McCutcheon among the trio of Lethbridge Hurricanes recognized ahead of the 2022 NHL draft – Lethbridge | The Canadian News

Lethbridge Hurricanes defender Logan McCutcheon knows that at five foot three, he will have to work especially hard to make his dream of playing in the NHL come true.

But this week, the 17-year-old took a step closer to that dream when he, and his teammates Yegor Klavdiev and Peter Repcik, were ranked by NHL Central Scouting on the preliminary Players To Watch list ahead of the NBA Inning Draft. NHL 2022.

“It’s good for them to be recognized,” Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio said. “It doesn’t mean much right now, when you’re drafted into a team that’s when it matters, but we have some guys who are playing hard, they’re doing the right things and they get noticed.”

All three Hurricanes players have been classified as “C” skaters, and McCutcheon says that while he plans to work on increasing his draft stock over the next several months, he was delighted to be noticed.

“It’s definitely been a lifelong dream for me to try to get to the NHL, to go as far as I can, so being recognized is incredible,” McCutcheon said.

The diminutive defender had 11 points in 23 games for the ‘Canes in the 2021 WHL short season and then spent part of his summer at the Hockey Canada U-18 Men’s National Team Summer Development Camp.

Kisio says the invitation was well deserved and accelerated McCutcheon’s development.

“He has returned and has not missed a beat. He’s a reliable defender who plays the right way and obviously his offensive side speaks for itself. “

McCutcheon has two points in five games so far this season, including a goal in the Hurricanes’ home opener on Oct. 1, and Kisio says he will have every opportunity to set new career high point totals.

“He’s going to play a lot of minutes, he’s going to play with our power game, he’s going to play with our penalty, it’s that good,” he said.

But McCutcheon knows he will face some challenges as well because of his size.

“I’m a smaller defender, but I can’t let that stop me,” the 17-year-old said. “I just have to keep getting better, work hard, get stronger and see what happens.”

McCutcheon will look to follow in the footsteps of former Hurricanes defender, who coincidentally also wore number two for the club, Calen Addison.

Addison is now playing in the AHL and last season he was involved in several NHL games with the Minnesota Wild.

“He’s definitely someone I look up to, to try to play like him,” McCutcheon said.

“Addison was here and he did great things for us, and he went ahead and played some NHL games,” Kisio said.

“As far as McCutcheon is concerned, looking at that and realizing that it really doesn’t matter how big you are, there’s an opportunity there, if you work hard enough and develop enough, you have a chance to play.”

Kisio says he expects a lot of development from McCutcheon during the remainder of the 2021-22 WHL season, as well as improvement from Klavdiev and Repcik, both in his first year with the club and in European imports.

“It is a difficult transition. When you’re a European who comes and plays that North American game for the first time, there are sure to be some adjustments, and we understand that, ”Kisio said. “We believe that they will get better and better as the year progresses.”

Hurricanes hit the road this week and are scheduled to head to Red Deer Friday night in front of the rebels at 7 p.m.