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TSN Director of Scouting

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Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin continues to be far and away the top prospect in the March edition of Craig’s List ahead of the 2018 NHL Draft, but London Knights captain Evan Bouchard has forced his way into the top five of our rankings and could be the second blueliner off the board.

Bouchard, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound native of Oakville, Ont., sat in 23rd place in the September edition of our rankings. The right-shot blueliner then turned in a stellar regular season in London, racking up 87 points (25 goals, 62 assists) in 67 games to lead all OHL defenceman in scoring.

Along the way, he climbed to No. 20 in our November list, to No. 10 in our January rankings and now sits fifth.

The highest-ranked Canadian on our board, Bouchard is a fantastic passer who projects as true power-play quarterback at the next level. He has also been counted on to log north of the 30 minutes a night for a Knights team that traded away a number of key veterans during the season.

Three familiar wingers occupy the spots between Dahlin and Bouchard. Boston University left winger Brady Tkachuk, who has eight goals and 21 assists in 38 games in his freshman season, is our No. 2 prospect. Barrie Colts right wing Andrei Svechnikov, who had 40 goals and 32 assists in an injury-shortened regular season (44 games) is third. Sitting in fourth is Filip Zadina of the Halifax Mooseheads, a right wing who had 82 points (44 goals, 38 assists) in 57 games this season.

All three of these wingers bring a blend of size and skill and project to be productive pros. They could be drafted in any order behind Dahlin.

The rest of the top 10 includes dynamic Brynas IF defenceman Adam Boqvist (No. 6), Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds two-way centre Barrett Hayton (No. 7), Acadie-Bathurst Titan right-shot defenceman Noah Dobson (No. 8) and USA Hockey National Team Development Program centre Oliver Wahlstrom at No. 9.

Sitting at No. 10 is 6-foot-1, 188-pound Finish centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who jumps all the way up from No. 26 in our January rankings. The 17-year-old Kotkaniemi, who is playing against men in Liiga for Assat, reminds me of Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar at the same age.

Note: If I haven’t seen a player at least four times, they don’t get evaluated. That’s why highly rated players like German winger Dominik Bokk and Russian forward Vitaly Kravtsov aren’t in this month’s rankings.

 

Craig's List - March Ranking

 
RK Player Team POS HT WT GP G P
1 Rasmus Dahlin Frolunda (SHL) D 6'2 181 41 7 20
2 Brady Tkachuk Boston U (NCAA) LW 6'2 194 38 8 29
3 Andrei Svechnikov Barrie (OHL) RW 6'1 ½ 188 44 40 72
4 Filip Zadina Halifax (QMJHL) RW 6'0 198 57 44 82
5 Evan Bouchard London (OHL) D 6'1 ½ 190 67 25 87
6 Adam Boqvist Brynäs (SWE J20) D 5'10 ¾ 168 25 14 24
7 Barrett Hayton S.S. Marie (OHL) C 6'1 186 63 21 60
8 Noah Dobson A-Bathurst (QMJHL) D 6'2 ½ 178 67 17 69
9 Oliver Wahlstrom USA NTDP (USHL) C 6'0 ¾ 195 51 39 78
10 Jesperi Kotkaniemi Ässät (SM Liiga) C 6'1 ½ 188 57 10 29
11 Bode Wilde USA NTDP (USHL) D 6'2 ½ 197 50 10 35
12 Quinn Hughes Michigan (NCAA) D 5'9  167 34 4 28
13 Rasmus Kupari Kärpät (SM Liiga) C 6'1 ¼ 183 39 6 14
14 Grigori Denisenko Yaroslavl (MHL) LW 5'11 163 31 9 22
15 Joel Farabee USA NTDP (USHL) LW 5'11 152 51 26 60
16 Serron Noel Oshawa (OHL) RW 6'4 200 62 28 53
17 Isac Lundestrom Luleå (SHL) C/LW 5'11 ¼ 178 42 6 15
18 Rasmus Sandin S.S. Marie (OHL) D 5'10 ¾ 183 51 12 45
19 Ty Smith Spokane (WHL) D 5'10 ¼ 176 69 14 73
20 Akil Thomas Niagara (OHL) RW 5'11 169 68 22 81
21 Jacob Olofsson Timra (SWE-Als) C 6'2 185 43 10 21
22 Jack McBain Toronto (OJHL) C 6'3 ¼ 196 39 5 24
23 Filip Hallander Timra (SWE-Als) C/LW 6'0 178 40 9 20
24 Jared McIsaac Halifax (QMJHL) D 6'1 195 65 9 47
25 Nicolas Beaudin Drummondville (QMJHL) D 5'10 ½ 175 68 12 69
26 Ryan Merkley Guelph (OHL) D 5'11 170 63 13 67
27 Joe Veleno Drummondville (QMJHL) C 6'1 195 64 22 79
28 Mattias Samuelsson USA NTDP (USHL) D 6'3 ¼ 209 47 9 28
29 Albin Eriksson Skellefteå (SWE J20) LW 6'4 ¼ 207 38 22 40
30 Ryan McLeod Mississuaga (OHL) C/LW 6'2 190 68 26 70
31 Benoît-Olivier Groulx Halifax (QMJHL) C 6'0 ¾ 192 68 28 55
32 Jonatan Berggren Skellefteå (SWE J20) LW 5'10 181 38 25 51
33 Calen Addison Lethbridge (WHL) D 5'9 ¾ 179 68 11 65
34 Axel Andersson Djurgarden (SWE J20) D 5'11 ¾ 178 42 6 31
35 David Gustafsson HV 71 (SHL) C 5'11 ½ 196 45 6 12
36 Jake Wise USA NTDP (USHL) C 5'9 ¾ 185 27 7 32
37 Cameron Hillis Guelph (OHL) C 5'9 ½ 168 60 20 59
38 Adam Ginning Linköping (SHL) D 6'2 ¾ 196 28 1 2
39 Jett Woo Moose Jaw (WHL) D 5'11 ¾ 205 44 9 14
40 Gabriel Fortier Baie Comeau (QMJHL) LW 5'9 164 66 26 59
41 Blake McLaughlin Chicago (USHL) LW 5'11 156 46 20 45
42 Allan McShane Oshawa (OHL) C 5'10 ½ 190 67 20 1
43 Jack Drury Waterloo (USHL) C 5'11 175 47 19 51
44 Jacob Bernard-Docker Okotoks (AJHL) D 6'0 181 49 20 41
45 Sean Durzi Owen Sound (OHL) D 5'11 ½ 195 40 15 50
46 Jonathon Tychonick Penticton (BCHL) D 5'11 ¼ 166 48 9 47
47 Martin Kaut Pardubice (CZE Extra) RW 6'1 ½ 176 38 9 16
48 Alexander Alexeyev Red Deer (WHL) D 6'3 ½ 184 45 7 37
49 Filip Johansson Leksands (SWE J20) D 6'0 ½ 174 29 4 9
50 Ty Dellandrea Flint (OHL) C/RW 5'11 ¾ 180 67 27 59
51 Alexander Khovanov Moncton (QMJHL) C 5'11 187 29 9 28
52 Jon Gruden USA NTDP (USHL) C 5'11 ½ 172 50 22 44
53 Tyler Madden Tri-City (WHL) C/RW 5'10 152 46 15 33
54 Justin Almeida Moose Jaw (WHL) C 5'9 ¼ 158 72 43 98
55 Liam Foudy London (OHL) C/LW 6'0 175 65 24 40
56 K'Andre Miller USA NTDP (USHL) D 6'3 ½ 194 47 7 22
57 Oskar Back Färjestads (SWE J20) C 6'2 ¼ 192 38 10 32
58 Aidan Dudas Owen Sound (OHL) C/RW 5'7 ½ 162 68 31 65
59 Jesse Ylonen Espoo (FIN) RW 5'11 ¾ 160 48 14 27
60 Martin Fehervary Oskarshamn (SWE-Als) D 6'1 190 42 1 7
61 Kody Clark Ottawa (OHL) RW 6'0 ¾ 172 56 18 39
62 Stanislav Demin Wenatchee (BCHL) D 6'1 ½ 190 57 9 45
63 Curtis Hall Youngstown (USHL) C 6'2 194 48 12 27
64 Dmitri Zavgorodny Rimouski (QMJHL) LW 5'9  161 62 26 47
65 Kevin Bahl Ottawa (OHL) D 6'5 ¾ 225 58 1 18
66 Nico Gross Oshawa (OHL) D 5'11 ¾ 183 58 4 14
67 Tyler Weiss USA NTDP (USHL) C/LW 5'10 ¼ 143 21 3 11
68 Carter Robertson Ottawa (OHL) D 6'2 178 57 5 18
69 Milos Roman Vancouver (WHL) C/LW 5'11 ¾ 188 39 10 32
70 Olivier Rodrigue Drummondville (QMJHL) G 6'0 ¼ 155 53 2.54 .903
71 Lukáš Dostal Brno (Cze Jr) G 6'0 ¾ 158 20 2.43 .921
72 Declan Chisholm Peterborough (OHL) D 6'0 ¼ 183 47 3 20
73 Sampo Ranta Sioux City (USHL) RW 6'0 ¾ 192 47 18 29
74 Adam Samuelsson USA NTDP (USHL) D 6'5 ¾ 240 51 4 22
75 Jakub Lauko Chomutov (CZE Extra) LW 6'0 169 42 3 9
76 Jay O'Brien Thayer (USHS) C 6'0 175 30 43 80
77 Alec Regula London (OHL) D 6'3 201 67 7 25
78 Giovanni Vallati Kitchener (OHL) D 6'1 176 65 3 26
79 Curtis Douglas Windsor (OHL) C 6'8 234 38 15 28
80 Kryštof Hrabik B.n Jizerou (CZE WSM2) LW 6'3 209 32 5 15
81 Nicolas Guay Drummondville (QMJHL) C 5'11 174 68 29 55
82 Blade Jenkins Saginaw (OHL) LW 6'1 195 68 20 44
83 Anderson MacDonald Moncton (QMJHL) LW 6'1 ½ 205 58 27 45
84 Danila Galenyuk St. Petersburg (MHL) D 6'1 200 7 1 3
85 Alexis Gravel Halifax (QMJHL) G 6'2 ½ 226 39 3.38 .890
86 Philipp Kurashev Quebec (QMJHL) RW 5'11 ½ 181 59 19 60
87 Xavier Bernard Drummondville (QMJHL) D 6'2 ½ 208 66 11 35
88 Luka Burzan Brandon (WHL) C 5'11 ¾ 185 72 15 40
89 Mikhail Bitsadze Moskva (MHL) C 5'11 167 22 2 5
90 Luke Henman B-Boisbriand (QMJHL) C 5'11 ¼ 150 61 9 47