Every team needs a go-to guy.
Dylan Hunt (Marlboro, Mass.) has been just that for first-year coach Jim Gaudet and his Milton Academy squad.
The junior has stepped up in a major way for the Mustangs, boasting a career-high seven goals and 27 points through his first 19 games. Those marks put him among the defenseman-scoring leaders in New England prep hockey.
“He’s a huge part of our group,” Gaudet said. “He’s unbelievable defensively. Doesn’t give up much, so that’s always a really important part of his play. He’s showing a really good offensive ability this year as well, but he doesn’t sacrifice any part of his game to do it. So, he’s been a really good player for us.”
Coming up through the ranks of Marlboro High School and the Boston Junior Eagles program to Milton, Hunt considered himself more of a stay-at-home defenseman.
While Gaudet lifted up the 200-foot nature of Hunt’s game, his offensive contributions have been a major factor for the Mustangs. Despite an up-and-down 8-8-3 start, Milton recently had a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) before recent one-goal losses to Lawrence Academy, Pomfret and St. Paul's.
What has spurred the Yale commit’s point scoring success?
“Throughout my hockey career, I’ve always been that defensive-minded player, but I’ve had some skills to make plays. I just haven’t had the confidence to make them,” said Hunt, who was recruited by Milton and Yale alum Rob O’Gara, a defenseman on the Bulldogs’ 2013 Frozen Four-winning team during his own playing career.
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“Being a junior, in my third year on the team, I’m kind of expected to make more plays and help the team. Coach (Gaudet) has given me the confidence to do that,” he added.
Based on Gaudet’s first impression of his 6-foot-1, 175-pound standout, a flourishing offensive game was no surprise.
“When I was on the ice with him for the first time and watched him skate, you could see the puck skills and a really good offensive mind,” Gaudet said.
Hunt feels that his added comfort in that department “has been built from the ground up” during his time at Milton, with much thanks to longtime coach Paul Cannata who led the Mustangs for 20 years before retiring following the 2022-23 season.
Cannata and skating coach Dena Taylor have been major influences on Hunt’s career growth, as was one of his freshman year teammates with the Mustangs in Chris Romaine (Braintree, Mass.), who committed to play his college hockey at Ohio State beginning in the fall.
And working with Gaudet — who spent the previous two years as an assistant coach at nearby Division 3 power Babson College and played collegiately for his father, Bob, at Dartmouth College — has only added to Hunt’s confidence.
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“Coach really allows me to do what I need to do, whether it’s playing defense or jumping into the rush. He definitely gives me a lot of freedom to (play offense) as long as I’m still playing to our structure,” Hunt said. “(Romaine) was someone that I looked up to a lot when he was here, and still do. … He knew his job. He always made the right plays, which led him to scoring points.”
Hunt has also been a key contributor to Milton from a leadership perspective, serving as an assistant captain and helping to bring along a team that welcomed 10 newcomers entering the season.
Providing an example for teammates is crucial, especially with his upperclassman’s status.
“I think the way he practices reflects the way he plays in games, and he's gotten more and more confident in practice,” Gaudet said. “He does all the right things and really competes, so he’s the perfect guy for our younger players to be looking up to.”
As the month of February draws near, Hunt and the Mustangs will look to turn around their recent results against a slate full of ISL rivals.
Hunt pointed to winning the Joshua H. Weeks New Year's Invitational against host Tabor — following a 1-3 showing in the famed Flood-Marr Tournament in December — earlier this month as a highlight of the season to date, and an experience from which the Mustangs can learn.
“I think that taught us a lot about how to play close games, just to bear down and win,” said Hunt, who is also an outfielder on Milton’s baseball team in the spring. “I think we’re in a good spot. … Even though we’ve got a lot of young guys, we play fast and hard and have high energy.
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“If we take what we learned from (winning at Tabor) into the rest of the season, I think we’ll have some success.”
