As we’re settling into the second round selections on our draft board, we’re here now to introduce Ryker Lee.
The USHL’s rookie of the year, Lee is a highly skilled winger who wrapped up his first year in the league scoring comfortably over a point per game pace at the level and came out as the top producer on his Madison Capitols team, and as the fourth-highest points getter in the league. There’s some boom or bust potential in his projection as a player, but the potential upside is exciting, and could well make him an interesting project for a team looking to make some swings in this year’s draft.
Pre-draft rankings
No. 24 by The Athletic (Scott Wheeler)
No. 34 by Elite Prospects
No. 58 by TSN (Bob McKenzie)
No. 38 by Daily Faceoff
Bio
DOB: November 8, 2006
Birthplace: Wilmette, IL, USA
Position: RW
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 181 lbs
Shoots: Right
Statistics
What’s there to like?
Lee is, if nothing else, just a downright fun player. He’s overall quite crafty and often elusive with the puck, and his stick handling is a huge strength. The way he’s able to keep the puck in close to his body for better control is a big asset, and between the strength he brings and the slickness of his handling, he’s hard to get off the puck when he has it. He’s also become quite a strong scorer at the USHL level, and that success has some not just from the craftiness in his game, the ability to get around defenders and create dangerously on the move, but also from the pure strength of his shot — coming with a high velocity, good power, and good overall accuracy. Equally, he’s a talented playmaker, with a clear high hockey IQ as he’s shown a real dynamic quality to his passing, his ability to feed his line mates pucks in dangerous areas of the ice.
Also quite notably, even if he doesn’t bring a ton of raw speed in his game (more on that later), he has a really good motor, and finds ways to be continually buzzing around in the offensive zone, always competing and looking to create. Because of that, he’s developed as a very strong forechecker as well, and even if there are times when he looks held back by that skating, he’s always looking to out-compete his opponents, so it’s clear that his competitive mentality is there, and his dedication to playing a tenacious checking game will all but surely carry him to an even more favorable position as the skating game continues to develop.
He also brings a somewhat underrated detailsy game — that is, while it’s not necessarily a hallmark for his game, he’s shown that he’s able to lock things down defensively, and he’s also shown a nice willingness to engage physically, not shying away from laying the big hit from time to time.
Now, Lee is a player who’s looking at a longer development arc, but it’s going to be an interesting one to watch, as he heads off to join what’s looking like it’s going to be a loaded Michigan State team, before he eventually graduates to the AHL. But for a team not in a rush for their talent influx (like the Flyers), him taking that longer road isn’t a concern, and indeed, him getting some significant developmental time in an exciting college program should be an equally exciting prospect.
What’s not to like?
As we said, there are some really notable and impressive offensive instincts that Lee brings, and he’s able to create a generally high amount of good offense, but his game isn’t perfect in this regard — he could take himself to the next level nicely with some improvement in his shot selection, in getting himself to more dangerous areas of the ice for more of his looks.
The big weakness in his game, though, is the skating. He doesn’t bring a ton of speed, and his stride just looks a little bit clunky, and while he’s made some improvements on it as his season with Madison went on, there was still a distinct feeling that the skating was holding him back to a degree.
Now, the concern around this area of his game might be softened for some with the addition of the context of the growth spurt he hit last summer, so it’s possible that the troubles he’s having here are less an issue of glaring (at least exclusively) mechanical issues which will linger and prove harder to correct, and more an issue of him still getting used to his frame again after growing a few inches. It’s still going to take some targeted corrective work put in, but this wrinkle might make a potential red flag feel a little less scary.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
This is certainly an interesting one. The Flyers aren’t exactly short on playmaking wingers in their system, and in fact already have a player in their system quite like Lee — the Elite Prospects Draft Guide describes him as having “shades of taller Bobby Brink.” Now, we might ask, do the Flyers really need two different sized iterations of Bobby Brink? Do we like the player enough to forgive a bit of redundancy? Does it even matter because do we think Brink will even still be in the organization by the time Lee gets to the NHL?
It’s a lot to parse out, a number of big questions, but we’ll leave it here: there’s some real potential for Lee, if he’s placed in the right developmental hands, to turn into something of a steal in this draft, and that makes him intriguing. We mentioned off the top that him being the type of high-ceiling but still a bit risky player makes him exactly the type of player that a team with an excess of picks and looking to take a shot on could be interested in. Now, this is the type of player to take a shot on, to be sure, but is it the player? That’s up for the Flyers to decide.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
The rankings are a little bit all over the place on Lee, but while the most optimistic of the bunch might have him off the board even by the time the Flyers’ late first-round picks come around, it feels more likely that he’ll still be in play as an option to grab with one of those, if not one of the early second-round picks, should they want to go that direction in the end.
What scouts are saying
Rapid-fire handling skill, explosive pull-back wristers, perfect lob passes, backhand dangles, precision saucer passes – Lee has just about every skill in the book. Without speed as an advantage, he prefers to press the middle, draw pressure, and delay for support, often landing a creative spin pass for a chance.
EliteProspects 2025 NHL Draft Guide
“Not much is needed to explain Ryker Lee. The first few games I saw this season, I simply did not see a high end prospect there, but he looks more and more comfortable and confident in the USHL as the year has worn on with point production that has just gotten better and better. He’s one of those high excitement players on the wing that is a pretty simple projection to being a very, very talented college scorer with potential NHL upside. He needs to improve his shot selection, but his skill level and work rate are impressive to say the least. He’s a great forechecker, with excellent offensive instincts, feeding teammates passes in dangerous areas with ease and driving a ton of offense for his team. He has the work rate, skill, creativity and finishing ability to be an offensive leaning finisher if he develops well, and in this range of the draft if you want to swing for a bit more upside and offense, he’s a great option with less questionable downsides. He’s just plain fun, and a very exciting player and in this tier, he’s a reasonable addition in a sea of safer, simpler profiles.”
“Lee is one of the most skilled players outside of the very top tier of players in this draft class. His playingmaking oozes dynamicism, with Lee constantly using slick stickhandles and fake pivots with his hips to manipulate defenders and open up lanes to get pucks to teammmates. His skating isn’t the best with a bit of a short stride and a lack of agility on his edges, but he moves well enough in the offensive zone and has good enough hands to make space for himself on the rush. His defensive game remains a bit of a weak spot, with him missing coverages in most of my viewings and not being particularly effective at winning puck battles along the walls. That latter issue speaks to another concern some share with Lee, which is his ineffectiveness on the forecheck and at sustaining possesion in the offensive zone. There’s certainly a chance for this to improve over time however, with improved strength and conditioning plus additional development of his technical ability along the walls, it’s easy to envision the potential room for growth in these areas. Given that the skill level is very high here paired with the fact that he’s headed to a strong program at Michigan State University to play next season, Lee remains a 1st rounder in our eyes”
One player off, one more on. Welcome to the poll, Gustav Hillstrom!
“From unranked to top 20, Hillström has significantly grown on me the more and more I see him… Obviously. I’m not sure there’s a centre in this draft who combines off-puck intelligence and pure skating ability in this class outside of the top group. He’s just pasted to opponents in the SHL, getting involved in play often showcasing flashes of skill that elevates his game and those he plays with. He’s a little bit outmatched in the SHL as he is, but he’s also been playing on the wing in my viewings which is not where he has been playing for the junior team. He’s a long term bet in my view as he could fill out, add another gear and gain some more offensive confidence, but the SHL is a great place for him to develop and learn. He’s got a solid frame to build on, and while I think he’s going to end up a few slots lower on my board at the end of the year, he could be a really great bet to make at the end of the first round this year. In reality he could go significantly later than he should, but plays the centre position exactly how I would want it to be played. Good skill, exceptional smarts with a skating ability to always be in the right places, and offensive headroom to develop, but likely brings a good 200-foot impact to the game that could pair with almost any kind of player on his wings.”