Credit: Keith Dwiggins

By Marlon Martens

Royals Defenseman Ranked 89th By NHL CSS

Misskey Looks Towards The NHL Draft

Apr 16, 2024 | 2:27 PM

With the disappointment of first round knock out hanging over the head of Royals defenseman Nate Misskey, he can lift his chin and set his sights on the NHL Entry Draft at the end of June.

Tuesday, NHL Central Scouting released their final draft rankings, placing Misskey 89^th among North American players, along with fellow rearguard Seth Fryer at 206^th, and netminder Ryan Tamelin 29^th among N.A. goaltenders.

The Melfort, Saskatchewan native is going into his second draft year, but it’s not the biggest thing on his mind.

“I’m obviously thinking about the draft too, but it’s not my first thing that it’s in my mind. Going into next year is going be the first thing in my mind. I hope to be drafted, but just focus on my personal side and my game in the off season, and take a big step forward in that.”

The potential exists for the 6’3, 198 lb defender to be taken in the 5^th or 6^th round.

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“I’m just being optimistic about it, holding myself to a high standard for my off season here, and there’s a lot of work to be put in for next year too, so I’m just focusing on that.”

Misskey’s all around game really took off this season at both ends of the ice, after going undrafted last year. He credits the experience and level comfort on the ice to his success going from last year to this season.

“I really took a big step in my defense zone, my offensive zone and it showed. My all around game, coming in from last season, giving me the confidence this year.”

His plus-minus went from minus -19, to plus +11.

After putting up just 14 points in his first full season, he exploded this past year averaging 0.77 points per game from the blueline.

“We love to jump into the play, we love to create offense, we take care of our defensive zone first, which is a big part of it. Don’t give teams any scoring opportunities and hop in when we can.”

He was 7^th in overall defenseman scoring in the WHL before an injury in January held him out for two months, which may have also affected is draft ranking, as he was previously 66^th in the mid-term report.

“The injury was unfortunate but it didn’t stop me, I didn’t lose motivation or anything. Continuing to take those steps forward for next year are going to be huge, and we’re going to be a really dominant team.”

Head Coach James Patrick often touted Misskey as their top defenseman, evident as along with other injuries the team only won 6 games in his absence. Patrick wants more bite out of his rearguards next season.

“We can all give more, bring a more physical aspect to the game, and make teams scared out there. We can use our size to our advantage and go into next year with the mentality to dominate.” agreed Misskey.

Victoria will have a deep core of returning veteran blueliners, with Austin Zemlak, Justin Kipkie all entering their 19 year old seasons. Ryan Spizawka is eligible to be back for a 5^th season. Returning as sophomores are Matthew Keller, Seth Fryer and Hudson Bjornson, all who logged valuable minutes.

“It’s going to be awesome, knowing that you’re coming back to play with guys that you’ve played with all year last year, and the years before too. And to have that familiarity, it’s going to translate into our game very nicely.”

The returning players will have a chip on their shoulder, but with it, more lessons learned after many went through their first tour of a WHL playoff round.

“It’s a different game out there, it’s a physical game, it’s fast.” admitted Misskey,

“A lot of us got the first taste of it this year and it’s going to be nice to come in with a little bit more experience next year and use that to our advantage.”

The Royals were swept by the veteran Winterhawks, two of the four games were decided by just a single goal.

“We battled hard, but we took the right steps forward and next year we’re going come in with the mentality that we’re going to go all the way. I think we have the group to do that. We’re going take some big steps forward.”

Six time NBA Most Valuable Player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was quoted as saying, ‘You won’t win until you learn how to lose.’ In essence, no one makes it without stumbling.

“It motivates a lot of us,” added Misskey,

“Next year we want to come in and make it far, give ourselves a real chance…and I believe we can do that, it starts with the work in the off season.”

That training will take place in Calgary at Crash Conditioning.

“They have a great program there, with a lot of good Pros that go through there.”

Calgary is also the home of fellow teammate Justin Kipkie, who was drafted in the 5^th round by the Arizona Coyotes.

“We have different training schedules but I’m sure we’ll get together this summer and skate a couple of times.”

By then Misskey may be property of a NHL team as well.