Ravensbergen save

The 2025 NHL Draft will be held in June at a site to be determined. NHL.com will take a closer look at some of the draft-eligible players to watch. This week, a profile of goalie Joshua Ravensbergen with Prince George of the Western Hockey League.

Joshua Ravensbergen is perseverance personified.

The 18-year-old goalie with Prince George of the Western Hockey League wasn't among 214 picks (24 goalies) in the 2021 WHL bantam draft but could be the first player at his position off the board in the 2025 NHL Draft.

"For sure it was something that motivated me and helped me get to this point," Ravensbergen said. "It kind of opened my eyes to how hard you have to work in the summers. Before my draft year, I kind of took summers off. But I was really [upset] that I wasn't selected; I really wanted to play in the WHL. So, I skated as much as possible, worked out a lot more, too. I was on the ice two, sometimes three times a day. It might have been a little too much looking back at it, but it definitely helped me turn the corner."

What Ravensbergen is today is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American goalies eligible for the 2025 draft. He possesses the size (6-foot-5, 190 pounds) and the confidence to maybe one day become a starting goalie in the NHL.

"In his draft season, he wasn't carrying the frame that he is now; he was maybe 6-foot or so," Prince George goalie coach Taylor Dakers said. "That draft year also was the COVID year and the way hockey in British Columbia was laid out, you had two different paths for those elite kids to follow. One is through the hockey paid academies where schools get together and play showcases. During COVID and as far as travel to watch players, that was a priority for a majority of scouts.

"Josh played in more of a typical minor hockey system in North Vancouver for what we call Under-18 or major midget, which is more of a traveling team that plays other teams in the Lower Mainland in Vancouver. Scouts are probably choosing to go to the academies before they choose to watch a U-18 game. You draft what you know and if they didn't feel comfortable with Josh because they only saw him one time, then so be it."

Fortunately for Prince George, former goalie coach Sean Murray made sure Ravensbergen was on their radar as a free agent acquisition.

"[Murray] was the one that vouched for him to our head scout and said, 'Hey, this is the kid that you got to put on the list,'" Dakers said. "We got to look at him in training camp and we all knew at that time that he definitely had a future."

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Ravensbergen is forever grateful that Murray believed in him.

"He did a lot for me; I worked with him a little bit in minor hockey and then really started working with him in my AAA years with Vancouver (in the British Columbia Elite Hockey League)," Ravensbergen said of Murray. "He began developing the skills that I needed to improve on to play major-junior and succeed.

"He gave me the confidence I needed."

Ravensbergen, a right-handed catching goalie, has focused on crease management this season, becoming more patient in his approach.

"Last year, I'd come out really far in the rush, and this year, it's kind of managing my crease better, and letting the play develop and come to me," he said. "That's what I'm focused on."

Ravensbergen is 22-9-4 with a 3.10 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in 35 games.

"He's got a big pro presence, covers a lot of the net and moves extremely well throughout the crease," said Al Jensen, goalie evaluator for NHL Central Scouting. "He's got good quickness to eliminate any holes, and he plays with a lot of confidence."

He had one assist and made 15 saves on 15 shots in a 6-1 win against USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in Game 1 of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge in London, Ontario, on Nov. 26.

"When you look at NHL goalies, they're doing a better job at managing the crease and letting that play come to them," said Dakers, a fifth-round pick by the San Jose Sharks in the 2005 NHL Draft. "In junior, the better ones are doing it as well, so he needed to make that adjustment. As the future unravels for him, that's certainly going to be something that he makes progress on every year.

"We talk about it, we address it, and we work on it, but my goal at the end of the day is to make him perform the best he can here at Prince George."

PROSPECTS ON THE RADAR (listed alphabetically)

Sascha Boumedienne, D, Boston University (NCAA): Boumedienne (6-1, 175), No. 18 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American skaters, is the youngest player in NCAA hockey (turned 18 on Jan. 17) and has six assists and 15 blocked shots in 23 games as a freshman with the Terriers. Born in Oulu, Finland, the left-handed shot was named to the United States Hockey League All-Rookie Team last season after finishing second among first-year defensemen with 27 points (three goals, 24 assists). He has been paired for much of the season with fellow countryman Tom Willander (Vancouver Canucks) at BU.

"Sascha just needs to get used to playing against bigger, faster, stronger guys and learn how to defend against them," Boston University coach Jay Pandolfo said. "He's not going to out-muscle guys, but he can really skate, so he can really close quickly on guys. He's got a good stick, and all those things are helping him defend."

Eric Nilson, C, Djurgarden Jr. (SWE): The 17-year-old (5-11, 156), a right-handed shot, has 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists) in 29 games in Sweden's junior-20 division. He also has one assist in four games with Djurgarden in Allsvenskan, Sweden's second professional men's league. He still needs to mature physically, but the tools are in place.

"He plays a decent two-way game," said Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen, NHL Director of European Scouting. "He can position himself in the right spot for any rushes and his puck-handling is excellent. He has an active stick to reduce his opponents' space and time, and his wrist shot release starts quickly when he receives the puck in any shooting position."

Cameron Reid, D, Kitchener (OHL): The left-hand shot (6-0, 193) has been rising the ranks after a strong start in the Ontario Hockey League. He is third in team scoring with 39 points (nine goals, 30 assists) and has 19 power-play points (18 assists) and a plus-21 rating in 47 games with the Rangers.

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