Pair of Friars selected on Day 2 of draft

CHICAGO — Providence College recruit Ben Mirageas (Newburyport, Mass.) and sophomore Jacob Bryson (London, Ontario) were selected on day two of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft held at the United Center on Saturday.

Mirageas, a 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound defenseman was selected by the New York Islanders in the third round (77th overall). The Newburyport, Massachusetts native finished the 2016-17 season with the USHL’s Clark Cup Champion, Chicago Steel.

After a midseason trade from the Bloomington Thunder to Chicago, Mirageas posted nine points in 14 regular season games and added 10 assists in 14 playoff games for the Steel.

He also competed in the 2016 CCM All-American Prospects Game and the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Tournament for Team USA.

He becomes the first Friar to be drafted by the New York Islanders since Tom Fitzgerald in 1986.

Coming off a solid rookie campaign with the Friars in 2016-17, Bryson was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round with the 99th overall pick.

The London, Ontario native finished third among Hockey East rookie defensemen with 20 points (3-17-20) and his 17 assists were good for sixth among all NCAA freshmen defensemen. Bryson is the third Friar defenseman to be drafted by Buffalo since 2009 (Mark Adams, 2009 and Anthony Florentino, 2013).

Mirageas and Bryson join the cast of Vincent Desharnais (EDM), Brandon Duhaime (MIN), Erik Foley (WPG), Kasper Björkqvist (PIT), Brian Pinho (WSH), Hayden Hawkey (MTL), and future Friar Jake Ryczek (CHI) that were selected in recent NHL Entry Drafts.