Riley Heidt, one of the Wild's top prospects, is closing in on a 100-point season in the WHL.
Here at The Hockey News, I had Riley Heidt as a player the Wild should draft with pick No. 21 in last year's draft. They decided to draft Charlie Stramel instead who currently plays for the Wisconsin Badgers.
I was fascinated with the way Heidt quietly put up an incredible season during his draft year in the WHL and was shocked when he wasn't taken in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft.
In fact, Heidt fell all the way to 64 before the Wild drafted the young center from the Prince George Cougars. The 2023 draft was the Connor Bedard draft. Everyone was focused on the forward who recorded 71 goals and 143 points in 57 WHL games for the Regina Pats during his draft year.
But Heidt finished his draft year tied for fourth in the WHL in points with 97 and tied for first with Bedard in assists with 72. Part of that may have been because Heidt played with Chase Wheatcroft who notched 47 goals and 107 points for the Cougars but this year, without Wheatcroft, Heidt has posted 31 goals and 97 points in 55 games with 11 games left in the season.
His playmaking ability is off the charts but his defensive game wasn't anything to be excited about at the time of the pick. Yet the Wild drafted him with the 64th overall pick in the 2023 draft. They acquired that draft pick from Buffalo when they traded Jordan Greenway to the Sabres for a second round pick at last year's trade deadline.
Heidt came to development camp back in July and proved his offensive skills to the Wild upper-management and coaches. He sat down with The Hockey News' Aaron Heckmann and acknowledged he wanted to play more of a complete game before the year started. “I’m super excited to kind of try to build my game up,” Heidt said, “and get better at all the things I need to.”
Not only has he done that but he's added even more scoring. The 5-foot-10 center has already posted a career high in goals with 31 and tied last year's total in points with 97. Heidt is currently on pace for 37 goals, 79 assists, and 116 points in 66 WHL games this season.
During his draft year Heidt had a career total of 48 goals and 168 points in 155 career games in the WHL. The only active WHL or NHL players to have more where Andrew Cristall, (69-100-169), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (57-120-177), Zach Benson (71-110-181), and Connor Bedard (134-137-271).
Cristall was Washignton's 40th overall pick last year, Benson was Buffalo's 13th overall pick last year, and the other two players don't need much of an introduction.
Heidt is on pace to finish the year with 116 points which would equal a total of 279 points in his career as an 18-year-old. That would put him 23rd in WHL history for most career points as an 18-year-old, according to QuantHockey.com. That puts him ahead of players like Sam Reinhart, Dean Evason, Brayden Schenn, Jarome Iginla, Brayden Point, Dylan Cozens, Mark Stone, and Matthew Barzal for most career WHL points as an 18-year-old.
I said at the time of the draft the Heidt and Cozens play a similar style but over the years, Cozens has developed a physical element to his game. I think the best comparison for Heidt now would be Point.
Looking at Byron Bader's Hockey Prospecting Comparison Tool you can see Point and Heidt have similar D-1 and D0. D-1 means the year before their draft year and D0 means their draft year.
Heidt is actually having a better D1 season than Point did which you can see on the graphic above. Point and Heidt are the same size as well and are both fantastic playmaking centers.
Time will tell if Heidt can become a Point-like player in the NHL but for now, it is refreshing to see Heidt tearing up the WHL.
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.