2023-24 Season Preview – Everett Silvertips
The Everett Silvertips shook up their roster in a big way in 2022-23 and in doing so, helped lay the foundation for a new era in the Club’s history. Everett begins its 21st season in the WHL with returning NHL talent as well as a cast of new faces hoping to catch the eye of scouts this winter. Our Season Preview series continues with a look at Snohomish County’s home team.
Key Returners
The Silvertips will rely on a pair of 19-year-old NHL prospects up front this season; Austin Roest and Ben Hemmerling finished second and third, respectively, in team scoring a season ago and combined for 53 goals and 140 points. For his efforts, Roest was selected by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Draft, while Hemmerling was a sixth-round pick by the Vegas Golden Knights a season ago. Defenceman Kaden Hammell was a key piece in the blockbuster trade with the Kamloops Blazers last January and earned a selection by the Seattle Kraken in the NHL Draft this past June. He helps anchor a blue line that includes returnees Dexter Whittle and Ty Gibson as well as fellow Kraken camp attendee Eric Jamieson.
Who’s In And Out
The Silvertips said farewell to all-time leading goal-scorer Jackson Berezowski at the end of last season; the product of Yorkton, Sask. graduated from the WHL holding Everett’s single-season (48) and career (130) goals mark and will begin his pro career this fall with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. General manager and head coach Dennis Williams was busy on the trade front this off-season, though, acquiring veteran forward Teague Patton from Victoria, while 18-year-old Caden Brown arrives in Silvertip Country thanks to a mid-summer move from the Prince George Cougars. Ethan Chadwick was part of a Saskatoon Blades goaltending tandem that overcame a pair of series deficits to reach the Eastern Conference Championship last spring; he and 20-year-old Tyler Palmer are the elder statesmen in Everett’s group of netminders.
NHL Draft Prospects
Forward Jesse Heslop turned heads in 2022-23, finishing fourth in Silvertips scoring with 41 points after scoring a goal on his Everett debut as a 15-year-old in 2021-22. Heslop is part of an impressive group of 2006-born players on the Silvertips roster that includes defenceman Tarin Smith and Cameron Sytsma. Smith enters the new season after being sidelined for the bulk of 2022-23, while Sytsma earned a roster spot as a 16-year-old last winter and went on to skate in 55 games.
SILVERTIPS BY THE NUMBERS (2022-23):
Team Record: 33-32-2-1 (69 points)
Division Ranking: 4th, U.S.
2023 WHL Playoffs: lost First Round (Portland)
Goals For: 221 (13th)
Goals Against: 245 (T-16th)
PP (Overall): 21.2% (T-11th)
PK (Overall): 78.3% (12th)
Leading Scorers: Berezowski (48-33-81), Roest (32-46-78), Hemmerling (21-41-61)
Leading Rookie: Heslop (12-29-41)
NHL Draft: Hammell (SEA – 2023), Hemmerling (VGK – 2022), Roest (NSH – 2023)
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