NHL Draft 2019: On Early Recruiting and The Top Players At 16 Not Always Being The Top Players At 18

After being selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, Ryan Johnson joined an elite group that includes Ryan Poehling, Riley Tufte, Kieffer Bellows, and Brock Boeser.

They are the rare players chosen in the USHL Phase 1 Draft first round who also went in the NHL Draft's first round.

In an age of early recruiting, one of the reasons teams give for getting verbal commitments at 14 and 15 is a need to get the best players. And yet the best players at 15 or 16, when USHL teams select players for the Phase 1 Draft, are not always the top hockey players at 18. There remains plenty of time for development.

BLOG: 2017 NHL Draft picks at Big Ten and Minnesota schools

2017 marked three straight NHL Drafts where two players with Big Ten ties were chosen in the first round. It's the first, however, with two different teams represented.

Minnesota's Casey Mittelstadt and Michigan's Josh Norris went Friday, leading a total of 17 Big Ten players from six different schools. Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin each had four drafted.

Mittelstadt's selection by Buffalo with the eighth overall pick tied Zach Werenski as the highest drafted Big Ten player since the conference began sponsoring men's hockey in 2013. Norris went 19th overall to San Jose, one of four teams to pick two Big Ten players.

Blog: Gopher commit Casey Mittelstadt ranked fifth in NHL Central Scouting

Led by Eden Prairie native Casey Mittelstadt, five University of Minnesota commits were named to NHL Central Scouting's Mid-Term Rankings.

Ranked fifth among North American skaters, Mittelstadt is the top player with college hockey ties. The 6’0”, 201 lbs forward was leading the USHL in scoring as a 17 year-old (he has since turned 18) when he left Green Bay to come back to Eden Prairie and try to win a Class AA championship. He will return to Green Bay after Eden Prairie's season ends.