The 2014 NHL Draft Rankings War Room: February Edition brings you the Top 150 ranked prospects as compiled by THW’s Eastern Canada based hockey bird dog, Eldon MacDonald.

Where Are The Prospects Coming From?

If 2013 the year of the “Q”, 2014 appears to the year of the “O” as can be seen from the table below (picks/projections from first two rounds).

Player Source 2014 2013 1. OHL 20 13 2. WHL 13 13 3. USA (EJHL, USHL, High School) 11 8 4. Sweden 9 7 5. QMJHL 4 15 6. Finland 3 3 7. KHL 0 2 Total 60 61

Where Have All The Defensemen Gone?

After two draft years of high quantity and high quality defensemen, there are just two defensemen in the 2014 draft of elite quality with size – Aaron Ekblad of Barrie at number one and Haydn Fleury of Red Deer at number seven.

Who Are The Potential Steals From The 2013 Draft (4th Round & Up)?

One of the things I like to do at this time of year is to reflect back at the previous year’s draft and see who I missed in the late rounds (4th and up). Here is my list of the top five late round steals. It is still early so the list will likely change substantially as time marches on.

1. Hudson Fasching – U of Minnesota, NCAA, RW, 6’3, 214 lb. – 118 (4th) to LA.

2. Ben Harpur – D, Guelph, OHL, 6’6, 212 lb. – 108 (4th) to Ottawa.

3. Saku Mäenalanen – RW, Jokipojat, Mestis, 6’3, 185 lb. – 108 (5th) to Nashville.

4. Brenden Kichton – D, St. John’s, AHL, 6’0, 190 lb. – 108 (7th) to Winnipeg.

5. MacKenzie Weegar – D, Halifax, QMJHL, 5’11, 207 lb. – 206 (7th) to Florida.

Historic Success Rate

The historic success rate for players ranked 1 to 15 is around 82% while rankings 16 to 30 carry a 76% success rate, in terms of making an impact in the NHL.

Other Rankings

NHL – Mid-season: Combined rankings of the NHL’s final 4 lists here at THW.

Bob MacKenzie – Mid-season Top 50: Poll of NHL scouts at TSN

Craig Button – Jan-14 Top 90

Future Considerations – Feb-14 Top 30

ISS – Feb-14 Top 30

2014 NHL Draft Rankings War Room: February Edition

*Editor’s Notes:

The table display approximately 30 of the prospects at a time; simply scroll down to view the other prospects.

Only a portion of the table displays by default; you can scroll over to see the rest of the player demographics or select “ View full-size workbook ” option, which is the icon in the bottom right hand corner, to view the full table.

” option, which is the icon in the bottom right hand corner, to view the full table. The 1st column (E-Mac) is Eldon MacDonald’s February rankings. (Not to be confused with THW’s official The Next Ones rankings which will be released at a later date).

rankings which will be released at a later date). The 2nd column on the left is players’ rankings based on the combination of NHL Central Scouting Service’s four separate rankings (NR = player was not ranked by NHL-CS).

The 3rd column is NHL’s grade for the player.

A link to E lite Prospects statistics for most of the players is also included (click on individual player name).

statistics for most of the players is also included (click on individual player name). Prospects in each of the 4th and 5th round are listed alphabetically; that is, they are not ranked but rather grouped together as a 4th or 5th round graded prospect, respectfully.

This article is by Eldon MacDonald (edited by @ChrisRalphTHW)