As many as six players with WCHA ties could be taken in the first round of the NHL draft which starts on Friday in Montreal.

The two cinches, who could go real high, are Gophers sophomore center Jordan Schroeder. He is rated No. 5 among North American prospects by the Central Scouting Bureau. Defenseman John Moore, who has signed with Colorado College, is rated No. 6. Moore played for Chicago of the USHL last season.

Four incoming freshmen could go in the second half of the first round:

Zach Budish, who missed his senior season at Edina High School because of a knee injury, is rated No. 22. At 6-3, 229, he was the biggest prospect of the 104 at the NHL Combine in Toronto last month.

Budish has signed with the Gophers as has defenseman Nick Leddy of Eden Prairie. Leddy is rated No. 24.

Two other players are also rated in the top 30 — there are 30 picks in the first round. They are UMD defenseman Dylan Olsen, No. 27, and Denver forward Drew Shore, No. 28. Olsen played for Camrose of the AJHL last season, Shore for the U.S. national development team in Ann Arbor.

Six first-rounders would be a record for the WCHA. Five players with WCHA ties were taken three times recently, in 2006, ‘06 and ‘07.

Other WCHA blogs:

Alaska-Anchorage: UAA Fan Blog

Colorado College: Eye of the Tiger 

Denver: All Things Colorado Sports 

Michigan Tech: Huskies Hockey Blog 

Minnesota-Duluth: Rink and Run 

Minnesota State Mankato: Puckato

North Dakota: News, notes and comments

 St. Cloud State: Pucks and bats

Wisconsin: Badger Beat 

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Gophers men's hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.