Making USA Hockey's National Team Development Program is not a guarantee of success. But it's pretty dang close.
The program, based in Plymouth, Mich., thrusts players into an environment full of difficult competition and gives teenagers a taste of what hockey is like as a full-time job. All the while, they get to represent their country. Players who find success with the NTDP usually find themselves with their choice of a Division 1 college and NHL teams fighting to select them in the first round.
It's similar to when a person goes to college at an Ivy League school or Stanford, MIT or Johns Hopkins. Going there does not ensure a premier job, but it puts you in a very good position to have one.
Two players from New England, along with one who plays on a New England-based team, were recently selected for the U17 team next season.
Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) from St. Mark's, Carter Amico (Westbrook, Maine) and Conrad Fondrk, both of Mount Saint Charles, were selected. The three are different players with a wide array of strengths and few weaknesses.
The common thread: All three have very high ceilings. The program might be the best place for them to reach it.
Carter Amico
When Mount Saint Charles got the call from the Amico family that Carter, then a defenseman at Seacoast Performance Academy, was interested in the Woonsocket, R.I., school, 15O coach Scott Gainey didn't need to go far to find out a lot about the prospective student.
Amico had played the Mount Saint Charles 14U team throughout the 2021-22 season and Gainey, as well as the Mount staff, noticed the big defenseman.
"We knew that we were getting a raw player," Gainey said. "But the upside is just massive. ...We knew he was somebody that we wanted to work with whether it was up front or in back."
Raw is the main word used to describe Amico. He stands at 6-foot-4 and just over 200 pounds. Only recently did he become a defenseman. His skating paired with his shutdown abilities is what kept eyes on Amico throughout the season.
"I don't know if I've ever had a player that size move like he can," Gainey said.
As the season rolled on and Amico got more comfortable on the back end, his decision-making improved, especially with the puck on his stick. He began to simplify how and where he moved the puck instead of forcing plays that weren't there. Along with his improved puck-moving abilities came more tenacity in making life difficult for opposing forwards.
WHO THEY ARE: Full scouting report for the 2023-24 NTDP U17 roster
What comes with a player this raw is a lot of mistakes, which is normal for this age. He turned 16 on March 15. What separates him from his peers is his work ethic and openness to correcting those mistakes.
It's a big reason why Amico will be packing up and moving to Plymouth, Mich., next fall.
"He understands his mistakes," Gainey said. "Sometimes kids will kind of sweep them under the rug and not address it and Carter takes them on full front. As a coach, accepting it and embracing it and then working on it is exactly what you need to do.
"The scary thing is his best hockey is ahead of him."
What that looks like is somewhat clear — a high-end, shutdown defenseman. The key will be embracing that role and continuing to add new elements to his game such as more creativity with the puck, and being strong in the corners and in front of the net.
"When he adds to his game, this kid can be scary," Gainey said.
Conrad Fondrk
James Hagens tore up the competition while playing for Mount Saint Charles' 15O in 2021-22, and the NTDP staff couldn't get Hagens on a plane fast enough to Plymouth, Mich. In his first season with the program, he continued his ascendance. He ranks second on the team in points with 66 with four games to play on the schedule.
The next star forward poised to have a Hagens-like impact on the NTDP U17 squad could also be coming from Woonsocket, R.I.
Fondrk's star rose even more at the USA Hockey 15O Tier 1 nationals, which was emblematic of his game since arriving at Mount Saint Charles: dominant. Fondrk showed interest in attending Mount Saint Charles from Minnesota because of a desire to one day attend college on the east coast, according to Gainey.
"We're thankful," Gainey said. "I can tell you that."
The shifty, 5-foot-10 center from White Bear Lake, Minn., with a nose for scoring goals did all of that and more in Wayne, N.J., finding the back of the net eight times — tied for most in the tournament. That included a four-goal game in Mount Saint Charles' opening game against Team Wisconsin.
In 58 games for the 14U team last season, Fondrk had 70 goals and 127 points in 70 games. He's been on an even better pace this year with the 15O squad, lighting the lamp 68 times over 62 games.
Obviously, Fondrk can score goals. But his offensive game off of zone entries and in creating chances is an area that helped boost Fondrk high on the list for the NTDP staff.
"The way he enters the zone offensively, he can be fast, he can be a powerful skater, he can be decisive," Gainey said. "You just never know what you're going to get when he comes in that zone. It really kind of puts defensemen on their heels."
Opposing teams are well-aware of Fondrk's abilities. They game plan for him and try their best to shut him down. His shiftiness and ability to hunt pucks make him nearly impossible to stop.
"He's strong as an ox," Gainey said. "Even if you do get a piece of him, you're not going to get a lot of him. ...He's not an overly physical player but he can take a beating, so I think he's tough in that way too."
Both Fondrk and Amico will arrive in Michigan with extremely high ceilings, leading Gainey to have quite the projection for both of them.
"I think we're going to watch both of them on TV someday."
Richard Gallant
Since head coach Carl Corazzini took over the St. Mark's hockey program in 2014, the bench boss has seen four of his players move on to play for the NTDP team. In 2017, both Sean Farrell (Milton, Mass.) and Henry Thrun (Southborough, Mass.) spent two seasons in Michigan before embarking on highly successful careers at Harvard. Defenseman Ian Moore (Concord, Mass.) played one game for the NTDP U18 team in 2019-20.
Now, Corazzini has Gallant headed to the program.
Gallant missed some time this prep season at both the start and the end due to injury. In 17 games, the 5-foot-7 center posted 12 goals and 33 points, which was good for the highest points per game in the region at 1.94. This came on the heels of an outstanding freshman campaign in 2021-22 in which the Concord, Mass., native notched 16 goals and 43 points in 24 games.
His hockey IQ and competitiveness helped him become one of the top '07 forwards in the country. Those two pieces will also help him greatly with his new team.
"The biggest thing is the hockey IQ," Corazzini said. "That's something that is never going to be taken away from him. His ability to make plays for people regardless of where he is in the lineup and now he's playing with great players every time. He's only going to improve in that aspect.
"Whoever gets the opportunity to play with him will be thankful because he is pass-first and because he thinks the game at a higher speed than his peers."
The closest comparison to Gallant is Farrell, according to Corazzini. Both are forwards with high IQs and great capabilities to impact the game at both ends of the ice. Corazzini mentioned current Boston University forward Jeremy Wilmer as another comparison.
How Gallant progresses at the NTDP and at whatever Division 1 college he chooses will set the course for his hockey career after, which Corazzini said could be the NHL due to his IQ and compete.
"He's a kid that works really hard on the ice," Corazzini said. "And he should get much better."
