Port Moody’s Lucas Johansen was one (1) of the 40 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players to participate in the Top Prospects Game in Vancouver this week, skating with “Team Cherry” in the prospect showcase.

 

The brother of Ryan Johansen, the fourth overall pick in the 2010 National Hockey League (NHL) Draft, Johansen has rocketed up the draft boards since being selected in the sixth round of the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) 2012 Bantam Draft. The 6’2” blueliner has been described as a “solid two-way defenseman” by NHL scouts, who list his skills as such: “Good hands and puck skills to manage the play at the offensive blue line. Excellent short game and passer, good shot from the point. Effective game with and without the puck.”

 

Johansen played for the Vancouver Thunderbirds and Port Moody Minor Hockey Association (MHA) before joining the Major Midget League’s (MML) Vancouver North East Chiefs for the 2012-2013 season. In his first season with the Chiefs, he skated in all 40 games and tallied a total of 10 point (3 goals, 7 assists). Then-Chiefs Head Coach Doneau Menard had a big impact on him – “He really resembled a pro coach. He was hard on us. He showed us the urgency that we had to have,” said Johansen in a recent interview with The Province.

 

Johansen came back for a second MML season and more than doubled his point totals, racking up 24 points (7 goals, 17 assists) in 40 games. He then moved on to the Rockets, where he played in 65 games as a rookie in 2014-2015, scoring one (1) goal and seven (7) assists on a team that won the WHL Championship and competed for the Memorial Cup.

 

2015-2016 has proved to be a breakout season so far for Johansen. In 44 games, he has scored seven (7) goals and 19 assists for a total of 26 points, and has just 14 penalty minutes for the red-hot Rockets, who are currently first in the WHL’s Western Conference with a 33-11-3 record.

 

NHL Central Scouting has Johansen ranked 38^th in its midterm rankings. As a result, Johansen was selected to the Top Prospects Game, which included 12 WHL players, 20 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) players, and 8 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) players. 13 CHL Players who competed in the 2015 Top Prospects Game in St. Catharines, ON, were selected in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft.  In 20 years, 278 CHL players from this event have been chosen by NHL clubs in the first round of the NHL Draft, representing 47% of all players selected.

 

The BC Hockey Major Midget League was established in 2004 to provide elite level 15, 16 and 17 year olds an opportunity to play within their own age group at a high level and be developed for the next level of hockey. These teams have an opportunity each year to compete for the National Midget Championship.

 

For more information about the MML, please visit the League website at www.bcmml.net, follow along on social media at twitter.com/bchockey_mml, or email us at midgethockey@bchockey.net.