Attached is a comprehensive list of various recent first round rankings published by recognized sources. In particular, I noted several things here. The first thing that stuck out to me was the presence of the USNTDP’s Teddy Stiga on each of these lists with several notable exceptions, the biggest one being central scouting. The Boston College commit was ranked 44th among North American skaters in central scouting’s final rankings, which I felt undervalued his talents and productivity (79 points [36 G 43 A] in 61 games this past season). However, draft analysts vary quite a bit on where he will land on the draft board (TSN’s Bob McKenzie & Craig Button rank him 68th and 64th, respectively).
The second thing I noted is the relatively low ranking on several of these lists given to CHL Defenseman of the Year Zayne Parekh. Given his performance during both the 2023-24 OHL regular season and the Memorial Cup playoffs, I would have thought he was a lock for a top 10 draft slot. Perhaps not, as he is at #14 and #12 by The Hockey News’ Tony Ferrari & Mike Morreale, respectively. However, most of these rankings do have him going in the top 10, some in the top 5 (once more, I point to the fact that TSN’s Craig Button has him at #5).
Last but not least is the presence of defenseman EJ Emery in numerous rankings. Again, the obvious list lacking his presence is central scouting, where he is #39 on its final rankings of North American skaters. Perhaps that can be solely attributed to his lack of offensive output to this point (16 assists in 61 games for the NTDP in 2023-24), although many scouts feel his upside completely outweighs this current lack of productivity.