Sports stats



WHL Western Hockey League

48 WHL Players Highlight NHL Central Scouting Midterm Rankings

January 21, 2019 - Western Hockey League (WHL) News Release


Calgary, Alta. - The Western Hockey League announced today 48 WHL players have been listed by NHL Central Scouting in its midterm rankings in advance of the 2019 NHL Draft, scheduled for June 21-22 in Vancouver, B.C.

Headlining the list are three WHL players among the top four skaters in North America, led by forward Kirby Dach (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. / Saskatoon Blades) who is ranked second. Joining Dach in the top four are forward Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Yukon / Lethbridge Hurricanes), and defenceman Bowen Byram (Cranbrook, B.C. / Vancouver Giants). Joining the trio in the top 10 list of North American skaters is Kootenay ICE captain Peyton Krebs (Okotoks, Alta. / Kootenay ICE), who is ranked eighth. Mads Sogaard (Aalborg, Denmark / Medicine Hat Tigers) is the highest-ranked WHL net minder, ranked third among North American goaltenders.

Including, Dach, Cozens, Byram, and Krebs, nine WHL players are ranked inside the Top 31, including defenceman Lassi Thomson (14th - Tempere, Finland / Kelowna Rockets), forward Brett Leason (17th - Calgary, Alta. / Prince Albert Raiders), defenceman Matthew Robertson (18th - Sherwood Park, Alta. / Edmonton Oil Kings), forward Nolan Foote (26th - Engelwood, Colo. / Kelowna Rockets), and defenceman Kaedan Korczak (31st - Yorkton, Sask. / Kelowna Rockets).

The Kelowna Rockets lead all WHL clubs with six players ranked. In addition to Thomson, Foote, and Korczak, forwards Kyle Topping (195th - Salt Spring Island, B.C.), Alex Swetlikoff (217th - Kelowna, B.C.), and goaltender Roman Basran (11th - Vancouver, B.C.) find a place on the NHL radar. The Edmonton Oil Kings sit just behind the Rockets with five players named in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings. Four teams have a trio of players on the rankings while 10 more have a pair of players featured in the rankings.

Overall the list includes 27 forwards, 14 defencemen, and seven goaltenders from the WHL, representing 20 of the 22 WHL member Clubs. The Central Division leads all divisions with 17 players appearing on the list, while the 48 prospects are split evenly between the conferences, each claiming 24 as their own.

Of the 48 players listed in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings, 15 will participate at the 2019 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Wednesday, January 23 (8:00 p.m. MT) at The Centrium in Red Deer, Alta. Cozens and Dach will take a leading role at the event as the captains of Team Cherry and Team Orr respectively. Seattle Thunderbirds forward Dillon Hamaliuk had previously been named to the annual outing, but will miss the event due to injury.

2019 NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING MIDTERM RANKINGS (NORTH AMERICA) - WHL SKATERS

Midterm Rank Player Height Weight Position Amateur Club

2 Kirby Dach 5'10.25" 199 Centre Saskatoon

3 Dylan Cozens 6'3.0" 181 Centre Lethbridge

4 Bowen Byram 6'0.5" 194 Defenceman Vancouver

8 Peyton Krebs 5'11.25" 180 Centre Kootenay

14 Lassi Thomson 6'0" 188 Defenceman Kelowna

17 Brett Leason 6'3.75" 200 Centre Prince Albert

18 Matthew Robertson 6'3.0" 201 Defenceman Edmonton

26 Nolan Foote 6'3.5" 190 Left Wing Kelowna

31 Kaedan Korczak 6'2.75" 192 Defenceman Kelowna

37 Oleg Zaytsev 6'0.75 186 Centre Red Deer

44 Adam Beckman 6'0.5" 168 Left Wing Spokane

66 Reece Newkirk 5'10.75" 172 Centre Portland

67 Josh Williams 6'1.0" 194 Right Wing Edmonton

71 Quinn Schmiemann 6'1.75" 185 Defenceman Kamloops

73 Brayden Tracey 6'0" 177 Left Wing Moose Jaw

77 Aliaksei Protas 6'4.75" 205 Centre Prince Albert

78 Jake Lee 6'1.75" 216 Defenceman Seattle

81 Sasha Mutala 6'0.5" 195 Right Wing Tri-City

82 Luke Toporowski 5'10.75" 179 Centre Spokane

85 Gianni Fairbrother 5'11.75" 194 Defenceman Everett

122 Luka Burzan 6'0" 184 Right Wing Brandon

128 Mitchell Brown 6'3.0" 205 Defenceman Tri-City

129 Henrik Rybinski 6'0.5" 176 Right Wing Seattle

132 Krystof Hrabik 6'4.25" 218 Centre Tri-City

144 John Ludvig 6'0.5" 196 Defenceman Portland

145 Jackson Van De Leest 6'6.25" 222 Defenceman Calgary

151 Vladimir Alistrov 6'1.75" 175 Left Wing Edmonton

156 Brett Kemp 6'0.5" 162 Centre Medicine Hat

159 David Kope 6'3.75" 170 Right Wing Edmonton

160 Cole Muir 6'2.5" 205 Centre Kootenay

162 Martin Lang 5'10.75" 163 Right Wing Kamloops

172 Connor Horning 6'2.75" 188 Defenceman Swift Current

175 Cole Moberg 6'2.5" 187 Defenceman Prince George

182 Alex Morozoff 5'11.75" 184 Centre Red Deer

195 Kyle Topping 5'11.25" 185 Centre Kelowna

196 Mark Kastelic 6'3.5" 213 Centre Calgary

209 Emil Malysjev 6'3.0" 187 Defenceman Saskatoon

211 Logan Barlage 6'3.75" 202 Centre Lethbridge

217 Alex Swetlikoff 6'2.5" 188 Centre Kelowna

LV Jacson Alexander 5'9.25" 178 Defenceman Edmonton

LV Dillon Hamaliuk 6'2.75" 190 Left Wing Seattle

For the complete list, CLICK HERE.

2019 NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING MIDTERM RANKINGS (NORTH AMERICA) - WHL GOALTENDERS

Midterm Rank Player Height Weight Position Amateur Club

3 Mads Sogaard 6'6.75" 192 Goaltender Medicine Hat

5 Taylor Gauthier 6'1.0" 193 Goaltender Prince George

6 Trent Miner 6'0.5" 182 Goaltender Vancouver

11 Roman Basran 6'1.5" 195 Goaltender Kelowna

13 Ethan Anders 6'0.75" 172 Goaltender Red Deer

17 Dustin Wolf 5'11.5" 156 Goaltender Everett

21 Jesse Makaj 6'2.75" 209 Goaltender Kootenay

Check out the Western Hockey League Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central