Six Raiders were named on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary list. The 'A' rank signifies a player expected to be drafted in the first round, 'C' ranks in the fourth and fifth rounds, and 'W' ranks in the sixth and seventh rounds of the NHL Draft. (Facebook/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders 9th in CHL Power Rankings

Raiders have six players on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary list

Oct 21, 2025 | 5:35 PM

Nine games into the season and the Prince Albert Raiders are one of two teams in the league left without a loss in regulation, they’ve been featured twice on the CHL Power Rankings Top 10 list where they currently occupy the ninth spot, and now with NHL Central Scouting’s first list of the season coming out, the Raiders have lots eyes on their team early on.

On that NHL Central Scouting List, six Raiders were recognized for their efforts early on in the season: forwards Jonah Sivertson, Alisher Sarkenov, and Riley Boychuk, defencemen Daxon Rudolph and Bennett Kelly, and goaltender Michal Orsulak.

“It’s a nice feather in the cap, but it’s so early in the season,” said Raiders General Manager Curtis Hunt. “It’s based on some early reviews and certainly how the team has played. There’s that old motto, ‘when the team does well, the individuals do well,’ and that is so true. So for the kids that were put on the list, yeah, this is a good start.”

A lot of official draft and prospect lists are compiled throughout the year, and not all of them are released to the public, so Hunt doesn’t put a ton of stock into them and especially early in the season. However, NHL Central Scouting is a National Hockey League (NHL) organization, and with that recognition from an NHL organization means more scouts coming into the Art Hauser Centre.

“The nice thing is, scouts are coming here to watch. They’re going to see us a lot, and I think for everybody in our roster and room to understand that someone’s watching every night, to continue to build your game as a group and give yourself your best opportunity to put your best foot forward to not even to get drafted, but to get yourself an opportunity to training camp and advance to the next level at some point.”

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The highest rated player on the list for the Raiders is 17-year-old assistant captain Daxon Rudolph, who earned an ‘A’ rank, meaning he’s expected to be drafted in the first round. Hunt said that Rudolph has a lot of tools to his game that are attracting scouts like his vision, poise, and ability to play in any situation, but his size and strength are what help separate him from the pack.

“He’s just going to get stronger as he matures as a man. That’s something pro teams are looking for: bigger, stronger defenseman. The second part for him is he can play the game and in an easy care, he’s got tremendous poise with the puck and rarely gets himself in trouble.”

Hunt added, “A 17-year-old with a letter, he’s a leader, he understands what it takes to win, he understands the compete level, he makes players accountable within the room, and when guys have an opportunity to meet with him, a very, very mature young man in his demeanour and his approach to the game. So I think that’s an important part that the pros are looking at.”

With a ‘C’ rank are 18-year-old goaltender Michal Orsulak and 17-year-old forward Jonah Sivertson, meaning they are expected to go somewhere in the fourth or fifth round of the draft.

Starting with Orsulak, Hunt credits his scouts for taking a long look at Orsulak after he had a bit of a rough go at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Hunt thinks that the longer pro scouts get a chance to watch Orsulak, the more they’re going to like him as the season goes on.

“He’s been everything we believed he was. He competes on every puck, even [in] practices. You can’t teach reach, but he’s got good size, good quickness laterally, and as a person to come to the rink every day, he’s usually the first guy here and just wants to learn, wants to get better. The scouts, they just see the product on the ice and obviously it speaks for itself, but there’s a lot of intangibles there that they’ll learn more about as the season goes on and as they get an opportunity to talk to him.”

As for Jonah Sivertson, he’s made his return to the Raiders as a new man from last year. After being cut from the Raiders 14 games in the season last year, he tore up the U18 AAA scene with the Regina Pat Canadians to win both provincial and national championships, and he’s taken those lessons from last year to become a lethal scorer for the Raiders this season.

“We’ve seen him move up the lineup for us, but his compete level gets better all the time. He manages the puck extremely well, doesn’t necessarily throw it away, but he really does play with a lot of purpose. I think for a young guy like that, the toughest thing is habits because we love it when kids dominate a level, and I think he and his line mate dominated the level last year. Now, to come in here, you don’t get away with as much. I think he’s done a real good job of his details without the puck.”

Finally, three players received the ‘W’ rank, meaning they are expected to be drafted in the sixth and seventh rounds of the draft, those being forwards Alisher Sarkenov (18) and Riley Boychuk (17), and 17-year-old defenceman Bennett Kelly.

Starting the ‘W’ group with Boychuk, he is the only Raider this year to put up a point in all nine games this year with 2G-9A in that time. For Hunt, the biggest difference he’s seen in Boychuk came from what he did in the offseason.

“I think his workout plan in the summer was fantastic. He’s improved his quickness and his speed, coming back as a 17-year-old. I think he manages the puck extremely well. I think there’s times we all want to see him shoot more, but I think his game sense, his play without the puck, his angles are elite, and then obviously with the points, he can generate and make plays. With a guy like that, and we have a few of them in our group, you’ve got to be ready for pucks wherever you are on the ice because he’s got eyes in the back of his head sometimes in the plays he can make.”

Next is Bennett Kelly, who the Raiders drafted in the same year as Rudolph and Boychuk, but only cracked the roster full-time this year. In his first year, he’s mostly been paired up with 16-year-old Brock Cripps, and together the two rookies have been playing some big minutes against some of the elite lines in the league.

“We went on the road to Regina and Brandon, and I thought Bennett was one of our better defencemen through the trip. He killed penalties for us. Brock’s a dynamic offensive guy and gets up ice, and Bennett, he reads and understands his partner where he is, and he just puts out fires when he needs to. He keeps his game very simple, yet he has a physical element and he’s showing some great hockey sense and vision, and he’s made some great plays from the blue line, whether it’s down low or to his partner.”

The final player recognized on the list is Alisher Sarkenov, who had the biggest question mark on his name coming into the season. Without preseason, training camp, or the ability to speak much English at all, Sarkenov has come in and quickly adjusted to the team in a way even the Raiders’ scouting staff wasn’t expecting. Even without being able to verbally communicate with his team, Sarkenov’s play has shown an ability to uplift his team around him.

“He sees the game extremely well, he’s got soft hands, he can make plays in the offensive zone, off cycles, give and goes, those kinds of things, but also through the neutral zone. He’s proven to be a better player without the puck than maybe we had expected. He tracks hard, and it really works at that 200-foot game. When guys see that, they get excited because you’ve got the ability to generate and make offence, but at the same time, you don’t sacrifice anybody else or play with too much risk. It’s more nifty than risky.”

For those players not on the list, Hunt said that with the number of scouts coming to the Art Hauser Centre to watch the players that are on this list, there will be plenty of opportunities for the players not on the list to make an impression with the pro teams. There’s no better example of that than the captain of the Raiders this season.

“Justice Christensen, goes and plays exhibition games in Detroit, was never on this list, but worked and played hard every day, competed hard every day, played a good, hard team game every day, and got better every day, and that’s the thing. They’ll find you. So for some, don’t rest on laurels at this point in time; continue to work. For others, there’s opportunity; people are watching. I think it’s great for the group, and it’s good for the team, and there should be a lot of morale around that. Very positive as we continue to move forward.”

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com