This weeks Monday Movers we focus back on the 2005’s given the recent national rankings the prior week. While there were several 2005’s from across US and Canada that have climbed the rankings, some making major upward moves and others entering the NZ Top 300 ranking for the first time. Below are just three examples of players who are trending upwards.
David Klee #20 (F, L, 6’3″, 188, Muskegon Lumberjacks, 05/10/2005, North Dakota) – Klee isn’t a player who came out of nowhere, he’s been steadily improving for much of that last three season. In 2021 he was ranked #228th in the US; now he’s the #38th ranked NCAA Eligible prospect in North America. He was a 7th round NHL pick to San Jose after his rookie season in the USHL where he finished with a 3-10-13 line in 57 games. He has already scored twice as many goals and surpassed his point totals in just 22 games as well as earning an A- grade at the USHL Showcase in Pittsburgh, PA this fall. He’s a balanced, two-way, physical presence who can provide offense and play up and down the lineup at higher levels; a skillset that translates.
Ben Merrill #17 (C, R, 6’4″, 190, St. Sebastian’s, 11/04/2005, Harvard) – Merrill is a late ’05 out of St. Sebastian’s School (MA) who is a bit unknown having never made a US National camp and going undrafted in the USHL; but he’s quickly gaining late round NHL Draft attention as a long, athletic forward with reach, poise and deceptive skill. He went undrafted in the USHL and unranked in last years NZ Top 300 to being the #2 ranked ’05 in U18/Prep/High School division and #154 overall. A bit raw overall at this point and hasn’t quite embraced a style of play but he’s got serious long term upside.
Connor MacPherson #25 (F, R, 6’0″, 176, Penticton Vees, 03/02/2005, New Hampshire) – Connor was drafted in the last round of the OHL Draft coming out of Minor Midget in Ontario and went undrafted in the USHL that same year. He then went on to the GOJHL, Junior B in Ontario, where he played alongside his brother Ryan and dominated the league as a rookie. While he and Ryan would commit to New Hampshire; he saw his brother get selected in the 6th round of the NHL Draft by Philadelphia while he was not selected. They both moved to Penticton this year to play for the powerhouse club in the BCHL and through the first 25 games of the season he is averaging just over a point per game and just 2 points shy of his NHL draft pick brother. Connor is a talent in his own right; he’s got size, puck skill, high hockey IQ earning an A- grade at the BCHL Showcase in October in Seattle, WA. He doesn’t always get the credit he deserves coming out of Junior B and playing his brothers shadow, but he’s proving himself in the BCHL and landed in the top 30 in the NZ Top 300 NCAA Eligible Prospect rankings.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
