Eighteen-year-old Josh Davies of Airdrie will be listening intently this Thursday and Friday.

The left winger with the Western Hockey League's Swift Current Broncos will be hoping to hear his name called by one of the 32 NHL teams during the 2022 NHL Entry Draft being held July 7th and 8th at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Davies heads into the draft as the 69th ranked North American skater.  He's made a remarkable leap of 58 places since being ranked number 127 in the mid-term rankings.  It's one of the biggest jumps among all prospective draftees.  

Last season with the Broncos Davies, who is listed at 5'10" and 196 lbs, connected for 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points in 64 games while being assessed 119 minutes in penalties. The former member of the U15 Airdrie Xtreme and U18 CFR Bisons was named to Team Canada's U18 squad at the 2022 World Championships hosted by Germany.  Davies had one assist in three games during the championship.

According to Davies' draft profile on TheHockeyWriters.com. his attributes include being a great skater, as well as his stickhandling  and puck handling.  As for areas needing improvement, they list his anticipation, consistency and his need to stay out of the penalty box.  

At 5'10", the Hockey Writers believe that what Davies lacks in size, he more than makes up for in speed and say that attribute should allow him to play at the next level.  

The draft gets underway with the first round on Thursday, July 7th with July 8th being reserved for the next six rounds.  The Montreal Canadiens won the draft lottery and will pick first in the draft with New Jersey having the second pick.  The Calgary Flames won't have a first round pick, after trading theirs to the Canadiens.  The Flames won't pick until the second round, number 59 overall.

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