Calgary, AB – The Western Hockey League announced today that 57 WHL players have been listed by NHL Central Scouting in its midterm rankings in advance of the 2017 NHL Draft, scheduled for June 23 to 24 in Chicago.

Heading the list is Nolan Patrick (Winnipeg, MB / Brandon Wheat Kings), ranked first among North American skaters. Michael Rasmussen (sixth – Tri-City Americans), Cody Glass (eighth – Portland Winterhawks) and Jusso Valimaki (ninth – Tri-City Americans) join Patrick in representing the WHL amongst the top 10 North American skaters.

A total of 12 WHL skaters land in the top 31, including Cal Foote (12^th – Kelowna Rockets), Kailer Yamamoto (17^th – Spokane Chiefs), Nikita Popugaev (18^th – Prince George Cougars), Kole Lind (21^st – Kelowna Rockets), Henri Jokiharju (22^nd – Portland Winterhawks), Stelio Mattheos (23^rd – Brandon Wheat Kings), Nick Henry (25^th – Regina Pats) and Jake Leschyshyn (31^st – Regina Pats).

Ian Scott (Prince Albert Raiders) is ranked second amongst North American goaltenders.

The Tri-City Americans lead all WHL clubs with six players ranked, followed by the Spokane Chiefs (five) and Regina Pats (four).

The WHL leads the entire Canadian Hockey League with 12 skaters ranked in the top 31, followed by the Ontario Hockey League with 11 skaters and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with two skaters.

Of the 57 WHL players listed in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings, 15 will participate in the 2017 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects game, scheduled for January 30 in Quebec City.

At the 2016 NHL Draft, a total of 34 WHL players were selected, including four during the first round.

2017 NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING MIDTERM RANKINGS (NORTH AMERICA) – WHL SKATERS

Rank	Last Name	First Name	Team	League	Height	Weight	Pos
1	PATRICK	NOLAN	BRANDON	WHL	6’2.75″	198	C
6	RASMUSSEN	MICHAEL	TRI-CITY	WHL	6’5.75”	215	C
8	GLASS	CODY	PORTLAND	WHL	6’1.75”	180	C
9	VALIMAKI	JUUSO	TRI-CITY	WHL	6’1.5”	204	D
12	FOOTE	CAL	KELOWNA	WHL	6’3.5”	213	D
17	YAMAMOTO	KAILER	SPOKANE	WHL	5’7.5”	153	RW
18	POPUGAEV	NIKITA	PRINCE GEORGE	WHL	6’5.5”	204	LW
21	LIND	KOLE	KELOWNA	WHL	6’1.0”	176	RW
22	JOKIHARJU	HENRI	PORTLAND	WHL	5’11.75”	176	D
23	MATTHEOS	STELIO	BRANDON	WHL	6’0.75”	190	RW
25	HENRY	NICK	REGINA	WHL	5’10.75”	191	RW
31	LESCHYSHYN	JAKE	REGINA	WHL	5’1-.75”	184	C
33	TYSZKA	JARRET	SEATTLE	WHL	6’2.25”	190	D
36	HEPONIEMI	ALEKSI	SWIFT CURRENT	WHL	5’9.75”	147	C
40	ANDERSON-DOLAN	JARET	SPOKANE	WHL	5’11.0”	188	C
49	MINULIN	ARTYOM	SWIFT CURRENT	WHL	6’2.25”	202	D
50	GEEKIE	MORGAN	TRI-CITY	WHL	6’2.25”	178	C
58	OLSON	KYLE	TRI-CITY	WHL	5’10.5”	161	RW
63	SHAW	MASON	MEDICINE HAT	WHL	5’8.5”	180	C
70	ZABLOCKI	LANE	RED DEER	WHL	5’11.5”	190	RW
74	FLEURY	CALE	KOOTENAY	WHL	6’1.25”	203	D
75	BROOK	JOSH	MOOSE JAW	WHL	6’1.0”	182	D
83	PRATT	AUSTIN	RED DEER	WHL	6’2.25”	226	RW
84	COGHLAN	DYLAN	TRI-CITY	WHL	6’2.0”	189	D
87	PECKFORD	RYAN	VICTORIA	WHL	6’0.0”	185	LW
91	BELLERIVE	JORDY	LETHBRIDGE	WHL	5’9.75”	196	C
93	MOILANEN	SAMI	SEATTLE	WHL	5’8.5”	185	RW
98	SMART	JONATHAN	REGINA	WHL	6’0.0”	197	D
105	LEWIS	TY	BRANDON	WHL	5’11.0”	177	LW
109	DE JONGE	BRENDAN	PORTLAND	WHL	6’5.25”	192	D
110	PLOUFFE	DYLAN	VANCOUVER	WHL	5’11.75”	184	D
112	BOWEN	RYAN	LETHBRIDGE	WHL	6’1.75”	170	RW
119	RUBINCHIK	MARK	SASKATOON	WHL	5’11.75”	179	D
120	GORDA	BRAYDEN	EDMONTON	WHL	6’1.75”	188	D
130	LEASON	BRETT	TRI-CITY	WHL	6’3.75”	196	C
133	KASTELIC	MARK	CALGARY	WHL	6’3.0”	203	C
134	WEDMAN	MATTHEW	SEATTLE	WHL	6’2.5”	195	C
138	STEENBERGEN	TYLER	SWIFT CURRENT	WHL	5’10.25”	188	C
140	HALBGEWACHS	JAYDEN	MOOSE JAW	WHL	5’7.5”	157	C
141	MCINDOE	ETHAN	SPOKANE	WHL	6’0.75”	171	LW
142	DAVIS	BRETT	KOOTENAY	WHL	6’0.75”	178	RW
152	HAYES	ZACKARY	PRINCE ALBERT	WHL	6’2.0”	215	D
153	WALFORD	SCOTT	VICTORIA	WHL	6’1.5”	193	D
154	WARM	WILL	EDMONTON	WHL	5’11.25”	179	D
163	PATERSON	JOSH	SASKATOOON	WHL	6’1.5”	190	C
167	RUBINS	KRISTIANS	MEDICINE HAT	WHL	6’4.0”	216	D
175	BURKE	BRAYDEN	MOOSE JAW	WHL	5’9.75”	170	LW
181	HOLT	DAWSON	VANCOUVER	WHL	5’10.75”	187	C
190	SEMCHUK	BRENDAN	VANCOUVER	WHL	5’11.0”	178	RW
197	GRISHAKOV	ANDREI	CALGARY	WHL	6’0.5”	204	LW
199	YERYOMENKO	VLADISLAV	CALGARY	WHL	5’11.5”	171	D
LV	MCGREW	JACOB	SPOKANE	WHL	5’9.75”	190	RW

2017 NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING MIDTERM RANKINGS (NORTH AMERICA) – WHL GOALTENDERS

Rank	Last Name	First Name	Team	League	Height	Weight	C
2	SCOTT	IAN	PRINCE ALBERT	WHL	6’3.25”	174	L
9	SKINNER	STUART	LETHBRIDGE	WHL	6’3.5”	209	L
11	HOLLETT	JORDAN	REGINA	WHL	6’4.0”	194	L
17	FERGUSON	DYLAN	KAMLOOPS	WHL	6’1.25”	189	L
31	WEATHERILL	DAWSON	SPOKANE	WHL	6’4.5”	189	L

• LV (Limited Viewing) — Injured players who have not had sufficient viewings to be categorized.

For the complete list, CLICK HERE.