Pair of former Jr. Ducks make the grade with NHL Central Scouting
Less than four months after having a product of the Anaheim Jr. Ducks selected in the NHL Draft, the program has two more strong candidates for the same honor in 2019, according NHL Central Scouting’s recently-released Players to Watch list.
Former Jr. Ducks defensemen Cam York and Ryan Johnson appeared on the watch list. York received an ‘A’ rating, meaning he is a candidate to be selected in the first round, while Johnson garnered a ‘B’ rating, indicating he is a candidate to be picked in the second or third round.
Slava Demin, a freshman defenseman at the University of Denver, in June became the club’s first NHL pick since it started its Tier I program when he went in the fourth round (99th overall) to the Vegas Golden Knights.
York, who played eight seasons with the Jr. Ducks, is a 5-foot-11, 171-pound defenseman who is in his second season with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP).
The 2001 birth year had 52 points in a combined 92 games for the NTDP’s Under-17 and Under-18 teams last season. York also has represented Team USA on the international stage, helping the Americans win a silver medal at the IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia in April. He had six assists in seven games there.
Johnson, who is in his first season playing for Sioux Falls of the USHL, helped the Jr. Ducks’ 16U AAA team win bronze at April’s USA Hockey Youth Nationals. He was the highest ever Californian chosen in Phase I the USHL Draft, when the Stampede took him third overall in 2016.
Johnson had 45 points in 35 Tier 1 Elite Hockey League games and another 15 in 10 CAHA games this past season.
The University of Minnesota commit won a gold medal as part of Team USA’s U17 team at the Five Nations Cup in 2017.
York photo/Rena Laverty/USA Hockey; Johnson photo/Sioux Falls Stampede
— Chris Bayee
(Oct. 30, 2018)
