Five Questions: NHL Central Scouting final meetings

Mike Morreale will be on location beginning Friday through Monday for NHL Central Scouting's final meetings to determine the top North American skaters and goaltenders eligible for the 2017 NHL Draft. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook for real-time updates throughout the weekend.

TORONTO -- The 2017 NHL Draft is three months away, and now is the time NHL scouts begin to crunch numbers and sort through evaluations before compiling their wish list of players they hope will be available at the time of their selection.
NHL Central Scouting will look to help ease that process beginning Thursday, when they conduct meetings to determine the final rankings of the top 217 North American skaters and 31 North American goaltenders eligible for the 2017 draft at United Center in Chicago on June 23-24. Dan Marr, director of NHL Central Scouting, will chair the six-day meeting that will include the input of eight full-time scouts.
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"The 2017 Draft is not top heavy with impact franchise-type players, but the top 10-to-15 players have a chance to be household names with NHL fans down the road," Marr said. "There are a lot of high quality NHL prospects in this class at the top end, and I do anticipate that you'll see a lot of top six-type forwards, top four-type defensemen and a potential No. 1 goaltender come out of this draft."
Goran Stubb, NHL Director of European Scouting, will supply and recommend his ranking of the top skaters and goaltenders on the international list to Marr next week.
Here are five questions to consider entering NHL Central Scouting's final meetings:

Who will likely be No. 1 on Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters?

It appears to be a two-horse race for No. 1 between Brandon right-handed center Nolan Patrick and Halifax left-handed center Nico Hischier. Patrick might still have an edge despite his injury issues this season.
Patrick (6-foot-3, 198 pounds), No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list of North American skaters, missed 35 regular-season games because of an upper-body injury, and all four Western Hockey League playoff games because of a lower-body injury. The son of former NHL player Steve Patrick and nephew of Dallas Stars assistant coach James Patrick finished the regular season with 46 points (20 goals, 26 assists) and led the Wheat Kings with 1.39 points-per game.

Hischier (6-1, 176), No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list, finished 10th in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 86 points (38 goals, 48 assists) in 57 games. He also finished 48.9 percent on faceoffs (501-of-1,025) and had three shorthanded goals.

How close is the race for best defenseman in the draft?

Three solid candidates have emerged. Miro Heiskanen (6-0, 170) of HIFK in Finland, No. 6 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of international skaters, might be the frontrunner. He can read plays well, has a strong positional game and makes smart decisions. Timothy Liljegren (6-0, 191) of Rogle in Sweden is a strong mobile skater with good speed and is strong on the transition. He missed some time with mononucleosis but that hasn't deterred scouts. Liljegren, a right-handed shot, was No. 7 on Central Scouting's midterm list of international skaters.

Brooks right-hander Cale Makar (5-11, 179), who averaged 1.38 points per game in the Alberta Junior Hockey League is a dynamic skater and is elusive with and without the puck.

Is there a dark horse to keep an eye on down the stretch?

Tri-City center Morgan Geekie (6-2, 178) has used the disappointment of being passed over in the 2016 draft as motivation this season. He was No. 50 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list of North American skaters and led Tri-City with 90 points (35 goals, 55 assists) and 14 power-play goals in 72 games this season. Now in his second full season with the Americans, Geekie has good hands and vision and is trending in the right direction.

What are the chances a goaltender is selected in the first round of the draft?

There are many quality goaltenders to choose from this year's draft class, but the odds one is selected in the first round on June 23 remain slim. However, there are five that could hear their name called as early as the second round: Olle Eriksson Ek (6-2, 183) of Farjestad Jr. in Sweden; Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (6-4, 196) of HPK Jr. in Finland; Keith Petruzzelli (6-5, 180) of Muskegon in the United States Hockey League; Ian Scott (6-3, 174) of Prince Albert (WHL) and Jake Oettinger (6-4, 212) of Boston University in Hockey East.

Who is the top college player available in the draft?

St. Cloud State freshman center Ryan Poehling (6-2, 183) scored 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 35 games for St. Cloud State, but what has scouts excited is his pro-style game below the circles. He's good on the power play and exhibits excellent hockey sense.
Oettinger finished his freshman season 20-10-3 with a 2.09 GAA, .927 save percentage in 33 regular-season games. He led Hockey East with a 2.09 GAA in league games and became the ninth BU goaltender named to a Hockey East All-Star Team.