• PROSPECT-UPDATE ARCHIVE
When this project began in late September 2017, there was no guarantee it would reach all the way through the 2017-18 regular season, let alone the World Under-18 Championship. And, yes, there are still some games involving prospects left to be played
as it shuts down today. But all in all, this is a good time to close out the daily prospect updates and thank all those who stopped by here during the season.
The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was such a powerhouse that it just felt necessary and right to have these daily updates. They might not happen next year (the work involved is enormous), but at least we have hundreds of 2018-eligible players' draft years documented for posterity. Which player appeared on this list more than any other? Precisely the player we might have expected.
Russian sensation Andrei Svechnikov, who came into the season as the top North American-based prospect, proved his value by cracking this list 23 times -- one more than fellow CHL rookie sensation Filip Zadina of the Czech Republic. Rasmus Dahlin, the inevitable No. 1 pick, was less likely to show up since he was playing in a men's elite league, but he still found his way on here 11 times. No other European spending the whole season in such a league came close.
This site's next several weeks will be spent building up content on the player profile pages. The final top 217 ranking will also appear soon. For now, here are the Hockey Draft Central Top 10 Prospects for 2018. Combined, these 10 showed up on the top-performances list a total of 127 times. So, hopefully, everyone got to know them, but in case they didn't, here's one final look: