Where will Auston Matthews play hockey next season?
A decision has yet to come from the highly touted prospect from Scottsdale, Arizona, who could be the top pick overall in the 2016 NHL Draft.
From the report on NHL.com, which cites agent Pat Brisson:
Brisson said playing for ZSC in Switzerland’s top professional league or for the Everett Silvertips in the Western Hockey League are the two destinations. Brisson said Matthews has ruled out going the NCAA route.
“It’s been discussed and we have been exploring Europe and have narrowed it down to Switzerland and the WHL,” Brisson said. “It’s looking at the moment that the scale is leaning towards Europe.” ZSC is coached by former NHL coach Marc Crawford.
For a while now, there has been plenty of curiosity about where Matthews would play in his draft season, which follows a 116-point campaign with U.S. National U-18 team.
Last month, Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson had expected a decision from the Matthews camp within a week. That was almost three weeks ago.
A few days after that report, the aforementioned Crawford weighed in, calling the Swiss National League a “perfect training ground” for a young player.