After they went unselected in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo on Friday, neither Matias Vanhanen nor Brek Liske had to wait very long when the second round picked up at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday.

The New Jersey Devils selected Vanhanen with the 37th overall pick, and the Philadelphia Flyers picked Liske at 53rd overall, marking the two latest Everett Silvertips players to hear their names called in the NHL Draft.

“It’s so special moment with my family,” Vanhanen said in a video call with New Jersey media, speaking from his family’s lakehouse in Finland. “It feels unreal.”

Added Liske in his call with Philadelphia media: “My dad was a Flyers fan his whole life and kind of brainwashed me into it. From a young age, I was going to Flyers games wearing Flyers stuff. Yeah, I’ve just always been a Flyers fan. … I’ve never heard him yell so loud. It was a big cheer, but I could distinctly hear my dad’s voice. He’s wearing his Flyers jersey very proud right now, so I think he’s a little bit more in awe than I am right now.”

Both players had significant roles in leading Everett to its first WHL Championship, and both saw their draft stock rise significantly throughout the season. Silvertips general manager Mike Fraser told The Herald that he heard from nearly every NHL team about each player.

“I’ve had tons of calls on both those guys,” Fraser said over the phone on Wednesday. “I don’t even know the exact number, but I would bet throughout the season I’ve probably heard from almost every team on both of them. And I think in the second half they both took such gigantic steps that the phone was ringing on my end a little bit more, which is great.”

Vanhanen led Everett in scoring during the regular season, setting a franchise rookie scoring record with 87 points in 62 games. His 66 assists ranked second in the WHL behind only Medicine Hat’s Markus Ruck (87), whom the Pittsburgh Penguins selected at 39th overall, and Vanhanen’s 87 points ranked ninth in the league.

The 18-year-old winger spent the season on the Silvertips’ prolific top line alongside Seattle Kraken prospect Julius Miettinen and Carter Bear, whom the Detroit Red Wings selected 13th overall in last year’s draft. The trio combined for 33 goals in the WHL playoffs, which accounted for 40.2% of the team’s total (82).

“His vision’s unbelievable, the way he sees the game,” Bear told The Herald about Vanhanen back in February. “The way he can find passes that I can’t even see, it’s unbelievable. So (it) definitely (is) a great talent for him, and I think he has a big future ahead of him.”

Vanhanen, who joined the team through the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, settled in as more of a playmaker for Bear and Miettinen before the coaching staff urged him to start shooting more down the stretch.

After scoring just seven goals in the first half of the season, Vanhanen found the back of the net 14 times in the second half to finish with 21 goals. In 18 WHL Playoff games, Vanhanen’s 12 goals ranked second in the league behind only Miettinen (14), and his 24 points ranked third behind Miettinen (27) and Prince Albert defenseman Daxon Rudolph (27), whom the Buffalo Sabres selected with the fourth overall pick on Friday.

“Matias, when he started to shoot the puck a little more in the second half, I think the scouts saw that he’s not just a playmaker,” Fraser said. “He can score and he can get pucks past the goalie, so he’s a pretty complete offensive player, and in my opinion, he’s one of the smartest players in our league.”

Liske, meanwhile, spent the majority of the season on Everett’s second defensive pair, but the 18-year-old right-shot elevated to the top pair on his off-side next to Landon DuPont when captain Tarin Smith got injured in Game 4 of the Silvertips’ first-round series win against the Portland Winterhawks on April 1.

“I got put there, and I couldn’t think negatively or else I wouldn’t be doing good,” Liske told The Herald on May 4 ahead of the WHL Championship. “I knew that right away, and I was like, ‘Yeah, well, I’m prepared for this. I’ve been preparing for this,’ and that kind of helped me out playing bigger minutes.”

After scoring 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 52 games during the regular season, Liske totaled 17 points in 18 playoff games, which was tied for fourth-most among defensemen in the WHL. DuPont listed reliability and consistency as two defining traits for Liske ahead of the draft.

“He brings it every game, and you know what you’re going to get from him,” DuPont told The Herald over the phone on Wednesday. “I know when he’s on the ice, and he can be on the ice with anyone and I’d still be confident that we’re not going to get scored on. That’s how ‘shutdown’ he is, but also in the offensive zone, he can do everything at such a high level.”

When the Silvertips needed him most, Liske rose to the occasion. He had three assists in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Penticton Vees, when Everett punched its ticket to the WHL Championship series, and a goal and an assist in the Ed Chynoweth Cup-clinching Game 5 win against Prince Albert.

“The thing with Brek is he really stepped in when Tarin Smith got hurt, and probably made a bit of a statement to some of the NHL scouts that maybe had some doubts,” Fraser said. “That’s a testament to him to be able to come in and handle that workload and play against other team’s best players and produce as well. And I think he’s just kind of scratching the surface there on his offense.”

Fraser listed Liske among the defensemen Everett will rely on next season following DuPont’s departure to the University of Michigan. Liske’s return would be massive for a Silvertips team that’s set to lose at least six of its top eight scorers from the regular season — potentially all eight — as well as each of its top two defensemen in DuPont and Smith, who will play for the University of Minnesota.

Vanhanen’s status for next season is still up in the air, according to Fraser. It appears New Jersey will have a say in his development plans for next season.

“I think (Vanhanen) was kind of waiting to see what happened at the draft,” Fraser said. “So far, all the conversations we’ve had with him have been positive. We want to make sure we surround him with some good players, and I think with some of our guys returning, and with our (sixth overall pick in the CHL) Import Draft coming up, I’m pretty confident that we can do that.”

One of those players will be defenseman Bode Laylin, whom the Calgary Flames selected in the sixth round with the 164th overall pick. Laylin signed a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with Everett in May, and he will join the revamped defensive corps after scoring 11 goals and 38 points in 57 games with the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League (USHL) this past season.