Hall tops latest NHL draft rankings

Taylor Hall, fresh off helping Canada to a silver medal at the world junior hockey championship, is the NHL's new No. 1-rated North American prospect.

The winger, who plays for the OHL's Windsor Spitfires, topped the latest ranking of draft-eligible skaters released Monday by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.

Hall finished second on Team Canada with 12 points (six goals) at the world juniors in Saskatchewan, and was named one of his team's top three players along with 2008 NHL first-round draft picks Jordan Eberle and Alex Pietrangelo.

Hall, 18, is tied for the OHL scoring lead with Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers, who fell to No. 2 in the NHL's prospect rankings after heading the list in November. Seguin, 17, didn't make the Canadian roster for the world juniors.

Defenceman Cam Fowler, Hall's teammate in Windsor, was rated third, followed by Brett Connolly, a forward with the WHL's Prince George Cougars. Riley Sheahan, a freshman centre at the University of Notre Dame, was fifth.

Mikael Granlund, a forward for the Finnish pro club HIFK, was the top-rated European-based player.

Calvin Pickard of the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds was the No. 1 North American goaltender.

The 2010 NHL entry draft will be held in late June in Los Angeles.