Ryker Lee

June 2025 – Ryker Lee has been a late riser this spring, rising out of nowhere into people’s first rounds. The ‘06 forward catapulted himself from the prep ranks into the USHL and was awarded the league’s “Rookie of the Year” award after posting 68 points in just 58 games. Lee is a prospect that just recently hit a growth spurt, shooting up into a new frame. Because of this, his skating has looked really awkward for most of the year, struggling to push the pace. Lee’s puck skills are smooth and he boasts an excellent release, creating his own offence pretty much at will in the USHL. However, there have been times where I’ve felt he’s cheated for offense and not shown full commitment to dominating on both ends of the rink. Because of the growth spurt, skating, and 200 foot game concerns, Lee comes with question marks, but there’s no doubt he’s one of the topupside options in the late 1st and early 2nd rounds. Lee is a Michigan State commit. Whittaker Heart

March 2025-In his D-1 season (being 5-10, ~160lbs), Lee was fun, but not highly regarded. Fortunately, Lee hit a growth spurt right before his USHL freshman season and has taken the league by storm. He’s tied for 5th in points and in 3rd in points-per-game.

Few players in the draft can match up to Lee’s highlight reel. He constantly exposes defenders with a myriad of solutions: spin passes, feints, tape-to-tape saucer passes, there seems to be no limit to what Lee can imagine.

However, the growth spurt did not come without its drawbacks. Lee’s skating mechanics have taken a hit, losing him considerable speed and making his effectiveness as a play-driving winger fluctuant. This weakness has improved as the season’s gone on, but part of the appeal with Lee will always centre around if he’s able to fully recapture that motor of his. If everything breaks right, Lee can become one of the bigger steals this draft has to offer, but the ‘if’ might be significant enough to see him drop. David Saad