All rankings from the NHL Central Scouting Bureau's midterm evaluations.
Cam Fowler's stock may be dropping, and he could fall out of the top three. Most scouts feel Fowler will go right behind Taylor Hall (No. 1) and Tyler Seguin (No. 2), but the Red Line Report thinks he and other top defensemen in the draft -- Brandon Gormley (No. 8) and Erik Gudbranson (No. 6) included -- are not what they're hyped up to be.
The newsletter''s chief scout, Kyle Woodlief, writes, "While [Fowler and Gormley] are nice players who should make fine pros, let's face it -- there's not a Doughty, Bogosian or Hedman in the bunch. Or even a Pietrangelo or pre-knee injury Erik Johnson, for that matter."
So then who will be the top blueliner? Derek Forbort (No. 11), they say.
To read more about the draft's top prospects and which forward is ascending into the top three, you must be an ESPN Insider.
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Grant Sonier
Grant Sonier has scouted for six NHL organizations over the past 13 years, most recently for the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2010-11 season. He is a special contributor to ESPN Insider.
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Victoria Matiash
Victoria Matiash has served as a Fantasy Hockey columnist for ESPN.com since 2007, and contributor to NHL Rumor Central since 2010. She lives in Toronto.
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