Coaches aren't typically inclined to guide recruits to other teams. But John McLean knew this wasn't a typical situation.
The then-head coach at Malden Catholic had Riley Duran, an eighth grader at the time, playing on an Islanders team he coached on the side. Duran liked playing for McLean and wanted to go to Malden Catholic for high school.
McLean recognized the one issue. Duran's father, Jim, was the head coach at Woburn High. He wanted Duran to experience playing for his father. And Duran wanted it, too. He grew up as a waterboy for his father's team. He would've loved to have played all four years there.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Duran said. "I'm glad he talked me into that. Glad I did it."
But the hockey landscape is the way it is. Duran played a season at Woburn High before going to Malden Catholic for the 2017-18 season. He jumped from the MIAA to prep with Lawrence Academy for 2018-20, before being drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins.
Then came a season with the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL and three more with Providence College. Now, he's in the Bruins organization. Not a bad path for a local kid.
It's also not too different from what kids can take today: two years in the MIAA and two years in prep before moving on to junior hockey.
Some things, however, have changed quite a bit in the last five to 10 years. Duran, and other pros fighting for spots on the Bruins this year, know better than most — because they came up through prep hockey.
