Some bits of news on Everett’s final game day of the first half of the season:
– First, Everett defenseman Noah Juulsen has been selected to the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
Juulsen, a 17-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., was one of 12 WHL players invited to the game, which showcases the top 40 CHL players eligible for the 2015 NHL draft. Juulsen, who has three goals and 20 assists in 32 games, was a fourth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He was listed as a B prospect by NHL Central Scouting, which projects him as a second- or third-round pick in the NHL draft. Juulsen will play for Team Cherry, which means he’s charged with slowing down uber-prospect Connor McDavid of the OHL’s Erie Otters.
The game is Jan. 22 in St. Catharine’s, Ontario — smack in the middle of Everett’s four-game road trip through Prince George and Kelowna. If Juulsen plays in all the games on the road trip and the Top Prospects Game, it will be five games in five nights, including a pair of long flights.
– Second, the Hockey News did a profile on Everett bantam draft pick Auston Matthews.
Matthews, a 17-year-old from Phoenix, was a third-round pick by Everett in the 2012 bantam draft. He’s currently playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U-18 team, with whom he’s the big star, and he’s being touted as the current frontrunner to be picked first overall in the 2016 NHL draft (he’s a late birthdate 97).
There’s nothing new in the story with regards to where he will play next season. He has said publicly that he is 50-50 on whether to play for Everett or head to the NCAA. He’s still a junior in high school, so he’d need to accelerate his schooling to be eligible for the NCAA next season.
Matthews has already been to Everett — he visited during the offseason. Tips general manager Garry Davidson said Matthews will start taking visits to colleges following the World Junior Hockey Championships, then make his decision in the spring. So we still have a while before we know whether the Tips will be adding a potential game changer next season.
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