Nineteen New England prospects were taken in the 2023 USHL Phase 2 Draft on Wednesday. An additional 41 with connections to New England were taken, too.
While in Tuesday's Phase 1 Draft, USHL teams selected players from the 2007 birth year over 10 rounds, Wednesday's event was open to prospects of all ages eligible to play junior hockey and who weren't already protected by a USHL team. Teams drafted until their roster hit 45 players. The final pick came in the 24th round.
The Youngstown Phantoms held the first selection and took Charlie Cerrato of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program's U17 squad.
Trey Scott (Fitchburg, Mass.) was the first New England player selected when he was taken in the second round (19th overall) by the Omaha Lancers. Scott spent 43 games with the NAHL's Maryland Black Bears this past season and was previously with the Boston Junior Bruins.
The highest New England prep school prospect taken was Hudson Gorski, who played for head coach Andrew Will at Salisbury this past winter. He was selected by the Chicago Steel in the fourth round (61st overall).
Other New England prep school players selected were Ryan Shaw (East Longmeadow, Mass.), Rudy Guimond, Ryan Philbrick (Concord, N.H.), James Mackey, Hudson Miller, Stephen Peck, Gio DiGiulian (South Burlington, Vt.), Tate Pecknold (Southport, Conn.), Anthony Biakabutuka, Cullen Emery and Tom Molson.
PHASE 1: 13 New England '07 prospects were taken in the USHL Phase 1 Draft
Lots of New England colleges were represented throughout the draft as well. Maine and Merrimack both had four commits each selected, giving them the tie for most among New England colleges.
Let's dive into all of the New England picks.
New England natives
- Trey Scott, D, Fitchburg, Mass./Maryland Black Bears — Omaha (2nd Rd./19th overall)
- Matej Teply, D, Stamford, Conn./South Kent Selects Academy U18 — Chicago (3rd Rd./33rd overall)
- Chris Battaini, LW, Pittsfield, Mass./South Kent Selects Academy U18 (Merrimack) — Des Moines (4th Rd./62nd overall)
- Mason Kesselring, C, Manchester, N.H./Chilliwack Chiefs (UConn) — Lincoln (5th Rd./73rd overall)
- Ryan Shaw, RW, East Longmeadow, Mass./Westminster (RPI) — Youngstown (5th Rd./76th overall)
- Ryan Philbrick, D, Concord, N.H./Cushing (New Hampshire) — Cedar Rapids (7th Rd./100th overall)
- Oliver Genest, RW, Sanford, Maine/Maine Nordiques — Cedar Rapids (8th Rd./115th overall)
- Ronnie Hill, C, Saco, Maine/Seacoast Performance Academy U16 — Waterloo (10th Rd./151st overall)
- Gavin Moffatt, G, Darien, Conn./Wisconsin Windigo — Green Bay (11th Rd./162nd overall)
- Will Vote, RW, Arlington, Mass./USNTDP U18 (Boston College) — Youngstown (11th Rd./165th overall)
- Colton Whitfield, D, Warwick, R.I./Mount Saint Charles U18 — Tri-City (12th Rd./178th overall)
- Gio DiGiulian, FWD, South Burlington, Vt./Kent (Cornell) — Lincoln (12th Rd./179th overall)
- Tate Pecknold, LW, Southport, Conn./St. George's — Omaha (13th Rd./185th overall)
- Cameron Cooke, C, Pelham, N.H./Boston Junior Bruins U16 — Muskegon (13th Rd./187th overall)
- Brady Flynn, D, Milton, Mass./Shattuck-St. Mary's U16 — Des Moines (14th Rd./203rd overall)
- Owen Benoit, D, St. Albans, Vt./Aberdeen Wings — Sioux Falls (15th Rd./216th overall)
- Ryan Comishock, C, Enosburg Falls, Vt./Lone Star Brahmas — Muskegon (17th Rd./247th overall)
- Coleson Hanrahan, D, Longmeadow, Mass./P.A.L. Jr. Islanders — Youngstown (19th Rd./285th overall)
- Eric Whitelaw, C, Easton, Mass./Bishop Kearney Selects 16U — Muskegon (21st Rd./307th overall)
New England connections
- Lucas Szyzka, G, Chilliwack Chiefs (Maine) — Muskegon (1st Rd./4th overall)
- Kai Janviriya, D, USNTDP U18 (Boston University) — Lincoln (1st Rd./11th overall)
- Zac Somers, C, Melfort (Maine) — Omaha (1st Rd./13th overall)
- Nathan Tobey, D, USNTDP U17 (Quinnipiac) — Madison (1st Rd./14th overall)
- Anthony Cardilli, FWD, Mount Saint Charles U18 — Chicago (1st Rd./15th overall)
- James Goffredo, D, Austin Bruins (UMass Lowell) — Des Moines (2nd Rd./21st overall)
- Freddie Larsson, LW, Malmo Redhawks (Vermont) — Green Bay (2nd Rd./25th overall)
- Dean Letourneau, C, St. Andrew's College (Northeastern) — Sioux Falls (3rd Rd./34th overall)
- Martin Masa, D, Bishop's College (Providence) — Lincoln (3rd Rd./35th overall)
- Will Elger, RW, Alberni Valley Bulldogs (Providence) — Omaha (4th Rd./52nd overall)
- Charlie Lieberman, D, Janesville Jets (UMass) — Youngstown (4th Rd./56th overall)
- Hudson Gorski, D, Salisbury (Cornell) — Chicago (4th Rd./61st overall)
- Paul Minnehan, LW, Northeast Generals (Arizona State) — Des Moines (5th Rd./64th overall)
- Michael Chambre, G, USNTDP U18 (Boston University) — Sioux Falls (5th Rd./65th overall)
- Rudy Guimond, G, Taft (Yale) — Cedar Rapids (5th Rd./69th overall)
- Luke Goukler, LW, Nashville Jr. Predators U16 (Merrimack) — Chicago (5th Rd./78th overall)
- Jack Henry, D, Cranbrook Bucks (Yale) — Madison (6th Rd./85th overall)
- Christian Kirsch, G, Zug U17 (UMass) — Green Bay (6th Rd./87th overall)
- Lee Parks, RW, Vernon Vipers (UMass Lowell) — Fargo (6th Rd./93rd overall)
- Sebastian Bradshaw, LW, Elite Hockey Academy 18U (New Hampshire) — Lincoln (7th Rd./95th overall)
- Blake Montgomery, LW, Mount Saint Charles 18U — Lincoln (7th Rd./104th overall)
- James Mackey, D, Hotchkiss — Madison (9th Rd./124th overall)
- Hudson Miller, D, Avon Old Farms (Yale) — Sioux Falls (9th Rd./126th overall)
- Stephen Peck, G, Avon Old Farms — Muskegon (9th Rd./127th overall)
- Gryphon Watson-Bucci, C, Boston Hockey Academy U16 — Green Bay (9th Rd./132nd overall)
- Nick Peluso, LW, Cranbrook Bucks (Maine) — Tri-City (9th Rd./133rd overall)
- Larry Keenan, D, Culver Academy (UMass) — Lincoln (9th Rd./134th overall)
- Brady Smith, D, Trail Smoke Eaters (UConn) — Des Moines (11th Rd./158th overall)
- Cole Cooksey, LW, Markham Royals (Merrimack) — Cedar Rapids (12th Rd./175th overall)
- Blake Steenerson, RW, Maple Grove High School (Vermont) — Tri-City (13th Rd./193rd overall)
- Jack Good, C, St. Andrew's College (Merrimack) — Lincoln (14th Rd./209th overall)
- Joseph Mense, D, Boston Junior Bruins — Sioux City (15th Rd./219th overall)
- Chase Pirtle, RW, Mount Saint Charles 18U (Cornell) — Tri-City (15th Rd./223rd overall)
- Anthony Biakabutuka, D, Salisbury — Tri-City (17th Rd./253rd overall)
- Matt Desiderio, D, Austin Bruins (Brown) — Dubuque (18th Rd./266th overall)
- Cullen Emery, C, Dexter Southfield — Green Bay (18th Rd./267th overall)
- Luke Posthumus, C, Nepean Raiders (Northeastern) — Tri-City (18th Rd./268th overall)
- Tom Molson, FWD, Deerfield — Lincoln (18th Rd./269th overall)
- Kason Muscutt, C, Shreveport Mudbugs (Maine) — Cedar Rapids (19th Rd./280th overall)
- Tanner Willick, D, Blackfalds Bulldogs (American International College) — Lincoln (20th Rd./299th overall)
- Mitchell Kneidel, D, Cleveland Barons U16 (Dartmouth) — Green Bay (22nd Rd./327th overall)
