HockeyProspect.com is pleased to release their latest 2013 NHL Draft Top 30 Prospect rankings. Halifax forward Nathan Mackinnon remains the top-rated NHL prospect for the January edition of the list. Moving up a couple spots this month is his Mooseheads teammate, forward Jonathan Drouin. Defenceman Seth Jones and forwards Alex Barkov and Elias Lindholm round out the top 5.

“It’s been interesting to watch a player like Drouin become a household name as the season has progressed,” said HockeyProspect.com’s Director of Scouting, Mark Edwards, when speaking about their latest list. “I was surprised when he didn’t even show up in the top 30 on some other early season lists I saw published. We had him in the top #10 going into the season, but after watching him early this year we moved him into the top 5, and this month he moves up again.”

In existence since 2004, HockeyProspect.com has made many ranking lists over the years and the 2013 draft class has impressed their scouts.

“There are some pretty special players in the top 7 this season,” Edwards noted. “The remainder of the first round is very tight as well.We have players we really like in the 30-40 range who could easily be considered as first round talents. The gap between a player we have ranked at #15 and the player we have around #35 is not as big as in previous seasons.”

Newcomers to the HP Top 30 this month are Tri-City Americans goaltender Eric Comrie and forward Alexander Wennberg from Djurgarden in Sweden. Both players have previously been knocking at the door to make the top 30 list, and this month, they kicked the door down. Other notable moves are Darnell Nurse who moves up five spots from 17th to 12th and Madison Bowey who moved up from 19th to 13th overall.Among the players that dropped in the rankings are forwards Connor Hurley and Jacob de la Rose, both of whom slipped out of the top 30.

Tune in to NHL RADIO on SIRIUS XM & TSN 1050 on January 19th as HP’s Mark Edwards will chat about these latest NHL Draft rankings.

Watch for our next list in approximately 30 days. Subscribers will be able to access an expanded Top 60 list.