As we said last year in the Prospect Report, a late-season switch to the USHL likely saved Jimmy Hayes from falling outside the top 60. And it did, just barely. The Leafs selected Hayes with the very last pick of the second round and while the returns on the ice haven't been immediate, the name of the game for power forwards is steady improvement. As it is, the USNTDP product grew an inch or two in the off-season and weighed in at 6'5, 210 to start the year. Once again forced to get used to a new body and mass, it's a good sign that Hayes was even a regular in the Boston College lineup as an 18-year-old, never mind 11th in team scoring. Hayes is a long, long, LONG-term project. But the returns will be worth it.

Upside: Top-six winger (30-45-75, 80 PIM)

Certainty (NHLer; Upside): 55%, 45%

Scouting Report

So perhaps there's a reason the US National Team Development Program has never had an overage player. Normally, a star NTDP player would leave for the USHL or college. But with program darling Jimmy Hayes a year from entering Boston College and with the NTDP already competing against USHL teams, it didn't make sense for him to switch. That, oddly enough, almost killed his chances of being drafted. With younger, more skilled players making noise, NTDP brass tried to force Hayes into a banger-and-crasher role. While 6'4 and the owner of a massive wingspan, Hayes' game was always more Dustin Penner than Dustin Brown. It took a mid-season move to the USHL and first-line minutes to finally bring him around. A tremendous playmaker from the wing thanks to his size, Hayes will probably never be a big hitter or physical presence, but he has the skill and skating ability to thrive as a top-six winger.