Croteau listed tenth for North American goalies heading into NHL Draft

A Bonnyville hockey player is going to be one to watch in coming months approaching the NHL Draft.

Emmett Croteau was identified as the 10th ranked draft eligible North American goaltender in NHL Central Scouting’s watch list, released on Thursday.

The 2003 born netminder has played the last two seasons with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL in Iowa.

The Bonnyville native is committed to play at Clarkson University in the NCAA next season.

Central Scouting releases pre-season, mid-term, and final rankings of North American and European prospects annually in anticipation of the NHL Draft.

Croteau was not listed in the service’s mid-term rankings, but became one of 15 Albertans listed in the final rankings.

He got the lionshare of starts this season for the Blackhawks, finishing the campaign with a 16-16-3 record, a 3.00 goals against average, and .899 save percentage. In six playoff starts, Croteau went 3-3 with a 2.71 goals against average and .913 save percentage.

As a 6-seed, Waterloo upset Lincoln in the first round, before falling to the Sioux City Musketeers in a best-of-three.

Croteau played with the Lakeland Panthers U15AA club from 2016 to 2018 before playing triple A in Lloydminster the following season.

In 2019-20, he played hockey in California with St. John Bosco High and Ontario Jr. Reign.

The NHL Draft is scheduled for July 7-8 in Montreal.