2024 NHL Draft Preview: Catton, McIsaac, Mayes, Cowan among CSS Final Rankings
Las Vegas, Nev. — Spokane Chiefs Berkly Catton, Dawson Cowan, Nathan Mayes and Will McIsaac will hope to hear their names called this week in the 62nd annual NHL Entry Draft. The event will take place June 28-29 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the San Jose Sharks holding the first overall pick. The first round will take place Friday, June 28 with rounds two through seven going through Saturday, June 29. Catton is projected to be Spokane’s highest NHL Draft selection since defenseman Jared Cowen in 2009, who went 9th-overall to the Ottawa Senators.
Berkly Catton, F
Catton, a 5-foot-10 center out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, finished his second full season with the Chiefs as the fourth-highest scorer in the Western Hockey League with 54 goals and 62 assists for 116 total points. He became the second-highest-scoring 17-year-old in Chiefs history, behind only Pat Falloon, and was named the U.S. Division’s Player of the Year at the end of the season. With 140 WHL games under his belt, the forward has amassed 175 total points (78G-97A) and has a 1.25 points per game average.
After leading all draft-eligible skaters in the CHL during the 2023-24 season, Catton joins the elite company of Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Connor Bedard as the only CHL skaters to put up 50 or more goals and 115 or more points in their draft season this century.
Last summer, Catton led Canada to the gold medal alongside seven fellow WHL skaters at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Catton, who served as Team Canada’s captain, scored at least one goal in every game of the tournament, including one in the championship game. He led all tournament scorers with eight goals — one shy of the tournament record — and tallied 10 total points over five games played.
Catton was ranked 8th among North American Skaters in the NHL’s Central Scouting Service’s final rankings and was originally Spokane’s first overall pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.
Will McIsaac, D
McIsaac, a 6-foot-3 blueliner from Vancouver, British Columbia, finished his second full season with the Chiefs with new career highs across the board — six goals and 21 assists for 27 total points — and improved from a -15 last season to a +15 this season. He was Spokane’s third-highest-scoring defenseman for the 2023-24 campaign.
Originally drafted by Spokane 28th-overall in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, McIsaac made his debut in the 2021-22 season.
McIsaac was ranked 93rd among North American Skaters in the NHL’s Central Scouting Service’s final rankings.
Nathan Mayes, D
Mayes, a 6-foot-4 blueliner out of Salmon Arm, British Columbia, was Spokane’s third-round pick (51st overall) in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, making his debut in the 2021-22 season. He finished his rookie year with a goal and 15 assists, bringing his career total to 17 points in 74 games.
Mayes was ranked 107th among North American Skaters in the NHL’s Central Scouting Service’s final rankings.
Dawson Cowan, G
Cowan, a 6-foot-2 goalie from Warren, Manitoba, completed his first full season with the Chiefs in 2023-24 and finished with a 3.59 GAA and .899 SV%. He went 18-20-2-1 in net for Spokane this season and logged 1,322 saves, surpassing the 2,000-save mark for his career with 2,245 total saves so far. He’s 30-37-3-3 since his WHL debut in 2021-22, in which he recorded a 23-save shutout for the Winnipeg ICE.
Cowan was ranked 5th among North American Goaltenders in the NHL’s Central Scouting Service’s final rankings and was acquired by Spokane from Winnipeg during the 2022-23 season. He was originally signed by the ICE in 2021.
—
The Spokane Chiefs are a member of the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League, the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players. Since 1985 the Chiefs have been a pillar in the Spokane community, offering family-friendly entertainment and a winning tradition, which includes: two Memorial Cup Championships in 1991 & 2008, two WHL Championships in 1991 & 2008 and four Western Conference Championships in 1991, 1996, 2000 & 2008. Over 60 alumni have gone on to play in the National Hockey League.
