Ranking the top NHL players and prospects under 23: Macklin Celebrini leads the list

With the World Juniors in the rearview mirror, and the hockey season at the midway point, today I update my under-23 NHL player rankings.

Specifically, well be looking at the best young players overall on teams reserve lists, meaning within an NHL organization, in or outside the league.

This is a ranking meant to show who I think will have the best pro careers, not who I would take in an NHL game tomorrow.

This is also a good exercise to show how the last five age groups compare to each other, as this largely spans the player pool from the 2020 through 2024 NHL Drafts.

Advertisement A player must be 22 years old or younger as of Jan.

1, 2025, to qualify.

Ranked players are placed into tiers and given tool grades.

Tool grades are based on a scale with six separate levels, with an eye toward how this attribute would grade in the NHL (poor, below-average, average, above-average, high-end and elite).

Average on this scale means the tool projects as NHL average, which is meant as a positive, not a criticism.

Skating, puck skills, hockey sense and compete for every projected NHL player are graded.

Shot grades are only included if a shot is notably good or poor.

(Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic ; photos of Connor Bedard , Tim Stutzle and Macklin Celebrini : Melissa Tamez, Andy Devlin and Kavin Mistry / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.