NORWELL, Mass. — Sean Coffey was leaning against the kitchen counter and had just finished a sandwich when he needed to move.
“I’m gonna go sit and change the juju,” the advisor said.
The end of the NHL Draft’s third round was nearing, and Teddy Mutryn’s name hadn’t been called yet. It wasn't a huge deal given that Mutryn was projected to go somewhere from Rounds 3-5.
But the third round felt particularly long. With each passing pick, it was one more team opting for someone else. Was Mutryn going to go undrafted? No way. But…maybe? The brain has a funny way of playing tricks in those moments.
So, with the Dallas Stars on the clock for the 94th pick, Coffey opted for the smaller living room away from the crowd of just under 20 people.
The Mutryns’ kitchen is open and leads into an area with a plush couch, chairs and a TV. That smaller living room is a step down from it, with an even bigger couch. In that room was Mutryn’s father, Scott and a few others.
That’s exactly where the roar emanated from.
Why the roar? That TV was 10 seconds ahead of the main one. It didn’t take long for everyone to figure out what happened.
It came with the San Jose Sharks picking at No. 95. Coffey moved just five minutes before.
…
When Day 2 of the NHL Draft began, the Mutryns — Scott, Teddy and his brother, Casey — sat at the kitchen island watching, along with me and Patrick Donnelly.
“Meeks!” Casey said when Carter Amico, a native of Westbrook, Maine, was drafted 38th by the Philadelphia Flyers.
“Teddy used to play against him in the E9 vs. Casco Bay,” Scott chimed in.
And on it went. Cheers for players they knew and played with. “It’s not as fun when you don’t know the people getting drafted,” Casey observed.
When the Bruins were on the clock at No. 51, Scott said, “Imagine if the Bruins draft Will Moore here, all Boston College centers.” He turned out to be right, as Boston drafted Teddy’s teammate with the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U18 team. Scott turned around with an I-just-hit-a-half-court-shot face.
Teddy wasn’t projected to go in the second round. If that were the case, the family likely would’ve made the trip to Los Angeles.
Instead, the second round served as the appetizer. It was the awkward small talk you make with someone before a serious conversation you desperately want to be over.
As picks were announced from the draft center in Los Angeles, Teddy did what any kid does — he moved around the room on his phone. He stood and he sat. He didn’t say much.
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And Beau, the Mutryns’ Aussiedoodle, barked and barked and barked.
Then came the stories. Like the time Scott’s friend suggested he take young Teddy to Pilgrim Arena for an open skate. Teddy kept falling and Scott told him they could go home, but Teddy wanted to keep skating. There were stories from playing knee hockey in the basement. The backyard baseball games and the basketball matchups in the driveway. Somehow, at least one of the three Mutryn boys — Teddy, Ryan or Casey — would come away angry and crying from losing. A basketball might be kicked over the house.
“I liked it,” Scott said. “It meant they cared.”
Memories like that have a way of rising to the surface on days like this. Days of reflection and appreciation for all it took to get here. Like a high school graduation, college graduation or a wedding.
As the stories flew, the second round ended, and everyone in the room knew the inevitable was here. NHL Network cut to commercial for the first time since the Day 2 picks started, and everyone wondered whether picks would be made during commercial breaks. Scott stepped away for a minute, but didn’t want to miss the big moment.
The third round felt longer. The first pick…then the second…then the third. It was a slog.
“I feel like this is a form of torture,” Kathy, Teddy’s mother, said from up by the TV.
At one point, without announcing what she was doing, Kathy brought in two bottles of champagne to chill in the fridge. The big moment could come at any time.
A question arose: Would the team call before the pick or after? The consensus answer: after. Still, nobody was sure.
Not too deep into the third round, friends began to trickle in, which only heightened the tension. Daps and hugs, and everyone immediately finding a place to stand and watch the picks.
A friend of Scott and Kathy brought a big Clase Azul bottle in a box with old hockey photos of Teddy on it, which led to more stories. Remember the time the boys rallied around someone throwing a pickle on the ice to win a tournament championship?
Coffey strolled in and as the Columbus Blue Jackets were on the clock for pick No. 76, he proclaimed, “This is where it starts.”
For No. 77, everyone was silent.
…
As the third round droned on, the butterflies began to flutter in the stomachs of everyone, but especially Teddy.
“There were a couple of teams early in the third round that I was hoping for,” Teddy said after. “Right around [picks] 80-85, I was getting butterflies because it could be anyone.”
Watching all of this with him was his younger brother Casey, who played for the NTDP’s U17 team this past winter. In a story in The Athletic on April 1, he was ranked No. 21 for an early ranking of the top 2026 NHL Draft prospects.
“He just looks like he’s going to be an NHLer,” Scott Wheeler wrote of Casey.
Casey is 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds. He led the U17 NTDP team in points per game (0.70). It only made sense that as he waited for Teddy’s name to be called, the thought entered his mind.
“I’m going to have to go through this all again next year,” he said.
Other thoughts occasionally enter the 16-year-old’s head, too. What if I have a bad draft year? What if I get injured? What if things don’t go according to plan?
“I realized that’s not anything I control,” he added.
He is fortunate to have watched his older brother go through a draft year before embarking on his own. There were certainly lessons learned from this past year. Casey was using the social media site X quite a bit and had to delete it.
“I’m just looking at stuff, and it makes you so mad,” Casey said. “They’re things you can’t control — whether it’s rankings or what other people think.”
THROWBACK: Our profile on Teddy and Casey Mutryn from 2023
Both Teddy and Casey were under a microscope this season. Teddy was consistently getting ranked and opined about in draft stories. Casey was on the U17 (and then the U18) NTDP squad, which always comes with an added level of scrutiny.
“With Teddy, seeing people have knocks on him or say he’s not this or not that or not rank him in such a way,” Casey said. “Focusing on that isn’t going to do anything for you.”
…
As the picks rolled past slot No. 80, everyone was standing, including Teddy, who was leaning up against the wall between two of his buddies.
He walked out of the fray and headed towards his water bottle on the island in the kitchen to get a drink.
“How you doing?” Scott asked.
“Chillin’,” Teddy replied with a laugh, a shrug and a drink.
His friends eventually followed him back because, at some point, Scott pointed out all the catered sandwiches. Teddy grabbed one and began eating with a watchful eye on the TV.
“Oh, no,” I thought to myself. “He’s going to be picked with a mouth full of turkey.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins owned picks 84 and 85. After taking goalie Gabriel D’Aigle with the 84th pick, they traded No. 85 to the Vegas Golden Knights and even more air was sucked out of the room. Pittsburgh was one of the likely destinations.
As everyone engaged in small talk in the kitchen, yelling from the smaller living room filled the void. All of that nervous energy would eventually explode into relief, but not immediately.
The main TV was behind.
Teddy stood up from his spot at the kitchen island and slowly walked towards the front. It felt like forever, but in a matter of seconds, everyone realized what happened: the moment had arrived.
Scott came out of the smaller living room and looked towards the main TV. The name “Teddy Mutryn” slid in next to the Sharks logo at No. 95, and everyone began cheering once again, this time louder. The air was back in the room. Sighs of relief. At ease.
Teddy had a long embrace with Kathy before hugging Scott. He hugged and dapped everyone in his vicinity. Before he knew it, he was in the smaller living room on the phone with the Sharks.
Jayden Grier, an ‘03 who played at St. Sebastian’s right before Teddy, was the first one talking to him. Then he handed the phone to his father, Mike, who is San Jose’s general manager. Macklin Celebrini followed up with a text.
Scott hustled to the main TV, quieted everyone and rewound to when NHL Network began talking about Teddy. NHL Network host Jamison Coyle mentioned that Teddy was with the USHL’s Chicago Steel, his brother is Casey and his father, Scott, was a quarterback for Boston College. NHL Network had done its homework. Scott looked on proudly. That same I-just-hit-a-half-court-shot face was back.
The talk immediately became about how great a destination San Jose is. It’s a young team full of Massachusetts guys. It’s a nice spot to live. Those sweaters and colors are the best in the league (outside of the Original 6, of course). Everyone agreed.
Teddy finds his way back into the main area and hugs everyone again.
“Crazy,” Teddy says. “Holy crap. I can’t even…”
At one point, a friend asks, “Do you even know anything about San Jose?”
“Nope,” Teddy says, laughing and shaking his head. This must be a dream.
Scott is frantically answering text messages. As soon as he replies to one, another is popping up.
“People I haven’t heard from in years are reaching out,” he said.
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About an hour later, one of the family friends observed that Beau, the dog, hadn’t barked since Teddy got drafted. He barked all morning, especially at Kathy, despite treats and consistently being let outside. Dogs can sense when people are extremely stressed, she said.
Nobody was stressed anymore.
