The Buffalo Sabres hold the first overall pick with the expansion Seattle Kraken, Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils, and Columbus Blue Jackets rounding out the top five.
The NHL'S final 2021 Draft Rankings had defenseman Owen Power listed as the top North American skater and winger William Eklund as the top European skater. Power, who suited up for the University of Michigan in 2020-21, is the favorite to head to the Sabres as the No. 1 overall pick. The 6-foot-6, 213-pound blue liner boasts a stellar blend of size, strength, and skill.
Players born between January 1, 2001 and September 15, 2003 are eligible for selection.
"The process has certainly been unique," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented over the past year while his scouting staff tried to evaluate talent across the globe.
"There are a number of players in certain leagues that we didn't get to see live nearly as much as in years past. You're relying on a smaller sample size, underage projections of players and their own growth and development, so it presents some challenges. We've done an awful lot of video work, a lot of background work and sort of diving below.
"I think every team's probably trying to go in the same direction on that front. As I said, I think it presents probably a little more variance in terms of what the projections are for players as you go through. Outside of the top-end players in the draft that people probably feel comfortable with, I think you've got a spectrum of players probably from there on through the second and third rounds that may have greater variance associated with them.
"That's just associated with the challenges and uniqueness of what we've all been dealing with and the lack of dealing with live in particular."
