It was a fun season in New England boys prep hockey this past winter with a thrilling conclusion.
After Phillips Andover and Kimball Union secured Large and Small School titles, respectively, Cushing and Dexter Southfield, two heavyweights, duked it out in the Elite 8 championship. Cushing emerged victorious, 4-3.
The season will also be remembered for big contributions from high-end players. The Rivers trio of Carter Meyer (Winchester, Mass.), Finn Sears (Medford, Mass.) and Sam Pandolfo (Winchester, Mass.) put together seasons that landed them on next year’s U.S. National Team Development Program squad. Brunswick’s Joe Salandra, a first-year ’08, led the region in points, and freshman defenseman Cam Minella (Darien, Conn.) dazzled.
So what will next season look like?
Different. Things should look quite different due to the CHL ruling. Now, the QMJHL (Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League) is a junior hockey option for New Englanders.
We’ll get into that, along with many other topics, in these storylines.
Let’s dive in.
How will the QMJHL, CHL ruling impact prep?
This is the question everyone is asking this summer. And while I wish I had a definite answer, I don’t.
Due to the CHL ruling last November, CHL players are eligible to play NCAA Division 1 hockey — and that doesn’t just apply to current CHL players. Anyone who opts to play in the QMJHL, OHL (Ontario Hockey League) or WHL (Western Hockey League) eventually can play Division 1 college hockey, too.
The QMJHL has regional rights to New Englanders. In June’s draft, 37 locals were selected. Many were current prep players.
How many will opt for the QMJHL over prep? We don’t know yet. But it’s likely enough to make you notice.
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This likely will continue the trend of high-end players often not playing in prep during their junior and senior years. The USHL typically skimmed off the absolute best players in prep. Will the QMJHL take even more? It’s possible.
What also has to be considered is whether 16U and 18U players from Canada who want to play NCAA Division 1 hockey still come to New England for prep school. Do 14U and 15O players?
Again, we don’t yet fully know the answers to these questions. But there’s no doubt various teams will be impacted in various ways.
Who will be the best team?
Both Cushing and Dexter Southfield will be back near the top again.
Cushing, who recently had Dan Fontas become head coach after Ryan Bourque left for the AHL’s Providence Bruins, should still bring in a high-end recruiting class to pair with a good group of returning players. Dexter Southfield certainly lost talent to graduation and Boston University commit Rian Chudzinski (Needham, Mass.) to the QMJHL, but brings back a deep roster with a desire to win an Elite 8 title.
There are other regulars, too. Salisbury, Kimball Union and Avon Old Farms will be hungry to get back into the mix.
Kimball Union and Avon Old Farms missed qualifying for the Elite 8 last season. Salisbury got there, but fell in the quarterfinals. Deep Elite 8 runs typically are the norm for those three programs.
St. Mark’s finished No. 2 in the Elite 8 last winter and, aside from needing a new starting goalie, didn’t lose much. The Lions have a deep forward group and an experienced back end.
Brunswick head coach Mike Kennedy always has the Bruins in the thick of the Elite 8 race. If Dartmouth commit Mason St. Louis (Old Greenwich, Conn.) and Minella are back, they should go deep.
The same can be said about Belmont Hill. It looks like David Bosco (Winchester, Mass.) will play for the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, but if Dartmouth commits Jake Tavares (Belmont, Mass.) and Evan Jones (Arlington, Mass.) are back, the Sextants will make noise.
Who will be the best player?
Last year, the three best players in prep were Meyer, Salandra and Chudzinski. All three are gone for next season, and none of them were seniors.
Dexter Southfield defenseman Myles Brosnan (Winchester, Mass.), who recently committed to Harvard, will be a candidate. He had 36 points last season. It wouldn’t be a shock if he upped those numbers considerably.
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Also at Dexter Southfield likely will be ’08 forward Noah Survilas (Winthrop, Mass.). He’s been a standout the past two seasons as a freshman and as a sophomore. If he’s back, he should be one of the best in the region.
Jones and Tavares are candidates. If Avon Old Farms forward Indiana Grossbard (Wilton, Conn.) returns, he has a case to be the best player. The Dartmouth commit led the Winged Beavers in goals (26) and points (42) last season.
Nobles forward Billy MacAusland (Westwood, Mass.) ranked fourth in the region with 61 points last winter. A Brown commit, he’s slated to return for his senior year and easily could finish with the most points.
St. Mark’s forwards Evan Nee (Arlington, Mass.), Will Manchuso (Concord, Mass.), Cam MacPherson (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Caiden Pellegrino (Uxbridge, Mass.) were high point-getters last winter and should be again this coming season.
St. Louis had 53 points last season. He projects to be the top dog for Brunswick come November. That should equate to similar production.
Can any 2010s match the production of last season’s ’09s?
I could easily be proven wrong. But I’m not sure any 2010 birth-year players touch Meyer’s 70 points and Sears’ 53. If some do, that’s great; however, those are some unfair expectations to put on this new crop of young guns.
Could any ’10s match Pandolfo with 36 points, Cushing’s Joseph Covelluzzi (Wakefield, Mass.) with 18 goals or Pingree’s Danny Patch (Melrose, Mass.) with 31? Absolutely.
My mind immediately goes to St. Sebastian’s forward Jack Queally (Milton, Mass.) and new Dexter forward Austin Wu (Dedham, Mass.). Both played in prominent roles on a very young Arrows team last winter. Queally looks like the leading candidate to get an invite to NTDP Evaluation Camp next spring, and Wu had 17 points in 27 games as a freshman with almost no protection. Wu goes from being one of the main guys at Seb's to a crowded forward core at Dexter. He should still be highly impactful.
St. George’s defenseman Jake Donatelli (Barrington, R.I.) saw some time as a freshman last winter and has the tools to be an impact guy this coming season, especially given the losses the Dragons suffered on defense.
Blake Wilichoski was a standout forward at USA Hockey's Select 15 Camp. He should be a go-to scorer for Milton Academy.
There will be a plethora of other ’10s who make their presence felt next winter. We’ll get a better sense of that in the fall.
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Who will be the best goalies?
Again, it’s hard to speculate on upperclassmen due to the uncertainty with the QMJHL. Nevertheless, let’s assume all these players below are returning.
Westminster’s Jack Fichthorn (Darien, Conn.) and Avon Old Farms’ Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.) are early candidates to be the top goalies in prep. Both have been high-end ’07s for quite some time and are due for impactful final seasons in the region.
Three breakout goalies from this past winter who should be even better next season are Tabor’s Vinnie D’Urso (Andover, Mass.), Phillips Exeter’s Brendan Petraco and Deerfield’s Elliot Lennon. D’Urso, an ’08, posted a sparkling .929 save percentage over the whole season, while Petraco was impactful in the second half with a .931. Lennon led Deerfield to being the No. 1 seed in the Elite 8 last winter. His size (6-foot-6, 201 pounds) makes him impossible to miss.
Belmont Hill’s JJ Thibodeau (Waltham, Mass.) projects to finally have the starting job all to himself. The ’07 should be another candidate to be a top netminder in prep.
2026 NHL Draft prospects
It comes down to who is back in prep. As of now, it looks like a relatively strong class. I say relatively because since 2023, only five players have been drafted straight out of prep.
Thayer defenseman Brian McFadden is the top one as of now. At 6-foot-5 and with great offensive skills, NHL scouts will be watching. NHL scouts love big, mobile, right-shot defensemen, and the Holbrook, Mass., native checks all of those boxes.
Brosnan shouldn’t be too far behind. While he’s not 6-foot-5, the Harvard commit is 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. He’s a two-way dynamo who possesses a veteran’s confidence with the puck. Also on defense will be Groton’s Kaiden Donia (Townsend, Mass.), Belmont Hill’s Brady Sloper (North Andover, Mass.) and Brunswick’s Hampus Vandenberg (Riverside, Conn.). All three are 6-foot-2 or taller, which increasingly seems to be the going rate for drafted defensemen.
At 6 feet is Avon Old Farms defender Oskar Drabczynski (Easton, Conn.), who is committed to Harvard and is a phenomenal puck mover.
The top forward is Manchuso, who has all the tools to get scouts to want to pick him, especially considering he’s such a powerful skater. St. Louis should draw attention, too.
Surprise teams in Elite 8 contention
Deerfield and St. Mark’s, the top two seeds from this past season, were somewhat of a surprise. New teams may enter the mix this winter.
Governor’s Academy didn’t lose a lot. It should compete for a spot all winter. Add Thayer to that list, too. The Tigers have several returning cogs from last season’s team that finished as the No. 7 seed in the Large School.
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A team that coaches in the coaches poll were high on: Winchendon. Head coach Mike Busconi has put together a strong group that should at least contend for the Elite 8 in his third year.
