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17 Minnesotans Selected in 2017 NHL Draft

By Minnesota Hockey, 06/24/17, 9:30AM CDT

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The 2017 NHL Draft, which was held on June 23-24 in Chicago, IL, was one of the strongest drafts for players from Minnesota in recent history. Three players were selected in the first round for the first time since 2010, including the highest drafted player since 2006, and a total of 17 Minnesotans were selected over the course of the draft.

The Buffalo Sabres selected Eden Prairie High School forward Casey Mittelstadt with the eighth overall pick. Mittelstadt entered the draft as the highest rated American skater after posted 23 goals and 72 points in 30 games for Eden Prairie and winning the Mr. Hockey Award. Mittelstadt also played for the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) before and after the high school season, scoring 30 points in 24 games.

Later in the first round, Lakeville North High School teammates and childhood friends Ryan Poehling and Jake Oettinger were selected back-to-back with the 25th and 26th overall picks, respectively. The Montreal Canadiens picked Poehling, followed by the Dallas Stars selecting Oettinger, making it two straight years the Stars have selected a Minnesotans in the first round (Riley Tufte, 25th pick in 2016).

Dylan Samberg, who won back-to-back Class A Minnesota Boys State High School Hockey championships in 2016 and 2017 with Hermantown, was the next off the board, going 43rd overall in the second round to the Winnipeg Jets. Edina native Grant Mismash was also taken in the second round by the Nashville Predators.

Another Edina native Clayton Phillips was the lone Minnesotan selected in the third round, as he was chosen by the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Scott Reedy and Michael Anderson were selected with back-to-back picks in the fourth round by San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings, respectively.

Noah Cates of Stillwater was selected with the 13th pick of the fifth round by the Philadelphia Flyers, starting a run on players who participated in the Minnesota State High School League this past season. Six more high school players were selected in the sixth and seventh rounds of the draft bringing the 2017 NHL Draft total to nine high school players from Minnesota. Only three players were selected from U.S. high schools outside Minnesota with one each being taken from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York.

In total, 49 American were selected in 2017 NHL Draft.  The players drafted represent 19 different states, including Alaska (2), California (3), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Massachusetts (4), Michigan (5), Minnesota (17), Missouri (1), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (2), New York (2), North Carolina (1), Ohio (1), Pennsylvania (1), Texas (1), Washington (1) and Wisconsin (2).

NOTES: All 17 of the Minnesotans selected participated in the CCM High Performance programs, which are designed to identify and develop the top players in Minnesota … Nine of the 17 draftees participated in a Minnesota Hockey State Tournament as a Peewee or Bantam. Three of them won state titles … The draft picks represent 11 different Minnesota Hockey youth associations: Eden Prairie (2), Edina (3), Elk River (2), Farmington (1), Hermantown (1), Lakeville (3), Prior Lake (1), Rogers (1), Roseville (1), Saint Paul (1) and Stillwater (1).

Name Round Pick Overall NHL Team Amateur Team Association
Casey Mittelstadt 1 8 8 Buffalo Sabres Eden Prairie H.S. Eden Prairie
Ryan Poehling 1 25 25 Montreal Canadiens St. Cloud State University Lakeville (North)
Jake Oettinger 1 26 26 Dallas Stars Boston University Farmington
Dylan Samberg 2 12 43 Winnipeg Jets Hermantown H.S. Hermantown
Grant Mismash 2 30 61 Nashville Predators USNTDP Edina
Clayton Phillips 3 31 93 Pittsburgh Penguins Fargo Force Edina
Scott Reedy 4 9 102 San Jose Sharks USNTDP Prior Lake
Mikey Anderson 4 10 103 Los Angeles Kings Waterloo Blackhawks Roseville
Noah Cates 5 13 137 Philadelphia Flyers Stillwater H.S. Stillwater
Nick Perbix 6 14 169 Tampa Bay Lightning Elk River H.S. Elk River
Benton Maass 6 27 182 Washington Capitals Elk River H.S. Elk River
Nick Leivermann 7 1 187 Colorado Avalanche Eden Prairie H.S. Eden Prairie
Sam Walker 7 14 200 Tampa Bay Lightning Edina H.S. Edina
Nick Swaney 7 23 209 Minnesota Wild Waterloo Blackhawks Lakeville (South)
Robbie Stucker 7 24 210 Columbus Blue Jackets St. Thomas Academy St. Paul Capitals
Matt Hellickson 7 28 214 New Jersey Devils Sioux City Musketeers Rogers
Joshua Ess 7 29 215 Chicago Blackhawks Lakeville South H.S. Lakeville (South)

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