{"id":30586,"date":"2009-06-24T17:37:19","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T22:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2009\/06\/24\/2009-nhl-entry-draft-preview-finding-colleges-place\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:28","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:28","slug":"2009-nhl-entry-draft-preview-finding-colleges-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2009\/06\/24\/2009-nhl-entry-draft-preview-finding-colleges-place\/","title":{"rendered":"2009 NHL Entry Draft Preview: Finding College’s Place"},"content":{"rendered":"
The debate has raged on and on in recent years between which is better: Junior A hockey or U.S. college hockey. <\/p>\n
This weekend in Montreal we may find out the answer, at least in the eyes of those most important to the game — NHL executives. <\/p>\n
As this weekend’s NHL Entry Draft kicks off, beyond the foregone conclusion of the first two selections in the draft, the remainder of the first-round picks, most experts feel, is wide open. The top prospects to fill the spots, according to the rankings developed by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau (CSB), are comprised of both collegiate and collegiate-to-be players and others from the top ranks of junior hockey. <\/p>\n
Therein is our debate. <\/p>\n
The absence of any stellar European products makes this a North American battle. Will the full-season major junior ranks typically played in Canada prevail over shorter-season U.S. college hockey? Pure numbers alone suggest yes. <\/p>\n
Get past the first two draft picks — there’s little doubt that Canada’s John Tavares and Sweden’s Victor Hedman will be taken as the first two picks (though the order remains unclear). After that, it’s likely it’s all North Americans through the top 10. <\/p>\n
So filling those final eight spots will be either major junior or college players. College, though, is at a disadvantage, with only two players ranked in the top 10 among North American skaters. <\/p>\n
How, then, will the battle of college vs. junior be settled? In this writer’s opinion, the two highly-ranked collegians — Minnesota’s Jordan Schroeder and Colorado College freshman-to-be John Moore — can make a statement for the U.S. college game if both are selected top 10. <\/p>\n
Schroeder was ranked fifth in the final CSB rankings. Moore was sixth. <\/p>\n
But CSB is not the be all, end all. <\/p>\n
In recent years, the International Scouting Service (ISS) emerged as a trusted source for NHL scouts. Similar to the CSB, the ISS ranks each player individually through data and opinions they gather. Their opinions of Schroeder and Moore aren’t nearly as high. ISS ranks Schroeder 12th and Moore 17th. <\/p>\n
Now the question becomes, which ranking has more credibility? ISS certainly is a better system as it ranks all eligible players together whereas as CSB breaks down the prospects into four lists — North American skaters, North American goaltenders, European skaters and European defensemen. Thus, a player ranked fifth, as is Schroeder, by CSB could slip to a lower draft position if say, four European players and a couple of goalies slipped ahead of him. <\/p>\n
The problem this year, though, is that the crop of goalies is awful and the European contingent (besides Hedman) of players isn’t expected to overtake many of the top 10 spots. <\/p>\n
So the difference between the CSB and ISS rankings for Schroeder and Moore certainly sends a statement: ISS prefers major junior players. <\/p>\n