The Western Hockey League's leading scorer among rookie defenceman hails from Sanford. Carter Sotheran has found the back of the net three times and dished out 13 assists through 30 games in his first season with the Portland Winterhawks.

Sotheran played for the U18 AAA Pembina Valley Hawks last season, who missed the playoffs. Now playing on the second-best team in the WHL, he says it's been an enormous shift but one that the defenceman has enjoyed.

"It's been a fun first half (of the season). At the get-go, we could see that we had a super strong team going into the year," Sotheran explains "We've come together as a new team with new players and some players leaving. I thought we adjusted to that really well, and everyone's getting along here. It's been fun."

Portland has a record of 23-4-3 through the 2022 portion of this season and ended the year on a five-game win streak. Sotheran had some big games on the stat sheet early in the season but also scored two of his three goals in the last three games.

"I've been feeling more comfortable on the ice but all the credit goes to my teammates for putting me in a good position to get some tap-in goals."

Sotheran believes his seamless transition to the WHL can be attributed to his hard work in practice but he says the biggest thing he's learned so far at this level is how to work even harder.

"Practice is a big thing, and video is a big thing to not only look at as a team but go over your own video, on your own time, and watch what you could've done better," Sotheran continues. "It's not only about what you can do to better your play but also to better the team's outcome."

The 17-year-old is ranked as a 'C' rated prospect by NHL Central Scouting for the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. The 'C' grade is equivalent to a fourth to six-round evaluation. Sotheran says if someone told him that he'd be on this list at this point last year, he would've been in shock.

"I probably would've laughed, and I don't know what I would've said. Obviously, it's a huge honour, and I want to keep that up. Hopefully, when that time comes, I can stay there or move up in the rankings."

While the Sanford product is excited about the potential of being drafted, he notes that's not something he's focused on right now.

"I don't really think about the draft too much. I know there's a few guys on our team that might get drafted this year. So, we chat about it sometimes but when it comes to the games, it's all about that single game rather than thinking about our future and the end of the year."

The Winterhawks will have 38 more games to play after the holidays, the first of which coming on Wednesday, December 28, against the Tri-City Americans.

"I think just to continue winning is what I want to do. Some teams (I've been on) in the past haven't been winning teams but this is, and I think that's super fun, no matter what I'm producing or how I'm playing. As long as the team is winning, and I'm helping with that, I'd be happy."