Drayson Bowman

He was invited to play in the CHL Top Prospects Game and was subsequently listed in the CSB's midterm rankings as 44th among North American skaters.

Bowman finished the season with an improved 24 goals and 43 points in 61 games.

He played in his first WHL playoffs after the Chiefs ranked fourth in the U.S. Division.

Playing in six post-season games, Bowman recorded a team-leading seven points (two goals and five assists).

The Chiefs were eliminated in the first round by the Everett Silvertips.

Bowman was selected 72nd overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Drayson Jack Bowman (born March 8, 1989) is an American former professional ice hockey center.

He previously played for the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Bowman was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was raised in Littleton, Colorado, after his family moved in the early 1990s.

His father, Mark Bowman, owns a financial consulting company in Colorado.

His younger brother, Collin, is also a hockey player and went on to also compete in the Western Hockey League with the Kelowna Rockets, Moose Jaw Warriors and Calgary Hitmen.

As a youth, Bowman played in the 2001 and 2002 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Colorado Junior Avalanche minor ice hockey team from Littleton.

Bowman attended Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton.

As a Colorado Avalanche fan, he has listed Joe Sakic as a player he looked up to.

In 2003, he and his family moved once more to Vancouver, British Columbia to better his opportunities in hockey.

He attended Vancouver Christian School while playing at the bantam level for the North Vancouver Winter Hawks.

Bowman was selected eighth overall by the Spokane Chiefs in the 2004 WHL Bantam Draft.

He debuted in four games with the Chiefs in 2004–05, a season he spent primarily at the Junior B level with the Kimberley Dynamiters of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL).

He recorded 29 goals and 59 points over 47 games with the Dynamiters to be named the Eddie Mountain Division's rookie of the year.

Bowman joined the Chiefs full-time in 2005–06 and notched 17 goals and 34 points over 72 games (17th in WHL rookie scoring) to be named the team's rookie of the year.

On a team basis, the Chiefs finished last in the Western Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Bowman entered the 2006–07 season listed as the ninth-best WHL prospect in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau (CSB)'s preliminary rankings of draft-eligible players.

Bowman was selected 72nd overall by the Hurricanes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Bowman spent four years at the major junior level with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Entering the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in the off-season, he moved up to 36th among North American skaters in the NHL CSB's final rankings.

Following his draft, Bowman participated in his first NHL training camp in September 2007 before being returned to Spokane to continue playing at the junior level.

Playing in his third full WHL season, Bowman recorded a team-leading 82 points in 66 games.

His 42 goals tied for fourth in the league.

Bowman added a team-leading 20 points in 21 playoff games as the Chiefs captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions.

He won a Memorial Cup with the Chiefs in 2008 and was named a WHL West Second Team All-Star in 2009.

The league title earned the Chiefs a berth in the 2008 Memorial Cup in Kitchener, Ontario.

Bowman notched a hat trick in the opening game of the tournament, including the game-tying goal late in the third period of a 5–4 overtime win over the Belleville Bulls.

He went on to score in all four games of the tournament, including game-winners against the Kitchener Rangers in the round-robin and final.

The Chiefs went undefeated in the tournament to capture the Memorial Cup as Canadian major junior champions, beating the Kitchener Rangers 4–1 in the final.

With a team-high eight points (third in tournament scoring behind Justin Azevedo and Matt Halischuk of the Rangers), including a tournament-leading six goals, in four games, Bowman was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team.

Following his Memorial Cup performance, the Hurricanes signed him to a three-year, US$2.06 million contract on July 31, 2008.

Playing in his final season with the Chiefs in 2008–09, Drayson was named an alternate captain to Justin McCrae along with Seth Compton and Jared Spurgeon.

He turned professional in 2009–10 and has spent the majority of his tenure with the Hurricanes in the team's farm system with the Albany River Rats and Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Internationally, Bowman has competed for the United States at the 2009 IIHF World U20 Championships.

He was named WHL and CHL Player of the Week after recording 12 points in 3 games for the week ending on February 1, 2009.