Any disappointment that Kellan Tochkin might have felt after being passed over in the NHL entry draft was swept aside in short order after a phone call from Mike Gillis.

Mere minutes after the NHL's annual talent lottery wrapped up on Saturday morning, the Abbotsford-born forward was fielding phone calls from multiple big-league clubs offering rookie camp invites.

One of those calls came from Gillis, the Vancouver Canucks general manager, and Tochkin accepted an offer to hit the ice with the Canucks prospects in September.

"At first I didn't believe it was really him (Gillis)," Tochkin said with a chuckle during an interview with The News on Sunday. "I thought maybe one of my buddies was playing a joke, because it was a 604 number. But they had my GM with the Everett Silvertips (Doug Soetaert) up their suite, and they told me they really wanted me to come to their camp."

Last season, Tochkin led the Silvertips – and all WHL rookies – in scoring with 74 points (20 goals, 54 assists) in 72 games. And while those impressive stats didn't yield a result on draft day, the silver lining is that the five-foot-nine right winger got to choose his training camp destination.

Tochkin heard from the Canucks and the Columbus Blue Jackets directly, while his agent fielded phone calls from the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks.

But being a "diehard" fan of his home-province team, combined with the fact that the Canucks had shown interest in him prior to the draft, led Tochkin to cast his lot with Vancouver.

"It's a little surreal right now, but life is good to you sometimes," said Tochkin, 18, who was ranked No. 139 among draft-eligible North American skaters by Central Scouting. "Even if I was drafted in the fifth or sixth or seventh round, I'd be in the same position I'm in right now. Going from the slight disappointment at not being drafted, to having camp invites from NHL teams, is really special."

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Nathan Lieuwen, the second local prospect ranked by Central Scouting, was also bypassed on draft day. He's currently in the process of evaluating his NHL camp options for the fall.

"I'll probably find out in the next week or two what's going on," said Lieuwen, who was rated No. 11 among North American goalies by Central Scouting. "I wasn't expecting anything going into the draft. I see this as an opportunity to be drafted highly next year. I can use this as a tool to prove myself next season."

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Ryan Howse is already a familiar name to hockey fans in the Fraser Valley.

And fans in Abbotsford could be getting to know the Chilliwack Bruins sniper even better in the future, after the Calgary Flames drafted Howse in the third round (74th overall) on Saturday.

The upshot is that the first stop for Howse in the pro ranks will likely be just down the road from his current WHL home in Chilliwack. Calgary's American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, will play out of the new Entertainment and Sports Centre this fall.

“ I know my way around there now, and I might be playing in Abbotsford in the years to come,” noted Howse, a Prince George product. “I’ll probably play one or two more years of junior, hopefully, and then see what happens after that.”

Howse, who led the Bruins with 31 goals last season, was ranked 37th among North American skaters heading into the draft.

-- with files from Alistair McInnis