North Bay Battalion Centre Mason Primeau’s solid finish to the 2018-19 season has been recognized by the scouts.
Primeau, who turns 18 on July 28, is rated 113th among 217 North American-based skaters in the final ranking by the NHL’s central scouting department which were released on Monday in preparation for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. That event takes place in Vancouver this July.
That’s a jump of nearly 30 spots from the midseason ranking that had him listed at 142nd.
A six-foot-five, 205-pound Toronto resident, Primeau scored 10 goals and earned 16 assists for 26 points in 49 games with North Bay after a Nov. 15 trade from the Guelph Storm, which took him in the second round, 22nd overall, of the 2017 OHL Priority Selection from the Toronto Nationals minor midgets. The Battalion sent two picks to Guelph for him.
Mason is the son of former NHLer Wayne Primeau.
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In 129 OHL games, including 80 with the Storm, Primeau has 20 goals and 26 assists for 46 points.
He scored one goal and added two assists for three points in five playoff games this year.
“It’s once again nice to be recognized on the list, and I’m happy to see that I have jumped up 30 spots,” Primeau told Battalionhockey.com.
Primeau’s jump into the top 115 in North America shows some promise that the Battalion will break a two-year draft drought as no Battalion players were selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 2017 and 2018.
The last time the Battalion had players selected was in 2016 when Cam Dineen, Mark Shoemaker and Brett McKenzie were selected at the draft which took place in Buffalo in July of 2016.
