Typically when I’ve done my prospect rankings, I leave a list of honorable mentions of guys who just missed the cut. I’ve found that often the conversations tend to focus more on those players than the list itself, so it made sense to turn these players into their own column.



Here are the players (in alphabetical order) who were the final cuts from my midseason NHL prospect ranking.



Lias Andersson, C, New York Rangers



Age: 20 | Drafted: Seventh overall in 2017



Previous ranking: 59



Andersson was one of the most asked about players when my midseason rankings went up. He has always been a player whose raw skill set never blew you away. He’s not that big, or fast, and his hands are good, but not great. But he’s so smart and competitive that he extracts value from that package. He’s been great at numerous levels and tournaments for years. Andersson has been quite good in the AHL as a 20-year-old but struggled in the...