The 2014 NHL draft class can be forgiven for feeling as though it has a case of middle-child syndrome. Which is to say, the top of this years draft class is not as dynamic or exciting as the 2013 class of Nate MacKinnon, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Drouin and Seth Jones and its not as strikingly promising as the highly-anticipated 2015 slate of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. But it would be a disservice to damn Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Leon Draisaitl and Michael Dal Colle with faint praise. "They are all very good prospects, theyre all going to play in the NHL, they all should turn out to be very good players for a long time," one NHL scout said. But the draft is all about projection. And where MacKinnon, Barkov and Drouin were projected as first-line forwards and Jones was projected a likely No. 1 defenceman – destined for greatness -- this years crop of forwards is projected more as second liners with defenceman Ekblad perhaps getting "top pairing" billing though not necessarily a future dynamic No. 1. Good, maybe very good, but not necessarily great. The draft is also about question marks and, according to the scouts, even the elite picks this year have a few. And once one gets outside the top five of this years draft, question marks really abound. "There are some really talented kids in this draft, and not just at the top either," an NHL scout said, "but I dont recall a year recently when there were as many question marks. Skilled kids who lack size; players who might have issues with attitude or commitment. It seems to be a really volatile draft. Good luck trying to figure out this one." That said, in the eyes of the scouts, at the top, its rock solid, and, really, it has been all season long. Barrie Colt defenceman Aaron Ekblad is No. 1 on TSNs Top 60 Final Rankings for the 2014 draft, a position hes owned or had a share of since last September. Seven of the 10 scouts surveyed by TSN to compile the rankings had Ekblad at No. 1. No scout surveyed had him outside of the top three. Only two other prospects got first-place votes. No. 2-ranked Sam Reinhart, a centre with the Kootenay Ice, had one and No. 3-ranked Sam Bennett, a centre with the Kingston Frontenacs, had two. "The difference between the top guys this year is not significant," a scout said. "Thats why youre hearing more talk of teams drafting with position in mind." To say nothing of those question marks. For example, as good as the 6-foot-4, 216-pound Ekblad is, some scouts wonder if he an upside greater than being a steady, reliable two-way defender. Is there a dynamic quality there that is usually associated with a potential first overall pick? Barrie head coach Dale Hawerchuk, a former NHL star, doesnt know about dynamic, but he does know impactful, because thats what Ekblad has been from the moment he showed up to Barrie as a 15-year-old who was granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada to enter the OHL a year early. "Hes been a top pair, shutdown defenceman who played against the best players in our league from the day he got here," Hawerchuk said, "and theres no doubt in my mind, none whatsoever, that hes going to be a really good top pair, shutdown defenceman who plays against the best players in the NHL. Hes been impactful since Day 1. He does it all and he does it all consistently and hes going to be a 15 to 20 year top-pair NHL defenceman." This years top prospects earn rave reviews for some specific trait or quality, but the praise is accompanied by a question. Reinharts hockey sense, for example, is widely hailed, elite level, as good as it gets. But will his average speed and size put a second-line ceiling on him or reduce his effectiveness against men? Bennetts complete game – equal parts skill, smarts, spirit, edge and work ethic – is lauded but can an average size centre translate that style to the NHL against men? No. 4-ranked Leon Draisaitl, the Prince Albert Raiders German-born and –trained centre, has a big NHL frame and can make plays but will the lack of a dynamic step keep him from being a first-liner? No. 5-ranked Michael Dal Colle, the Oshawa Generals rangy winger who is equally adept at shooting or making plays, but will his play without the puck be an issue? And yet, for all the questions being asked, scouts concede these five are all good NHL prospects with a strong likelihood of having long NHL careers. But there is a high degree – higher than usual – of subjectivity this year. Nowhere is that more evident than in the players, ranked Nos. 6 through 10 on TSNs list. No. 6-ranked Nick Ritchie, the Peterborough Pete winger, has all the physical tools to be the consummate scoring power forward but theres been a lot of immaturity, inconsistency as well as some injuries in his game. No. 7-ranked Jake Virtanen, the Calgary Hitmen winger, is another who has all the tools to be a scoring power forward but some scouts are a little wary because he tends to get tunnel vision when he has the puck. No. 8-ranked Haydn Fleury, the Red Deer Rebel defenceman, has the size and speed scouts love but he has not established himself as either an offensive defenceman or a punishing defenceman. No. 9-ranked William Nylander, the Canadian-born, Swedish-trained winger, may be the most skilled player in the entire draft class, but scouts worry about a stubborn streak that has often seen him play a more individual than team game. No. 10-ranked Nikolaj Ehlers, the Halifax Mooseheads Danish winger, was as prolific as any prospect this year, scoring 49 goals and 104 points in 67 games, and theres no doubting his skill level, but hes listed at 160 pounds, or as one scout put it, "he has to put on 20 pounds to be considered small." "Its a funny draft," a scout said. "A kid like Ritchie, with his size and skill, or Nylander, with his skill level, could one day be the best of this class but theres some real risk associated with these guys. What if Ritchie doesnt get fully committed to being as good as he can be? What if Nylander just decides hes going to play like hes the only guy on the ice?" Thats always a theme in any draft, but this year it seems to be even more prevalent earlier than ever involving more prospects than usual. Size is certainly on the mind of a lot of teams, especially after the very large Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup. Whether anyone likes it or not, thats the standard by which players are now judged. "I look at these kids and I try to project them playing against the Los Angeles Kings one day," a scout said. "Can they play that game at that level?" Even that exercise can be fraught with peril because two of those outstanding Kings – Tanner Pearson, who went 30th overall in the 2012 draft, and Tyler Toffoli, who went 47th overall in 2010 – were passed over by many teams in their respective draft year because they were perceived as too slow or too weak or too incomplete or too flawed. Go figure. Guelph centre Robby Fabbri (No. 14 on TSNs list) scored 45 goals for the Storm in the regular season, was the OHLs playoff MVP and plays a hard-nosed game for a 5-foot-10 pivot, but will he stand up to the L.A. King litmus test? Ditto for smallish Swiss forward Kevin Fiala, No. 15 on the TSN list, though Fiala had the benefit of playing against men in both the Swedish League and for Switzerland at the World Championships. But no two players represent the uncertain quality of this years draft like the 30th and 31st-ranked Josh Ho Sang of the Windsor Spitfires and Anthony DeAngelo of the Sarnia Sting. Ho Sang is an electrifying, highly-skilled albeit undersized skilled forward who has some very firm ideas on how the game of hockey should be played and how he should play it. First-round talent? Absolutely. Will a team step up and take him in the first round? Thats the fascinating aspect of this draft. So much natural talent; so many question marks. "The question with Ho Sang is whether he wants to be a hockey player or he wants to be an artist or an entertainer," one scout said. "When he plays the give and go game, hes effective and dangerous but a lot of the time he only wants to go, theres no give (the puck to anyone else). Is he going to figure it out? Because if he does, the skills he has…" DeAngelos situation, though, takes it to another level of uncertainty. The American blueliner is undersized at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, but he put up 15 goals and 71 points in 51 games for Sarnia. Imagine how many more points he would have registered if he hadnt been suspended on three separate occasions this season for either violating the OHLs diversity policy or verbally abusing an on-ice official or, as fate would have it, both. In December of 2013, DeAngelo was suspended five games for violating the leagues diversity policy in a verbal spat with an on-ice official. In January of 2014, he received an eight-game suspension for violating the leagues diversity policy in a verbal exchange with a teammate. Five games after returning from that eight-game suspension, he was suspended two games for (verbal) abuse of an official. Many scouts dont know what to make of DeAngelo. The vast majority of them say the north New Jersey kid, wholl effectively be at "home" for this weeks NHL draft in Philadelphia, is (in spite of size concerns) a first-round talent, a smart, mobile and offensively gifted blueliner. "Look at the talented small defencemen and where theyve been taken in the draft, guys like Ryan Ellis, Ryan Murphy, Derrick Pouliot, even Erik Karlsson," a scout said. "DeAngelo should, on talent, be taken in that 10 to 20 range but Im not sure he will be because of the other stuff." Some of the scouts surveyed by TSN said they wouldnt take DeAngelo at all. Others said he would be a consideration in the second round – talent like that is hard to pass – but a couple did say they wouldnt rule out considering him in the first round. "If you read stuff that people write, I think they go overboard with it because they dont know the details," DeAngelo told the Camden Courier Post. "They think I have character issues. I dont think I have character issues." Interestingly, USA Hockey chose to not invite DeAngelo to its summer evaluation camp for the 2015 U.S. national junior team. Of all the stories in what is expected to be an unpredictable draft, DeAngelos is bound to be one of the most compelling. Hes expected to have upwards of 100 friends and family in attendance Friday night and whether hes chosen or not in the first round will be an intriguing storyline. Getting consensus for the TSN rankings was never more difficult than this year. Outside of perhaps the top 35 to 40, there was no real consensus. Even within the top 30 in the first round, there was a far greater variance from player to player than ever before. TSNs rankings do not take into account the teams order of selection; theres no allowance made for a teams personal or positional preference. These rankings are not so much an evaluation of which players will one day turn into the best NHLers as it is a forecast of what order in the draft this Friday and Saturday these players will reasonably be chosen. The list is determined on a mostly objective formula based on numerical rankings assigned by the scouts interviewed by TSN. Brandon Marshall Jersey . - Kentucky freshmen Stanley Boom Williams, Dorian Baker, Drew Barker and Tymere Dubose have been charged with disorderly conduct for their involvement with air pistol shots being fired near a residence hall on the South campus Sunday night. Dave Casper Jersey . 1. Lions WR Calvin Johnson (6 REC, 101 YDS, 1 TD, 10 targets) leads receivers with 1,299 yards and 12 touchdowns, though his 118.1 receiving yards per game ranks second behind Clevelands Josh Gordon. Gordon (10 REC, 261 YDS, 2 TD, 15 targets) is emerging as a superstar, putting up huge numbers even with Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden at quarterback. http://www.cheapraidersjerseyschina.com/...n-abram-jersey/. - Mike Magee converted two penalty kicks in a 10-minute span of the first half and the Chicago Fire beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Sunday. Wholesale Raiders Jerseys . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., who trains out of San Diego, will fight bantamweight champion (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey on July 5 in the co-main event of UFC 175 in Las Vegas. Ryan Grant Jersey . Louis Cardinals won the World Series last season, but after losing first baseman Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to retirement, they opened the 2012 season in 12th spot in the TSN.Bob Willis looks ahead to Englands second Investec Test against Sri Lanka in Durham on Friday, and says who he would pick in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes... I would go with Jake Ball. Weve seen Chris Woakes in the Test arena and, for my money, hasnt quite been good enough.The selectors would say Woakes is the nearest like-for-like replacement to Stokes. A better batsman than Liam Plunkett - who may have been considered - but not as good a bowler, in my opinion. Liam Plunkett (left) was possibly considered as a potential replacement for Ben Stokes He took only two wickets in the two Test matches he played in South Africa over the winter, but England are quite obsessed with a long batting order - he was also part of the win in South Africa and the selectors like to keep faith with people they know.England may also have thought about bringing Adil Rashid in, with him likely to be needed in Bangladesh and India this winter, but hell have needed his gloves up in Durham - I dont think its weather suited to leg-spin.Woakes does well for Warwickshire, takes wickets for fun in fact, and has captained them in Ian Bells absence, but with this series being played against Sri Lanka in late May and early June, it gives England an opportunity to look at someone like Ball. Chris Woakes took astonishing figures of 9-36 for Warwickshire in his most recent outing He was in the squad for the first Test so deserves the first opportunity and its not as if were playing Australia or South Africa, so I would bring Ball in for Stokes and move everyone up the batting order - Jonny Bairstow to six, Moeen Ali to seven.Bairstow said in interview at Headingley that he was perfectly comfortable batting at seven - he and Stokes are clearly given licence by Trevor Bayliss to play their shots, and thats the way he likes to play, but six would still be perfect for him. Jonny Bairstow is in great form with the bat, hitting 140 in the first Test at Headingley And it was only a few months ago that Moeen was opening the batting in the UAE, so theyd still have proper batting down the seven.ddddddddddddStuart Broad has got his confidence back as a batsman, although whether he has got his skill back is another thing. But theres nobody who is going to knock his head off in this Sri Lankan attack and hed be a perfectly adequate number eight.With the ball, I thought Broad was a little unlucky not to take more wickets at Headingley. He and James Anderson both bowled beautifully throughout and it could easily have been Broad the one who picked up 10 wickets in the match. Are Stuart Broad (left) and James Anderson (right) Englands best ever opening pair? As Steve Harmison said when joining us last week on The Verdict, theyre now the best pair of opening bowlers England have ever had.Better than myself and Sir Ian Botham; Fred Trueman and Brian Statham; Harmison and Matthew Hoggard - thats high praised indeed. But its hard to argue against as theyre approaching 800 wickets between them.Theyre phenomenal bowlers, particularly in English conditions. And without Tillakaratne Dilshan, Majela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara - asking this Sri Lanka team to come and face the likes of Broad and Anderson, in May, is a bridge too far for most of them. They tried to attack, tried to defend, but whichever they did they couldnt cope with Englands bowling.Its not going to be 25 degrees so clearly the Sri Lankans wont be that comfortable, but weve had to play in Colombo in 40 degrees, so they have to play over here in just 10 degree weather in Durham.England have got all bases covered. I cant see things changing in the second Test.Watch England take on Sri Lanka in the second Investec Test at Emirates Riverside from 10am on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD. Also See: Anderson takes 10 in England win WATCH: Players of First Test England fixtures/results Sri Lanka fixtures/results