It was an eventful bantam draft day for the Silvertips. The Tips drafted 13 players and traded two players away. Everett’s picks were:
Second round (40th overall): Brett Kemp, center, 5-9, 140, Yorkton, Saskatchewan
Third round (59th overall): Ian Walker, defenseman, 6-1, 155, Vancouver, B.C.
Third round (62nd overall): Montana Onyebuchi, defenseman, 6-1, 180, Dugald, Manitoba
Fourth round (67th overall): Ryan Savage, center, 5-10, 162, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Fourth round (79th overall): Gianni Fairbrother, defenseman, 5-8, 155, North Vancouver, B.C.
Fifth round (88th overall): Nick Castro, left wing, 5-8, 165, Redondo Beach, Calif.
Fifth round (106th overall): Orrin Centazzo, forward, 5-7, 138, Marwayne, Alberta
Sixth round (117th overall): Dawson Butt, center, 5-10, 170, Buckley, Wash.
Sixth round (120th overall): Ethan Scardina, center, 5-9, 165, Surrey, B.C.
Sixth round (128th overall): Will Brown, defenseman, 5-10, 150, Denver, Colorado
Seventh round (150th overall): Zachary Bennett, goaltender, 5-9, 139, St. Paul, Manitoba
Eighth round (172nd overall): Demetrios Koumontzis, forward, n/a, n/a, Edina, Minn.
Ninth round (194th overall): Curtis Ireland, defenseman, 5-6, 127, Brandon, Manitoba
Here’s some thoughts on the day:
– The big news for Everett actually didn’t involve the players coming in, but rather one going out as Russian forward Ivan Nikolishin was dealt to Red Deer in exchange for a third-round pick in this year’s bantam draft (used on Walker) and a conditional fourth rounder in 2017, depending on whether Nikolishin plays in the league as an overager in 2016-17. Nikolishin spent two seasons with Everett, tallying 34 goals and 87 assists in 144 games. He finished third on the team in scoring this season with 62 points (16 goals, 46 assists) in 72 contests.
On the surface this seems like a bit of an odd move by Everett. The Tips don’t have a lot of skill players currently committed to the team for next season, and Nikolishin would almost surely have been Everett’s top returning scorer as a 19-year-old.
However, Nikolishin had become unsettled in Everett and was questionable about returning next season. The trade to Red Deer gives Nikolishin the chance to play in the Memorial Cup, as Red Deer is hosting. It’s a nice addition for the Rebels, who pick up an impact 19-year-old scorer who’s proven in the league. Everett general manager Garry Davidson said Nikolishin will report to Red Deer.
Meanwhile, Everett now will be able to make two picks in the CHL import draft. The Tips also retain the rights to winger Nikita Scherbak, who as a potential overager for next season is currently exempt from Everett’s protected list.
– Everett made one other deal during the draft, dealing the rights to 98-born forward Andrew Fyten to Calgary in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. The pick is a sixth rounder if Fyten reports, then upgrades to a fifth if Fyten appears in 12 games for the Hitmen. Fyten was originally a fifth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, and Davidson said it was questionable whether Fyten, who’s from the Calgary area, would commit to Everett.
– As far as the draft goes, the Tips made 13 selections, which is a healthy number (just two fewer than last year’s record of 15 picks). By position it breaks down as seven forwards, five defensemen and one goaltender.
– Geographically, Everett’s picks break down as five from the U.S., three from B.C., three from Manitoba, one from Saskatchewan and one from Alberta. The Tips continued to draw substantially from south of the border, but not as much as last year when eight of Everett’s 15 selections were Americans.
– Kemp, Everett’s first pick, was described as an all-around player who plays a 200-foot game and has the ability to put up numbers. He scored a lot of points for a bantam team that had a ton of talent. The Tips had him rated as a first rounder.
– Three of Everett’s first five picks were defensemen. This makes sense, since the strength of Everett’s 99-born prospect pool is in the forwards, though Davidson said it wasn’t part of any plan on the Tips’ part. Walker and Onyebuchi are bigger, physical defensemen, which are qualities Everett is a tad short on in the organization.
– I shouldn’t be surprised that Everett ended up with Savage in the fourth round. Savage played 16U midget hockey last season with the Phoenix Junior Coyotes, a team that included Everett prospects Carson Dimoff and Blake Bergquist. I payed a fair amount of attention to that team because of Dimoff and Bergquist, and I came away thinking that Savage, as a productive 14-year-old on a 16U team, may be the best prospect on the squad. Savage also has hockey bloodlines as his father is former NHLer Brian Savage.
– Savage is part of Everett’s continuing strategy of drafting high-end Americans who aren’t sure bets to play in the WHL. Savage, Castro, Brown (a Minnesota native playing in Colorado) and Koumontzis (an Arizona native playing in Minnesota) all fall into the category of being players who would have been taken substantially higher had they been committed to the league.
– Butt’s selection in the sixth round continues Everett’s trend of mining local talent. Butt isn’t from Snohomish County, but he’s from nearby Buckley (OK, maybe it’s not that nearby). This is the fourth straight year the Tips have picked a player from the Puget Sound region. There were no Snohomish County residents picked in this year’s draft.
– With the bantam draft over, we now can put our full focus into the fate of Auston Matthews, the all-world prospect who is still deciding between playing for Everett next season or heading to the NCAA. Matthews talked to NHL.com following his cameo with the U.S. men’s national team, and he said his decision might be made in the next couple weeks. So stay tuned.
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