University of Maine defenseman Simon Danis-Pepin, the youngest player in Hockey East last season at 17, should be chosen in the first three rounds during the annual NHL draft this weekend in Vancouver.

The Central Scouting Service has him rated 61st among North American skaters.

He is the top-rated player with Hockey East experience.

The 6-foot-7, 208-pound Danis-Pepin had five assists in 23 games and was named the Bears’ Most Improved Player.

“I’m pretty excited about the draft. This is the beginning of a dream come true,” said Danis-Pepin.

“The higher I go, the happier I’ll be. But I’ll never be disappointed. All I want to do is get drafted and be part of some team,” added Danis-Pepin, whose rights will be retained by his NHL team throughout his college career.

“I’m really looking forward to finishing my four years at Maine, if possible,” said Danis-Pepin, who was interviewed by NHL teams and underwent a series of physical tests at a combine for potential draftees in Toronto last month.

“The scouts were impressed with what I did. I trained all year for this,” said Danis-Pepin, who has been working out regularly with a personal trainer. He has focused primarily on improving his agility and quickness and he has also worked on his upper-body strength.

“There has been a big improvement,” said Danis-Pepin, who considered his season at Maine the “best year of my life.

“Next season, I want to become an impact player. We should have another great team and I want to play more of a part in it,” said Danis-Pepin.

Maine coach Tim Whitehead said Danis-Pepin has a terrific work ethic, great reach and very good offensive instincts.

“He was on the second power-play unit for a heck of a team and was the youngest player in the league. That says something about him,” said Whitehead, whose Bears reached the Frozen Four.

“And he has great hockey sense. He’s a very intelligent player,” added Maine assistant coach Grant Standbrook.

UM lands Manitoba league MVP

Tyler Czuba, the Most Valuable Player and leading goal scorer in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League this past season, has verbally committed to attend the UMaine in the fall.

The 5-11, 195-pound Czuba scored 60 goals and had 41 assists in 61 games for the Swan Valley Stampeders. He had 189 penalty minutes.

He also led the league in power-play goals with 26 and shorthanded goals with nine.

“He has a lot of promise,” said Swan Valley coach Del Pedrick. “He has an outstanding release on his shot. He gets it away on a dime. And he’s not afraid to shoot.”

He added that Czuba doesn’t have blinding speed but he compensates with quick feet and hockey sense. He knows “where the puck is going” and gets into good shooting position.

Leonard Strandberg, the Swan Valley general manager, pointed out Czuba won the shooting accuracy competition at the MJHL all-star game the last two years.

Pedrick said the 21-year-old Czuba “doesn’t mind taking punishment in front of the net” to score goals.

“He’s a joy to coach. He’s a conscientious player who will be a positive influence in the community,” said Pedrick.

Czuba, a native of Kelowna, British Columbia, said he’s excited about coming to Maine.

“I’ve always wanted to come to Maine. This is going to be an awesome opportunity,” said Czuba, a righthand shot who can play both wings. “It seems like an awesome place to get an education and play hockey at the same time.

He added his prime objective this summer will be to get stronger.

Czuba’s coming to Maine is contingent upon his being accepted to the school and meeting the NCAA Clearinghouse criteria.

Maine lost three of its top six scorers off last year’s 28-12-2 team that lost to eventual national champion Wisconsin 5-2 in the Frozen Four semifinals.