I know some are wondering where future first-round pick Auston Matthews is going to play next season. I am, too. Apparently, the next great player is close to making his decision. Matthews is 50-50 (on going major juniors and the NCAA route) and has said that Boston College, Boston University, Denver, Michigan and North Dakota are all a possibility.
Nick Patterson, Herald.net – Everett is coming off a season in which it finished 43-20-3-6, winning the U.S. Division title and advancing to the second round of the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2007. But where the Tips might finish next season is anyone’s guess.
And it may all depend on Matthews.
Matthews is the potential game changer. The big, highly-skilled, 17-year-old center from Phoenix is considered one of the best hockey prospects in the world. He’s currently playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U-18 squad. His 114 points (53 goals, 61 assists) in 58 games through Thursday broke the program’s single-season scoring record of 102 points set by NHL star Patrick Kane in 2005-06. Many project him to be the first-overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft.
His junior rights just happen to be held by Everett, which selected him in the third round of the 2012 bantam draft.
Matthews, who visited Everett last summer, has stated publicly that he’s 50-50 on whether to play for Everett next season or for an NCAA school — he narrowed his college choices to Boston College, Boston University, Denver, Michigan and North Dakota last fall, though he has yet to take any official visits to those schools. He’s expected to make his decision sometime following the U-18 World Championships, which continue through Sunday in Switzerland.
If I was a betting man, I would say that Matthews is headed to the Western Hockey League of the CHL. Where ever Matthews ends up, he’s probably, more than likely going to be a one-year wonder. Matthews is also going to be one of the top, if not the top US player taken in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
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