The annual NHL Draft begins Friday in Dallas. While no Everett Silvertips players are projected to be selected in the first round, as many as three could be selected on Saturday as the draft conducts rounds 2-7.
Round 1 begins at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time and will be televised on NBC Sports. Round 2 begins at 8 a.m. Pacific time and will carried on NHL Network. The Buffalo Sabres hold the first pick.
Everett forward Riley Sutter is expected to be taken early on Saturday while defenseman Wyatte Wylie and forward Connor Dewar could also be selected on the draft’s second day.
Sutter has been on the NHL draft radar since prior to the 2017-18 season. He participated in the NHL Top Prospects Game in Guelph, Ontario, in January, and was invited to the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo in late May. Sutter was ranked No. 80 among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.
“It was awesome being able to experience (the combine) with some familiar faces that I got to know throughout the year and at the prospects game, but also just to kind of see where I was at with all the draft-eligible players, some of the best players in North America and the world in my age group,” Sutter said in an interview posted by (Calgary) Flames TV. “It was a great experience being able to meet with some (NHL) teams and go through all the fitness testing.”
#yyc product Riley Sutter chats with #Flames TV about the #NHL Combine and how he's feeling heading into the #NHLDraft! pic.twitter.com/EX9deJD2me
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) June 21, 2018
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Sutter is a two-way center who scored 25 goals with 28 assists in his first draft-eligible season before adding nine goals and 10 assists in the playoffs as the Silvertips advanced to the WHL championship series for the first time since 2004. He was recently named Everett’s alternate captain for the upcoming season.
Wylie skyrocketed up the NHL Central Scouting ranks thanks to a strong end to the regular season and actually surpassed Sutter at No. 71 in the final standings despite not participating in the Top Prospects Game or being invited to the combine. Wylie finished the year with six goals and 25 assists, and added two goals and six assists in the postseason.
If the 6-foot-1, 195-pound blueliner is selected it would be a watershed moment for the Snohomish County hockey community. Wylie is the first Snohomish County born-and-bred player to skate for the Everett Youth Hockey program and then be selected and play for the Silvertips.
Both Sutter and Wylie are 1999-born “late birthdays” meaning they were born after Sept. 15 and therefore were ineligible for last year’s NHL draft.
Dewar is also a 1999-born winger who was passed over in last year’s draft, but has drawn plenty of attention with a breakout 18-year-old season in which he led the Tips with 38 goals and added 30 assists while playing on a line with Sutter.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Dewar added 12 goals and 14 assists in the postseason and is ranked No. 117 among draft-eligible players. Dewar was recently named captain for next year’s Everett team. He is considered one of the top overage players available.
“Last year I didn’t think about it too much because I didn’t expect it to happen,” Dewar said at the Silvertips’ exit meetings. “This year I’m going to look at it the same way, just go home, enjoy my family, enjoy my friends, work out and wait for next season.”
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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