Reid Duke

History

2010-11: Reid Duke played in six games for the CRAA Gold minor midget AAA team as a 15-year-old and had 64 points in 30 games for the Calgary Royals bantam AAA team. He scored 5 goals with 4 assists and 4 penalty minutes playing with CRAA Gold. Duke played for the Calgary South Flames in the Alberta Cup and scored 2 goals with 3 assists and 2 penalty minutes. Duke was the fifth player taken in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft; selected in the first round by Lethbridge.

2011-12: Duke played in 12 WHL games in five stints with Lethbridge during the season — making his debut with the Hurricanes as a 15-year-old in October — before joining the Hurricanes for good in March. He was a point-per-game scorer for the midget AAA Calgary Royals. Duke scored 2 goals with 4 assists and was +1 with eight penalty minutes skating for Lethbridge, which finished last in the Central Division. Duke scored 13 goals with 16 assists and 24 penalty minutes in 26 games for the Royals. Duke played for first-place Team Alberta in the 2011 Western Canada Challenge Cup U16 tournament, scoring 2 goals with 1 assist, and skated for Canada in the 2012 Youth Winter Olympics Game. He scored 3 goals with 2 assists and was -2 with 4 penalty minutes in six games for the Canada U16 team.

2012-13: Duke skated in 57 games for the Hurricanes in his first WHL season — missing time in December with an upper body injury — and played for Canada Pacific in the 2013 U17 World Hockey Challenge. He scored 8 goals with 16 assists and was +8 with 30 penalty minutes. The Hurricanes missed the playoffs; finishing last in the powerful Central Division. He scored 2 goals with 3 assists in five games at the WHC for silver medal-winning Canada Pacific.

2013-14: Duke was the third-leading scorer for a Lethbridge team that had the WHL’s worst record. He scored 15 goals with 25 assists and was -47 with 91 assists in 62 games; missing time mid-season due to an upper body injury. Lethbridge won just 12 games . Duke slipped from 65th amongst North American skaters in Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings to 137th in the final rankings and was selected by Minnesota in the sixth round (169th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.

2014-15: Duke attended training camp with the Wild before returning to Lethbridge for his third WHL season. Having requested a trade from the Hurricanes in the off-season, he played in one game with Lethbridge before being sent to Brandon as part of a multi-player trade. In 53 regular season games he scored 20 goals with 31 assists and was +19 with 66 penalty minutes. The Wheat Kings finished first in the East Division, advancing to the WHL Finals against Western Conference champion and Memorial Cup runner-up Kelowna. Duke, who struggled with injuries late in the year, played in six playoff games and was -3 with 1 assist and 4 penalty minutes.

2015-16: Duke skated in a career-high 68 regular season games for Brandon in his fourth WHL season. He scored 33 goals with 29 assists and was +18 with 53 penalty minutes for a dominant Wheat Kings team that had seven players with 55 or more points. Brandon finished first in the East Division, capturing the Eastern Conference championship and defeating Western Conference champ Seattle to reach the Memorial Cup. Duke scored 8 goals with 16 assists and was +10 with 24 penalty minutes in 21 playoff games. Duke scored 1 goal and was -4 with 6 penalty minutes in three Memorial Cup games.  

Talent Analysis

Duke is an average-sized player who is sound in all areas of the game. He has shown flashes of offensive upside and has produced consistently on a strong WHL squad.

Future

Duke had his best season to date in 2015-16 as Brandon dominated in the WHL, advancing to the Memorial Cup. He was not signed to an entry-level contract by Minnesota and will re-enter the 2016 NHL Draft. Duke has some offensive talent and his production in his fourth junior season is encouraging but whether his overall skill set will allow him to score at the same pace at the pro level is uncertain.