Hiebert said drafting and then waiting for players like St. Louis, Mo., natives, goalie Luke Opilka and forward Jake Henderson, might’ve been considered risky moves two years ago. But they paid off.
The twosome signed in August and reported to Kitchener to start the season.
St. Louis native, goaltender Luke Opilka, posted a shutout in the Blues game two victory and made it clear St. Louis used their fifth round pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft wisely.
Forward Ryan MacInnis (2014, No. 43), the son of Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Al MacInnis, also will look to make an impression on the Coyotes’ staff. He had 25 goals and 62 points with the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL in 2014-15.
A forward coming from the Tri-City Storm, Kerr’s past-and-future teammate Chase Berger netted 24 goals and tallied 33 assists in 119 games with the Storm. Berger seems like a good addition to the fourth line, but he will have to put in work this season to earn a secure spot on a lineup with high-caliber two-way players James Robinson and David Glen.
The son of former NHL All-Star Keith Tkachuk is about to follow in his father’s footsteps and embark on what many expect to be his own storied career. Matthew Tkachuk is a top 2016 NHL Draft prospect (we ranked him fourth overall in our first 2016 NHL Mock Draft) who is expected to be a top-five draft selection.
Henderson, 18, and from St. Louis, Mo., signed with the Kitchener Rangers in the off-season. “I love hitting but I can also make plays and score goals and be an all around player.”
One prospect you’ll hear the word ‘size’ associated with every single time he’s brought up in 2016 draft previews is Logan Brown of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. When you’re 6’6″ and 225 pounds going into your 17-year-old season, that’s bound to happen.
“At times when you’re at center, you expend a lot of energy down low in the defensive end and the offensive end,” Vitale said. “At wing, it’s about having that poise and that position awareness. When the opportunity comes to skate you take that, so hopefully it will cater to my game as far as having a good burst of speed, being on pucks first, and I hope it adds to the physicality of my game.”
School starts next week for the Badgers, but it was announced on Wednesday that freshman forward Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.) is among the 42 players selected for the 2015 CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game. The game takes place on Sept. 24 at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.
Tkachuk, a 6-foot, 188-pound left wing, will play for London of the Ontario Hockey League this season. Playing with the NTDP last season, Tkachuk had 38 goals and 96 points in 65 games.
