PHOTO COURTESY KAI BROWN/PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS
Medicine Hat product Ryan Miller was selected 130th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. The Portland Winterhawks' forward is the 17th Hatter ever to be selected in the NHL Draft.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Saturday’s broadcast of the 2025 NHL Draft’s second day featured many commercial breaks, with one in particular bringing the realization of a dream come true for Ryan Miller.
The Medicine Hat product was watching the NHL Draft tick by on Saturday alongside his family, switching to the ticker on his phone when the TV broadcast went to a commercial break. It was there, sitting on the couch looking at his phone, he learned he was selected in the fifth round, 130th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 18-year-old told his dad Cam, who first thought he was joking before his mom Michelle learned the news and came running in from the garage to celebrate.
“She was very happy and so was my dad, he was just in shock, too,” Miller said. “It was good, a big dream of mine since I was a little kid, with all of the sacrifices my parents made it’s nice to get done, not only for me, but for them as well.”
Miller played golf with his brothers in the morning at the Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club. He wouldn’t disclose his score, but says it was at least lower than his draft number. Starting the day with family and ending it together in celebration encapsulated what being drafted means to Miller, an opportunity at the NHL dream made possible only by those around him.
“This would not have been possible without my parents, my family and my friends and teachers who put me through school and all that,” Miller said. “So just a huge thank-you to them. It’s an honour to get drafted, but there’s still a lot more work to be done and I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
The South Alberta Hockey Academy alum entered the draft as the 60th ranked North American skater after his sophomore season in the WHL with Portland. He put up 16 goals and 31 points in 50 games. An increase of 10 goals and 16 points from his rookie season, also playing in six more games. Both seasons he battled injuries and was part of lengthy playoff runs, a trip to the WHL finals in 2024 and the West finals in 2025.
He’s made sacrifices, big moves and battled some major injuries throughout his young hockey career, persevering and returning stronger as he worked his way through the ranks. Miller moved away from home at 14 to play CSSHL hockey in Edmonton with the Northern Alberta Xtreme before returning to play at SAHA and then moving again, to Portland and the WHL.
“It’s all of the sacrifices, little things that took to get me to where I am today,” Miller said. “Just a lot of blood, sweat and tears I put into the sport and we just have to keep going because it’s nice to get drafted, but that’s just one step. And there’s a lot more stuff to get done to where I want to be.”
Miller is just the 17th Medicine Hat product to be selected in the NHL Draft, the first since Marc McNulty was selected 169th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2013. It’s a local accomplishment he wears proudly, and he takes pride in representing his hometown on every stage.
“It’s an honour growing up in Med Hat, my age for hockey was really, really competitive and it pushed me a lot,” Miller said. “It’s pretty cool growing up here pretty much my whole life and it’s a good feeling to represent the city a little bit.”
Miller spoke with the News on Sunday from the Calgary airport as he made his way to Pittsburgh for development camp, which started on Monday. Being drafted into the NHL had not yet sunk in yet. He hopes once he dons the Penguins jersey for the first time, with the No. 10 and Miller on the back, that it will fully hit him.
“Once that jersey goes on over my shoulders I’m gonna feel pretty pumped and pretty excited,” Miller said.
He was four years old when Sidney Crosby won his first Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2009, and he remembers watching when Pittsburgh won back-to-back cups in 2016 and 2017. He heard from general manager Kyle Dubas immediately after being drafted and with head coach Dan Muse before speaking with team staff to arrange travel to development camp.
Miller was honoured to be drafted and is excited to be a Penguin someday soon.
“You hear a lot of great things, a lot of great players through their organization, it’s a winning organization and it’s my brother’s favourite team, too, so he’s pretty pumped to see me go there,” Miller said.
