NHL Central Scouting Final Ranking

NHL Central Scouting, an absolutely excellent source when it comes to ranking players for The NHL Draft has released it's final rankings for the 2011 draft. Central scouting releases four lists, one each for North American skaters and goalies, and the same for Euorpean skaters and goalies.

Three future Badgers and two current members were featured in this edition by CS. Although in the case for three out of the five, their rankings dropped since Central Scouting released their mid-terms in early January.

2011 forward recruit Joseph LaBate from the Academy of Holy Angels in the twin cities leads the charge at #51 overall. That's up from #60 at the mid-terms. Next is current Badger winger Michael Mersch at #83. Mersch was #63 at the mid-terms. After that is 2011 forward recruit Brendan woods at #147, up 9 spots. Badger defenseman Frankie Simonelli checks in at #154, down from #92 at the mid-term. And finally 2012 or 13 forward recruit Brad Navin from Waupaca rounds out the list of Badgers at #163, down from #150 at the mid-terms due to a knee injury.

Badgers on NHL Central Scouting
#51-Joseph LaBate-Academy of Holy Angels (2011 recruit)
#83-Michael Mersch-Wisconsin
#147-Brendan Woods-Muskegon Lumberjacks (2011 recruit)
#154-Frankie Simonelli-Wisconsin
#163-Brad Navin-Waupaca (2012 or 13 recruit)

Wisconsin natives on NHL Central Scouting
#134-Aaron Harstad-Stavens Point (Colorado College)
#159-Max McCormick-DePere (Ohio State)
#163-Brad Navin-Waupaca

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NHL Releases Final Central Scouting Rankings

NHL Central Scouting released it's final Draft rankings literally minutes ago and there is a handful of Badgers/future Badgers listed. The 2010 NHL Draft will be in held in Los Angeles, California this summer.

The highest ranked Badger is 2010 incoming recruit Jason Clark who is currently playing at Shattuck St. Marys High School in Fairbult, MN. Clark, a 6'2, 180 lb forward is listed by Central Scouting as the #81 ranked North American prospect. Clark had a solid season for Shattuck recording a line of 23-23-46 in 54 games.

The next future Badger listed is 2011 recruit Brendan Woods who is playing for the Chicago Steel of the USHL. Woods, a 6'2, 188 lb forward is listed by Central Scouting as the #83 ranked North American prospect. Woods, who has had to overcome a pre-season broken leg, has recorded 10 points in 34 games for the Steel this season. Woods, who's father is Washington Capitals assistant coach Bob Woods looks like a real nice pick up for the 2011 class.

Current Badger defenseman John Ramage is the next player listed by Central Scouting. The 6'1, 184 lb defenseman from St. Louis has had an outstanding freshman season for the Badgers far exceeding expectations. Ramage, who went un-drafted in his first year of eligibility is listed by Central Scouting as the #131 best available North American player. He was ranked #187 during the mid-term rankings. Ramage has put up some numbers, 12 points in 39 games, but the best part of his game is being a lock down defenseman. He's as good or better than advertised.

Also of note, former Stevens Point defenseman and current Green Bay Gamblers defenseman Aaron Harstad checks in at #94 on the latest Central Scouting Rankings. Harstad, a Colorado College recruit is a really, really nice player. He would have looked very good in cardinal and white but it's always great to see Wisconsin born players advancing to the next level, except when they go to Minnesota.

High School Hockey Elite League Thoughts

I went over to Verona this weekend and watched the better part of 3 games in the High School Hockey Elite League. Of interest to me were 2 potential UW recruits in Anders Lee and Max Gardiner of Team Southwest, and watching Team Wisconsin in general to see what they had to offer.

On saturday night, Team Southwest manhandled Norway 9-3. The score really doesn't tell how distant the teams really were, Southwest controlled the course of the game throughout. Besides Lee and Gardiner, Team SW features some other NCAA recruits in Zach Budish (minnesota), Marshall Everson (Havard), Nick Leddy (minnesota) and Danny Mattson (North Dakota). SW's top line consisted of Budish/Everson/Lee, and they were quite dominant not only against Norway, but against Team Wisconsin on sunday as well. Team SW rolled Team Wisconsin 8-1, w/ the game getting completely away from Team WI in the 3rd period.

Anders Lee was pretty impressive all weekend. It probably helped he was on an all-star line, but he did his part to make it that good. I should note that the Budish/Everson/Lee line plays together regularly for Edina HS, they should have a good season. Lee was strong in every area. He had some great passes, notched a few goals over the two games, played solid defense and worked hard for the puck in the corners. He is a beast of a player at 6-1, 210 lbs at age 18. Dplaya told me he had 9 rushing TDs through his first two HS football games as a QB. I would love to see this kid in the Cardinal and White. Hopefully he accepts the offered scholarship in the near future.

Max Gardiner didn't dominate like Lee, but he definately has the makings of a great skill set. Against Norway there was a play where his linemates were rushing the puck and he wasn't anywhere near the play, and then all of a sudden there he was backside. He came out of nowhere. He is one hell of a skater, just like his brother Jake, and most of the time it barely looks like he is trying out there, while keeping up w/ the pace of the game. He rarely got to show off his speed, but it's there. His offensive skills are solid too. Similar to Lee his is a big kid at 6-2, 180 lbs, and should grow a little yet since he is only 16. Brother Jake was there to watch him play Team WI.

I was hoping to watch Aaron Harstad, but as Dplaya is reporting, he broke his wrist and is on the shelf for a few weeks. Little disappointed, but what can you do?

A few players on Team WI impressed me. Despite the fact that it appears he got shelled, in net Andy Martin from Stoughton looked pretty decent. There wasn't much in front of him, he faced far more shots than a goalie ever should. Wes Wauters from Ashwaubenon and Cody Strang of Edgewood were Team WI's best forwards. I liked Alex Amundsen as well on defense. He is a big kid, who was pretty solid on both ends.

I was able to enjoy the Team WI/Team SW game w/ Dpalya of the Hockey in Wisconsin blog, and he has a great breakdown of both Team SW and Team WI. Dplaya's coaching background gives a nice prespective compared to my fan prespective of things.

Dplaya also mentions that scouts from Vancounver, Nashville and Ottawa were there, along w/ Coach Eaves, someone from UCONN, and a scout from the Green Bay Gamblers. I talked to the Gamblers scout, they are looking forward to a good season, and new start w/ a fresh coaching staff. If you are in the GB area on a weekend, stop by and check out the team and support WI's only USHL team.

Good way to spend a rainy weekend watching some hockey.

RLR: Simonelli, Mersch

Andy Baggot reports that, according to the latest Red Line Report, future Badgers Frankie Simonelli and Michael Mersch performed quite well at the USA Hockey Select 16 Festival:

On Simonelli: "Sleeper just continues to get better every game and has made a believer out of us. Plays with an edge and is tough to play against. Work ethic is exceptional and his skills have improved dramatically. Has turned into a premium blue-liner in his class with the skills to be offensive and yet still get back to defend. Solid, steady, consistent player does everything well.

Yeah, I'm pretty fired-up about Frankie Simonelli!

On Mersch: "Has great hands, vision, and can flat-out score goals. Past Festival performances rival anyone as he's been a top-10 scorer for three straight Festivals. Needs to work on his skating. . . . needs to balance his terrific offesnive insticts and skills with more energy and passion."

Ok, so he has some things to work on, but I sure do like the first 2 sentences of that review!

Baggot's article also has RLR evals of potential recruit Max Gardiner and Wisconsinite Aaron Harstad.