The 2014 NHL Draft. The Top Americans and the best goaltenders.
Goaltenders
1. Thatcher Demko – Boston College – USA – 6’3-192
2. Linus Soderstrom – Djurgarden – SWE – 6’4-194
3. Alex Nedeljkovic – Plymouth – USA – 6’0-183
4. Kaapo Kahkonen – Espoo – FIN – 6’2-201
5. Mason McDonald – Charlottetown – CAN – 6’4-185
Alex Nedeljkovic
Best Overall American Prospects
1. F – Dylan Larkin – USNTDP – Michigan commit
2. F – Alex Tuch – USNTDP – Boston College commit
3. F – Sonny Milano – USNTDP – Boston College commit
4. D – Jack Dougherty – USNTDP – Wisconsin commit
5. G – Thatcher Demko – Boston College
6. F – Nick Schmaltz – Green Bay (USHL) – North Dakota commit
7. D – Johnathan MacLeod – USNTDP – Boston University
8. F – Brendan Lemieux – Barrie (OHL)
9. D -Jack Glover – USNTDP – Minnesota commit
10. F – Ryan Donato – Dexter Prep – Harvard commit
11. F – Ryan MacInnis – Kitchener (OHL)
12. G – Alex Nedeljkovic – Plymouth (OHL)
13. F – Austin Poganski – Tri-City (USHL) – North Dakota commit
14. D – Anthony DeAngelo – Sarnia (OHL)
15. D – Ryan Collins – USNTDP – Minnesota commit
CHL Americans
1. Brendan Lemieus – Barrie (OHL) – 6’0-206
2. Ryan MacInnis – Kitchener (OHL) – 6’3-183
3. Anthony DeAngelo – Sarnia (OHL) – 5’10-175
4. Aaron Haydon – Kingston (OHL) – 6’2-197
5. Nick Magyar – Kitchener (OHL) – 6’1-194
6. Blake Siebenaler – Niagara (OHL) – 6’0-190
7. Chase De Leo – Portland (WHL) – 5’9-178
8. Christian Dvorak – London (OHL) – 6’0-170
9. Keegan Iverson – Portland (WHL) – 6’0-219
10. Dominic Turgeon – Portland (WHL) – 6’1-198
Four prospects are considered “premium” this year. Sam Bennett (Kingston, OHL) – Aaron Ekblad (Barrie,OHL) – Sam Reinhart (Kootenay,WHL) and Leon Draistail (Prince Albert,WHL).
Reinhart – Younger sibling of Griffin (2013 – Islanders – 4th overall) who captained the Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings this season. Reinhart is consider a highly intelligent player
Ekblad – What are you looking for in a defenseman? Ekblad has it. Has already played 3 seasons in the OHL thanks to “Exceptional Player” status aka the “John Tavares Rule”. Biggest of the bunch (6-4-213) , only defenseman of them too.
Bennett – Fast riser, rated #1 overall by Central Scouting. He’s a complete player with just decent size. Played on a Toronto Marloboros Midget AAA team with fellow 2014 prospect Roland McKeown and a kid named Connor McDavid.
Draistail – The German native played in this year’s World Championships following his WHL season. Plays a 200-ft game and is known as a dedicated leader.
Image : http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/100127/draft-year-pressure-not-an-issue-for-colts-ekblad/
Great mock draft site : http://www.mynhldraft.com
Shane Eiserman ranked #45 among North American skaters on final NHL CSS rankings.
Eiserman is awesome ! We see him being a 4 year standout for the Wildcats ! All-Hockey East potential. Slight frame is probably good for UNH fans – probably won’t leave early.
If Shane Eiserman stays at UNH for 4 years, if will be a pleasant surprise. At the beginning of the 2013-14 season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, Eiserman was listed as 6’2″, 200 lbs. In the recently completed NHL Combine, Eiserman finished 2nd, out of 119 prospects, in bench press ratio (pounds lifted/body weight) and tied for 2nd in bench press reps (18 reps of 150 pounds) https://link.nhl.com/centralscouting/public/ . Not bad for a “slight frame”.
Wow didn’t know about the combine results. Impressive. Guess he’s grown quite a bit since his days in Prep. Should’ve known.
I watched a few of his games this season online. His upper body strength is a big asset in 1-on-1 battles along the boards and in the corners. Of course, that was against USHL competition. It will be interesting to see how he does at the NCAA D1 level.
Was just going to ask about a Eiserman. Glad to see mention of him here in the comments