When the 2022 USHL Clark Cup playoffs get underway Monday night, it will be with plenty of players from New England or those with a connection to the region contributing significantly.
This was another solid year for New England products in the USHL. This year’s area players had a tough act to follow as Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) scored 101 points in the regular season for the eventual Clark Cup champion Chicago Steel in 2020-21.
The USHL, in its 20th season as the nation’s only Tier 1 junior hockey league, boasts a number of NHL draft picks and college commits from across North America and Europe. Below is a look at several players with ties to New England who made major contributions during the regular season.
Jeremy Wilmer
Wilmer was the USHL’s scoring champion as a left wing for the Tri-City Storm. A Boston University commit, the '03 from Rockville Center, N.Y., scored 25 goals and 73 assists for 98 points in 60 regular season games. After two seasons with USA Hockey’s NTDP, Wilmer wisely spent another year in junior hockey, honing his game to get ready for being an impact player with the Terriers. Playing on a loaded Tri-City roster, Wilmer helped coach Anthony Noreen’s team win the Anderson Cup as the top team in the USHL’s regular season.
The Storm has a number of other players with ties to the region. Mount Saint Charles alum and Quinnipiac commit Victor Czerneckianair (Southington, Conn.) and future UMass defenseman Shaun McEwen (Hadley, Mass.) are the only rostered players from the region. However, defensemen Vinny Borgesi (Northeastern) and forward Tanner Adams (Providence), a former star for Mount Saint Charles, are all committed to Hockey East schools. Kent alum Dane Dowiak is another key contributor for the Storm. Starting goaltender Arsenii Sergeyev, a 2021 seventh round pick of the Calgary Flames, is committed to UConn.
Aidan Thompson
Thompson, the former Berkshire and Neponset Valley River Rats standout, was the fourth leading scorer in the USHL during the regular season. The Fort Collins, Colo., native amassed 24 goals and 58 assists in 57 games for the Lincoln Stars. The speedy winger skated for two seasons at Berkshire, helping the Bears to the 2019-20 NEPSAC Elite 8 semifinals. Thompson is committed to play college hockey for Denver, the current NCAA champion. Don’t be surprised if an NHL team steps up and takes Thompson in his third chance at the draft. Despite being an '02, his skill set, upward trajectory, and college destination will all be viewed favorably among scouts.
Adam Fantilli
The former Kimball Union star center continues to dazzle the hockey world. Now in his second full season in the USHL, the late '04 from Toronto finished seventh in points and third in goals. Fantilli tallied 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 points. Along with '05 Connor Bedard of the WHL’s Regina Pats, Fantilli is at the top of most rankings when it comes to projecting the 2023 NHL draft. Fantilli scored 18 goals and had 18 assists in 26 games in his one season at Kimball Union while playing fall hockey for Top Gun. He’s accelerated his schooling so he can enroll a year early at the University of Michigan for the 2022-23 campaign.
Ben Steeves
Steeves was the top-scoring New England product during the USHL regular season. An '02 from Bedford, N.H., Steeves played youth hockey for the New Hampshire Avalanche and Junior Monarchs before moving away from the area. His ascent up the scoring charts was impressive as his game has become much more well-rounded over the past few years. In 60 games for the Sioux City Steel, the second-place team in the Western Conference, he scored 39 goals and had 28 assists. He finished tied for the USHL lead in goals with Tri-City defenseman Mitchell Miller. All the way back to his bantam and midget days, Steeves has been a pure goal scorer. He’ll get a chance to continue that reputation while playing in the NCHC with three-time national champion Minnesota Duluth.
Steeves finished second on the Musketeers in scoring, only behind Mount Saint Charles alum Owen McLaughlin. The '03 scored 28 goals and added 44 assists for 72 points, which ranked 10th in the USHL. McLaughlin, a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, saw his stock soar, leading him to switch his college commitment from Penn State to North Dakota.
Jack Williams
Perseverance paid off for Williams. In his third full USHL season, the Biddeford, Maine, native finished 19th on the scoring charts with 18 goals and 41 assists for 59 points in 58 games. In his three full seasons playing for the Muskegon Lumberjacks, he saw his points total increase from 13 to 38 to 59. He wore the captain’s ‘C’ for the Lumberjacks and will join Northeastern in the fall, fulfilling a commitment he made in 2017. Kudos to him and the Huskies for staying loyal to each other. Prior to skating in 177 USHL games, Williams skated for Berwick and South Kent Selects Academy.
Owen Fowler
The two most penalized players in the USHL this season hailed from Massachusetts. Owen Fowler (Tewksbury, Mass.) ranked second in the league in penalty minutes with 196 while splitting time between the Omaha Lancers and Sioux City Musketeers. In 55 total games, he lit the lamp 10 times and dished out 27 helpers. He’ll play a key role in Sioux City’s quest for a Clark Cup. Committed to UMass Lowell, the '02 played for Central Catholic, Governor’s Academy and the Neponset Valley River Rats prior to heading west for the USHL.
The penalty minutes leader was defenseman Joe Fleming of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. The '03 from Wellesley, Mass., scored two goals and had 14 assists while amassing 202 minutes in the sin bin. The Northeastern commit exceeded expectations by staying in the USHL. A Boston Junior Eagles alum, he played high school hockey at Wellesley before going to Proctor.
Four other New Englanders all finished inside the top 15 in penalty minutes. Cedar Rapids forwards Conor Lovett (Franklin, Mass.) and Andy Moore (Cumberland, Maine) both surpassed the century mark in penalty minutes. The duo is committed to New Hampshire and Northeastern, respectively. Defensemen Jack Pascucci (North Andover, Mass.) and Kennedy O’Connor (Springfield, Mass.) also climbed over the 100-minute mark in penalties. Pascucci and O’Connor are slated to play for UConn and UMass, respectively.
Philip Svedeback
The top three in save percentage among goaltenders with at least 10 games all have a connection to New England. Philip Svedeback backstopped Dubuque to a second-place finish in the USHL Eastern Conference. A fourth-round pick of the Boston Bruins in the 2021 NHL draft, Svedeback finished the season with a .910 save percentage. The '02 from Stockholm, Sweden, is committed to Providence College. He’s the logical replacement for Jaxson Stauber, who signed a pro contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, leaving two years of eligibility on the table.
The only two goaltenders with a better save percentage than him were former South Kent Selects Academy star Jacob Fowler and Sergeyev, mentioned above. Fowler is a great story as the late '04 from Melbourne, Fla., left South Kent midseason to join the Youngstown Phantoms. In 18 appearances, he finished with a 11-4-1 record, .927 save percentage and 2.18 goals against average. Fowler, a product of the Florida Alliance youth organization, is committed to Clarkson.
Cameron Lund
Lund (Bridgewater, Mass.) finished fourth in scoring among first-year draft-eligible players in the USHL. The Northeastern commit potted 25 goals and had 25 assists in 62 games for the Green Bay Gamblers. The former Cushing, South Shore Kings and Junior Bruins standout has significant interest among NHL suitors with most pundits projecting him to be selected in the second or third round. An '04, Lund will be one of a handful of players in his birth year looking to make a mark in Hockey East on a talented Huskies team in 2022-23.
Lund finished one point behind Green Bay teammate Ryan Greene, a late '03 who is also in his first year of draft eligibility. The former South Kent Selects Academy center scored 19 goals and 32 assists. Greene is committed to Boston University.
