Nikolai Goldobin – McKeen's Hockey

2014 NHL Draft – Top 5 Stickhandlers – Ehlers elevates, Bennett terrifies

Grant McCagg — Tue, 06 May 2014 11:30:17 +0000

Best stickhandler

You know the Halifax Mooseheads have a special talent in Nikolaj Ehlers when the home crowd rises in anticipation every time Ehlers rushes with the puck. "His ability to stickhandle at top speed is outstanding," said one scout. "He reminds me of (Pavel) Bure when he gets wound up." In addition to great hands, Ehlers is also dextrous with his feet, showing an innate ability to kick the puck to his stick or open teammates.

Sam Bennett's speed, lateral agility and puck skills make him a defenceman's nightmare on many nights. Josh Ho Sang's puck skills were on full display during the CHL Top Prospects game when he made several dazzling rushes, and scored a goal by batting the puck in the net. Sonny Milano keeps opponents guessing with elite stickhandling and speed, and he's capable of holding onto the puck until he finds an open man. Nikolai Goldobin has excellent lateral moves that often leave defenders searching for their jockstraps.

1. Nikolaj Ehlers

2. Sam Bennett

3. Josh Ho Sang

4. Sonny Milano

5. Nikolai Goldobin

Up Next: Top 5 Hockey Sense - May 9

McKeen’s 2014 Top 30 NHL Draft Rankings (March, 2014)

Iain Morrell — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 20:40:18 +0000

Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Sam Bennett of the Kingston Frontenacs has vaulted to the top of the McKeen's March rankings for the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Bennett's game has grown steadily during a breakout sophomore season highlighted by a 25-game consecutive point streak from November to late January, the longest of the OHL season so far (17-29-46).

The Holland Landing, Ontario native sits sixth in league scoring and is now the one to catch in the race for the coveted first-overall pick.

There's nothing sewn up just yet, however, as Bennett's lead is certainly a modest one with no clear-cut consensus among the top group of three including Barrie Colts' blueliner Aaron Ekblad and Kootenay centre Sam Reinhart.

Reinhart has kept pace with his 'Sam' counterpart by posting the WHL's longest consecutive point streak of the season - a 22-game run (18-30-48).

The Kootenay Ice captain and Vancouver native saw his streak come to an end at the start of this month - in a game against Prince Albert and Leon Draisaitl, who trails closely behind Reinhart in the draft rankings in the No. 4 slot.

The German-born Draisaitl has also been scorching hot since disappointing showings at the World Juniors and Top Prospects Game. After going nine straight games without a goal in January, Draisaitl has 17 goals in his past 18 games (17-22-39) and has nudged past Reinhart into fourth among WHL scorers with 99 points.

The top four haven't pulled away from the pack either. If anything, the gap has been closed by the likes of Danish roadrunner Nikolaj Ehlers of the Halifax Mooseheads.

Like Draisaitl, Ehlers never got the engines ignited at the Top Prospects Game, but has been sensational otherwise in an incredible rookie year.

The native of Aalborg, Denmark is in the midst of an 11-game points streak in which he has scored 17 times including six multi-goal games (17-12-29). Ehlers has climbed up to third overall in QMJHL scoring with 100 points including 47 goals, fifth-most in the league. In fact, after an initial transition period, he has hit the back of the net 39 times in his last 41 games.

Ehlers is shooting to become the highest-drafted Danish-born NHLer in history, the honour currently belonging to Mikkel Boedker of the Phoenix Coyotes who was selected eighth overall in 2008.

The balance of an impressive top 10 are highlighted by a quartet of OHL forwards with Michael Dal Colle of the Oshawa Generals holding down the sixth spot, and followed closely by Jared McCann (Sault Ste Marie), Nick Ritchie (Peterborough), and Brendan Perlini (Niagara).

Haydn Fleury of the Red Deer Rebels fills out the top 10 - sitting in the No. 9 spot - and remains the only other defenceman besides Ekblad to hold down a top-ten place.

Other significant risers in the March rankings include William Nylander, the son of former NHLer Michael Nylander, and Czech-born forward David Pastrnak, playing together for Sodertalje in Sweden's second division Allsvenskan.

NHL scouts have seen a pair of 17-year-old's often standing out as the best players on their team - with Nylander flashing dominant form at times - and rebounding from a dreadful start to the season.

Kasperi Kapanen (KalPa), Jakub Vrana (Linkopings), Robby Fabbri (Guelph), and Roland McKeown (Kingston) also made noteworthy gains in the March rankings.

Despite plenty of movement among the top 30 however, it remained a rather exclusive group with the only new entrant being Swiss-born forward Kevin Fiala, playing for HV 71 in the Swedish J20 League, who makes his debut at No. 28.

RANK	LAST	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB
1	3	Sam Bennett	C	Kingston (OHL)	6-0/180	20-Jun-96
2	2	Aaron Ekblad	D	Barrie (OHL)	6-3/215	7-Feb-96
3	1	Sam Reinhart	C	Kootenay (WHL)	6-1/185	6-Nov-95
4	5	Leon Draisaitl	C	Prince Albert (WHL)	6-2/210	27-Oct-95
5	8	Nikolaj Ehlers	LW	Halifax (QMJHL)	5-11/165	13-Feb-96
6	4	Michael Dal Colle	LW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-2/180	20-Jun-96
7	7	Jared McCann	C	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-0/180	31-May-96
8	6	Nick Ritchie	LW	Peterborough (OHL)	6-2/230	5-Dec-95
9	10	Haydn Fleury	D	Red Deer (WHL)	6-2/200	8-Jul-96
10	9	Brendan Perlini	LW	Niagara (OHL)	6-2/205	27-Apr-96
11	11	Jake Virtanen	RW	Calgary (WHL)	6-1/205	17-Aug-96
12	16	William Nylander	C	Sodertalje (Swe)	5-11/175	1-May-96
13	12	Julius Honka	D	Swift Current (WHL)	5-10/180	3-Dec-95
14	22	David Pastrnak	RW	Sodertalje (Swe)	6-0/170	25-May-96
15	25	Kasperi Kapanen	RW	KalPa (Fin)	6-0/180	23-Jul-96
16	13	Ivan Barbashev	C	Moncton (QMJHL)	6-1/185	14-Dec-95
17	23	Jakub Vrana	RW	Linkopings (Swe)	5-11/185	28-Feb-96
18	14	Adrian Kempe	LW	MoDo (Swe)	6-1/185	13-Sep-96
19	21	Alex Tuch	RW	NTDP (USA)	6-3/215	10-May-96
20	18	Joshua Ho-Sang	C	Windsor (OHL)	5-11/165	22-Jan-96
21	17	Dylan Larkin	C	NTDP (USA)	6-1/190	30-Jul-96
22	15	Nick Schmaltz	C	Green Bay (USHL)	5-11/175	23-Feb-96
23	28	Robert Fabbri	C	Guelph (OHL)	5-10/170	22-Jan-96
24	30	Roland McKeown	D	Kingston (OHL)	6-1/195	20-Jan-96
25	19	Sonny Milano	LW	NTDP (USA)	5-11/185	12-May-96
26	24	Nikolai Goldobin	RW	Sarnia (OHL)	5-11/180	7-Oct-95
27	27	Jack Glover	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/195	17-May-96
28	NR	Kevin Fiala	LW	HV 71 (Swe)	5-10/185	22-Jul-96
29	29	Jack Dougherty	D	NTDP (USA)	6-1/185	25-May-96
30	20	Anton Karlsson	LW	Frolunda (Swe)	6-1/190	3-Aug-96

2014 NHL Draft: McKeen’s Top 30 Midterm Rankings (Jan-2014)

McKeen's Hockey — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:53:41 +0000

The 2014 NHL Draft remains a very close race for number one overall. None of the top contenders have separated themselves definitively and the picture is becoming increasingly competitive as Kingston’s Sam Bennett continues his rapid rise in the rankings unseating Leon Draisaitl from Prince Albert to enter the top three. Draisaitl was on a torrid eight game burst (8-8-12-20) before a difficult World Junior tournament that saw him ejected for two games.

Brendan Perlini progresses from #12 to enter the top ten at number eight while climbing to fifth in goal scoring in the OHL with 28 in 44 games (44-28-32-60), 12 of them scored since December 13^th.

Michael Dal Colle holds his fourth place ranking while slightly edging Sam Bennett in OHL scoring. He currently ranks 5^th (46-29-38-67) while Bennett is 6^th (40-26-40-66). An impressive Top Prospects game in which he scored, and could have had more, solidified his status.

Sam Reinhart holds tenaciously to the number one spot despite a growing crowd of contenders. Captaining his squad in the Top Prospects game with a commanding performance highlighted his potential versus his peers.

Here are our Mid Term Rankings:

RANK	LAST	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB
1	1	Sam Reinhart	C	Kootenay (WHL)	6-1/185	06-Nov-95
2	2	Aaron Ekblad	D	Barrie (OHL)	6-3/215	07-Feb-96
3	5	Sam Bennett	C	Kingston (OHL)	6-0/180	20-Jun-96
4	4	Michael Dal Colle	LW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-2/180	20-Jun-96
5	3	Leon Draisaitl	C	Prince Albert (WHL)	6-2/210	27-Oct-95
6	6	Nick Ritchie	LW	Peterborough (OHL)	6-2/230	05-Dec-95
7	9	Jared McCann	C	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-0/180	31-May-96
8	10	Nikolaj Ehlers	LW	Halifax (QMJHL)	5-11/165	13-Feb-96
9	12	Brendan Perlini	LW	Niagara (OHL)	6-2/205	27-Apr-96
10	8	Haydn Fleury	D	Red Deer (WHL)	6-2/200	08-Jul-96
11	7	Jake Virtanen	RW	Calgary (WHL)	6-1/205	17-Aug-96
12	13	Julius Honka	D	Swift Current (WHL)	5-10/180	03-Dec-95
13	19	Ivan Barbashev	C	Moncton (QMJHL)	6-1/185	14-Dec-95
14	16	Adrian Kempe	C	MoDo (Swe)	6-1/185	13-Sep-96
15	15	Nick Schmaltz	C	Green Bay (USHL)	5-11/175	23-Feb-96
16	11	William Nylander	C	Rogle (Swe)	5-11/175	01-May-96
17	20	Dylan Larkin	C	NTDP (USA)	6-1/195	30-Jul-96
18	21	Joshua Ho-Sang	C	Windsor (OHL)	5-11/165	22-Jan-96
19	25	Sonny Milano	LW	NTDP (USA)	5-11/185	12-May-96
20	24	Anton Karlsson	LW	Frolunda (Swe)	6-1/190	03-Aug-96
21	22	Alex Tuch	RW	NTDP (USA)	6-3/215	10-May-96
22	17	David Pastrnak	RW	Sodertalje (Swe)	6-0/170	25-May-96
23	26	Jakub Vrana	RW	Linkopings (Swe)	5-11/185	28-Feb-96
24	NR	Nikolai Goldobin	RW	Sarnia (OHL)	5-11/185	07-Oct-95
25	23	Kasperi Kapanen	RW	KalPa (Fin)	6-0/180	23-Jul-96
26	14	Brycen Martin	D	Swift Current (WHL)	6-2/185	09-May-96
27	NR	Jack Glover	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/195	17-May-96
28	29	Robert Fabbri	C	Guelph (OHL)	5-10/170	22-Jan-96
29	NR	Jack Dougherty	D	NTDP (USA)	6-1/185	25-May-96
30	18	Roland McKeown	D	Kingston (OHL)	6-1/195	20-Jan-96