NHL Central Scouting Players to Watch

NHL Central Scouting has released their list of players to watch for the 2009 draft. All of the USHL players can be found here, and Chris over at Western College Hockey has a more complete but harder to read list here.

From the USHL article:

"A" Players: A player scouts must-see who is predicted to be a potential first or second round draft selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
"B" Players: A player scouts note if they are in the area, a potential selection in the third to fifth round in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
"C" Players: A player that Central Scouting is tracking, a potential late round selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
Goaltenders: All goaltenders, regardless of whether they are an A, B or C player, fall into one category.
Limited Viewing: A player that intrigues scouts but, at this time, they have seen very little of. This category is for both skaters and goaltenders.

Players of interest to Badger fans are as follows:

D Chase Drake - "B" Player
F Gavin Hartzog - "B" Player
F Tyler Barnes - "C" Player
G Aaron Crandall - Goaltenders
F Tyler Lapic - Limited Viewing

Unlike the past two seasons, I don't think 2009 will be a big draft year for Wisconsin recruits. Probably a couple guys will get drafted, maybe a few freshman like Jordy Murray or Matt Thurber could go too, but it won't be like past seasons. Personally I don't think this is a bad thing, Wisconsin is still landing a fine 2009 recruiting class, even if they don't have all the top draft pick w/ in.