2016 NHL Draft: Carter Hart Profile

Age: 17
Hometown: Sherwood Park, AB
Height: 6’0’’
Weight: 180
Position: G
Team: Everett (WHL)
CSS Rank: 2nd among North American goalies

If the Oilers are on the hunt for a goalie early in the draft, they could keep it local. Sherwood Park native Carter Hart is among the best in his class, and may be there at 32 when the Oilers select near the top of the second round. He could also be the first netminder off the board.

Hart won MVP and Top Goaltender recognition in 2013-14 while playing for the Sherwood Park Squires in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League. The Alberta boy went on to do big things in the WHL this season.

Hart, the 2015-16 WHL Goaltender of the Year, led the league in wins with 35. He also took CHL Goalie of the Year Honours, posting a record of 35-23-4 with a 2.14 GAA and .918 save percentage. In the playoffs, Hart had a .929 save percentage in six games. Hart was Everett’s workhorse, playing the second most games amongst goalies in the league (63).

“I thought we had a pretty good year down in Everett,” Hart said at the NHL Scouting Combine. “Obviously, it wasn’t what we wanted to get done at the end of the day. Losing out to Seattle in the second round was pretty disappointing but a lot of people didn’t expect us to do as well as we did, and I was really proud of our guys down there and what we got done together as a team actually.”

Hart’s season propelled him to finish as NHL Central Scouting’s second-ranked North American goalie.

“He’s very poised, patient and calm in the net,” said Central Scouting’s Al Jensen. “He doesn’t get rattled, has an excellent butterfly and seals the ice well with his pads. He can keep his body upright to protect the upper corners, has a good glove hand and good rebound control.”

Although Hart is not the biggest goaltender, he makes up for it with his technique.

“All he’s done is perform at a real high level,” said a scout, according to The Hockey News. “The team that takes him will get a good goalie.”

The Oilers, perhaps more than other organizations, have the inside info on Hart, who has worked with Oilers goalie coach Dustin Schwartz.

• Future Considerations: “Hart is a very mature, fluid and athletic goalie who moves seamlessly through his crease. He does not have an overly imposing frame, but his ability to effortlessly slide through the crease makes him tough to beat under any circumstance.”

• ISS Scout: “Plays at the top of his crease with an economy of movement to get square to the shooter… tracks the puck well in traffic… appears slow laterally at times… needs to work on blocker deflections to the outsides.”