USHL

NHL Central Scouting announced Monday its Midterm Rankings ahead of the 2020 NHL Draft, which featured 80 ranked players with USHL ties. Among the 80, 58 are currently playing in the USHL or have played at least one game this season in the league. 

In total, 16 USHL teams (current or former) are represented in the rankings, including 10 teams - USA Hockey National Team Development Program (22), Chicago Steel (9), Waterloo Black Hawks (7), Muskegon Lumberjacks (6), Des Moines Buccaneers (5), Lincoln Stars (5), Madison Capitols (5), Sioux City Musketeers (5), Sioux Falls Stampede (5), and Tri-City Storm (5) - all with five or more current or former players in the rankings. 

According to the NHL Central Scouting rankings, the USHL would have five first round selections including Jake Sanderson (11 - NTDP), Ty Smilanic (18 - NTDP), Thomas Bordeleau (26 - NTDP), Yan Kuznetsov (28 - Sioux Falls*) and Brendan Brisson (31 - Chicago). The USHL has produced five-or-more first round picks in each of the last six NHL Drafts. 

Other Stats:

• Of the 31 North American goaltenders rated, ten have ties to the USHL, including five of the top 10.  
• Four of the top five USHL scorers (1 - Sean Farrell, T-2 - Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, T-3 - Trevor Kuntar, T-3 - Sam Colangelo) are among those listed.
• Two players, Youngstown Phantoms forward Ben Schoen and former USA Hockey NTDP forward Michael Gildon are listed as Limited Viewing players, who were not seen enough by NHL Central Scouting to be given a ranking.