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Sat. 4/11/15

Final Central Scouting Rankings

Below you will find links to printable PDFs of Central Scouting's final rankings for North American skaters and goaltenders. 

For the most part, the changes since January's Mid-Term Rankings were fairly minimal.

One thing that did jump out at us, however, was the large number of US Under-18 Team players whose draft stock fell since the mid-terms. Since USA Hockey glories in pointing out the NTDP's successes at the NHL Draft, we thought the following was in order -- a corrective.

F Jordan Greenway fell from #22 to #47; F Jeremy Bracco fell from #36 to #60; F Brendan Warren fell from #34 to #66; D Caleb Jones fell from #77 to #115; D Casey Fitzgerald fell from #102 to #148; and F Troy Terry fell from #87 to #107.

In net, Luke Opilka dropped from #5 to #12; and Michael Lackey dropped from #7 to #13.

D Joe Masonius, previously ranked #201, fell off the list, as did D Christian Evers, previously ranked at #204. D Steve Ruggiero and F Michael Floodstrand never made it onto either of Central's list.

Other US U-18 players either rose or fell, but by amounts small enough to be of little real consequence. These included F Jack Roslovic (rose), F Christian Fischer (rose), F Colin White (fell), and D Grant Gabriele (fell).

Lest we sound too negative, we should point out that, from the U-18 team, the biggest gainer was Nicholas Boka, who pulled himself up 59 slots, from #176 at the mid-terms to #117 in the final rankings.

Also, a number of the top players on this year's U-18 Team won't be eligible until the 2016 draft, i.e Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, Tage Thompson, Luke Kunin, Clayton Keller, and Chad Krys.


Other Notes:

5'8", 163 lb. Moncton Wildcats '96 RW Conor Garland, a Scituate, Mass. native and the leading scorer on the 2011-12 Junior Bruins Empire Team that included Jack Eichel (Garland had 94 points to Eichel's 86), was passed over in last year's NHL Draft, passed over again in January's Mid-Terms, but has landed at #86 in Central's final rankings this time around.

We -- and many others -- thought Garland, who was committed to Penn State, was out of his mind when he left Muskegon (USHL) in the fall of '12 and signed with Moncton. And Garland may have done every  bit as well if he had stuck with the NCAA route, but credit belongs where credit is due, and Garland, who was named the QMJHL Most Valuable Player this past week, had a pretty remarkable season, doubling his point totals of a year ago, and finishing with a 35-94-129 line in 67 regular season games to lead the league in scoring. Garland always had quickness, agility, and a great stick. If you go to Youtube there are some nice clips of him in action.

-- Cushing Academy senior goaltender Joey Daccord, who was passed over in last year's draft, pulled himself up more than any other goalie on Central's list, going from #29 in the mid-terms to #10 now. Pro teams tend to feel more secure picking goaltenders when they know where they are going, and since the mid-terms Daccord chose Arizona State. He'll play a year of juniors first.

North American Skaters

North American Skaters (Alphabetical)

North American Goaltenders

Tues. 4/7/15

Housatonic League All-Star Teams
As voted by the league coaches, here is the 2014-15 Housatonic League All-Star Team:

First Team:
F – Taggart Corriveau, Jr., Westminster St. Lawrence
F – Alex Esposito, Sr., Loomis-Chaffee Vermont
F – Vimal Sukumaran, Sr., Salisbury Providence
D – James Gobetz, Sr., Salisbury
D – Zach Giuttari, Sr., Loomis Brown
G – Sam Tucker, Sr., Choate

Second Team:
F – Patrick Harper, Soph., Avon  Boston University
F – Marcus Mollica, Sr., Taft  Williams
F – Jeremy Germain, Sr., Choate
D – Will Brophy, Sr., Westminster Holy Cross
D – Greg Krisberg, Jr., Kent
G – Bailey MacBurnie, Sr., Salisbury

Fri. 4/3/15

Beantown Spring Classic: Draft Division
Below are our notes on the Beantown Tournament’s Draft Division March 13-15 at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass. As much as possible we tried to focus in on players we didn’t get to see as much of during the regular season as we would have liked.

This is not a ranking, either overall or within teams. We just went through the rosters, and condensed our notes on some players. If a player wasn't written about it, it does not mean that he, in our eyes, played poorly. Or that some of the following players were better.


TEAM A (BLACK):

Josh Couturier, ’95 LD, 6-2/188, #3 Black – Big, strong, effortless skater from the Junior Bruins Premier team. His skill is most evident in his passing ability. Hard, accurate, tape-to-tape passes. Has toughness. 16-22-38 in 49 games played. COLLEGE: Boston College.

Corey Moriarty, ’95 LD, 5-9/173, #6 Black – Very good skater. Quick and agile. Can put the burners on. Lacks size, but is gritty and tough. A ’95, he could be a good Div. III prospect. Was 9-21-30 in 50 games for the Junior Bruins Premier team.

Brandon Borges, ’96 RF, 5-8/170, #10 Black – An unheralded player, Borges, who left Williston after his junior year to play for the Junior Bruins Premier Team, was one of the better players in the tournament. Has good skill, excellent hands, makes plays, and was tough to handle on 1v1’s. Lacks fluidity in his skating; is quick, but lacks N-S speed. Was on a line with Ryan Cloonan and Tim Doherty. In 44 games this season with the Bruins Premier team, had a 5-15-20 line.

Michael Brown, ’97 RF, 6-0.25/176, #12 Black – Groton junior has excellent hockey sense and smooth hands. However, he’s thin and not particularly strong. His skating needs work. If he gets stronger, he may pick up half a step. Posted a 17-38-55 line in 25 games played.

Ryan Cloonan, ’95 LF, 5-9.25/169, #14 Black – Highly skilled with plus vision. Really smooth hands. Makes great passes. Lacks toughness and can be lazy at times. But when he has the puck on his stick he’s fun to watch. Former Maine recruit is now a BU fall ’16 recruit. Played for the Junior Bruins Premier Team and had a 20-45-65 line in 50 games. COLLEGE: Boston University.

Ace Cowans, late ’96 RF, 5-6/151, #14 Black – Cowans is smart and has soft, quick hands. Made plays. Scored goals. Wasn’t as dynamic and flashy as he was in prep play, but did a good job nonetheless. Needs to learn to play against bigger, stronger players. Will graduate from Groton this spring. In 24 games this season, he had a 23-30-53 line. COLLEGE: Vermont

Tommy Dunleavy, ’96 RF, 5-10.25/166, #17 Black – Brunswick senior was one of the standouts here. Really played well. Has a good shot, quick release, is strong on his stick, and strong along the boards. Has a finishing touch, too. At Brunswick this season, Dunleavy had a 26-25-51 line in 31 games.

Max Kaufman, ’96 LF, 5-7/160, #21 Black – Smart, really good with the puck, and crafty. Excellent passer-playmaker type. Needs to adjust to playing against bigger and stronger players. Had a hard time beating guys 1-on-1. Has to get a little faster. Kent senior had a 14-20-34 line in 25 games this winter. COLLEGE:Vermont.

Conor O’Brien, ’97 G, 6-1/170, #1 Black – NMH senior was really good in two of his three games, so how you felt about him probably came down to when you were watching. Let up a couple so-so goals in his ‘off’ game. Both should have been glove saves – they were wristers he had to reach for a bit. That could be an area to work on. That said, O’Brien is generally in position, he’s fluid, and he moves well.

TEAM B (BLUE):

Trevor Cosgrove, ’97 LD, 5-11.75/184, #3 Blue – Exeter junior played well here. Cosgrove skates well, is fairly agile, and has a nice long stride when he gets his feet going. He’s good laterally. Makes good decisions, and is smart positionally. Good away from the puck. 10-18-28 line in 30 games.

McKay Flanagan, ’97 RD, 6-0.25/208, #4 Blue –Flanagan is a good-sized kid, and he’s physical when he wants to be. Made sound decisions here. Started the season trying to carry the puck too deeply into the offensive zone. But here he concentrated on moving the puck quickly, gathering it up on a dump-in and quickly moving it back up-ice. His feet are a little heavy; he won’t blow by you in open ice. We’ve seen him make mistakes, but as a first-year prep player more of those mistakes came early in the season rather than later. We thought Flanagan played very well for Gunnery down the stretch. And he also did here at the Beantown. Junior had a 3-7-10 line in 26 games.  

James Gobetz, ’96 RD, 6-2/200, #5 Blue – Big Salisbury d-man has come a long way. He was good here, just as he’s been good all season. He was highly mistake prone when he first arrived at Salisbury but he’s gotten better every year. Still makes mistakes, but not here. Needs to be more physical. He’s a little bit of a hybrid in that it’s still not clear what he’s going to be. But he’s a good skater and provided a lot of offense – 5-23-28 in 29 games -- from the back end for Salisbury this season, filling a need after Will Toffey graduated. Keep an eye on Gobetz in juniors.

Lucas Michaud, ’97 RF, 5-10.5/205, #14 Blue – Played well. Big, strong kid with a hard shot. Tough to knock off the puck. Strong skater, but needs to continue working on his foot speed. Formerly played for Berwick but this past season played for the Portland Junior Pirates Premier team. Was 22-35-55 in 49 games there. COLLEGE: Maine

Jason O’Neill, ’97 LF, 5-11/170, #16 Blue – O’Neill makes plays and skates very well. A little hot and cold here. Played U18s this season (like Skipjacks teammate Ryan Finnegan), so the competition was a step up. At times, we had to look for him. Ditto for Finnegan. COLLEGE: UNH

Pat Flynn, ’96 RF, 5-11/164, #21 Blue – Not flashy or overly skilled. More just a tough, two-way guy. Does a lot of little things well. Played for South Shore Kings Premier team and in 29 games had a 6-10-16 line. COLLEGE: Dartmouth.

TEAM C (MAROON):

Billy Sweezey, ’96 RD, 6-0.25/195, #2 Maroon – Tough to play against. Difficult to get around. Excellent shot. Overlooked in last year’s draft. Nobles senior had a 5-18-23 line in 27 games played. COLLEGE: Yale

JJ Layton, ’97 RD, 6-0/193, #3 Maroon – Really stood out here. Can’t say we noticed Layton that much in prep play, but this was the best we’ve seen of him. Made a few heads-up passes; showed he can move the puck. Played a tough, rugged game, was tough to get around, and cleaned out guys in front. Worked hard. Was 2-6-8 in 33 games as a junior at KUA.

John Marino, ’97 RD, 6-0.5/171, #4 Maroon – Did a good job here. Offensive d-man has good stick. Underrated in own zone. Good skater, but there’s room for improvement. Has vision and poise. Can extend a play. Had a 4-24-28 line in 49 games with the South Shore Kings Premier team. Third season with the Kings. COLLEGE: Yale

Jake Massie, ’97 LD, 6-0.5/172, #5 Maroon – Probably the best player in the draft division here, and likely raised his stock, which was rather high to begin with. All components of his game came to the forefront here. Likely to be the first prep defenseman to hear his name called at this June’s draft. Played a very versatile game. Showed a lot of confidence skating with the puck. Showed some high-end moves, e.g. while carrying the puck did a 360 at full speed and hit his guy with a nice, accurate cross-ice pass. Was physical. Crushed a guy in open ice. Still a raw player figuring things out. COLLEGE: UMass

Ryan Shea, ’97 LD, 6-0.5/175, #6 Maroon – We’re not quite as high on him as some others are, but he’s tall, thin, athletic, and an agile skater with good escapability. Made some nice breakout passes. As for overall hockey sense, it’s only evident sporadically. Doesn’t do anything special away from the puck. As a junior, he led BC High in scoring with a 6-29-35 line in 22 games. COLLEGE: Northeastern

Lincoln Griffin, ’97 RF, 5-10.25/163, #10 Maroon – Played very well. Griffin is hardworking, and has a high compete level. Wins the 1-on-1 battles, takes it to the net – and scores. Good hands. Accurate shot with good release. Hustles like a maniac. A hockey player in the best sense of the word. Had a 30-35-65 line in 30 games as a senior. COLLEGE: Northeastern

David Jankowski, ’97 RF, 5-11.75/155, #12 Maroon – Really smart. Good skater, with poise and vision. It looks like he’s on the cusp of being really good. It’s all there, waiting to explode, especially is he fills out – at 155 lbs., he’s very skinny. Was 26-49-75 in 45 games as a senior this season at Stanstead College.

Jake Pappalardo, ’97 RF, 5-9.75/180, #16 Maroon – Fast, balanced, and strong on his skates. Has a very good shot – excellent release and accurate – and he can get it off in stride. Tough, and plays with grit. In 35 games as a junior at Proctor, Pappalardo had a 29-33-62 line. COLLEGE: Maine

Luke Stevens, ’97 LF, 6-3.75/192, #18 Maroon – Nobles junior didn’t have a great season. Played hurt, and was on the shelf for a while. His assets, to anyone who watched him in ’13-14, are obvious. Stevens wasn’t exactly bad this year, but he also never really got 100% going. A lot of players would be happy to have had an 11-18-29 line in 23 games, as Stevens did this year. We look for him to have a huge season next year. COLLEGE: Yale

Joe Sacco, ’96 RF, 5-9.75/171, #20 Maroon – Had an excellent showing here. Strong, difficult to knock off the puck, and can really shoot it. Forechecks hard.  Had a 22-6-28 line in 31 games as a senior at Rivers this past winter.

Pat Shea, ’97 RF, 5-10.25/186, #21 Maroon – KUA junior center has a good combination of skill and toughness. Has good hands, a strong stick, and is a balanced skater who can fight through checks. Was very good on draws. In 33 games this season, Shea had a 19-20-39 line in 33 games. COLLEGE: Maine

Dominic Franco, ’96 RF, 6-4/200, #22 Maroon – Had a good showing here. Confident with the puck, and carried it a lot. Drove to the net. Pretty good hands for a big guy. Franco wasn’t very good his first few years in prep school, and that’s often what people remember, but he showed something this year. Had a 12-26-38 line in 31 games, more than tripling his output from the prior season. COLLEGE: Army

Mike Robinson, ’97 G, 6-2.75/195, #30 Maroon – He’s big, controls rebounds, and doesn’t give you much to shoot at. We thought Robinson played well, but we’re unsure of his quickness. COLLEGE: UNH

TEAM D (ORANGE):

Billy Carrabino, ’97 LD, 6-0.5/214, #2 Orange – Nobles senior had a good weekend, and played much better than we expected. He’s big, strong, and fully filled out. Has a heavy shot, won a lot of puck battles, and was very much a shutdown defender. Made a nice diving save when his goalie was out of the net. Had a 7-13-20 line in 27 games at Nobles this season.

Stephen Cochrane, ’96 RD, 6-5.5/215, #3 Orange – Huge d-man, with an enormous wingspan. Shoots it hard and keeps it low. Was tough on 1-on-1s. Good poke check. An awkward skater, he lacks agility. In 49 games with the Bay State Breakers, Cochrane had a 2-13-15 line. COLLEGE: Maine

Joseph Duszak, ’97 RD, 5-9/165, #4 Orange – Small d-man from the PAL Junior Islanders was very good here. A fast, agile, skater, Duszak made good passes in all three zones. Always advancing the puck. Doesn’t force plays. Had a couple of nice back-door passes here. In the regular season, he had an 18-38-56 line in 49 games played. COLLEGE: Mercyhurst

Will Riedell, late ’96 LD, 6-1/190, #6 Orange – Vermont Academy junior is a smooth skater who skates well with the puck. Keeps his head up, and makes good passes. Has good size. Hasn’t quite put all the pieces of his game together. Looks like he’s trying to figure out what he is. When he saw him during the regular season he was better. A potential late-round draft pick, Riedell was 8-22-30 in 35 games this season, tripling his numbers from a year ago.

James Anderson, late ’96 LF, 5-9/175, #10 Orange – Very smooth. Competes hard. Always around the puck and in on a lot of goals. Good speed. Played at Taft a few years back, but has been with the PAL Junior Islanders the last couple of seasons. In 49 games this season, had an 11-28-39 line. COLLEGE: Mercyhurst

Justin Cole, ’96 LF, 6-3/190, #12 Orange – Vermont Academy junior did a good job. While a raw skater, Cole has that extra burst of speed that makes him intriguing, especially given his size. Has hands, reach, and he shoots to score. In 35 games, Cole had a 23-35-58 line.

Bailey Conger, ’97 RF, 6-0/184, #14 Orange – Cushing senior was hurt after his first game at the tournament. Will be playing juniors next year. COLLEGE: St. Lawrence

Taggart Corriveau, ’97 RF, 6-1/181, #15 Orange – Westminster junior played hard. Has size, hockey sense, smarts. Sees the ice well. Competed hard. First two steps are not that good. In 28 games this season, Corriveau had a 24-17-41 line. COLLEGE: St. Lawrence

David Cotton, ’97 LF, 6-2.5/200, #16 Orange – Played very well. Should be the top drafted New England prep player. May or may not be going back to Cushing for his senior year. Cotton has size, good hands, and vision, the latter being an underrated part of his game. Was inconsistent in the early season, appearing strangely passive at times, but came on very strong at the end. During the regular season, Cotton posted a 27-42-69 line in 33 games played. COLLEGE: Boston College

Johnny McDermott, ’97 LF, 6-1.25/190, #20 Orange – Westminster junior was good. He’s big, strong, skates well, drives the net and forechecks hard. Not a natural scorer, but if paired with the right guy he will pop home some nice goals. Had a 12-16-28 line in 28 games as a junior this season. COLLEGE: Boston University