Patrick doesn’t devalue his No. 1 status for NHL draft

QUEBEC CITY — Nolan Patrick knew everyone from the NHL was watching and he wanted the scouts from the 31 teams to feel good about him.

The 6-foot-2-inch center from the Brandon Wheat Kings who has been ranked the No. 1 overall prospect by the NHL’s Central Scouting department was on the ice Monday at the Videotron Centre with the other top 2017 draft-eligible players in the Canadian Hockey League Prospects Game. While the scouts had previously seen virtually all of the participants who represented Team Cherry and Team Orr, Patrick was a bit of an anomaly.

He had undergone a sports hernia operation in July and missed the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in August. Then he suffered an upper body injury early in the Wheat Kings’ season in October and missed more than two months, including a chance to play for Canada at the World Junior Championships.

But the 18-year-old finally returned to action a couple of weeks ago and here was an opportunity to participate in an elite event which saw Patrick’s Team Cherry defeat Team Orr 7-5 in front of an announced crowd of 9,707.

“It was good to be able to play in a game like this to help gauge where you are,” said Patrick, who had a pair of assists and won 12 of the 16 faceoffs he took. “This is like my sixth game back but I’m shaking off the rust and I feel like I’m getting better.”

Overall, it was a mixed bag for Patrick. He whiffed on a pass that ultimately led to a breakaway goal by Team Orr’s Nico Hischier, the Swiss center who plays for Halifax and is ranked No. 2 overall. But he made up for it with a nifty pass to Maxime Comtois who scored to put Team Cherry up 4-3 midway through the second period. His other assist was during a third-period power play in which he made a smart feed to Owen Tippett at the near post which Tippett finished to put Team Cherry up 6-4.

Hischier, had played well for Switzerland at the World Juniors and those talents were once again on display Monday. He had a pair of assists along with his breakaway goal and spent much of the game going head-to-head against Patrick, which no doubt spiced things up.

“It was a great experience,” he said. “It was a good hockey game, a lot of speed. A lot of battles.

“I didn’t feel any added pressure. I just tried to play my best hockey and have fun.”

Monday’s game was played 24 hours after an attacker killed six people in a Quebec City mosque, sending shockwaves throughout Canada and the world. But things went on as scheduled and a moment of silence was held prior to the opening faceoff to honor the victims.

For the players, it was an important night. Their futures will ultimately be determined with how they perform in events like the Prospects game. And for the 31 NHL teams that were here, it’s even more important because they need as many looks as they can get at a player in as many different settings as possible.

For Patrick, he left town feeling good about where things are and where they’re going in the weeks and months ahead.

“I thought I got better as the game went on and the things I’ve been working on are starting to show in my game,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about rankings before I got hurt and I’m not thinking about them now. If I’m one, or two or whatever, it doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to be the best player I can be and whatever happens, happens.”

Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.