Looks like the Canes have "earned" two picks in the top 4 overall. Having Regina's 1st Rd pick as well, this is a pretty good consolation prize for giving up the incomplete Carter Ashton. Hopefully the scouting staff has done their homework. I noticed in The Hockey News that Klimchuk is the highest ranked player from the West for that age group! Hopefully Merkley is just as worthy down the road since both were in ISS's Top 10 WHL Rankings last spring, as seen below.

Here is an early top 10 list for this year's upcoming WHL draft based on the ISS Rankings (as well as 2009 and 2010 lists for comparison). They seem accurate since they ranked Forsberg first last year and Dumba first the year before. Most of us would agree with those choices. In 2010, the Canes impressively selected 4 of the top 30 guys!

Wow do I feel very old when I see 1996 born kids being drafted... ha ha

2011 List
NAME POS DOB S HT WT TEAM LEAGUE
1. Oleksyn, Braden LW 2/22/96 L 5.10 170 Beardy’s SMHL
2. Simpson, Riley C 7/23/96 L 5.09.5 140 SSAC AMBHL
3. Pankewicz, Kord LD 2/3/96 L 5.10 169 Leduc AMBHL
4. Duke, Reid C 1/28/96 L 5.10 160 Royal Gold AMBHL
5. Thrower, Josh RD 3/17/96 R 5.11 172 POE T1 - T1 OMBT1
6. Sandhu, Tyler C 1/7/96 R 5.11 148 Seafair A1-T1 PCBHL
7. Quenneville, John LW 4/16/96 L 6.00 180 SSAC AMBHL
8. Hicketts, Joe RD 5/4/96 L 5.06 169 Kamloops T1-T1 OMBT1
9. Pilon, Ryan LD 10/10/96 L 6.01 168 Warman C4Ban
10. Mappin, Ty C 1/25/96 L 5.10 154 Red Deer White AMBHL



ISS Final Rankings / 2010 WHL Draft

# / Name / Pos / Birth / Date / Ht. / Wgt. / Team / League
1 / Alex Forsberg / C / 4-Jan-95 / 5.10 / 170 / Beardy’s MAAA / SMHL
2 / Brian Williams / C / 10-Jan-95 / 5.08 / 141 / LA Selects / CalifBant
3 / Matthew Needham / C / 17-Apr-95 / 5.09 / 170 / Penticton / B1-T1 / OMBT1
4 / Madison Bowey / RD / 22-Apr-95 / 5.11 / 168 / Winn. Monarchs / WBD1
5 / Morgan Klimchuk / C / 2-Mar-95 / 5.10 / 155 / Calgary Bisons / AMBHL
6 / Tyler King-Cunnigham / LD / 18-Feb-95 / 6.00 / 174 / Notre Dame / SSBHL
7 / Joshua Morrissey / LD / 28-Mar-95 / 5.11 / 165 / Calgary Royals / AMBHL
8 / Joel Topping / LD / 10-Mar-95 / 6.00 / 170 / Red Deer Black / AMBHL
9 / Johnathon Merkley / C / 27-May-95 / 5.11 / 162 / Calgary Bisons / AMBHL
10 / Cory Millette / RW / 19-Jan-95 / 5.09 / 168 / Notre Dame / SSBHL
11 / Tyson Baillie / C / 16-Nov-95 / 5.08 / 148 / Fort Sask. / AMBHL
12 / Curtis Lazar / C / 2-Feb-95 / 5.10 / 159 / POE T1 / BCBant
13 / Anthony Ast / C / 11-Feb-95 / 5.08 / 165 / BWC A1-T1 / PCBHL
14 / Nic Petan / C / 22-Mar-95 / 5.06 / 133 / NSWC A1-T1 / PCBHL
15 / Jesse Lees / RD / 14-Sept-95 / 5.11 / 168 / Calgary North. / AMBHL
16 / Wyatt Noskey / C / 22-Jan-95 / 5.10 / 153 / Edmonton KC / AMBHL
17 / Jaedon Descheneau / C / 22-Feb-95 / 5.07 / 145 / Leduc Oil Kings / AMBHL
18 / Craig Leverton / C / 2-Jan-95 / 5.10 / 170 / Warman / C4Ban
19 / Dylan Bowen / RD / 4-Apr-95 / 5.10 / 141 / POE T1 / BCBant
20 / Kayle Doetzel / RD / 19-Jun-95 / 6.01 / 175 / West Central / C4Ban
21 / Clay Spencer / F / 15-Feb-95 / 6.00 / 155 / Lethbridge / AMBHL
22 / Gregory Chase / C / 1-Jan-95 / 5.10 / 164 / Sherwood Park / AMBHL
23 / Raymond Grewal / LD / 7-Oct-95 / 6.01 / 160 / Prince George / BCTC
24 / Tyler Fuhr / G / 30-May-95 / 5.11 / 150 / Sherwood Park / AMBHL
25 / Scott Savage / LD / 11-Apr-95 / 5.11 / 150 / LA Selects / CalifBant
26 / Jamal Watson / RW / 14-Jan-95 / 5.09 / 138 / Calgary Bronks / AMBHL
27 / Tim McGauley / F / 23-Jul-95 / 5.10.5 / 150 / Lumsden/Beth. / SSBHL
28 / Chad Labelle / C / 3-Jul-95 / 5.09 / 165 / Calg. Northstars / AMBHL
29 / Ryan Miner / G / 14-Mar-95 / 5.11 / 150 / Win. Monarchs / WBD1
30 / Torrin White / RW / 18-Feb-95 / 5.09 / 150 / Airdrie Xtreme / AMBHL

Note: From what I hear, the US players and resident (such as Notre Dame) players get drafted lower than expected due to their higher risk of commiting to the NCAA.

2009 WHL Bantam Draft ISS Top 20 Rankings

RNK POS / NAME / CLUB
1 / RD / DUMBA, Matt / Calgary Bronks
2 / F / RANKIN, Connor / North Shore Winter Club
3 / F / WINTHER, Michael / Airdrie Xtreme
4 / LD / RIELLY, Morgan / Notre Dame Hounds
5 / D / WALTERS, Nicolas / St. Albert Sabres
6 / F / BALOG, Tayler / Weyburn Mission Wings
7 / D / SMITH, Joshua / Red Deer Black
8 / F / GEIGER, Trent / Calgary Royals
9 / D / POULIOT, Derrick / Weyburn Mission Wings
10 / F / JONES, Seth / Dallas Stars U16

Source: Someone who leaked them to the public from ISS's well-run site!