For the second straight year, a local certainly will hear his name called in the first round of the NHL Draft.
It was Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.) and Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) last June. It likely will be Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) this June.
Eiserman was a candidate to go No. 1 entering the 2023-24 season. Things are different now. Other prospects’ stocks soared over the winter. It’s looking more like Eiserman will be a late top-10 or early 11-20 pick.
But we’ve known Eiserman was going to go high for three years. What’s fascinating is the number of prospects behind him who had outstanding seasons and are likely to be selected in the draft.
The rankings have changed a lot throughout the past 12 months. As the draft, set for June 28-29 in Las Vegas, nears, here are our rankings of local prospects.
