The NHL draft kicks off in Las Vegas on Friday and there are a number of Kitchener Rangers who will be anxiously waiting to see if their names are called.
The first round of the draft will take place on Friday night, while the following six rounds will occur on Saturday.
It is unlikely that any of the Rangers will be selected on Friday night but there are four players who have been watched by scouts this season.
Leading the way will be forward Luke Ellinas, and other potential draftees include a pair of defencemen in Max Dirracolo and Carson Campbell as well as 2004-born forward Trent Swick.
Ellinas, who was ranked as the 88th North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, scored 16 goals and 17 assists in his first season with Kitchener. He was acquired from the Barrie Colts in a trade just before the season began. He also shone in the playoffs for the Rangers, which could increase his appeal to the big-league clubs.
Dirracolo presents an interesting case for NHL scouts. While he is ranked 220th on the scouting list, he did not join Kitchener until being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Rangers midway through the season. Once he climbed aboard in December, the six-foot-four defenceman became a key cog in the Rangers’ rotation.
Swick, who is getting a second chance at being picked, is ranked 109th among North American skaters by the scouts after having a breakout season in which he scored 25 goals and set up another 37 over 63 games.
Campbell comes into the draft unranked but was also a regular on the blue line for the Blueshirts as he appeared in 58 games over the 2023-24 season.
A year ago, Hunter Brzustewicz, Carson Rehkopf and Matthew Andonovski were all drafted, as was Eduard Sale, whom the Rangers traded for during the season.
Over the past 10 years, 18 Rangers have been drafted by NHL squads.
The two highest Rangers ever to be drafted were Gabriel Landeskog (2011) and Brian Bellows (1982), who were both chosen with the No. 2 pick.
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