Michigan leads with 5.5 commits on 2015 NHL Draft Futures List
NHl Central Scouting released their 2015 NHL Futures List (people to keep an eye on this year). Michigan is kinda-sorta leading with 6ish commits on the list. The 'ish' being because Zach Werenski is yet to be officially on the team though he's semi-officially committed.
Slightly modified table via SBNCollegeHockey:
| Position | 2013-14 Team | College Commitment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AJHL | |||
| Cameron Hughes | C | Spruce Grove Saints | Wisconsin '14 |
| CCHL | |||
| Chase Pearson | C | Cornwall Colts | Uncommitted |
| CT-High | |||
| Taggart Corriveau | RW | Westminster Prep | St. Lawrence '16 |
| Indiana High | |||
| Karch Bachman | C | Culver Military Academy | Miami '15 |
| Michigan High | |||
| Sam Miletic | LW | Cranbrook-Kingswood | Michigan '15 |
| MN High | |||
| Brock Boeser | RW | Burnsville | Wisconsin '15 |
| Matthew Freytag | LW | Wayzata | Wisconsin '15 |
| Jack McNeely | D | Lakeville North | Nebraska-Omaha '15 |
| Tom Novak | LW | St. Thomas Academy | Minnesota '15 |
| Jack Sadek | D | Lakeville North | Uncommitted |
| NH High | |||
| A.J. Greer | LW | Kimball Union | Boston University '14 |
| Quebec High | |||
| Frederic Foulem | G | Stanstead College | Harvard '16 |
| OJHL | |||
| Dennis Gilbert | D | Buffalo Jr. Sabres | Niagara '15 |
| USHL | |||
| Chris Birdsall | G | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | Boston College '15 |
| Nick Boka | D | USNTDP U-17 | Michigan '15 |
| Jeremy Bracco | RW | USNTDP U-17 | Boston College '15 |
| Kyle Connor | C | USNTDP U-18 | Michigan '15 |
| Tory Dello | D | Tri-City Storm | Notre Dame '15 |
| Jack Eichel | C | USNTDP U-18 | Boston University '14 |
| Christian Fischer | C | USNTDP U-17 | Notre Dame '15 |
| Casey Fitzgerald | D | USNTDP U-17 | Boston College '15 |
| Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson | D | Omaha Lancers | Uncommitted |
| Brent Gates | C | Green Bay Gamblers | Notre Dame '15 |
| Jordan Greenway | LW | USNTDP U-17 | Boston University '15 |
| Noah Hanifin | D | USNTDP U-17/18 | Boston College '14 |
| Cooper Marody | C | Muskegon Lumberjacks | Michigan '15 |
| Ivan Provorov | D | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | Uncommitted |
| Brendan Warren | LW | USNTDP U-17 | Michigan '15 |
| Zach Werenski | D | USNTDP U-17 | Michigan '14 |
| Colin White | RW | USNTDP U-17 | Boston College '15 |
| USPHL Premier | |||
| John Marino | D | South Shore Kings | Yale '15 |
Generally speaking, Boka, Connor, and Werenski are all viewed as potential 1st round picks next year. Warren, Marody, and Miletic are probably early to mid round guys and Cecconi may be drafted as well. Should be an awesome recruiting class for us as long as the OHL is fended off successfully.
The BU-BC rivalry should be awesome this year as BU has potential #1 overall pick Jack Eichel and BC has likely the #1 defenseman in the draft (and top 5 overall) in Noah Hanifin. Eichel's the likely Hobey winner in my opinion. I can't recall college hockey having so many really elite talents in a single class.
Edit: Oops. Somehow completely missed that Cooper Marody was on the list.
As good as Eichel is, I'd be hesitant to call him the likely Hobey winner. BU is a fairly weak team, so he will end up being the centerpiece of their offense, which can be a lot of pressure for even the best freshmen. Teams will play to shut him down as a result.
I remember when Phil Kessel was entering college with similar hype, but in a much better situation at Minnesota, with a lot of predictions of him winning the Hobey. He ended up with 51 points in 39 games, which was very good, but he wasn't even a finalist for the Hobey. I'd predict one of the Miami guys (Czarnik or Barber) will end up with the award, though there's always an outside chance a goalie, such as Wilcox or Hellebuyck, has a great season and swipes it.
I think it's quite unlikely that Eichel ever makes it to BU. Almost every scouting report I've heard expects him to jump straight to the NHL.
He's not draft eligible till 2015 I thought, so it's either BU or the Q
Boka is the recruit I'm most excited to see on campus. Playing with Hanifin and Werinski overshadowed most of the other defensemen but Boka is a #1 defensemen; big, physical, excellent skater. Very similar to Jake Gardiner.
Miletic is another player to keep an eye on. He missed the cut for NTDP last year, but has Top-6 potential when he gets to Michigan.
Question about Zach Werenski - when you say he "is yet to be officially on the team though he's semi-officially committed" does that mean it's likely just a formality or is his attendance in real doubt? i.e. is there a 90% chance he ends up on the team or is it more 50-50? Is the OHL the threat here or what?
The U-18 team has replaced Hanifin and Werenski, who are both leaving the program a year early and trying to get into college. If Werenski is admitted early, the plan is that he will be at Michigan. If he's not admitted, he will go to London.
Well connected folk on the twitter continue to think he'll be at Michigan in the fall (guys connected to the Wolverine mostly IIRC), but the longer into summer we get without a yes/no the more concerned I become. Freshman will already be arriving on campus in 6-7 weeks.
Thanks much to both of you for the informative reponses.