Trade to Hitmen helped put Stott on scouts’ draft radar
At this time of the year, the NHL draft would be flipped on at the Stotts’ family cabin in Lake of the Woods, Ont.
Although their plans this weekend are unconfirmed, there’s a good chance Riley Stotts and his family will be paying close attention to this year’s edition.
Because of his dramatically rising stock last season in the Western Hockey League, the 18-yearold Calgary Hitmen centre could be hearing his name.
Ranked No. 51 among North American prospects on the NHL Central Scouting final rankings, Stotts is the highest-ranked Hitmen player in the class of 2018.
“We’d normally be watching the TV on that day at our cabin, watching all the players and my friends get drafted,” Stotts said. “Now thinking that I could get drafted and that I have the chance, it’s pretty cool.”
With the Hitmen missing the playoffs and finishing 20th in the 22-team loop, it gave NHL scouts a pile of time to evaluate what Stotts could turn into at the NHL level.
In an early season trade with the Swift Current Broncos, the 5-foot11, 168-pounder arrived on the scene having been buried on the Broncos roster. Coming to the Hitmen meant a pile of ice time and Stotts took the opportunity and ran with it.
“At the start of the year, he wasn’t even on the radar,” said Hitmen general manager Jeff Chynoweth. “He gets traded in November, has a good year. There was lots of interest, lots of notice and he goes to the combine and he does well on all counts.
“He was a hot commodity with a lot of NHL teams.”
So much so Stotts consistently talked to NHL scouts post-game, when he became adept at offering his “elevator pitch” to explain his character, hockey skills and history. He was one of 11 WHLers to attend the combine in late May.
“At times, it’s been nerve-racking this year, some parts of it,” said Stotts, who scored 17 goals and added 24 assists in 47 games last season. “I’m trying to make the most of every single opportunity I have, talking to people and trying to make the best impression I can. I’m just trying to take it day by day and do the best I can each day.”
Also ranked on the NHL’s Central Scouting list are Hitmen defencemen Egor Zamula, a 6-foot2, 165-pounder who was slotted at No. 64, and Vladislav Yeryomenko, a 5-foot-11, 185-pounder who was slotted at No. 73. Centreman Carson Focht was ranked No. 155.
Tristen Nielsen, who broke his wrist last season, fell off the list, but the undersized centre could still earn an invitation to an NHL camp.
“You’re worried about it,” said the 18-year-old from Fort St. John, B.C. “You’re sitting in the crowd and you just want to be on the ice. You see your friends talking to teams and hear about other people talking to teams and you just want to be doing the same thing … but going to a camp would be a good opportunity. At the end of the day, if you’re good enough to play, you’re going to play.”
That’s the idea.
“That’s the ultimate goal — to get to the National Hockey League,” Chynoweth said. “Our kids are no different.”