THREE DOGS RANKED BY CENTRAL SCOUTING

Saint John Sea Dogs rookie Stanislav Galiev got some high praise today as the National Hockey League and Central Scouting released their final rankings.

Galiev is among North America’s best and finds himself ranked 20th among draft eligible players playing on the continent. That would most likely make him a late first round, early second round pick.

In 67 games played in the regular season, Galiev finished fourth in team scoring with 15 goals and 45 assists. While playing most of the year on the big line with Mike Hoffman and Nicholas Petersen, he finished the campaign with a rating of +41.

Galiev, who does not like McDonalds, saw his ranking improve three spots since the mid-term report was released.

From Twitter:

RT @mayor119 At the 2010 draft in June NHL.com projects #LAKings 2 pick future Bertuzzi (Howden), Frolov (Galiev) or Draper (Watson)

Sophomore forwards Stephen MacAulay (#85) and Danick Gauthier (#147) were also ranked amongst the top draft-eligible players on the continent.

From John Moore’s Twitter:

Stephen MacAuley born in Darmouth is only Nova Scotia ranked. The Saint John Sea Dogs winger is 85th, projected to be late 3rd rounder.

MacAulay, known more for his work hard work than his goal scoring ability, finished the year with eight goals and 13 assists. He also received 39 penalty minutes in 56 games played during the regular season.

Gauthier had 13 goals and nine assists in 66 games played this year.

The 134 players listed includes 116 CHL skaters amongst the 210 in North America ranked by NHL Central Scouting, and 18 goalies on the overall list of 30 ranked in North America. The Ontario Hockey League leads the way with 53 players ranked including 45 skaters and eight goaltenders, ahead of the Western Hockey League with 52 players which includes 46 skaters and six goaltenders, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 29 players including 25 skaters and six goaltenders. All 40 players that competed in the 2010 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game appear in the rankings.

To view the entire list, click HERE.

The 2010 NHL Entry Draft is in Los Angeles this June.

Telegraph-Journal columnist Peter McGuire took a look at next year’s draft on Tuesday.

-With files from saintjohnseadogs.com and chl.ca