The Victoria Grizzlies of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League have four players listed among North American skaters for the 2019 NHL draft, two as possible selections in the first two rounds, which is a notable achievement for a Junior A club.
The NHL鈥檚 Central Scouting combine released its mid-term ratings Monday with Alex Newhook ranked No. 16, fellow Grizzlies forward Alex Campbell No. 42 and Grizzlies blue-liners Jeremie Bucheler No. 113 and Carter Berger No. 181.
Newhook, Campbell and Bucheler will display their skills in the CJHL Top Prospects game scheduled for tonight in Okotoks, Alta.
Newhook, a quick and crafty centre who hails from St. John鈥檚, N.L., and leads the BCHL in scoring with 70 points, has never fallen out of first-round NHL draft range the past two years. Campbell, however, has experienced a dramatic climb from virtual unknown over the summer to fourth-to-seventh-round range in the early-season grades to now a potential second-round selection. He sits eighth in BCHL scoring with 52 points in 39 games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely cool to be in the conversation for the first round of the NHL draft,鈥� Newhook said Monday while en route to Okotoks.
鈥淏ut I focus on what I can control and let others worry about the other stuff.鈥�
About linemate Campbell鈥檚 rapid rise, Newhook said: 鈥淲e have had great chemistry this season.鈥�
Newhook said Campbell getting this notice is no surprise to him and doesn鈥檛 buy into the out-of-nowhere narrative.
Meanwhile, Bucheler, like Campbell also from Quebec, makes his first appearance on the draft list. So does fellow-Grizzlies blue-liner Berger, who leads the BCHL in goals by defencemen.
Jack Hughes, who skated for the U.S. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in the 2019 world junior hockey championship, tops the list for the 2019 NHL draft.
There are no Victoria Royals ranked but other Western Hockey League teams showed well with Kirby Dach of the Saskatoon Blades ranked No. 2, Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes No. 3 and defenceman Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants No. 4.
Kyle Topping of Salt Spring Island, a forward with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, is ranked No. 195. Jacson Alexander of Victoria, a defenceman with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL, has been limited to 15 games this season and was given an incomplete ranking by Central Scouting under the limited-viewing designation.
European players, however, have yet to be added to the mix. That will include power-forward Kaapo Kakko, who also skated in the Memorial Centre at the world juniors for champion Finland, and who is expected to challenge Hughes as the top selection in the 2019 NHL draft to take place in June at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
鈥淚 saw that Hughes-Kaako storyline coming onto Vic [for the world juniors],鈥� said Newhook, who is headed next season to Boston College of the NCAA.
And now here is Newhook himself, as he says, part of that conversation 鈥� not at the heady 1-2 overall level 鈥� but at least at the first-round level. And that鈥檚 quite the storyline in itself for a guy in Junior A out of St. John鈥檚 who went to the other rock on the other coast to pursue his hockey dreams.
Newhook, Campbell and Bucheler are expected back from Okotoks for the Grizzlies鈥� BCHL Island Division derby Wednesday night in Nanaimo against the Clippers.
cdheensaw@timescolonist
Twitter.com/tc_vicsports
