EVERETT — Perhaps earlier than expected, overage defenseman and Snohomish County native Wyatte Wylie was reassigned from Philadelphia Flyers camp to the Everett Silvertips on Tuesday.
What does it all mean?
Well, for the Silvertips, they’ll have another deep defensive corp with Wylie leading the way, as the 1999-born blueliner led Silvertips’ defensemen with 47 points (11 goals, 36 assists). Since he was returned early, Wylie will be available for Everett’s home opener on Friday against Tri-City.
For Wylie, a fifth-round pick by the Flyers in 2018, returning back to junior isn’t the optimal scenario, as the Flyers could have signed him to an entry-level contract and placed him on their American Hockey League affiliate (the NHL-CHL agreement bars that from happening until a player’s 20-year-old season, which Wylie is entering in 2019-2020.
Wylie’s professional hopes with Philadelphia are far from dashed. The Flyers control his rights until June 1, 2020, and could ink Wylie to a contract during or after the season.
For now, Wylie will play in the Western Hockey League as an overager for the entirety of the season and still with plenty to prove.
The only Silvertips overager out at professional camp now is Jake Christiansen, who’s vying for a contract with the St. Louis Blues after being invited on an amateur tryout. If he’s returned to Everett, the Silvertips will have four 20-year-olds — Wylie, Christiansen and forwards Bryce Kindopp and Max Patterson, one more than the three allowed by Canadian Hockey League rules. Teams have until Oct. 10 to trim their overagers to three.
Other camp updates
— The Calgary Flames reassigned Dustin Wolf to Everett from their training camp, meaning the Silvertips’ star goaltender will be available in net for Everett’s home opener on Friday. Wolf, the Flames’ seventh-round draft pick, led the Western Hockey League with a 1.69 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage in 2018-2019.
— Defenseman Gianni Fairbrother hasn’t returned to Everett just yet, and Montreal’s intention is to return him to Everett, but even so, Fairbrother won’t be available for the Silvertips’ home opening weekend. The 2000-born defenseman, the Canadiens’ third-round draft pick in the 2019 NHL draft, was injured in rookie camp and is being treated by Montreal’s training staff for the time being.
Injury report
— Import forward Michal Gut will be available for Friday’s home opener after sustaining an upper-body injury on Sept. 7.
— Seattle native and 2001-born forward Brendan Lee (illness) also won’t be available for Friday and Saturday, according to Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson. He’ll be re-evaluated next week.
Depth goaltender dealt
The Silvertips traded 2001-born goaltender Danton Belluk on Monday to Regina in exchange for an eighth-round draft pick in 2021. The condition on the pick turns it into a seventh-rounder if Belluk reaches a certain games played threshold, according to Davidson.
Belluk didn’t report to Everett’s training camp in August, showing no interest in playing behind Everett’s stable of goaltenders — mainly Wolf and Keegan Karki — and the Silvertips traded him to Regina, which needed goaltender depth after trading away 19-year-old Dean McNabb to Winnipeg.
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