During the first Friday night of the Division 1 college hockey season, all eyes in New England and beyond gravitated toward Boston College’s Conte Forum.
And it didn’t take long to see why that was the case.
No early season matchup featured as much star power as the Eagles hosting Big Ten foe Wisconsin in a game that saw 21 current National Hockey League prospects sprinkled throughout the lineups of the two nationally ranked teams.
Twelve suited up for BC, which was one of several New England programs to welcome in touted freshmen this winter. Many of those talented rookies have shared common ground throughout their careers, with 11 of New England’s first-year collegians coming off a season together as members of the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team.
The bonds created in Plymouth, Mich., now span to Boston, Providence and many other top locales throughout the hockey world.
Being surrounded by so many familiar USA Hockey faces while playing in and around Boston “is super fun,” Harvard defenseman Henry Thrun (Southboro, Mass.) said. The St. Mark’s School product, a fourth-round draft choice of the Anaheim Ducks back in June, is one of five NHL prospects among the Crimson’s seven freshmen.
“We were all teammates back at the NTDP, but now we’re pretty big competitors. I’d imagine some of the games will get pretty heated, though we’re all still friends at the end of the day.”
Five of BC’s eight rookies were drafted this year, including a program-record three first-rounders in goaltender Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.; Florida, No. 13 overall) and forwards Matt Boldy (Millis, Mass.; Minnesota, No. 12) and Alex Newhook (Colorado, No. 16). The youthful additions have made the Eagles one of Hockey East’s most intriguing teams.
“Playing with guys like that makes it so much easier,” Boldy said. “I’m more than comfortable giving [Newhook, the reigning BCHL scoring champion] the puck. He’s so strong on the puck and does everything with so much skill.
“I think our chemistry is just going to continue to get even better. … Getting comfortable with how everyone plays is only going to help our team keep improving and get wins.”
Along with Boldy and Knight, defensemen Drew Helleson and Marshall Warren also revved up for their BC careers playing for “The Program” and were June draftees of Colorado and Minnesota, respectively.
The impressive first-years will be key players in BC’s quest to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016, but legendary head coach Jerry York’s club also boasts an 11-member senior class that is the nation’s largest. Just two seasons ago, BC did not have a single fourth-year member of its program.
With Boldy and Newhook joining senior assistant captain Graham McPhee in solidifying the top six, two other 2019 draft picks now a part of an experienced defense corps, and a goaltender in Knight who is considered to be a generational talent, York likes his team’s dynamic of young and old, and the prospects of returning some trophies to The Heights.
“We’re just better, quicker than we were last year,” said York (Watertown, Mass.). “The addition of the freshmen but also the maturity and improved play of the seniors, we’re kind of fueled by that. It’s an excellent class. As they grow and learn the league, our senior class is going to be our go-to guys, but we’re going to get even more contributions from young kids as the season goes along.”
Playing with and against a breadth of talent is nothing new for the aforementioned Eagles, and nothing is changing with the move to the NCAA ranks.
NHL teams drafted a record 17 players directly from the NTDP this year, including No. 1 overall pick and current New Jersey Devils rookie Jack Hughes. In total, 12 total NTDP alums who were drafted in 2019 are now playing college hockey within the New England region.
New England is now the home to so much of the talent that comprised last year’s U.S. Under-18 Team, and head coach John Wroblewski had just one way to describe it.
“The atmosphere was awesome,” said Wroblewski, who guided last year’s U-18 squad to eclipsing the 40-win mark. “You see all the draft picks, eight in the first round, and I think you could have a situation on your hands where it was a bit of a hot plate in regards to egos, but these guys were really just a great team and teammates. Everything was a competition to see who could do something better, but they were a tight, selfless group through it all.”
The experience in Plymouth is not just beneficial from an on-ice perspective as it offers a college-like living atmosphere away from home. Last year’s U-18s still maintain a group chat months later as all the players have gone their separate ways.
On the ice, though, there is no doubt that being surrounded by so much talent makes individuals themselves better.
“There are a lot of solid defensemen out there to learn from, but just watching how players like Hughesy, [Boston University’s Trevor] Zegras and [Wisconsin’s Alex] Turcotte deal with the puck and playing against them was huge for my game,” said Thrun. “The biggest change for me is going from a team where everyone is the same age to a different dynamic, but it helped being around such top-end guys every single day.”
The highest draftee in the group of recent New England draftees is Zegras, who the Ducks selected ninth overall. He became just the fourth player in NTDP history to record 100 career assists, ranking behind only Hughes, Jeremy Bracco and former Hockey East Rookie of the Year and ex-Terrier Clayton Keller.
Despite being the 10th BU player in the last decade to be drafted in the first round, the Bedford, N.Y., native who prepped at Avon Old Farms is, perhaps, the perfect example for a college hockey player. Though Zegras came to BU with a world of talent and poised for success, second-year head coach Albie O’Connell already has noticed ways to help improve his “dynamic” centerman’s game in college and beyond.
“He raises the level of our power play … and he’s a guy that can break a game open at any moment,” O’Connell (Watertown, Mass.) said. “It was nice to see him get a goal, but has to shoot more. He makes everyone around him better, but he needs a little bit more hunger to put the puck in the back of the net himself.”
Along with the comfort of having senior captains Patrick Curry and Patrick Harper (New Canaan, Conn.) as linemates, the experiences of the past and, as Wroblewski put it, a two-year maturation into being a more confident all-around player have gone a long way in easing the Division 1 transition for Zegras.
“Playing with Curry and Harper, it’s been pretty seamless because those guys see the ice so well and make my job really easy,” said Zegras, whose linemates last season included Providence rookie and Millis, Mass., native Patrick Moynihan. In addition, his roommate at Avon was outstanding Northeastern sophomore Tyler Madden.
“Coming to a new team can be nerve racking at first. It’s nice to have guys [like fellow BU and former NTDP defensemen Domenick Fensore and Case McCarthy] to rely on, too, because they’re going through the same things. We play a similar brand of hockey as those guys do, so it’s refreshing.”
BC and BU join four other Hockey East schools (UConn, UMass Lowell, Northeastern and Providence) with multiple NHL draft picks rostered as freshmen this year, while Merrimack is building for the future with 16 first-year players. Also among the region’s freshman ranks is reigning UMass defenseman and recent New York Rangers draftee Zac Jones, the reigning USHL Rookie of the Year, and future Edmonton Oiler forward Skyler Brind’Amour of Quinnipiac.
Among all of hockey’s destinations, though, the NTDP has long had a track record of sending top talent to the college ranks. This year has been no different.
“It’s definitely a little bit faster than last year,” Boldy said. “Our college schedule at the NTDP, having that experience of knowing how big the guys are, how fast they play and how fast the puck snaps around, it helps a lot. It all makes it easier to keep up and know what you’re going into.”
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