William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 to write about people of color in sports. Today, he is profiling players of color ranked by NHL Central Scouting for the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft. The draft will take place June 28-29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Round 1 is June 28 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and rounds 2-7 are June 29 (11 a.m. ET, ESPN+, NHLN, SN, SN1).
Caden Lindstrom looked around the Edmonton Oilers locker room at AmerantBank Arena before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final along with three other top prospects for the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft and smiled.
“This is a place I've wanted to be for a long time,” Lindstrom said. “It's everything I dreamed of as a kid.”
Lindstrom is one step closer to making that dream come true.
The 18-year-old forward, who plays for Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League, is one of at least 16 players of color in the final rankings by NHL Central Scouting who are waiting to hear their name called at this weekend's 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft.
Lindstrom (6-foot-3, 213 pounds), who is black and a member of the Driftpile Cree tribe, is ranked third among North American skaters by Central Scouting despite missing 36 games with a broken hand and back problems. He had 46 points (27 goals, 19 assists) in 32 games before his injury, scoring two points (one goal, one assist) and 17 shots in four WHL playoff games. He earned four points (two goals, two assists) in six games for Canada White in the 2023 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge and three points (two goals, one assist) in five games for Canada in the 2023 Hinka Gretzky Cup, including Canada's first goal in a 3-2 overtime win over the hosts Czech Republic in the gold medal game.
Other players of color who could be selected in the 2024 draft, ranked in order, are:
Zayn Parekh, D, Saginaw (OHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 5 (North American skaters)
The son of an Indian father and Korean mother, Parekh (6-foot-0, 178 pounds) was named the Canadian Hockey League Defenceman of the Year after leading the Ontario Hockey League in defencemanship and tallying 96 points (36 goals, 63 assists) in 66 games with Saginaw, including 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) on the power play, which tied him for sixth among all scorers. The 18-year-old native of Markham, Ont., also had 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 13 playoff appearances for the Memorial Cup-winning team.
Tiji Iginla, C, Kelowna (WHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 9 (North American skaters)
The 17-year-old son of Hockey Hall of Fame forward Jarome Iginla led the team with 47 goals for Kelowna, was second with 84 points and 11 power-play goals in 64 games and was tied for the team lead with 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 11 WHL playoff games. Iginla (6-0, 191) also had 12 points (six goals, six assists) in seven games for Canada, who won the gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Under-18 Championship.
Chase Utzke, G, Red Deer (WHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 9 (North American goaltender)
Wutzke (6-foot-2, 158 pounds) had 19 wins, 10 losses and two draws with a 2.82 ERA, .904 save percentage and one shutout in 36 games. In seven WHL playoff games he had 4 wins, 2 losses and one draw with a 2.48 ERA and .924 save percentage. The 17-year-old native of Debden, Saskatchewan, is a member of the Metis Nation.
Eric Emery, D, USA U-18 (USHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 39 (North American skaters)
A dual Canadian-American citizen, Emery (6-foot-3, 183 pounds) appeared in 61 games with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program U-18 team this season, recording 16 assists. He also appeared in seven games and recorded six assists for the silver medal-winning U.S. at the 2024 IIHF World U-18 Championship. The 18-year-old native of Surrey, British Columbia, plans to attend the University of North Dakota for the 2024-25 season.
Kevin He, LW, Niagara (OHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 78 (North American skaters)
He (5-foot-11, 181 pounds) could become the highest-ranked Chinese-born player drafted, surpassing Andon Song, who was selected in the sixth round (172nd overall) by the New York Islanders in 2015. The 18-year-old led Niagara in goals (31) and was second in points (53) in 64 games.
Aidan Park, C, Shattuck St. Mary's Prep (HIGH-MN), NHL Central Scouting: No. 91 (North American Skaters)
The 18-year-old Park, a native of Playa Vista, Calif., and nephew of former NHL forward and former South Korea men's national team assistant Richard Park, had 93 points (30 goals, 63 assists) in 56 games with Shattuck St. Mary's and four points (three goals, one assist) for the United States in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament in 2023. Park (6-foot-1, 184 pounds) also had four points (two goals, two assists) in eight postseason games with Green Bay of the United States Hockey League.
Blake Montgomery, LW, Lincoln (USHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 101 (North American skaters)
Montgomery (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) was tied for first in goals (22) and third in points (43) in 58 games with Lincoln. The 19-year-old, committed to Wisconsin in 2025-26, is the younger brother of defenseman Bryce Montgomery, who was a sixth-round draft pick (176th overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2021 and played last season with South Carolina in the ECHL, and the son of Matthew Montgomery, an All-American defenseman at NCAA Division III school St. Mary's University of Minnesota.
Darin Wakely, C, North Bay (OHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 116 (North American skaters)
Wakely (6-0, 198) is third in the OHL scoring list with 104 points (39 goals, 65 assists) in 66 games. The 20-year-old Ojibway from Curve Lake First Nation was the second-leading scorer in the OHL playoffs with 13 goals in 16 games.
Ty Henry, D, Ellie (OHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 129 (North American skaters)
Henry (6-foot-2, 197 pounds) played in 54 games and recorded seven assists in his first full season with Erie. The 17-year-old Montreal native credits Hockey Equality, a nonprofit organization chaired by retired NHL player Anthony Stewart, with helping him develop.
Jackson Vaughn, RW, Regina (WHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 150 (North American skaters)
Vaughn (6-foot-1, 206 pounds) has 25 points (15 goals, 10 assists) in 59 games. Vaughn, 18, from Merritt, British Columbia, and his brother Corbin are hoping to become the first twins to be selected in the same draft since 2018. They are members of the Lower Nicola Indian Band, the government of the Nalaka'pamux First Nation in British Columbia.
Corbin Vaughn, D, Regina (WHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 155 (North American skaters)
Corbin Vaughn (6-foot-0, 205 pounds), the older of the twins by less than a minute, played in 33 games with Regina, scoring eight points (four goals, four assists). He missed 31 games after undergoing surgery for a lower-body injury.
Carson Pilgrim, C, Warroad (HIGH-MN), NHL Central Scouting: No. 159 (North American skaters)
Pilgrim (5-foot-11, 163 pounds) led Warroad in goals (32) and points (70) in 31 games this season, and the 18-year-old captain was a finalist for Minnesota Mr. Hockey. A member of the White Earth Nation, Pilgrim plans to attend the University of North Dakota in 2025-26.
Pavel McKenzie, LW, Moose Jaw (WHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 176 (North American skaters)
McKenzie (6-0, 174) had 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 63 games as a rookie and five points (two goals, three assists) in 20 playoff games. The 18-year-old McKenzie is a member of the Cumberland House Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.
Sam McCue, LW, Owen Sound (OHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 178 (North American skaters)
McCue (6-foot-2, 187 pounds) has played in 68 games with Peterborough and Owen Sound, collecting 37 points (23 goals, 14 assists). The 18-year-old native of Sudbury, Ontario, is a member of the Abenaki O'Danak First Nation.
