Sillinger among 3 Sask. prospects picked in 1st round of NHL draft
Three prospects from Saskatchewan were selected in the first round of the National Hockey League (NHL) Draft on Friday night.
Regina’s Cole Sillinger was taken with the 12th pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Sillinger scored 22 goals and racked up 31 assists for a total of 53 points in 48 games with the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2019-2020 season.
Sillinger opted to play south of the border during the 2020-2021 season with a total of 46 points over the course of 31 games as a member of the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede. His play earned him the league's Rookie of the Year award.
With the Phoenix Coyotes forfeiting their first round pick, Sillinger was the 11th player to come off the board – the same spot his father, Mike Sillinger, was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1989.
Corson Ceulemans, another Regina prospect, was selected by the Blue Jackets with the 25th pick.
The 18-year-old defenceman registered 11 points in eight games with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits during the 2020-21 regular season. He was named to Team Canada’s U18 team and won a gold medal at the U18 Hockey Championship in Texas.
Ceulemans is committed to play hockey for the University of Wisconsin.
With the final pick of the first round, the Chicago Blackhawks took Davidson’s Nolan Allen.
Allen, an 18-year-old defenceman, spent the past three seasons holding down the blue line for the Prince Albert Raiders. Through 81 WHL games, Allen registered three goals and eight assists.
The NHL draft continues on Saturday.
With files from CTV News Regina’s Cole Davenport
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.