Erie defenseman Matthew Schaefer is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American skaters, but it was a very close vote, according to Central Scouting director Dan Marr.
Marr said on the latest edition of the "NHL Draft Class" podcast that Schaefer finished ahead of Boston College center James Hagens and Saginaw center Michael Misa but all three earned No. 1 votes from the Central Scouting staff.
"There is no consensus No. 1," Marr said. "Schaefer, Hagens and Misa all were No. 1 on somebody's list or another. And so we had to sort through it all and it's very hard to define how to separate a 1A/1B/1C type of player. They all bring something of their own, but at the end of day, who won the most votes as being ahead of one or the other, or being No. 1 outright, was Matthew Schaefer."
Schaefer (6-foot-2, 183 pounds) has 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 17 Ontario Hockey League games but is expected to be out until March recovering from Dec. 30 surgery for a broken collarbone sustained playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Hagens (5-10, 177) has 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 18 games as a freshman at Boston College. He also had nine points (five goals, four assists) to help the United States win the gold medal at the 2025 WJC.
Misa (6-1, 184) leads the OHL with 35 goals and is tied for the league lead with 72 points in 37 games.
Marr also provided an update on Brandon forward Roger McQueen, who is No. 5 among North American skaters despite being out since Oct. 11 because of injury, and discussed several other prospects, among them forward Victor Eklund (5-11, 161) of Djurgarden in Sweden's second division, who is No. 1 among International skaters.
"He's a smaller forward but he's got the ability to use that size as an asset to his game," Marr said. "He can be very quick and slippery. He's got a very cerebral game, but he's got an up-tempo game. He's hard to catch, he's hard to stay up with. ... He also knows how to utilize his lack of height to an advantage there. I think it's just the tempo at which he plays the game."
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