The son of a former NHLer, Tyler Madden is our 92nd ranked prospect in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft rankings.

With the young pivot, there are some noteworthy things to his game and some red flags but given that he is already committed to Northeastern University, a team may see value in the waiting game for his development.

Given that, we should see the speedy centre taken in the middle rounds and why we feel he should be included in the top 100 rankings of the 2018 Draft.

Madden struggled to put up 5 on 5 points in the second half of his season after being traded to the Tri-City Storm but continued to be productive on the man advantage. The Storm did close out the season with a 0-8-1 streak that almost resulted in them missing the playoffs. Given that the team struggled, you can give Madden a little more leeway for the large amounts of red in the event tracker in the second half.

There are some concerns with the WOWY’s – as his teammates generally performed better when away from Madden.

An extremely low success rate is due to Madden not exactly bursting with offensive production and the USHL until recently, hasn’t been a jumping off point for NHL regulars. That has been changing quickly as we see higher numbers of successful players come out of there regularly now, but historically, it’s a fairly new pipeline for NHL players.

Keeping in mind that pGPS can create slightly skewed numbers for USHL players, the mid-season trade for Madden, and then the losing streak that Tri-City went on to close the season – the reason that Madden is ranked in the top 100 is because of his speed, the ability to control the puck at that speed, his agility and that he is committed to the NCAA next season.

If there was a similar player in the CHL, I might be a little more wary of his underlying numbers and projections but given those aforementioned disclaimers, he might be worth a late round flyer simply because of those skating abilities. He is able to keep the puck with him when he gets going and doesn’t shy away from taking charge.

Madden is also an ‘intangibles’ darling – known for his leadership qualities, willingness to do whatever it takes and laying it all out there. He also isn’t afraid to mix it up and get to the front of the net.

Without a doubt, he will need to add strength and weight to be successful in professional hockey. The combine is next week and we will have a better idea of what his measurements are but the public ones generally have him around 155 lbs on his 5’10” frame.

The Deerfield Beach native led the Storm in shots on goal by 23 (141 total shots) and 2nd in points per game behind Sam Hentges (who played 20 games)

Since Madden is committed to Northeastern for next season, there is a reason to believe that he will be given a large role with Huskies. NE has seen their entire top line graduate to the NHL this summer and there will be an opportunity for players like Madden to take over and be given a chance to be leaders.

Madden was named the MVP of the USHL Top Prospects Game, after scoring two goals,  and was named to the Second Rookie All-Star Team in the USHL.

You can’t teach the speed and intangibles that Madden has and add the fact that a team will retain his rights for four years, Madden appears to be a decent value bet by whoever selects him despite the underlying numbers leaving some question marks.

There is a bit of a spread with the public rankings on where Madden will go with him being ranked as high as 53rd and then left out of the top 100 in others.

From Kevin Wickersham, Dobber Prospects: