Pre-draft rankings are fun, but thankfully the Leafs didn't put any stock into the NHL Central Scouting list in 2015
With the draft approaching, naturally the interest of Leafs Nation has been peaked in relation to whom the Buds may be eyeing on the draft floor on July 7th and 8th.
There have been plenty of names thrown around in connection to the Leafs following the NHL's Draft Combine a couple weeks back, and depending on which draft rankings you pay attention to, those players are either available in the 25 range or gone long before the Leafs ever step up to the podium.
The NHL's Central Scouting list is one that can be very hit or miss , so I think it's important not to get too hung up on draft projections from Central Scouting. It's also important to acknowledge that teams' individual lists can also differ quite substantially to those of scouts who are not employed by an NHL club.
Each year, we see players who were expected to be drafted early slip well beyond where their projected spot was. At times, we'll even see a prospect slip an entire round or more. We also see players who were projected to go in later rounds be snagged earlier than anticipated.
One example of a pretty significant miss from Central Scouting occurred in 2015, when they had Lawson Crouse ranked at #5, just one spot ahead of Mitch Marner at #6. As NHL Draft Consultant and Date Scientist Byron Bader points out, and what we all already know, there is absolutely no comparison between these two players and the level of success they've had in their young NHL careers.
The Leafs interviewed several potential candidates at the Draft Combine earlier this month, including Marco Kasper (ranked 6th among European skaters), Rutger McGroarty (ranked 22nd among North American skaters), Owen Pickering (ranked 15th among North American skaters) and Filip Mesar (ranked 20th among European skaters), among others. These rankings are all from Central Scouting, so it will be interesting to see where they actually end up being selected.
