Who Would You Choose First Overall??

Central Scouting has put out their final rankings and Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers has surpassed Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires as the number one ranked prospect for this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

Who would you select?

It is tempting to go with the guy who was essentially the consensus number one for close to two years, however you cannot deny what Seguin has done this season. Especially playing for a team with far less talent than the one Hall has skated with.

Seguin has pretty much put the Whalers in the playoffs this season, while Hall played with a talented group that contains three first-round NHL draft picks.

“Tyler Seguin makes things happen every time he is on the ice and he makes his teammates better,” NHL Central Scouting’s Chris Edwards said to TSN in a statement.

Personally, that statement makes the decision for me.

I am always more interested in a player who can make those around him better. Yes, it is sometimes nice to have a player who may have a bit more upside, but the one who is guarenteed to make everyone better is perfect for a rebuild.

So my question to you is who would you select? I am going with Tyler Seguin.

Here are the scouting reports on the duo slated to go 1 and 2 in June…

Tyler Seguin (scouting report compliments of http://www.hockeyprospect.com)

Seguin, a pure center, excels in all three zones, and has shown dominance in all areas through his career in the OHL. His high-end playmaking ability and vision compliment his natural abilities as a center, but he has demonstrated, especially this season, a keen ability to put the puck in the net. Seguin has not played on as strong a team as many of the other projected top picks, so, his ability to make others around him better has been even more evident. For example, it is commonplace in Plymouth to see Seguin make the perfect pass to a teammate waiting on the doorstep of the goal. To put it lightly Seguin is as smart as they come in this year’s draft. Pick wahtever key phrase you like, ” Slows the game down” “buys himself time and space ” He is a pleasure to watch and will remind some of Steve Yzerman the way he carries himself .Seguin has good size for a center and the skating ability to translate smoothly to a higher level.

Taylor Hall (scouting report compliments of http://www.hockeyprospect.com)

In terms of ability, Hall has elite speed. His first few steps are world class and that ability combined with his never say die attitude, make Hall a nightmare for opposing defenders. He is fantastic at closing the gap on the forecheck and, as demonstrated by his stats, is an elite scorer. Furthermore, no one wants the puck on the ice more then Hall, and he simply never stops competing. This was never more evident then in Hall leading Windsor on their 2008-2009 Memorial Cup run, a and his taking on some very big and strong defenders at the WJC. Although seen as more of a scorer then playmaker, Hall has shown an ever-increasing ability to distribute the puck, which is reflected well in his statistics. His only knock could be that he needs to be more consistent on the defensive side of his game. It’s improving but if we are forced to find a potential weakness, that would be it.