Fairbanks, Alaska – Incoming freshman and defenseman Colton Parayko was selected 86th overall in the third round by the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.
Parayko, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound right defenseman, has manned the blueline for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League for the past two seasons.
The St. Albert, Alberta native was St. Louis' second third-round pick, following left wing MacKenzie MacEachern, a 6-3, 170-pounder who's committed to play for the Michigan State Spartans this fall. Parayko was the fourth player selected by the Blues and was one of four defensemen they selected in Saturday's event. He was also the first Canadian chosen by St. Louis after a string of three straight American-born players.
This past season with Fort McMurray, he had nine goals and 33 assists in 53 regular season games. He added three goals and nine assists in 21 playoff games as the Oil Barons went all the way to the Enerflex Cup finals before losing to the Brooks Bandits.
In addition, Parayko was a 2011-12 member of Team Canada West that won the gold medal at the World Junior A Challenge (WJAC), an annual under-20 international tournament.
With Saturday's selection, Parayko comes to Alaska as the highest entry draft pick in program history and just the fifth draftee overall.
He is the first drafted player with Nanook ties since Second Team All-American goalie Chad Johnson, who was selected 125th in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2006.
Johnson's teammate for two seasons and First Team All-American defenseman Tyler Eckford was drafted by the New Jersey Devils with the 217th overall pick in the 7th round of the 2004 Entry Draft.
Eckford's assistant coach for two seasons and alumnus Wade Klippenstein was the program's first entry draft pick, after being chosen 232nd overall in the 12th round by the Quebec Nordiques in 1990.
Former Nanook defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup Champion Shawn Chambers was selected eighth in the first round of the 1987 Supplemental Draft, which was established by the NHL as an offshoot of the NHL Entry Draft between 1986 and 1994. The Supplemental Draft was used by teams to select collegiate players who were not eligible for the standard Entry Draft and only one round with as few as eight and as many as 28 picks over the nine years of its existence.
