NHL Draft: Tyson Jost Will Go NCAA Route
The 2015 NHL draft came to a close two weeks ago, so it only makes sense to skip to the 2016 draft. One of the biggest players of note is Austen Matthews, who likely will be playing pro overseas before he is able to be selected.
The next best prospect in the 2015 class, Tyson Jost, will take a different path.
Yahoo! Sports’ Kelly Friesen reported via Twitter today that Jost is planning to play college hockey and he’s narrowed it down to two teams; North Dakota or Denver.
Interestingly enough, Matthews and Jost both were drafted by the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League, and that team owns their Canadian Hockey League rights.
Jost never did end up playing with the Silvertips, though he did attend one of their training camps, so the door to playing NCAA remained open for him. Over the past two seasons, Jost has played with the midget team the Penticton Vees in British Columbia.
The Kelowna, BC native had been a seventh overall pick to the SilverTips, who have had bad luck in retaining their top talent with Jost and Matthews.
His first full season with the Vees was 2014-2015, where he scored 45 points in 46 games. 23 of those points were goals. He also added 14 points in 21 playoff games with the Vees.
NHL Central Scouting have released their list of top 100 prospects for the draft, unranked, but once they are ranked, Jost should be second or third.
The forward made a name for himself in 2013-2014 with the Okanagan Rockets, when he scored 88 points in 36 games. He had an even 44 goals and 44 assists.
One way or another, Jost should be either the second or third overall selection next season, whichever college he chooses. It becomes a game changer for mostly the Silvertips, but he’s not the first team to snub a WHL clb (especially Everett). He should announce his decision of which college he chooses soon, but it doesn’t change his draft rankings.