2016 NHL Draft Rankings: The Next Ones Preliminary Edition

With the highly touted, talent laden 2015 NHL entry draft now in the rear view mirror, it’s time to switch focus to the intriguing 2016 draft class which has the makings of a deep one. There will undoubtedly be plenty of jockeying for position amongst the eligible prospects with a full season of hockey yet to be played.

The following is an early glimpse at some of the talented young guns to keep an eye out for, for the 2016 NHL Draft which will take place on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. Keep plugged into THW’s draft coverage as the season progresses for in-depth prospect profiles, updated exclusive rankings, mock drafts, team previews and other unique insight.

The Top Five

Dynamic centreman Auston Matthews is the early consensus number one pick, but he will not go unchallenged. Matthews may take the unconventional developmental route of playing in Switzerland with the Zurich Lions in the Swiss league, rather than the NCAA or the WHL. Jesse Puljujarvi is an uber-talented big winger with great skating ability. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun and forward Matthew Tkachuk are sons of former NHLers and have the makings of incredible professional hockey players in their own right. WHL Defenseman Jake Bean rounds out The Next Ones’ early top five (ranked 4th overall). That’s higher than most services would have him at this point, but he took astronomical strides last season and will only continue to evolve.

[Related: The Next Ones 2015 NHL Draft Guide]

2015 NHL Draft Rankings:

The Next Ones Preliminary Edition – The Top 30

View image | gettyimages.com

Note: This is not a guesstimate of where players will get drafted next June; you can go ahead and mock my mock draft here, my first 2016 mock draft, a slapshot in the draft at this point in time.

#	Last Name	First Name	Yr/Mth/D	2014-15 Team	LEAGUE	POS	S	HT	WT
1	MATTHEWS	AUSTON	97-09-17	USA U-18	USHL	C	L	6’1.5″	194
2	PULJUJARVI	JESSE	98-05-07	KARPAT	FINLAND	RW	R	6’3.0″	198
3	CHYCHRUN	JAKOB	98-03-31	SARNIA	OHL	D	L	6’2.0″	195
4	BEAN	JAKE	98-06-09	CALGARY	WHL	D	L	5’11.5″	165
5	TKACHUK	MATTHEW	97-12-11	USA U-18	USHL	LW	L	6’0.5″	188
6	JONES	MAX	98-02-17	USA U-17	USHL	LW	L	6’1.75″	189
7	SOKOLOV	DMITRI	98-04-14	OMSK 2	RUS-JR.	RW	L	6’0.0″	203
8	BENSON	TYLER	98-03-15	VANCOUVER	WHL	LW	L	5’11.5″	198
9	STEEL	SAM	98-02-03	REGINA	WHL	C	L	5’10.25″	167
10	FABBRO	DANTE	98-06-20	PENTICTON	BCHL	D	R	6’0.0″	188
11	JUOLEVI	OLLI	98-05-05	JOKERIT JR.	FIN-JR.	D	L	6’2.0″	185
12	BROWN	LOGAN	98-03-05	WINDSOR	OHL	C	L	6’5.0″	215
13	LAINE	PATRIK	98-04-19	TAPPARA	FINLAND	RW	R	6’4.0″	209
14	SERGACHYOV	MIKHAIL	98-06-25	KAZAN 2	RUS-JR.	D	L	6’2.5″	198
15	NYLANDER	ALEXANDER	98-03-02	AIK	SWE-JR.	RW	R	5’11.0″	156
16	CLAGUE	KALE	98-06-05	BRANDON	WHL	D	L	5’11.0″	185
17	LAJOIE	MAXIME	97-11-05	SWIFT CUR.	WHL	D	L	6’0.5″	169
18	BELLOWS	KIEFFER	98-06-10	SIOUX FALLS	USHL	C	L	6’0.0″	189
19	JOST	TYSON	98-03-14	PENTICTON	BCHL	C	L	5’10.5″	185
20	GAUTHIER	JULIEN	97-10-15	VAL-D’OR	QMJHL	RW	R	6’3.5″	217
21	DUBOIS	PIERRE-LUC	98-06-24	CAPE BRET.	QMJHL	LW	L	6’2.0″	183
22	DAY	SEAN	98-01-09	MISSISSAUGA	OHL	D	L	6’2.5″	222
23	KRYS	CHAD	98-04-10	USA U-17	USHL	D	L	5’10.75″	182
24	ASPLUND	RASMUS	97-12-03	FARJESTAD	SWEDEN	C	L	5’10.5″	176
25	HOWDEN	BRETT	98-03-29	MOOSE JAW	WHL	C	L	6’1.25″	190
26	KELLER	CLAYTON	98-07-29	USA U-17	USHL	C	L	5’9.25″	165
27	GRUNDSTROM	CARL	97-12-01	MODO JR.	SWE-JR.	RW	L	5’11.25″	187
28	PASTUJOV	NICK	98-01-21	USA U-17	USHL	LW	l	5’11.5″	195
29	MCAVOY	CHARLES	97-12-21	USA U-18	USHL	D	R	5’11.5″	206
30	CEDERHOLM	JACOB	98-01-30	HV 71 U18	SWE-JR.	D	R	6’3.0″	176

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Features the Top 30 plus 72 other prospects to watch – to view, click on link below: