A pair of Swift Current Broncos are officially on the National Hockey League Entry Draft radar.
Second-year Broncos Dillon Heatherington and Colby Cave were both among the Western Hockey League skaters in NHL Central Scouting Preliminary 2013 North American Rankings.
Heatherington, a 6’3’’ defenseman, was among eight ‘B’ skaters listed in the WHL, which are players considered second or third round prospects. The Calgary product posted two goals and eight assists in 57 games as a rookie last season with a plus-two rating and 63 penalty minutes. He was the Broncos first round pick, 11th overall, in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft.
Cave, a 5’11’’ centre, was listed as a ‘C’ skater by Central Scouting. He posted six goals and 10 assists in his first full season with the Broncos after being acquired in the Cody Eakin deal the previous season. Cave had a goal and two assist in five preseason games in September, including points in each of his last three games. He was a first-round draft pick of the Kootenay Ice in 2009.
Among the ‘A’ skaters in the WHL were: Seth Jones (Portland), Morgan Klimchuk (Regina), Curtis Lazar (Edmonton), Ryan Pulock (Brandon), Hunter Shinkaruk (Medicine Hat), and Shea Theodore (Seattle).
Jones and the Halifax Mooseheads’ Nathan Mackinnon are considered the leading candidates to be chosen first overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft hosted by the New Jersey Devils next June.
