Minnesota State freshman forward Tyler Pitlick is past the midway mark in his first season with the Mavericks and has made great strides in transitioning from high school competition to the nature of play he and his MSU teammates face on a weekly basis in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Pitlick, a Centerville, Minn., native and a product of Centennial High School, leads MSU newcomers in scoring with seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 27 games.

The talk about Pitlick lately, though, has centered around his prospects for the 2010 National Hockey League draft, which is scheduled for June 25-26 in Los Angeles.  The Central Scouting Bureau, which is affiliated with the NHL, listed Pitlick 21st on its North American Skaters Midterm Rankings and Bob McKenzie of the Canadian sports cable television network TSN has him going even higher at 20th overall.

DJ Powers of Hockey's Future interviewed Pitick last week prior to MSU's two-game league series at Michigan Tech and her story appears here.

MSU has had 11 players who have donned the Maverick uniform selected in the NHL Draft with the highest any player has been picked was 38th overall (second round) when forward Tim Jackman was picked by Columbus in 2001.