NHL Draft primer: Hitmen, Calgary draft-eligibles set for annual pick-em

National Post

18 hours ago

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And internationally, the Hitmen forward won gold with Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, in which he had a goal and an assist, and the 2025 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, in which he scored once and added six helpers.
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'What it is, it's hockey sense with Ben,' Davidson said. 'He's got outstanding hockey sense. He sees and thinks the game so well. And he was undersized, and he's obviously growing now a little bit and gotten stronger, and he's still got a ways to go in that department, which also translates that strength with core and legs to taking his skating to another level.
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'But it's all about his head and his sense that's really high.'
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Kindel was also a monster presence in the playoffs, with eight goals and 15 points — both team-highs — in just 11 games.
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Two of those tallies were overtime winners — back-to-back — in Games 4 and 5 of their second-round series with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
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'Certainly Ben has risen to the occasion when it's needed and seems to embrace that, for sure,' Kindel said. 'It reinforces why we took him in the second round of the bantam draft, and we were actually pretty shocked he was still there.
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'So … yeah … it's gratifying for us. But more importantly, it's all about the player, and you're excited for the player and his family.'
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Hitmen teammate Brandon Gorzynski is ranked 50th in the rankings, rising high from his 81st rating midway through the season.
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The 6-foot-2, 181-lb. forward racked up 17 goals and 42 points in 68 WHL games this past season — his second with the Hitmen.
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'As the season went along, he just really started, I believe, to believe in himself and how good he was,' said Davidson, of the native of Scottsdale, Ariz. 'This guy gets around the ice real well. He's 6-foot-2 — he's got that pro frame. And he's probably a guy, I think, with a little more development would be able to play up and down in the lineup.
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'Early in the year, Brandon had very little special-teams opportunity,' continued Davidson. 'As the season went along, his role grew to where he was on power plays and he was killing penalties, and I just think there's a lot more there yet. I think he'd be a good pick for his NHL team.'
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Goaltender Anders Miller isn't ranked but has also risen in the eyes of scouts.
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His clutch play when called upon in the playoffs was a big reason for the shift in his stock. Miller came on for injured starter Daniel Hauser from the drop of the puck in the post-season and posted a 2.55 goals-against-average and a .902 save percentage in 10 games played for the Hitmen. His 7-3 record anchored two-round success — they fell one win short of Round 3 — in the WHL playoffs.
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'He's a sleeper,' said Davidson of Miller, a product of Anchorage, Alaska. 'Teams are already talking about him going to their camps, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's picked later in the draft. I look at him as a 6-foot-2 strong kid. He obviously needs more experience, but he's just trending in such a positive way.'
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Davidson will grab a pizza and a comfy spot with family and friends to take in the draft.
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With Kindel a possible top-20 pick, it's a chance for the longtime WHL GM and scout to reap the rewards from the development of another successful player.