The 2000s are an interesting group in New England because three players were hyped up as youngsters. Going back to their bantam days, Oliver Wahlstrom (Yarmouth, Maine), Jake Wise (North Andover, Mass.) and T.J. Walsh (Shrewsbury, Mass.) were all thought to be National Team Development Program prospects and first-round picks. Wahlstrom and Wise matriculated to...
The 2000s are an interesting group in New England because three players were hyped up as youngsters.
Going back to their bantam days, Oliver Wahlstrom (Yarmouth, Maine), Jake Wise (North Andover, Mass.) and T.J. Walsh (Shrewsbury, Mass.) were all thought to be National Team Development Program prospects and first-round picks.
Wahlstrom and Wise matriculated to the NTDP, and the former was picked 11th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2018 NHL Draft. Wise went in the third round to the Chicago Blackhawks. Wahlstrom is now a freshman at Boston College, while Wise is a few miles down the road at Boston University. Meanwhile, Walsh remains in the USHL with the Des Moines Buccaneers and is slated to arrive at BC next fall.
Four other players from New England were also drafted last summer, three of whom still play prep or junior hockey.
Flash forward from those bantam days, and a better indication of long-term projection surfaces. While there's less time for development and improvement than with an '03 or '04, there's less guesswork in how good an '00 will become.
That being said, here are the top 60 New England prospects born in 2000, excluding those who already play college hockey.
