Phillips鈥� revelatory season, in which he led all Western Hockey League rookies with 37 goals and 76 points while setting new franchise records for freshmen, was duly noted. The five-foot-six native of Calgary, previously unranked, has been listed on Central Scouting鈥檚 season-ending poll as the 81st-rated North American skater for the 2016 NHL draft.
鈥淧hillips is one of the smallest players in the league, but he鈥檚 found a way and made it work,鈥� said Royals GM Cam Hope.
Ranked at No. 150 is Royals forward Tyler Soy, 19 and in his second year of eligibility for the draft, who detonated for 46 goals this season. Currently-injured Royals forward Vladimir Bobylev, the six-foot-two Russian import who turns 19 next week and had a breakout 28 goals and 67 points this season, is the 203rd-ranked North American-based skater and was a steal for Victoria last year in the import draft.
鈥淏obylev has blossomed, but we are just starting to see what he can do,鈥� said Hope.
鈥淗e鈥檚 got more to give and is the kind of player who is going to get better and better into his 20s.鈥�
The top-ranked Island player for the draft is six-foot-three defenceman Josh Anderson of Duncan. Despite being limited to 39 games this season for the Prince George Cougars, scouts projected his potential and rated him at No. 60 among North American skaters. Tri-City Americans defenceman Dylan Coghlan from Nanaimo is ranked No. 155, Tri-City forward Jordan Topping from Salt Spring Island, who had 33 goals for the Americans, is No. 176, and Portland Winterhawks defenceman Brendan De Jong of Victoria No. 188.
The top-ranked North American skater is forward Pierre-Luc Dubois from Cape Breton of the Quebec Major Junior League. The top overall pick, however, is likely to be Arizona-native Auston Matthews from the Swiss pro club Zurich. It was not a vintage year for future-star watching in the WHL. The top-ranked North American skater from the Dub is Calgary Hitmen defenceman Jake Bean at No. 15.
The 2016 NHL draft will be held June 24-25 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.
