The selection of Colton Parayko to the National Hockey League All-Rookie team was the latest accolade for the St. Albert product.
The St. Louis Blues defenceman joins Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers on the blueline and forwards’ Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Artemi Panarin of the Chicago Blackhawks, Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabres and netminder John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks on the All-Rookie team.
Voting was conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season.
Parayko, 23, ranked second among rookie defencemen in goals (nine), assists (24) and points (33) in 79 games.
The former midget 15 Flyer and midget AA Crusader also led all rookie skaters with a plus-28 rating, fifth-best in the entire league and a franchise rookie record.
The six-foot-six standout with the booming shot was the first Blues’ rookie defenceman with a multi-goal performance since 2000/01, when he scored his first two NHL goals Oct. 31 in Calgary against Flames’ netminder Jonas Hiller.
The third-round (86th overall) pick by the Blues in the 2012 NHL entry draft also contributed two goals and five assists in 20 games during the team’s playoff round that ended two wins shy of a trip to the Stanley Cup final.
The Paul Kane High School alumnus also finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting for the NHL’s rookie of the year as the second-highest vote getter among defencemen. The winner was Panarin, ahead of Gostisbehere and McDavid as the three finalists for the award.
After the playoffs, Parayko was among the last seven players named to the U23 Team North America lineup for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Gostisbehere, Aaron Eckblad, Seth Jones, Ryan Murray, Morgan Reilly and Jacob Trouba are the other defencemen on the roster of Canadian-born and American-born players for the only team in the tournament with an age limit.
Parayko played his junior hockey with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League before spending three seasons with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. The former captain of the Nanooks signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Blues after his junior campaign in March of 2015, with a cap bit of $858,750 per season.
