Vees’ top defenceman ranked for NHL draft

Central Scouting has Tychonick at No. 36 for North American skaters

Penticton Vees defenceman Jonny Tychonick jumped nine spots to No. 36 among North American skaters as NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings Monday ahead of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Tychonick, 18, is now the top prospect for the draft who played at the Junior-A hockey level this season. He had been No. 45 in the mid-term rankings.

Wenatchee Wild defenceman Slava Demin was the second rated Junior-A prospect at No. 40. Demin was No. 32 in the mid-term rankings.

Other BCHL skaters listed included Trail defenceman Seth Barton at No. 94, Vernon centres Brett Stapley and Josh Prkop at 177 and 197, respectively, and Wenatchee winger Sam Morton at 212.

Vees’ Adam Scheel fell out of the top 31 list of North American goalies after sitting at No. 23 in Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings. Vernon’s Ty Taylor moved into the rankings at No. 25.

Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin maintained the No. 1 overall ranking for the entry draft, which will be held June 22-23 in Dallas.

Andrei Svechnikov, a forward with the OHL’s Barrie Colts, was the top ranked North American skater.

Central Scouting’s final rankings also included three members of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets in forward Kyle Topping (No. 59), Czech Republic import defenceman Libor Zabransky (No. 115), and forward Leif Mattson (No. 157).

Meanwhile, Vees forward Cole Shepard has committed to play for the Harvard University Crimson in the future.

The 2002-born Shepard starred for the Delta Hockey Academy Prep team in the Canadian School Sports Hockey League this season.

The Vancouver product played two regular season games as an affiliated player for the Vees before suiting up for four more playoff games after his season ended at Delta.

He had 19 goals and 53 points in 33 games with Delta.

Shepard has committed to play for the Vees in 2018-19 and is likely to stay at least one more season before joining Harvard, which plays in the ECAC and is based in Cambridge, Mass.

Former Vees forward Lewis Zerter-Gossage is currently playing at Harvard.