NHL Central Scouting released its midterm rankings in advance of the 2018 NHL Draft this morning and two Kootenay Ice players found their way onto the list.
Recently acquired forward Brad Ginnell was listed at spot 169 on the list of North American skaters, while goalie Duncan McGovern placed 22nd amongst North American netminders.
Ginnell, who started the season with the Portland Winterhawks, has six goals and seven assists in 36 games, with a goal and an assist in 11 games since joining the Ice in December.
The Calgary, Alberta product played 51 WHL games last season as a rookie and had 10 points.
He comes from significant hockey pedigree. His grandfather Pat Ginnell was a longtime junior head coach, most notably with the WCHL’s Flin Flon Bombers (1968-74) and the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers (1979-82). He then worked as a scout for the NHL’s St. Louis Blues from 1989 to 2003.
Ginnell’s father Erin is a WHL alumnus as well, having played in the league from 1985 to 1987, and currently works as an amateur scout for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Brad Ginnell was originally a fifth-round selection by Portland in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft and had his minor hockey career highlighted by his final season with the AMMHL’s CRAA Blue Minor Midget AAA team in which he put up 80 points in 35 games.
As for McGovern, another new addition to the Ice this season, he has made 21 appearances this season and has a 3.05 goals against average, a 0.892 save percentage, while managing nine wins and a shutout.
Originally drafted in the fifth round of the Bantam Draft by Medicine Hat, McGovern played seven WHL games as a rookie after cutting his teeth in Winnipeg Minor Hockey and also playing for the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Last season, the Ice also had two players ranked by Central Scouting in their 2016-17 midterm report. Former captain Cale Fleury was placed 62nd amongst North American skaters and Brett Davis was 142nd.
Both players were drafted into the NHL in June, with Fleury going in the third round (87th overall) to the Montreal Canadiens and Davis being taken in the sixth round (163rd overall) by the Dallas Stars.
The rankings are determined by NHL Central Scouting Services, a department within the NHL that evaluates how well players will translate to the professional game, who release several lists a year.
This year’s NHL Entry Draft is scheduled for June 22-23 in Dallas, Texas. Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin is the consensus first overall projected pick, with Russian forward Andrei Svechnikov of the OHL’s Barrie Colts widely considered the top eligible CHL player.