NTDP Camp: A Review of 00-03’s

After two days of the 2022 NTDP Evaluation Camp in Plymouth, MI where the countries best young prospects battle for spots on the US National Team, we decided to take a look back at our rankings and evaluations from the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 NTDP Camps. Where are those players now? Where did they get drafted? Where did we get it wrong and where did we get it right?

We took a look at all the forwards and defenseman that were invited to camp, our grade and rankings on each player, where they are playing now and where they got drafted. This does not include goalies because only some years we were able to get a goalie scouts in attendance and other years we didn’t evaluate the goalies so we excluded them from this report for accuracy purposes.

What we see in looking at the data as a whole is that each birth year is different. The 2001 birth year was the best team they have had and the strongest culmination of US talent in the history of the NHL Draft. Then we have other years like the 2002 team that only one player was drafted in the first round but the following year two more were added as two late birth years were drafted out of NCAA and USHL (Matt Beniers and Matt Samoskevich). In this year’s draft Northeastern has a late ‘03 NTDP alumni in Jack Hughes who will likely go in the first half of the first round and will add to NTDP ‘03 class totals.

Another observation is overagers like Carter Mazur who was passed up in his first draft year and then climbed all the way to the third round the following year and Connor Kelley who was selected in the last round after a strong season with Minnesota Duluth. We also saw players who didn’t play in the U17 year but joined the team a year later like Gavin Hain and players who played their U17 season but then were called up to the OHL like Blade Jenkins and Cole Saganiuk.

Keep in mind just because a player did not play on the NTDP team, does not mean they were not invited. Players like Ben Brinkman (Edina HS), Cade Webber (Rivers) and Jack Peart (Grand Rapids) are examples of players who were invited but decided to stay at their respective schools. There are other high ranking players who simply chose a different path like Antonio Stranges (London) and Arthur Kaliyev (Hamilton).

2003’s

It’s a bit premature to look at the 2003’s as most of these players are just starting their CHL/NCAA careers. The Top 2 players in the class were both Top 20 NHL Draft picks and 9 of our Top 10 were drafted with the one player undrafted was a late birth year and is projected to go in the top 15 of this years draft. Players who were on NTDP’s team are in bold.

Scouting Report: NTDP Evaluation Camp Report: All 46 Skaters – March 28, 2019

NHL Draft By Round

NTDP Camp Roster (In Order by NZ Grade at Camp)

There are three key late birth years in this age group at his camp, Jack Hughes, Davis Burnside and Jack Devine. While the grades are a reflection of how that player did at camp, and not an indication of the players upside or overall ability, we can see that Devine was likely ranked too low as he had a terrific career with the program and now at Denver. 

Biggest Miss: Jack Devine, he was given a “B” grade and #16th ranked forward in the camp and he went on to make the team, have a brilliant career at NTDP and made an immediate impact on a top NCAA team in Denver as a freshman. A late birth date, he is currently in his NHL draft year and is projected to be a 2nd-3rd round selection.

Best Take: Chase Stillman, he was committed to Providence at the time and was not selected for the team despite being our #8 ranked forward in the camp, so he returned home and signed with Sudbury in the OHL. He would end up being a first round NHL Draft selection after a strong showing for Team Canada at the World 18’s and is having a great year in the OHL with Peterbrough.

2002’s

The 2002’s were stronger than they got credit for and had the tough task of going after the 2001’s. The team had 100% of A and A- players drafted and some strong showings from the B+ grades as well. The two big names in this class were Jake Sanderson who went 5th overall and Matt Beniers who was a late birth year and went #2 overall after his freshman year at Michigan. 

Scouting Report: NTDP Evaluation Camp Report – March 29, 2018

NHL Draft By Round

NTDP Camp Roster (In Order by NZ Grade at Camp)

Biggest Miss: Scott Morrow and Mackie Samoskevich; Scott Morrow we had ranked 5th among defenders and he went higher in the draft than all but one and Samoskevich we had ranked 7th among forwards and he went higher in the draft than all but two forwards. Both of these players are coming off highly successful freshman years in NCAA and have outplayed several players ranked above them. Worth noting they are both overagers so their draft stock benefited from having an additional year.

Best Take: Scott Morrow and Mackie Samoskevich; yes, the same players as our biggest misses. While we had them lower than they ultimately would become, we had both securely on the team and neither of these players made the roster so we can at least take some credit on that front. They are better than we thought they’d be, but we still believed they deserved to be on the team.

2001’s

The 2001 birth year group is the best collection of US talent in the history of the NHL Draft led by Jack Hughes who was the youngest player to earn a 5-star rating by Neutral Zone which he did in his 14 year old year playing up a level for Mississauaga Rebels in the GTHL. He would then move onto the Toronto Marlies U15’s before making his way to the national team where he broke records and went on to become the #1 overall pick. Joining him in the first round was a record 9 other players from this camp and several of them are already playing in the National Hockey League and having success. All of our top 8 players ranked in camp are playing professional hockey today as 20 year olds. 

Scouting Report: NTDP Evaluation Camp Rankings – March 31, 2017

NHL Draft by Round

NTDP Camp Roster (In Order of NZ Grade at Camp)

Biggest Miss Cole Caufield, we had as our #10th ranked forward at camp with a “B+” grade. What stings even more is that in each players write up for that camp we make a case for making the team and a case against making the team. In his case against, we said, and I quote, “not sure if he’s dynamic enough to make up for his size disadvantage next year in juniors.” A line that will haunt us for a long time. You could make the excuse that he was quite small at camp, but that was negated given the fact we literally saw him lead Team Wisconsin U18’s (as a 15 year old) to a Tier 1 National Championship appearance. Caufield would go onto score 44 goals in 40 games in his first year with the program, capture the Hobey Baker Award as a sophomore and get drafted 15th overall in the NHL Draft. Big swing and a miss.

Best Take: Ryan Johnson, he was not selected to the national team despite being our #5 ranked defenseman at camp. We understood because he was pretty undersized at the time and struggled at camp against bigger forwards but his vision and skating ability were high end. In fairness to NTDP Johnson would return to midget hockey the following year and develop his game and grow before lighting up the USHL the following season as a rookie. He would go on to become a first round NHL Draft pick and is currently a top pair defenseman on Minnesota, one of the top teams in NCAA hockey.

2000’s

The 2000’s didn’t have as much high end talent but it had solid depth as everyone ranked in our Top 15 was drafted in the NHL. The class was led by Mattias Samuelsson and Oliver Wahlstrom who were both playing up a level, Samuelsson was playing for Northwood School and Oliver Wahlstrom made the Shattuck Prep team as a 15 year old which put him in rare company. Joel Farabee has since gone on to have the best pro career so far but several players at this camp have potential to be long term pros.

Scouting Report: NTDP U17 Camp Report – April 18, 2016

NHL Draft by Round

NTDP Camp Roster (In Order by NZ Grade at Camp)

Biggest Miss Jack Drury, we had him ranked #16 among forwards and despite saying in his writeup that he was, “as complete a player as anyone in the age group and has an excellent 200ft game,” that didn’t move him up our board. He wasn’t selected for the National Team so at least we weren’t the only ones that missed it. He would go on to become a dominant two-way centerman at the college level, was drafted in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes and is currently playing in their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves. A potential long term NHLer who has played 2 games in the NHL and has 2 goals to show for it.

Best Take: Jordan Harris, he was our #6 ranked defenseman in the camp in a pretty loaded defensive group that featured four current pro hockey players but he was not selected for the NTDP team. Harris would go on to become a third round NHL Draft pick and was just awarded best defensive defenseman in Hockey East after returning for his senior year despite having pro options. What might be even more impressive about Harris is that he and #5 ranked defenseman, Ben Brinkman, went directly from high school hockey to NCAA D1 programs and both played every game as a freshman. Between the two of them they played a total of 5 games of junior hockey in their amateur careers; almost unheard of in today’s hockey climate. Worth noting Brinkman was invited to NTDP but turned it down to return to Edina HS.

Photo Credit: Dan Hickling / Hickling Images