The 2003 birth year in New England is a step up from the ’02s, but not quite on par with the ’01s. There are currently 14 New England ’03s with a college commit. Most ’03 hockey players in New England are concluding their sophomore or junior year of high school. NCAA recruiting legislation enacted a...
The 2003 birth year in New England is a step up from the ’02s, but not quite on par with the ’01s.
There are currently 14 New England ’03s with a college commit. Most ’03 hockey players in New England are concluding their sophomore or junior year of high school. NCAA recruiting legislation enacted a year ago prevents prospective recruits from committing to a college program until Aug. 1 heading into his junior year. With the exception of a few juniors who have committed in the past few months, many of the 14 commitments were made a year or more ago.
Unless the rules change, the ’03s will be the last birth year with double-digit commits at the time of the USHL Phase 1 draft. With the stoppage of committing, there are some very high-end ’03s without a college logo next to their name on the line chart.
Tim Delay, Jack Hughes and Cully Wilson all have been considered as players toward the top of this ’03 birth year for a while. They have remained there while a few players who once were on their same pedestal are no longer. Then, there are other players, such as Shane Lachance and Matt Copponi, who have risen up the rankings to join the aforementioned trio in the top 10. Hughes is joined in our top 10 by U.S. NTDP U-17 teammate Ryan St. Louis of Riverside, Conn., son of University of Vermont and NHL legend Martin St. Louis.
The ’03s will be an interesting group to follow as many of them enter their first year of NHL draft eligibility. Lachance’s stock is soaring quickly and a handful of other players are likely to be picked. The intrigue lies in that two of my top five players in this age group have late birthdays. Hughes and Thayer defenseman Declan Loughnane won’t be eligible until the 2022 NHL draft.
Listed below are the 90 best ’03s in New England. I obviously have a strong conviction about the players at the top of the list and the order they belong in. Getting closer to the bottom of the list, the players are more interchangeable.
Top ’03s in New England
