Braden Doyle initially thought about going to Vancouver for the 2019 National Hockey League draft. Instead, the defenseman who turned 18 years old on Aug. 24 stayed home in Lynnfield, Mass.
“I didn’t know if I was going to get drafted or how high I was going to go if I did,” reminisced Doyle, who’s entering his first full season with the United States Hockey League’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. “I stayed home so if I got drafted I’d be able to celebrate with my friends and family.”
Gathered around the television with his relatives and pals, Doyle received a text from his agent, Matt Keator, who was at the draft.
“He said, ‘You’re coming up soon,’” Doyle revealed. “Then I saw my name on TV.”
The Los Angeles Kings selected the 5-11, 162-pounder, who primarily played for Lawrence Academy the past three seasons, in the sixth round, 157th overall.
“Oh man, what a feeling,” Doyle said. “And it’s not just you who lives for this moment. My family has sacrificed a lot to be here and my friends have all supported me along the way, so everyone was happy. It was a surreal experience, seeing my name up there. And then I was reminded the work starts now.”
The first order of business for Doyle following that memorable milestone was to book a flight to California for the Kings’ four day-long development camp, which commenced three days after the draft.
“It was a whole different world there,” Doyle said. “First of all, I’d never been to Los Angeles, so that was, ‘Wow! What a place!’ Then I got to camp, where it was such a jump from prep school. It’s the real deal now with how professional it is with all the coaches and the development staff. And all the guys were great, looking to get better and take away something from camp. I learned a lot in that week I was there.”
Doyle’s next task is to improve his game in Dubuque, where he registered one assist in five matches last season.
“It was good to go out to Iowa for the couple of games last year and get the feel for things,” he explained. “I got to play a little bit and got to know the style of play. It’s fast, and my game is better at a faster pace. And I decided to go to the USHL this year instead of the British Columbia Hockey League – I was looking to go out there, maybe to the Penticton Vees, but I decided to go to the USHL – because the style of play in the USHL is more defensive and I need to get better defensively. That’s what’s going to take my game to another level.”
An offensive blueliner, Doyle seeks to fine-tune his defensive play in all aspects.
“Improving defensively has been my priority for the past couple of years,” he said. “Last year, I worked on positioning and eliminating turnovers. My coach did a great job of sitting me down and showing me that, and I was a much better defenseman. This year, I want to work on taking on rushes, battling in the corners, and positioning as well. You can get better at everything, and hopefully that happens.”
And when an offensive opportunity presents itself, you can bet Doyle will seize it.
“I will never lose my passion for the offensive side,” the left-handed shooter maintained. “I will always work on my offense at practice or at home because that’s fun for me; it’s not work. I’ll always try new moves in games or practices, but now I’m smarter about it. I won’t do them in high-risk situations. I’ll make sure it’s a 100 percent play.”
One particular benefit for Doyle this season is he’ll be able to focus nearly entirely on hockey since he’s no longer a full-timer in school.
“I’m only taking one college course (pubic speaking in the fall and psychology in the winter at Northeast Iowa Community College), so it’s mostly all hockey for me this year,” he stated. “Preparation is a big part when you’re playing in the USHL and mine went up a notch. I’m prepared more nutritionally. I’m watching a lot more film. The professional aspect of hockey is what you get out of the USHL.”
Another advantage Doyle has this campaign is being far from his New England home for a full year won’t be a new experience. He played his freshman season, 2015-16, at Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Minnesota.
“That was a breakthrough year for me because it’s a big sacrifice to leave home at 14,” said Doyle, who recorded 46 points (12-34—46) in 59 contests that campaign. “That year turned out to have a lot of upside, and we had a great team. Going away was tough for the first three months – being alone, you get a little homesick – but after that you’re with the boys, having fun, playing hockey and getting better every day on the ice. It’s the same thing in Dubuque. You’re away from home and you’re with guys who want to get better. There are no distractions that you would have back home. It’s an ideal situation if you’re just looking to get better.”
Speaking of improving, Doyle did exactly in each of his three years at Lawrence, where he totaled 71 points (14-57—71) in 86 games.
“It’s crazy to look back on my maturity throughout high school,” Doyle said. “Going in as a sophomore, I thought, ‘I played at Shattuck. This shouldn’t be too hard.’ But then you get on the ice and there are bigger and older guys and you realize, ‘I really have to bear down here.’ My sophomore year went pretty well, but I know I could’ve done better. Then junior and senior year I got strong mentally after going through the adversity of not making the (USA Hockey National Team Development Program). I wanted to prove everyone wrong and that got me going. The adversity I’ve been through helped my maturity and it’s gotten me ready to take the next steps in the USHL and college.”
Not making the NTDP is the toughest challenge Doyle has had to overcome in his budding career.
“I went to the 40 camp and I was the last guy they called in to see if I made the team,” Doyle recalled. “They said, ‘No. Not good enough.’ That really got me going because I grew up with all of these guys and played against them my whole life, and I know I can be better than them. But I just wasn’t good enough in their eyes, and that hurt.”
Doyle vividly remembers the emotions he felt during his flight home, and he has since used it as motivation.
“I’ll never get rid of that feeling I had on the plane,” Doyle asserted. “Seeing all of my friends make the team and practicing in the summer with them – and I’m always practicing with them now -- that set my work ethic forward, working with them and trying to do more than them.”
Doyle’s work started paying dividends in a major way when his name kept coming up in draft chatter last season. However, even though hockey pundits predicted that he was going to be plucked by an NHL club, he did his best to ignore it.
“My agent always said to not worry about the buzz, and I didn’t,” Doyle reflected. “I stayed out of it, even though I saw my rankings. What I took away from the draft experience was the feedback I got from scouts when I sat down with them and picked their brains on what I needed to work on and how to get to the next level. And then wherever I went – thankfully it was LA, what a spot – I was going to take away something from that. I wanted to get drafted, but if I didn’t it would be just another adversity moment and I’d use it as that. Either way, I was optimistic about it.”
Doyle is also optimistic and excited about his upcoming season with the Fighting Saints. And one year from now, the smile on his face will remain in place when he returns home to skate for Boston University.
“BU was always my dream school growing up,” Doyle concluded. “Growing up in Lynnfield, 15 miles north of Boston, I went to games and watched players like Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.). Scott Young (Clinton, Mass.), one of the coaches on my Minuteman Flames team and the father of Tyler Young, whom I played with at Lawrence and on the Flames, brought us to some BU games. It was an unreal experience to go there and see the campus. Plus, I like the city. And BU – you couldn’t ask for a better hockey school. I know the coaches pretty well, and I know it will be a good spot for me.”
