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Top 80 prospects in the 2018 NHL draft: Ranking Nos. 21-40

Akil Thomas led all U18 players in the OHL with 81 points this season. Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

While we're all excited about the top 20 prospects in the 2018 NHL draft, I'm more intrigued by what happens in the back half of the first round. With almost no consensus, teams are going to be all over the map in their selections. The good news, however, is that the skill level all the way down to about the 60th pick should give teams a number of prospects to help their systems in a big way.

The nervous energy among scouts who I've talked to is noticeable. You don't know how many times I've heard, "I don't know if he'll be there for us when we want him, but we'd love to have him." The entertainment value is certainly going to be high in the first round and the early portion of Day 2.

So let's get to some more of the higher-end players available in 2018, looking here at those ranking Nos. 21-40 on my big board.

Top 80 | Nos. 1-20 | Nos. 41-60 | Nos. 61-80
Notable late-rounders | Top goalies


21. Jonatan Berggren, RW, Skelleftea Jr. (Sweden-Jr.)
Age: 17 | Shoot: L | Ht: 5-10 | Wt: 181
38 GP | 18 G | 39 A