Craig’s List: Top-32 – Features 17 CHL Skaters
With all three leagues now officially underway, conversations about the depth of CHL talent available for the 2023 NHL Draft have begun.
On Thursday, TSN’s Director of Scouting, Craig Button released his preseason Top-32 draft rankings. The list features 17 CHL players as potential first-round selections. Leading the way with nine players is the WHL, followed by five from the OHL and three from the QMJHL.
Regina Pats’ captain Connor Bedard ranks first among all skaters. The North Vancouver native had an impressive sophomore campaign finishing second in the WHL with 51 goals and fourth with 101 points. Coming on the heels of a gold medal at this summer’s World Juniors, Bedard has five goals and seven points in his past two games.
Bedard is followed by East Division rival and reigning CHL rookie of the year Brayden Yager of the Moose Jaw Warriors at number five.
Colby Barlow of the Owen Sound Attack is the top-ranked OHL skater checking in at number seven.
After watching teammates Matt Savoie and Conor Geekie get selected 9th and 11th respectively in the 2021 NHL Draft Winnipeg ICE’s Zach Benson hopes to follow in their footsteps this year as he currently sits 9th.
A pair of OHL skaters come in at 10 and 11. Oshawa Generals’ Calum Ritchie is just one of three skaters listed in the top-32 6’1 or taller. Meanwhile Guelph Storm’s Cam Allen is the top ranked defenceman on the list.
Sherbrooke Phœnix’s Ethan Gauthier is the top ranked Q skater. The former first overall pick in the QMJHL Draft and son of retired NHL defenceman Denis Gauthier is ranked 14th.
The Prince George Cougars has two players ranked. First is Riley Heidt at 21, followed by Koehn Zimmer at 24. Andrew Cristall is the first of two Kelowna Rockets. He’s ranked at 22 while teammate and the second CHL defenceman, Caden Price, is ranked 26.
Meanwhile, former Kelowna Rocket Kole Lind has his younger brother Kalan from the Red Deer Rebels ranked 25th.
Kitchener Rangers’ Carson Rehkop is the final forward in the top-32 sitting 27th.
A trio of defenceman close out the rankings. Moncton Wildcats’ Etienne Morin sneaks in at 30th. Shawinigan Cataractes’ Jordan Tourigny, younger brother of Montreal prospect Miguel, is 31st and London Knights’ Oliver Bonk, son of former NHL forward Radek Bonk, closes out the list at 32.
13 of the 17 skaters listed (Yager, Barlow, Benson, Ritchie, Allen, Gauthier, Heidt, Cristall, Lind, Price, Rehkop, Tourigny and Bonk) won gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this past August.
TSN’s digital coverage of the CHL continues on Sunday October, 9th with the Soo Greyhounds facing off against the Sarnia Sting. TSN subscribers will be able to watch the game as part of their streaming package at TSN.ca.
| RK | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | HT | WT | GP | G | P |
| 1 | Connor Bedard | Regina (WHL) | C | 5’9 ¾ | 183 | 62 | 51 | 100 |
| 5 | Brayden Yager | Moose Jaw (WHL) | C | 5’10 ½ | 162 | 63 | 34 | 59 |
| 7 | Colby Barlow | Owen Sound (OHL) | LW | 5’11 ¾ | 195 | 59 | 30 | 47 |
| 9 | Zach Benson | Winnipeg (WHL) | LW | 5’8 ½ | 160 | 58 | 25 | 63 |
| 10 | Calum Ritchie | Oshawa (OHL) | C/RW | 6’1 ¼ | 184 | 65 | 19 | 45 |
| 11 | Cameron Allen | Guelph (OHL) | D | 5’11 ½ | 189 | 65 | 13 | 37 |
| 14 | Ethan Gauthier | Sherbrooke (QMJHL) | C | 5’10 ¾ | 177 | 65 | 18 | 39 |
| 20 | Nate Danielson | Brandon (WHL) | C | 6’0 ½ | 179 | 53 | 23 | 57 |
| 21 | Riley Heidt | Prince George (WHL) | C | 5’10 | 185 | 65 | 21 | 58 |
| 22 | Andrew Cristall | Kelowna (WHL) | C/LW | 5’8 ¾ | 164 | 61 | 28 | 69 |
| 24 | Koehn Zimmer | Prince George (WHL) | C/RW | 5’11 ¾ | 203 | 68 | 30 | 57 |
| 25 | Kalan Lind | Red Deer (WHL) | LW | 6’0 | 153 | 61 | 20 | 38 |
| 26 | Caden Price | Kelowna (WHL) | D | 6’0 | 181 | 47 | 2 | 21 |
| 27 | Carson Rehkop | Kitchener (OHL) | C/LW | 6’1 ½ | 193 | 65 | 18 | 33 |
| 30 | Etienne Morin | Moncton (QMJHL) | D | 6’0 | 171 | 64 | 8 | 33 |
| 31 | Jordan Tourigny | Shawinigan (QMJHL) | D | 5’10 ½ | 157 | 64 | 4 | 21 |
| 32 | Oliver Bonk | London Knights (OHL) | D | 6’1 | 177 | 32 | 5 | 32 |
CHL ON TSN Broadcast Schedule
Sun., Oct. 9 – Soo Greyhounds at Sarnia Sting – 2:05 p.m. ET
Thurs., Oct. 13 – Charlottetown Islanders at Cape Breton Eagles – 7 p.m. AT
Fri., Oct. 21 – Winnipeg ICE at Kamloops Blazers – 7 p.m. PT
Thurs., Oct. 27 – London Knights at Niagara IceDogs – 7:05 p.m. ET
Thurs., Nov. 3 – Baie-Comeau Drakkar at Halifax Mooseheads – 7 p.m. AT
Fri., Nov. 11 – Moose Jaw Warriors at Medicine Hat Tigers – 7 p.m. MT
Thurs., Nov. 17 – Oshawa Generals at Peterborough Petes – 7:05 p.m. ET
Sun, Nov. 27 – Halifax Mooseheads at Moncton Wildcats – 6 p.m. AT
Fri., Dec. 2 – Regina Pats at Prince George Cougars – 7 p.m. PT
Sat., Dec. 10 – Windsor Spitfires at Hamilton Bulldogs – 4 p.m. ET
Fri., Dec. 16 – Acadie-Bathurst Titan at Moncton Wildcats – 7 p.m. AT
Fri., Dec. 30 – Seattle Thunderbirds at Kelowna Rockets – 7:05 p.m. PT
Game times are subject to change.
