E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120

Introducing...E-Mac's Top 120 Prospects for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft:

I am starting at 110 to leave room for any prospect that my do really well during the Memorial Cup that I don’t already have ranked.  

These postings are the writings of one hockey fan for other hockey fans with the intention of making them memorable enough so that a casual reader has a chance of remembering the prospect’s name when it comes up at the draft in June. Some will be successful, some will not - however, I am hoping for a better success rate than the 19% chance the NHL teams currently have in selecting an NHL player in the fourth round.

In looking back at the 2003 to 2005 entry drafts, it is interesting to note the success rate for each of the rounds. By my calculations (players that are NHL regulars for the most part - your list could be slightly different), here are the figures:

01-15 – 82% (03-93%; 04-73%; 05-80%)
16-30 – 76% (03-93%; 04-67%; 05-67%)
31-45 – 33% (03-33%; 04- 7%; 05-60%)
46-60 – 24% (03-33%; 04-33%; 05- 7%)
61-90 - 24% (03-33%; 04-20%; 05-20%)91-120 - 19% (03-10%; 04-30%; 05-17%)
120-150 - 11% (03-10%; 04-13%; 05-10%)
151-180 - 9% (03-13%; 04-13%; 05- 0%)
181-210 - 10% (03-17%; 04- 3%; 05-10%)
Over 210 - 12% (03-13%; 04-10%; 05-15%)
Overall - 23% (03-25%; 04-20%; 05-23%)

Notes:

*Here are the rankings so far and will be updated regularly as they are released leading up the draft. All profiles can be found under the author's main link: Eldon MacDonald

**To easily find the full profile of each prospect, simply click on name (hyperlink) and/or go to the "Index" on the right-hand side of the site.
***You have to go to each individual profile to find out E-Mac's unique nickname given to each and every player! (I have included some of the them as teasers.)

Here's an excerpt of E-Mac's profile on his #23 ranked prospect Nikita "Mr. Game-breaker" Kucherov:

What kind of player is Nikita Kucherov??? Game-breaker would be the easy answer or heart breaker if you are playing for the other side. Nikita has an impressive arrange of advanced weapons in his arsenal. First of all, his one-timer is so good that he could live of that alone. Secondly, his speed is so devasting that he can back up defenders and use his sublime passing skills to finish the play. Thirdly, he is prepared to be aggressive on the forecheck and pounce on loose pucks. Fourthly, add vision, determination and an elite finishing ability and you have one elite hockey player.

Are there any negatives to Nikita Kucherov? The biggest negative and one that will affect when he gets drafted is the fact that he is Russian and appears to be committed for two more years playing in Russia. Maybe that is not all bad because it will allow him some time to correct his second biggest weakness which is size and strength.

Here's an excerpt of E-Mac's profile on his #110 ranked prospect Jean-Gabriel Pageau:

At the end of the playoffs, Jean-Gabriel stood third in playoff scoring with 28 points in 23 games and a +9 when going against the league’s best. Maybe now you can start to see why even the recalcitrant are coming around. So, if you are looking for a Claude Giroux like guy (without the irritability) who can play center or right wing and you want someone who always comes up big in critical situations you might give a thought to the petit dragon slayer, Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

E-Man's Rankings: (Click on prospect's name for detailed profile)

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins #1
• Jonathan Hurbedeau #2 "Money"
• Sean Couturier #3
• Ryan Murphy #4 "My Guy"
• Adam Larsson #5 "The Swedish Horse"
• Gabriel Landeskog #6 "Swedish Idol"
• Ryan Strome #7
• Dougie Hamilton #8
• Mike Zibanejad #9
• Joel Armia #10
• Nathan Beaulieau #11 "The Son of Hockey"
• Matt Puempel #12 "The Assasin"
• Mark Scheifele #13 "Mr. Hockey Improvement"
• Mark McNeill #14 "Mr. Omni Skill"
• Sven Bartschi #15 "Dead Eye"
• Jamieson Oleksiak #16 "Big Bird"
• Jonathan (J.T.) Miller #17 "Miller Time"
• Tyler Biggs #18 "The Determinator"
• Joe Morrow #19 "Mr. Flash Drive"
• Duncan Siemens #20 "Mr. Intimidator"
• Niklas Jensen #21 "The Great Dane"
• Oscar Klefbom #22 "Captain Sweden"
• Nikita Kucherov #23 "Mr. Game Breaker"
• Alexander Khokhlachev #24 "Mr. Koco Loco"
• Brandon Saad #25 "The Syrian Connection"
• Jonas Brodin #26 "The Zen Master"
• Rocco Grimaldi #27 "Mighty Mouse"
• Connor Murphy #28 "Mr. Character"
• Boone Jenner #29 "Mr. Intensity"
• Brett Richie #30 "Mr. So-Close-To-Awesome"

Tomas Mr. Youtube Jurco - Photo by EliteProspects

• Zach Phillips #31 "Top Dog"
• Dmitri Jaškin #32 “The Bod”
• Tomas Jurco #33 “Mr. Youtube”
• Ty Rattie #34 “Mr. Magician”
• Vladislav Namestnikov #35 “Joe Ferrari”
• Scott Mayfield #36
• David Musil #37
• John Gibson #38
• Shane Prince #39
• Magnus Hellberg #40
• Victor Rask #41
• Adam Clendening #42
• Mario Lucia #43
• Phillip Danault #44
• Ryan Sproul #45
• Rickard Rakell #46
• Stefan Noesen #47
• Matthew Nieto #48
• Joel Edmundson #49
• Robbie Russo #50
• Reid Boucher #51
• Shane McColgan #52
• Daniel Catenacci #53
• Seth Ambroz #54
• Nick Shore #55
• Gregory Hofmann #56
• Joseph LaBate #57
• Stuart Percy #58
• Lucas Lessio #59
• Adam Lowry #60

Marek "Titanium Guy" Tvrdon

• Marek Tvrdon #61"Titianium Guy"
• Christopher Gibson #62
• Brenden Kichton #63
• Rasmus Bengtsson #64
• Mike Paliotta #65
• Markus Granlund #66
• Max Friberg #67
• Vincent Trocheck #68
• Nick Cousins #69
• Jeremy Boyce-Rotevall #70
• Samu Perhonen #71
• Keegan Lowe #72
• Miikka Salomaki #82
• Michael St. Croix #74
• Joachim Nermark #75
• Albert Yarullin #76
• Travis Ewanyk #77
• Mike Reilly #78
• Scott Harrington #79
• Nathan Lieuwen #80
• Mike McKee #81
• Jyrki Jokipakka #82
• Andrew Fritsch #83
• Colin Jacobs #84
• Petr Placek #85
• Patrick Koudys #86
• Reece Scarlett #87
• Zachary Yuen #88
• Colin Sullivan #89
• Xavier Ouellet #90  

Xavier "Mr. Chameleon" Ouellet - Photo by Benoit Lefebvre

• Justin Thomas #91
• Alexei Marchenko #92
• Klas Dahlbeck #93
• Matej Machovsky #94
• Kale Kessy #95
• Tadeas Galansky #96
• Andrei Pedan #97
• Alexandre Grenier #98
• Troy Vance #99
• Brennan Serville #100
• Blake Coleman #101
• William Karlsson #102
• Joshua Leivo #103
• Martin Gernat #104
• Joseph Cramarossa #105
• Jesse Forsberg #106
• Tyler Wotherspoon #108
• Adam Reid #109
• Jean-Gabriel Pageau #110
• Joel Lowry #111
• Jordan Binnington #112
• Chase Balisy #113
• Johan Sundstrom #114
• David Honzik #115
• Andrej Stastny #116
• Michael Mersch #117
• Tobias Rieder #118
• Zac Larraza #119
• Harrison Ruopp #120