Twenty-three New England players made the 2021-22 NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List that was published Tuesday morning.
The annual list is meant as a guide for the league’s 32 teams when scouting players eligible for the 2022 NHL draft. As is always the case in scouting and evaluating players, opinions vary greatly on players. However, for the most part, the list is a fairly good indication, especially at the top end.
NHL Central Scouting breaks players down into A, B or C-rated prospects. A indicates a first-round grade while B are potential second or third-rounders. C suggests a player could be taken later in the draft.
Northeastern freshman center Jack Hughes (Westwood, Mass.) was the only local player to be given an ‘A’ grade. The Junior Eagles product who spent the past two years with USA Hockey’s NTDP has a goal and six penalty minutes through his first four collegiate games. Hughes, one of 23 players to receive an ‘A’ grade, is the youngest player in Division 1.
Three local players, all skating in the USHL this season, were given ‘B’ grades: Northeastern commits Jackson Dorrington (North Reading, Mass.) and Cameron Lund (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Harvard recruit Ryan Healey (Hull, Mass.).
Northeastern was the New England college most represented on the NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List with eight. The Huskies had Hughes, Dorrington and Lund plus five more recruits. Harvard matched Northeastern with seven recruits but fell short for the overall total. Boston College had six recruits plus one current player. Boston University and UMass rounded out the top five with five and four recruits, respectively. The only Hockey East school not represented on NHL Central Scouting was UMass Lowell.
The East Coast Wizards and South Shore Kings Prep each had three players on the list to vie for the split-season Midget team with the most recognition. The Neponset Valley River Rats and Boston Junior Eagles each had two players on the list.
As far as prep schools, Dexter Southfield had three players make the list while Avon Old Farms and St. Sebastian’s each had two. A number of other local prep schools had current and former players on the list.
New Englanders on NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List
A
Jack Hughes, C, Westwood, Mass./Northeastern
B
Jackson Dorrington, D, North Reading, Mass./Des Moines (Northeastern)
Ryan Healey, D, Hull, Mass./Sioux Falls (Harvard)
Cameron Lund, C, Bridgewater, Mass./Green Bay (Northeastern)
C
Grayson Badger, RW, Hyde Park, Mass./South Shore Kings Prep U18/Dexter Southfield (Northeastern)
Brady Berard, LW, East Greenwich, R.I./NTDP U18 (Providence)
Michael Callow, RW, South Boston, Mass./St. Sebastian’s/Junior Eagles U18 (Harvard)
Andon Cerbone, C, Stamford, Conn./Chicago (Michigan)
James Fisher, RW, Wilmington, Mass./Belmont Hill/East Coast Wizards U18 (Northeastern)
Michael Fisher, D, Westboro, Mass./St. Mark’s/East Coast Wizards U18 (Princeton)
William Hughes, C, Andover, Mass./South Shore Kings Prep U18/Dexter Southfield (Harvard)
Nolan Joyce, D, Dedham, Mass./St. Sebastian’s/Junior Eagles U18 (Boston College)
Bobby Landry, C, Hingham, Mass./South Shore Kings Prep U18/Dexter Southfield (Harvard)
Charlie Leddy, D, Fairfield, Conn./NTDP U18 (Boston College)
Declan Loughnane, D, Milton, Mass./Thayer/Cape Cod Whalers U18
Ben MacDonald, C, Weston, Mass./Nobles/East Coast Wizards U18 (Harvard)
Shaun McEwen, D, South Hadley, Mass./Tri-City (UMass)
Jordin Palmer, D, Auburn, N.H./Avon Old Farms/River Rats U18
Owen Paskowski, D, Plymouth, Mass./Cushing/Central Mass. Penguins U18 (Colorado College)
Nick Ring, C, Hingham, Mass./New Jersey (New Hampshire)
Kazimier Sobieski, D, Deerfield, Mass./Shattuck-St. Mary’s (UMass)
Connor Sullivan, G, Westboro, Mass./Rivers/Little Bruins U18
Connor Welsh, C, Greenwich, Conn./Sioux City (Boston College)
Players with local ties on NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List
A
Cutter Gauthier, LW, NTDP U18 (Boston College)
B
Brennan Ali, C, Avon Old Farms/Mid Fairfield U18 (Notre Dame)
Ryan Greene, C, Green Bay (Boston University)
Lane Hutson, D, NTDP U18 (Boston University)
Devin Kaplan, RW, NTDP U18 (Boston University)
C
Matt Argentina, C, Boston College
Harrison Ballard, C, Wellington (UMass)
Eli Barnett, D, Victoria (Vermont)
Micah Berger, LW, Mount Saint Charles U18
Ethan Bono, C, Alberni Valley (Merrimack)
Vinny Borgesi, D, Tri-City (Northeastern)
Jack Brandt, C, Tabor/River Rats U18
Michael Emerson, RW, Chicago (UMass)
Lukas Gustafsson, D, Chicago (Boston College)
Jack Harvey, LW, Chicago (Boston University)
Marek Hejduk, RW, NTDP U18 (Harvard)
Ryan Hopkins, D, Penticton (Maine)
Christian Kocsis, LW, Lincoln (Providence)
Michael La Starza, RW, Waterloo (Boston University)
Matthew Morden, D, St. Andrew’s College (Harvard)
Michael Murtagh, RW, Gunnery/Buffalo Regals U18 (UConn)
Tyler Muszelik, G, NTDP U18 (New Hampshire)
Seamus Powell, D, NTDP U18 (Boston College)
Eli Sebastian, C, St. Andrew’s College (Northeastern)
Dovar Tinling, C, Vermont
Cameron Whitehead, G, Lincoln (Northeastern)
