Idaho native taken in NHL Draft. He’s just the fifth selected in state history
Idaho is known for many accomplishments. Producing professional hockey players is not one of them, but a Meridian native might change that soon.
The Washington Capitals selected Tyus Sparks in the fourth round of last week’s NHL Draft, taking the son of a former Boise State quarterback with the 101st overall pick and making him the fifth Idaho native taken in NHL Draft history.
“It’s an honor for sure, just being one of the few people from Idaho,” Sparks told reporters in a postdraft interview. “Just all the support from everyone there and my family, it’s amazing.”
The 18-year-old center and winger spent his youth traveling the West searching for ice time and quality competition. Starting at 11 years old, the former Idaho Junior Steelhead quickly earned gold and platinum miles status after frequent weekend flights to Los Angeles, according to an NHL.com profile.
The family also made regular 10-hour drives to play in Vancouver.
All that travel put him on the radar of professional scouts and earned him a spot last season with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. A trade over the winter saw Sparks end his junior career with the Spokane Chiefs. He put up a combined 28 goals and 37 assists in 69 games between the two clubs, vaulting him up draft boards.
“He’s a shooter,” said John Williams, NHL Central Scouting’s senior western scout. “He’s got really good hands, and he is one of the best one-time shooters I’ve seen this year.
“He has the ability in the offensive zone to find space and get good spots, kind of like a Brett Hull. He’s a guy that just kind of finds spots, gets in good shooting positions, and can really fire it and can beat goalies clean.”
The Capitals traded up 11 spots to take Sparks, making him the second-highest draft pick in state history behind only Bobby House, a Coeur d’Alene native whom the Chicago Blackhawks took with the 66th pick (third round) in 1991.
Making it from the draft to the NHL remains a long process. None of the state’s previous four draftees completed that path. But should Sparks make it, he’d become just the third Idaho native to play in the NHL, and the first since Guyle Fielder played for Detroit in 1957-58.
The careers of Fielder and Pat Shea, a Blackhawk during the 1931-32 season, predate the NHL Draft’s first draft, which took place in 1963.
Sparks’ father, Nate Sparks, played quarterback at Boise State in 1997 and ‘98 before serving as a backup for the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League. His mother, Debbie Sparks, was a Boise State gymnast.
Her Minnesota family introduced Sparks to hockey at 3 years old. Some cousins took him and his older brother ice skating for the first time, providing the first step on the path to a professional career.
This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 1:14 PM.
