PLYMOUTH, Mich. - All 19 draft-eligible members of the 2023-24 U.S. National Under-18 Team and an additional pair of NTDP alums were named to the National Hockey League Central Scouting's Final Rankings ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft, set to take place June 28-29 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) was the highest-rated NTDP player, coming in as the 12th ranked North American skater. Fellow Boston University commit Kamil Bednarik (Chicago, Ill.) was also ranked as a possible first-round selection, earning the 28th ranking.
Team USA was highly populated in the 30-75 range, beginning with defenseman EJ Emery (Compton, Calif.) coming in at 39. He was followed closely behind by Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) at 43, and Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.) right behind at 44. A pair of defenseman were given back-to-back rankings with Cole Hutson (Chicago, Ill.) at 55 and Will Skahan (Woodbury, Minn.) one spot behind at 56. Team USA captain Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.) rounded out the projected second-round choices with his ranking of 59.
Next up are Christian Humphreys (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Lucas Van Vliet (Livonia, Minn.), who were named the 71st and 75th ranked North American skaters, respectively.
Austin Baker (White Lake, Mich.) was listed at 104, while John Whipple (Minnetonka, Minn.), Brendan McMorrow (Lakeville, Minn.) and Sam Laurila (Moorhead, Minn.) were all tight together at 145, 147 and 148.
Defenseman Noah Lapointe (Hinsdale, Ill.) was ranked 198 while a pair of forwards rounded out the Team USA skater representation with Kristian Epperson (Mequon, Wis.) at 201 and Charlie Pardue (Winnetka, Ill.) at 209.
In net, both Team USA netminders were ranked among North America's best. Nick Kempf (Chicago, Ill.) was the fourth-ranked netminder and Jack Parsons (Ithaca, N.Y.) came in at 13th.
Two NTDP alums found their names on the rankings as Austin Burnevik (Blaine, Minn. / Madison Capitols) hit the chart at 113 overall and Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md. / Youngstown Phantoms) at 175.
Four NTDP players are not age-eligible for this year's draft: defensemen Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen (Northville, Mich.) and Logan Hensler (Woodbury, Minn.), along with forwards James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.), Shane Vansaghi (St. Louis, Mo.).
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