EVERETT: The Everett Silvertips announced the signings of Finnish right wing Eetu Tuulola and Slovakian right wing Mario Mucka Tuesday to WHL standard player agreements. Both were selected by the Tips in June’s CHL import draft.
“As we entered the import draft with a vision to address needs on our club, Eetu and Mario bring a reputation of skill and potential,” Everett general manager Garry Davidson said in a press release. “Both have demonstrated a high level of enthusiasm to join our program and elevate their game, and we’re very confident of that trait serving as a foundation for their possible success.”
Tuulola, a 6-foot-3, 225-pounder was Everett’s first-round selection and 40th overall. The 1998-born forward was also selected by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round of this year’s NHL draft at No. 156 overall. He was the 19th-ranked European skater according to NHL Central Scouting. Mucka, 6-foot-2, was taken No. 100 overall as Everett’s second-round selection. He scored 20 goals to go along with 24 assists in 30 games last season with the Nitra U18 team. With a November birthday he is eligible for the 2017 NHL draft.
Tuulola, a native of Hammeenlinna, Finland, scored nine goals with five assists while playing for the HPK U20 team in the Junior A SM-liiga. He also recorded one assist in 10 games with HPK in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. Tuulola also scored two goals with two assists in seven games while competing for Finland at the IIHF U18 World Juniors in Fargo, N.D. Tuulola’s father, Marko, was a long-time professional defenseman in Finland and Sweden, and his brother, Joni, was a sixth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 NHL draft. Joni Tuulola currently plays for HPK in Liiga.
In order to make two selections Everett released last year’s imports, Russian Yan Khomenko and Austrian Dario Winkler, following the end of the season in April. With the addition of Tuuola, the Tips are expected to have three NHL-drafted players on the roster in 2016-17 along with Hart, who was picked by the Flyers in the second round on Saturday, and defenseman Noah Juulsen, who went to Montreal in the first round in 2015.