Moore among top U.S. prospects discussed on 'NHL Draft Class' podcast

Oliver Moore, No. 8 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters presented by BioSteel, might be the fastest skater of all the prospects eligible for the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, according to Pat Cullen of NHL Central Scouting.

"His speed jumps off the page," Cullen said on the latest edition of the "NHL Draft Class" podcast. "I think he's the fastest skater and I don't know there'd be a lot of people that would disagree with that. The speed is one thing, but his work ethic is unbelievable. There's never a game where you go and you don't see Oliver Moore working extremely hard and it's more noticeable because of how fast he does everything."

Moore (5-foot-11, 188 pounds), a center with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team, had 75 points (31 goals, 44 assists) and nine power-play goals in 61 games. Committed to the University of Minnesota next season, Moore also had nine points (four goals, five assists) in nine games to help the United States win a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

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Cullen also provided interesting thoughts on a number of other top United States-based prospects, among them NTDP right-shot center William Smith (6-foot, 181), who is No. 3 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. Smith, who is committed to Boston College for next season, had 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in seven games at the U-18 Worlds and was named the tournament's top forward and most valuable player.

Smith was second on the NTDP with 127 points (51 goals, 76 assists) in 60 games this season, behind forward Gabriel Perreault (132 points).

"The thing that stood out to me about [Smith] is he's very complete," Cullen said. "The numbers are off the charts, but he's an unbelievably good penalty killer. He's not just a one-way guy; his backcheck effort was always good. He's the kind of guy you could watch him play and even when he didn't get on the score sheet ... you could walk away from the rink saying, 'He was the best player in the game.'"

Cullen also shared his opinions on a few players from Clark Cup champion Youngstown of the United States Hockey League, as well as the highest-rated high school player, Warroad (Minnesota) forward Jayson Shaugabay (5-9, 153).

"NHL Draft Class" co-hosts Adam Kimelman and Mike G. Morreale also discussed several of the top players from the NTDP, and a few other standouts from the USHL.

The podcast is free, and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms, including iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. It also is available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.

Listen: New episode of NHL Draft Class