THW's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Rankings Top 60 – An Early Look

[UpsideHockey]

The next edition of hockey's version of Christmas is a long way's off, but it's never too early to take a glimpse at the highly touted prospects who are eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, which will go down on Jun 24-25th in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Here's a snapshot of the Top 5 with a link to the Top 60 in a sortable and searchable table format:

1 F Sean Couturier L 07-Dec-92 6'3 193 Drummondville QMJHL CAN
2 D Adam Larsson R 12-Nov-92 6'3 220 Skellefteå Elitserien SWE
3 F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins L 12-Apr-93 6'0 166 Red Deer WHL CAN
4 D David Musil L 09-Apr-93 6'3 191 Vancouver WHL CZE
5 F Matt Puempel L 24-Jan-93 6'0 205 Peterborough OHL CAN

Read on and flame away!
http://thehockeywriters.com/2011-nhl-entry-draft-rankings-top60-anearlylook/

Of course, there's a lot of hockey to be played (and off-ice incidents to go through) which will cause some might and not so mighty rising and falling of the stocks of prospects, but the analyzing of the eligible players has to start somewhere.

Cheers,
-Chris


------------
Chris Ralph:

*Prospects/draft analyst at The Hockey Writers (THW). My archives at THW: http://thehockeywriters.com/author/cralph/

*Breakaway Talent/The Hockey Spy - focusing on the future of hockey - the prospects and the entry draft.
http://hockeyspy.blogspot.com
"The future of hockey revealed...right here, right now."

Click to read more...

 

[pouskin74*]

They do like a guys who are playing in NA. at first i tought WTF Anton Slobin is IN but Maxim Shalunov not?! but then i realized -one of them is in NA but another not...

 

[R S]

Siemens at 11

Landeskog ranked lower than some other places.

 

[Pascha]

Carter Sandlak is in the draft... looks like the spitting image of his dad!

 

[SJSeaDogs]

#9 - Tomas Jurco
#18 - Nathan Beaulieu
#21 - Jonathan Hurberdeau

The Sea Dogs are going to be represented well in Minnesota!

 

[The Scouting Report]

#9 - Tomas Jurco
#18 - Nathan Beaulieu
#21 - Jonathan Hurberdeau

The Sea Dogs are going to be represented well in Minnesota!

Zach Phillips will make some noise too and could go in the first few rounds depending on his year.

 

[SJSeaDogs]

Zach Phillips will make some noise too and could go in the first few rounds depending on his year.

I agree. I was quite surprised he didn't crack the top 60, but oh well. I mean Galiev is a 1st round talent and look where he went, sometimes I just don't know what the scouts see that I don't haha.

 

[JeromeHP]

one guy missing from the top60 is Xavier Ouellet, really like his game last year as a 16yo and he will get plenty of exposure playing in montreal and with Louis Leblanc.

 

[JL17]

IMO Harrington and Lessio will make it into the top 15 before the year is out.

 

[bottomofthefoodchain]

Rask had a goal today as Leksand destroyed Mora 7-1 in the first game of the season.

 

[Krotak]

Tomas Jurco = number 9!
TOMAS JURCO NAMED ONE OF THE QMJHL's STARS OF THE WEEK
http://www.saintjohnseadogs.com/article/tomas-jurco-named-one-of-the-qmjhl-s-stars-of-the-week
He has got real talent and this year probably we will see him at World Championship U20 too.

 

[AmericanDream]

pretty high on Nick Shore...I hope he does well at Denver to go that high...

Clendening that low seems surprising. Maybe 1-2 defensemen in this draft have more overall talent then he does.

 

[bomberslocks]

#9 - Tomas Jurco
#18 - Nathan Beaulieu
#21 - Jonathan Hurberdeau

The Sea Dogs are going to be represented well in Minnesota!

I'm going to the game against Moncton next month, can't wait to check out theese guys and a few others.

 

[nally]

Carter Sandlak is in the draft... looks like the spitting image of his dad!

I worked with his Dad at Food Basics...guy is huge. Quit because his body took too much punishment. He listed off like 10 bones that he broke...some more than a couple of times. Rough

 

[UpsideHockey]

They do like a guys who are playing in NA. at first i tought WTF Anton Slobin is IN but Maxim Shalunov not?! but then i realized -one of them is in NA but another not...

Shalunov is definitely on the radar, as noted in this quote from the post:

"Of course, it is safe to say any rankings done at this point will evolve and look quite different as the hockey season wears on. Names like Keegan Lowe, Maxim Shalunov and Mika Partanen will be just some of the ice gladiators battling to place themselves amongst these and other rankings."

------------
Chris Ralph:

*Prospects/draft analyst at The Hockey Writers (THW). My archives at THW: http://thehockeywriters.com/author/cralph/

*Breakaway Talent/The Hockey Spy - focusing on the future of hockey - the prospects and the entry draft.
http://hockeyspy.blogspot.com
"The future of hockey revealed...right here, right now."

 

[UpsideHockey]

I agree. I was quite surprised he didn't crack the top 60, but oh well. I mean Galiev is a 1st round talent and look where he went, sometimes I just don't know what the scouts see that I don't haha.

Zach Phillips will make some noise too and could go in the first few rounds depending on his year.

one guy missing from the top60 is Xavier Ouellet, really like his game last year as a 16yo and he will get plenty of exposure playing in montreal and with Louis Leblanc.

Both Ouellet & Phillips narrowly missed the Top 60. It simply came down to numbers, which goes to show the draft definitely has depth in the talent pool available.

Xavier & Zach have a great shot at moving up the ranks.

Appreciate the comments!

------------
Chris Ralph

*Prospects/draft analyst at The Hockey Writers (THW). My archives at THW: http://thehockeywriters.com/author/cralph/

*Breakaway Talent/The Hockey Spy - focusing on the future of hockey - the prospects and the entry draft.
http://hockeyspy.blogspot.com
"The future of hockey revealed...right here, right now."

 

[Gulvorn]

Good this should be another good year for us Blue Jackets at taking a shot at striking gold in the lottery

 

[bleuetbio]

pretty high on Nick Shore...I hope he does well at Denver to go that high...

Clendening that low seems surprising. Maybe 1-2 defensemen in this draft have more overall talent then he does.

yeah we know that you're hot on Nick Shore qualifying him better than his brother Drew. THW seems to go in that way too.

For Clendening, Im also realy surprised to not seing him in the top 20. Its a pure diamond in the rough who suffer of his 5"11", but just wait for the WJC11 and he will jump officially in the top 15.

I want to know how can I saw Oshawa by streaming or something like that because I want to check at Jensen and Lessio but it could be difficult for me to go there. Like Marcel Noebels, I expect a big year in America for Jensen after the last U18.

Im also realy happy about Jurco. This guy has themagic stick of Rob Schremp. I wish him more succes. 5 goals at his 2 first games this year is a big warning for the Q teams. Saint-john has a ticket for the memorial cup and I will not be surprised to see Beaulieu, Huberdeau and in the top 20. That said, its not a great begining for Beaulieu after a tremenduous team Canada WJC11 camp. I think was the only draft eligible except Couturier. Beaulieu is a beast. Fix it!!!

Also guys, Can someone confirm the size of David Musil? A good source told me 6"5" 200 pds at this point and all the inernet sources write 6"3".....

 

[Stealth JD]

Good this should be another good year for us Blue Jackets at taking a shot at striking gold in the lottery

Your whole front office should be ****-canned again, as there's no excuse to be looking at another lottery pick after this season. Columbus has drafted in the top-8 10 out 11 years and should be bordering on power-house, not also-ran. The fact that they're again being penciled in to miss the playoffs is an embarrassment to the franchise. Teams should be able to build a consistent winner in 4 or 5 years...yet Columbus is in their second decade of trying to build a sustainable winner.

 

[UpsideHockey]

yeah we know that you're hot on Nick Shore qualifying him better than his brother Drew. THW seems to go in that way too.

For Clendening, Im also realy surprised to not seing him in the top 20. Its a pure diamond in the rough who suffer of his 5"11", but just wait for the WJC11 and he will jump officially in the top 15.

I want to know how can I saw Oshawa by streaming or something like that because I want to check at Jensen and Lessio but it could be difficult for me to go there. Like Marcel Noebels, I expect a big year in America for Jensen after the last U18.

Im also realy happy about Jurco. This guy has themagic stick of Rob Schremp. I wish him more succes. 5 goals at his 2 first games this year is a big warning for the Q teams. Saint-john has a ticket for the memorial cup and I will not be surprised to see Beaulieu, Huberdeau and in the top 20. That said, its not a great begining for Beaulieu after a tremenduous team Canada WJC11 camp. I think was the only draft eligible except Couturier. Beaulieu is a beast. Fix it!!!

Also guys, Can someone confirm the size of David Musil? A good source told me 6"5" 200 pds at this point and all the inernet sources write 6"3".....

I've also seen listed him at 6'5", but can't recall where. He's a big boy and look forward to seeing more of him this season.

As for Clendening, I can definitely see Adam rising in these rankings. As the rankings were compiled, he simply became victim to other prospects edging him out. There's no denying his talent though and he will be monitored closely as the season wears on.

Appreciate the superb feedback!

------------
Chris Ralph

*Prospects/draft analyst at The Hockey Writers (THW). My archives at THW: http://thehockeywriters.com/author/cralph/

*Breakaway Talent/The Hockey Spy - focusing on the future of hockey - the prospects and the entry draft.
http://hockeyspy.blogspot.com
"The future of hockey revealed...right here, right now."