MILTON, Mass. — The return of the 56th annual Flood-Marr Hockey Tournament hosted by Milton Academy and Noble & Greenough School Dec. 17-19 for the first time since 2019 was a welcome prelude to the 2021 holiday season.
With eight teams in action over the three-day period, New England Hockey Journal was able to see some known draft-eligible prospects, but also saw a few players who may have been able to help themselves get on NHL team radars as well.
The host schools met on Sunday in the championship match, Nobles taking a 2-1 victory on a late goal in regulation. While this piece focuses on 2022 NHL draft prospects, Nobles has a cadre of young players who stood out all weekend and generated some buzz among NHL scouts and college coaches as players to follow in coming seasons. Goaltender and tournament MVP Thatcher Bernstein (Brookline, Mass.), forwards Ben Nakata (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Dennis Davidson (Newton, Mass.), and defenseman Joe Mense are all ‘06s and acquitted themselves well, making key contributions to their team’s success.
Dramatic finishes were the order of business, as prior to the championship game, spectators were treated to an excellent third-place game between Kimball Union Academy and Salisbury School. The Crimson Knights took a 2-0 lead on goals by Lee Parks, but KUA battled back to even the score on tallies by Matthew Maltais and Jaiden Moriello (Saugus, Mass.). The teams took a 2-2 game late into the final frame that appeared destined for overtime before a late goal by Revy Mack secured a 3-2 Wildcats win.
Westminster and Hotchkiss posted identical 3-0 victories over Andover and Deerfield in the fifth-place and seventh-place games to close out Sunday’s action.  With games at Milton Friday and Sunday, and Nobles on Saturday, it was good to have people in the rinks after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the bulk of the 2020-21 prep season, including all of the holiday events.
While not a complete list of all draft-eligible players, here are the individuals who garnered mention with some solid and notable performances.
Ben MacDonald (Weston, Mass.)
Nobles, C, 2/24/04, left shot, 6-0/175
NCAA commit: Harvard
High expectations surround MacDonald, and given the hype, he had a relatively quiet tournament before saving his best for the championship game. He might have been banged up a bit, as he appeared to be laboring a bit on the final day, but at the key moment, he tallied the game’s opening score on the power play, finishing off a nice give-and-go by going straight to the net. With time running down in regulation, he assisted on Roman Tacelli’s winning goal. While the winning strike came from a sharp angle and wasn’t a highlight-reel goal, it proved to be crucial in securing the tournament win. MacDonald has a high-end hockey IQ and the creativity to make advanced plays with and without the puck. There are times when you want to see him take more control of games and perhaps take a puck end-to-end versus trying too hard to get linemates involved, but that speaks to unselfishness in his approach. There is no doubt that he looked the part of an NHL draft pick here, and it will be interesting to follow his season to see how high he can climb on team boards.
Duncan Ramsay
KUA, D, 2/8/04, left shot, 6-4/210
NCAA commit: Vermont
With his outstanding height and skating, it is easy to see why there is NHL buzz on the Nova Scotian. He’s a fine defender, using his long reach and fluid footwork to excellent effect, his wingspan and active stick extremely difficult for puck carriers to successfully get around off the rush or in 1-on-1 situations. At the Flood-Marr, he placed a priority on his defensive play and was solid all weekend. While not an intimidating physical presence, he does use his body effectively in spots and along the walls. There are times when he could take the puck and use his skating to be more of a factor in KUA’s transition game than he is. He doesn’t have top puck skills or an attacking mindset, however, so that lack of an identified offensive dimension will probably keep him from breaking into the upper-echelon of the draft. Having said that, he’s so tall, long and graceful: he has the look of a future pro and carries himself well on the ice as one of the captains.
Dylan Hryckowian
Salisbury, LW, 5/19/04, right shot, 5-9/155
NCAA commit: Northeastern
Younger brother of Huskies freshman Justin Hryckowian (ritz-koh-vee-an) brings similar offensive instincts and ability to generate scoring with tremendous hands/skills but is a better skater than his older brother. The Quebec product and Cedar Rapids prospect in the USHL had an outstanding weekend, and despite lacking ideal pro size, may have done enough to get himself into serious draft consideration. He has an impressive burst to the puck and uses his slippery wiggle to control plays through traffic and slip through checks to get to the high danger areas. He can make any range of passes and is both a set-up man and finisher. He does the myriad things that NHL teams demand from smaller players, so if he can continue to score (16 points in 9 games to date), don’t be surprised to see him taken at some point in the later rounds. Add the fact that he’s headed for a top program in the Hockey East, there is real upside here.
Chris Romaine (Braintree, Mass.)
Milton, D, 2/21/04, right shot, 6-0/185
NCAA commit: Providence
While not a top-end draft candidate, Romaine is a good example of the quality depth prep hockey offers this season. Slow to grow earlier in his career, he is no longer undersized and has pro-caliber feet already. He gets back on retrievals quickly and can rev up the speed coming from behind his own net, able to beat the forechecking pressure and confidently handle the puck at speed. There are times when he could move pucks faster and with more urgency. He quarterbacks the Milton PP, doing a good job of not staying static and moving laterally along the blue line or pinching down to change shooting angles. While not a shutdown defender, he has the range and wheels to keep opponents to the outside and with more attention to detail in his own end, will represent an intriguing long-term project option for NHL clubs to invest in later on.
Matthew Maltais
KUA, LW, 9/2/04, left shot, 6-2/175
NCAA commit: Nebraska-Omaha
The import winger plays with desire and energy. With his height and ability to get around the sheet with speed and power, he jumps out at you from shift to shift. In the third-place game against Salisbury, he got the Wildcats on track from an 0-2 hole when he gained the blue line, made a bee-line to the net, and fired a heavy shot high into the back of the net. His playing style translates to the next levels, as he competes hard and is heavy with strong board play. He uses his strength to pick pucks off the walls and power through contact. He’s got a lot of filling out yet, but he gets a lot of puck touches and can fire it. Raw power forward potential as a pro on the lower-end of the roster and already plays a responsible two-way game.
Jackson Kyrkostas (Windham, N.H.)
KUA, RW, 8/19/04, right shot, 5-10/165
Smallish but speedy winger just keeps scoring and making plays, that it is impossible for him to not be noticed by NHL scouts. Whether that translates into being drafted or not remains to be seen, but like Hryckowian, the New Hampshire native helped himself at the Flood-Marr with a lot of eyes on him. He made a total hockey play to secure a dramatic late regulation win against Salisbury, backing a defender up at the blue line, then chipping the puck off the wall rather than trying to stickhandle around him. Teammate Tyler Wishart was able to win the race and make a centering feed, where the winning goal eventually found the back of the net with just 13.7 seconds left. He’s fast, with slick hands for passing, and plays with good pace. He’ll have to get a lot stronger, but he’s scoring at over 2 points per game right now, and if that holds up, that’s typically a good sign for the potential to keep advancing up the ranks and is a future Division 1 player.
Brian Grant (Mansfield, Mass.)
Nobles, D, 3/18/04, right shot, 6-1/180
Raw but athletic skater is a physical specimen who has Division 1 potential at the very least, but could be on NHL radars as well. He’s more of a long shot because his defensive play and decision-making is something that he’ll have to keep improving, but he handles pucks with aplomb and likes to get up in the play. As you watch him, he might be one of those players better suited on the wing where he can use his speed, physicality and energy to disrupt the breakout and crash the net. He has the tools to be a player to watch, but admittedly not generating much offensively from the back end in the early going.
