The 2020 draft is finally behind us and while we don’t know what the schedule holds for the future, the 2021 draft class is starting to form – well, some of the leagues, at least. We’re still waiting for the OHL and WHL to start and that won’t be for a while, but we do know a lot of the prominent prospects nonetheless.

In the past, I’ve kicked off the draft season with a first-round ranking, but it occurred to me this year that the list could be confusing, since it was different from subsequent rankings that were more informed by talks I had with NHL team scouts. My initial ranking was always more of a compilation of players who had performed well as underagers and those who had made the cut in top-10 rankings I had compiled for Future Watch or Draft Preview.

So this year I’m switching it up. What you see here now is a watch list, much like Central Scouting puts out. These are kids I’m going to keep an eye on, based on my current knowledge of the 2021 draft class – which is embryonic right now, as we’re just getting started with the season. There’s a bit of scouting input here thanks to an exercise I did in the summer where I asked experts to help me put together under-18 squads for Canada and the U.S. for the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament that didn’t happen, so this isn’t totally just my research.

Instead of a ranking right now, I’ve broken up the kids by league as best as I could. There will be some movement, particularly with USHL kids who may go back to their Minnesota or New England high school teams during the season, but I’ve done my best here. The top kids from Minnesota (Luke Mittelstadt and Jack Peart for example) are listed with their USHL teams.

Have I missed anyone? Probably! But that’s going to happen when there have been so many tournament and camp cancellations. I assure you the snubs aren’t personal.

With that being said, let’s talk about the top picks right now. For me, it’s a duel at the top between Michigan freshman defenseman Owen Power and Finnish center Aatu Raty. Fellow Wolverines Kent Johnson and Matt Beniers are up there as well, not to mention OHL defenseman Brandt Clarke and NTDP kids Luke Hughes and Chaz Lucius. The best goaltender is Sweden’s Jesper Wallstedt. In general, it’s looking like a strong year for defensemen and a good season for the QMJHL (which is nice, since they’re the only CHL circuit playing right now – kinda).

So use the following as a starting guide for the 2021 draft and as scouts get a chance to fill their notebooks on kids, I’ll return with my first true ranking.

NCAA

Owen Power, D, Michigan

Kent Johnson, C, Michigan

Matt Beniers, LW, Michigan

OHL

Brandt Clarke, D, Barrie

Mason McTavish, C, Peterborough

Brennan Othmann, LW, Flint

Benjamin Gaudreau, G, Sarnia

Francesco Pinelli, C, Kitchener

Ethan Del Mastro, D, Mississauga

Brett Harrison, C, Oshawa

Ty Voit, LW, Sarnia

Tristan Lennox, G, Saginaw

Bryce Montgomery, D, London

Ryan Winterton, C, Hamilton

Connor Lockhart, C, Erie

Francesco Arcuri, C, Kingston

QMJHL

Zach L’Heureux, LW, Halifax

Zach Dean, C, Gatineau

Zach Bolduc, C, Rimouski

Isaac Belliveau, D, Rimouski

William Rousseau, G, Quebec

Evan Nause, D, Quebec

Joshua Roy, C, Saint John

Peter Reynolds, C, Saint John

Oscar Plandowski, D, Charlottetown

Justin Robidas, C, Val-d’Or

James Malatesta, LW, Quebec

Xavier Bourgault, C, Shawinigan

WHL

Dylan Guenther, RW, Edmonton

Carson Lambos, D, Winnipeg