•Red Line has just returned from the all-important World Under-18 Championships, where players can make or break their draft status, and from a draft perspective the big winner — hands down — was Barrie's Mark Scheifele. The big center was rather hamstrung without quality players to work alongside in Barrie all year, but was a beast pivoting Team Canada's top line at the tournament in Germany. His great hands and skills were on display as he racked up six goals and created dangerous chances nearly every shift.
As a first-year major junior player on a poor club, Scheifele had some growing pains and a lot of learning to do this season. He's also nowhere near fully developed physically at 6-2 and just 175 pounds, but he has a great frame to fill out and should be a real load to handle once he adds about 20-25 pounds of upper body strength. In fact, we think so highly of his upside that we've moved him from just outside the first round on our rankings to a point where he's knocking on the door of the top 10 overall. At Red Line, we look for prospects whose development curve is headed straight upward – and Scheifele is one such player in this year's field.