Macklin Celebrini unsurprisingly sits No. 1 among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting's midseason rankings.
Celebrini, the projected first overall pick in June's NHL Draft, is fresh off representing Canada at the world juniors. The Boston University standout collected four goals and four assists over five games despite his country's fifth-place finish.
In his freshman season with the Terriers, Celebrini has been dominant from a point production standpoint. The 17-year-old - who'll turn 18 about two weeks before the June draft - has 11 goals and 16 assists across 16 NCAA contests.
Here are the top 10 North American skaters:
| Rank | Player | Position | Nationality | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macklin Celebrini | C | 🇨🇦 | Boston University (NCAA) |
| 2 | Artyom Levshunov | D | 🇧🇾 | Michigan State (NCAA) |
| 3 | Cayden Lindstrom | C | 🇨🇦 | Medicine Hat (WHL) |
| 4 | Zeev Buium | D | 🇺🇸 | Denver (NCAA) |
| 5 | Trevor Connelly | LW | 🇺🇸 | Tri-City (USHL) |
| 6 | Carter Yakemchuk | D | 🇨🇦 | Calgary (WHL) |
| 7 | Sam Dickinson | D | 🇨🇦 | London (OHL) |
| 8 | Cole Eiserman | LW | 🇺🇸 | USA U18 (NTDP) |
| 9 | Berkly Catton | C | 🇨🇦 | Spokane (WHL) |
| 10 | Zayne Parekh | D | 🇨🇦 | Saginaw (OHL) |
Konsta Helenius leads the way among European skaters. The 17-year-old - who turns 18 in May - has notched eight goals and 12 assists in 29 games with Jukurit in Finland's Liiga this season. He has the most points by an under-19 player in the league in 2023-24 and the second-most by a teenager.
Here are the top 10 European skaters:
| Rank | Player | Position | Nationality | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konsta Helenius | C | 🇫🇮 | Jukurit (Liiga) |
| 2 | Anton Silayev | D | 🇷🇺 | Nizhny Novgorod (KHL) |
| 3 | Ivan Demidov | RW | 🇷🇺 | SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL/Jr.) |
| 4 | Adam Jiricek | D | 🇨🇿 | Plzen (Extraliga) |
| 5 | Emil Hemming | RW | 🇫🇮 | TPS (Liiga) |
| 6 | Michael Brandsegg-Nygard | RW | 🇳🇴 | Mora (Allsvenskan) |
| 7 | Aron Kiviharju | D | 🇫🇮 | HIFK (Liiga) |
| 8 | Matvei Shuravin | D | 🇷🇺 | CSKA (KHL/Jr.) |
| 9 | Igor Chernyshov | LW | 🇷🇺 | Dynamo Moscow (KHL) |
| 10 | Lucas Pettersson | C | 🇸🇪 | Modo (SHL/Jr.) |
Carter George of the OHL's Owen Sound Attack is the top-ranked North American goaltender, and Kim Saarinen of HPK's junior squad in Finland tops the list of international netminders.
The NHL Draft is scheduled for June 28 and 29 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.