Bode Laylin comes from a hockey family, through and through.<\/p>\n
The Flames sixth-round pick has two older hockey-playing brothers – one in the German pro ranks, the other in the NCAA – while his father, Cory, is set to begin his first season as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota this fall.<\/p>\n
The Golden Gophers\u2019 campus is a hop, skip and a jump from the Laylin home in St. Michael, Minn., and that\u2019s where the 18-year-old and his family were stationed during NHL Draft weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was with my family at home and we were just playing a little game to get my mind off it, and I heard my name called, and yeah, it was surreal,\u201d Laylin recalled of the moment that saw him selected by the Flames. \u201cI mean, it was really cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then right after, I got a few phone calls, didn’t even know what was happening. It was a special moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Less than 48 hours later, Laylin found himself on a plane to Calgary to take in his first pro development camp. And the young defenceman fit right in, capping off his week with a multi-point effort in the Snowy Cup that included a sweet shootout goal and a primary assist on a Cole Reschny tap-in.<\/p>\n
That trip out West is a prelude to what Laylin\u2019s 2026-27 will be like, too. After spending two full seasons with the USHL\u2019s Tri-City Storm, the blueliner signed with the WHL\u2019s Everett Silvertips in May, right around the time the Washington-based club was preparing to compete in the 2026 Memorial Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight when I committed there, I immediately turned the games on and watched,\u201d he said of Everett\u2019s Memorial Cup run – a month that saw the franchise claim its first WHL crown before reaching the final of the prestigious tournament. \u201cI know a couple guys on the team already, I’m super excited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I didn’t have to go visit. I just already knew it was a special place by all the people that have told me. All the fans are great, and I’m just really excited to get a little change in my life and get up there to the Dub.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett\u2019s had a hankering for turning out defencemen of late, too. Flames prospect Eric Jamieson is a former Silvertips captain, while Calgarian Landon DuPont, a top prospect for the 2027 Draft, turned heads at the program before committing to the University of Michigan last month.<\/p>\n
Laylin describes himself as a 200-foot defenceman, but his USHL numbers prove, too, that he\u2019s got a bit of pop to his game. He doubled his point total year over year, collecting 11 goals and 38 points at Tri-City this past winter.<\/p>\n
Laylin\u2019s two older brothers spent time out West, too. Both Luc and Casy played in the BCHL before going to play with their Dad at the University of St. Thomas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Bode, Cory has been more than a father figure, too. He\u2019s served as a coach and a mentor; someone to talk shop with while also allowing the newest Flames prospect to chart his own path.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s had a huge impact on my life,\u201d Bode said of his father. \u201cAs a player, he’s coached me when I was younger in Pee Wee’s and Bantams, but then he kind of let me go do my own thing in high school. So he’s taught me a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I call him after every game, every day. He lets me know what’s going on, on his team, what to look out for, for the other team; like he does reports for me, and it’s pretty cool just having such a good hockey mind, letting me know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before entering the coaching ranks, Cory enjoyed a 16-year pro career, too, one that took him everywhere from Slovenia to San Diego. The Laylins lived in Italy for a time, too, while he was a coach there.<\/p>\n
Back in Minnesota, the focus now is on what lies ahead. For Bode, a new league, for Dad, a return to the college program that he skated with in the early 90s.<\/p>\n
Being drafted only added extra motivation for Bode, though. A big step forward, toward a big year ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took a little break, but now we’re getting back into (skating), especially before this camp and after,\u201d Laylin said of his summer regimen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo excited, (I\u2019ve) got to build for this upcoming season, which will be big.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bode Laylin comes from a hockey family, through and through. The Flames sixth-round pick has two older hockey-playing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-793769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}