It’s June 23, 2018 and Liam Kirk is a young man looking to create his own piece of hockey history.

A UK born and trained hockey player, Kirk bids to become the first ever Englishman selected by an NHL team through the Entry Draft.

The odds of him being selected are pretty good if you take the below rankings at face value:

Ranked #113 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
Ranked #136 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Ranked #179 by ISS HOCKEY
Ranked #177 by MCKEEN’S HOCKEY
Ranked #65 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (EU Skaters)

Kirk is looking to follow in the footsteps of two Scottish players before him.

British hockey legend Tony Hand was selected 252nd overall, in 1986 by the Edmonton Oilers and did make it through a two-week camp alongside the likes of Wayne Gretzky. He would ultimately end his NHL dreams after becoming homesick.

Most recently Colin Shields was a selection by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2000, chosen 195th overall. The current Belfast Giants and GB forward did play for a while in North America but without threatening to make the higher tiers.

Born in South Yorkshire, Kirk only picked up the sport after being taken to a Sheffield Steelers game by his parents. Since then hockey has been his life and made his professional debut as a 16 year old in the 2016-17 season for the aforementioned Steelers.

He played for Great Britain at the 2016 IIHF World Under-18 Championship Division 2, Group A at 16, played in the 2017 World Junior Championship Division 1 Group B tournament at 17, and this season led Great Britain to a gold medal at the 2018 World U18s Division 2, Group A, and a bronze medal at the World Junior Championship Division 2, Group A with a tournament-best 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) at age 18.

His rise through the ranks culminated as a part of Great Britain men’s national team at the 2018 IIHF World Championship Division 1, Group A tournament this past April.
GB won Gold and promotion to the elite level of the World Championship, which will provide Kirk with yet another opportunity to showcase himself.

Predominately a left winger, Kirk may have only accumulated sixteen points (Nine goals/Seven assists) in 52 Elite League games for Sheffield this season but that far from tells the whole story.
A bottom six role, no power play time and little in the way of regular shifts until the latter part of the season, Kirk was also playing against opponents upto twice his age.
It should also be noted that his total is the most points by an under-18 player in EIHL history.

Eligible for the CHL import draft (June 28), Kirk will be hoping to become just the fourth ever UK player in history to be selected and match himself up against his age-group peers. It’s certain to be the biggest test of his career to date should a junior team choose to take a perceived gamble on the UK native.

Listed at 6’2” and 161 pounds (depending on which website you believe) Kirk does need to build up a little (as do many junior players) but he does possess the require skating ability which is vitally important with hockey transitioning away from physicality and toward speed in recent times.

The first player from the UK to attend the NHL combine, the 18 year old impressed physically in the strength events and interviewed well with ten teams which were reported as being Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Redwings, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals.
It should be noted that the last of those mentioned gave an NHL debut to the first ever Australian player, Nathan Walker.

A left-handed shot, Kirk can also play centre which may give teams an extra incentive to take a gamble on him.

If not chosen through rounds 2-7, this isn’t the end of the road for a young man whose journey up until this point has been driven by desire and hard work. There’s the potential of a season in the CHL and the World Championships next year in which to showcase himself.