
On Tuesday morning, NHL Central Scouting released its midterm rankings roughly six months ahead of the NHL Draft.
There's no hiding it — it's a bit of a down year in terms of NHL Draft talent from New England and playing in the region. Six New England natives made the midterm rankings. By contrast, 18 made last season's list.
NHL Central Scouting released four sections: North American skaters, North American goalies, international skaters and international goalies.
The service ranked skaters by projected round. Still, that doesn't mean each player will be drafted. Even if someone is a fifth-round projection in the North American skaters, there are still four full rounds of international skaters vying to be drafted.
Sorry to throw cold water all over this.
Below we break it all down and offer our takeaways.