Silvertips’ youngsters gain confidence in second season

Published 7:25 pm Saturday, August 27, 2016

EVERETT — Saturday evening’s Volunteer Cup Gold Game at Xfinity Arena was a showcase for several Everett Silvertips prospects who hope to make an impact this season as Team Red knocked off Team Blue 6-3 in the finale.

Everett native Wyatte Wylie and North Vancouver’s Gianni Fairbrother each saw plenty of ice time on the blueline for victorious Team Red.

Wylie, the first Snohomish County native to be drafted and signed by the Tips, is a 1999-born defenseman angling to make the team after signing and debuting in one of Everett’s playoff games last season.

“It makes me more comfortable,” said Wylie, who is in his third camp with the Tips since he was taken in the seventh round of the 2014 bantam draft. “I feel a lot closer to the boys and it makes it a lot easier when you know you’re not the new kid or anything like that.”

Wylie played two seasons with Everett Youth Hockey’s Junior Silvertips before spending last season with the Dallas Stars U-16 team. He scored four goals and had seven assists in 32 regular-season games and added three assists in four playoff games.

Fairbrother was Everett’s fourth-rounder in 2015 and scored five goals with 13 assists in 35 regular-season games with Burnaby (B.C.) Winter Club Elite. The Tips called him up to bolster defensive depth in the postseason and he appeared in three playoff games as a 15-year-old.

“(That time with the team) helped me a lot,” Fairbrother said. “I got to know everyone, know the way the coaches play and gave me a lot more confidence coming into camp.”

Team Red also benefited from having veteran and 2014 Montreal first-round pick Noah Juulsen among its corps of defensemen, and returning forwards Patrick Bajkov and Graham Millar up front.

“Playing with (Juulsen) back there on the ice gives everyone a little more confidence,” Fairbrother said. “He can do whatever he wants out there basically.”

On the opposite side with Team Blue was 2015 second-round pick Brett Kemp, who signed with the organization in February and appeared in one game with the Tips last season. Kemp, a native of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, is coming off a season in which he scored 20 goals and had 31 assists in 42 regular-season games with the Yorkton Maulers. He also added a pair of goals and assists in four playoff games.

“I knew what to expect coming in,” Kemp said of his second Tips training camp. “I knew that if I want to make this team I have to compete hard and from last year the experience helped me out a lot.”

Montana Onyebuchi, another 2000-born defenseman, was among Kemp’s Blue teammates. Onyebuchi inked with the Tips after last year’s training camp and went on to put up nine goals and 18 assists in 40 regular-season games with the Eastman Selects, and another goal and three assists in a dozen playoff games.

“Team Blue almost came out with the win there, but not quite,” Kemp said. “Personally I think I played my game and tried my best.”

In the Bronze Game earlier Saturday afternoon, Ethan Browne scored the game-winner in overtime as Team Grey knocked off Team Green 4-3. Browne was Everett’s first-round pick in this year’s bantam draft, so he’s not eligible to play full-time this season, but Tips fans can expect him to be a fixture for years to come.

Notes: Eetu Tuulola, Everett’s first-round pick in the CHL import draft, arrived in Everett from Finland Saturday, though he did not skate… Tuulola, the son of longtime Finnish pro Mark Tuulola, was a sixth-round pick of the Calgary Flames in this year’s NHL draft… Camp concludes Sunday with the Rookie Game at 8 a.m. followed by the Green vs. Grey Game at 3 p.m.

For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.