Five Saskatoon products, another three from close by, plus three Blades, one Prince Albert Raider and four Red Deer Rebels find themselves on N-H-L Central Scouting’s Final Rankings ahead of the 2023 N-H-L Draft, to be held at the end of June in Nashville.

The top-rated North American skater prospect remains centre Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats. The five Saskatoonians are headed by Moose Jaw centre Brayden Yager at 11th overall, followed – in order – by Prince George forward Riley Heidt at 21st, Kelowna defenceman Caden Price at 47th, Lethbridge blueliner Noah Chadwick at 154th and Red Deer rearguard Hunter Mayo at 205th. The three nearby Saskatoon prospects ranked are Red Deer left winger Kalan Lind of Shuanovan at 39th overall, Victoria defenceman and Clavet product Kalem Parker at 93rd and Blades winger and Rosetown native Vaughn Watterodt at 210th. The other two Blades on the list, besides Watterodt, are blueliner Tanner Molendyk at 28th overall and winger Egor Sidorov at 81st. Raiders’ rearguard Terrell Goldsmith is ranked 180th while, besides Lind and Mayo, the other two Red Deer skaters on the list are centre Kai Uchacz at 115th and defenceman Matteo Fabrizi at 141st. In all, 54 W-H-L players are on the final Central Scouting list. Following is the news release from the W-H-L…..

54 WHL players named to NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings

2023 NHL DRAFT

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE

Calgary, Alta. – The Western Hockey League is proud to announce 54 WHL players have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s Final Rankings ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft. The Final Rankings were issued Tuesday by the NHL Central Scouting Service.

Regina Pats captain Connor Bedard tops the list as the number-one rated North American Skater. He is joined by 11 other WHL skaters among the top 28 of the North American Skaters rankings, including Winnipeg ICE forward Zach Benson (sixth), Brandon Wheat Kings forward Nate Danielson (seventh) and Vancouver Giants forward Samuel Honzek (ninth).

For the third consecutive season, the WHL boasts the top North American Goaltender in the NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings. Brandon Wheat Kings netminder Carson Bjarnason is the top-ranked North American Goaltender. The product of Carberry, Man. is followed by Seattle Thunderbirds puck-stopper Scott Ratzlaff (fourth), Tri-City Americans goaltender Tomas Suchanek (ninth) and Portland Winterhawks netminder Jan Spunar (10th) in the top 10 among North American Goaltenders.

Overall, 20 of 22 WHL Clubs are represented in the Final Rankings. The Seattle Thunderbirds lead the way with six players on the list, while the Vancouver Giants are represented by five players. The Red Deer Rebels have four players named to the NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings, while the Brandon Wheat Kings, Everett Silvertips, Kelowna Rockets, Portland Winterhawks, Prince George Cougars, Saskatoon Blades, Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans each have three players on the Final Rankings. Six WHL Clubs are represented with two players on the lists, while three further WHL Clubs have a single player on NHL Central Scouting’s lists.

A total of 26 WHL forwards find themselves on the Final Rankings, joined by 19 WHL defencemen and nine WHL goaltenders.

2022-23 NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings – WHL Players

North American Skaters

Rank	Last Name	First Name	Hometown	Team	Height	Weight	Position
1	Bedard	Connor	North Vancouver, B.C.	Regina Pats	5’10”	185	C
6	Benson	Zach	Chilliwack, B.C.	Winnipeg ICE	5’9”	163	C
7	Danielson	Nate	Red Deer, Alta.	Brandon Wheat Kings	6’2”	185	C
9	Honzek	Samuel	Trencin, Slovakia	Vancouver Giants	6’4”	186	LW
11	Yager	Brayden	Saskatoon, Sask.	Moose Jaw Warriors	5’11”	166	C
15	Cristall	Andrew	Burnaby, B.C.	Kelowna Rockets	5’10”	167	LW
18	Dragicevic	Lukas	Richmond, B.C.	Tri-City Americans	6’1”	190	D
21	Heidt	Riley	Saskatoon, Sask.	Prince George Cougars	5’10”	178	C
24	Sawchyn	Gracyn	Grande Prairie, Alta.	Seattle Thunderbirds	5’11”	157	C
25	Ziemmer	Koehn	Mayerthorpe, Alta.	Prince George Cougars	6’0”	202	RW
26	Myatovic	Nico	Prince George, B.C.	Seattle Thunderbirds	6’2”	182	LW
28	Molendyk	Tanner	McBride, B.C.	Saskatoon Blades	6’0”	182	D
35	Cagnoni	Luca	Burnaby, B.C.	Portland Winterhawks	5’9”	180	D
39	Lind	Kalan	Shaunavon, Sask.	Red Deer Rebels	6’0”	158	LW
47	Price	Caden	Saskatoon, Sask.	Kelowna Rockets	6’1”	185	D
49	Lipinski	Jaden	Scottsdale, Ariz.	Vancouver Giants	6’4”	204	C
62	Mynio	Sawyer	Kamloops, B.C.	Seattle Thunderbirds	6’1”	173	D
71	Sotheran	Carter	Sanford, Man.	Portland Winterhawks	6’3”	197	D
75	Levis	Connor	Vancouver, B.C.	Kamloops Blazers	6’1”	187	RW
81	Sidorov	Egor	Vitebsk, Belarus	Saskatoon Blades	6’0”	182	RW
89	Halaburda	Ty	Victoria, B.C.	Vancouver Giants	5’11”	178	C
93	Parker	Kalem	Clavet, Sask.	Victoria Royals	6’0”	192	D
95	Hammell	Kaden	Langley, B.C.	Everett Silvertips	6’1”	173	D
107	Kipkie	Justin	Calgary, Alta.	Victoria Royals	6’3”	195	D
108	McMillan	Deagan	Vernon, B.C.	Tri-City Americans	6’2”	196	RW
113	Roest	Austin	Coldstream, B.C.	Everett Silvertips	5’10”	175	C
115	Uchacz	Kai	De Winton, Alta.	Red Deer Rebels	6’2”	194	RW
124	Hanzel	Jeremy	Coquitlam, B.C.	Seattle Thunderbirds	6’1”	196	D
125	Leslie	Mazden	Lloydminster, Alta.	Vancouver Giants	6’0”	193	D
132	Weinstein	Saige	Edmonton, Alta.	Spokane Chiefs	6’0”	179	D
138	Mantei	Quinn	Weyburn, Sask.	Brandon Wheat Kings	6’0”	180	D
141	Fabrizi	Matteo	St. Albert, Alta.	Red Deer Rebels	6’5”	238	D
152	Valis	Borya	Denver, Colo.	Regina Pats	6’1”	182	RW
154	Chadwick	Noah	Saskatoon, Sask.	Lethbridge Hurricanes	6’4”	187	D
156	Wormald	Logan	Langley, B.C.	Lethbridge Hurricanes	5’10”	144	LW
158	De Luca	Tommaso	Aosta, Italy	Spokane Chiefs	5’11”	178	C
172	Port	Vojtech	Jihlava, Czechia	Edmonton Oil Kings	6’2”	168	D
180	Goldsmith	Terrell	Fort St. James, B.C.	Prince Albert Raiders	6’4”	223	D
203	Mayo	Hunter	Saskatoon, Sask.	Red Deer Rebels	6’1”	196	D
205	Miller	Cole	Edmonton, Alta.	Edmonton Oil Kings	6’4”	174	C
206	Thornton	Hudson	Winnipeg, Man.	Prince George Cougars	5’11”	180	D
210	Watterodt	Vaughn	Rosetown, Sask.	Saskatoon Blades	5’11”	183	LW
215	Tulk	Oliver	Gibsons, B.C.	Calgary Hitmen	5’7”	170	C
220	Szturc	Gabriel	Cesky Tesin, Czechia	Kelowna Rockets	5’11”	186	C
223	Thorpe	Tyler	Richmond, B.C.	Vancouver Giants	6’4”	194	RW

North American Goaltenders

Rank	Last Name	First Name	Hometown	Team	Height	Weight	Position
1	Bjarnason	Carson	Carberry, Man.	Brandon Wheat Kings	6’3”	186	G
4	Ratzlaff	Scott	Irma, Alta.	Seattle Thunderbirds	6’1”	175	G
9	Suchanek	Tomas	Olomouc, Czechia	Tri-City Americans	6’1”	180	G
10	Spunar	Jan	Olomouc, Czechia	Portland Winterhawks	6’3”	185	G
19	Unger	Jackson	Calgary, Alta.	Moose Jaw Warriors	6’1”	179	G
23	Michaluk	Cooper	Edmonton, Alta.	Spokane Chiefs	6’1”	166	G
26	Ernst	Dylan	Weyburn, Sask.	Kamloops Blazers	6’2”	196	G
28	Milic	Thomas	Coquitlam, B.C.	Seattle Thunderbirds	6’0”	179	G
31	Metzger	Tim	Zurich, Switzerland	Everett Silvertips	6’5”	192	G

In its 48th year of operation, NHL Central Scouting provides evaluation and scouting of draft-eligible players to NHL member clubs. Headed by Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr, NHL Central Scouting employs eight full-time scouts throughout North America.