It’s beginning to look like there will be a lot of Saskatchewan visitors to Nashville in late June, especially from Saskatoon!

The N-H-L Central Scouting “Preliminary Players to Watch” list was released Tuesday with 43 players from the Western Hockey League making an appearance. That includes 10 youngsters who call Saskatchewan home, five of those from Saskatoon and area, plus two members of the Blades and one member of the Prince Albert Raiders. The two Bridge City Bunch players are defenceman Tanner Molendyk (pictured) and forward Egor Sidorov as “B” and “C” rated prospects while blueliner Terrell Goldsmith of the P-A Raiders is a “C” prospect. The five Saskatoon and area athletes rated are forwards Riley Heidt of the Prince George Cougars and Brayden Yager of the Moose Jaw Warriors in the “A” rated category, defenceman Caden Price of the Kelowna Rockets as a “B” rated prospect plus a pair of “C” rated prospects in blueliner Noah Chadwick of the Lethbridge Hurricanes along with Clavet product and Victoria Royals defenceman Kalem Parker. “A” prospects are projected to be first round picks, “B” prospects are likely to be chosen in the second or third round while “C” rated prospects are projected to be taken in rounds four through six. The 2023 N-H-L Draft is to be held June 28-29 in Nashville. Following is the news release from the W-H-L…..

43 WHL PLAYERS NAMED TO NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING PRELIMINARY PLAYERS TO WATCH LIST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2022

Calgary, Alta. – The Western Hockey League is proud to announce 43 WHL players have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s ‘Preliminary Players to Watch’ List ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft. The ‘Players to Watch’ list was issued Tuesday by the NHL Central Scouting Service.

NHL Central Scouting identifies players with a rating system that includes four categories. The ‘A’ rating indicates players projected to be first-round candidates. The ‘B’ rating indicates players projected to be second- or third-round candidates, and the ‘C’ rating indicates players projected to be fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-round candidates. The ‘LV’ rating represents a player who has not had sufficient viewings, due to injury.

Seven WHL players earned ‘A’ ratings: Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard, Winnipeg ICE forward Zach Benson, Brandon Wheat Kings teammates Carson Bjarnason and Noah Danielson, Prince George Cougars forward Riley Heidt, Vancouver Giants forward Samuel Honzek and Moose Jaw Warriors forward Brayden Yager.

A further 12 WHL players were given ‘B’ ratings, including Kelowna Rockets teammates Andrew Cristall and Caden Price, Red Deer Rebels forward Kalan Lind and Seattle Thunderbirds pair Scott Ratzlaff and Gracyn Sawchyn. 23 WHL players earned ‘C’ ratings, while one WHL player received an ‘LV’ rating.

Overall, 21 of the 22 WHL Clubs are represented in the ‘Players to Watch’ List. The Vancouver Giants boast five players on the list to lead all WHL Clubs. The Brandon Wheat Kings, Kamloops Blazers, Moose Jaw Warriors, Portland Winterhawks and Saskatoon Blades have three players listed. Seven WHL Clubs are represented with two players on the list, while eight further WHL Clubs have a single player on NHL Central Scouting’s list.

A total of 25 WHL forwards find themselves on the list, joined by 12 WHL defencemen and six WHL goaltenders.

2022-23 NHL Central Scouting ‘Preliminary Players to Watch’ – WHL Players

PTW	Last Name	First Name	Hometown	Team	Height	Weight	Position
A	Bedard	Connor	North Vancouver, B.C.	Regina Pats	5’10”	185	C
A	Benson	Zach	Chilliwack, B.C.	Winnipeg ICE	5’9”	160	LW
A	Bjarnason	Carson	Carberry, Man.	Brandon Wheat Kings	6’3”	186	G
A	Danielson	Nate	Red Deer, Alta.	Brandon Wheat Kings	6’1”	185	C
A	Heidt	Riley	Saskatoon, Sask.	Prince George Cougars	5’10”	182	C
A	Honzek	Samuel	Trencin, Slovakia	Vancouver Giants	6’3”	186	LW
A	Yager	Brayden	Saskatoon, Sask.	Moose Jaw Warriors	5’10”	166	C
B	Cagnoni	Luca	Burnaby, B.C.	Portland Winterhawks	5’9”	180	D
B	Cristall	Andrew	Burnaby, B.C.	Kelowna Rockets	5’9”	167	LW
B	Dragicevic	Lukas	Richmond, B.C.	Tri-City Americans	6’1”	192	D
B	Halaburda	Ty	Victoria, B.C.	Vancouver Giants	5’11”	178	C
B	Hammell	Kaden	Langley, B.C.	Kamloops Blazers	6’1”	173	D
B	Levis	Connor	Vancouver, B.C.	Kamloops Blazers	6’1”	189	RW
B	Lind	Kalan	Shaunavon, Sask.	Red Deer Rebels	6’0”	158	LW
B	Molendyk	Tanner	McBride, B.C.	Saskatoon Blades	5’11”	184	D
B	Price	Caden	Saskatoon, Sask.	Kelowna Rockets	6’0”	186	D
B	Ratzlaff	Scott	Irma, Alta.	Seattle Thunderbirds	6’0”	175	G
B	Sawchyn	Gracyn	Grande Prairie, Alta.	Seattle Thunderbirds	5’11”	157	C
B	Ziemmer	Koehn	Mayerthorpe, Alta.	Prince George Cougars	6’0”	204	RW
C	Birnie	Brady	Regina, Sask.	Swift Current Broncos	5’7”	154	C
C	Chadwick	Noah	Saskatoon, Sask.	Lethbridge Hurricanes	6’3”	187	D
C	Ernst	Dylan	Weyburn, Sask.	Kamloops Blazers	6’1”	196	G
C	Goldsmith	Terrell	Fort St. James, B.C.	Prince Albert Raiders	6’3”	218	D
C	Leslie	Mazden	Lloydminster, Alta.	Vancouver Giants	6’0”	193	D
C	Lipinski	Jaden	Scottsdale, Ariz.	Vancouver Giants	6’3”	208	C
C	Metzger	Tim	Zurich, Switzerland	Everett Silvertips	6’5”	192	G
C	Miller	Cole	Edmonton, Alta.	Edmonton Oil Kings	6’4”	174	C
C	Myatovic	Nico	Prince George, B.C.	Seattle Thunderbirds	6’2”	182	C
C	Oremba	Sam	Regina, Sask.	Regina Pats	6’1”	195	C
C	Parker	Kalem	Clavet, Sask.	Victoria Royals	6’0”	192	D
C	Riche	Ben	Bethune, Sask.	Moose Jaw Warriors	5’10”	178	C
C	Roersma	Rylen	Lethbridge, Alta.	Brandon Wheat Kings	5’10”	161	C
C	Roest	Austin	Coldstream, B.C.	Everett Silvertips	5’9”	175	C
C	Seitz	Dawson	Medicine Hat, Alta.	Edmonton Oil Kings	6’2”	185	C
C	Semeniuk	Ethan	Fort St. John, B.C.	Vancouver Giants	5’11”	175	C
C	Sidorov	Yegor	Vitebsk, Belarus	Saskatoon Blades	5’11”	182	RW
C	Siepmann	Grayden	Abbotsford, B.C.	Calgary Hitmen	5’10”	185	D
C	Sotheran	Carter	Sanford, Man.	Portland Winterhawks	6’3”	197	D
C	Spunar	Jan	Olomouc, Czechia	Portland Winterhawks	6’3”	185	G
C	Unger	Jackson	Calgary, Alta.	Moose Jaw Warriors	6’1”	190	G
C	Weinstein	Saige	Edmonton, Alta.	Spokane Chiefs	6’0”	179	D
C	Wormald	Logan	Langley, B.C.	Lethbridge Hurricanes	5’9”	144	LW
LV	Schuurman	Brayden	Abbotsford, B.C.	Victoria Royals	5’9”	198	C

Better-Than-Average Group of Saskatoon and Area Prospects Make Initial N-H-L Central Scouting Rankings

43 WHL PLAYERS NAMED TO NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING PRELIMINARY PLAYERS TO WATCH LIST

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