
The men's season begins soon, so our prospect expert is counting down all the players with bright futures. If you like mobile defensemen, this is your year
Another NCAA men’s season is upon us and once again, I had too many names for my top-75 list. But that’s a good problem to have because it means the level of talent in the college game is still going strong. This year seems particularly fun if you like skilled defensemen and the top name on the list should be no surprise.
Once again, here are my rules for the rankings: These are the top 75 players I am excited to watch for this season. I skew towards freshmen and sophomores because they are new and tend to have higher upsides. For that reason, I've made a decision to omit certain older prospects that I know are good (like Nashville prospect Dante Fabbro of Boston U.) in order to get more new names on. I almost exclusively list players drafted by NHL teams already (or kids who are up for the draft this year), but I have included a couple top free agents to keep an eye out for. I do not try to be fair in terms of how many schools are included - though if I’m not mistaken, the Atlantic Hockey conference gets its first shout-out this year. But it was earned. Also, I’m not trying to be fair in terms of NHL rights. Philly, New Jersey and Vegas all seemed to do well this year, but again; those franchises just drafted players I’m interested in. With all that out of the way, let’s get to the list.
*Edit: every year I forget someone and this time it was Joel Farabee somehow. But the Philadelphia Flyers pick and Boston U. freshman would definitely be top-10. Great motor, great skill.