Five Oil Kings In Central Scouting Final Rankings
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Edmonton, AB – NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings on Monday heading into the 2011 Entry Draft on June 24-25 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Edmonton Oil Kings have four skaters and one goalie ranked among the top eligible players.
Oil Kings centre Michael St. Croix is ranked 59th among draft-eligible North American skaters, while centre/left-winger Travis Ewanyk slots in at 66th. Defenceman Keegan Lowe is listed in the 88th spot, while left-winger Dylan Wruck is ranked 99th. Edmonton goalie Laurent Brossoit is the seventh-seeded draft-eligible North American netminder, making him the top-ranked draft-eligible puck-stopper from the WHL.
St. Croix (Winnipeg, MB) was the Oil Kings' second-leading scorer during the 2010-11 WHL regular season, as he tallied 27 goals and 48 assists for 75 points in 68 games, setting a new modern franchise record for assists in a single season, and giving him the franchise lead in career points. The 5-foot-11, 179-pound sniper also won play-of-the-year honours in the WHL this season for the one-handed goal he scored versus Vancouver (CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE GOAL).
Ewanyk (St. Albert, AB) was one of two Oil Kings to play in all 72 regular season games this year and finished ninth in team scoring with 16 goals and 27 total points. He also led the team in shorthanded goals with four and was Edmonton's go-to defender to battle Red Deer Rebels superstar Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the first round of the playoffs. The 6-foot-1, 184-pound power forward is currently competing with Team Canada at the IIHF World U-18 Championship in Germany.
Lowe (Edmonton, AB) was a force on the Oil Kings' back end this season alongside defensive partner and 2010 Buffalo Sabres first-round draft pick Mark Pysyk. The 6-foot-1, 176-pound blue-liner scored two goals and 22 assists for 24 points in 71 games and led the team with a phenomenal plus-33 rating. Lowe is a dual citizen and competed for Team USA at the 2010 U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament last summer.
The Central Scouting final rankings are the first appearance for Wruck, the Oil Kings' 2010-11 leading scorer, who was over-looked in both the preliminary and mid-term lists. Wruck (Saskatoon, SK) scored 38 goals and 40 assists for 78 points in 71 games this year, setting modern franchise records for goals and points in a single season. The 5-foot-8, 162-pound sniper led the team with 13 power-play goals and eight game-winners.
Brossoit (Surrey, B.C.) played his first full season with the Oil Kings this year and posted a 13-12-0-2 record with a 3.32 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage. A towering presence between the pipes at 6-foot-3 and 202 pounds, Brossoit also recorded a pair of shutouts this year.
The Rebels' Nugent-Hopkins is the top-ranked draft-eligible skater in North America, according to the Central Scouting final rankings, while the top-ranked North American goalie is John Gibson from the United States Hockey League. Nugent-Hopkins scored 106 points this season, while Gibson posted a 2.64 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 32 games.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL CENTRAL SCOUTING FINAL RANKINGS
