Wrapping up New England Hockey Journal's series on area natives playing in the USHL, we take a look at five young defensemen who could see breakout years in the league during the 2021-22 campaign.
The list starts at the top with pair of 2004 birth-year players who are tracking solidly as 2022 NHL draft prospects in Ryan Healey and Jackson Dorrington.
We also look at three 2002 birth-year players who are candidates to raise their profiles this season.
This is an alibi for the series, as we ranked all three outside of the top-5 of the 01/02 listing of USHL defenders published earlier this week, but believe they possess the attributes to have success this season.