FIVE MANITOBANS LISTED IN 2024 NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING'S FINAL RANKINGS.
NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings for the 2024 NHL Draft on April 16 with five Manitobans making an appearance.
This is a weaker class when it comes to Manitobans, but there are some intriguing prospects. This year, the centralized draft will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada over the familiar two-day period: Friday June 28 to Saturday June 29.
Game On's Jackson Bachewich has put together a scouting report on each of the five Manitobans listed, with each set to be revealed in the coming weeks as a five-part series leading up to the draft.
No. 119. Luke Mistelbacher (Swift Current Broncos, WHL), Steinbach MB
6’0”
195 lbs
Right Wing
Mid Term Rankings: 210
Final Rankings: 119
Season Stats: GP:64 G:20 A:33 PTS:58 - Playoffs: GP:9 G:4 A:5 PTS:9
Former Teams: U18 AAA Eastman Selects
Luke Mistelbacher Scouting report:
Strengths:
- Battle
- Size
Weaknesses:
- No Elite Tools
Luke Mistelbacher is a very interesting case and one of the fastest risers in the late rounds of the class.
Mistelbacher was born two months late in November of 2005 or he would have been undrafted in last year's class.
Mistelbacher was undrafted in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft and signed out of training camp with Swift Current in 2021. Last year in his first full season with the Broncos, Mistelbacher found himself playing up and down the lineup and at some points even being scratched. He finished last year's campaign with 16 points in 56 games played.
This past season he looked to be on the same trajectory, tallying seven points through his first 20 games of the season. But then he got hot. With the combination of being put higher in the lineup and the addition of Conor Geekie to the Broncos' lineup at the trade deadline, Mistelbacher caught fire. He finished this season with 58 points, 26 of them coming in the final 16 games of the regular season playing on a line with fellow Manitobans Geekie and Clarke Caswell.
He definitely took strides in his game, but the question for NHL GM’s will be, was he producing on his own or was it because of the elite players he was playing with?
Mistelbacher is a solid complimentary player with a good forechecking ability, and although he is only six feet tall, he uses his size well to protect pucks. He will most likely need more skilled linemates to succeed at the next level.
We have seen undrafted players in the WHL Bantam Draft like Micheal Ferland, Brandon Hagel, Arshdeep Bains and more recently Brandon Wheat Kings' Carson Bjarnason have solid WHL careers. Mistelbacher will just have to translate his success to the next level on his own rather than relying on star players.
Projected to go in the middle to late rounds, expect Mistelbacher’s name to be called on June 29.
Luke Mistelbacher scored a Hat-Trick in round 1 of the WHL Playoffs against the Lethbridge Hurricanes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qave7wI0FwM - Western Hockey League (@WHL)
Stay tuned for the next player to be revealed on Game On's Manitoba Draft Spotlight.
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