National Hockey League Central Scouting released it’s mid-term rankings for the 2017 draft, and 60 Ontario Hockey League players made the list. That list is comprised of 51 skaters and 9 goaltenders.
As is always the case with any such list, there will be questions and head scratching. Yours truly has never been shy of this in the past. So here is my take on the good, the bad and the ugly from the list.
The Good
Conor Timmins continues to open eyes and its good to see that he has grabbed the attention of Central Scouting. After a somewhat unimpressive rookie season a year ago, he has emerged as the Greyhounds number one defenceman on the first place team.
The Bad
It’s hard to argue against Kaden Fulcher or Kyle Keyser, but Matthew Villalta should be ahead. He’s the backup to Joseph Raaymakers (undrafted and re-enters the draft and is unranked), but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Villalta get more and more starts as he has shown he can lead the Greyhounds to victory as much, if not more than Raaymakers.
The Ugly
Goaltender Michael DiPietro as the number seven ranked goaltender from North America is simply mind boggling. His two seasons in the OHL have been outstanding. This is definitely a knock on his size – you know, big goaltenders are the way to go in the NHL these days. But if he goes where Central has him ranked, someone is going to get the steal of the draft.
Here is the full Central Scouting rankings of OHL players with their over-all rankings shown.
| 3 | Vilardi, Gabriel | Center | Windsor |
| 4 | Tippett, Owen | Right Wing | Mississauga |
| 11 | Hague, Nicolas | Defenseman | Mississauga |
| 16 | Suzuki, Nick | Center | Owen Sound |
| 19 | Strome, Matthew | Left Wing | Hamilton |
| 20 | Ratcliffe, Isaac | Left Wing | Guelph |
| 24 | Formenton, Alex | Left Wing | London |
| 26 | Timmins, Conor | Defenseman | Sault Marie |
| 27 | Ruzicka, Adam | Center | Sarnia |
| 28 | Thomas, Robert | Center | London |
| 29 | Frost, Morgan | Center | Sault Marie |
| 32 | Schnarr, Nate | Center | Guelph |
| 34 | Robertson, Jason | Left Wing | Kingston |
| 35 | Entwistle, Mackenzie | Right Wing | Hamilton |
| 37 | Lodnia, Ivan | Right Wing | Erie |
| 38 | Chmelevski, Alexander | Center | Ottawa |
| 39 | Meireles, Greg | Center | Kitchener |
| 41 | Hoefenmayer, Noel | Defenseman | Ottawa |
| 53 | Lyle, Brady | Defenseman | North Bay |
| 57 | Rasanen, Eemeli | Defenseman | Kingston |
| 59 | Thilander, Adam | Defenseman | North Bay |
| 60 | Gadjovich, Jonah | Left Wing | Owen Sound |
| 62 | Phillips, Markus | Defenseman | Owen Sound |
| 71 | Gallant, Zach | Center | Peterborough |
| 73 | Sushko, Maksim | Right Wing | Owen Sound |
| 79 | McGregor, Ryan | Center | Sarnia |
| 80 | Studnicka, Jack | Center | Oshawa |
| 86 | Studenic, Marian | Right Wing | Hamilton |
| 90 | Paquette, Jacob | Defenseman | Kingston |
| 92 | Keating, Austen | Left Wing | Ottawa |
| 96 | Coskey, Cole | Right Wing | Saginaw |
| 99 | Jones, Ben | Center | Niagara |
| 100 | Seitz, Dylan | Center | Kitchener |
| 102 | Nyman, Linus | Right Wing | Kingston |
| 122 | Samorukov, Dmitri | Defenseman | Guelph |
| 123 | Boomhower, Shaw | Left Wing | Mississauga |
| 135 | Deakin-Poot, Nick | Center | Guelph |
| 139 | Durzi, Sean | Defenseman | Owen Sound |
| 143 | Golden, Jacob | Defenseman | London |
| 147 | Machala, Ondrej | Left Wing | Niagara |
| 148 | Hancock, Kevin | Left Wing | Owen Sound |
| 161 | Demeo, Anthony | Defenseman | Sault Marie |
| 162 | Michnac, Albert | Left Wing | Guelph |
| 166 | Svoboda, Matyas | Left Wing | Peterborough |
| 168 | Isaacson, Nick | Left Wing | Peterborough |
| 173 | Philip, Matthew | Center | Niagara |
| 176 | McHugh, Nicholas | Left Wing | Kitchener |
| 180 | Roberts, Zachary | Left Wing | Owen Sound |
| 183 | Carson, Macauley | Left Wing | Sudbury |
| 185 | Maksimov, Kirill | Right Wing | Niagara |
| 188 | Gordeev, Fedor | Defenseman | Flint |
| 189 | Castleman, Oliver | Left Wing | Niagara |
| 191 | Garreffa, Joseph | Left Wing | Kitchener |
| 194 | Purboo, Cole | Right Wing | Windsor |
| 205 | Hedberg, Tom | Defenseman | Barrie |
| 206 | Fraser, Cole | Defenseman | Peterborough |
| 208 | Roberts, Elijah | Defenseman | Kitchener |
| 209 | Grima, Nicholas | Defenseman | Sarnia |
| 211 | Boka, Lucas | Right Wing | Windsor |
| 7 | Dipietro, Michael | Goalie | Windsor |
| 10 | Keyser, Kyle | Goalie | Oshawa |
| 12 | Fulcher, Kaden | Goalie | Hamilton |
| 14 | Villalta, Matt | Goalie | Sault Marie |
| 19 | Dhillon, Stephen | Goalie | Niagara |
| 23 | McGrath, Jake | Goalie | Sudbury |
| 25 | Propp, Christian | Goalie | Barrie |
| 27 | Lafreniere, Olivier | Goalie | Ottawa |
| 28 | Hughes, Aidan | Goalie | Sarnia |
OHL Writers 