UMass received a commitment from one of the best-skating defensemen in the 2006 birth year this week. Kiernan Poulin of Boston Advantage 16U pledged to follow in the footsteps of his father and coach, Kevin, in playing college hockey for the Minutemen. Poulin, from Norwell, Mass., has been a longtime member of the Boston Advantage...
UMass received a commitment from one of the best-skating defensemen in the 2006 birth year this week. Kiernan Poulin of Boston Advantage 16U pledged to follow in the footsteps of his father and coach, Kevin, in playing college hockey for the Minutemen.
Poulin, from Norwell, Mass., has been a longtime member of the Boston Advantage program. The undersized righty is best known for his footwork and skating ability. He can move pucks up ice and impact possession through his breakout and zone entry ability. He’s made USA Hockey Player Development Camps each of the past two summers and was invited to the NTDP Evaluation Camp this past March.
Poulin is a second-round pick of the Waterloo Black Hawks in the 2022 USHL Phase I Draft. The high school junior will likely spend the rest of the 2022-23 season in this region before attempting to make the jump to the USHL. His college matriculation is expected for the 2025-26 season.
Poulin isn’t the only local `06 defenseman to make his college commitment recently. Dexter Southfield junior Liam O’Keeffe will play in Bill Riga’s program at Holy Cross, the Hyde Park, Mass., native recently announced.
O’Keeffe has been a mainstay with the Junior Eagles’ 2006 group for a number of years. He’s a big, sturdy defender who will be a simple and efficient blue liner at the collegiate level. In 25 games with Dan Donato’s team at Dexter Southfield in 2021-22, he registered one assist while playing on the team’s second pairing in most games.
Quinnipiac, New Hampshire and Vermont have all picked up new recruits since the start of the month. The Bobcats received a commitment from Long Island Gulls right wing Joey Macrina. An `06 from Collegeville, Pa., Macrina comes to the Gulls after playing youth hockey for the Valley Forge Minutemen. The small, quick forward scored 22 goals and 14 assists for Valley Forge’s 15 Only team in 2021-22. The Chicago Steel selected Macrina in the fourth round of the 2022 USHL Phase I Draft.
New Hampshire secured a commitment from Sioux Falls Power 16U defenseman Price Grimes. The `06 from Greenville, S.C., has a goal and two assists through the first 12 games of the season. He played the previous two campaigns for the Windy City Storm and Nashville Junior Predators.
Vermont became the third Hockey East team to commit an `06 goaltender when Aiden McKenna of the Buffalo Junior Sabres pledged to the Catamounts. From Webster, N.Y., he posted a .935 save percentage in nine games for the Junior Sabres 15O during the 2021-22 T1EHL season.
