Two players who spent last season playing junior-B in the Golden Horseshoe Conference are on the midterm rankings heading into June’s National Hockey League draft.
Forward Florian Xhekaj, now playing in the Ontario Hockey League with the Hamilton Bulldogs, is ranked 103rd among draft-eligible North American position players on the list compiled by the NHL Central Scouting Department.
Xhekaj, who has seven goals and 15 points in 44 games with the Bulldogs so far this season, had 23 goals and 40 points in 48 regular-season games with the Pelham Panthers in 2021-22. The younger brother of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj added a goal and an assist in three games in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs.
In 2021-22, forward Lucas Romeo had four goals and 11 points in 38 games with the Welland Jr. Canadians before moving up to major junior. He has scored eight goals and 20 points in 40 games so far this season with the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
He is 152nd in the midterm rankings currently topped by center Connor Bedard of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats.
Ten current and recent Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League players are among the prospects listed in the recently released rankings.
“It’s great to see these former and current GOJHL players on the NHL’s radar for the upcoming June draft,” the junior-B league’s commissioner, Brent Garbutt, said. “We are looking forward to see what happens on draft day.
“Our league and our teams continue to develop outstanding hockey talent on an annual basis.”
The 2023 NHL Draft is taking place June 28 and 29 at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators.
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