2022 NHL Draft: Wild go with Rieger Lorenz at 56th overall

With their second pick in the draft's second round, the Minnesota Wild selected Rieger Lorenz of the Okotoks Oilers.

Rieger is committed to the University of Denver and will join some NHL prospects like Bobby Brink (Philadelphia Flyers) and Carter Mazur (Detroit Red Wings).

Ranked at 42 in Scott Wheeler of The Athletics Top 100 Prospects Ranking, Wheeler had this to say about the plus-sized winger;

The top NHL prospect at Canada’s Jr. A level this year, Lorenz, who posted 96 points in a 74 combined regular season and playoff games in the AJHL and impressed as one of Team Canada’s lone bright spots at U18 worlds (where they outscored the opposition 6-0 with him on the ice at five-on-five). He’s a driven, puck-protection player who wins lanes in possession, forechecks to get it back when he doesn’t have it, gets to high-danger areas (either in control with his soft hands or off the puck to play to the front of the net), and then can finish plays when he’s there with a hard and accurate shot. But he can also play to the perimeter and facilitate (he does a good job identifying and then finding second and third options). He’s not mean, but he already takes what is given (and sometimes what isn’t), plays hard, elevates his linemates, and will continue to fill out his frame. He was also one of the best penalty killers in the AJHL this year and led the league in short-handed goals with five. Lorenz projects as a middle-six winger.

Here’s one AJHL source on Lorenz: “He’s a big rig that’s skilled and can play.”