There was plenty of local flavor in last week’s North American Hockey League Draft. The NAHL is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey. It is widely considered to be the second best junior league in the United States, only behind the USHL.
It was the first time through the NAHL Draft for New England’s newest junior hockey team, the Maine Nordiques. The organization have begun hockey operations ahead of its inaugural season. The Nordiques, planning to play out of the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, drafted 14 players.
Entering their fourth season, the Northeast Generals, the junior team based out of the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Mass., also made 14 selections.
In addition, 17 local players were selected by various leagues team during the 16-round draft. Players can also be tendered by NAHL teams ahead of the draft. Being tendered or drafted by a NAHL team only binds players to that specific franchise if they choose to play in the league. Players are free to continue playing prep school or midget hockey, or competing in the USHL, USPHL NCDC, BCHL, AJHL, CCHL or OJHL.
The Northeast Generals selected six players from New England during the draft. With its first round pick, the Generals selected ’99 right wing Ethan DeStefani of Bedford, N.H. DeStefani played four games for Merrimack College before leaving the school at the semester break. From there, he moved on to the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms for 14 games. He finished out the season by playing in four USPHL NCDC playoff games with the Islanders Hockey Club.
Prior to Merrimack, DeStefani played for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs, Gunnery, Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) and Minnesota Magicians (NAHL). Once a highly coveted prospect, injuries played a role in derailing DeStefani’s development. He’ll have plenty to prove as he looks to land a commitment for his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility.
With its second round pick, Northeast drafted Linden Alger, a big left-shot defenseman out of Centerville, Mass., and the USPHL NCDC’s Boston Bandits.
In the fourth round, Northeast picked up Joe Mancuso, a forward who finished out the season with the Islanders Hockey Club in the USPHL NCDC. He had 18 goals and 27 assists in 30 games for the Islanders. He has previous NAHL experience with Northeast, Bismarck Bobcats and Maryland Black Bears.
In rounds five, six, and seven, Northeast went out of the region to select defenseman Mick Heneghan, forward Nick Abbott, and goaltender Jacob Zacharewicz.
The Generals went back to the local well in the eighth round by selecting Andover, Mass., native and Phillips Andover forward Thomas Manty. The former Central Catholic standout had 19 goals and 25 assists in 29 games for the Big Blue this season.
For the next five rounds, players from outside the region were chosen: forward Simon Labelle in the ninth round, forward Ryan Kuzmich in the 10th round, defenseman Keegan Ripper in the 11th round, defenseman Conor McCue in the 12th round, and forward Koyle Bankauskas in the 13th round.
Kuzmich, an ’00 forward is an under-the-radar prospect, after playing the past three seasons for the 95 Giants. The Norton, Mass., native had 17 goals and eight assists in 17 ECEL 18U games this past season. He played in nine games for the Generals.
Bankauskas, an ’00 forward from Coventry, R.I., picked up 39 goals and 28 assists in 51 games for the Northeast Generals’ NA3HL team during the 2018-19 season.
With its pick in the 14th round, the Generals selected forward Cade DeStefani, the younger brother of first round pick Ethan DeStefani. The ’01, who played for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs and Northern Cyclones during his midget years, spent the past season between the Junior Bruins and Northern Cyclones in the USPHL NCDC.
With the organization’s 15th round pick, its final one of the draft, the Generals took a flyer on Walpole, Mass., native and Dexter star defenseman Ben Meehan. A UMass Lowell commit, Meehan is expected to play the 2019-20 season with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
The Maine Nordiques opted to go away from the region, selecting 14 players with all but two hailing from outside of New England. With its first round pick, the first overall pick, Maine selected Swedish defenseman Casper Soderling. In the second round, the Nordiques went back to Sweden, pegging forward Filip Lofdahl.
With two picks in each of the third, fourth and fifth rounds, the Nordiques selected forward Matt Minerva, goaltender Nicolas Gamarra, defenseman Cale DuBrul, forward Kylar Fenton, forward Cannon Green, and forward Leo Bax.
DuBrul, from South Burlington, Vt., is a ’00 who played for Selects Academy before transferring to New Hampton for his senior season.
Forward Jake Lanyi, defenseman Jacob Crespo, defenseman Mikhail Romanov, forward Tristan Thibeault, forward Simon Ellingson, and forward Sergei Anisimov were taken in rounds six through 11. The organization had to pass due to reaching the player limit in the final five rounds.
Thibeault is from Brentwood, N.H. Ha played this past season with the Seacoast Academy Spartans 18U, registering five goals and nine assists in 16 ECECL games.
The first local off the board, selected by a team other than Northeast or Maine, was Cooper Swift. The ’00 left shot defenseman from West Hartford, Conn., played prep school hockey the past four seasons with Choate. Swift was selected by the Jamestown Rebels in the second round with the 35th overall pick.
Next up, Northwood School goaltender Ryan Wilson, an ‘00 of Shelton, Conn., was drafted with the 44th overall pick by the Springfield Jr. Blues.
In the third round, UMass commit Kennedy O’Connor was taken off the board by the Shrevport Mudbugs with the 67th overall pick. The West Springfield, Mass., native played prep hockey for Loomis Chaffee. He’s an ’01 defenseman with several years of junior hockey ahead of him.
Former Thayer star Evan Googins of Braintree, Mass. was drafted later in the third round by the Aberdeen Wings. The ’99 forward played this past season for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the BCHL. He registered six goals and 14 assists in 55 regular season games.
In the fourth round, the Johnstown Tomahawks took Andover, Mass., native Alex Dalton with the 104th overall pick. The Boston Jr. Rangers youth hockey product played this past season with the Spruce Grove Saints in the AJHL.
Another UMass commit went off the board in the fifth round. New Hampton star Jake Dunlap of Windham, N.H. was taken by the Janesville Jets with the 129th overall pick.
In the seventh round with the 170th overall pick, the New Jersey Titans drafted Aidan Torres, an ’01 defenseman from Hingham, Mass. He played this season for the NJ Titans 18U team after competing for Proctor for two years.
The Maryland Black Bears drafted Northfield Mount Hermon alum Jack Quinn. The ’99 forward from Lancaster, Mass. had 19 goals and 22 assists in 30 prep games this past season.
