Hurricanes draft – Carolina selected Ottawa 67s star goalie Ryder Fetterolf in the fourth round with the 125th overall pick, betting on a league standout whose smaller frame helped keep his draft stock lower.
The Stanley Cup champions didn’t wait long to take a swing at their next goalie piece.
Carolina Hurricanes used a fourth-round pick, 125th overall, to select Ottawa 67s star Ryder Fetterolf.
Fetterolf arrived with a resume built on numbers and momentum. In his rookie season with Ottawa, the undrafted OHL standout posted a 2.07 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage across 41 games. Last season’s CHL goalie of the year, his play is what turned him into a target.
For all the production, size still shaped expectations around him. At six feet, Fetterolf isn’t as big as many goalies viewed as draft-ready, and that mattered enough that he wasn’t expected to be a high pick.
Now the question becomes where he goes next. Fetterolf is leaning toward playing NCAA hockey at Penn State next season, though he hasn’t shut the door on returning to Ottawa.
The Hurricanes’ pick came two slots ahead of another goalie going off the board. San Jose took Brady Knowling two picks later, 127th overall. Knowling was ranked No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting’s North American goalie list for this year’s draft.
Knowling is listed at six-foot-five and has already committed to major junior. He has signed with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit for next season after playing the last two years for the U.S. National Development Team Program.
Fetterolf and Knowling going back-to-back a couple of picks apart set a clear contrast in profiles: Carolina went for a smaller goalie coming off an explosive rookie stretch, while San Jose selected the taller prospect whose draft positioning reflected how NHL evaluators viewed him coming in.
Carolina Hurricanes Ryder Fetterolf Ottawa 67's CHL goalie of the year NHL Draft Brady Knowling San Jose Sharks Penn State hockey Saginaw Spirit