Greetings from the press box at Qwest Field, where I’m awaiting the beginning of Seattle Sounders FC’s game against the Colorado Rapids. With a moment to spare, I figured it was a good time to mention the next important moment in Everett’s offseason, the CHL import draft.

The import draft, in which the teams from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL find players to fill their two European roster slots, takes place Tuesday. The Tips, thanks to their trade with Regina at last year’s import draft, have two fairly high picks in the first round. Everett selects 17th overall with the pick acquired from Regina, then 20th overall with its own pick. Both of those are in the top third of the first round.

Everett has both of its European roster slots vacant, so the Tips will be using both picks. The import draft is a notorious crapshoot, with the picks often made not based on ability, but based on which player agents a team can come to an agreement with. Even then, with options available in Europe, there’s no guarantee that the player will report. Even when a player reports there’s no telling how successfully they’ll settle into the North American setting. So trying to predict who Everett might pick and what they may contribute is futile.

However, Everett has a pretty good history in the import draft. Every pick the Tips have made has played for the team the following season, and those players include standouts like Ivan Baranka and Ondrej Fiala. If Everett gets this right, the Tips will land two players who can be major contributors immediately.

For those who want to follow the draft’s progress, the CHL Web site will have real-time updates of the selections Tuesday.

—- UPDATE, halftime

Forgot to add something else I heard last night. It sounds like Tips left wing Tyler Maxwell may also have scored an NHL camp invitation. It’s possible both he and right wing Kellan Tochkin will be trying out with their hometown teams, as Maxwell’s invite is reportedly from the Los Angeles Kings, and Tochkin is reportedly leaning toward the Vancouver Canucks.