Four New England natives have been invited to attend the 2023 USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) Evaluation Camp.
With invitations officially going out late last month, 2007-born players from across the country learned their fate in terms of having a chance to prove they belonged on the 2023-24 USA Hockey NTDP U17 team.
New England’s '07s are hoping to join '06 forwards Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) and Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.) at the Plymouth, Mich.-based program this September. Forwards Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.), Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.) and Will Vote (Arlington, Mass.), all '05s from the region, will all be moving on from the NTDP and playing at Boston College for the 2023-24 season.
Mount Saint Charles 15O defenseman Carter Amico (Portland, Maine), Mid Fairfield 15O defenseman Anthony Bongo (Ridgefield, Conn.), St. Mark’s center Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) and St. Sebastian’s and Junior Eagles 16U right wing Teddy Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) will head to USA Hockey Arena March 19-22 for a chance to compete for a spot on next year’s NTDP U17 team.
Amico is in his first year at Mount Saint Charles after spending the 2021-22 campaign with Seacoast Performance Academy 14U. A big, athletic, rangy defender, he has upside as far as the program is concerned. He’s played some wing and has been at the net front on the power play for Scott Gainey’s team this season.
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Bongo has been a longtime member of the Mid Fairfield Rangers organization. He’s on the smaller side, but his hockey sense and skating allow him to be a breakout machine and power play quarterback. Bongo wows you when watching him, due to his ability to juke oncoming forecheckers and make plays at both ends of the ice.
Gallant, who missed the end of the prep season with an injury, has been regarded as one of the top forwards in the '07 birth year for quite a while. He grew up playing for the vaunted Islanders Hockey Club '07 team before spending the past two years as a scoring phenom at St. Mark’s. What stands out besides his offensive production is just how hard he plays for a smaller forward.
Mutryn is an athletic, physical specimen whose pro upside jumps off the page when watching him play. Like Gallant, Mutryn has proven he can score against older players at the prep school level. He has played center and right wing. His skating, pro frame, ability to play well away from the puck and slide up and down the lineup as a versatile player are reasons he is projected to make the team.
In addition to the four New England natives, three other players from Mount Saint Charles 15O have been invited to the NTDP Evaluation Camp: center Conrad Fondrk, defenseman Matthew Grimes, and center Nicholas Whitehead. Of those three players, Fondrk is the one with the best chance to make the team.
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Shattuck-St. Mary’s 16U right wing Will Belle, Little Caesars 15O center Will Horcoff, Chicago Mission 15O right wing Cole McKinney, Bishop Kearney Selects 15O left wing Jack Murtagh, Dallas Stars Elite 16U center Cullen Potter, and Los Angeles Junior Kings 15O center Jake Stuart are some big name forwards in the '07 group who will look to shine at the camp.
On the blue line, some of the top players destined for the camp include Asher Barnett (Chicago Mission 15O), Donny Bracco (Long Island Gulls 16U), Garrett Lindberg (Moorhead High School), Maceo Phillips (Benilde-St. Margaret), and Charlie Tretheway (Little Caesars 15O). If there’s one lock among the goaltenders, it’s Shattuck-St. Mary’s 16U’s Harrison Boettiger.
