The NHL Draft comes to Philadelphia this weekend and 22 Minnesotans are ranked among the top 210 North American skaters, according to of the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau Rankings.
While quite a few Minnesotans made the list, only one of them – Jack Dougherty – may hear their name during the first round of the draft Friday night.
Dougherty, a defenseman, is the highest ranked Minnesotan on the list at No. 30. He played three years of high school hockey at St. Thomas Academy before skipping his senior season to play with the U.S. Under-18 Development Team in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Cottage Grove native will play college hockey at the University of Wisconsin.
Of the three mock drafts on NHL.com, Dougherty is only projected to go in the first round in one of them. Adam Kimelman has Dougherty projected to go to the Detroit Red Wings at No. 15, calling Dougherty a “smart, skilled defenseman.” SB Nation’s Chris Dilks is not as optimistic. He said that Dougherty is more likely to be selected in the mid-to-late second round.
There are nine other Minnesotans – Jack Glover (Benilde-St. Margaret’s), Luc Snuggerud (Eden Prairie), Ryan Collins (Benilde-St. Margaret’s), Mitch Slattery (Hill-Murray), Keegan Iverson (Breck), Nick Wolff (Eagan), Karson Kulhman (Cloquet-Esko-Carlton), Steve Spinner (Eden Prairie) and Austin Poganski (St. Cloud Cathedral) – ranked in the top 100. Chase Perry of Andover was ranked eighth on the NHL’s rankings of American goaltenders.
Three of the Minnesotans that made the NHL’s list – Glover, Collins and Ramsey – are University of Minnesota recruits. They are the only Minnesota recruits ranked by the NHL besides Sweedish forward Leon Bristedt, who is ranked 24th among European skaters.
The first round of the draft will take place Friday night beginning at 6 p.m. on NBCSN. The second through seventh rounds will begin Saturday at 10 a.m. on the same network. The Wild own the No. 18 pick in the draft, but could be looking to trade their pick in order to have more picks later in the draft.
