2015 NHL Draft Preliminary Rankings

[The Exiled One]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=731360

BECKER JACK MAHTOMEDI HIGH-MN 6' 3.0" 188 C
JAREMKO JACOB ELK RIVER HIGH-MN 5' 11.25" 170 C
JAYCOX LUKAS WARROAD HIGH-MN 6' 1.5" 183 D
MCNEELY JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN 6' 2.5" 178 D
OLSON JACOB HILL-MURRAY HIGH-MN 6' 3.0" 210 D
SADEK JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN 6' 1.5" 185 D
ZUHLSDORF RYAN EDINA HIGH-MN 5' 11.0" 185 D
BETHUNE JARED WARROAD HIGH-MN 6' 0.0" 174 C

[GoBigorGoHome]

Notice the size of these kids. If any of the borderline six-footers are shorter than listed, they are guaranteed to drop, unless they are ridiculously skilled like some of the Europeans. Bottom line - if little Johnny Superstar aint gonna be six foot, the NHL aint gonna be interested.

[puckbreath]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=731360

BECKER JACK MAHTOMEDI HIGH-MN 6' 3.0" 188 C
JAREMKO JACOB ELK RIVER HIGH-MN 5' 11.25" 170 C
JAYCOX LUKAS WARROAD HIGH-MN 6' 1.5" 183 D
MCNEELY JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN 6' 2.5" 178 D
OLSON JACOB HILL-MURRAY HIGH-MN 6' 3.0" 210 D
SADEK JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN 6' 1.5" 185 D
ZUHLSDORF RYAN EDINA HIGH-MN 5' 11.0" 185 D
BETHUNE JARED WARROAD HIGH-MN 6' 0.0" 174 C

Wow, another surprise, for me at least.

Jaycox.

Also seen him play a lot.

Never would have guessed.

[notTONIGHT]

All but 2 of those listed are playing in the elite league this year.

3 defenseman on Team Southeast alone.

[Lecroixwhl]

C HEID NICHOLAS PORTLAND WHL 6' 1.75" 206 D

Nick Heid another MN kid on the list.

[The Exiled One]

C HEID NICHOLAS PORTLAND WHL 6' 1.75" 206 D

Nick Heid another MN kid on the list.

Actually, there are 16 total Minnesotans on the list.

8 in the MSHSL
4 in the WHL
3 in the USHL
1 in the NCHC

However, seeing as this is the MN HS Hockey message board, I only listed the players playing in the MSHSL this coming season.

[warriors41]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=731360

BECKER JACK MAHTOMEDI HIGH-MN 6' 3.0" 188 C
JAREMKO JACOB ELK RIVER HIGH-MN 5' 11.25" 170 C
JAYCOX LUKAS WARROAD HIGH-MN 6' 1.5" 183 D
MCNEELY JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN 6' 2.5" 178 D
OLSON JACOB HILL-MURRAY HIGH-MN 6' 3.0" 210 D
SADEK JACK LAKEVILLE NORTH HIGH-MN 6' 1.5" 185 D
ZUHLSDORF RYAN EDINA HIGH-MN 5' 11.0" 185 D
BETHUNE JARED WARROAD HIGH-MN 6' 0.0" 174 C

Wow, another surprise, for me at least.

Jaycox.

Also seen him play a lot.

Never would have guessed.

Yeah that surprised me too. I haven't even heard if he's garnered much college interest? It's still an early ranking though; let's see if he's still listed on the next one. He should get plenty of exposure since he has a teammate listed as well.

[WCHBlog]

Jaycox has improved a lot since last season. He definitely belongs there.

[DubCHAGuy]

Some additions

A Prospects
Paul Bittner (Crookston/Portland, WHL)
Tom Novak (River Falls/STA/Waterloo, USHL)

B Prospects
Jesse Gabrielle played one (?) year for Eagan before going the Canadian Jr. Route.

C Prospects
Karson Kuhlman (Cloquet/Dubuque, USHL/UMD)
Matt Freytag (Wayzata/Tri-City, USHL)

[mulefarm]

With all the players in high school, we can't get an A or B prospect? Would like to know why?

[The Exiled One]

With all the players in high school, we can't get an A or B prospect? Would like to know why?

Quite honestly, in recent years, it's very difficult to keep college bound "A" players from the NTDP or the USHL. It'd take a kid who is EXTREMELY dedicated to his HS and really wants to win the state tournament. Also, if he's draft eligible after his junior year, he's more likely not to have left HS yet (Mario Lucia, for example). Finally, I believe they've tightened the "A" rating up quite a bit in recent years.

'15 has none
'14 had none
'13 had none
'12 had none
'11 had Lucia
'10 had Alt, Bjugstad, Max Gardiner, and Nelson
'09 had Budish, DeLisle, Hanowski, Leddy, and Danny Mattson

[imlisteningtothefnsong]

Muley, you know the rules! You can't ask that question.... Delete that post, feel shame, and repeat,

"There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home"

[SuperStar]

Muley, you know the rules! You can't ask that question.... Delete that post, feel shame, and repeat,

"There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home"

Lol - thats was good.

[MrBoDangles]

These ^ types are collapsing the recruiting hotbed that we had here.

It's because the kids are leaving. They're now leaving as 15/16 year olds and trying to still be the go to guy against a bunch of 20 year olds.. Taking a back seat elsewhere while they could have been building star potential here.

Nobody can tell me that Iverson wouldn't have been a first rounder if he had stayed.

Simply lost in the BUSINESS side of hockey.

[mulefarm]

What Mn kids that left as 15/16 have become A or B prospects?

[MrBoDangles]

What Mn kids that left as 15/16 have become A or B prospects?

None. They were already future A - B prospects where they were at... But there's been plenty that have sat way down the bench and have fallen though.

[MrBoDangles]

With all the players in high school, we can't get an A or B prospect? Would like to know why?

Quite honestly, in recent years, it's very difficult to keep college bound "A" players from the NTDP or the USHL. It'd take a kid who is EXTREMELY dedicated to his HS and really wants to win the state tournament. Also, if he's draft eligible after his junior year, he's more likely not to have left HS yet (Mario Lucia, for example). Finally, I believe they've tightened the "A" rating up quite a bit in recent years.

'15 has none
'14 had none
'13 had none
'12 had none
'11 had Lucia
'10 had Alt, Bjugstad, Max Gardiner, and Nelson
'09 had Budish, DeLisle, Hanowski, Leddy, and Danny Mattson

The NHL was able to find some great talent in 09'-10' that, for the most part, stayed in school.

Is high end talent actually down now that kids seem to be trying other paths? We had decades with barely any 1st round picks.. Then we had a decade with (2000 - 2010) huge numbers of first rounders that mostly came from the HS route. Now the last few years are getting ugly.. Again.

JMO, but I'm fairly sure some of those boys would have had much more draw had they of stayed the last few years.

[mulefarm]

These ^ types are collapsing the recruiting hotbed that we had here.

It's because the kids are leaving. They're now leaving as 15/16 year olds and trying to still be the go to guy against a bunch of 20 year olds.. Taking a back seat elsewhere while they could have been building star potential here.

Nobody can tell me had stayed.that Iverson wouldn't have been a first rounder if he

Simply lost in the BUSINESS side of hockey.

Just a question. So you think Iverson dropped to the 3rd round because he left HS? Why would he have been a 1st rounder if he stayed?

[MrBoDangles]

These ^ types are collapsing the recruiting hotbed that we had here.

It's because the kids are leaving. They're now leaving as 15/16 year olds and trying to still be the go to guy against a bunch of 20 year olds.. Taking a back seat elsewhere while they could have been building star potential here.

Nobody can tell me had stayed.that Iverson wouldn't have been a first rounder if he

Simply lost in the BUSINESS side of hockey.

Just a question. So you think Iverson dropped to the 3rd round because he left HS? Why would he have been a 1st rounder if he stayed?

Just think/know he would have been a much heralded player and would have scored in bunches... He was behind a long line of talented older players at Portland and kind of took on a checking type role until this last year were he was able to get more minutes in games.

Many were saying future first rounder when he was a freshman at Breck.

Do you have any opinions on the decade of first rounders and now the dry spell the last few years from any path?

[mulefarm]

I really can't figure out why Mn isn't producing top end talent. Is hockey getting to expensive so many good young athletes are playing other sports? Maybe hockey isn't getting the cream of the crop? It could be a down cycle? Maybe hockey is getting to structured as far as playing year around, training year around and by the time they get 15 yrs old there isn't the motivation needed? I would think the coaching is better at the younger ages, but is it? Are the top end players getting challenged enough in practice and games? Has recruiting 8,9,and 10th graders changed the dynamics for continued development? Do players play because they love the sport or for a scholarship or beyond? Not really sure about any of these, just throwing them out there.

[almostashappy]

I really can't figure out why Mn isn't producing top end talent. Is hockey getting to expensive so many good young athletes are playing other sports? Maybe hockey isn't getting the cream of the crop? It could be a down cycle? Maybe hockey is getting to structured as far as playing year around, training year around and.....

This is a lovely troll that might just get the puck dropped and the juices flowing in this year's version of the perennial discussion.

I think that each of your questions have been stand-alone topics in older threads. Assuming that your premise is accurate (and that MN really is producing less "top end" talent), the simplest answer might be something else...

Somebody has to have the stats to test this idea, but maybe it's that it's not just us. Maybe Canada, Mich and Massachusetss are also producing less high-round NHL draft pics than they were 20 years ago, because more kids in Europe and California that have raw talent and game sense are choosing to focus on hockey, rather than football (or football)? And it's not that we're now doing something wrong, so much as it is that other places are finally doing it right?

[mulefarm]

So what are they doing right? Having there kids leave for higher level competition? With the number of kids playing in Mn and the facilities we have, I can't believe we don't have 4-6 A and B prospects every year.

[imlisteningtothefnsong]

Muley, we do have them. As I said before, you don't want to go down this road here. It is not something that is easy to swallow. Let's say your son is a high end player. Let's say he is a high enough player that may have a chance to play at the highest level if he gets developed in the manner that those at the highest level would like to see. Let's say that those people approach you and your son and say we would like your boy to play for this team for a few years because we think if he practiced and played in these situations, we feel he would be an A or B prospect in the big draft. We don't care if he scores 60 goals in MN high school, we don't care if he plays 17 years of community hockey, we think he will be a great player if he gets developed in the manner in which we play. If your son is one of these players, you both will have to decide if staying all 4 years in HS is most important or most beneficial, or should you listen to what those people are saying. MN HS will not be ruined if a few of the seriously gifted players move on to NHL breeding grounds. It may even help a few late bloomers blossom into HS studs.

[Bluewhitefan]

These ^ types are collapsing the recruiting hotbed that we had here.

It's because the kids are leaving. They're now leaving as 15/16 year olds and trying to still be the go to guy against a bunch of 20 year olds.. Taking a back seat elsewhere while they could have been building star potential here.

Nobody can tell me had stayed.that Iverson wouldn't have been a first rounder if he

Simply lost in the BUSINESS side of hockey.

Just a question. So you think Iverson dropped to the 3rd round because he left HS? Why would he have been a 1st rounder if he stayed?

Just think/know he would have been a much heralded player and would have scored in bunches... He was behind a long line of talented older players at Portland and kind of took on a checking type role until this last year were he was able to get more minutes in games.

Many were saying future first rounder when he was a freshman at Breck.

Do you have any opinions on the decade of first rounders and now the dry spell the last few years from any path?

Similar case in Jack Walker.

[puckbreath]

Muley, we do have them. As I said before, you don't want to go down this road here. It is not something that is easy to swallow. Let's say your son is a high end player. Let's say he is a high enough player that may have a chance to play at the highest level if he gets developed in the manner that those at the highest level would like to see. Let's say that those people approach you and your son and say we would like your boy to play for this team for a few years because we think if he practiced and played in these situations, we feel he would be an A or B prospect in the big draft. We don't care if he scores 60 goals in MN high school, we don't care if he plays 17 years of community hockey, we think he will be a great player if he gets developed in the manner in which we play. If your son is one of these players, you both will have to decide if staying all 4 years in HS is most important or most beneficial, or should you listen to what those people are saying. MN HS will not be ruined if a few of the seriously gifted players move on to NHL breeding grounds. It may even help a few late bloomers blossom into HS studs.

Do you have valid examples fitting the scenario - "verbatim" - you describe ?