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Krebs, Byram ranked in top 10 for NHL draft
Cranbrook’s Bowen Byram and the Kootenay ICE’s Peyton Krebs remain slightly connected as they skate toward National Hockey League (NHL) futures.
The Hockey News (THN) Oct. 25 released its first 2019 NHL Draft Rankings of this season and the ICE’s sniping winger and the Vancouver Giants electric defenceman are once again side-by-side, as they have been in past rankings.
THN scribe Ryan Kennedy has Krebs as the eighth top prospect, followed by Byram in ninth spot.
“Krebs has also been playing centre for the ICE early on, so he’s got that versatility. Smart and quick, he’s a great playmaker on a team that could use more weapons,” Kennedy noted.
“A great skater and puck handler, Byram is tied for second in team scoring – and the Giants are a solid outfit. He’ll give York a run for the title of top D-man in the draft,” he said of the local product.
The other defender Kennedy mentions is US National Team Development Program blueliner Cam York, who is rated sixth.
Krebs and Byram are the third and fourth highest rated Western Hockey League (WHL) players, behind Saskatoon Blades centre Kirby Dach, rated third overall and Lethbridge Hurricanes centre Dylan Cozens who is slotted in fourth.
The top rated player is once again American scoring dynamo Jack Hughes, playing centre with the US NTDP.
Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko is rated second overall and US NTDP winger Matthew Boldy is rated fifth overall.
Lead image: Peyton Krebs, left, and Bowen Byram were teammates on Canada’s U18 squad last year. Hockey Canada image
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