• PROSPECT-UPDATE ARCHIVE
The Central Scouting final rankings came out on Monday, which was a good thing, since there wasn't much other news involving draft prospects. We'll go through the rankings in pieces here over the next few days and weeks.
Let's begin with the top 31 North American skaters. Two OHL players made huge jumps from their midterm rankings into this list. One was London Knights forwards Liam Foudy, who was rewarded for his incredible run in February and early March with a No. 19 ranking. The other was Flint Firebirds forward Ty Dellandrea, who made his mark with two goals at the CHL Top Prospects Game and never looked back -- he went on a seven-game scoring streak following that tame. Dellandrea is now the 25th-ranked player. A third big jump came from Waterloo Black Hawks forward Jack Drury, the son and nephew of former NHL players, who rocketed up to No. 27. The Harvard recruit has made a big push in the USHL season, but 27 feels a bit high for him.
Other notable names on the list are Brady Tkachuk moving up to No. 2, Evan Bouchard moving up to No. 4, Joe Veleno up to No. 8, and Sampo Ranta at 18. It is nice to see the recognition for Bouchard and Veleno, who were both so impressive in the season's second half. More to come on the rankings. For now, check out Monday's lone top performance.
JACHYM KONDELIK -- Kondelik helped Muskegon open the USHL's Clark Cup playoffs in style, picking up a goal and assist in the Lumberjacks' 3-2 win over Chicago. The game's No. 1 star, a University of Connecticut recruit from the Czech Republic, got the primary helper on the game's first goal at 3:06 of the opening period. He later scored the eventual game-winner for a 3-1 lead at 12:18 of the third. He now has points in three of his last four games -- scoring four goals and four assists in those three performances. (Note: Fourth appearance on this list in 2017-18)