Jun 7, 2017
Craig's List - Final 2017 Ranking
The final 2017 rankings are in. Find out which players TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button sees as underrated gems and which players are poised to make the greatest impact as future NHLers.
By Craig Button
The final rankings are in.
Halifax Mooseheads centre Nico Hischier’s slight edge over Brandon Wheat Kings centre Nolan Patrick in the dynamic skill department is the reason he sits atop the final edition of Craig’s List ahead of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
The Swiss pivot put up 86 points in 57 QMJHL games this season, demonstrating his high-end potential to be an elite player at the NHL level.
Find out which players TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button sees as underrated gems and which players are poised to make the greatest impact as future NHLers.
Craig's List - June 7
| RK | Player | Team | POS | HT | WT | GP | G | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Hischier | Halifax (QMJHL) | C | 6'1 | 176 | 57 | 38 | 86 |
| 2 | Nolan Patrick | Brandon (WHL) | C | 6'2 | 198 | 33 | 20 | 46 |
| 3 | Cale Makar | Brooks (AJHL) | D | 5'11 | 180 | 54 | 24 | 75 |
| 4 | Cody Glass | Portland (WHL) | C | 6'2 | 178 | 69 | 32 | 94 |
| 5 | Miro Heiskanen | HIFK (SM Liiga) | D | 6'0 | 170 | 37 | 5 | 10 |
| 6 | Gabe Vilardi | Windsor (OHL) | C | 6'3 | 201 | 49 | 29 | 61 |
| 7 | Martin Necas | Brno (Czech) | C | 6'0 | 167 | 41 | 7 | 15 |
| 8 | Elias Pettersson | Timra (SWE-Als) | LW | 6'2 | 161 | 43 | 19 | 41 |
| 9 | Casey Mittelstadt | Eden Prairie (USHS) | C | 6'1 | 201 | 25 | 21 | 64 |
| 10 | Timothy Liljegren | Rogle (SWE) | D | 6'0 | 191 | 19 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Nick Suzuki | Owen Sound (OHL) | RW | 5'11 | 183 | 65 | 45 | 96 |
| 12 | Ryan Poehling | St. Cloud St. (NCAA) | C | 6'2 | 183 | 35 | 7 | 13 |
| 13 | P-Olivier Joseph | Charlottetown (QMJHL) | D | 6'2 | 161 | 62 | 6 | 39 |
| 14 | Cal Foote | Kelowna (WHL) | D | 6'4 | 212 | 71 | 6 | 57 |
| 15 | Eeli Tolvanen | Sioux City (USHL) | RW | 5'10 | 170 | 52 | 30 | 54 |
| 16 | Kailer Yamamoto | Spokane (WHL) | RW | 5'8 | 153 | 65 | 42 | 99 |
| 17 | Juuso Välimäki | Tri-City (WHL) | D | 6'2 | 204 | 60 | 19 | 61 |
| 18 | Lias Andersson | HV71 (SHL) | C | 5'11 | 198 | 42 | 9 | 19 |
| 19 | Erik Brännström | HV71 (SWE J20) | D | 5'10 | 173 | 35 | 1 | 6 |
| 20 | Filip Chytil | Zlin (CZE-Jr.) | LW | 6'0 | 178 | 38 | 4 | 8 |
| 21 | Michael Rasmussen | Tri-City (WHL) | C | 6'6 | 215 | 50 | 32 | 55 |
| 22 | Alexei Lipanov | Balashikha (MHL) | C | 6'0 | 165 | 21 | 3 | 8 |
| 23 | Owen Tippett | Mississuaga (OHL) | RW | 6'0 | 200 | 59 | 44 | 75 |
| 24 | Klim Kostin | Moscow (KHL) | RW | 6'3 | 196 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | Josh Norris | USA NTDP (USHL) | C | 6'1 | 192 | 52 | 23 | 51 |
| 26 | Kristian Vesalainen | HPK (SM Liiga) | LW | 6'3 | 207 | 26 | 1 | 6 |
| 27 | Aleksei Heponiemi | Swift Current (WHL) | C | 5'10 | 147 | 72 | 28 | 86 |
| 28 | Shane Bowers | Waterloo (USHL) | C | 6'1 | 183 | 60 | 22 | 51 |
| 29 | Jake Oettinger | Boston U (NCAA) | G | 6'4 | 212 | 35 | 2.11 | .927 |
| 30 | Conor Timmins | Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) | D | 6'1 | 185 | 67 | 7 | 61 |
| 31 | Urho Vaakanainen | Jyvaskala (SM Liiga) | D | 6'0 | 185 | 41 | 2 | 6 |
| 32 | Morgan Geekie | Tri-City (WHL) | C | 6'2 | 178 | 72 | 35 | 90 |
| 33 | Evan Barratt | USA NTDP (USHL) | C | 6'0 | 188 | 52 | 15 | 45 |
| 34 | Henri Jokiharju | Portland (WHL) | D | 6'0 | 180 | 71 | 9 | 48 |
| 35 | Jason Robertson | Kingston (OHL) | LW | 6'2 | 192 | 68 | 42 | 81 |
| 36 | Joni Ikonen | Frolunda (SWE J20) | C | 6'0 | 178 | 40 | 22 | 41 |
| 37 | Mason Shaw | Medicine Hat (WHL) | C/LW | 5'8 | 180 | 71 | 27 | 94 |
| 38 | Michael DiPietro | Windsor (OHL) | G | 6'0 | 200 | 51 | 2.35 | .917 |
| 39 | Grant Mismash | USA NTDP (USHL) | LW/C | 6'0 | 186 | 54 | 23 | 49 |
| 40 | Jaret A-Dolan | Spokane (WHL) | C | 5'11 | 188 | 72 | 39 | 76 |
| 41 | Jesper Boqvist | Timra (SWE-Als) | C | 6'0 | 179 | 19 | 3 | 12 |
| 42 | Marcus Davidsson | Djurgårdens (SHL) | C | 6'0 | 191 | 45 | 5 | 9 |
| 43 | Nicholas Hague | Mississuaga (OHL) | D | 6'6 | 215 | 64 | 18 | 44 |
| 44 | Matthew Strome | Hamilton (OHL) | LW | 6'4 | 206 | 66 | 34 | 62 |
| 45 | David Farrance | USA NTDP (USHL) | D | 5'11 | 189 | 53 | 5 | 30 |
| 46 | Robert Thomas | London (OHL) | C | 6'0 | 188 | 66 | 16 | 66 |
| 47 | Isaac Ratcliffe | Guelph (OHL) | LW | 6'6 | 200 | 67 | 28 | 54 |
| 48 | Jonah Gadjovich | Owen Sound (OHL) | LW | 6'2 | 209 | 60 | 45 | 73 |
| 49 | Morgan Frost | Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) | C | 5'11 | 170 | 67 | 20 | 62 |
| 50 | Cayden Primeau | Lincoln (USHL) | G | 6'3 | 181 | 30 | 3.16 | .895 |
| 51 | U-P Luukkonen | HPK (SM Jr Liiga) | G | 6'4 | 196 | 35 | 1.78 | .916 |
| 52 | Dylan Samberg | Hermantown (USHSW) | D | 6'3 | 190 | 31 | 11 | 34 |
| 53 | Dmitri Samorukov | Guelph (OHL) | D | 6'2 | 180 | 67 | 4 | 20 |
| 54 | Kole Lind | Kelowna (WHL) | RW | 6'1 | 178 | 70 | 30 | 87 |
| 55 | Antoine Morand | A-Bathurst (QMJHL) | C | 5'10 | 178 | 67 | 28 | 74 |
| 56 | Markus Phillips | Owen Sound (OHL) | D | 6'0 | 202 | 66 | 13 | 43 |
| 57 | Noel Hoefenmayer | Ottawa (OHL) | D | 6'0 | 191 | 62 | 14 | 40 |
| 58 | Maxime Comtois | Victoriaville (QMJHL) | LW | 6'2 | 200 | 64 | 22 | 51 |
| 59 | Jonas Rondbjerg | Växjö (SWE J20) | RW | 6'2 | 187 | 42 | 9 | 31 |
| 60 | Cale Fleury | Kootenay (WHL) | D | 6'1 | 201 | 70 | 11 | 38 |
| 61 | Tyler Inamoto | USA NTDP (USHL) | D | 6'2 | 194 | 40 | 2 | 11 |
| 62 | Tyler Steenbergen | Swift Current (WHL) | LW | 5'10 | 188 | 72 | 51 | 90 |
| 63 | Alex Formenton | London (OHL) | LW | 6'2 | 165 | |||
| 64 | Maxim Zhukov | Green Bay (USHL) | G | 6'2 | 187 | |||
| 65 | Ian Scott | Prince Albert (WHL) | G | 6'3 | 172 | |||
| 66 | Nick Henry | Regina (WHL) | RW | 5'11 | 191 | |||
| 67 | Jake Leschyshyn | Regina (WHL) | C | 5'11 | 185 | |||
| 68 | Stelio Mattheos | Brandon (WHL) | C | 6'1 | 192 | |||
| 69 | Adam Ruzicka | Sarnia (OHL) | C | 6'4 | 202 | |||
| 70 | Antoine Crête-Belzile | B-Boisbriand (QMJHL) | D | 6'0 | 188 | |||
| 71 | Jack Studnicka | Oshawa (OHL) | C | 6'4 | 202 | |||
| 72 | Pavel Koltygin | Drummondville (QMJHL) | LW | 6'0 | 195 | |||
| 73 | Zach Gallant | Peterborough (OHL) | C | 6'2 | 188 | |||
| 74 | Mackenzie Entwistle | Hamilton (OHL) | RW | 6'3 | 175 | |||
| 75 | Eemeli Rasanen | Kingston (OHL) | D | 6'7 | 208 | |||
| 76 | Robin Salo | Vassan (SM Liiga) | D | 6'1 | 187 | |||
| 77 | Artyom Minulin | Swift Current (WHL) | D | 6'2 | 197 | |||
| 78 | Max Gildon | USA NTDP (USHL) | D | 6'3 | 191 | |||
| 79 | Fabian Zetterlund | Farjestad Jr. (SWE J20) | RW | 5'11 | 195 | |||
| 80 | Stuart Skinner | Lethbridge (WHL) | G | 6'3 | 205 | |||
| 81 | Keith Petruzzelli | Muskegon (USHL) | G | 6'5 | 180 | |||
| 82 | Ostap Safin | Sparta (CZE-Jr.) | RW | 6'4 | 191 | |||
| 83 | Nikita Popugaev | Prince George (WHL) | LW | 6'6 | 217 | |||
| 84 | Cameron Crotty | Brockville (CJHL) | D | 6'3 | 182 | |||
| 85 | Sebastian Walfridsson | MoDo (Swe J20) | D | 6'0 | 194 | |||
| 86 | Kevin Hancock | Owen Sound (OHL) | C | 5'11 | 182 | |||
| 87 | Ian Mitchell | Spruce Grove (AJHL) | D | 5'11 | 173 | |||
| 88 | Ivan Chekhovich | Baie Comeau (QMJHL) | LW | 5'10 | 177 | |||
| 89 | Jarrett Tyszka | Seattle (WHL) | D | 6'2 | 190 | |||
| 90 | Kirill Maksimov | Niagara (OHL) | RW | 6'2 | 192 | |||
| 91 | Skyler McKenzie | Portland (WHL) | LW | 5'8 | 154 | |||
| 92 | Scott Reedy | USA NTDP (USHL) | C | 6'2 | 204 | |||
| 93 | Lane Zablocki | Red Deer (WHL) | RW | 5'11 | 179 | |||
| 94 | Ivan Lodnia | Erie (OHL) | RW | 5'10 | 182 | |||
| 95 | Lukas Elvenes | Rogle (SWE J20) | RW | 6'0 | 173 | |||
| 96 | Clayton Phillips | Fargo (USHL) | D | 5'10 | 182 | |||
| 97 | Tim Söderlund | Skellefteå (SHL) | LW/C | 5'9 | 163 | |||
| 98 | Ben Mirageas | Bloomington (USHL) | D | 6'1 | 180 | |||
| 99 | Michael Anderson | Waterloo (USHL) | D | 6'0 | 197 | |||
| 100 | Jacob Paquette | Kingston (OHL) | D | 6'3 | 200 | |||
| 101 | Mario Ferraro | Des Moines (USHL) | D | 5'10 | 184 | |||
| 102 | David Noel | Val D'Or (QMJHL) | D | 6'1 | 175 | |||
| 103 | Alexander Chmelevski | Ottawa (OHL) | C | 5'11 | 179 | |||
| 104 | Kyle Olson | Tri-City (WHL) | RW | 5'10 | 161 | |||
| 105 | Finn Evans | St. Michaels (OJHL) | RW | 6'4 | 175 |