Wasilla product recognized by NHL Central Scouting

Fairbanks Ice Dogs defenseman Dylan Abbott is among 16 players with North American Hockey League ties whom the National Hockey League Central Scouting has recognized as prospects to watch for next year’s draft.

The 58th annual NHL Entry Draft is scheduled for June 26-27 at the Centre Bell in Montreal.

Abbott, a Wasilla native who’s in his second season with the Ice Dogs, is among six NAHL players with a “C” ranking — which means a player is a possibility to get selected in the fourth, fifth or sixth rounds of the draft — from Central Scouting.

“I think it’s everyone’s dream, as a little kid, to play in the National Hockey League,” Abbott said after the Ice Dogs’ practice Oct. 9 at the Big Dipper Ice Arena.

“It’s humbling. I’m really excited and happy for the team, and the team is happy for me.”

If an NHL team announces Abbott’s name at the Centre Bell next summer, he would be the fourth Ice Dogs player since 2016 to be drafted.

“It’s exciting, it’s exciting for Dylan,” Ice Dogs head coach Trevor Stewart said after the Oct. 9 practice. “We had a plan going into this offseason about him returning and getting on the radar of NHL teams, and he’s done that.

“He’s a player with a lot of potential and he’s continuing to get better every day.”

Sixty-nine NHL scouts attended the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota, last month. The Ice Dogs finished 1-3-0-0 in the season-opening, four-day tournament at the Schwan’s Super Rink.

Right wing Todd Burgess was selected in the fourth round and 103rd overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2016. Burgess, a Phoenix native who’s now a junior for the NCAA Division I program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, skated for the Ice Dogs from 2013-16.

Benton Maass, an Ice Dogs defenseman in 2016-17, was picked by the Washington Capitals in the sixth round and 182nd overall in 2017.

The native of Elk River, Minnesota, which also is Stewart’s hometown, is in his junior season for the University of New Hampshire.

Logan Neaton, an Ice Dogs goaltender in 2017-18, went to the Winnipeg Jets in the fifth round and 144th overall in this year’s draft. The native of Brighton, Michigan, is in his freshman season for the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Abbott, with six assists for six points in 10 games, is tied with fellow defenseman Lucas Ericsson as the team’s top-scoring defensemen and for fifth in overall team scoring.

Abbott contributed a goal and 20 assists in 53 games last season. He sustained a fractured wrist during the playoffs last season and had surgery this past summer.

Abbott, who has also committed to play Division I hockey at Minnesota-Mankato, skated with the Warriors high school team as a freshman. Abbott suited up with the Alaska Oilers U16 AAA program based out of Anchorage before joining the Ice Dogs.