Seattle Kraken snag Tri-City Americans defenseman in 2nd round of NHL draft

Tri-City Americans defenseman Lukas Dragicevic was selected by the Seattle Kraken on Thursday in the NHL Draft.

Dragicevic was picked in the second round, the 25^th choice in that round and 57^th overall.

At 6-foot-1, 190 lbs., the right-handed shooting Dragicevic will give Seattle a tough defender who can score.

This season, he scored 15 goals and 60 assists (75 points) in 68 Western Hockey League regular-season games for the Americans.

For his efforts, Dragicevic was named a first-team WHL all-star.

He also earned a Bronze medal while playing for Canada in the 2022-23 U-18 World Junior Championships.

So far, in his Americans playing career, the Richmond, British Columbia, native has 107 points (21 goals and 86 assists) in 130 games.

The Kraken used a pick it acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the inaugural 2022-23 season to grab Dragicevic.

In 2022-23, the Kraken sent Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell to the Maple Leafs for a draft pick in each of the next three seasons.

Selecting Dragicevic is what Seattle used this year’s Toronto pick for.

▪ Unfortunately, neither Tri-City goalie Tomas Suchanek nor forward Deagan McMillan were selected in the draft.

Both players were highly rated by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau.

Soccer

All three of the 3 Rivers Soccer Club squads experienced some success at the 2023 United States Youth Soccer Far West Regionals this past week in Boise.

The girls U-19 team, composed of many players who went to the national semifinals last year in Orlando, went 3-1-1 in Boise.

The team was 2-0-1 in pool play, beating East Bay United of California 4-1, drawing 3-3 with Oregon Premier FC, and edging the Missoula Strikers of Montana 2-1.

Then the U-19 shut out East Bay 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

But in the semifinals, 3 Rivers fell 5-1 to Utah County SC.

Three Rivers’ U-17 boys team was 3-0 in pool play — beating the Hawaii Rush 2-1; edging Cook Inlet Soccer Club of Alaska 2-1; and stopping the Idaho Rush 3-1.

On Tuesday, the Tri-City 17s fell 2-0 to FC Portland Academy in the quarterfinals.

Finally, the 3 Rivers’ 13U boys went 1-2 in pool play.

The Tri-City squad beat the Rio Rapids of New Mexico 2-0, but lost 5-1 to Oxnard FC of California, and 1-0 to the Hawaii Rush.

Baseball

It’s been pretty cool to see what Kennewick High graduate Danny Dickinson has accomplished in a year’s time.

Last year, he helped lead the Lions to the 3A state championship game. But Kennewick head coach Lenny Ayres was lamenting to me that his senior — who was named Mid-Columbia Conference Player of the Year — wasn’t getting much notice from college coaches.

At that point, Dickinson was committed to play at NAIA school Ottawa University in Arizona.

But Eddie Smith, the Utah Valley University head coach, stepped up late in the process and offered Dickinson a chance to play for the Western Athletic Conference school.

It proved beneficial for both parties.

Dickinson led the team with a .376 batting average, had 9 home runs and 41 RBIs as a true freshman.

In one game alone, in an 8-3 win over WAC rival Stephen F. Austin, Dickinson hit three home runs.

He set numerous freshman school records, and was named to the WAC’s first-team all-conference squad.

A few weeks ago, Collegiate Baseball Magazine named Dickinson to its 2023 Freshman All-American Team.

Now, just this last week, Dickinson was named Freshman of the Year by the entire Utah Valley University athletic department.

NWAC

Dave Nichols of the Spokesman Review wrote a story this week detailing North Idaho College’s plan to leave the Northwest Athletic Conference.

NIC has played in the East Region — along with Columbia Basin College, Walla Walla Community College, Spokane Community College, Yakima Valley College, Wenatchee Valley College, Treasure Valley College and Blue Mountain College.

But school officials voted to move to the National Junior College Athletic Association, and the chance that organization allows national championships.

The process will begin immediately for the NIC men’s and women’s basketball teams, which will play an independent schedule this coming season before joining the NJCAA in the 2024-25 season.

Meanwhile, all other NIC sports — men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, softball and volleyball — will play this coming season in the NWAC, and then will join the NJCAA beginning in the fall of 2024.

Hydroplanes

The second race of the four event H1 Unlimited season will be held Saturday and Sunday, with the Madison Regatta in Indiana.

Event officials are expecting five boats at the event, as compared to eight last weekend in Guntersville, Ala.

They’ll include the two Strong Racing boats, the U-8 and U-8; the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank; the U-40 Bucket List Racing team; and the U-11 Legends Yacht Transport.

The U-91 Goodman Real Estate and driver Andrew Tate, which flipped last week in the final, will not be able to race — although there is a chance Tate may share U-1 driving duties with Dylan Runne.

The U-3 boat is skipping this weekend’s event, while the 440 Stocklin team boat has gearbox issues.

The Columbia Cup is scheduled for the Tri-Cities on July 28-30.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.