PHOTO COURTESY KEITH DWIGGINS/PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS
Medicine Hat product Ryan Miller is projected to be selected during the 2025 NHL Draft this weekend, a moment the Portland Winterhawks forward says would be a dream come true. Miller is seen batting at a puck in mid-air in this photo from Oct. 17, 2024.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Ahead of a weekend Ryan Miller has looked forward to since he started playing hockey, the Medicine Hat product is calm and ready for whatever comes.
The 18-year-old Portland Winterhawks forward is one of hundreds of teens around the world filled with anticipation for the NHL Draft, which gets underway with the first round on Friday and the remaining six rounds Saturday. He’s projected to be selected, entering the draft as the 60th ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
“It’s everything I worked for my whole life,” Miller said. “That’s the goal, is to get drafted and win a Stanley Cup. So I’m pretty excited for this upcoming draft. But you know, as it gets on, the nerves start to come and you never know, the draft is unpredictable. So anything can happen, I’m just hoping I go.”
The South Alberta Hockey Academy alum is coming off a sophomore season in the WHL with Portland, putting up 16 goals and 31 points in 50 games. An increase of 10 goals and 16 points from his rookie season, also playing in six more games. He’s battled injuries through both of his seasons in the WHL.
Those injuries, as well as two deep playoff runs with Portland, losing in the WHL finals in 2024 and the West finals in 2025, have given Miller a lot of opportunity to grow.
“It’s helped me mature more as a person to definitely deal with an injury like that,” Miller said. “Sometimes you can get down on yourself, kind of question yourself. But I thought I just stayed positive, stayed with it and got back to playing.
“The playoff experience, is huge, the more games you can get, more experience you can get is going to help you in your career in junior hockey and even in pro hockey,” Miller said. “It’s been huge for me to get that experience, especially when you’re going to Game 7s and do-or-die games. You’re playing a lot, you’re going to double overtimes where you’re tired and you have to take care of your body because you’re playing the next night.”
Miller has talked with NHL teams throughout the season, answering questions as they assess who they will select in the draft. He says that experience made it feel legitimate as the year wore on.
“All these teams you grew up watching on TV and then talking to some scouts in person at times, it all became real this year,” Miller said. “But it was a pretty cool experience, talking to teams after games or getting Zoom calls, it was pretty awesome to experience that.”
The weirdest question he received was what kind of car he would describe his play style as, choosing a Ford F-150 as his game style personification.
He’ll spend the weekend with family, planning to spend Saturday watching the draft go by online, tracking the picks and awaiting a phone call. When that call comes and his name pops up on the NHL website, Miller will join an exclusive group of Medicine Hat hockey talent. He’ll be just the 17th Hatter to be drafted into the NHL, the first since Marc McNulty was selected 169th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2013.
It’s an honour he would wear proudly, also hoping to get drafted to repay his parents Michelle and Cam for all they’ve done for him to get to this point.
“My parents just sacrificed so much for me, so I want to get this dream of mine done, not only for me, but for them, too,” Miller said. “I look up to my dad and my mom a lot because they had four kids in hockey and the sacrifices they made driving us around weekend after weekend, and the money that they spent on us to go play hockey, it’s meant a lot.
“I just want to repay them that way. The same with my brothers, who were always competitive growing up and always playing sports, they pushed me a lot to get to where I am today.”
The first round of the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles gets underway Friday at 5 p.m. MST. Rounds 2-6 start Saturday at 10 a.m. MST and can be tracked at NHL.com.
