When the National Hockey League draft commences on June 24, it's likely that there will be several - perhaps more than a dozen - Minnesota natives selected. 

In fact, an Edina native could be the highest taken skater from the State of Hockey in the last 10 years.

Kieffer Bellows, son of 1982 No. 2 overall pick Brian Bellows, is rated No. 10 in the Central Scouting final rankings.

If selected in the top 10, Bellows would be the highest-selected Minnesotan since Bloomington's Erik Johnson went No. 1 overall in 2006 (that year three Minnesota natives - Johnson, Kyle Okposo and Peter Mueller were among the first eight picks).

Bellows recorded 50 goals and 81 points for the U.S. National Team Development Program this season, which plays its home games in Ann Arbor, Mich.

There are a total of 11 Minnesota-born players rated among Central Scouting’s top 200 North American skaters, including five who played high school hockey last season.

Riley Tufte of Blaine, Minnesota's Mr. Hockey in 2015-16, is the highest-rated high school skater at No. 17, and predicted by some to be picked in the late first or early second round. Tufte is followed by Grand Rapids product Mitchell Mattson (No. 61), Eden Prairie forward Michael Graham (No. 128), Hill-Murray’s Casey Staum (No. 159) and Hibbing’s Scott Perunovich (No. 161).

Other Minnesota natives in the Top 200 (who didn't play high school hockey in the state last season) include defensemen Ryan Lindgren (No. 49) and Sam Rossini (No. 195), and forwards Joey Anderson (No. 56), Max Zimmer (No. 77) and Rem Pitlick (No. 93).

Peter Thome of Minneapolis is the lone Minnesotan in Central Scouting’s top 30 goaltender rankings at No. 30. Thome skated last season for the Aberdeen Wings of the North American Hockey League.

Four players were ranked in Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings, but fell out of the top 200 by the end of the ranking period. Those players are Farmington’s Tyler Jette, St. Thomas Academy’s Billy Jerry, Notre Dame’s Dylan Malmquist (formerly of Edina) and Hermantown’s Wyatt Aamodt.

For a list of Minnesota-born players drafted in the top 50 picks of the NHL Draft, from 1969-2015, check vintagemnhockey.com. 

To see TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button's final draft ranking, visit tsn.ca.