It may seem early for some fans but not for those who follow the NHL draft eligible players for this upcoming season. A couple years ago I started this here at Oilers Jambalaya. Here is the
history of my Prospect list
This list occurs anywhere from 1-2 months in advance of the actual playing season and a final list I put out just before draft time. It can be a real difficult challenge evaluating and ranking players so early but it is a enjoyable thing to watch as the season progresses right through to the draft day selections.
I have the early september ranking I produced with the actual players selected in their positions to their right side. While not perfect these past two years the top 15 still has produced well. The exact draft order can be difficult due to a team's preference. Some players as you can see fall off the map or come on late.
REVS 2012 NHL Draft Prospects
1.Nail Yakupov (Nail Yakupov)
2.Mikhail Grigorenko (Ryan Murray)
3.Ryan Murray (Alex Galchenyuk)
4.Alex Galchenyuk (Griffin Reinhart)
5.Morgan Rielly (Morgan Rielly)
6.Mathew Dumba (Hampus Lindholm)
7.Nick Ebert (Mathew Dumba)
8.Filip Forsberg (Derrick Pouliot)
9.Griffin Reinhart (Jacob Trouba)
10.Martin Frk (Slater Koekkoek)
11.Derrick Pouliot (Filip Forsberg)
12.Cody Ceci (Mikhail Grigorenko)
13.Olli Maatta (Radek Faksa)
14.Zemgus Girgensons (Zemgus Girgensons)
15.Jacob Trouba (Cody Ceci)
**Selected 11 of 15 of top selected players**
REVS 2013 NHL Draft Prospects
1. Nathan Mackinnon (Nathan MacKinnon)
2. Seth Jones (Aleksander Barkov)
3. Sean Monahan (Jonathan Drouin)
4. Aleksander Barkov (Seth Jones)
5. Hunter Shinkaruk (Elias Lindholm)
6. Curtis Lazar (Sean Monahan)
7. Jonathan Drouin (Darnell Nurse)
8. Ryan Pulock (Rasmus Ristolainen)
9. Elias Lindholm (Bo Horvat)
10. Valeri Nichushkin (Valeri Nichushkin)
11. Anthony Duclair (Samuel Morin)
12. Max Domi (Max Domi)
13. J.T Compher (Josh Morrissey)
14. Josh Morrissey (Alexander Wennberg)
15. Adam Erne (Ryan Pulock)
**Selected 10 of 15 of top selected players**
The following is my early ranking this year for the 2014 Draft class. I will be starting a write up on all the 15 players very soon. This years class may not be a deep top end talent as last year but they all will hold their own in the top 20.
REVS 2014 NHL Draft Prospects (August 10/13)
1.Sam Reinhart
2.Aaron Ekblad
3.William Nylander
4.Roland McKeown
5.Jake Virtanen
6.Blake Clarke
7.Nick Ritchie
8.Leon Draisatl
9.Michael Dal Colle
10.Jakub Vrana
11.Ivan Barbashev
12.Jared McCann
13.Anton Karlsson
14.Joshua Ho-Sang
15.Sam Bennett
Honourable mentions:
Oskar Lindblom
Haydn Fleury
Nick Schmaltz