With the regular season drawing to a close, it serves as a reminder that the NHL Draft is less than three months away. The seasons are over for many of the area players eligible for the draft, though a handful of prospects are still competing in their junior hockey seasons around the U.S. and Canada.
New England Hockey Journal talked to several NHL scouts based in and outside of the region to get their thoughts on some of the players who are expected to be chosen at the draft on July 7-8 in Montreal. The general feeling is that New England has a solid group, with a few players expected to be chosen in the first couple of rounds, but a larger portion who should make for a significant amount of activity in the middle-to-late portion of the draft.
Bridgewater, Mass., native Cam Lund has had a strong season in juniors, playing in the USHL for the Green Bay Gamblers. The fledgling power forward always had impressive physicality coming out of Cushing Academy and the USPHL NCDC with the Boston Jr. Bruins, but his stock has been rising steadily after November. Lund, and other New England natives used the season to boost their draft chances.
This draft progress report, the first in a series as we get closer to July, focuses on several forwards who are trending in the right direction as the draft process for all 32 teams kicks into high gear.
