Published: Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Contract with Canucks is dream come true for Silvertips' Tochkin
The forward becomes the youngest player in Tips history to ink an entry-level deal with an NHL team.
Although Kellan Tochkin made an impact in his first season with the Everett Silvertips, it was not enough to get him drafted by a National Hockey League team.
On Monday, Tochkin settled for the next best thing.
The NHL’s Vancouver Canucks signed Tochkin to an entry-level contract, making him the youngest player (18 years, five months) in Silvertips history to sign such a contract.
“It’s surreal,” said Tochkin, who is originally from Abbotsford, B.C., just outside Vancouver. “It’s been my goal to play for the Canucks ever since I was able to walk. Now I have to continue working as hard as I can to make sure that my dream is realized.”
Tochkin, a forward, will attend training camp with the Canucks in September, though he’s certain to return to Everett for at least one and probably two more Western Hockey League seasons.
“He can’t leave here to play anywhere else,” Silvertips vice president/general manager Doug Soetaert said. “It’s either the Vancouver Canucks or the Everett Silvertips, and he’s not ready to play in Vancouver this year or next year. In two years he has to prove that he’s ready to play as a 20-year-old.”
Tochkin was Everett’s first-round pick (No. 13 overall) in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft, but did not play for the Silvertips until last season. He had a big rookie year, totaling 20 goals and 54 assists for 74 points in 72 games, which made him the WHL’s rookie scoring leader in 2008-09.
It also made Tochkin the first rookie in club history to lead Everett in scoring.
“He came in (last fall) determined to make our hockey club and he did,” Soetaert said. “He had an outstanding first half of the season. … He’s obviously a very talented, highly skilled individual. He can do things most people can’t do with the puck.”
Tochkin was not as effective in the second half of last season, Soetaert went on, “and now he just has to develop his body and make sure that he’s in the best shape possible to give himself every opportunity to succeed. … (But) he has the talent, he has the ability and he has the skill.”
Soetaert said he hopes Tochkin’s new contract, not to mention his training-camp experience with the Canucks, will boost both his confidence and his play in the coming WHL season.
“But it can go both ways,” Soetaert cautioned. “Either (a player with a contract) thinks he’s too good and he doesn’t put the work in he needs to or he can say, ‘These (NHL) guys are committed to me, and I need to do everything I can to make myself better and to make myself a pro hockey player.’”
On Monday, Tochkin settled for the next best thing.
The NHL’s Vancouver Canucks signed Tochkin to an entry-level contract, making him the youngest player (18 years, five months) in Silvertips history to sign such a contract.
“It’s surreal,” said Tochkin, who is originally from Abbotsford, B.C., just outside Vancouver. “It’s been my goal to play for the Canucks ever since I was able to walk. Now I have to continue working as hard as I can to make sure that my dream is realized.”
Tochkin, a forward, will attend training camp with the Canucks in September, though he’s certain to return to Everett for at least one and probably two more Western Hockey League seasons.
“He can’t leave here to play anywhere else,” Silvertips vice president/general manager Doug Soetaert said. “It’s either the Vancouver Canucks or the Everett Silvertips, and he’s not ready to play in Vancouver this year or next year. In two years he has to prove that he’s ready to play as a 20-year-old.”
Tochkin was Everett’s first-round pick (No. 13 overall) in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft, but did not play for the Silvertips until last season. He had a big rookie year, totaling 20 goals and 54 assists for 74 points in 72 games, which made him the WHL’s rookie scoring leader in 2008-09.
It also made Tochkin the first rookie in club history to lead Everett in scoring.
“He came in (last fall) determined to make our hockey club and he did,” Soetaert said. “He had an outstanding first half of the season. … He’s obviously a very talented, highly skilled individual. He can do things most people can’t do with the puck.”
Tochkin was not as effective in the second half of last season, Soetaert went on, “and now he just has to develop his body and make sure that he’s in the best shape possible to give himself every opportunity to succeed. … (But) he has the talent, he has the ability and he has the skill.”
Soetaert said he hopes Tochkin’s new contract, not to mention his training-camp experience with the Canucks, will boost both his confidence and his play in the coming WHL season.
“But it can go both ways,” Soetaert cautioned. “Either (a player with a contract) thinks he’s too good and he doesn’t put the work in he needs to or he can say, ‘These (NHL) guys are committed to me, and I need to do everything I can to make myself better and to make myself a pro hockey player.’”
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