A total of four players from the team that took the ice in the East Division Hub this spring -- Ryder Korczak, Eric Alarie, Cole Jordan and Max Wanner -- were named in the final rankings and were joined by 2020 Import Draft pick Martin Rysavy.
All told, seven players with connections to the Warriors could hear their name called through the two-day event beginning June 23.
Of that group, Korczak will undoubtedly be the first to land on an NHL team.
The high-scoring forward came into the season as an ‘A’ rated prospect -- meaning he was a certain first-round pick -- but battled through an injury-hindered season that saw Korczak put up three goals and 16 points in 17 games.
That saw his final ranking slip to 34th among North American skaters, and based on recent drafts, that will likely see him selected in the middle of the second round.
Korczak doesn’t have to look very far for proof, either, as older brother Kaeden was ranked 32nd heading into the 2019 Draft and was chosen in the second round, 41st overall by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Alarie was a ‘C’ ranked prospect -- indicating a fourth- to sixth-round pick -- heading into the season and saw his stock improve after a solid campaign where he scored 10 goals and 20 points in 19 games while also fighting off injury.
He sits 51st among North Americans, which could see him land as a late third-rounder and more likely somewhere in the fourth round.
Jordan also went into the season as a ‘C’ prospect and maintained his ranking, landing at 88 after scoring three goals and 10 points in 23 games on the Warriors’ blueline.
That translated into a fifth-round pick in two of the last three drafts -- including 2018, when Warriors standout Justin Almeida was ranked 88th and ended up in the fifth round, 129th overall to Pittsburgh.
Wanner came into the season unranked, but was expected to be a bright spot on the Warriors blueline as a rookie and lived up to expectations. He was another member of the team beset by injury, playing 17 games and picking up four assists while finishing the season as one of only four Warriors with a positive plus-minus at plus-two.
He broke into the rankings at 223rd among North Americans, meaning his selection will be a long shot.
That’s the same situation for the Czech Republic’s Rysavy, who is ranked at 89 among European skaters. Rysavy was the Warriors’ sixth-overall pick in the 2020 Import Draft and was expected to join the team for the 2020-21 campaign before the ongoing pandemic prevented him from travelling over.
He’d end up playing 19 games for HC Prerov in the Czech Republic First League, scoring three goals and nine points in 19 games. Rysavy also suited up for the Czechs at the recent World Under-18 Championship and led the team in scoring before losing in the quarter-finals to Canada’s gold medal squad.
No European player with Rysavy’s ranking has been drafted in the last three years.
One former Warrior prospect and a player the Warriors still have hopes to land are certain to hear their names called on Day 1 of the Draft.
Leading the way is Sweden’s Jesper Wallstedt, the top-ranked European goaltender and the Warriors’ first pick in the 2019 Import Draft.
Wallstedt has been a fixture on Sweden’s national teams throughout his young career and spent the past season playing for Lulea in the Swedish Hockey League, the highest professional loop in the country, recording a 2.23 goals against average and .908 save percentage in 22 games.
Defenceman Corson Ceulemans, the Warriors’ fifth-round pick in the 2018 Bantam Draft, is coming off a stellar showing at the World U18 championship and is ranked 14th overall, all but guaranteeing a first-round selection.
Ceulemans -- who is committed to the NCAA’s University of Wisconsin -- started the season with the Brooks Bandits in the AJHL and had four goals and 11 points in eight games before things were shut down. He rose to prominence after a five-goal, 35 point campaign as a 16-year-old with Brooks in 2019-20.
For a look at the top prospect and full lists of all ranked players, you can click right here.
