Brett Connolly is a 6’2″ 180 pound forward currently playing for the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League, and is widely considered the top prospect eligible for the 2010 NHL entry draft coming out of the WHL.

Connolly got off to a quick start in the 2008-09 season with Prince George, starting the season on the team’s top line that featured Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Dana Tyrell. It was believed early on that his success could be attributed to playing alongside Tyrell, a point that Connolly would be quick to prove wrong after Tyrell suffered an injury with Canada’s World Junior team. Connolly would go on to post the first 30 goal season by a 16 year old in the WHL since Patrick Marleau accomplished the feat in his preliminary season with Seattle in 1996. Connolly would also add 30 assists for a 60 point effort, while playing in 65 of the team’s 72 regular season games. Connolly was a -26 on the season, however; which might me due more to the fact that played for the Cougars, whose 25-44-0-3 record was due largely to the fact that the team gave up 298 goals against, second in the entire league.

To start the 2009-10 season, Connolly picked up right where he left off, finding the back of the net 4 times, while adding 2 assists for 6 points in his first 7 games of the season, while also showing a +2 before suffering a hip injury that has had him out of the lineup in recent weeks.

With room to grow into his 6’2″ frame, Connolly already seems to overpower many defensemen in the Western League, a league known to produce alot of rough and tumble NHL quality defenders. Connolly has an extremely accurate, high powered shot, sees the ice very well and has the ability to set teammates up for scoring chances, and isn’t afraid to go into high traffic areas to make a play. What is most impressive about Connolly’s point totals to this point is that the next closest scorer on the team was Cameron Cepek – a defenseman who scored 15 fewer points than Connolly.

Connolly is widely considered the best the WHL has to offer for the 2010 NHL draft, and will look to continue to impress scouts once he returns from injury. He was recently named to team WHL for the upcoming Super Series to face team Russia on November 26th, and will look to turn heads on a larger stage, featuring some of the best junior players in the world.

Brett Connolly is currently slated to be selected in the top 10 of next June’s NHL Entry draft.

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Tags: 2010 nhl draft, 2010 nhl draft prospects, Brett Connolly

About the Author: Curtis Deem

I'm 25 years old, currently residing in Spokane, WA. I'm originally from Columbus, Ohio, and consider myself a huge fan of anything involving pucks. I follow the WHL very closely, and keep track of prospects from all over. I'm married and have a beautiful daughter, and we regularly attend Spokane Chiefs games as a family, which is where I do most of my player watching.