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<p>Whether the Leafs are good or bad this year, they currently hold 11 draft picks in the 2016 draft.  Two of those are in the first round.  And we know that the team wants to &#8220;rebuild&#8221; &#8212; whether that&#8217;s by bottoming out and recouping a lottery pick or just plain acquiring good young assets, all expectations are the team is going to place paramount emphasis on the draft moving forward as they attempt to bring the team back towards respectability.  Bottom line: this isn&#8217;t just a big year for the new players, coaches, and hockey ops personnel.  It&#8217;s a big year for the scouts, too.</p>
<p>Because the draft is going to be so important for the team moving forward, because fans are increasingly looking for information related to the draft, and because we here at TLN just plain love to scout, we&#8217;re hoping to up our draft coverage this year and bring unprecedented quality draft coverage to the Barilkosphere for the 2015-2016 hockey calendar year.  That starts today, with our first of many posts leading up to the 2016 draft next June.</p>
<p>Follow us past the jump, where we&#8217;ll unveil our full top 10 for the 2016 draft, with detailed profiles to accompany each player.</p>
<p></p>
<p>These rankings were put together combining the rankings of myself, Justin Fisher, Jon Steitzer, Cat Silverman, and Ryan Fancey.  In combining our rankings, we were able to come up with a consensus top ten, as well as a small collection of &#8220;honorable mentions&#8221; &#8212; players that were ranked by at least one writer inside their top ten, but not receiving enough attention to actually make it onto the final list.  Without further ado, here&#8217;s the full list:</p>
<p align="center"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="TLNPreSeason2016Top10" src="https://i0.wp.com/thenationnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/83/e7/article_83e7876c-1505-47fb-97cd-dcf3ef4b4e68.png?resize=538%2C404" height="404" width="538"></p>
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<h2>1. AUSTON MATTHEWS</h2>
<p><b>C, Zurich (Swiss-A)</b></p>
<p>Over the last year or so Matthews has built up quite a name for himself and really entrenched himself as the consensus first overall pick in the 2016 draft with no signs of slowing down.  He&#8217;s a complete player with a number of very good to elite skills that leaves little doubt up until this point that he can be a franchise-level center in the NHL.  Matthews is a fantastic puckhandler that routinely makes high-end offensive plays rooted in his top-notch vision and goalscoring instincts.  He&#8217;s also got great top-end speed and size (he&#8217;s 6&#8243;2&#8242;).  He&#8217;s also very good on the defensive side of the puck.  And coaches rave about his intangibles and inner-drive.  And he has the numbers to back it all up:</p>
<div align="center">
<img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="auston" src="https://i0.wp.com/thenationnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/30/b4/article_30b45def-001f-4eb3-b0ad-347a8d06fec5.png?resize=600%2C174" height="174" width="600">
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<i>via <a href="http://www.eliteprospects.com">EliteProspects.com</a></i>
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<p>So yeah, it&#8217;s no surprise Matthews was the unanimous #1 in our rankings.  And even though we&#8217;re still 9 months away from the draft, you can expect him to sit atop the draft rankings for the rest of the season and go first overall.</p>
<h2>2. JESSE PULJUJARVI</h2>
<p><b>RW, Karpat (SM-Liga)</b></p>
<p>We all ranked Auston Matthews #1, and all but one of us ranked Puljujarvi #2.  Puljujarvi is a dynamic Finnish winger that has the makings of a point-per-game winger in the NHL.  He&#8217;s got great top-end speed, great size (he&#8217;s 6&#8243;3&#8242;), handles the puck with creativity and confidence, has a lethal shot that can beat goalies when they least expect it, and he&#8217;s got good vision as well.  He&#8217;s just got that sort of complete offensive package that allows him to beat you in different ways, and he always seems to make the right decision offensively.</p>
<p>It was eventual 10th overall pick Mikko Rantanen that stole headlines at the 2015 World Juniors for Team Finland when he scored 4 goals in 5 games, but Puljujarvi quietly made a name for himself at the tournament as well, impressing scouts, journalists, and fans with his dynamic offensive play.  He had 0 points in 5 games at the tournament, but he&#8217;s been on people&#8217;s radars ever since, and it would be a surprise if he fell much farther than the consensus lottery pick that he is right now.</p>
<p><center><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UwI_wjNB_Bk" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560">&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;</iframe></center></p>
<h2>3. JAKOB CHYCHRUN</h2>
<p><b>LD, Sarnia (OHL)</b></p>
<p>You&#8217;d be hard-pressed to find a draft list out there that has Chychrun any lower than we do.  That&#8217;s probably your best indicator that he&#8217;s a pretty good player that has significant upside, and at this point in time I&#8217;d say he could be drafted as highly as second overall (more than a few scouts consider him the second-best player in this draft behind Auston Matthews, and one of our writers ranked him #2 as well).  Chychrun is 6&#8243;2&#8242; and there&#8217;s not a whole lot to dislike about him &#8212; he&#8217;s a fluid skater with good top-end speed and acceleration, he&#8217;s positionally sound in the defensive end, he can use both his stick and his body when defending, he&#8217;s a confident puckhandler, and he can really shoot the puck &#8211; he had 16 goals in 42 games last season as a rookie blueliner for Sarnia.  He&#8217;s got a high ceiling, and as long as he can build off of the promise that he showed last season, Chychrun projects to be a top five pick next June.</p>
<p><center><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AtuhzFQL-4o" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560">&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;</iframe></center></p>
<h2>4. MATTHEW TKACHUK</h2>
<p><b>LW, London (OHL)</b></p>
<p>He&#8217;s not unlike fellow London Knights forward and top Leafs prospect Mitch Marner in the sense that he&#8217;s just very<br />
 dynamic.  Tkachuk has been generating a sizable buzz in the scouting<br />
community, and that buzz is starting to proliferate out to casual hockey<br />
 fans.  Son of former NHL forward Keith, Matthew Tkachuk totaled 96<br />
points in 65 games for the U.S. Development Program last year, as well<br />
as 12 points in just 7 games for the U.S. at the World Under-18s.  He<br />
played alongside Auston Matthews most of last year, but don&#8217;t let that<br />
fool you: Tkachuk is a very, very good player in his own right.  In<br />
particular, Tkachuk is a dynamic puckhandler and passer and is one of<br />
those players that seems to often create something out of nothing.  He&#8217;s<br />
 a really fun player to watch, and at this point I&#8217;d be surprised if he<br />
doesn&#8217;t go top ten in the draft next June.  There&#8217;s a strong chance he<br />
even goes top five, and that&#8217;s reflected in our very high ranking of<br />
him.</p>
<h2>5. CHAD KRYS</h2>
<p><b>LD, Boston University (Hockey East)</b></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve said this for virtually every player so far, and this is a dangerous game to play so far away from the draft, but like the other players listed so far, I really feel like Krys will be a top ten pick this June.  If he&#8217;s not, I wouldn&#8217;t expect him to drop far outside of the top ten.  If he does, it&#8217;ll probably be unwarranted.  Krys is just a really well-rounded player &#8212; he has good top-end speed, he handles the puck well, he&#8217;s got good vision, and he&#8217;s generally versatile and well-rounded when it comes to both making good offensive and defensive decisions.  He put up strong numbers with the USDP U-18 squad last season (20 points in 22 games) and will be spending this year at Boston University.  At the moment I&#8217;d project Krys as a strong #2 defenseman, a well-rounded complimentary player for an NHL team&#8217;s top pair.</p>
<div align="center">
<img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="Hanifin" src="https://i0.wp.com/thenationnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/82/2b/article_822b560d-025e-4f1c-8e4e-e31afdad986b.png?resize=600%2C199" height="199" width="600"><br /><i>via <a href="www.eliteprospects.com">EliteProspects.com</a><br /></i></p>
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<h2>6. DMITRI SOKOLOV</h2>
<p><b>F, Sudbury (OHL)<br /></b>Our very own Cat Silverman knows a lot more about Sokolov than I do.  Here&#8217;s her take on the Russian forward:<br /><span class="message_content"></p>
<blockquote><p>Dmitri Sokolov is that quintessential<br />
power forward that we all claim to covet heading into the draft &#8211; and<br />
it&#8217;s still a little early to tell, but he&#8217;s got potential to be this<br />
year&#8217;s Timo Meier or Lawson Crouse.<br /><span class="para_break"></span><span class="message_content">Still<br />
 a little rough around the edges defensively, Sokolov has the potential<br />
to polish some of the problem areas in his game with a move from the MHL<br />
 to the Sudbury Wolves for this season. He had a couple multi-point<br />
games last year, which kind of off-set a &#8216;hot and cold&#8217; reputation he<br />
started to develop; higher shot quantities taken in each game could see a<br />
 decent scoring total this year even with a diminished shooting<br />
percentage, but his two-way game and ability to assert himself as a<br />
quality power forward in North America will be important to watch out<br />
for as well.</span>
</p></blockquote>
<p> </span></p>
<h2>7. SEAN DAY</h2>
<p><b>LD, Mississauga (OHL)<br /></b>Mississauga will be getting plenty of visits from scouts this year, with<br />
 Sean day (arguably) headlining a cast of 2016 draft-eligibles that<br />
include Day, Alexander Nylander (William&#8217;s brother), and Michael<br />
McLeod.  Day is the most recent installment in a string of players<br />
granted exceptional status to play in the OHL as an underager (the list<br />
includes John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, and Connor McDavid).  And while<br />
this is reason for significant optimism, many have cooled off on Day,<br />
some going as far as to not include him in their projected first round<br />
for the 2016 draft.  He&#8217;s a divisive player, and that&#8217;s reflected in our<br />
 rankings &#8212; two of our writers ranked him 4th on their list, and 3 of<br />
our writers didn&#8217;t rank him at all.  Some love Day&#8217;s combination of size<br />
 (6&#8243;2&#8242;), poise with the puck, and defensive intelligence.  Others lament<br />
 his lack of offensive growth and rumored character concerns.  He&#8217;ll be<br />
an interesting name to keep an eye on throughout the season to see how<br />
he does, where he gets ranked, and when and where he ultimately ends up<br />
getting drafted.  For now though, the Day fans of our staff are enough<br />
to tentatively place this tantalizing blueliner 7th overall in our September rankings.<b><br /></b></p>
<h2>8. TYLER BENSON</h2>
<p><b>LW, Vancouver (WHL)</b><br />He&#8217;s almost as much of a consensus player in this range as Matthews and Puljujarvi are the 1-2 punch at the top &#8212; all but one of our writers ranked Benson between 6th and 10th on their lists.  He&#8217;s just a good hockey player: he has good acceleration and speed, he handles the puck well and with confidence, he has a good shot, good vision, and he can just flat-out create offense.  He&#8217;s not overly dynamic and at this point I wouldn&#8217;t project him to be a star in the NHL, but for now I&#8217;d say he just has a real solid shot of being a top-six forward in the NHL.  Benson is a well-rounded winger with a good combination of upside and a likelihood of reaching that upside, and for this reason he&#8217;s ranked 8th on our preseason list.</p>
<h2>9. DANTE FABBRO</h2>
<p><b>RD, Penticton (BCHL)<br /></b>Once again, Cat knows more about this guy than I do.  Here&#8217;s her take:<br /><span class="message_content"></p>
<blockquote><p>Dante Fabbro has the potential to be the<br />
next big thing on the blue line, but this is a player who could go up or<br />
 down in the rankings based on what he opts to do with his future. <span class="para_break"></span><span class="message_content"><br />A<br />
 former first round selection of the Seattle Thunderbirds, Fabbro was<br />
CHL ready before he was even age-eligible. He seems to want to go the<br />
NCAA route, so he&#8217;s been sticking with the BCHL &#8211; and with three points<br />
in four games so far this season to accompany his 33 points in 44 games<br />
last year, there&#8217;s still plenty to like about what he&#8217;s doing with the<br />
alternative league out west. Still, the Thunderbirds almost certainly<br />
wanted Fabbro on board to serve as a seamless replacement for Shea<br />
Theodore; if he wants to opt out of the college route, there&#8217;s still<br />
time for him to change his mind before the 2016 draft (which, depending<br />
on the team that&#8217;s looking, could change his draft stock). <br /><span class="para_break"></span></span><span class="message_content">A<br />
 little on the lanky side, Fabbro&#8217;s got great offensive instincts and<br />
he&#8217;s looked like a mature player for a while now. It would be nice to<br />
see how he plays against a higher tier of prospects before the draft,<br />
especially with his size and offensive game, but there doesn&#8217;t seem to<br />
be much risk in ranking him highly now. He&#8217;s a right shot, he&#8217;s a smooth<br />
 skater, and he&#8217;s been pretty smart in his own zone for a guy who loves<br />
to score; watch to see if he and draft-eligible Tyson Jost don&#8217;t run<br />
roughshod on the BCHL this year as a very scary forward-defense star<br />
duo.</span>
</p></blockquote>
<p>		</span></p>
<h2>10. LOGAN BROWN</h2>
<p><b>C, Windsor (OHL)<br /></b>It&#8217;s Yakov Mironov&#8217;s turn for the hot takes, this time on our 10th ranked player, Windsor Spitfires forward Logan Brown:<br /><span class="message_content"></p>
<blockquote><p>It&#8217;s an unfortunate reality that the first<br />
 thing that most people will notice about Logan Brown is his size<br />
because the assumption lately is that must be the sole reason for<br />
putting him into consideration for the first round of the draft. The<br />
fact of the matter is that the selling point for Brown is that he put up<br />
 solid numbers as a sixteen year old on a not very good Windsor Spitfire<br />
 team. Brown packs a heavy shot that will soon be known as his defining<br />
characteristic. The same way that Chara knows how to lean into a puck,<br />
Brown knows to do the same. He&#8217;s also aware of how to use his long<br />
stride to his advantage, and while it&#8217;s not something that stands out,<br />
it&#8217;s also not a flaw. Brown knows how to use his 220+ pounds to his<br />
advantage and is equally solid in his own end. While this may seem like a<br />
 picture is being painted of the next Frederik Gauthier, the style of<br />
Brown&#8217;s game is much closer to that of Keith Primeau. If his offensive<br />
game continues to progress, it&#8217;s likely that talk of Logan Brown in the<br />
top 10 will pick up steam throughout the season.</p></blockquote>
<p>		</span></p>
<h3>HONORABLE MENTIONS</h3>
<p>These players were ranked inside the top ten by at least one of our writers, but didn&#8217;t do enough to crack the final list:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Sam Steel (C &#8211; Regina, WHL)</b></li>
<li><b>Max Jones (LW &#8211; London, OHL)<br /></b></li>
<p><b><br />
</b></p>
<li>
<b>Clayton Keller (RW/C</b><b> &#8211; U.S. NTDP, USHL)</b>
</li>
<li><b>Patrick Laine (RW &#8211; Tappara, SM-Liga)<br /></b></li>
<p><b><br />
</b></p>
<li>
<b>Rasmus Asplund (C/LW</b><b> &#8211; Farjestad, SHL)</b>
</li>
<p><b><br />
</b></p>
<li>
<b>Jake Bean (L</b><b>D &#8211; Calgary, WHL)</b>
</li>
<p><b><br />
</b></p>
<li><b>Kieffer Bellows (C &#8211; U.S. NTDP, USHL)</b></li>
<li><b>Alex DeBrincat (C/RW &#8211; Erie, OHL)<br /></b></li>
</ul>
<p>Make sure to follow along the rest of the season, as TLN brings<br />
exclusive coverage of the 2016 draft in what should ultimately figure to<br />
 be a very important couple of days for the Leafs&#8217; franchise and future moving forward.</p>
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<p><i></i>
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</div></center><p>Whether the Leafs are good or bad this year, they currently hold 11 draft picks in the 2016 draft.  Two of those are in the first round.  And we know that the team wants to "rebuild" -- whether that's by bottoming out and recouping a lottery pick or just plain acquiring good young assets, all expectations are the team is going to place paramount emphasis on the draft moving forward as they attempt to bring the team back towards respectability.  Bottom line: this isn't just a big year for the new players, coaches, and hockey ops personnel.  It's a big year for the scouts, too.</p><p>Because the draft is going to be so important for the team moving forward, because fans are increasingly looking for information related to the draft, and because we here at TLN just plain love to scout, we're hoping to up our draft coverage this year and bring unprecedented quality draft coverage to the Barilkosphere for the 2015-2016 hockey calendar year.  That starts today, with our first of many posts leading up to the 2016 draft next June.</p><p>Follow us past the jump, where we'll unveil our full top 10 for the 2016 draft, with detailed profiles to accompany each player.</p><p>These rankings were put together combining the rankings of myself, Justin Fisher, Jon Steitzer, Cat Silverman, and Ryan Fancey.  In combining our rankings, we were able to come up with a consensus top ten, as well as a small collection of "honorable mentions" -- players that were ranked by at least one writer inside their top ten, but not receiving enough attention to actually make it onto the final list.  Without further ado, here's the full list:</p><p align="center"><img alt="TLNPreSeason2016Top10" src="//thenationnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/83/e7/article_83e7876c-1505-47fb-97cd-dcf3ef4b4e68.png" height="404" width="538"></p><p></p><h2>1. AUSTON MATTHEWS</h2><b>C, Zurich (Swiss-A)</b><p>Over the last year or so Matthews has built up quite a name for himself and really entrenched himself as the consensus first overall pick in the 2016 draft with no signs of slowing down.  He's a complete player with a number of very good to elite skills that leaves little doubt up until this point that he can be a franchise-level center in the NHL.  Matthews is a fantastic puckhandler that routinely makes high-end offensive plays rooted in his top-notch vision and goalscoring instincts.  He's also got great top-end speed and size (he's 6"2').  He's also very good on the defensive side of the puck.  And coaches rave about his intangibles and inner-drive.  And he has the numbers to back it all up:</p><div align="center">
<img alt="auston" src="//thenationnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/30/b4/article_30b45def-001f-4eb3-b0ad-347a8d06fec5.png" height="174" width="600"><br>
</div><div align="center">
<i>via <a href="http://www.eliteprospects.com">EliteProspects.com</a></i><br>
</div><p>So yeah, it's no surprise Matthews was the unanimous #1 in our rankings.  And even though we're still 9 months away from the draft, you can expect him to sit atop the draft rankings for the rest of the season and go first overall.</p><h2>2. JESSE PULJUJARVI</h2><b>RW, Karpat (SM-Liga)</b><p>We all ranked Auston Matthews #1, and all but one of us ranked Puljujarvi #2.  Puljujarvi is a dynamic Finnish winger that has the makings of a point-per-game winger in the NHL.  He's got great top-end speed, great size (he's 6"3'), handles the puck with creativity and confidence, has a lethal shot that can beat goalies when they least expect it, and he's got good vision as well.  He's just got that sort of complete offensive package that allows him to beat you in different ways, and he always seems to make the right decision offensively.</p><p>It was eventual 10th overall pick Mikko Rantanen that stole headlines at the 2015 World Juniors for Team Finland when he scored 4 goals in 5 games, but Puljujarvi quietly made a name for himself at the tournament as well, impressing scouts, journalists, and fans with his dynamic offensive play.  He had 0 points in 5 games at the tournament, but he's been on people's radars ever since, and it would be a surprise if he fell much farther than the consensus lottery pick that he is right now.</p><center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UwI_wjNB_Bk" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560">&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;</iframe></center><h2>3. JAKOB CHYCHRUN</h2><b>LD, Sarnia (OHL)</b><p>You'd be hard-pressed to find a draft list out there that has Chychrun any lower than we do.  That's probably your best indicator that he's a pretty good player that has significant upside, and at this point in time I'd say he could be drafted as highly as second overall (more than a few scouts consider him the second-best player in this draft behind Auston Matthews, and one of our writers ranked him #2 as well).  Chychrun is 6"2' and there's not a whole lot to dislike about him -- he's a fluid skater with good top-end speed and acceleration, he's positionally sound in the defensive end, he can use both his stick and his body when defending, he's a confident puckhandler, and he can really shoot the puck - he had 16 goals in 42 games last season as a rookie blueliner for Sarnia.  He's got a high ceiling, and as long as he can build off of the promise that he showed last season, Chychrun projects to be a top five pick next June.<br></p><center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AtuhzFQL-4o" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560">&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;</iframe></center><h2>4. MATTHEW TKACHUK</h2><b>LW, London (OHL)</b><p>He's not unlike fellow London Knights forward and top Leafs prospect Mitch Marner in the sense that he's just very
 dynamic.  Tkachuk has been generating a sizable buzz in the scouting 
community, and that buzz is starting to proliferate out to casual hockey
 fans.  Son of former NHL forward Keith, Matthew Tkachuk totaled 96 
points in 65 games for the U.S. Development Program last year, as well 
as 12 points in just 7 games for the U.S. at the World Under-18s.  He 
played alongside Auston Matthews most of last year, but don't let that 
fool you: Tkachuk is a very, very good player in his own right.  In 
particular, Tkachuk is a dynamic puckhandler and passer and is one of 
those players that seems to often create something out of nothing.  He's
 a really fun player to watch, and at this point I'd be surprised if he 
doesn't go top ten in the draft next June.  There's a strong chance he 
even goes top five, and that's reflected in our very high ranking of 
him.</p><h2>5. CHAD KRYS</h2><b>LD, Boston University (Hockey East)</b><p>I've said this for virtually every player so far, and this is a dangerous game to play so far away from the draft, but like the other players listed so far, I really feel like Krys will be a top ten pick this June.  If he's not, I wouldn't expect him to drop far outside of the top ten.  If he does, it'll probably be unwarranted.  Krys is just a really well-rounded player -- he has good top-end speed, he handles the puck well, he's got good vision, and he's generally versatile and well-rounded when it comes to both making good offensive and defensive decisions.  He put up strong numbers with the USDP U-18 squad last season (20 points in 22 games) and will be spending this year at Boston University.  At the moment I'd project Krys as a strong #2 defenseman, a well-rounded complimentary player for an NHL team's top pair.</p><div align="center">
<img alt="Hanifin" src="//thenationnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/82/2b/article_822b560d-025e-4f1c-8e4e-e31afdad986b.png" height="199" width="600"><br><i>via <a href="www.eliteprospects.com">EliteProspects.com</a><br></i><div align="left">
<h2>6. DMITRI SOKOLOV</h2>
<b>F, Sudbury (OHL)<br></b>Our very own Cat Silverman knows a lot more about Sokolov than I do.  Here's her take on the Russian forward:<br><span class="message_content"><blockquote>Dmitri Sokolov is that quintessential 
power forward that we all claim to covet heading into the draft - and 
it's still a little early to tell, but he's got potential to be this 
year's Timo Meier or Lawson Crouse.<br><span class="para_break"></span><span class="message_content">Still
 a little rough around the edges defensively, Sokolov has the potential 
to polish some of the problem areas in his game with a move from the MHL
 to the Sudbury Wolves for this season. He had a couple multi-point 
games last year, which kind of off-set a 'hot and cold' reputation he 
started to develop; higher shot quantities taken in each game could see a
 decent scoring total this year even with a diminished shooting 
percentage, but his two-way game and ability to assert himself as a 
quality power forward in North America will be important to watch out 
for as well.</span>
</blockquote> </span><h2>7. SEAN DAY</h2>
<b>LD, Mississauga (OHL)<br></b>Mississauga will be getting plenty of visits from scouts this year, with
 Sean day (arguably) headlining a cast of 2016 draft-eligibles that 
include Day, Alexander Nylander (William's brother), and Michael 
McLeod.  Day is the most recent installment in a string of players 
granted exceptional status to play in the OHL as an underager (the list 
includes John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, and Connor McDavid).  And while 
this is reason for significant optimism, many have cooled off on Day, 
some going as far as to not include him in their projected first round 
for the 2016 draft.  He's a divisive player, and that's reflected in our
 rankings -- two of our writers ranked him 4th on their list, and 3 of 
our writers didn't rank him at all.  Some love Day's combination of size
 (6"2'), poise with the puck, and defensive intelligence.  Others lament
 his lack of offensive growth and rumored character concerns.  He'll be 
an interesting name to keep an eye on throughout the season to see how 
he does, where he gets ranked, and when and where he ultimately ends up 
getting drafted.  For now though, the Day fans of our staff are enough 
to tentatively place this tantalizing blueliner 7th overall in our September rankings.<b><br></b><h2>8. TYLER BENSON</h2>
<b>LW, Vancouver (WHL)</b><br>He's almost as much of a consensus player in this range as Matthews and Puljujarvi are the 1-2 punch at the top -- all but one of our writers ranked Benson between 6th and 10th on their lists.  He's just a good hockey player: he has good acceleration and speed, he handles the puck well and with confidence, he has a good shot, good vision, and he can just flat-out create offense.  He's not overly dynamic and at this point I wouldn't project him to be a star in the NHL, but for now I'd say he just has a real solid shot of being a top-six forward in the NHL.  Benson is a well-rounded winger with a good combination of upside and a likelihood of reaching that upside, and for this reason he's ranked 8th on our preseason list.<br><h2>9. DANTE FABBRO</h2>
<b>RD, Penticton (BCHL)<br></b>Once again, Cat knows more about this guy than I do.  Here's her take:<br><span class="message_content"><blockquote>Dante Fabbro has the potential to be the 
next big thing on the blue line, but this is a player who could go up or
 down in the rankings based on what he opts to do with his future. <span class="para_break"></span><span class="message_content"><br>A
 former first round selection of the Seattle Thunderbirds, Fabbro was 
CHL ready before he was even age-eligible. He seems to want to go the 
NCAA route, so he's been sticking with the BCHL - and with three points 
in four games so far this season to accompany his 33 points in 44 games 
last year, there's still plenty to like about what he's doing with the 
alternative league out west. Still, the Thunderbirds almost certainly 
wanted Fabbro on board to serve as a seamless replacement for Shea 
Theodore; if he wants to opt out of the college route, there's still 
time for him to change his mind before the 2016 draft (which, depending 
on the team that's looking, could change his draft stock). <br><span class="para_break"></span></span><span class="message_content">A
 little on the lanky side, Fabbro's got great offensive instincts and 
he's looked like a mature player for a while now. It would be nice to 
see how he plays against a higher tier of prospects before the draft, 
especially with his size and offensive game, but there doesn't seem to 
be much risk in ranking him highly now. He's a right shot, he's a smooth
 skater, and he's been pretty smart in his own zone for a guy who loves 
to score; watch to see if he and draft-eligible Tyson Jost don't run 
roughshod on the BCHL this year as a very scary forward-defense star 
duo.</span>
</blockquote>
			
		</span><h2>10. LOGAN BROWN</h2>
<b>C, Windsor (OHL)<br></b>It's Yakov Mironov's turn for the hot takes, this time on our 10th ranked player, Windsor Spitfires forward Logan Brown:<br><span class="message_content"><blockquote>It's an unfortunate reality that the first
 thing that most people will notice about Logan Brown is his size 
because the assumption lately is that must be the sole reason for 
putting him into consideration for the first round of the draft. The 
fact of the matter is that the selling point for Brown is that he put up
 solid numbers as a sixteen year old on a not very good Windsor Spitfire
 team. Brown packs a heavy shot that will soon be known as his defining 
characteristic. The same way that Chara knows how to lean into a puck, 
Brown knows to do the same. He's also aware of how to use his long 
stride to his advantage, and while it's not something that stands out, 
it's also not a flaw. Brown knows how to use his 220+ pounds to his 
advantage and is equally solid in his own end. While this may seem like a
 picture is being painted of the next Frederik Gauthier, the style of 
Brown's game is much closer to that of Keith Primeau. If his offensive 
game continues to progress, it's likely that talk of Logan Brown in the 
top 10 will pick up steam throughout the season.</blockquote>
			
		</span><h3>HONORABLE MENTIONS</h3>
These players were ranked inside the top ten by at least one of our writers, but didn't do enough to crack the final list:<br><ul>
<li><b>Sam Steel (C - Regina, WHL)</b></li>
<li><b>Max Jones (LW - London, OHL)<br></b></li>
<b>
</b><li>
<b>Clayton Keller (RW/C</b><b> - U.S. NTDP, USHL)</b>
</li>
<li><b>Patrick Laine (RW - Tappara, SM-Liga)<br></b></li>
<b>
</b><li>
<b>Rasmus Asplund (C/LW</b><b> - Farjestad, SHL)</b>
</li>
<b>
</b><li>
<b>Jake Bean (L</b><b>D - Calgary, WHL)</b>
</li>
<b>
</b><li><b>Kieffer Bellows (C - U.S. NTDP, USHL)</b></li>
<li><b>Alex DeBrincat (C/RW - Erie, OHL)<br></b></li>
</ul>
<p>Make sure to follow along the rest of the season, as TLN brings 
exclusive coverage of the 2016 draft in what should ultimately figure to
 be a very important couple of days for the Leafs' franchise and future moving forward.</p>
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TLN’S Preseason Top 10 for the 2016 NHL Draft

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