Attn: Draft gurus

I thought this was really intersting:

Here is a look at the top 30 North American propsects from Central Scouting for the 2003 draft:

1 STAAL, ERIC OHL PETERBOROUGH C L 66 39 59 98 36
2 BROWN, DUSTIN OHL GUELPH R 58 34 42 76 89
3 VANEK, THOMAS WCHA UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA R 37 24 27 51 48
4 HORTON, NATHAN OHL OSHAWA C R 54 33 35 68 111
5 GETZLAF, RYAN WHL CALGARY C R 70 29 39 68 121
6 COBURN, BRAYDON WHL PORTLAND D L 53 3 16 19 147
7 SUTER, RYAN USA US NAT'L U-18 D L 47 8 19 27 114
8 PHANEUF, DION WHL RED DEER D L 71 16 14 30 185
9 PARISE, ZACH WCHA UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA C L 34 25 32 57 32
10 FRITSCHE, DAN OHL SARNIA C R 61 32 39 71 79
11 BERNIER, STEVE QMJHL MONCTON RW R 71 49 52 101 90
12 STONE, RYAN WHL BRANDON C L 54 14 31 45 158
13 POULIOT, MARC-ANTOINE QMJHL RIMOUSKI C R 65 32 41 73 100
14 O'SULLIVAN, PATRICK OHL MISSISSAUGA C L 56 40 41 81 57
15 FEHR, ERIC WHL BRANDON RW R 70 26 29 55 76
16 KESLER, RYAN CCHA OHIO STATE C R 34 9 20 29 36
17 STUART, MARK WCHA COLORADO COLLEGE 209 D L 32 3 14 17 77
18 KLEIN, KEVIN OHL TORONTO ST. MICHAEL'S D R 67 11 33 44 88
19 STEWART, ANTHONY OHL KINGSTON C/RW R 68 32 38 70 47
20 JESSIMAN, HUGH ECAC DARTMOUTH COLLEGE RW R 29 19 22 41 40
21 TAMBELLINI, JEFF CCHA UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LW L 36 25 13 38 18
22 KREPS, KAMIL OHL BRAMPTON C R 53 19 42 61 12
23 LAPIERRE, MAXIM QMJHL MONTREAL C R 72 22 21 43 55
24 FILEWICH, JONATHAN WHL PRINCE GEORGE RW R 51 27 27 54 45
25 SEABROOK, BRENT WHL LETHBRIDGE D R 69 9 33 42 113
26 BERNIER, MARC-ANDRE QMJHL HALIFAX RW R 67 29 29 58 43
27 CARTER, JEFF OHL SAULT-STE-MARIE C R 61 35 36 71 55
28 BERGERON, PATRICE QMJHL ACADIE-BATHURST C R 70 23 50 73 62
29 HENNESSY, JOSHUA QMJHL QUEBEC C L 72 33 51 84 44
30 RICHARDS, MIKE OHL KITCHENER C L 67 37 50 87 99

Now here is the final list from 2008:

1 Stamkos, Steven Sarnia C 61 58 47 105 88
2 Bogosian, Zach Peterborough D 60 11 50 61 72 Read
3 Doughty, Drew Guelph D 58 13 37 50 68
4 Myers, Tyler Kelowna D 65 6 13 19 97 Read
5 Schenn, Luke Kelowna D 57 7 21 28 100 Read
6 Pietrangelo, Alex Niagara D 60 13 40 53 94
7 Beach, Kyle Everett C 60 27 33 60 222
8 Boychuck, Zach Lethbridge C 61 33 39 72 80
9 Hodgson, Cody Brampton C 68 40 45 85 36 Read
10 Wilson, Colin Boston University C 34 12 22 34 20
11 Boedker, Mikkel Kitchener LW 69 29 44 73 14
12 Sbisa, Luca Lethbridge D 62 6 27 33 63
13 Robak, Colby Brandon D 71 6 24 30 25
14 Bailey, Joshua Windsor C 67 29 67 96 32
15 Del Zotto, Michael Oshawa D 64 16 47 63 82
16 Dalpe, Zac Penticton C/RW 46 27 36 63 14
17 Carlson, John Indiana D 59 12 31 43 72
18 Teubert, Colten Regina D 66 7 16 23 135
19 Cuma, Tyler Ottawa D 59 4 28 32 69
20 Arniel, Jamie Sarnia C 60 27 20 47 38
21 Deschamps, Nicolas Chicoutimi C 70 24 43 67 63
22 Nemisz, Greg Windsor C 68 34 33 67 52
23 Gardiner, Jake Minnetonka D 25 16 27 43 18
24 Calvert, Matthew Brandon LW 72 24 40 64 53
25 Niemi, Jyri Saskatoon D 49 14 20 34 57
26 Sauve, Maxime Val D'Or C 70 26 39 65 30
27 Ness, Aaron Roseau High D 25 23 37 60 12
28 Colborne, Joe Camrose C 55 33 57 90 48
29 Sauve, Yann Saint John's D 69 6 15 21 92
30 Reddick, Kruise Tri-City C 72 23 51 74 60

Anyone notice where Dan Fritsche was ranked in that first list - 10th overall! The Jackets grabbed him in the second round after he fell because of questions marks about his shoulders. Its to bad he hasn't produced like a top 10 pick from that draft.

Of course both lists don't include the European prospects which in the case of 2003, Nik Zherdev was the highest rated player and in this year's case its Nikita Filatov who takes that honor. Both were/are projected to be in the top 5 of their drafts.

This year's CSS final rankings have some players higher up than the other major scouting services (McKeens, ISS & Redline). The consensus amongst those 3 are the following:

1 Steven Stamkos (C)
2 Nikita Filatov (LW)
3 Drew Doughty (D)
4 Zach Bogosian (D)
5 Alex Pietrangelo (D)
6 Luke Schenn (D)
7 Mikkel Boedker (RW)
8 Colin Wilson (C)
9 Cody Hodgson (C)

Of course all this could be moot as Howson could very well deal the pick for immediate help next year. It may be the only way he can grap that top line center this franchise desperately needs.

-LTL