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
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