• PROSPECT-UPDATE ARCHIVE
With several games involving draft prospects, it would have been nice to see a lot of top performances on Friday.
But only two players managed to make the list below. This site is going on a holiday break, so no updates until Dec. 27, following
Day 1 of the World Junior Championship tournament. It's going to be a great
event with nearly twice as many draft prospects as last year.
Merry Christmas to all Hockey Draft Central visitors, and thanks for visiting. Here's the abbreviated list from Friday:
MARTIN KAUT -- Kaut, a right wing, plays against men in the Czech Extraliga, so the World Juniors offer him a chance to go up against players his own age. Although his Czech team lost its pre-tournament game against Finland 4-2 on Friday, Kaut was in on both Czech scores with a goal and an assist. His goal, at 1:20 of the second period, tied the game 1-1. His assist, just over three minutes later at 4:54, helped give the Czechs their only lead at 2-1. Like Rasmus Dahlin, Vitali Kravtsov and others who play in European men's leagues. Kaut has a chance to really shine against younger players in the coming two weeks.
MATTHEW KELLENBERGER -- A lot of NHL teams likely regret passing on Princeton recruit Kellenberger at the 2017 draft. The defenseman was ranked No. 74 by Central Scouting in 2017, yet nobody drafted him. Having returned from the World Junior A Challenge, he continued his high-scoring ways in the OJHL on Friday with two assists in Oakville's 4-1 win over Mississauga. Kellenberger had the primary assist on the opening goal at 3:07 of the first period and helped set up the game's final goal at 16:43 of the third. With five goals and 32 points in 34 OJHL games, Kellenberger is tied for second in scoring for OJHL defensemen. Friday marked his seventh multi-point game of the 2017-18 season (Note: Third appearance on this list in 2017-18)