At 6 feet 6 inches tall and 230 pounds, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Sutter Muzzatti tends to draw a lot of eyes when he’s on the ice.

“Kind of halfway through (freshman) year, I started getting calls. And started doing interviews toward the end of the year. So I wasn’t sure that was really a possibility, even at the start of the year,” said Muzzatti, a sophomore forward for the Engineers.

Those calls were from NHL scouts interested in his service. Last June, it was the Nashville Predators, making his dreams come true by selecting him in the fifth round, 143rd overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

“Coach (Dave) Smith was actually down there with me. I had my whole family there, and it was just a surreal moment,” Muzzatti recalled.

He is now following in similar foot steps as his father. Jason Muzzatti played at Michigan State before being a goaltender in NHL from 1993 to 1998. But Sutter Muzzatti wasn’t a fan of stopping goals growing up.

“He always made it my choice,” Muzzatti said. “I tried it one game, didn’t like it too much. I didn’t like pucks getting shot at me, so was basically a forward my whole life.”

Sticking to his true passion of scoring goals has certainly paid off. Now in his second year with the Engineers, Muzzatti is looking to take on more of a leadership role.

“Just be more acclimated to more of the college hockey game, and I’m just trying to be more prepared every day,” he said.

With the Predators holding his draft rights, Muzzatti returned to Troy with plenty to work on, and more importantly, continuing to help RPI move up the ECAC standings.

“Just keep progressing our game. The ECAC is really tight this year,” Muzzatti said. “So just keep progressing our game, and playing hard every night.”