Every year, prep and midget hockey programs in New England add great players from other parts of the country and even from Canada and Europe.
The 2022-23 season is poised once again to bring new faces to prep and midget hockey teams throughout the region. Four such goaltenders recently competed at the 2022 USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp just outside of Buffalo and another one is set to take the ice next week at Select 16s.
New goaltenders with promise coming to New England is not exactly a rare occurrence. In 2021-22, Daniel Heroux (Kimball Union), Danick Leroux (Berkshire), and Carter Richardson (Boston Hockey Academy) were all newcomers to the region who performed well for their respective teams. Not in his first season, but Melbourne, Fla., native Jacob Fowler excelled at South Kent before jumping to the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms midway through the season. The Clarkson commit was promptly named to the USHL All-Rookie Second Team. Salisbury won a NEPSAC Elite 8 championship with Austin McNicholas in goal. The Clarence Center, N.Y., native was sharp in the playoffs and will ply his trade in the BCHL with the Chilliwack Chiefs during the 2022-23 season.
Here is a look at six new goaltenders from outside of the region who are coming to prep school or midget hockey in 2022-23:
Willum Braun
Mount Saint Charles U16, 5/18/06, catches left, 5-11/175
Braun made the roster for the USA Hockey NTDP Evaluation Camp in March before ultimately falling short of earning a spot on the U17 team for 2022-23. As a result, he’ll make the jump from the Valley Forge Minutemen to Mount Saint Charles. From Lansdale, Pa., Braun is a longtime member of the Valley Forge youth organization. He’s had decent size for a couple of seasons and has always looked the part of a top-notch goaltender. In 13 AYHL appearances in 2021-22 with Valley Forge he had a .925 save percentage. He’ll have the unenviable task of replacing Jack Parsons, who was one of two goaltenders who beat him out for a spot on the NTDP roster.
Zackary Ferris
Mount Saint Charles U18, 1/24/05, catches left, 5-10/153
Ferris will be on his third team in as many years when the 2022-23 season begins in late August. The Venetia, Pa., native and longtime Pittsburgh Penguins Elite star ventured to the Long Island Gulls U16 team for last season. Now he’s heading to Woonsocket to play for coach Matt Plante’s team. An undersized goaltender, he’s very technical and has long been regarded as one of the top goaltenders in the '05 birth year. He should help solidify the goaltending position for the '05s at Mount as they move up to the U18 level.
Stephen Peck
Avon Old Farms, 1/18/05, catches left, 6-2/170
Peck is a product of the North Jersey Avalanche, having spent the past four seasons with the Hackensack, N.J., based organization. Peck attended the NTDP Evaluation Camp in May 2021 and was selected by the Green Bay Gamblers in the 2022 USHL Phase II draft. From New York, N.Y., Peck has good size and the potential to be a solid goaltender for John Gardner’s Winged Beavers. While his skating is an asset, the one area of his game he’ll look to shore up while at the prep level is his consistency. Peck fills the void left by the graduation of Conor Callaghan, who has made the initial protected list for the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks.
Cooper Rautenstrauch
Cushing, 1/21/05, catches left, 5-10/190
Rautenstrauch has long been an elite goaltender in his birth year, but his size has always been a deterrent. After a number of seasons putting up impressive numbers with the Buffalo Junior Sabres, the West Geneva, N.Y., native is off to play for Paul Pearl at Cushing. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in lateral movement. He’s quick and can make some highlight-reel saves by using his push-off from one post to the other. While he didn’t make the Hlinka-Gretzky Camp All-Star Games at Select 17s, I liked what I saw from Rautenstrauch, who will look to replace Jackson Irving between the pipes in Ashburnham.
Ben Skowronek
Phillips Andover, 2/15/05, catches left, 5-11/155
Skowronek is the least heralded of the six goaltenders on this list, but he’s no stranger to putting up good numbers on teams that fly a little under the radar when it comes to prep and college coaches in this region. He spent the past two seasons playing for Team Maryland after his bantam years with the Washington Little Caps. He got used to winning with Team Maryland and racked up 25 wins while posting a .922 save percentage this past season. A smart student, the Arlington, Va., native is now heading to Phillips Andover with his twin brother, forward Ethan Skowronek. He’ll be tasked with replacing Shane Shelest, who graduated this spring.
Adam Stevenson
South Kent U18, 6/1/05, catches left, 6-2.5/210
Stevenson has big skates to fill, as he will be the projected starter for South Kent’s U18 team a year after Fowler starred for Andrey Uryadov’s team. The Chandler, Ariz., native has the size to intrigue scouts and college coaches. The veteran of the Phoenix Junior Coyotes youth program will look to round out his game as he transitions to a competitive U18 program in the northeast. In addition to his size, his compete is something that sticks out. Stevenson has a lot of potential, but it often takes big goalies longer to develop. If he plays up to potential, the ceiling is high for Stevenson, who could be a welcome addition to Stockton Arena.
