Just like
many prospects for the 2017 draft, some Europeans eligible for the 2018 draft
are already leaving for North America and starting their official season
overseas. This update is meant to see where we stand right before guys like
A.Svechnikov leave Europe and our rankings as a result.
After the
Hlinka, not much has changed for us. Our
appointed top 3 prospects only confirmed they deserve to remain up there and we
don’t feel like someone else has really challenged their position so far. With
two seasons to go before their NHL draft there is plenty of time for that to
happen, but it might not be that easy to catch defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and
contend for his #1 spot. In fact, at this time we believe the 16 years old Swede
to be the most promising prospect in Europe for the next two NHL drafts.
To finish
off our top 5 we still have Skarek and Alexeyev there, as the Czech goalie
backstopped his national team to their first win at the home tournament and the
Russian defenseman was a solid presence on the blue line for his country before leaving for the WHL. They mark the only change to our early August list as they flip the last two positions.
Rank | Player | Position | Nation |
1. | Rasmus Dahlin | D | SWE |
2. | Andrei Svechnikov | RW | RUS |
3. | Filip Zadina | LW | CZE |
4. | Alexander Alexeyev | D | RUS |
5. | Jakub Skarek | G | CZE |