2011 NHL Entry Draft Rankings Top 100 – March Madness Edition - The Hockey Writers -

The 2011 NHL Entry Draft takes place on June 24-25^th in St. Paul, Minnesota. Once again, I love the dates – the 24^th and 25^th representing hockey’s version of Christmas!

It’s quite interesting to take a quick glimpse back at my Draft Rankings as the 2010-11 season just got under way last September – Top 60 Early Look. An excerpt from that article:

Many shots will be taken. Many saves will be made. Many hits will be dished out. Many battles for loose pucks will be fought. Many passes will be delivered. Many savvy puck moves will be executed. Many coach tirades will fall on deaf ears.

The debate now rages on as to who will emerge as best of class – 2011. At present, it is a three-headed race led by: Centreman Sean Couturier of Dummondville Voltigeurs, Sweden’s brilliant blueliner Adam Larsson and centerman Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels.

The Race For First Overall:

As THW’s Greg Thomson recently reported, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has emerged as the frontrunner. Swedish blueliner Adam Larsson, Gabriel Landeskog, Sean Couturier and Ryan Strome will put the heat on NHL scouting teams and their decision-making process come June. I had RNH going 4^th in my Holiday Edition Mock Draft – Grand Larsson-y, but his play since being cut from Team Canada World Junior team has been amazing – 65 points in 38 games.

Trending:

Ryan Strome is undeniably the greatest riser in terms of NHL 2011 draft stock, since the season started. Heck, I’ve even listed him amongst the Top 10 Young Guns with Potential to join Jarome Iginla in the exclusive 10 x 30 club.

The countryman and Portland Winterhawks teammate of “El Nino” Nino Niederreiter, Sven Baertschi has had himself a superb WHL rookie season and has therefore, not surprisingly, seen his draft day value continually on the rise.

High and Low

– Prospects I have ranked higher than most:

THW's 2011 NHL Draft Rankings — THW’s 2011 NHL Draft Rankings (The Hockey Writers)

I’m quite certain some will question the placement of Ryan Strome at fourth ahead of Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog is probably the most NHL ready prospect in the draft and one of the most complete players available. Strome’s high end potential is the main factor I considered in this case.

I wanted to have Ryan Murphy even higher than sixth to be honest. I was higher than most on Ryan Ellis in his draft year, and while the two offensive blueliners are different on many levels, they are both rare, elite, dynamic difference makers from the back-end. Size is a factor with Murphy but his skating and off the charts hockey sense will allow him to succeed in the big league.

Daniel Catenacci’s hockey sense has been compared to Rico Fata. Unfortunately, proponents of this statement are not complimenting Catenacci. However, I beg to differ. The speedster has a very high compete level and knows how to play the game. Should he fall to the late first round, notch it up as a steal for the team selecting him.

– Prospects I have ranked lower than most:

I mentioned Landeskog already. I really like him as a player and prospect. I simply like several players more and it’s mostly to do with long-term projections.

Tyler Biggs has been creeping up many draft rankings. The power forward is definitely an intriguing combination of size and skill. My concern is does he top out as a third line checking winger?

Seth Ambroz came into the season hyped as Top 10 material. Great size. Questionable skating. He may go late first, but he’s more worthy of a second round flier.

Many also have centreman Jonathon (J.T.) Miller landing in the first round. His lack of offensive production is the biggest red flag for me at this point.

The Rankings:

A couple of notes up front as we get on to the March Madness edition of the rankings. Also be sure to check out THW’s new Prospect Guide page.

Rank	Name	League	Pos.	GP	G/Min	A/GAA	P/SO	PIM/SV%
1	NUGENT-HOPKINS, RYAN	WHL	C	69	31	75	106	51
2	HUBERDEAU, JONATHAN	QMJHL	C	67	43	62	105	88
3	LARSSON, ADAM	SWEDEN	D	37	1	8	9	41
4	COUTURIER, SEAN	QMJHL	C	58	36	60	96	36
5	STROME, RYAN	OHL	C	65	33	73	106	82
6	MURPHY, RYAN	OHL	D	63	26	53	79	36
7	LANDESKOG, GABRIEL	OHL	LW	53	36	30	66	61
8	HAMILTON, DOUGIE	OHL	D	67	12	46	58	77
9	MCNEILL, MARK	WHL	C	70	32	49	81	53
10	JENNER, BOONE	OHL	C	63	25	41	66	57
11	ZIBANEJAD, MIKA	SWEDEN	C	26	5	4	9	2
12	BEAULIEU, NATHAN	QMJHL	D	65	12	33	45	52
13	SCHEIFELE, MARK	OHL	C	66	22	53	75	35
14	ARMIA, JOEL	FINLAND	RW	48	18	11	29	24
15	BAERTSCHI, SVEN	WHL	LW	66	34	51	85	74
16	PUEMPEL, MATT	OHL	LW	55	34	35	69	49
17	GRIMALDI, ROCCO	USHL	C	50	34	28	62	57
18	SIEMENS, DUNCAN	WHL	D	72	5	38	43	121
19	BRODIN, JONAS	SWEDEN	D	42	0	4	4	12
20	MORROW, JOSEPH	WHL	D	60	9	40	49	67
21	PHILLIPS, ZACK	QMJHL	C	67	38	57	95	16
22	OLEKSIAK, JAMIESON	H-EAST	D	34	3	9	12	51
23	JURCO, TOMAS	QMJHL	RW	60	31	25	56	17
24	KLEFBOM, OSCAR	SWEDEN	D	23	1	1	2	2
25	CATENACCI, DANIEL	OHL	C	67	26	45	71	117
26	MILLER, JONATHAN	USHL	C	48	11	26	37	78
27	RATTIE, TY	WHL	RW	67	28	51	79	55
28	SPROUL, RYAN	OHL	D	61	14	19	33	36
29	MAYFIELD, SCOTT	USHL	D	52	7	9	16	159
30	RITCHIE, BRETT	OHL	RW	49	21	20	41	47
31	JENSEN, NICKLAS	OHL	LW;RW	61	29	29	58	42
32	NAMESTNIKOV, VLADISLAV	OHL	C	68	30	38	68	49
33	MURPHY, CONNOR	USHL	D	14	3	3	6	6
34	KHOKHLACHEV, ALEXANDER	OHL	C;LW	67	34	42	76	28
35	NOESEN, STEFAN	OHL	RW	68	34	43	77	80
36	BOUCHER, REID	USHL	C	49	24	19	43	25
37	LUCIA, MARIO	HIGH-MN	LW	24	25	22	47	14
38	SAAD, BRANDON	OHL	LW	59	27	28	55	47
39	BIGGS, TYLER	USHL	RW	48	17	11	28	112
40	RAKELL, RICKARD	OHL	RW	49	19	24	43	12
41	KUCHEROV, NIKITA	RUSSIA-JR.	W	41	27	31	58	81
42	ST. CROIX, MICHAEL	WHL	C	68	27	48	75	48
43	RASK, VICTOR	SWEDEN-2	C	37	5	6	11	8
44	DANAULT, PHILLIP	QMJHL	LW	64	23	44	67	59
45	JASKIN, DMITRI	CZREP	RW	33	3	7	10	16
46	PRINCE, SHANE	OHL	C	59	25	63	88	18
47	GIBSON, JOHN	USHL	G	32	1,794	2.64	1	0.918
48	MUSIL, DAVID	WHL	D	62	6	19	25	83
49	KARLSSON, WILLIAM	SWE-JR.	C	38	20	34	54	45
50	GIBSON, CHRISTOPHER	QMJHL	G	37	2,234	2.42	4	0.92
51	PERCY, STUART	OHL	D	64	4	29	33	50
52	COUSINS, NICK	OHL	C	68	29	39	68	56
53	LESSIO, LUCAS	OHL	LW	66	27	27	54	66
54	NIETO, MATTHEW	H-EAST	LW	36	8	13	21	16
55	RUSSO, ROBBIE	USHL	D	52	3	19	22	23
56	EDMUNDSON, JOEL	WHL	D	71	2	18	20	95
57	TVRDON, MAREK	WHL	RW	12	6	5	11	14
58	LOWRY, ADAM	WHL	LW	66	18	27	45	84
59	BENGTSSON, RASMUS	SWEDEN-2	D	45	2	7	9	6
60	GRANLUND, MARKUS	FINLAND-JR.	C	40	20	32	52	49
61	BELL, MYLES	WHL	D	68	14	31	45	86
62	TROCHECK, VINCENT	OHL	C	68	26	36	62	60
63	CLENDENING, ADAM	H-EAST	D	36	5	18	23	80
64	SHORE, NICHOLAS	WCHA	C	28	7	11	18	14
65	MCCOLGAN, SHANE	WHL	RW	67	21	45	66	62
66	LEIVO, JOSHUA	OHL	LW	64	13	17	30	37
67	BOYCE ROTEVALL, JEREMY	SWEDEN	LW	33	1	2	3	4
68	KICHTON, BRENDEN	WHL	D	64	23	58	81	31
69	KURALY, SEAN	USHL	C	51	8	21	29	45
70	SCARLETT, REECE	WHL	D	72	6	18	24	59
71	OUELLET, XAVIER	QMJHL	D	67	8	35	43	44
72	FRIBERG, MAX	SWEDEN-3	LW	34	13	27	40	6
73	SHAW, LOGAN	QMJHL	RW	68	26	20	46	37
74	LABATE, JOSEPH	HIGH-MN	C	25	27	22	49	42
75	PERHONEN, SAMU	FINLAND-JR.	G	29	1,658	2.71	2	0.922
76	SALOMAKI, MIIKKA	FINLAND	RW	40	4	6	10	53
77	EWANYK, TRAVIS	WHL	LW	72	16	11	27	126
78	HOFMANN, GREGORY	SWISS	C	41	3	9	12	2
79	LE SIEUR, MAXIMILIEN	QMJHL	RW	68	16	28	44	37
80	PEDAN, ANDREI	OHL	D	51	2	10	12	89
81	YARULLIN, ALBERT	RUSSIA-JR.	D	44	3	5	8	73
82	PAGEAU, JEAN-GABRIEL	QMJHL	C	67	32	47	79	22
83	JACOBS, COLIN	WHL	C	68	22	22	44	69
84	FRITSCH, ANDREW	OHL	RW	60	28	35	63	18
85	MERSCH, MICHAEL	WCHA	LW	39	8	10	18	30
86	MCKEE, MICHAEL	HIGH-CT	D	27	8	15	23	50
87	CRAMAROSSA, JOSEPH	OHL	C	59	12	20	32	101
88	HARRINGTON, SCOTT	OHL	D	67	6	16	22	51
89	HUDON, PHILIPPE	HIGH-CT	C;RW	22	10	10	20	44
90	YUEN, ZACHARY	WHL	D	72	8	24	32	65
91	PLACEK, PETR	HIGH-CT	RW	8	7	6	13	10
92	AMBROZ, SETH	USHL	RW	56	24	22	46	89
93	RACINE, JONATHAN	QMJHL	D	68	2	5	7	86
94	LOCKHART, LUKE	WHL	RW	71	21	27	48	27
95	KOUDYS, PATRICK	ECAC	D	32	1	2	3	14
96	ARCHAMBAULT, OLIVIER	QMJHL	LW	65	20	33	53	28
97	RIEDER, TOBIAS	OHL	C	65	23	26	49	35
98	QUINE, ALAN	OHL	C	69	26	27	53	8
99	HELLBERG, MAGNUS	SWEDEN-2	G	31	1,789	2.04	5	0.935
100	RYAN, JOAKIM	USHL	D	53	3	29	32	26
101	REILLY, MIKE	HIGH-MN	D	48	13	30	43	26
102	TESINK, RYAN	QMJHL	C	59	8	27	35	38
103	SERVILLE, BRENNAN	OJHL	D	36	3	27	30	29
104	EVERSON, MAX	HIGH-MN	D	22	4	17	21	20
105	LOWE, KEEGAN	WHL	D	71	2	22	24	123
106	LARRAZA, ZAC	USHL	LW	49	8	5	13	20
107	BENSON, BRENT	WHL	C	65	14	30	44	52
108	KESSY, KALE	WHL	LW	65	10	14	24	129
109	OKE, SCOTT	QMJHL	LW	54	5	5	10	15
110	WOTHERSPOON, TYLER	WHL	D	64	2	10	12	73
111	VANCE, TROY	QMJHL	D	23	1	3	4	21
112	SHALUNOV, MAXIM	RUSSIA-JR.	RW	39	22	14	36	42
113	NOEBELS, MARCEL	WHL	LW	66	28	26	54	23
114	NESTEROV, NIKITA	RUSSIA-JR.	D	46	5	14	19	72
115	DAHLBECK, KLAS	SWEDEN	D	47	0	8	8	12
116	NERMARK, JOACHIM	SWE-JR.	C	37	8	18	26	16
117	TANSEY, KEVIN	CHL	D	55	13	16	29	65
118	JOKIPAKKA, JYRKI	FINLAND	D	48	1	8	9	18
119	ZLOBIN, ANTON	QMJHL	LW	59	23	22	45	28
120	PRIBYL, DANIEL	CZREP-JR.	C	39	25	29	54	20
121	BINNINGTON, JORDAN	OHL	G	46	2,596	3.05	1	0.899
122	HAAR, GARRETT	USHL	D	51	7	16	23	38
123	STRAIGHT, DESTRY	BCHL	C	59	26	41	67	48
124	WUTHRICH, AUSTIN	USHL	RW	5	1	1	2	2
125	JOHANSSON, KARL	SWE-JR.	D	35	6	5	11	49
126	BRASSARD, AUSTEN	OHL	RW	67	19	15	34	78
127	LEBLANC, JEAN-FRANCOIS	QMJHL	C	63	19	32	51	40
128	RUUTTU, ALEXANDER	FINLAND-JR.	C	41	18	13	31	14
129	WITTCHOW, EDWARD	HIGH-MN	D	25	9	14	23	28
130	BERGLIND, VICTOR	SWE-JR.	D	36	10	23	33	54
131	HONZIK, DAVID	QMJHL	G	36	1,781	3.54	1	0.884
132	PALIOTTA, MICHAEL	USHL	D	52	1	12	13	71
133	SERGEEV, ARTEM	QMJHL	D	64	5	22	27	40
134	VEILLEUX, YANNICK	QMJHL	LW	68	19	29	48	40
135	MACHOVSKY, MATEJ	OHL	G	23	1,322	2.9	1	0.904
136	WRUCK, DYLAN	WHL	C	71	38	40	78	44
137	SIMPSON, DILLON	WCHA	D	27	2	8	10	6
138	GRIFFITH, SETH	OHL	C	68	22	40	62	28
139	MEURS, GARRETT	OHL	C	68	10	30	40	61
140	ARVIDSSON, VIKTOR	SWE-JR.	LW	40	15	19	34	51
141	SMITH, COLIN	WHL	C	72	21	29	50	61
142	REID, ADAM	USHL	LW	44	9	6	15	33
143	CUTTING, KEEVIN	OHL	D	68	2	14	16	61
144	ARZAMASTSEV, ZAKHAR	RUSSIA	D	47	3	5	8	6
145	CORRADO, FRANK	OHL	D	67	4	26	30	94
146	CAMARA, ANTHONY	OHL	LW	64	8	9	17	132
147	FRANKO, ZACHERY	WHL	LW	72	22	31	53	22
148	DEMELO, DYLAN	OHL	D	67	3	24	27	70
149	GOODROW, BARCLAY	OHL	LW	65	24	15	39	36
150	WILLICK, DYLAN	WHL	RW	72	24	20	44	53
151	WELINSKI, ANDY	USHL	D	51	6	8	14	14
152	KILLIAN, MATT	HIGH-NJ	D	28	7	19	26	10
153	NETTERBERG, PONTUS	SWE-JR.	RW	40	19	24	43	120
154	STRANSKY, MATEJ	WHL	RW	71	14	12	26	53
155	HENLEY, SAMUEL	QMJHL	LW	64	13	18	31	37
156	PIETILA, BLAKE	USHL	LW	52	13	9	22	51
157	CURTIS, MICHAEL	OHL	LW	58	9	9	18	32
158	BEAUPRE, GABRIEL	QMJHL	D	66	3	15	18	73
159	ST.CLAIR, COLTEN	USHL	C	42	11	14	25	25
160	FORSBERG, JESSE	WHL	D	57	2	14	16	144
161	CLOUTIER, GUILLAUME	QMJHL	D	62	3	9	12	30
162	DUININCK, CRAIG	OHL	D	66	7	15	22	65
163	FOGARTY, STEVEN	HIGH-MN	C	24	23	17	40	12
164	SEFTON, JUSTIN	OHL	D	66	5	6	11	124
165	MORRISON, MICHAEL	OHL	G	27	1,470	2.65	2	0.912
166	GRAOVAC, TYLER	OHL	C	66	10	11	21	10
167	SANDLAK, CARTER	OHL	LW	56	13	10	23	69
168	ROACH, ALEX	WHL	D	61	4	12	16	77
169	GALANSKY, TADEAS	OHL	G	17	914	2.89	1	0.91
170	BJORKLUND, GUSTAV	SWE-JR.	C	34	20	21	41	77
171	ANDREWS, BRENT	QMJHL	LW	68	12	17	29	33
172	BARDARO, ANTHONY	WHL	C	63	24	22	46	30
173	BOURRET, GABRIEL	QMJHL	D	63	8	25	33	72
174	DIETZ, DARREN	WHL	D	68	8	19	27	66
175	SAAR, ZACH	USHL	RW	32	4	6	10	38
176	KELLY, AIDAN	QMJHL	C	49	6	4	10	22
177	SULLIVAN, COLIN	HIGH-CT	D	27	3	12	15	14
178	RUOPP, HARRISON	WHL	D	54	0	9	9	98
179	DONNELLY, DILLON	QMJHL	D	63	1	7	8	153
180	CARLSON, DAN	USHL	LW	50	3	5	8	42
181	HIETKAMP, LUKE	OHL	RW	55	6	4	10	42
182	GERNAT, MARTIN	SLOVAKIA-JR.	D	28	3	15	18	20
183	BROLL, DAVID	OHL	LW	65	13	21	34	85
184	MILLER, COLIN	OHL	D	66	3	19	22	44
185	FRANCISCO, BRANDON	OHL	LW	61	14	16	30	6
186	KUVAEV, ALEXANDER	WHL	RW	58	11	13	24	32
187	ELLIOT, MITCH	WHL	LW	72	5	8	13	118
188	PEREIRA, MIKE	H-EAST	LW	32	12	13	25	22
189	PAVELKA, JAROSLAV	CZREP-JR. U18	G	44	2,529	2.68	4	0.924
190	MICHALEK, STEPHEN	HIGH-CT	G	23	1,203	3.95		0.918
191	HANSEN, TYLER	WHL	D	70	2	10	12	69
192	WESTERHOLM, PATHRIK	SWEDEN-2	C	34	8	13	21	8
193	STEEN, STEFAN	SWE-JR.	G	19	1,124	2.83	0	0.894
194	BLOMQVIST, ALBIN	SWE-JR.	D	26	0	5	5	85
195	SIMONELLI, FRANKIE	WCHA	D	37	2	9	11	16
196	GRIST, SAM	WHL	D	56	0	3	3	107
197	MCNEELY, MATT	USHL	G	25	1,350	3.82	0	0.893
198	COLEMAN, BLAKE	USHL	C	59	34	58	92	72
199	CZARNIK, AUSTIN	USHL	C	46	20	14	34	33
200	SPINK, TYSON	CHL-T1	RW	56	37	61	98	50
201	SPINK, TYLOR	CHL-T1	C	50	30	57	87	50
202	CONZ, BENJAMIN	SWISS	G	46	2,797	2.98	5	0.905
203	TRUTMANN, DARIO	OHL	D	62	6	13	19	61
204	MAHALAK, MATT	OHL	G	21	1,053	3.08	1	0.908
205	WYSZOMIRSKI, CRAIG	HIGH-CT	D	30	6	20	26	40
206	RAU, KYLE	HIGH-MN	C	25	33	37	70	16
207	FERLIN, BRIAN	USHL	RW	55	25	48	73	26
208	SALMINEN, SAMI	FINLAND-JR.	RW	30	15	21	36	14
209	GILL, SAHIR	H-EAST	C	36	6	18	24	16
210	LOWRY, JOEL	BCHL	LW	42	24	43	67	35

Christopher Ralph is THW’s prospect and draft analyst