Erie Otters winger Stephen Harper stood 128th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, which was released Wednesday. Harper, 18, slid 90 spots down the list after being picked 38th in the midterm rankings released in January. He had 18 goals and 38 points in 67 games this season after totaling 24 goals and 35 points in 63 games as a rookie in the 2011-12 OHL season.
Otters winger Nick Betz, 17, doesn’t appear in the final rankings after standing 106th among North American skaters on the midterm list. He had four goals and 12 points in 44 games this season. He missed two months of the season’s opening half recovering from an appendectomy.
Defenseman Seth Jones (Portland, WHL) and goaltender Zachary Fucale (Halifax, QMJHL) top the list among North American skaters and goaltenders, respectively. Sault Ste. Marie defenseman Darnell Nurse and Ottawa center Sean Monahan rank among the top five skaters, while Mississauga’s Spencer Martin ranks fifth among goaltenders. The Finnish-born duo of Aleksander Barkov and Juuse Saros top the list of European skaters and goaltenders, respectively. The NHL Entry Draft is set for June 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Erie Otters winger Stephen Harper stands eighth among OHL skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary rankings for next summer’s NHL Entry Draft, which was released Tuesday. Ottawa center Sean Monahan tops the list, followed by Sault Ste. Marie defenseman Darnell Nurse, Windsor winger Kerby Rychel and London’s frontlin duo of Max Domi and Bo Horvat. Mississauga’s Spencer Martin headlines the list of the OHL’s top goaltenders, followed by Peterborough’s Michael Guigovaz and Barrie’s Alex Fotinos.

Connor Brown recorded his first career hat trick, and eight teammates also recorded points. But the Erie Otters couldn’t hold onto an early three-goal lead, as they lost to Sault Ste. Marie 6-5 in a shootout in front of 2,196 at Erie Insurance Arena Friday night.
Andrew Fritsch scored the winning goal in the fourth round of the shootout for the Greyhounds (8-7-0-0). J.P. Labardo had three assists and scored the lone shootout goal for the Otters (4-7-1-2), which lost for the second time in three shootouts this season. Darnell Nurse scored two goals and Nick Cousins had three assists for the Greyhounds.
The No. 1 line of captain Brown, No. 1 pick Connor McDavid and overager Labardo sparked the Otters’ surge to a 3-0 second-period lead. Brown recorded a natural hat trick – his team-leading eighth, ninth and 10th goals of the season. Labardo assisted on all three goals while McDavid had an assist to extend his point streak to 13 straight games.
Brown scored on the power play off assists from McDavid and Labardo to snap the scoreless tie 9:07 into the game. Brown scored again on the power play, this time from Adam Pelech and Labardo, five minutes later to send the Otters into the second period with a 2-0 lead. Brown completed the natural hat trick – his first OHL hat trick – on a rebound of Labardo’s shot 48 seconds into the second.
The Greyhounds sliced Erie’s lead to 3-2 with two second-period goals – from Nurse at 4:03 and Nick Halagian with 7:52 left.
Connor Crisp redirected Spencer Abraham’s shot past goaltender Matt Murray for a 4-2 Otters’ lead with 5:50 left in the period. But the Greyhounds responded by scoring twice early in the third to tie the score at 4. Former Otter David Broll scored from in front to pull the Greyhounds within a goal at 4-3 at the 2:15 mark. Colin Miller‘s first goal of the season, scored on the power play, tied the score at 4 at the 5:45 mark, only to have the Otters regain the lead with their third power-play goal of the night.
Stephen Harper scored on assist from Luke Cairns to give the Otters a 5-4 lead with 11:37 left. Yet the Greyhounds rallied again to tie it at 5 with 6:25 left on Nurse’s second goal of the game. Then the Greyhounds rebounded from an early deficit in the shootut to claim the win.

- Victor Fernandes