Ollie Josephson of Victoria has stick-handled into the range of the second round for the 2024 NHL draft. The product of the Spectrum Secondary hockey academy, South Island Royals and the Langford-based Pacific Coast Hockey Academy Sea Devils is the 43rd-ranked North American skater in Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings released on Friday.
The six-foot forward with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League, who won gold with sa国际传媒 last year in the U-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, takes a level-headed approach as the pressure is sure to mount for all the ranked prospects.
“I just take it one day at a time and not think about [scouts] too much,” Josephson told the sa国际传媒 when back in Victoria during the WHL Christmas break.
Defenceman Nate Misskey of the Victoria Royals of the WHL, meanwhile, celebrated his 19th birthday Friday by being ranked as the 66th North American skater for the draft.
It is another milestone in the ascent of the previously unheralded blueliner. A sign of his improvement, and that of the Royals overall, is that Misskey’s plus-minus rating has gone from minus-19 last season to plus-12 this season in an astounding 31-point turnaround.
The six-foot-three rearguard from Melfort, Sask., is ninth in points for WHL defencemen with six goals and 26 assists for 32 points, which ranks him tied for fifth overall on the Royals. Three of his goals have been on the power play and he has two game winners. Misskey is not hesitant to shoot and is fifth among WHL defencemen with 122 shots on net.
Misskey was selected by Victoria 64th overall in the third round of the 2020 WHL prospects draft, with fellow six-foot-three defenceman Justin Kipkie 126th overall that year, in the sixth round, in picks that have paid off and provided the Royals with two cornerstone offensive blueliners. Kipkie, who has 10 goals and 30 points this season, was selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL draft while Misskey was overlooked.
In his second season of eligibility, Misskey is no longer being ignored by scouts. He came into the season motivated and with a sense of purpose after being invited to the NHL rookie training camp of the Edmonton Oilers.
“Nate really dedicated himself, physically and mentally, this past off-season and came into camp in fantastic shape with a very clear goal and mindset,” said Royals assistant coach Morgan Klimchuk, who runs the defence.
“The work Nate put in, and continues to put in, has translated into his play. He possesses good size and strength. He skates well and has shown he can contribute on both sides of the puck.”
Misskey was injured this week in Brandon, Man., and will not complete the Royals’ current road trip through the East Division, which concludes tonight in Saskatoon.
Jesse Heslop of Nanaimo, a five-foot-11 forward with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, is ranked the 162nd North American skater and joins Josephson and Misskey among the 60 WHL players who are ranked. Eight WHL players are among the top-20 North American skaters rated and two among the top-10 North American goaltenders. There are 37 WHL forwards ranked, 15 blueliners and eight goaltenders.
All 22 WHL teams are represented in the rankings, with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Calgary Hitmen leading the way each with five ranked players while the Everett Silvertips, Medicine Hat Tigers, Edmonton Oil Kings and the Rebels having four players each ranked and the Vancouver Giants, Prince George Cougars, Portland Winterhawks, Spokane Chiefs and Regina Pats with three players each.
There are 10 sa国际传媒 Hockey League players listed, including Nanaimo Clippers defenceman Matt Lahey as the 144th- ranked North American skater.
The top-ranked North American skater is Lower Mainland-produced centre Macklin Celebrini from Boston University of the NCAA and the top-rated European skater is centre Konsta Helenius of Jukurit in Finland.
The draft will be held June 28-29 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
