Four Hurricanes Make CSS 2017 Players to Watch List

NHL Central Scouting issued its preliminary ‘Players to Watch’ list for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft earlier today with 52 WHL players making the grade.

NHL Central Scouting identifies players with a rating system that includes four categories. The ‘A’ rating indicates a first round candidate, a ‘B’ rating indicates a second or third round candidate, and a ‘C’ rating indicates a fourth, fifth, or sixth round candidate. An ‘LV’ rating indicates Limited Viewing of injured players who have not had sufficient viewings to be categorized.

Five WHL skaters were assigned an ‘A’ rating, including Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings, Cal Foote of the Kelowna Rockets, Stuart Skinner of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kailer Yamamoto of the Spokane Chiefs, and Michael Rasmussen and Juuso Valimaki, both of the Tri-City Americans.

In addition, 12 WHL skaters were assigned ‘B’ ratings while 29 WHL skaters were given ‘C’ ratings.

Six WHL goaltenders also made the list, including Stuart Skinner of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Ian Scott of the Prince Albert Raiders, Zachary Sawchenko and Brody Willms of the Moose Jaw Warriors, Jordan Hollett of the Regina Pats and Evan Sarthou of the Tri-City Americans. Skinner was the lone goaltender to receive an ‘A’ rating, while Scott was the only netminder to be given a ‘B’ rating. Sawchenko, Willms, Hollett and Sarthou all received ‘C’ ratings.

2017 NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING ‘PLAYERS TO WATCH’ – WHL PLAYERS

A

SKINNER

STUART

LETHBRIDGE

WHL

6'3.5"

209

G

C	BELLERIVE	JORDY	LETHBRIDGE	WHL	5'9.75"	196	C
C	BURKE	BRAYDEN	LETHBRIDGE	WHL	5'9.75"	170	LW
C	DAVIS	BRETT	LETHBRIDGE	WHL	6'0.75"	178	RW

Players have been identified using the following criteria:
• A Rating -- Indicates a first round candidate
• B Rating -- Indicates a second or third round candidate
• C Rating -- Indicates a fourth/fifth/sixth round candidate
• LV (Limited Viewing) -- Injured players who have not had sufficient viewings to be categorized.