2024 NHL Draft player profile: Hiroki Gojsic, Kelowna Rockets

Hiroki Gojsic may have just walked the stage in Langley, B.C. for his high school graduation, but there’s an even bigger one ahead as he packs his bags for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft in Las Vegas, Nev.

The Kelowna Rockets Rookie of the Year might also need another diploma for all the lessons learned in his first year at the WHL level.

“I wanted to play against the best players and play with the best players,” Gojsic said of leaving the BCHL for the WHL. “I’m already a bigger guy, so I thought that would be the best place for me to succeed.”

Gojsic casts an intimidating shadow as a 6-foot-3, 198-pound winger who is unafraid to throw his weight around and flex a deceptively strong shot as a burgeoning power forward.

For all his natural assets, his coaches are most impressed by the hard work he put in to succeed in major junior after a slow start in 2023-24.

“I remember the day, it was December 9 when we were in Regina, where it was kind of a coming out party for him,” Rockets Head Coach Kris Mallette recalled. “He scored two goals in Regina and from that point on, I think he had a point per game to end the season.

Watching him reinventing himself in the second half has been fun.”

Mallette is right on the money.

Gojsic had four goals and five assists through the first 27 matches of the season before erupting for 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists, +5) in the last 41 games of the campaign.

The 18-year-old’s draft stock has climbed with his point production.

NHL Central Scouting had initially pegged Gojsic as the 93rd-ranked North American skater in its midterm report, but he’s vaulted up to 63 in the agency’s final rankings.

“I knew it probably would have gone up a bit, but I was surprised,” Gojsic admitted. “I didn’t think it’d go up that much.

I just let my work and my play speak for itself and take care of itself.”

Certainly, there were many eyes on Gojsic as he played much of the season on a line with projected first-round pick Tij Iginla.

“His work ethic is contagious and all the guys see him work hard and everyone else is kind of just pulling in the same direction,” Gojsic said. “We both kind of play, I want to say, a similar style. We both play with a lot of pace and we both shoot first. We’re pretty good friends off the ice so that definitely helps as well.”

Mallette hopes the recognition- and upcoming draft- show the youngster how much more he’s capable of going forward.

“That’s on him. He put the work in,” Mallette added. “He loved the challenge, he loved the fact that he was producing. I think that that’s why scouts are intrigued and I don’t think he’s hit a ceiling yet. There’s a lot of possibility for, you know, this being a really big summer for him.”

That big summer starts with the NHL Entry Draft, which runs from June 28-29 at the Sphere.