marshall |
D
|
Mahtomedi (Minn.) H.S. | Minnesota | |
| Julian Melchiori |
D
|
Newmarket (Central Candian HL) | UMass Lowell | |
| Thomas O’Regan |
F
|
Needham (Mass.) St. Sebastian School | Harvard | |
| Mike Pereira |
F
|
South Kent (Conn.) School | Massachusetts | |
| Andrew Prochno |
D
|
Minnetonka (Minn.) H.S. | St. Cloud State | |
| Alex Vazzano |
G
|
Washington (Conn.) Gunnery Prep | Vermont | |
| Christopher Wagner |
F
|
South Shore (EJHL) | Colgate | |
| Brian Ward |
F
|
Byfield (Mass.) Governor’s Academy | Dartmouth | |
| C Ratings | |||
| Player |
Pos.
|
Current Team | College Commitment | |
| Joey Benik |
F
|
St. Francis (Minn.) H.S. | St. Cloud State | |
| Brian Billett |
G
|
New Hampshire (EJHL) | Boston College | |
| Kevin Boyle |
G
|
New Jersey (Atlantic JHL) | Massachusetts | |
| William Eiserman |
D
|
New Hampshire (EJHL) | UMass Lowell | |
| Max Gaede |
F
|
Woodbury (Minn.) H.S. | Minnesota State | |
| Wyatt Galley |
G
|
Nepean (Central JHL) | Bowling Green | |
| Michael Gunn |
D
|
St. Louis (NAHL) | Michigan State | |
| Brock Higgs |
F
|
Kingston (OJHL) | Canisius | |
| Tanner Kero |
F
|
Marquette (NAHL) | Michigan Tech | |
| Aaron Kesselman |
F
|
New Hampshire (EJHL) | Princeton | |
| Adam Krause |
F
|
Hermantown (Minn.) H.S. | Minnesota Duluth | |
| Joey Laleggia |
D
|
Penticton (BCHL) | New Hampshire | |
| Nick Lovejoy |
D
|
Deerfield (Mass.) Academy | Dartmouth | |
| James Mullin |
F
|
Faribault (Minn.) Shattuck St. Mary’s | Miami | |
| Trent Ruffolo |
F
|
New Hampshire (EJHL) | Yale | |
| Kyle Smith |
F
|
Boston (EJHL) | New Hampshire | |
| K.J. Tiefenwerth |
F
|
Avon (Conn.) Old Farms | Boston College | |
| Joey Wilson |
F
|
Syracuse (EJHL) | Colgate | |
| Limited Viewing | |||
| Player |
Pos.
|
Current Team | College Commitment | |
| Michael Montagna |
F
|
Syracuse (EJHL) | Vermont | |
| Charles Orzetti |
F
|
New Jersey (EJHL) | Yale | |
