Ian Moran and his staff at Neutral Zone have compiled their year end rankings in preparation for the 2021 NHL Draft taking place later this month. While it has been a COVID-impacted schedule with many CHL teams not getting a chance to play and international travel being a major complication the team at NZ worked together to cover every live event they could as well as supplement with video scouting in situations where attendance wasn’t permitted.
“It was a difficult year for everyone,” said Moran. “From coaches to scouts to players but I feel good about the work our team has done to compile our rankings and put together our list for this years crop of talent.”
Ian admits that this unique season could bring some changes to the norms of NHL Drafts. “I honestly don’t know what to expect with the way this year has gone but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more overagers, more Americans and Europeans than other years given the fact those areas had full seasons and less COVID interuptions.”
Neutral Zone was in attendance for every major event that allowed attendance including U18 World Championships, USA Hockey Bio Steel All American Game, PBHH Invitiational, PHL and in game viewings of Minnesota State Tournament, NAHL Top Prospects and USHL and NAHL Playoffs.
Ian believes NZ’s model is even more important now than ever having seen these players for several seasons before their draft year. “We have reports on players since they were bantams and can track their progress over an extender period of time to know how they are trending and where there game is,” said Moran. “Especially given the circumstances of this season in the CHL and other leagues having prior knowledge of these players is essential in being able to put a list like this together with any real accuracy.”
Below is a list of the top 100 NHL Draft Prospects and tomorrow NZ will release their 101-200 Ranking followed by 201-300 the following day. You can click on any player below and see their player profile and read scouting reports on the players and get their rating information.
NZ NHL Draft Top 100
| Rank | Name | Ht | Wt | Pos | Team | League |
| 1 | Owen Power | 6′ 6″ | 213 | D | MICHIGAN | BIG10 |
| 2 | William Eklund | 5′ 10″ | 176 | LW | DJURGARDEN | SWEDEN |
| 3 | Dylan Guenther | 6′ 2″ | 175 | RW | EDMONTON | WHL |
| 4 | Simon Edvinsson | 6′ 4″ | 198 | D | FROLUNDA JR. | SWEDEN-JR. |
| 5 | Luke Hughes | 6′ 2″ | 184 | D | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 6 | Brandt Clarke | 6′ 2″ | 185 | D | BARRIE | OHL |
| 7 | Matt Beniers | 6′ 2″ | 175 | C | MICHIGAN | BIG10 |
| 8 | Kent Johnson | 6′ 1″ | 167 | C | MICHIGAN | BIG10 |
| 9 | Mason McTavish | 6′ 1″ | 207 | C | PETERBOROUGH | OHL |
| 10 | Jesper Wallstedt | 6′ 3″ | 215 | G | LULEA | SHL |
| 11 | Carson Lambos | 6′ 1″ | 197 | D | WINNIPEG | WHL |
| 12 | Chaz Lucius | 6′ 1″ | 185 | C | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 13 | Daniil Chayka | 6′ 3″ | 187 | D | CSKA | RUSSIA |
| 14 | Cole Sillinger | 6′ 0″ | 197 | C | SIOUX FALLS | USHL |
| 15 | Fabian Lysell | 5′ 10″ | 172 | RW | LULEA | SWEDEN |
| 16 | Nikita Chibrikov | 5′ 10″ | 170 | RW | ST. PETERSBURG | RUSSIA |
| 17 | Brennan Othmann | 6′ 0″ | 175 | LW | FLINT | OHL |
| 18 | Aatu Raty | 6′ 2″ | 185 | C | KARPAT | FINLAND |
| 19 | Xavier Bourgault | 6′ 0″ | 172 | C | SHAWINIGAN | QMJHL |
| 20 | Fedor Svechkov | 6′ 0″ | 187 | C | TOGLIATTI | RUSSIA-2 |
| 21 | Oskar Olausson | 6′ 1″ | 180 | RW | HV 71 | SWEDEN |
| 22 | Zachary Bolduc | 6′ 1″ | 175 | C | RIMOUSKI | QMJHL |
| 23 | Isak Rosen | 5′ 11″ | 156 | RW | LEKSAND | SWEDEN |
| 24 | Francesco Pinelli | 6′ 0″ | 185 | C | KITCHENER | OHL |
| 25 | Simon Robertsson | 6′ 0″ | 190 | RW | SKELLEFTEA | SWEDEN |
| 26 | Zach Dean | 6′ 0″ | 176 | C | GATINEAU | QMJHL |
| 27 | Corson Ceulemans | 6′ 2″ | 198 | D | BROOKS | AJHL |
| 28 | Samu Tuomaala | 5′ 10″ | 174 | RW | KARPAT JR. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 29 | Anton Olsson | 6′ 0″ | 198 | D | MALMO | SWEDEN |
| 30 | Zachary L’Heureux | 5′ 11″ | 196 | LW | HALIFAX | QMJHL |
| 31 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 5′ 10″ | 150 | LW | DYNAMO MOSCOW 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 32 | Sebastian Cossa | 6′ 6″ | 212 | G | EDMONTON | WHL |
| 33 | Brett Harrison | 6′ 2″ | 188 | C | OSHAWA | OHL |
| 34 | Sasha Pastujov | 6′ 0″ | 184 | RW | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 35 | Matthew Coronato | 5′ 10″ | 183 | RW | CHICAGO | USHL |
| 36 | Aidan Hreschuk | 5′ 11″ | 188 | D | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 37 | Logan Mailloux | 6′ 3″ | 212 | D | LONDON | OHL |
| 38 | William Stromgren | 6′ 3″ | 175 | LW | MODO | SWEDEN-2 |
| 39 | Tyler Boucher | 6′ 1″ | 205 | RW | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 40 | Logan Stankoven | 5′ 8″ | 170 | C | KAMLOOPS | WHL |
| 41 | Chase Stillman | 6′ 1″ | 180 | RW | SUDBURY | OHL |
| 42 | Cole Huckins | 6′ 3″ | 200 | C | ACADIE-BATHURST | QMJHL |
| 43 | Tristan Broz | 6′ 0″ | 178 | C | FARGO | USHL |
| 44 | Wyatt Johnston | 6′ 1″ | 178 | C | WINDSOR | OHL |
| 45 | Scott Morrow | 6′ 2″ | 195 | D | SHATTUCK – ST.MARY’S PREP | HIGH-MN |
| 46 | Ryder Korczak | 5′ 11″ | 174 | C | MOOSE JAW | WHL |
| 47 | Nolan Allan | 6′ 2″ | 195 | D | PRINCE ALBERT | WHL |
| 48 | Conner Roulette | 5′ 11″ | 180 | LW | SEATTLE | WHL |
| 49 | Sean Behrens | 5′ 10″ | 177 | D | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 50 | Jack Peart | 5′ 11″ | 186 | D | GRAND RAPIDS | HIGH-MN |
| 51 | Roman Schmidt | 6′ 5″ | 210 | D | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 52 | Dylan Duke | 5′ 10″ | 175 | LW | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 53 | Ben Gaudreau | 6′ 2″ | 175 | G | SARNIA | OHL |
| 54 | Justin Robidas | 5′ 8″ | 173 | C | VAL-D’OR | QMJHL |
| 55 | Guillaume Richard | 6′ 2″ | 170 | D | TRI-CITY | USHL |
| 56 | Colton Dach | 6′ 4″ | 196 | C | SASKATOON | WHL |
| 57 | Ryan Winterton | 6′ 2″ | 175 | C | HAMILTON | OHL |
| 58 | Shai Buium | 6′ 3″ | 209 | D | SIOUX CITY | USHL |
| 59 | Redmond Savage | 5′ 11″ | 180 | C | USA U-18 | NTDP |
| 60 | Oliver Kapanen | 6′ 0″ | 166 | C | KALPA JR. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 61 | Peter Reynolds | 5′ 10″ | 167 | C | SAINT JOHN | QMJHL |
| 62 | Aleksi Heimosalmi | 5′ 11″ | 170 | D | ASSAT JR. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 63 | Samu Salminen | 6′ 2″ | 186 | C | JOKERIT JR. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 64 | Samuel Helenius | 6′ 6″ | 201 | C | JYP | FINLAND |
| 65 | Mackie Samoskevich | 5′ 11″ | 191 | RW | CHICAGO | USHL |
| 66 | Prokhor Poltapov | 6′ 0″ | 176 | LW | CSKA 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 67 | Ville Koivunen | 5′ 11″ | 161 | RW | KARPAT JR. | FINLAND-JR. |
| 68 | Ayrton Martino | 5′ 11″ | 160 | LW | OMAHA | USHL |
| 69 | Matvei Petrov | 6′ 2″ | 178 | LW | KRYLJA SOVETOV 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 70 | Liam Dower Nilsson | 6′ 0″ | 172 | C | FROLUNDA JR. | SWEDEN-JR. |
| 71 | Stanislav Svozil | 6′ 1″ | 182 | D | BRNO | CZREP |
| 72 | Evan Nause | 6′ 2″ | 186 | D | QUEBEC | QMJHL |
| 73 | Matthew Knies | 6′ 2″ | 210 | LW | TRI-CITY | USHL |
| 74 | Ilya Fedotov | 6′ 1″ | 176 | LW | NIZHNY NOVGOROD 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 75 | Tristan Lennox | 6′ 4″ | 190 | G | SAGINAW | OHL |
| 76 | Kirill Kirsanov | 6′ 1″ | 198 | D | ST. PETERSBURG | RUSSIA |
| 77 | Cameron Whynot | 6′ 1″ | 180 | D | HALIFAX | QMJHL |
| 78 | Victor Stjernborg | 5′ 10″ | 202 | C | VAXJO | SWEDEN |
| 79 | Aleksi Malinen | 6′ 0″ | 176 | D | JYP | FINLAND |
| 80 | Jacob Guevin | 5′ 11″ | 181 | D | MUSKEGON | USHL |
| 81 | Artyom Grushnikov | 6′ 2″ | 198 | D | CSKA 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 82 | Jakub Brabenec | 6′ 1″ | 174 | C | BRNO | CZREP |
| 83 | Oscar Plandowski | 6′ 0″ | 190 | D | CHARLOTTETOWN | QMJHL |
| 84 | Olen Zellweger | 5′ 9″ | 175 | D | EVERETT | WHL |
| 85 | Joshua Roy | 6′ 0″ | 190 | RW | SHERBROOKE | QMJHL |
| 86 | Vladislav Lukashevich | 6′ 2″ | 167 | D | YAROSLAVL 2 | RUSSIA-JR. |
| 87 | Ryan Ufko | 5′ 10″ | 181 | D | CHICAGO | USHL |
| 88 | Topias Vilen | 6′ 1″ | 194 | D | PELICANS | FINLAND |
| 89 | Eric Alarie | 6′ 1″ | 197 | LW | MOOSE JAW | WHL |
| 90 | Jackson Blake | 5′ 10″ | 158 | RW | EDEN PRAIRIE | HIGH-MN |
| 91 | Jack Bar | 6′ 2″ | 193 | D | CHICAGO | USHL |
| 92 | Ethan Del Mastro | 6′ 4″ | 210 | D | MISSISSAUGA | OHL |
| 93 | Vincent Lorio | 6′ 2″ | 191 | D | BRANDON | WHL |
| 94 | James Malatesta | 5′ 9″ | 179 | LW | QUEBEC | QMJHL |
| 95 | William Trudeau | 6′ 0″ | 189 | D | CHARLOTTETOWN | QMJHL |
| 96 | Brent Johnson | 5′ 11″ | 161 | D | SIOUX FALLS | USHL |
| 97 | Riley Kidney | 5′ 11″ | 168 | C | ACADIE-BATHURST | QMJHL |
| 98 | Josh Doan | 6′ 1″ | 183 | RW | CHICAGO | USHL |
| 99 | Oliver Nadeau | 6′ 2″ | 204 | RW | SHAWINIGAN | QMJHL |
| 100 | Sean Tschigerl | 6′ 0″ | 189 | LW | CALGARY | WHL |
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images