Huskies get calls
3 UConn hockey players get picked in the NFL draft
When the college men’s hockey season starts up, UConnwill have three more NHL draftees on its roster.
Calgary grabbed sophomore defenseman Yan Kuznetsov, the youngest player NCAA hockey last season, in the second round, No. 50 overall, in the draft this week. Incoming freshman Artem Shlaine was taken in the fifth round (150th overall) by the Devils and Nick Capone, from East Haven, went to the Stanley Cup champion Lightning in the sixth round, No. 157.
Ku z n e t s o v, from Murmansk, Russia, played in all 34 games for the Huskies last season, and did not turn 18 until March 9, after the season ended. He scored two goals and had nine assists.
“Physically, he’s built like a pro,” said UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh. “He’s 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, in tremendous shape, he’s very strong. He has that right away. The hardest part was just learning to play at the speed that kids 22, 23 years old play.”
Kuznetsov, who first left Russia with NHL dreams at age 10, told the Calgary Sun, “It means a lot. It’s one of the milestones for your career. Once you’re drafted, the real work begins and you have to work more to make the NHL. That’s why we’re all here.”
Shlaine, 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, a forward from Moscow who played prep school hockey in Minnesota, and Capone, the first Connecticut-born UConn player to be drafted, are in their first semesters on campus getting ready for the season, which is tentatively slated to start Nov. 20.
“From the little time I’ve spent with [Shlaine] on the ice,” Cavanaugh said, “his hockey IQ and his ability to know what he’s going to do with the puck before he gets it is really, really special. He’s one of those guys where you say, ‘how did he get that pass through?’”
Capone, 6-2 and 205, played at East Haven High, then at Salisbury Prep.
“Nick is a kid who I believe has the ability to be that power forward that’s so precious in today’s game,” Cavanaugh said. “You don’t see those guys often. You just saw with Pat Maroon, how important a piece he was for the Blues last year, who won the Stanley Cup, and for the Lightning this year, and Nick plays that type of game. When you’re a big, strong physical presence and a threat offensively, that’s a lethal combination.”
Other players with state ties who were picked in the draft include Alex Jefferies, who played at The Gunnery School, by the Islanders in the fourth round, and Ty Smilanic, an incoming freshman at Quinnipiac, by the Panthers in the third round. Smilanic, picked 74th overall, is the highest-drafted player in Quinnipiac’s history, which includes 12 previous picks.
The Huskies finished last season 15-15-4, including 12-10-in Hockey East. The players are allowed on the ice a few times per week in preparation for what, in COVID-dominated 2020, will be an unusual season. Last week, SNY-sponsored Connecticut Ice, the tournament involving UConn,
Yale, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart, was canceled, to resume in January 2022 in Bridgeport. “I thought last year was a terrific first step for it,” Cavanaugh said. “I think it can be the marquee hockey event the state has year in and year out.”
On Wednesday, it was learned there will be no UConn basketball or hockey games at the XL Center until the fall of 2021, keeping “The Ice Bus” on campus for home games at the Freitas Forum. The Huskies averaged more than 3,800 fans for 15 games in Hartford last season.
“It going to be really nice for our kids not to get on a bus to go to every game,” Cavanaugh said, “but I’ve grown to really love the fan base down at the XLCenter. When we’re putting 5,000 or 6,000 people in that building it’s a huge home ice advantage for us. We’re going to miss that, but this is the type of year when you’re going to have to be able to handle curveballs.”
The schedule is not finalized, but, Cavanaugh said, Hockey East is focusing on a start date around Nov. 20, with campuses emptying before Thanksgiving. The plan is to play 20 conference games that count toward the league title, and four to eight additional games, within the conference, that will be designated nonconference games. The idea is to insure Hockey East teams play all their games under the conference’s coronavirus testing, health and safety protocols. Freitas will require some adjustments to the visiting locker room.
“We have to make the best of it,” Cavanaugh said. “To be able to play 26 to 28 games this year against conference opponents, that would be a win right now.”