Players have begun arriving at the Northtown Center in Amherst, N.Y. for the 2019 USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp, the evaluation process used to select the roster for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team that will compete in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup later this summer.
The Hlinka-Gretzky Cup is the first big event on the scouting calendar ahead of the 2020 NHL Draft that will be held next June in Montreal. While most countries send their top players, USA Hockey elects to field its team with players from outside the NTDP.
The USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp is made up of many of the top 2002-born players in the country, sans those who are on the NTDP. In addition to USA Hockey personnel that will be selecting the roster, most NHL organizations will have scouts in attendance and a majority of college programs will be represented by head or assistant coaches.
The 2019 U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team roster will be fairly deep up front, but there could be serious issues on the blue line.
New England Hockey Journal’s Jeff Cox will be in Amherst for the USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp. Here’s his pre-camp look at what roster he would send to Czech Republic and Slovakia, if he were choosing the team:
Forwards
Blake Biondi
#17 Gold, Hermantown HS, 4/24/02, RW, Right Shot, 6-0/185
NCAA Commit: Minnesota Duluth
Alexandros Gaffney
#15 Red, Muskegon Lumberjacks, 6/25/02, C/LW, Left Shot, 5-8/154
NCAA Commit: Harvard
Cross Hanas
#13 Grey, Portland Winterhawks, 1/5/02, LW, Left Shot, 6-1/161
Matthew Knies
#17 Black, Phoenix Jr. Coyotes 16U, 10/17/02, C, Left Shot, 6-1/185
NCAA Commit: Minnesota
Jackson Kunz
#13 Forest, Shattuck St. Mary’s, 8/13/02, LW, Left Shot, 6-2/196
NCAA Commit: North Dakota
Carter Mazur
#12 Kelly, Little Caesars 16U, 3/28/02, C/RW, Right Shot, 5-11/160
NCAA Commit: Michigan State
Mackie Samoskevich
#16 Grey, Shattuck St. Mary’s, 11/15/02, C/RW, Right Shot, 5-10/170
NCAA Commit: Michigan
Wyatt Schingoethe
#12 Navy, Waterloo Black Hawks, 8/3/02, C, Left Shot, 5-11/205
NCAA Commit: Notre Dame
Ben Schoen
#18 Forest, Youngstown Phantoms, 5/18/02, RW, Right Shot, 5-8/154
NCAA Commit: Miami
Artem Shlaine
#10 Navy, Shattuck St. Mary’s, 3/7/02, C, Left Shot, 6-0/157
NCAA Commit: Boston University
Jack Smith
#14 Navy, St. Cloud Cathedral HS, 7/6/02, LW, Left Shot, 5-11/181
NCAA Commit: Minnesota Duluth
Antonio Stranges
#19 Black, London Knights, 2/5/02, C/LW, Left Shot, 5-10/180
Jack Williams
#13 White, Selects Academy 16U, 3/2/02, RW, Right Shot, 5-11/165
NCAA Commit: Northeastern
Defense
Matt Basgall
#2 Columbia, Chicago Mission 16U, 8/16/02, D, Right Shot, 5-9/175
NCAA Commit: Michigan State
Gerard Keane
#7 Red, London Knights, 1/30/02, D, Right Shot, 5-11/170
John Opilka
#4 Navy, St. Louis AAA Blues 16U, 9/26/02, D, Left Shot, 6-1/179
NCAA Commit: St. Cloud
Cole Oravitz
#5 Royal, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16U, 8/13/02, D, Right Shot, 6-1/172
NCAA Commit: UMass
Jake Ratzlaff
#3 Grey, Rosemount HS, 6/23/02, D, Right Shot, 6-3/205
NCAA Commit: Minnesota
Casey Roepke
#4 Grey, Green Bay Gamblers, 5/2/02, D, Left Shot, 5-11/170
NCAA Commit: Wisconsin
Nathan Schweitzer
#5 Navy, Benilde-St. Margaret, 2/21/02, D, Right Shot, 5-11/180
NCAA Commit: Colorado College
Goaltenders
Aidan Campbell
#1 Royal, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16U, 8/22/02, G, Catches Left, 6-4/181
Peyton Grainer
#1 Navy, Little Caesars 16U, 3/12/02, G, Catches Left, 6-0/160
In Contention - Forwards
Carson Bantle
#19 Grey, Madison Capitols, 1/22/02, LW, Left Shot, 6-3/192
NCAA Commit: Michigan Tech
Cameron Berg
#10 Royal, Omaha Lancers, 1/29/02, LW, Left Shot, 5-11/155
NCAA Commit: Nebraska-Omaha
Michael Cameron
#12 White, Salisbury, 7/24/02, C, Left Shot, 5-10/170
NCAA Commit: UMass
Nicholas Chmelevski
#16 Black, Belle Tire 16U, 9/26/02, C, Left Shot, 5-8/150
Michael Citara
#15 Kelly, Philadelphia Jr. Flyers 16U, 4/22/02, RW, Right Shot, 5-8/141
NCAA Commit: Providence
Matthew Coronato
#16 Royal, Salisbury, 11/14/02, RW, Right Shot, 5-9/172
NCAA Commit: Harvard
Victor Czerneckianair
#19 Columbia, Selects Academy 16U, 2/17/02, C/LW, Left Shot, 5-11/170
NCAA Commit: Quinnipiac
Mark Estapa
#11 Royal, Little Caesars 16U, LW/C, Left Shot, 6-0/174
NCAA Commit: Western Michigan
Nate Hanley
#15 Black, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, 5/30/02, C, Right Shot, 5-11/165
NCAA Commit: Northeastern
Avery Hayes
#16 Red, Hamilton Bulldogs, 10/10/02, RW, Right Shot, 5-8/161
Tanner Kelly
#13 Columbia, Little Caesars 16U, 5/11/02, C/RW, Right Shot, 5-8/140
NCAA Commit: Michigan State
Declan McDonnell
#14 White, Buffalo Jr. Sabres, 2/25/02, RW, Right Shot, 5-10/165
Blake Mesenburg
#11 Black, Benilde-St. Margaret’s, 6/5/02, C, Left Shot, 5-11/174
Zachary Michaelis
#18 White, Elk River HS, 5/30/02, LW, Left Shot, 6-0/203
NCAA Commit: Nebraska-Omaha
Alex Servagno
#12 Gold, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16U, 6/16/02, C, Left Shot, 5-9/175
NCAA Commit: Ohio State
Patrick Schmiedlin
#17 Navy, Des Moines Buccaneers, 3/20/02, C, Left Shot, 6-0/172
John Waldron
#16 Forest, Chicago Fury 16U, 11/13/02, C/RW, Right Shot, 5-11/155
NCAA Commit: Miami
In Contention - Defense
Brandon Chabrier
#2 Red, North Jersey Avalanche 16U, 7/19/02, D, Right Shot, 5-11/172
NCAA Commit: Northeastern
Jarod Crespo
#4 Red, Salisbury, 4/30/02, D, Right Shot, 5-11/183
NCAA Commit: Penn State
Christian Jimenez
#5 Kelly, Taft, 3/15/02, D, Left Shot, 5-11/175
NCAA Commit: Harvard
Wyatt Kaiser
#2 Black, Andover (Minn.) HS, 7/31/02, D, Left Shot, 5-11/185
NCAA Commit: Minnesota Duluth
Timothy Lovell, Jr.
#7 Navy, Boston Advantage 16U, 2/8/02, D, Left Shot, 5-5/130
NCAA Commit: Ohio State
Ian Moore
#6 Kelly, St. Mark’s, 1/4/02, D, Right Shot, 6-1/165
NCAA Commit: Princeton
David Ma
#4 Royal, Shattuck St. Mary’s 16U, 6/22/02, D, Left Shot, 5-10/165
NCAA Commit: Princeton
Jason Marsella
#6 Grey, North Jersey Avalanche 16U, 11/20/02, D, Left Shot, 5-11/180
NCAA Commit: Yale
Mitchell Smith
#7 Columbia, Oakland Jr. Grizzlies 16U, 9/15/02, D, Left Shot, 5-9/165
In Contention - Goaltenders
Jackson Dylla
#30 Black, Rocky Mountain RoughRiders 16U, 1/2/02, G, Catches Left, 6-5/194
Gavin Fitzpatrick
#1 Forest, Thayer, 1/9/02, G, Catches Left, 6-0/161
Grant Riley
#30 Gold, Rochester Coalition 16U, 8/28/02, G, Catches Left, 6-3/185
Tucker Tynan
#30 Forest, New Jersey Rockets, 6/7/02, G, Catches Left, 6-1/159
