In this draft it's hard to tell where the top tier ends and the second tier begins, there isn't the clear drop off in talent after one group of players the way there usually is - they kind of blend together.
Good year to be picking in the middle rather than the top too - a lot of the potentially most skilled and talented players in the draft won't be taken very high for various question marks. I'm refering to guys like Espo (will he ever make use of his natural talents?) Aliu (will his once a month showing like at the prospects game be the player he's going to become, cause if so he could be one of the 5 best from this year eventually).
Espo won't be around at 15, but Aliu will be. Once a month Aliu puts in a performance few from this draft class could match - then he looks lazy, uninspired, and not to bright upstairs for weeks on end. If I was a team loaded with prospects I'd take a chance on him....there's bust potential there (work ethic/desire/attitude issues) so I wouldn't take him as a team in dire need of that pick to pan-out.
On top of that, after reviews from the 5 Nations u-18 tourny Cheprenov looks to have some serious heart/desire question marks to go along with the Russia/IIHF transfer mess so he's not as attractive as a top 5 anymore either though he won't fall enough for what you're talking about.
As for some hidden gems - there are a trio playing for a god awful team in Erie (Turqato, Palmieri, and Josh Kidd) who are all starting to come out from under the radar. Josh Kidd is real darkhorse as one of the very best d-man likely to come out of this draft IMO - he's like -33 or something but considering he plays 30 minutes a night on a team that's probably -200 on the year his stats are actually flattering. IF he was on a good team I bet he'd be a top 10 pick this year.
Turqato is a dark horse for top end offensive talent, though he is currently involved in a legal mess from an incident from when he was with the Saginaw Spirit.
I can't even pretend to comment on European depth picks. Very few of them are more than names on a list to me at this point.
Ian Cole, a US d-man has been getting a lot of praise lately as well, some recent reviews from the u-18 5 nations really pumped him as steal late in the first/early second. I think it was REd Line's Chief Scout who said a number of teams were probably hoping he'd go unntoiced so they could grab him in the second round but that he's a safe bet to get noticed in the first round now.
At 15 I wouldn't be totally surprised to see Colton Gilles still around either. Safer bet to be something of value, but I don't think you're getting top end talent there. Plus...they can't seem to decide for sure if he's a d-man or a centre out in Saskatoon these days. As a forward with all that speed yet not much offensive hockey sense he reminds me of Rico Fata. Kind of makes me more curious about his recent stint filling in as a d-man for the Blades.