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Toronto Marlies Holiday Tournament: Top 180
Neutral Zone’s Ontario staff met in Toronto for our Mid-Term OHL Draft rankings and sent our 10 scouts into the rinks to cover as much minor midget action as possible at the Toronto Marlies Showcase. The tournament featured some of the top talent in the province and we saw almost every team at least once, and most two or three times. We have written up the top 165 performers as well as 26 honorable mentions who showed us enough to be mentioned, but will need more viewing before we can rank them.
The rankings below are broken up into A, B and C’s. Their ranking is not an indication of how good the players are overall, rather a grading of how they played at this particular performance. Most players had multiple evaluations so we combined them and made a consensus evaluation but some players we attached several.
Michael Vukojevic #51 Mississauga Rebels (LD, 6-2/185, 2001)
Vukojevic looks and plays like a big time prospect every time we see him. He’s got great size and athleticism and plays a physical, focused defensive game. He’s arguably the best gap control defenseman in the province, uses his long reach to poke pucks off sticks and takes the body whenever an opponent tries to cut in on him (which doesn’t happen often). He is controlled, confident and zips passes flat across the ice either D to D or up ice to his forwards. He is able to get to pucks on dump ins and even if he’s not the first one in there he uses his strength and physicality to win the battle and quickly turn the puck up ice and break the puck out. He is used in every situation for the Rebels, he blocks shots and kills penalties with powerful clears and an active stick to cut down passing lanes, and he has a heavy shot and powerful presence on the power play. A major talent. College: Michigan
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Flood Marr Holiday Tournament: Top 58
Neutral Zone attended the Flood Marr tournament on December 16-18. There were eight teams in the tournament and the play over the three days was very competitive. Deerfield edged Milton in the finals 4-3, while KUA took home third place after beating Westminster. Included are the records of each of the teams during the weekend: (Deerfield (3-1), Milton (2-1-1), KUA (3-1), Westminster (1-2-1), Andover (2-2), Nobles (1-3), Salisbury (2-2) and Hotchkiss (1-3)). Below is a listing of the top forwards and defensemen on the weekend.
Jordan Harris (KUA, 5-10/170, ‘00) Smart, poised defensemen who plays in all situations. Never out of position and controls the play with his strong vision and patient play. Has an active stick and closes gaps well. Does not allow forwards much time through the neutral zone. Does not hesitate to take chances on offense. Makes a strong first pass out of his zone, carries the puck well and has soft, swift hands. He can quarterback their powerplay, breaks pucks out quickly and effectively and is able to shake off forecheckers with his quick, agile feet. Grade: A
Lawrenceville Holiday Tournament: Top 47
Neutral Zone had scouts in New Jersey for the Lawrenceville Tournament and wrote up the top 47 players (including goalies). The tournament showed great parity and while there weren’t any serious NHL draft picks here, there were still a lot of quality players.
1-Taft: Taft had only one loss on the tournament which came in a shootout with Choate. They beat NMH 4-2, Canterbury 4-0 and beat Nichols 6-3 (the game was closer than the score). Andrew Farrier the Taft goalie and captain was awarded tournament MVP in a selection process that heavily weights final game.
2-Nichols School: A bit of a surprise. They are not one of the older teams and at times had a tough time finishing. They beat Lawrenceville 2-1 in 2OT, they upset Belmont Hill with a 6-1 pounding and toppled UCC 5-2. Graziano was the key to their success with consistent play in the net.
3-Choate: A hard earned third place finish. They started out slow losing to an older Canterbury team 3-1 then came back to beat NMH 3-2. The big game where Kramer got the shootout winner v Taft which was the turning point. They then whitewashed UCC 2-0. The scoring is not very deep here but they have some guys that make a difference.
4-UCC: They started out with a bang then cooled off in every game after that. They beat Belmont Hill with a workmanlike 2-1 effort, then shut out Lawrenceville 3-0. After that it was downhill…5-2 loss to Nichols and then a 2-0 loss to Choate. Muise played well in goal.
5-Belmont Hill: This was a disappointing tournament for Belmont Hill. They are a talented team but a combination of bad luck, poor discipline and inconsistent play hurt them. They started out with a flat 2-1 loss to UCC,. then lost to Nichols 6-1. After that they were able to handle Lawrenceville 7-1 and Canterbury 2-0. Not that a 2-2 record is a bad thing here, but they have the talent to win this event.
6-Canterbury: A veteran team who started off the tournament with a 3-0 win against Choate and looked poised to make a run but went on to only score 1 goal over the next 3 games and lose all three to NMH, Taft and Belmont Hill.
7-NMH: NMH is better than last year but still have a way to go before they’ll be competing for championships. They were never really beaten badly here, they lost 4-2 to Taft, 3-2 to Choate and beat Canterbury 2-1 and Lville 6-2. They don’t have a ton of firepower but defenseman Kennedy and goaltender Green are quality prospects.
8-Lawrenceville: The locals,were just out gunned. Pito Walton had a strong showing and they have a few 01’s and 02’s worth watching, but not enough veteran talent.. After they gave Nichols a real scare with the 2OT loss they were manhandled…UCC 3-0, Belmont Hill 7-1 and NMH 6-2. A long weekend for them, but at least they got the moral victory of not going pointless. We give them credit, the team gives it all they have even in lopsided games.
Christian O’Neill (L, 5-11/175, Belmont Hill #19, ’98)
When Christian was on the ice, you knew he was there. O’Neill has a high skill level and just understands the game. He has quick feet, a great shot with a nice release and sees the ice well. He was used as a point man on the power play where everything seemed to go through him. For a skilled player, he is very involved and has a great work ethic, he has a nice second effort keeping the play alive. There is solid of upside here because he can play a lot of different roles and his skill set translates well at the next level. College: Princeton Grade: A-
St. Sebastian’s Holiday Tournament: Top 65
The St. Sebastian’s Holiday Tournament has always been a very high paced, well played tournament and this year was no exception. The eight-team field were all competitive and played hard and fast. Joining St. Sebastian’s was, Albany Academy, Winchendon, Thayer, St. Andrew’s, Rivers, Northwood and Williston. Many scouts were in attendance ranging from D1, D3 and NHL at the Henry T. Lane Rink over the weekend.
St. Andrew’s proved to be too much for the rest of the field as they defeated Thayer to win the Championship. The following skaters are who we feel had themselves a good tournament. These grades are based on the overall performance of the skater throughout the weekend. Kudos to Providence who have commitments from 4 of the Top 7 performers in the tournament (Dugan, O’Brien, Hillis, Mulera).
Cameron Hillis (R, St. Andrew’s #10, ’00) A year ago this time of year we saw Hillis at the Toronto Marlies tournament as he led a York Simcoe Express team and was one of the top prospects for the OHL Draft. He ended up going being taken in the 2nd round but decided to go the NCAA route and committed to Providence. He’s a talented forward with excellent instincts and elusive stick skill. He’s able to go into traffic areas with the puck and stickhandle his way out of jams. He has a quick release and accurate shot and scored a beauty against Rivers on Saturday. He’s on the small side but really dynamic and has the rare ability to create offense from any situation; the rush, in zone, off broken plays, turnovers, etc. He was inconsistent here but when he’s on, he’s a lot for defenders to handle with his speed and puck skill. College: Providence Grade: A-
Lawrence-Groton Holiday Tournament: Top 57
Neutral Zone attended the Lawrence/Groton tournament on Thursday and Friday December 15-16th. The tournament was cut short due to the snow on Saturday, however, our scouts wer able to see each team play at least once.
There were eight teams in the tournament. Included are the records of each teams after 3 games played: (Culver 3-0, Cushing 0-3, Holderness 1-2, Lawrence 2-1, Dexter 2-1, Pomfret 2-1, Groton 1-2 and Proctor 1-2). Below is a listing of the top forwards and defensemen on the weekend.
Santeri Hartikainen (Groton, 6’1/185, 1/5/99) – Long, powerful skating forward who doesn’t have breakaway speed but has hockey sense and great touch. Plays a very controlled game and uses his long body and reach to protect the puck from defenders. Doesn’t hesitate to shoot the puck and has an above average snap shot. Thinks the game well and is always looking to create offense. Have seen him take shifts off in the past, however this weekend his compete level was high. Plays with an edge and although he does not go out of his way to be physical, he doesn’t shy away from contact. He was listed on NHL Central Scouting as a C rated prospect but will likely need to improve his quickness and speed before he gets serious attention from the NHL brass. Grade: A
Top 600 NCAA Eligible Prospects Born in 1997
Neutral Zone is pleased to announce our Top 600 list for 1997 born NCAA Eligible prospects throughout North America. Each player on this list has been evaluated by regional scouts in their area and also cross referenced by other scouts on staff as well as the Director of Scouting. The players are evaluated from August-December and given a star rating. The Top 600 players are selected from a pool of over 1,000 NCAA prospects in a grueling process and evaluated against one another to come up with a 1-600 list. The star ratings are more indicative of future success than the difference between #205 and #250, but the rankings are used in the calculus of the NCAA Recruiting Class Rankings.
As part of our mission statement to use analytics to educate coaches, scouts, players and parents we have broken down our Top 600 rankings and provided viewers with several interesting statistics.
League Breakdown
| League | # of Players | % |
| NAHL | 139 | 23.2% |
| USHL | 129 | 21.5% |
| BCHL | 104 | 17.3% |
| AJHL | 63 | 10.5% |
| OJHL | 46 | 7.6% |
| CCHL | 29 | 4.8% |
| USPHL | 29 | 4.8% |
| SJHL | 21 | 3.5% |
| MJHL | 14 | 2.3% |
| GOJHL | 11 | 1.8% |
| Other | 6 | 1.0% |
| NE Prep | 5 | 0.8% |
| EHL | 4 | 0.6% |
The purpose of showing the league breakdown is not to rank the strengh of the leagues, rather to show where these 600 players are coming from. With that being said we see that the double digit percentages are in the four top junior leagues in North America. Keep in mind that some leagues above only have 12 teams in them while other leagues have over 20 so it is not fair to say for example that the OJHL is a better league than the CCHL because it has 17 more players on the list because it has nearly double the amount of teams.
Position Breakdown
| Position | # of Players | % |
| Forwards | 369 | 61.5% |
| Defense | 180 | 30.0% |
| Goalies | 51 | 8.5% |
Here we breakdown the 600 players on the list by position. Our list is consistent with the 60/30/10 percentage breakdown between forwards, defense and goaltenders on most NCAA teams.
Commitments
| Status | # of Players | % |
| D1 Committed | 177 | 29.5% |
| Uncommitted | 423 | 70.5% |
In look at the 1997 list we see that nearly 1/3 of the players are already committed to D1 programs. Some of these players have signed their letter of intent and are expected to matriculate next fall, others will play another year of junior hockey.
Top 600 Star Ratings
| Rating | # of Players | % |
| 4.75 | 1 | 0.2% |
| 4.5 | 4 | 0.7% |
| 4.25 | 6 | 1.0% |
| 4 | 18 | 3.0% |
| 3.75 | 87 | 14.5% |
| 3.5 | 143 | 23.8% |
| 3.25 | 111 | 18.5% |
| 3 | 123 | 20.5% |
| 2.75 | 107 | 17.8% |
The Top 600 ranges in star ratings from 4.75-2.75. This chart looks at all 600 prospects and what star rating they have. The first thing that jumps out is how 4.0-4.75 star players only make up 5% of the total list. Then the list goes up to 14.5% for 3.75 star prospects and up again to 23.8% for 3.5 star prospects. The reason there are so few 4.0 stars is the mainly the age factor. Top prospects are typically playing college hockey at 18 or 19 so there are not a ton of 4 stars left in junior hockey at the older ages. Keep in mind Connor McDavid is a 1997 birth year…
NZ Historical Star Rating Breakdown
| Rating | D1 % | D3 % | CIS/Other % |
| 5.0 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 4.75 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 4.5 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 4.25 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 4.0 | 98.8 | 0 | 1.2 |
| 3.75 | 97.7 | 0 | 2.3 |
| 3.5 | 95.5 | 0.4 | 4.1 |
| 3.25 | 13.3 | 74.4 | 12.3 |
| 3.0 | 4.5 | 85.6 | 9.9 |
| 2.75 | 0 | 96.7 | 3.3 |
| 2.5 | 0 | 97.4 | 2.6 |
| 2.25 | 0 | 91.2 | 8.8 |
| 2.0 | 0 | 67.8 | 22.2 |
This chart tracks the 2015-2016 Star Rating’s for 1998-1995’s. As you can see 3.5 star prospects and above have over 97% chance of playing D1 college hockey. This chart is made to give context to the star ratings in the Top 600. There are reasons for CIS/Other as some players we ranked last year had played CHL and were not NCAA eligible. We have now taken them out of the National Rankings to reduce that number. Also, with the US/CAN dollar exchange rate some of the Canadian prospects will not be able to afford D3 institutions. In the US, particularly in the midwest, some players simply stop playing or go the club route if they are not offered at a Division 1 school.
Top 600 NCAA Eligible 1997 Born Prospects in North America
| Rank | Name | Team | Pos | Commit | Star |
| 1 | Nick Swaney | Waterloo (USHL) | F | Minnesota Duluth | 4.75 |
| 2 | Jordan Kawaguchi | Chilliwack (BCHL) | F | North Dakota | 4.5 |
| 3 | Christian Evers | Lincoln (USHL) | D | North Dakota | 4.5 |
| 4 | Blake Lizotte | Fargo (USHL) | F | St. Cloud | 4.5 |
| 5 | Philip Nyberg | Madison (USHL) | D | UConn | 4.5 |
U18 Five Nations Tournament: Top 25 NHL Draft Prospects
The Five Nations Tournament in Plymouth, MI displayed many future NHL picks that may develop into impact players at the highest level. Teams from the United States, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Switzerland brought good teams to the tournament to compete. There were some high end prospects that were not there from some of the European countries due them playing Pro Hockey in their country or in the CHL. Many of these top players will be summoned by their respective countries for the U20 World Junior or U18 World Championships coming up.
However, there was plenty of talent to go around and keep the NHL Scouts busy at the USA Hockey Arena. The tournament went down to the wire with the United States taking the title. From this tournament we have listed the top 25 NHL prospects for the upcoming 2017 and 2018 NHL Drafts. This tournament was just a snap shot of these prospects as they all have many more opportunities to move up and improve their stock before draft time.
Top 25 NHL Draft Prospects
- Brady Tkachuk (F) (USA) 6-2/194, LH, 2018 NHL DRAFT – The younger brother of Calgary Flames rookie Matthew Tkachuk has a different game than his older sibling. He has taken on the identity that is more of his father and former NHL player Keith Tkachuk. He is a bit bigger and plays a more physical north and south game. With a very high compete level, he plays very hard in traffic and uses his body very well. Always mixing it up as well as making plays. He has grown a lot in the last 2 years and still adjusting to his body. He has long reach and a good skill set in traffic. Not the top player here right now, but he is a late 99 birth year and is not even eligible to be drafted until the 2018 NHL Draft. Look for him to be an ‘A’ player on NHL Central scouting next fall. COLLEGE: BOSTON UNIVERSITY
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STX Elite Hockey Shootout: Top 55
Neutral Zone sent two of our top scouts to South Bend, IN for the STX Elite Shootout; two former pro players and now regional scouts with Neutral Zone. Sean Tallaire, former Lake Superior standout and our head Michigan scout, came over to see the action as well as local Chicago scout Jeff Salzbrunn, a former CHL and then AHL/ECHL player.
STX has teamed with 200×85 LLC, a company that puts together elite hockey showcases and clinics including the well known Bauer Showcase and STX Top 68 Camp. This showcase featured many of the top bantam teams in the US and Ontario. We put together a list of the top 55 players in the event, sorted by teams.
As always, the grades provided are a snapshot of how the players performed in this particular event and not a reflection of their overall game. Our pick for tournament MVP was Owen Power of Mississauga and below are the records for each team.
Records:
Oakland- 4-1-0
Vaughan kings 1-4-0
Mississauga 3-0-2
Shattucks 3-1-1
Iss Kings 4-1-0
Niagara north stars 0-5-0
Chicago mission 3-0-2
London Jr. Knights 1-3-1
Nj Devils 3-2-0
Buffalo Jr. Sabres 4-0-1
North York Rangers 1-4-0
Syracuse Nats 2-3-0
Burlington Eagles 0-5-0
Detroit LC 4-0-1
Don Mills 1-3-1
Burnaby1-3-1
Owen Power (LD) Best player overall throughout the weekend for the games we saw. Tall lengthy defenseman, very smooth skater who always makes the smart decision. Really impressive skater for his height and slender build, especially considering his age. Doesn’t have to be physical due to his reach and skating ability. He played in all facets of the game PP-PK. We would have like to see what kind of shot he had but he didn’t take too many here. He continues to develop on this pace he could be a top draft in any league in North America. Even having a late Nov birthdate. Grade: A+
NE Prep School Preview: Founders League
The Founders is once again a top-heavy Division, but some new challengers will be making strides this season. Last year saw four teams make the playoffs, but this year a lot will hinge on a youth movement. Big senior classes have graduated and some committed players have moved to the USHL, but the path to success may be paved by which incoming class can make the quickest impact. We expect Avon Old Farms, Loomis Chaffee and Salisbury to be the odds on favorites to secure playoff berths. Here are our capsules for all 10 teams in the upcoming season, ranked in order of predicted finish.
Avon Old Farms Last season was a successful one record-wise (21-2-4) for the Winged Beavers, but ended in a tough semifinal loss to eventual Elite 8 Champion Gunnery. Many of last year’s big names have moved on: F Patrick Harper (BU freshman), D Adam Karashik (UCONN commit), F Jamie Armstrong (Northeastern) and D Ben Mirageas (Providence). To be successful, Avon will need to see players like F Tyler Madden (Northeastern) and F Matt Allen (Providence) step up as offensive kingpins. They will also have many, many young weapons to mentor including: 99 F Nick Wildgoose (St. Lawrence), 99 D Ben Pirko (Union), 00 F Drew Elser (UCONN), 00 D Mac Wiseman (UCONN) plus 4.25 star BU recruit 01 F Trevor Zegras. They also welcome smooth skating defenseman Jack Babbage from the Don Mills Flyers in the GTMMHL who had a strong summer at the National Development Camp in Buffalo, NY. Oh and let’s not forget one of the best goalie prospects in the country: 4.5 star 01 Spencer Knight (BC). While this next kid might not get the press of some other blue chips listed above him, don’t count out Will Christensen, a speed/energy forward who may not dazzle on the stat sheet but he’s a high motor, no-quit type that skilled teams need. The future is very bright for Avon Old Farms and Coach John Gardner but the present isn’t to be taken lightly.
NZ’s Take: No team in prep school lost the talent Avon did this past year and that might be an understatement. Patrick Harper has been one of prep’s finest players over the past two years and Armstrong and Karashik gave the typically skilled team a physical presence. Mirageas was arguably the best pro prospect in the league and was key to their blue line in every situation. With that being said, they have a highly talented group coming in including six division one commits; led by BC recruit Spencer Knight and BU recruit Trevor Zegras. Both are ‘01s and could take some time to adjust, but they are likely the no.1 and no.2 prospects in all of prep school. Returners Matt Allen and Tyler Madden are coming off strong years and look to take their games to the next level. With a healthy mix or returning and incoming talent, Avon could be the team to beat, not only in the founders league, but in all of New England prep. Time will tell but talent is certainly on Avon’s side. Avon should return to the Elite 8 again this season despite taking on the heavy loses to departures, but with the talent more spread out it could actually benefit the Winged Beavers instead of being a one-line dominated team.
NE Prep School Preview: Eberhart Division
The Eberhart looks to be a Division divided as we move into 2016-17. Last year it produced four playoff teams and this year should be no different. We expect Rivers, St. Mark’s, Roxbury Latin and Brooks to be the odds on favorites to secure playoff berths. Here are our capsules for all 8 teams in the upcoming season, ranked in order of predicted finish.
Rivers The Red Wings come off a strong season with 22 wins and a berth in the Small School Championship, succumbing to eventual champion St. Mark’s. Coach Shawn McEachern has regularly found success by recruiting athletes at every position and filling in holes from departed seniors. This past year’s graduating seniors include D Frank Boie (Holy Cross commit), F Christian Capello (Bowdoin) and D Mike Gurska. Key returnees prepared to take the mantle include F Ted Wooding (34 points), F Brendan Hamblet (27 points) and D Michael Young (22 points, UCONN commit). On the way to the championship game last season a key contributor was 00 D Tony Andreozzi, who parlayed his strong season into a commitment to Brown. Andreozzi is a long, two-way, skilled defenseman who will be a key player for them at both ends of the ice. With G Aidan Porter back between the pipes, sporting a sub-2.00 GAA, expect another solid run for Rivers.
NZ’s Take: Rivers did lose some talent but they have a talented core returning at every position, most importantly Porter in net. Porter will be the best goalie in the division and he’ll help during the early part of the season where Rivers is plugging in new faces to play more important roles after the departure of several key seniors. It should be a dog fight between St. Mark’s and Rivers but we give River’s the edge because they’ll be older and more experienced.
NE Prep School Preview: Lakes Region
The story remains much the same for the Lakes Region schools in 2016-17. Having produced three playoff teams last season (Kimball Union, Proctor, New Hampton), those three are the odds on favorites to represent the division in this year’s playoffs. Here are our capsules for all 7 teams in the upcoming season, ranked in order of predicted finish.
Kimball Union The Wildcats finished last season as the #2 seed in the Elite 8 Tournament, eventually succumbing to the 6 seeded Milton Academy. Two big pieces have gone straight to the NCAA in Ben Finkelstein (St. Lawrence) and Patrick Shea (Maine), which leaves a bigger role for the top remaining scorers. In net they graduate both goalies in Elijah Harris who is now with the Boston Jr. Bruins (USPHL) and Payton Porter who is now with the Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL). They also graduated skilled speedster George Sennott (57 points) who is now in the BCHL; Nic Hamre (41 points) who is now in the AJHL and Jack Doherty (32 points) who is now playing soccer at UNH. Rising junior Roope Hirvonen is back to pace the Wildcat offense but he will need help from senior Michael Lombardi, who made a big jump in production last season. More help is on the way from north of the border as well. Coach Whitehead brings in three heralded forwards from Nova Scotia (00 F Logan Cash, 00 F Kyle Penney and 01 F Arlo Merritt) who will join the squad to make up for a big graduating senior class. They will also bring in immediate impact forward in PG Paul McAulliffe from St. Sebastian’s. On D, 4-star prospect Jordan Harris, who earned a spot on NTDP Evaluation Camp after last season, will be asked to step lead the defense after departure of Army commit Dennis Cesana (and of course Finkelstein).
NZ’s Take: Not sure if any team in prep got gutted more than KUA to graduation, as they lose their top line of forwards, their top defensive pair and both goalies. With that being said, the Wildcats had a deep roster last season with some talented sophomores who were waiting in the wings for their opportunity. Roope Hirvonen is their leading returning scorer but behind him are three USA Hockey National Development Camp invites in Thomas Samuelsen (F), Bryce Dolan (D) and Andranik Armstrong (F). Not to mention emerging versatile prospect Chris Konin who is coming off a strong summer and fall season. A Tim Whitehead led team will likely reload instead of re-build, but they will need a lot of new faces to make immediate impacts, especially between the pipes. We wouldn’t expect last year’s success, but they are still a cut above the rest of the division.
NE Prep School Preview: Keller Division
The Keller Division was a juggernaut last season with six teams securing playoff berths. Many of the talented juniors that made impacts last season are sticking around for one more go as seniors, which will keep the top of the Division heavy. It seems to be getting deeper though with a new influx of D1 committed prospects who will make their prep debuts this fall. We would suspect Thayer, Milton, Lawrence Academy, St. Sebs and Nobles will be the playoff teams this season. Here are our capsules for all 8 teams in the upcoming season, ranked in order of predicted finish.
Thayer The Tigers wrapped up a storybook 20-win season last year with a Large School Championship, defeating Westminster in the title game. The road to a title gets a little tougher this year as F Ty Amonte (70 points, BU commit), D Kyle Peterson (26 points) and D Colin McCabe (25 points) have all left due to graduation. But the good news is that there is plenty of returning firepower to keep the fires burning for Coach Tony Amonte down in Braintree. Top scorer F Casey Carreau (71 points, BC commit) is back, which could mean bad things for the rest of the conference given what a difference maker he was last season. Attacking F Aidan McDonough (44 points) is back for his senior season, while F Evan Googins (20 points) and F Tristan Amonte (16 points) should continue to improve as upperclassmen. The forward lines for the Tigers are very deep and the defense looks quite athletic as well: PJ Garrett, Cam Lemanski and young 01 Jake Flynn should bolster a crew of mobile blue liners. Speaking of which, new additions include 4-star UMASS Amherst commit D Jayson Dobay, plus Providence commit F Jay O’Brien, and G Jimmy Scannell who comes over from St. Sebs. All told, it’s a good year to be a Tiger.
NZ’s Take: While the team lost a key core of talent, Carreau could be prep’s most productive player this season, McDonough is one of the better power forwards in prep and incoming recruits Jayson Dobay and Jay O’Brien are immediate impact players who could arguably make this team better than it was a year before. Goaltending is the only real question mark but if they can get strong play from the crease than this team is Elite 8 bound.
Top 500 NCAA Eligible Prospects Born in 1996
Neutral Zone is pleased to announce our Top 500 NCAA Eligible Prospect Rankings for the 1996 birth year. Last year we only ranked the top 100 in each age group but we decided to extend our rankings this year after growing the scouting staff from 10 to 30. We will be leaving the old list on the National Rankings Page for scouts and fans to look back on before uploading this new list.
“We attended the AHCA Coaches Convention this summer and the most consistent feedback we received was that Division II/III coaches wanted a more expansive list for their 20 year old prospects,” remarked President Steve Wilk. “Looking at the data from last year we saw that over 600 incoming freshmen were 20-year old’s and so we shifted our focus this fall to accommodate that trend. We are starting with this list of 500 as our preliminary list, similar to NHL Central Scouting, and we will make additions, subtractions and edits as the season progresses. Our midterm ranking will be in the middle of January and the final ranking will be in the end of March.
Each player has been seen and evaluated by the Neutral Zone scouting staff. NZ scouts were busy this fall covering the USHL Fall Classic’s, BCHL Showcase, SJHL Showcase, AJHL Showcase, EHL Showcase, USPHL Showcase, NAHL Showcase and GOJHL Showcase including individual games. “The only way this list is possible to construct is if you have a large, highly competent scouting staff,” remarked Director of Scouting Brendan Collins. “I want to thank all of our scouts, but in particular, Brian Murphy, who was the longtime Head Coach at Tufts University and Marlin Muylaert who has been a Head Coach both at the CIS and NCAA level. These guys have been in rinks all fall building this list and organizing regional scouts to make sure we saw as many prospects as possible.”
One of the things we preach at Neutral Zone is to avoid any bias or ego. The staff puts a lot of man hours and discussions in the scouting room about where these players are ranked, but in no way is this the final list. All of these players will be followed and evaluated more throughout the season and any changes or movements will be reflected in each player’s profile page.
With that being said, 100% of incoming college freshman this past year that we ranked 3.75 or higher committed Division 1. We saw over 95% of our 3.5 star prospects commit Division 1 as well. It is at the 3.25 – 3.0 category that we see the real drop off, as less than 15% of those players committed Division 1. Every year brings different recruiting patterns and trends, but we feel 3.5’s and upward are Division 1 prospects, 3.25’s are on the fringe and 3.0 star prospects and below are Division II/III. Obviously, like anything, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule, but our 2015-2016 statistics support this basic framework.
**Disclaimer: There are a lot of players on this list from Canadian junior leagues. Given the current economy and exchange rates between the US and Canadian dollar, there will likely be a decent percentage of these players who do not end up playing college hockey. We also see trends in the Midwest and Western US, where Division II/III hockey isn’t as prevalent, that quality players who fall short of Division I stop playing or go the club route. This creates opportunities for other players in leagues that we didn’t cover in this list such as the WSHL, NA3HL and USPHL Elite, to name a few.
League Breakdown
| League | Players | % |
| NAHL | 128 | 25.6% |
| BCHL | 78 | 15.6% |
| USHL | 47 | 9.4% |
| AJHL | 47 | 9.4% |
| USPHL | 45 | 9.0% |
| OJHL | 41 | 8.2% |
| SJHL | 39 | 7.8% |
| CCHL | 37 | 7.4% |
| MJHL | 16 | 3.2% |
| EHL | 11 | 2.2% |
| GOJHL | 11 | 2.2% |
What we see in this chart is a breakdown of where the players are coming from. We see that the NAHL represents a quarter of the players which makes sense because the league is large and has a lot of older, veteran junior players. Contrast that to the USHL where they are only allowed four 1996’s per team. Therefore, this is not reflective of which league is “better.”
Positions
| Position | Players | % |
Forwards |
320 |
64% |
Defense |
136 |
28% |
Goalies |
40 |
8% |
This data simply shows the position breakdown of our list. On a typical hockey team the roster consists of 60% forwards, 30% defense and 10% goalies so we tried to stay close to that breakdown without impacting the quality of the list.
Commits
Status |
Players |
% |
Division 1 Commits |
81 |
16% |
Uncommitted |
419 |
84% |
This chart shows the breakdown of Division 1 committed players versus uncommitted players. One of the areas we are trying to add awareness to is that only around 175 players at the 20-year-old age group went on to play Division 1 last year. We anticipate that only the top 35% will go Division 1 and nearly half of them are already committed.
Star Rating Breakdown
| Rating | Players | % |
| 4.5 | 4 | 0.7% |
| 4.25 | 5 | 1.0% |
| 4.0 | 15 | 3.0% |
| 3.75 | 31 | 6.2% |
| 3.5 | 80 | 16.0% |
| 3.25 | 104 | 20.8% |
| 3.0 | 81 | 16.2% |
| 2.75 | 100 | 20.0% |
| 2.5 | 81 | 16.2% |
This last chat breaks down the different star ratings that exists on our list. Why so few 4 stars and upward? A lot of this is because the top prospects were taken at 18, then 19 and so only a few are left playing junior hockey by 20. Some are transfers, some need extra time to improve their academics and some are just taking another year to get bigger and stronger and faster. The data shows that only 55 players or 11% of the list are sure-fire D1 prospects. The group of 3.5-star prospects accounts for 80 players or 16% of the list. Therefore, if all the 3.5 star prospects and above commit Division 1 then that would account for only 27% of the total list.
Top 500 NCAA Eligible Prospects in North America Born in 1996
| Name | Team Name | Position | Commit | Star | |
| 1 | Nicholas Jones | Penticton (BCHL) | F | North Dakota | 4.5 |
| 2 | Patrick Kudla | Dubuque (USHL) | D | Arizona State | 4.5 |
| 3 | Keegan Ford | Dubuque (USHL) | D | Michigan Tech | 4.5 |
| 4 | Brendan Harris | Wenatchee (BCHL) | F | Bemidji State | 4.5 |
| 5 | Jake Jaremko | Chicago (USHL) | F | Minnesota State | 4.25 |
| 6 | Quin Foreman | West Kelowna (BCHL) | F | Dartmouth | 4.25 |
| 7 | Matiss Kivlenieks | Sioux City (USHL) | G | Minnesota State | 4.25 |
| 8 | Max Kaufman | Langley (BCHL) | F | Vermont | 4.25 |
| 9 | Mitch Perrault | Omaha (USHL) | F | Harvard | 4.25 |
| 10 | Jake Stevens | Victoria (BCHL) | D | St. Lawrence | 4 |
Boston Jr. Eagles U16 Showcase: Top 17
NeutralZone attended the Boston Junior Eagles U16 Showcase at Providence College and Northeastern University on October 15-16. Four of the top U16 teams in the country were part of the showcase (Boston Junior Eagles, Honeybaked, Chicago Mission and North Jersey Avalanche).
The level of play throughout the weekend was high even though most teams played four games in two days. Below is a listing of the top players on the weekend. Note: no distinction was made between 00’ and 01’ birthdays (although some 01’s were the standout players).
Alex Turcotte (Chicago Mission, 5’10/190, 2/26/01) – Had an extremely strong weekend. Was in a class by himself for much of the showcase. Strong lower half allows for superior balance and skating. Gets up to speed in a few steps effortlessly. Can beat defenders wide with speed and although he does not have a large frame, uses his body well. Plays an aggressive, slashing style and does not hesitate to drive to the net. Always around the puck in the offensive zone and finishes well. Uses his teammates well and at times is too unselfish. Smart player that is always in position and frequently finds the soft-spots on the ice. The puck seems to follow him around the ice. Grade: A
Hard Work Pays Off: The Paul Cotter Story
Pulling into the driveway of his Canton, MI home, a 4-year-old Paul Cotter noticed something across the street; a boy, playing road hockey with a stick and ball. The…