British prospect has outside shot to be drafted
The question of whether Great Britain will ever send a prospect of its own to the NHL may be answered in the next several seasons, depending on how an 18-year-old forward named Liam Kirk continues to develop.
Kirk scored 16 points in 52 games this past season for the Elite Ice Hockey League’s Sheffield Steelers and took a regular shift for Britain at the world championship, his latest steps in the timeline a British teen with ambitions to play in North America must live. Kirk turned pro in 2015-16, his 16-year-old season, and scored at a point-per-game clip in a league one level below the EIHL in 2016-17.
Listed at six-foot-two and 160 pounds, Kirk is slight at this stage of his career, but coaches in the British national system say he compensates with speed, scoring touch, confident puck handling and hockey intelligence beyond his years. He is expected to jump to the Canadian Hockey League next season, the consensus best move for his progression.
In Britain, the more immediate hope is that an NHL team will take a flyer on him this June at the entry draft. The league’s Central Scouting Bureau has ranked Kirk 65th among eligible international skaters, suggesting he has an outside shot at being selected.
“I’ve got a feeling: I think he’s good,” said Peter Russell, the coach of the national team. “You see him in a game and he adds something.”
To Brett Perlini, a forward on the national team, the quality that will allow Kirk or another youngster of commensurate talent to break the British barrier will be unwavering self-belief: “Sticking with it, never doubting yourself.” After all, it is the characteristic that keyed Britain’s breakthrough at the world championship, where they could have fallen prey to doubts of their own in recent years.