After a year traveling around to various rinks in towns across the United States and Canada, hours of video sessions and reading prospect-related news, and making calls around the scouting community, it's time to drop my final big board of the 2018 NHL draft season, ranking the top 80 draft-eligible players.
As you're going to hear a lot, there's not much consensus about who will end up where. Once we start getting to the third round, you might start seeing lesser-skilled picks who offer a good fit or play a style that fits into a team's philosophy.
Since I'm not drafting for a specific team, my focus is to slot the players more traditionally and identify the players with the best long-term potential of reaching the NHL. Once we get outside the top 60, including the following 20 names, my confidence level in the prospects drops a bit, but pro ceilings are there nonetheless. As always, if you'd like more insight into my process, you can always hit me up on Twitter.
Here's a look at the prospects I have ranked No. 61-80 on my draft board.
Top 80 | Nos. 1-20 | Nos. 21-40 | Nos. 41-60
Notable late-rounders | Top goalies
61. Jack Drury, C, Waterloo (USHL)
Age: 18 | Shoot: L | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 175
56 GP | 24 G | 41 A