MARLBORO, Mass. — The second round of the Mass. Hockey CCM High Performance Festival concluded last weekend, and the list of players who have advanced to the “Final 40” May 21-22 at New England Sports Center was released Wednesday.
Having seen two full games of the 2007-born Massachusetts class, the forwards are a deep group, especially without the benefit of seeing two of the area’s top talents in Teddy Mutryn and Richard Gallant, who were out with injuries. The defense and goaltending is not quite as strong, but there were plenty of prospects at all positions who earned their way to the final evaluation next weekend.
On the line is the opportunity to participate in the USA Hockey Select 15 National Development Camp in Amherst, N.Y., in July. This is the first major gate for players who aspire to play at the highest levels.
So let's examine some takeaways from last weekend and look at three top '07s from outside of the region who stood out in live viewings from the season and who project to be in contention for the U.S. National Team Development Program next March.
MORE MASS. HOCKEY FESTIVAL: '07s takeaways | '06s takeaways | '05s takeaways
Forwards
The Bay State boasts a solid group overall that has generated some buzz with talent like Mikey Munroe (Hanover, Mass.), Jake Tavares (Belmont, Mass.) and Tommy Anderson (Braintree, Mass.), who all possess higher-end skill and upside for junior hockey and beyond.
Munroe, Tavares and Liam Gore (Arlington, Mass.) have been standout performers on the Boston Jr. Eagles, but Rian Chudzinski (Needham, Mass.), Evan Nee (Arlington, Mass.) and Ethan Figueiredo (Hudson, Mass.) did good work to showcase their skating and small-area skills. Chudzinski goes to the greasy areas and spends a good amount of time around the front of the net. Figueiredo is more of a speedy, open-ice skater who can beat defenders wide and likes to play with more of a highlight reel offensive style. This format played to his strengths.
A pair of Mount Saint Charles forwards from Mass. played together on Team Red, with Dylan Krayer (Concord, Mass.) showing some of the best talent and upside of any player here. Krayer has been a consistent threat all season on the top-ranked MSC 15 Only team. His pace and offensive instincts are well above average. He’s able to take pucks and score from the outside or get in close to rip shots to the back of the net. Griffin Davey (Mansfield, Mass.) has been more of a supporting cast member on that team, but he’s a sound player who brings good effort and details to the mix. In unstructured games, he was able to make smart plays with and without the puck.
BC High freshman Joe Feinberg (Needham, Mass.) played a strong game Friday, going to the net consistently and sniping a goal upstairs with a nifty move to gain time and space for himself. He brings a little bit of everything to the table for the Eagles after making some key contributions last season, and could be in line for a big 2022-23 MIAA season.
Defensemen
Islanders Hockey Club and inbound Catholic Memorial two-way contributor Anthony Pellitteri (Holbrook, Mass.) impressed with his mobility, decisive puck movements and ability to activate or hang back and defend effectively.
The Junior Eagles were well represented again on the back end with solid performances from Arlington, Mass. and MIAA product Evan Jones, Zack Miller (Plymouth, Mass.) and Myles Brosnan (Winchester, Mass.). Miller has good size and plays a simple, efficient game with good puck touches, while Brosnan uses his wheels and an aggressive mindset to advance pucks and move the play up the ice.
Princeton, Mass. ,native Shayne Gould can really skate and move pucks. He stands out with how quickly he’s able to get back in retrieval, and despite a lack of natural size, make positive plays under pressure. It will be interesting to see how much he matures physically in the coming years, as he’s been a dynamic presence on the back end at the lower levels.
Malden Catholic's Nick Evans is a quintessential defender who does a lot of things well and doesn't necessarily attract a lot of hype. The homegrown MC Lancer is smart, and always seems to be where the puck will be, showing poise under pressure and making sound decisions.
Goaltenders
Having seen Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.), Jason Thibodeau (Waltham, Mass.) and Derrick Huang (Carlisle, Mass.) over the course of the season, they performed to expectations here.
Devin Mehta (Princeton, Mass.) from Boston Advantage showed some fluid lateral movement and footwork in his crease. He was able to secure the final of four goalie spots for the last phase of evaluation.
Outside of New England
Conrad Fondrk is a Minnesota native who played for the Mount Saint Charles 15 team and is the total combination of size, skill and scoring. He gave a lot of opponents headaches over the course of the season with his ability to generate instant offense off of mistakes and turnovers. Lethal on the power play, can shoot off the pass to before the goaltender gets set, and drove hard to the net, creating havoc where he went.
Chicago Mission defenseman Asher Barnett is an elite-tier prospect who impressed in every viewing with his size, skating, two-way skills and the ability to play with some bite/jam. The 6-foot, 170-pound left shot is going to attract a ton of interest in the coming season.
Rounding out the group is another player on the back end — Pittsburgh Elite star Charlie Trethewey. The Maryland product is tall (6-foot-1, 170), a mobile skater who has room to smooth out the footwork, but shows real poise with the puck and maintains good gaps/keeps opponents to the outside.
