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<\/p>\nMINNEAPOLIS \u2014 One of the first times Adam Nightingale went to watch Ryker Lee, he was \u201ca wee little\u201d 14-year-old, his stick was spray-painted black and he \u201cwas doing all these stickhandling moves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nightingale took to calling him \u201cThe Wizard.\u201d A few years later, the nickname has stuck. He\u2019s also now a first-round pick of the Nashville Predators and a big part of a sterling freshman class for Nightingale\u2019s Michigan State program, joining the Spartans with fellow first-rounders Cayden Lindstrom and Porter Martone and second-rounder Eric Nilson.<\/p>\n
This week, all four of them are in Minneapolis at Ridder Arena playing games in the World Junior Summer Showcase.<\/p>\n
In the tournament\u2019s opening game between USA White and Finland, he picked up two goals and an assist. He opened the scoring on a pretty give-and-go with Bruins first-rounder James Hagens, added a second to make it 4-2 early in the third period and then passed up the hat trick to find fellow Predators prospect Teddy Stiga for the empty-netter.<\/p>\n
In Monday\u2019s second game against Sweden, he had and created several more looks and was moved from the second power play to the first.<\/p>\n
To get here, Lee has undergone what his old Shattuck St. Mary\u2019s coach Tom Ward calls \u201can absolute metamorphosis in his world and his life over the last five years because of his growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four years ago, when Lee arrived at Shattuck for his bantam year, he was 5-foot-3 and Ward said \u201clike 68 pounds.\u201d Bruins prospect Will Zellers, one of his teammates on that Shattuck team, guessed that he was \u201clike 5-foot and maybe\u00a095 pounds\u201d when he first met him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a bone rack,\u201d Ward said. \u201cOh man, he was a little guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he started his U16 season at Shattuck three years ago, he was still just 5-foot-6. He was 5-foot-7 when he committed to Michigan State. In his U18 year at Shattuck under Ward, he registered 45 goals and 99 points in 57 games (second on a loaded team of future NHL picks as a young 2006 playing mostly with 2005s), and another two points in two games with the USHL\u2019s Madison Capitols at season\u2019s end, earning him a spot on Team USA at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he registered one point in five games. That was enough to earn him a \u201cB\u201d rating on NHL Central Scouting\u2019s preliminary players to watch list, which \u201cindicates a 2nd\/3rd round candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the start of his draft year, he\u2019d shot up to 5-foot-11.5. He then won the USHL\u2019s Rookie of the Year Award, scoring 31 goals and 68 points in 58 games with the Capitols, both fourth in the league. He led Madison in goals and points by nine apiece and registered another six points in six playoff games, also tops on the team. At the midseason mark, he was named Player of the Game at the 2025 Chipotle All-American Game, scoring the game-winner in a 3-2 win with 4:54 left.<\/p>\n
At the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, they measured him at 6-foot-0.25 and 185 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in the last 24 to 36 months he has grown like 8-10 inches,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n
Through it \u2014 one growth spurt after another \u2014 he climbed the ranks, rising to No. 40 on NHL Central Scouting\u2019s midterm ranking of North American skaters and then again to No. 28 on their final list.<\/p>\n
The Predators called his name with the 26th pick.<\/p>\n
Despite the newfound height, he\u2019s still got the wizardry he had to learn as a little guy, too.<\/p>\n
Capitols head coach and general manager Andy Brandt says Lee\u2019s stick skills are \u201cat a different level.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStick. Brain. Off the charts,\u201d Michigan State associate head coach Jared DeMichiel said earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can I say? That kid is one of the most skilled offensive players with the puck on his stick,\u201d Zellers said Sunday night. \u201cThe things he does and tries in games, and pulls them off successful, I\u2019ve never seen anything like it. He is one of a kind. And that guy\u2019s got a good goal-scoring touch too. He\u2019s a special player. And he has grown and still kept that hand-eye and that skill in his toolbox. I mean, it\u2019s pretty special. The sky\u2019s the limit for that type of player like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Lee is trying to show that he\u2019s more than just his hands.<\/p>\n
The two most common things scouts have talked about when they\u2019ve talked about Lee over the last couple of years are, first, his hands and second, that his skating needed to improve.<\/p>\n
When he arrived at Shattuck, Ward said he was a little heavy-footed and \u201ckind of a thumper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could feel him coming behind you,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n
Part of that was the constant growing and the reality that things hadn\u2019t fallen into place for him yet.<\/p>\n
In Madison, Brandt set him up with their skating coach, Amy Claggett. Claggett would skate with the team once a week, and Lee another time. They worked on lengthening his stride to match his longer legs, his efficiency with his arm movement and also moving his feet more and the puck quicker \u2014 and trusting that he\u2019d get it back. Lee said he enjoyed picking her brain about things that he could take into practice.<\/p>\n
Once the growth spurts slowed and three inches a year turned to one inch a year, his skating really started to come, and the results showed.<\/p>\n
In the agility testing for the prospects at the Chipotle All-American Game, he ranked near the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was something that he worked on, that he was mindful of, and it\u2019s something that he\u2019s continuing to grow into,\u201d Brandt said of Lee\u2019s skating. \u201cHe has continued to adapt to his growth while continuing to work on his skating. Just in a year, his foot speed improved noticeably.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, he also worked hard with Madison\u2019s strength and conditioning coach Jason Johnson. Together, they didn\u2019t just maintain his weight in season (usually the goal), but actually managed to add five pounds. The coaching staff at MSU noticed it right away (that he was thicker in the shoulders and filling out) when he arrived on campus following Predators development camp earlier this summer.<\/p>\n
The results showed in the testing at the NHL Scouting Combine, too. He finished first in vertical jump (with a standing vertical jump of 25.67 inches), 13th in the no arm vertical jump, 10th in left-hand grip (151 pounds) and tied for 14th in pullups with 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get his skating needs to come, but look out,\u201d DeMichiel said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s done growing either. Unreal kid, too. Great energy to him. He adores the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has also always been \u201ca competitive little guy,\u201d according to Ward, which has helped him mitigate against his size and skating at different points in his career.<\/p>\n
Ward said that Shattuck actually got lucky that he was as small as he was because the players who have his skill and also more physical stature at an early age have \u201ceverybody in the world wanting them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a blessing that he started out as a little guy. And now that he\u2019s moving on out into the big, real hockey world, he has been blessed again, and he has had a growth spurt. Because he\u2019s not afraid of the gym,\u201d Wars said. \u201cHe\u2019s a strong kid, a farmer strong kid. He\u2019s wiry strong. He can hold his own, and he can hang. He\u2019s a good athlete. He\u2019s got good explosiveness. And he\u2019s losing his heavy feet. Now that he\u2019s getting stronger in his legs and his core, he can lift them up, and set them down, and get back, and cut and stop and start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of that development, Ward said Nightingale and his staff are now the lucky ones.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Nightingale) has got a good player. And he\u2019s a wonderful kid. He gets it. Like the tortoise does win the race and he has just had to stick with it,\u201d Ward said. \u201cHe\u2019s just a rink rat, throwback kind of kid. If he could be up at the rink all day long, whether it\u2019s on the ice or just in the dressing room, or training, or laughing, or just shooting the breeze with his buddies, he would be. He\u2019s just a rat, and in the greatest, most affectionate, most competitive way. (He\u2019s) a really good teammate, and he plays his ass off, and he has finally grown. And I\u2019m so happy for him because he is a completely different person.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Predators will be the next lucky ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was telling all of the guys from the (NHL) when they were calling and asking questions about him, if you don\u2019t take him when you have the chance to take him, you\u2019re going to be kicking yourself in four or five years because this kid\u2019s going to be ripping it up,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n
In that way, Ward thinks Lee\u2019s metamorphosis actually helped his development \u201cbecause it\u2019s almost a curse if you\u2019re a young kid and you\u2019re already the fastest skater or the biggest kid and you don\u2019t develop things in your game that are nuanced-based that are in your brain and your soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came into his love of the game as a little guy and learned how to manipulate his way through the trees,\u201d Ward said. \u201cAnd now he\u2019s a good, big average-sized kid, and he can handle his own, and I\u2019m sure he\u2019s loving being on the other side of a few checks here.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ryker Lee earned the nickname \u201cThe Wizard\u201d because of his stickhandling moves. (Steven Ellis \/ Daily Faceoff)<\/p>\n
Ask Brandt and Ward what they\u2019ll remember most about coaching Lee, and they both start with how much fun it was and how hardworking he was.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight from when Ryker stepped onto the ice, we knew his approach every day,\u201d Ward said. \u201cWe do skills every day, and when he gets on the ice and it\u2019s his turn, he takes every rep serious. He can also challenge players in one-on-one situations or small-area games, but he makes it fun. He\u2019s got a contagious attitude that he brings to the rink, and it\u2019s one of work ethic, but also one that he truly enjoys doing what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
But they always come back to his hands.<\/p>\n
For Brandt, it\u2019s the way he does it all with his head up. And he said Lee\u2019s edges while handling don\u2019t get talked about enough, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can cut on a dime and use his body and torque his body in different ways,\u201d Brandt said. \u201cHe can still skate, he can still make a play, all while having the puck on a string. And as a defender, that\u2019s hard because if you make a wrong read, it\u2019s a dangerous thing when he\u2019s got his head up. And then he also loves to shoot it, so as a goaltender, you\u2019re never sure if he\u2019s going to pass or shoot it, and his deceptiveness adds to his stick skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Ward, it\u2019s the absurdity of the way he always finds his way in and out of the tightest cracks in coverage. Even on a team with guys such as Zellers, the reigning USHL Player of the Year, and Aidan Park, a draft pick of the Oilers known for his hands, it was Lee who was \u201cThe Wizard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could put three of us, four of us, in a phone booth and we\u2019d never touch the puck,\u201d Ward said. \u201cHe\u2019s got that ability. And he can wire it, too. Like he can shoot it and he\u2019s not afraid to score. He\u2019s not one of these guys that is just enamored with stickhandling. He\u2019s just as enamored with scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ask Lee where his hands come from, and he says it\u2019s twofold. They were honed with hard work in his basement, but they were also a necessity of his reality as a smaller player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to learn how to be smarter and put myself in good positions,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
With his new size, he\u2019s learning to use his body more as well.<\/p>\n
Between development camp with the Preds and the World Junior Summer Showcase, he has also been in East Lansing working out with Michigan State\u2019s strength and conditioning coach Will Morlock, who he said was one of the main reasons he and others are now choosing the Spartans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working with him ever since I got on campus, and the workouts have been hard, but that\u2019s exactly what I need, and he kind of caters everything to what you need specifically,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
After a strong start at the World Junior Summer Showcase, he\u2019s excited to continue to show USA Hockey the progress he has made this fall \u2014 and that he\u2019s more than just his hands \u2014 with his sights set on making the team in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I have an offensive game and I can bring offense to this team, but I also want to prove that I can outwork opponents and play in all situations for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Ryker Lee: Madison Capitols \/ Rosenau Photography)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 One of the first times Adam Nightingale went to watch Ryker Lee, he was \u201ca wee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4826,385,99],"class_list":["post-46002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nashville-predators","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}