NHL Central Scouting released its Preliminary Players to Watch List on Tuesday morning. Undoubtedly, numerous players who made the list won’t be selected at the 2021 draft, while others who were left off will hear their names called.
I used to get worked up about the list. There are certainly several players on the list who have no business being on any draft board. However, area scouts for all 32 NHL organizations benefit from more players being on the list. With the current craziness in the world, if area scouts have more excuses to get to the rinks, that can only be considered a good thing.
I’m not going to single out players who shouldn’t be on this list, but I do want to bring up several first-year-eligible prospects who I believe were ranked too low or omitted entirely. Below are players who will be drafted higher than NHL Central Scouting suggested in its Preliminary Players to Watch List.
