The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Breaking down CT players chances in the NHL Draft
UConn’s Matthew Wood is expected to be a first-rounder, but a handful of others with local ties could hear their names called this week in Nashville, Tenn., at the NHL Entry Draft.
A member of Quinnipiac’s national championship men’s team, a few local colleges’ recruits and several local prep school players also appeared on the final rankings from the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau (CSB) in April.
The league’s 32 teams will select 224 players over seven rounds at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Predators. For college players or those who become college players, teams’ rights usually last until their graduation year.
ESPN airs the first round airs Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m. NHL Network has coverage of the remainder of the draft beginning Thursday at 11 a.m. Chicago won the draft lottery for the first pick, certain to be Canadian juniors star Connor Bedard, who has been touted as a generational player.
Wood, a right winger, led the Huskies with 34 points in 35 games last season, including 11
Wednesday, 7 p.m. (ESPN) goals. CSB ranked him fourth among North American skaters, listing him at 6-foot-3 ½ and 193 pounds.
He could join Tage Thompson as Huskies first rounders. St. Louis selected Thompson 26th overall in 2016. The Blues traded him to Buffalo in a 2018 deal for Ryan O’Reilly, which helped St.
Louis win the 2019 Stanley Cup. Thompson, who spent time growing up in Milford and Orange, has blossomed as a Sabre, scoring 47 goals and 47 assists this past season.
Quinnipiac defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault could also get the call; CSB ranked him 179th among North American skaters. He had nine points and rated a plus-9 while playing all 41 games for the national champs. Bobcats commit Chris Pelosi of New Jersey could also go, ranked 127th.
At least three UConn recruits are on the CSB lists, forwards Ethan Gardula and Kaden Shahan along with defenseman Kevin Fitzgerald. All three played junior hockey for Sioux City of the United States Hockey League this season past.
Taft goalie Rudy Guimond, committed to Yale, was the 17thranked North American goalie by CSB and one of three Connecticut prep-schoolers on the lists, including Avon Old Farms’ forward Joe Connor (74th skater) and goalie Stephen Peck (seventh goalie).
Among the former local prep schoolers on the lists is Salisbury forward Ben Poitras, who played in the USHL last season, ranking 80th among skaters. South Kent Selects goalie Jacob Fowler and Elite Hockey Academy 18U forward Sebastian Bradshaw are ranked, as is Lucas St. Louis, former Brunswick defenseman and son of Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis.