The Hockey Writers’ inaugural Draft Prospect Guide has arrived!

The Next Ones: NHL 2015 Draft Prospect Guide features 150 in-depth prospect profiles for the upcoming draft written by THW’s draft team based on Eldon MacDonald’s May rankings of the top 180 prospects.

Each prospect profile includes:

• His Specifications including height, weight, position, date/place of birth, and year of draft eligibility.
• Other Rankings (where available) from NHL Central Scouting, Future Considerations, Craig Button, Draftbuzz, McKeen’s, Last Word on Sports, WHL from Above, and more.
• A Draft Round Prediction. Is he a late-round flier? A top 30 pick? A sleeper?
• A Close-Up, a short bio on who he is and what sets him apart.
• Quotes from Scouts and others in the know, including Corey Pronman, Cody Nickolet, Dan Stewart, Brendan Ross, Dan Kerr, Ben Kerr, Bill Placzek, Craig Button, Kyle Woodlief, Anthony Mauro, Uffe Bodin, Brock Otter and more.
• How He Projects as a Pro Player. Is he top six material? Third-line energy guy?
• His Strengths. How is his release? His hockey sense? Does he go to the dirty areas?
• His Weaknesses. Is his awareness lacking in his own zone? Could he add some muscle?
• NHL Player Comparison. When possible, the prospect is compared to an NHL player, past or present. This is typically in terms of his style of play, and not in terms of talent.

Of the 150 profiles, a minority of them have already appeared on The Hockey Writers web site in different form. The large majority of profiles are presented exclusively as a part of this draft guide, as well as a foreword written by THW’s lead prospect analyst Christopher Ralph.

This comprehensive, convenient guide is available for just $2.99.

It is available at Amazon.com for the Kindle (and for those with other devices who have the Kindle app).

It is also available for the iPad, Nook, and all other devices that require the .epub format through the independent distributor Smashwords. Here you can also download the book as a PDF, and purchases can be made through PayPal.

A Draft Class for the Ages

This year’s draft class is widely regarded as one for the ages, with the potential to rival the epic class of 2003, which featured names like Staal, Backes, Bergeron, Getzlaf, Parise, Seabrook, Carter, Brown, Kesler, Perry, Richards and many more. That’s tough to beat, but for the first time since ’03, an incoming draft class has that much potential.