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OHL Kitchener Rangers

Rangers Add Two Prospects in Under-18 Priority Selection Wednesday

April 26, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


Kitchener, Ont. - Following the 2023 OHL Priority Selection last weekend, the Kitchener Rangers added two more prospects in the 2023 OHL Under-18 Priority Selection Wednesday night. The Rangers tabbed forwards Brayden Besner in the first-round (9th overall) and Artem Narbekov in the second-round (29th overall).

"We'd like to welcome Artem and Brayden to the Kitchener Rangers' organization," said Kitchener Rangers General Manager Mike McKenzie. "We look forward to monitoring their progress and being a resource in their development moving forward."

Besner, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound forward, has spent the last two seasons playing for the Ontario Hockey Academy (OHA), an academic private hockey school based in Cornwall, Ont. This year with OHA, Besner amassed 98 points (46G, 52A) in 51 games in the Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO) Under-18 AAA Hockey League. A native of Glenwalter, Ont., Besner has played Junior A games with the Hawkesbury Hawks and the Cornwall Colts in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) and Jr. B games with the Casselman Vikings in the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League (EOJHL).

"Brayden is one of the purest goal scorers in all of the U-18 Draft this year," said Kitchener Rangers GTHL Midget and Free Agent Scout Kenneth Kerto. "He put up good goal scoring totals across three levels (HEO U18AAA, EOJHL and CCHL). He's a atural centreman who does a great job of making defenders forget about him, only to find quiet ice and then find the back of the net."

Narbekov, a native of Vaughan, Ont., has spent the last two seasons with the Toronto Red Wings AAA Hockey Club in the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). The 5-foot-10, 179-pound forward recorded 15 points (9G, 6A), including 30 penalty minutes in 34 games with the Red Wings last season.

"Artem is perhaps one of the top-five most skilled players available in this year's U-18 Draft," added Kerto. "He's a dynamic skater with equally dynamic hands. He loves to set up his teammates just as much as he loves to score. He has a real homerun upside as an offensive player."

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