Photo Credit: (Photo: James Doyle)
As this summer rapidly draws to a close, a new crop of NHL hopefuls can be found in rinks across North America, tirelessly honing their craft as they try to prepare themselves for the impending season.
One such prospect who I feel you should know about who is currently doing just that is goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen of the Western Hockey League’s Prince George Cougars. Josh, who at 17-year-old is already measuring out to the height of 6’4, turned a lot of heads last season when his play seemingly forced his Head Coach Mark Lamb to have to allow him to split time with his older, more experienced netminding counterpart Ty Young who was previously selected by the Vancouver Canucks back in 2022 and then later signed to an NHL Entry Level deal.
The reason why Ravensbergen was able to command so much playing time at such a young age this past season was because his long-limbed frame allows him to play the butterfly style to perfection! For instance, some goalies who play this style tend to come up short and leave either the top or bottom corners of the net exposed. But Joshua appears to be a bit of an anomaly in this sense since his telescopic legs somehow manage to cover the entire length of the crease. And his long torso allows his stretch arm strong like arms to prevent even the water bottle rocket-type shots that would undoubtedly sound the goal sirens in other barns around the league to stay silent in Prince Georges!
I guess that’s why, with these superhuman-like abilities at his disposal it should come as no surprise to hear that Josh was able to win an incredible 68% of the games he played in last year. Finish the regular season with a league-leading six shutouts and had a playoff run that spanned 12 games where he averaged a 1.98 goals against average, a .931 save percentage, and put up an unheard of three post-season shutouts!
With all this being said, there is no doubt in my mind that Ravensbergen should be considered one of, the best, goaltenders available in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. So, the only question will not be IF he gets drafted, but WHEN!
