5 Calgary-area products to watch at the 2023 NHL Draft

As should be no surprise given the amount of grassroots passion for the sport in the area, there are usually quite a few strong prospects from the Calgary region in every edition of the NHL Draft. This 2023 class doesn’t quite have the upper-echelon talent or high-end depth from the Calgary area that previous drafts have seen, but there are a few products from the local area to keep an eye out for during the event.

Here are five Calgary-area names to watch at the 2023 NHL Draft.

(We’ve sorted the five by their placement on the FC Hockey rankings.)

A first-time eligible player, Fink is a right shot winger for the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits (and hails from Calgary). He’s one of the older first-timers as a November 2004 birthday and he’s on the small side at 5’9″ and 152 pounds. But Fink can flat-out create offence, racking up 41 goals and 97 points over 54 games for the Bandits this past season en route to an AJHL playoff championship. There’s always a bit of nervousness about junior-A players, especially smaller ones, but Fink may be worth a gamble in the mid-to-late rounds. [Ranked 125th by FC]

A second-time eligible player, Siepmann is a right shot defender for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. Siepmann was seen by the scouting community as a big of a question mark in 2022 after posting 25 points in 66 games, but he took a step offensively with 43 points in 61 games this past season. He’s still arguably a project, but he’s a smart, well-rounded player and seems poised to take on an even larger role for the Hitmen this coming season. [Ranked 142nd by FC]

Another second-time eligible player, Nguyen is a right shot forward for the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks (and hails from Calgary). The good news is he’s a pretty consistent offensive producer, putting up 40 points in his first season of draft eligibility in 2021-22 and another 46 points in this past season. The bad news is he’s another smallish offensive player, listed at 5’10” and 172 pounds, and his lack of offensive progression in his second year of eligibility may hurt him in the eyes of scouts. [Ranked 184th by FC]

A first-time eligible player, Tulk is a right shot forward for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. In his second year in the Dub, Tulk tripled his previous season’s offensive production – jumping from 19 points in 2021-22 to 60 in 2022-23 – and was behind only overager Riley Fiddler-Schultz in team scoring. He’s on the small side, though, listed at 5’8″ and 172 pounds, and that may hurt his draft cred this year. (He feels like somebody that might get grabbed in his second year of eligibility if he can repeat, or exceed, his 2022-23 offensive output.) [Ranked 236th by FC]

A first-time eligible player, Unger is a goaltender for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. Unger was the third goaltender for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, though he never played. His numbers weren’t great in 2022-23, as he posted an .867 save percentage. But Moose Jaw wasn’t a great team defensively, and for later-round goaltenders, it’s often more about technique and the potential for growth than about numbers. Unger’s a bit of a long-shot to be selected, but he’s a name to keep an eye out in terms of NHL development camps. [Ranked 300th by FC]