Three New Englanders will be at USA Hockey's final evaluation camp for the 2025 World Junior Championship. Boston College forwards Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) and Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.), along with Boston University forward Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) will be at the camp, which runs Dec. 16-17 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich. Leonard...
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Three New Englanders will be at USA Hockey's final evaluation camp for the 2025 World Junior Championship.
Boston College forwards Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) and Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.), along with Boston University forward Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) will be at the camp, which runs Dec. 16-17 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich.
Leonard is enjoying a strong start to his sophomore season, leading the country in goals (11) and posting 17 points, which is tied for 10th. The fiery power forward was the eighth overall pick by the Washington Capitals in the 2023 NHL Draft and was a star for Pope Francis before moving to the U.S. National Team Development Program.
He was on the gold medal-winning squad, scoring an incredible goal in the championship and famously blowing a kiss to the crowd. He finished the tournament with three goals and six points.
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Eiserman and Stiga are newbies to this.
Eiserman was surprisingly left off the preliminary roster last season despite still being on the USNTDP's U18 team. As a freshman at BU, he's tied for 10th in the country in goals with nine. He ranks second on his team in points (13).
He's known for his deadly shot, which helped him go 20th overall to the New York Islanders in this year's NHL Draft. Before setting the USNTDP scoring record, he was a standout at Shattuck-St. Mary's. Before that, he was with the Middlesex Islanders.
Stiga has had a nice start to his freshman season at BC with three goals and nine points in 13 games. The 5-foot-10, 179-forward can play the middle and the wing, and was taken 55th overall by the Nashville Predators in this year's NHL Draft. Before the USNTDP, he was a star for Belmont Hill and the Boston Junior Eagles.
While these three are the only locals, there are a plethora of other players from New England college hockey schools who will be in attendance.
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Joining Leonard and Stiga will be their teammates James Hagens and Gabe Perreault, along with defensemen Drew Fortescue and Aram Minnetian. Eiserman will have forward Brandon Svodboda and defenseman Cole Hutson joining him from BU.
Providence College forward Trevor Connelly, a first-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, got an invite. So, too, did Quinnipiac forward and Boston Bruins draft pick Christopher Pelosi.
The roster will be set at 25 players. The tournament will be in Ottawa from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.
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