Although there wasn’t a lot of change overall in the latest NHL Central Scouting Players to Watch List released Monday, there was some movement among players from, playing in, or recruited to play in, New England.
NHL Central Scouting is designed to promote prospects as well as give a general idea of the prospect pool to NHL organizations. ‘A’ players are projected to be picked in the first round, while a ‘B’ rating is for players who could be selected in the second or third round. Finally, ‘C’ skaters and goaltenders are those thought to be candidates for the final rounds of the draft.
The 2020 NHL Draft, to be held in Montreal, isn’t expected to be great for American prospects. Only four American-born players are rated as ‘A’ players, and none of them are from New England.
Left wing Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) moved up to a ‘B’ skater after being listed as a ‘C’ player in the first release of the watch list in October. Berard, committed to Providence College, has eight goals and five assists in 18 games with USA Hockey’s NTDP U-18. Berard joins Chicago Steel right wing and Northeastern recruit Sam Colangelo (Stoneham, Mass.) as the only two locals listed as ‘B’ prospects.
Although Berard’s upgrade was the most significant move locally, there were some other notable additions, subtractions and changes for prospects recruited to play in New England or for players from outside the region, but currently skating for a team within the region.
Providence commit Chase Yoder, a teammate of Berard’s with the NTDP, moved from a ‘C’ skater to a ‘B’ skater. Merrimack defenseman Zachary Uens joined him in making it onto the list as a ‘C’ skater. Mount Saint Charles 18-U right wing Michael Citara fell off the watch list after being included in the first edition.
NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List
New England Natives
B Rating
Sam Colangelo, RW, Stoneham, Mass./Chicago Steel (Northeastern)
Brett Berard, LW, East Greenwich, R.I./U.S. NTDP U-18 (Providence)
C Rating
Nick Capone, RW, East Haven, Conn./Tri-City Storm (Connecticut)
Drew Commeso, G, Norwell, Mass./U.S. NTDP U-18 (Boston University)
Riley Duran, C, Woburn, Mass./Lawrence Academy (Providence)
Sean Farrell, LW, Southborough, Mass./Chicago Steel (Harvard)
Alex Jefferies, RW, Lunenburg, Mass./The Gunnery (Merrimack)
Timothy Lovell, LD, Hingham, Mass./Boston Advantage 18-U (Ohio State)
Ryan McGuire, C, New Canaan, Conn./Belmont Hill (Colgate)
Ben Meehan, LD, Walpole, Mass./Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (UMass Lowell)
Ian Moore, RD, Concord, Mass./St. Mark’s (Princeton)
David Sacco, C, Middleton, Mass./Lawrence Academy (New Hampshire)
Phillip Tresca, C, Newton, Mass./Rivers School (Yale)
Ronan Walsh, LW, Andover, N.H./Proctor Academy (Vermont)
Jack Williams, RW, Biddeford, Maine/Muskegon Lumberjacks (Northeastern)
Players with ties to New England
B Rating
Yan Kuznetsov, LD, Connecticut
Dylan Peterson, C, U.S. NTDP U-18 (Boston University)
Eamon Powell, RD, U.S. NTDP U-18 (Boston College)
Carsen Richels, LW, Blaine HS (New Hampshire)
Luke Tuch, LW, U.S. NTDP U-18 (Boston University)
C Rating
Colby Ambrosio, C, Tri-City Storm (Boston College)
Kyle Aucoin, LD, Tri-City Storm (Harvard)
Chase Bradley, LW, Omaha Lancers (Northeastern)
Jeremie Bucheler, RD, Northeastern
Matt Choupani, C, Des Moines Buccaneers (Northeastern)
Stanley Cooley, C, Spruce Grove Saints (Northeastern)
Noah Ellis, RD, Des Moines Buccaneers (Massachusetts)
Christian Jimenez, LD, Sioux City Musketeers (Harvard)
Trevor Kuntar, C, Youngstown Phantoms (Harvard)
Alex Laferriere, RW, Des Moines Buccaneers (Harvard)
Mason Langenbrunner, RD, Eden Prairie HS (Harvard)
Lucas Mercuri, C, Salisbury (Vermont)
Colin Purcell, G, Youngstown Phantoms (Massachusetts)
Artem Shlaine, C, Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep (Boston University)
Ryan Siedem, RD, Harvard
Danny Weight, C, Penticton Vees (Boston College)
Chase Yoder, C, U.S. NTDP U-18 (Providence)
