State of the Loons; Post Draft Edition

 This year's CCHL entry draft was definitely different. Multiple owners chose to go on autodraft and spend their picks on undrafted players instead of trading these assets. An interesting strategy for sure. Picking at 42 we had a list of about 10 prospects that we were convinced would be available for us, especially after seeing where they went in the NHL draft. This was our 5th CCHL draft and in each the NHL draft served as a solid blue print. Again, this year was different. CCHL GM's were all over the road with their selections and when I woke up Saturday morning all of our targets were gone. Instead of settling for a player that we were not comfortable with we instead shopped the pick around and found a buyer in Portland. Pick 42 was sent to the Owls for a 2023 2nd. Our front office did not see this year as a strong draft making the year delay a little easier to swallow.

After all was said and done the Loons made 7 selections: 

89 Ben MacDonald C  MA high school prep  - after a growth spurt and a strong showing at the NHL draft combine, Ben made a late climb up draft lists and was selected by the Kraken. Hard to make projections on high school players, but Ben has size and good offensive instincts. Ceiling looks to be a 3rd line forward.

99 Ryan Healey D another MA kid. Healey's strength is his skating and his physicality. After a strong first year in the USHL Ryan will head off to Harvard in the fall. Ceiling would be of a middle pair defensemen for the Wild.

155 Philip Svedeback G We tried drafting this Swedish goalie last year but he was unavailable. Philip has had an up and down year in the USHL, but 2.95 gaa and a 910 save percentage is intriguing. Philip will head to Providence College in the fall.

202 Matt Murray G Another deal was made with Portland in order to grab Murray. After a great 5 years and a national championship at UMass, Matt went undrafted in the NHL but last year he was signed as a free agent by the Stars. Matt went on to make 8 dominating starts in the AHL. We are hoping Matt will continue to make NHL scouts look foolish for missing out on him.

217 James Fisher RW James is yet another MA high school prep skater taken by the Loons. Boasting the size and playing style of a power forward, James was selected by the Blue Jackets and will head to Northeastern in 2023.

241 Chris Romaine D Yet another MA high school prep skater. All of our scouts raved about Chris' skating ability and projects as an offensive defenseman. After being drafted by the Avalanche Chris will join Svedeback at Providence College next year.

265 Kazimier Sobieski D You guessed it, another MA high school prep skater. Kaz went undrafted in the NHL but I believe has a lot of promise. Kaz will be following in the footsteps of NCAA standout Scott Morrow - Shattuck St. Mary's > USHL > UMass > hopefully the NHL. UMass has a good track record developing defensemen and at 265 this was a good gamble.

We are not kidding ourselves, we will be thrilled if even one member of this draft class ever makes it to the CCHL. The best way to remember this year's draft is that most of our picks were used to bring in players like Charlie McAvoy, Matty Beniers and Brock Boeser.