from Bob McKenzie of TSN,

American centre Auston Matthews remains the consensus No. 1 prospect for the 2016 NHL draft, but Finnish goal-scoring winger Patrik Laine is doing his best to chip away at Matthews' No. 1 status.

That is one of a number of intriguing developments in TSN's Top 15 rankings, the Draft Lottery Edition.

At face value, nothing has changed from TSN's Mid-Season NHL draft rankings. Matthews is still No. 1; Laine is still No. 2.

But when 10 NHL scouts were surveyed by TSN in late January/early February, all 10 had Matthews at No. 1. This time, in a survey of the same 10 scouts – conducted in the run-up to Saturday's NHL draft lottery – two of the 10 said Laine is now No. 1 on their team's lists. Others suggested they had to think long and hard about their decision to keep Matthews at No. 1.

continued