4 Tri City Americans Hoping for NHL Nod in Upcoming Draft

The NHL Draft is coming this Friday and Saturday, the 27th and 28th of June, and four Tri-City Americans could hear their names called.

  One American projected to go in the 1st round

Defenseman Jackson Smith, who scored 54 points this last  season, is ranked 13th among what are called North American Skaters, is projected to be a 1st round pick.  Smith is slated to play at Penn State this fall, one of the NCAA signees. If he goes in the 1st round, he would join D-Man Juuso Valimaki who was drafted in the 1st round by Calgary in 2017.

Savin Virk, who exploded this season to become a dependable scorer and fan favorites, was originally drafted in the 3rd round of the WHL Draft.  Then all he did was rumble to 46 points, 34 of them in the final 27 games of the season. He had a hat trick, and a four assist game. He's ranked 121st. among North Americans Skaters. He was the Ams Rookie Of the Year award winner.

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Cash Koch, who's often referred to as "Crash" by fans, is perhaps the most intense and "Waterboy" type player on the team, but he's got skills. He's ranked 181st in the NA Skating list, and scored 11 goals among his 18 points, and is perhaps the most physical and fiery player in the US Division. He hits everything but the Zamboni but doesn't find himself out of position.

Gavin Garland is ranked 201st on the NA Skaters list. He scored 42 points, 21 of them goals, and was WHL Rookie of the Week twice. He was co-Rookie Of the Year with Virk.

The Americans have had 68 players drafted, the most recent was Max Curran, who was picked by Colorado in 2024, but is since moving on to Edmonton via trade.