The book has long been closed on the 2023-24 boys prep hockey season.
Kimball Union was the best team all winter, winning the Elite 8 championship over Cushing. Kent edged Dexter Southfield for the Large School championship. The most stunning win of all was Canterbury taking down Rivers in the Small School section.
It wasn’t stunning that Canterbury beat Rivers; it was stunning that Canterbury as a program was in that kind of position. Every year, there seems to be a new prep team pulling itself into relevance. We’ll get to that in a bit.
There were a lot of other interesting storylines throughout the year, including NHL Draft prospects, high point-getters and phenomenal goaltending.
I did a similar story last year. It was fun to go back and read it, seeing what I got right. There were some great teams and players who I didn’t mention. In my defense, a lot changes during the fall.
While fall hockey begins this week, let's look ahead to three months from now and dive in.
1. Who will be the best team?
The usual suspects will be contending for the Elite 8 again. Salisbury, Cushing, Avon Old Farms and Kimball Union will reload as they often do. The big storyline among those four teams is Cushing’s new bench boss, Ryan Bourque, taking over for Paul Pearl, who left to become the athletic director at Dexter Southfield. Those four teams will strike fear in opponents.
Dexter also will be a top team. Head coach Dan Donato’s bunch is older. Its clear strength is on offense, led by seniors Sean Leetch (Boston, Mass.), Nate Porter (Hingham, Mass.), Tyler Hamilton (Framingham, Mass.), juniors Joe Marchi (Foxboro, Mass.) and Jake Assad (Franklin, Mass.), and sophomore star Noah Survilas (Winthrop, Mass.). Dexter also will be bolstered by former St. Sebastian’s forward Rian Chudzinski (Needham, Mass.), former Xaverian forward Jack Fitzpatrick (Canton, Mass.) and former Catholic Memorial forward Nick D’Olympio (Rockland, Mass.). Those are all top-line players at the prep level.
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The ISL Keller features two teams that will be in the hunt for the Elite 8: Nobles and Belmont Hill.
Nobles features a plethora of senior scorers in Kyle O’Leary (Medfield, Mass.), Teddy MacAusland (Westwood, Mass.), Dennis Davidson (Newton, Mass.), Ethan Cox (Westboro, Mass.) and Ben Nakata (West Barnstable, Mass.). The emergence of junior Billy MacAusland (Westwood, Mass.) also will be vital for the Bulldogs.
Belmont Hill looks a bit more well-rounded with exciting young guns David Bosco (Winchester, Mass.) and Jake Tavares (Belmont, Mass.) up front, Grayson Cohen (Weston, Mass.) and new recruit Evan Jones (Arlington, Mass.) on the back end and JJ Thibodeau (Waltham, Mass.) and Keagin Wilson (Hingham, Mass.) in net.
Rivers and St. George’s likely will be battling for Elite 8 contention in the ISL Eberhart.
2. Can anyone touch Jack Sadowski’s 87 points?
Surpassing 87 points seems doubtful considering even just hitting 80 points happens infrequently. Still, there will be high point-getters.
Keeping it with Kimball Union, Corwith Simmers and CJ Watroba (West Springfield, Mass.) will be candidates to be leading point-getters in the region. Indiana Grossbard (Wilton, Conn.) will suit up for Avon Old Farms this winter, so the ’07 is slated for a big jump in production. Throw Providence commit Cooper Snee in there, too. Connor Davis is poised for a big senior year with Salisbury.
Parker Murch posted 61 points as a sophomore at Berwick last season. He will make the move to Cushing this year. He will be relied upon heavily to produce in Ashburnham, Mass.
Some of the players mentioned above like Chudzinski, Survilas, Porter, Leetch, O’Leary and the MacAusland brothers will see big jumps in point production. However, their teams have lots of players ready for productive seasons. Bosco and Tavares don’t have as much depth around them, so I’d expect those two to have large point totals come March.
And then there’s those three freshmen at Rivers.
3. What will the next steps be for Carter Meyer, Finn Sears and Sam Pandolfo?
One of the biggest stories during the 2023-24 prep season was the emergence of Meyer, Sears and Pandolfo as eighth-graders. Meyer finished the season with a team-high 39 points, earning New England Hockey Journal’s Rookie of the Year award. Sears notched 34, while Pandolfo posted 25.
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What will their next step be?
All three should be consistently watched by the U.S. National Team Development Program this winter as the Plymouth, Mich., based squad recruits ’09s for 2025-26. Meyer’s skill and poise should have him well over 40 points. Sears’ skating should have him in a similar spot, too.
The interesting one will be Pandolfo.
He is already 6-foot-2 and extremely raw. The hockey bloodlines are strong with his father being current BU men’s hockey coach and two-time Stanley Cup champion Jay Pandolfo. Talk to any hockey mind who has watched Rivers more than once and they will rave about what Sam Pandolfo could be someday. We already got early signs of that last year.
Expect this season to be another big step in Pandolfo’s development.
4. Who will be the best defensemen?
Kimball Union’s Andrew O’Sullivan (Boston, Mass.) and Holderness’ Caeden Herrington (Manchester, Vt.) were the leaders on defense last season. Both will be gone next season, which means the race for best defensemen in prep is wide open.
The early candidate for best defender in prep is Everett Baldwin (Providence, R.I.). The St. George’s blueliner is slated to return to the Dragons for his senior year. He posted 27 points in 28 games as a junior. His skating and playmaking abilities should have him on pace to post the most points in the region for defensemen. We’ll get to his NHL Draft prospects in a minute. Another St. George’s defenseman to watch is Marco Senerchia (Greenville, R.I.), who notched 10 goals and 33 points in 28 games last winter.
Cushing has two strong candidates: Tyler Russo (Hamilton, Mass.) and Ryland Randle. Russo has become known for his outstanding shutdown abilities, while Randle is dynamic and should be a force offensively.
5. Best goalies?
Last season, Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.) was tied for the region lead in save percentage at .939. He did that as a sophomore with Avon Old Farms. He should be dominant again for the Winged Beavers.
Reigning Elite 8 champion Kimball Union will bring back Blake McMeniman (Revere, Mass.), who was sensational for the Wildcats en route to a title. Salisbury’s Steven Luciano looks poised and ready to take over the starter’s net with the Crimson Knights.
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Taft’s Brady Morris posted a dazzling 2.42 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage as a junior last season. He should be even better with a year as the starter under his belt.
One newcomer to keep an eye on is Jacoby Weiner at Kent. The Mid Fairfield product tried out for the U.S. NTDP team in the spring. At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Weiner has all the traits of an elite Division 1 prospect. Two former MIAA stars to watch are Cole Pouliot-Porter (Wrentham, Mass.) at New Hampton and Aiden Emerick (Winchester, Mass.) at Lawrence Academy. Emerick heroically led Winchester High to within a goal of winning the Division 1 state title and Pouliot-Porter has been the best netminder in the league over the last two seasons.
6. 2025 NHL Draft prospects
Ben Merrill (Hingham, Mass.) was the lone prospect selected straight from prep in June. Given the rise of the USHL and players leaving early for it, the standards are extremely high for a player to be taken out of prep. Merrill, who stands at 6-foot-4, was picked based on his offensive upside and skill and what he could be.
As of late August, Baldwin appears to be the lone definite 2025 NHL Draft prospect in prep. His elite skating and offensive abilities from the back end project him as a second-, third- or fourth-round candidate. Baldwin would be selected based on how dynamic his offensive game could be as he rises through the ranks of juniors, college and the NHL.
Two other prep names to watch for the draft next season will be Watroba and Russo. Again, that could change.
7. Surprise teams in Elite 8 contention
Last year, the surprise team was St. George’s, finishing No. 7 and coming oh-so-close to knocking off Kimball Union in the quarterfinals.
The teams mentioned above — Belmont Hill, Nobles and Dexter Southfield — will contend for Elite 8 spots. Those aren’t surprises.
Kent, with Weiner in net, could be one. The Lions won the Large School championship last season. Rivers has the high-end young talent to challenge for a spot. The Red Wings were in the Small School championship last season. Phillips Andover is another contender with a strong group of seniors coming back.
Another interesting team to watch is St. Mark’s. The Lions will be deep and if one of Justin BriseBois and Cassidy Kittredge can be consistent in net, they’ll contend.
8. Which teams could become the next Canterbury?
Last season, Canterbury had an eight-win improvement over 2022-23 to win the Small School championship. Even more impressive was how head coach Paddy McCarthy slowly guided the Saints out of the basement.
In 2021-22, they had seven wins. From 2018-20, they had back-to-back four-win seasons. That came after a 10-win season in 2017-18 and five victories in 2016-17.
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During the 2022-23 season, it was Taft that experienced this kind of boost. After years of struggles, the Rhinos won the Large School tournament over Salisbury.
Who’s next?
An interesting team is Thayer. Led by David Hymovitz, it wouldn’t be as drastic as Canterbury, but the Tigers haven’t been above .500 since 2019-20. They have some potent older talent and intriguing younger prospects.
