Examining New England hockey prospects in the 2000 birth year is fascinating for a number of reasons.
I often think that the term “late bloomer” is overused in hockey development circles. But for New England’s ’00s, there are significant examples of players who were at the top of the class in Bantam and Midget minor but have slipped since. There also are examples of players who were under the radar back then, but have vaulted toward the top of the rankings.
At the 2015 USA Hockey Select 15 Player Development Camp in Amherst, N.Y., Oliver Wahlstrom, T.J. Walsh and Jake Wise were thought to be the three of the top ’00s in the country, let alone in the New England region. It should be noted that Walsh missed that year’s festival due to an injury. The point stands that at that time, all three were considered the best in New England.
Despite a subpar freshman season at Boston College, Wahlstrom has maintained his status as the best ’00 in New England. As a 19-year-old in the AHL with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the North Yarmouth, Maine, native registered 10 goals and 12 assists in 45 games. He got into nine games with the parent club, the New York Islanders, and had a point per game for the Americans at the World Junior Championship.
Injuries are a significant part of the story, but things haven’t worked out as well for Walsh and Wise, the other two prospects who were deemed “can’t miss” by many pundits, college coaches, scouts and agents.
Wise had a solid second half with Boston University, so maybe he’s turning the corner. He has just two goals in 45 college games to date. After decommitting from BC, Walsh had two goals and three assists in an injury-shortened 20-game freshman season at Northeastern.
This isn’t meant as a knock on either Walsh or Wise. Both play in Hockey East at world-class schools and have had many great experiences playing hockey at a high level. It’s merely part of an examination into the shift of power of the ’00 class in New England. There are other players who weren’t even on anyone’s radar back in July 2015 who have now made quite a name for themselves.
East Greenwich, R.I., native Gunnarwolfe Fontaine has put up back-to-back productive seasons in the USHL with the Chicago Steel. In 114 USHL games, Fontaine has 52 goals and 60 assists for 112 points. He went from little-known prospect out of Moses Brown to a pretty good prep player at Lawrence Academy. He parlayed that into a commitment to RPI. After showing what he could do in the college-producing junior league, Fontaine switched his commitment to Northeastern. While he’s yet to prove himself at the college level, I believe he’ll do just that starting in the fall.
The biggest knock on Fontaine when he first burst onto the scene was his lack of size. He was a scrawny kid from a lesser-known New England prep school. He’s filled out some and continuously proven that he can produce, despite being undersized.
There are other players in this class, such as Tim Rego, whose stock has soared after leaving prep. His game took off in the AJHL this winter for the Brooks Bandits. Originally committed to Holy Cross, the Williston alum now will be heading to play college hockey at Cornell.
Somewhat in between the noted trio and the late bloomers is Jordan Harris, a rising junior at Northeastern who played prep hockey at Kimball Union. He was good enough to earn an NTDP Evaluation Camp invite but never held in quite the same regard as Wahlstrom, Walsh and Wise. However, he’s kept improving to the point where he’s almost certain to sign an entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens after the 2020-21 season.
Another interesting thing to look at: the six ’00s in New England who are NHL draft picks. In addition to Wahlstrom, Wise and Harris, Northeastern’s Michael Kesselring and Riley Hughes and Princeton’s Liam Gorman all heard their names called at the 2018 draft.
Keeping in mind that Harris and Kesselring are defensemen, this group of six has combined to play 252 collegiate games while producing just 83 points. That’s 0.33 points per game for six players drafted into the NHL.
It’s fair to say the ’00 birth year hasn’t lived up to the hype it was once given. It shows that things can change and that hockey development, as I’ve heard numerous college coaches say, is a marathon, not a sprint. The ’99 and ’01 classes in New England have far exceeded the ’00 class.
A few ’00s in New England still will be playing junior hockey in 2020-21, but a good majority will be in college, or the pros in the case of Wahlstrom. With all the current top ’00s finally on a level playing field in Division 1 college hockey, it will be interesting to continue seeing the upward and downward trajectory of certain players.
Another point I want to make that you will see in my rankings below is that Division 3 players are not always leftovers. There are a couple of New England ’00s playing Division 3 hockey that I have ranked above Division 1 players and recruits.
It’s crucial to keep in mind that some players choose to go straight to college without playing junior hockey. Babson forward Andrew Holland is a good example. He was starting to blossom into a good player at Belmont Hill. I’m certain he would have ended up at a Division 1 school if he had played a year or two of junior hockey. However, he opted to go straight to college and play for a good program at Babson, led by head coach Jamie Rice.
There isn’t a right or wrong answer. What’s right for some kids might not be right for others. However, a fairly common misnomer I hear around the rinks is that Division 3 players aren’t as good. Holland, and a couple of others in this class, say otherwise.
Enough of the analysis. Here’s my current ranking of the top New England ’00s:
