There’s no other way to put it. The 2023 NHL Draft will be a down year for prospects coming out of the New England prep school hockey circuit.
With the region’s top first-year draft eligible talent with the NTDP or in the USHL, there are slim pickings when it comes to players remaining in New England. In my mind, there are only two definitive draft picks skating for a New England team in 2022-23: Dexter Southfield defenseman Sean Keohane (Milton, Mass.) and Connecticut freshman right wing Matthew Wood.
There will be NHL scouts scouring the prep school rinks and rightfully so. There are others who have upside and there are still plenty of talented players throughout the region, including at the prep school level. As is most things in life, the prospect pool for hockey tends to be cyclical. In 2022, there were seven players drafted directly out of prep school and another five NEPSAC alums were selected.
Below is a ranking of the top 2023 draft-eligible prospects in the prep school hockey circuit this winter. Please keep in mind that all of these players have accomplished a lot, will play in college and are good prep school players. They all have flaws, including the top prospect. It is hard to be drafted into the NHL and even more difficult to make it to the top of the pyramid.
With that in mind, all nitpicking is meant as an honest evaluation and not intended to be a slight of any of these players.
