Ages as per BRHL site***

1 - WINNIPEG - Logan Cooley, Will Smith, Thomas Harley, Joshua Roy.  The future is bright, bright, bright in Winnipeg.  Well, make-believe BRHL Winnipeg, not the actual city.  Cooley and Smith are two absolute studs down the middle for Doc to build around, and will likely peak around the same point in time.  Harley is just scratching the surface.  And Roy brings a highly coveted all-round game to the right side.   Doc could have the necessary pieces in place to go for a championship within a few years, but will he open up the purse strings and go all out once that time is here? 

2 - UTAH - Mason McTavish, Logan Stankoven, Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka.  Joel has seemingly built an up and coming team centred around lots of good old-fashioned Canadian skill and grit.  McTavish and Stankoven are beginning to live up to the hype that have surrounded them for years.  Danielson and Sandin-Pellikka are two very well-rounded and mature Red Wings prospects who made significant strides this past season.  They have plenty of hype too, and with Stevie Y and his proven track record of developing young talent, expect big things from these two also. 

3 - CHICAGO - Cutter Gauthier, Zach Benson, Luke Evangelista, Philip Tomasino.  Gauthier will likely step right into a prominent role with the NHL Ducks this fall.  He has absolutely torched the college ranks and dominated at the World Juniors.  Benson was lauded last season for his maturity at the big league level and looks to be rounding well into form and into a reliable, and potentially impactful, top 6 forward.  Evangelista showed plenty of promise with the Preds last season, and teammate Tomasino, although maybe slightly slower in his progression, showed some too.  I'm sure Dave will be tuning in to the odd Nashville game over the next couple seasons. 

4 - ST LOUIS - Jack Quinn, Denton Mateychuk, Oliver Moore, Victor Soderstrom.  Eric here possesses 3 studs under the age of 24.  Soderstrom still has some potential, but the real gravy lies in the former 3 of this list.  Quinn unfortunately missed a significant portion of last season, but was lights out when he was in the lineup.  No concerns with him going forward.  Mateychuk was given an extra season of junior hockey and wow did it ever pay off as he lit up the WHL on his way to the Memorial Cup.  Moore's production wasn't quite where I'm sure he'd want it, but has all the intangibles to become a long-term NHL player. 

5 - NASHVILLE - Brandt Clarke, Anton Lundell, Nolan Allan, William Wallinder.  Clarke has the makings of a 99 PA, 99 SC, but 49 DF player for years to come.  He is unpredictable in his own end of the ice, but has put up impressive offensive numbers wherever he's played.  Look for this to be the year he sticks with LA.  Lundell is more the opposite, his offensive ceiling is limited, but he's extremely responsible defensively... aka a sim darling.  There is then a big drop off to the final two of Tyler's Core Four with Allan and Wallinder still striving to make that jump to the NHL.  Both have decent pedigree so they will be given a long look at some point. 

6 - MINNESOTA - Danila Yurov, Jackson LaCombe, Yan Kuznetsov, Viktor Neuchev.  Al sniping Yurov in last year's BRHL draft was its own feel-good story in and of itself.  Yurov did not disappoint last season, leading Magnitogorsk to a KHL title.  Both real-life Minny and Al must be tickled pink with this guy's progression.  Speaking of progression, LaCombe cemented himself as a true top-notch, shut-down defender this past year.  Kuznetsov, unfortunately, has not followed suite just yet.  Neuchev has shown a faint glimmer of hope. 

7 - COLORADO - Alex Newhook, Dmitry Voronkov, Etinne Morin, Ethan Samson.  I think the real reason that Bryce left us was because of Newhook being dealt to Montreal.  The move, so far, has proven to be a good one for Newhook and his new team.  He put up a very solid 34 points in just 55 games and was still only 22 for half the year.  Voronkov has been an incredibly pleasant surprise for both Pat and the NHL Blue Jackets.  An 18 goal rookie season is great no matter how you slice it, and at 6 foot 5 and 240 lbs, Columbus has the makings of a power-forward at their fingertips. Unfortunately, the latter 2 names on this list are ones that not only Pat has never heard of, but neither have the rest of us. 

8 - DALLAS - Cole Knuble, Frederic Brunet, Zach Nehring, Matthew Perkins.  Speaking of young players/prospects that no one has really heard of, welcome to Junya's collection of young talent, without much talent.  If the stars align, no pun intended, and everything else in the universe aligns, Knuble and Brunet could sniff between 1 and 5 career NHL games.  The latter two will likely be relegated to playing semi-pro for 10 seasons before entering the work force reluctantly as middle-aged real estate agents.