For any youth hockey player the dream of some day playing in NHL exists. For many, at adolescence the dream starts to fade, but for some the dream becomes a reality. There are many paths to reach that pinnacle. In Minnesota, the most common route is to play for a Divsion I program like Minnesota, North Dakota or Wisconsin and then onto some form of professional career with the hope of one day wearing an NHL sweater.

A route that is becoming a more popular option is the Western Hockey League (WHL/The W). The WHL is a for pay Junior Hockey League. Players that play in The W lose their amateur status and are not eligible for college hockey or college hockey scholarships if the league doesn't work out for them. Going to the W is a high risk, high reward proposition. There are hundreds of examples of players succesful WHL players drafted in the first round and have had successful NHL careers. It is a great Junior Hockey league with rabid fan bases all over Western North America. 

Players from the Western US and Canada can be drafted into the W at age 15. Drafting Minnesota kids is a risky proposition. Because of the great schools locally that produce NHL players each year and the traditon that follows...almost all Minnesota kids go Division I. Every WHL team has a different philosophy on Minnesota. One of which that is prevailing and cannot be ignored is the sheer amount of talent that the state produces. Another is the W is starting to take ahold of more Minnesota kids over the past few years, meaning that they are forced to scout and understand Minnesota more and more. 

The followiing is our list of 10 players in order talent-wise of Minnesota resident players. We also list "Next 20" others alphabetically that we think will be drafted or being given high consideration. We also mark kids that we identify players who may may have probability of WHL intent with an asterisk*.