The National Hockey League’s Central Scouting department unveiled their first watch list of the 2023/24 season on Wednesday which included Warriors forwards Jack Pridham and Cal Hughes.
Pridham was ranked as a ‘B’ skater, indicating a 2nd to 3rd round candidate in the NHL Entry Draft while Hughes was listed as a ‘C’ skater, indicating a 4th to 5th round candidate.
A native of Stouffville, Ontario, Pridham is in his first season with the Warriors where the 6’2”, 175-pound forward has earned 6 goals and 9 points in his opening 12 games of the season. The Boston University commit ranks in a tie for 10th amongst rookie scoring leaders in the BC Hockey League and is the highest listed player in the league on the NHL Central Scouting rankings.
Hughes, is also in his first season with the Warriors and has compiled 3 goals and 5 points over the course of his 12 games this season. Another commit to Boston Universit and a Westwood, Massachusetts native, the 6’1”, 165-pound forward is coming off of playing with Team USA at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August.
Pridham and Hughes are two of 14 BCHLers who have been named to the watch list, including Francesco Dell’Elce (Penticton) and Max Heise (Penticton), Tobias Pitka (Victoria) & Chase Stefanek (Trail) being ranked as ‘C’ skaters. Riley Ashe, Cole Longacre, JJ Monteiro, Reid Varkonyi (Salmon Arm), Gabriel Guilbault (Langley), Tyler Hodges (Nanaimo), Connor McPherson (Penticton) and Patrick Murphy (Victoria) are on the Watch List, indicating a 6th to 7th round candidate.
For a full view of the preliminary Players to Watch List, click HERE.
The Warriors are back in action on Saturday night as they make their first trip of the season to the East Kootenays to take on the Cranbrook Bucks at Western Financial Place. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM PST