WHL Stars of Tomorrow: Rylan Ng, Calgary Hitmen

The bar has been raised for the Calgary Hitmen.

With top-tier NHL prospects in the system, a handful of highly-touted 2025 NHL draft-eligible players on the roster, new coaches and lofty playoff aspirations, a determined seventh-round draft pick from the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft has stolen the preseason spotlight to the surprise of everyone-including himself.

“My expectation was to go back to Lethbridge for the year,” Rylan Ng admitted.

And yet, the 5-foot-9, 146-pound right winger, who is just shy of his 16th birthday, has been undeniable through training camp and the 2024-25 WHL preseason.

Ng, who hails from Lethbridge, Alta., has tallied three highlight-reel goals- including a pair against his hometown Hurricanes- in four preseason tilts with the Hitmen and appears poised to crack the lineup for the opening night of the regular season.

Not bad for a guy drafted 143rd overall.

While Hitmen General Manager Garry Davidson believes where a player is selected doesn’t matter much in the long run, he acknowledges the development Ng has shown in the last season has caught even the people who drafted him off-guard.

“I’ll be honest, he’s one of those guys where its ‘Okay, where’s he at?'” Davidson said of the start of camp. “Very quickly in camp, he started to show everybody that he’d taken this huge step. He’s got skill, he’s got intelligence. Probably been knocked a little bit because he’s undersized, but when you demonstrate the skill and the intelligence that he possesses and the quickness in everything he does, he’s going to survive no matter what size he is. He possesses hands, feet, head and heart. Those are the things we look for.”

Around the rink, words like ‘smooth’ and ‘evasive’ are often thrown out when describing the youngster’s play style.

But Ng has his own term for it.

“Just like being in the flow state- being fast, being quick and making smart plays,” Ng said. “I try not to let my size dictate my game. You know, I like to play big, even though it’s harder as a smaller guy, but I try to play as big as I can.”

It’s a mindset he’s held since seeing his name pop up on the WHL draft board in the spring of 2023.

“I was watching it at school, just watching all my friends go by- and when I got picked by Calgary, I was so excited to be so close to home,” Ng recalled. “It motivated me being a seventh-rounder and just having something to prove, honestly. Just like working hard and earning my spot on this team and giving it my all… Everyone who went before me, it kind of motivated me to work even harder than them.”

He’s coming off a season that saw him make the jump to U18 and lead the AEHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes in goals and points with 14 tallies and 15 assists for 29 points in 38 games.

While he had initially hoped his hard work would simply result in signing a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement this year, he’s got that and more with a spot on the Hitmen’s season-opening roster in his sights.

Calgary kicks off the 2024-25 campaign with a battle of Alberta against the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Saturday, Sept. 28.