The National Hockey League’s Central Scouting Bureau has released their preliminary rankings of draft eligible players for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
In Owen Sound, everyone is thrilled for netminder Jordan Binnington who is the highest rated Ontario Hockey League netminder in the Fall release.
Binnington, understandably, has anxiety issues in terms of playing time, since he’s partnered with Scott Stajcer in the Attack crease.
And while that’s a great scenario for the Attack, having two exceptional netminders, you can appreciate that Stajcer wants to play every night and Binnington, in turn, wants as much exposure as possible.
Put simply though, if Stajcer and Binnington are good enough, they’ll get were they’re going, regardless of who Mark Reeds starts on any given night.
Also, from a regional standpoint, Garrett Meurs of Ripley, a forward with the Plymouth Whalers is rated 21st among OHL skaters
E.J. McQuire, the Director of NHL Central Scouting, admits if Meurs was bigger, his rating, conceivably, would be higher.
In greater accuracy, as I see it, Meurs is one of a handful of highly touted OHL players who have not elevated their game to the expected level this season.
Among those players, in my opinion. you’d also find, in no particular order, Boone Jenner, Matt Puempel, Anthony Camara, Michael Curtis, David Broll, Carter Sandlak, Austen Brassard, Brett Ritchie and well…..you get the point.
The Fall OHL season has not been especially terrific for players who obviously need to be terrific if they are going to be selected early at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
I’m Fred Wallace