Warriors’ Hunt ranked 25th in final Central Scouting rankings
It would be easy for Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Daemon Hunt to think he was the victim of some sort of curse by a particularly vindictive member of the hockey gods pantheon.
Take away the fact that in his draft year, the Warriors had one of their least-successful seasons in over a decade – the Brandon-born rearguard played well in spite of it all, regularly skating in the team’s top-two pairings despite playing only his second full season in the league. Then came the injury. A fluke accident in Winnipeg at the beginning of December saw Hunt cut by a skate blade on his right forearm, suffering muscle damage and needing emergency surgery. That kept him out of the line-up until mid February.
And finally, just as he was set to close out the season with a flourish, everything ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 crisis.
For a player in his NHL Draft year, and a top prospect to boot, it was as tough a season as could be.
But the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau didn’t waver in their assessment of the Warriors’ blueline stalwart, and the news was finally good when the CSB Final Rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft were revealed on Wednesday. Hunt remained close to where he was in the mid-term rankings, slotting in 25th overall among North American skaters after sitting at 22nd mid-season.
Based on past drafts, Hunt – who had no goals and 15 assists in 28 games this season – could find himself jumping as high as 13th, as Ty Dellandrea did in 2018 when he was ranked 25th but went to Dallas far earlier in the first round. He’ll more likely end-up similar to Brett Leason, though, with the Raiders standout landing in Washington with the 56th overall pick in 2019.
Hunt wasn’t the only Warrior to hit the rankings. Goaltender Brock Gould, who was acquired from the Victoria Royals in the Brayden Tracey trade deadline blockbuster, was ranked ninth among North American goaltenders after sitting fourth in the mid-terms. Gould finished the season with a 4.29 goals against average and .884 save percentage. His ranking indicated a late-round pick, as Cole Brady went in the fifth round, 127th overall to New Jersey in 2019 after sitting ninth in the final ranking, while in 2018, Winnipeg selected Jared Moe in the sixth round, 184th overall.
Prince Albert’s Kaiden Guhle is the top ranked skater from the Western Hockey League, sitting at eighth overall. Alexis Lafreniere of Quebec’s Rimouski Oceanic is the top ranked player in the draft after his MVP showing at the World Junior championships and putting up 35 goals and 112 points in 52 games during the abbreviated season.
Viersen, Germany’s Tim Stuetzel is the top-ranked International skater after being named the rookie of the year in the top German professional league while scoring seven times and putting up 34 points in 41 games.
The first round of the NHL Draft is slated to take place on June 26 in Montreal, with the remaining rounds on June 27.