THE NEXT GENERATION OF WHL PLAYERS

Courtesy: Adam Williams, HockeyNow

Every year, the West’s best 15-year-olds enter the Western Hockey League bantam draft. Every year, names are called, commitments are made, futures are built. Every year, new players make the jump to being full-time juniors, suiting up night in and night out, taking their careers to the next level.

Well, with the 2014-15 regular season winding down, here are a few players HockeyNow can’t wait to see in the major junior ranks. They might not all see the ice next season, but they have bright futures, nonetheless.

Michael Rasmussen
Tri-City Americans
Rasmussen has spent the 2014-15 season at the Okanagan Hockey Academy and has notched 32 goals and 30 assists in 46 games. He has also racked up 100 penalty minutes and at 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, the native of Surrey B.C. isn’t afraid to play the body.

The seventh overall pick of the 2014 draft, Rasmussen has suited up in one game for the Americans this season, against the Kamloops Blazers, and looked impressive for a player of his age (15). He should be a joy to watch in Kennewick in the not-too-distant future.

Justin Almeida
Prince George Cougars
HockeyNow’s 2014 Minor Hockey Player of the Year in B.C. and the fifth selection in the 2014 bantam draft, Almeida has been impressing in the B.C. Major Midget League, where he has been a 15-year-old for most of the season. In 25 games, he has 22 goals and 25 assists and is among the league’s top 20 scorers.

Almeida was also an assistant captain with B.C. at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George this year and Team B.C. head coach Jim Dinwoodie raved about the Kitimat native and the respect he garnered from his peers.

As a northern B.C. boy, he’ll be playing junior hockey in a market that’s important to him, so he should have reason to impress.

Stelio Mattheos
Brandon Wheat Kings
To think, the Brandon Wheat Kings had the first overall selection in 2014.

Mattheos was the runaway favourite to go first overall last season and has been nearly a point-per-game player in 27 games (14 goals and 11 assists) with the Winnipeg Wild of the Manitoba Midget AAA League.

He hasn’t played a WHL game yet, which is part of what will make his debut so fascinating.

Matthew Phillips
Victoria Royals
He’s not big, but neither is Joe Hicketts and look how that has worked out for the Royals Captain.

The 5-foot-7 Phillips has been the best player in the Alberta AAA Midget Hockey League, scoring 33 goals and 40 assists in 34 games, and he’s knocking on the door of his WHL career. Almost 17, the Calgary native should be close to making the jump from the Calgary Buffaloes to the Royals.

Replicating his success against bigger men might be tough, but history shows it’s unwise to count Phillips out.

James Malm
Vancouver Giants
Yes, another Giants draft pick.

When HockeyNow spoke with Lorne Frey, the assistant general manager and director of player personnel of the Kelowna Rockets, before the 2014 WHL draft, he named Malm as one of the three best B.C. prospects in the draft.

Then draft day came and the Langley native’s draft position went into full-on free fall. He was eventually selected by the Giants at No. 44, the last pick of the second round.

It appears to have put a chip on his shoulder.

In 31 games with the Valley West Hockeys of the BCMML, the third fewest of any player on the active roster, Malm has tallied 66 points, including 20 goals. He ranked second in the BCMML scoring race when HockeyNow went to press, too, as a player going up against opponents one to two years his senior.

If his success carries through the major junior, he might one day be the pick that got away across the WHL.

Read more: http://hockeynow.ca/major-junior/life-after-the-game