I'll be semi-liveblogging the first hour of so of the USHL's Future Draft, before filling in the rest later tonight
Youngstown had the first pick in the USHL Future's Draft and selected goalie Matt Mahalak from Culvey Academy. That's a really surprising pick. I had said Youngstown needed a quality young goalie, but Mahalak has seemed like a lock to follow his older brother RJ to the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL.
Cedar Rapids picks next and takes '93 Cason Hohmann, a Texan that played in Detroit last year. There were rumors of him going to the WHL last season, but at his size, he might be better off sticking with the college route. He's an exciting offensive player though. I would have thought the NTDP would be interested in him, but perhaps he wanted to leave himself the option of going to the WHL without the NTDP's hefty release fee.
Waterloo selects third and takes Jay Williams from the TPH Thunder, which plays out of the south. Williams was taken in the fourth round of the OHL Draft by the Saginaw Spirit.
Nick Malysa, a defenseman out of New Jersey was selected fourth by Des Moines. Malysa was selected by the Plymouth Whalers in the 5th round of the OHL Draft and is described as "a puck moving defenseman who also plays very solid defensively. He is effective in all three zones, displays a high level of composure while possessing a combination of size, tools and hockey sense. Malysa is an excellent skater with a very smooth and effortless stride that provides him with quickness and great mobility. He is very good moving laterally, showing the ability to take away time and space very effectively." by OHL Central Scouting
Alaskan defenseman Brian Cooper was taken by the Fargo Force. Cooper is a small, but fast '93 born defenseman that played for a pretty strong Alaska All Stars team last year.
Sioux City picked 6th and took Wisconsin commit Jordan Schmaltz. Schmaltz is a solid defenseman, but might be a year away from the USHL after only playing Midget Minor hockey last year.
The seventh selection went to Sioux Falls and they selected Blake Pietila from Detroit Compuware. Pietila was one of a number of Americans drafted by Windsor in the OHL Draft, and seemed interested in that route, but he would be better served keeping all his options open a little longer.
Indiana selected Alex Racino from Team Wisconsin eighth overall. He went to high school in Mosinee, Wisconsin and is apparently a big Badger fan.
Green Bay select Eden Prairie's Dan Molenaar 9th overall. Very nice player. I'm really surprised the NTDP didn't pick him.
Zane Popilock from Team Comcast was selected by Des Moines with the 10th overall pick, and is in the lead for most outstanding name of the day. He's a defenseman that is supposed to skate really well.
Chicago picked 11th and selected JC Campagna from the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets
Tri-City went 13th and selected Peter Hand, the second player from the Compuware team that won the U16 national title. Hand is also a Plymouth Whalers draft pick, but was selected in the 10th round.
Scott Dornbrock from Grosse Pointe North HS, just outside of Detroit was selected 13th by the Omaha Lancers.
That ends the first round of picks.
Max Everson, brother of Harvard recruit Marshall Everson, is the first pick of the second round by the Omaha Lancers.
The next selection at 15th overall is defenseman Dakota Olvin from the Howell High School Highlanders.
Diminutive but high scoring forward Theo DiPauli went next to his hometown Chicago Steel. He played last year with the Mission AAA program.
Des Moines picked at 17 and took Cleveland forward Kevin Irwin, who played up a year for the Cleveland Barons Midget Major team last year. He also tried out for the NTDP team.
Green Bay selected next and took defenseman Andy Welinski from Duluth. Welinski turned down a spot on the NTDP team, and will likely stay at Duluth East for at least the time being.
The next selection was Miami commit Alex Gacek, who was taken by the Indiana Ice.
Sioux Falls selected next and took Mike Reilly from the Academy of Holy Angels in Minnesota. Reilly had 24 assists in 25 games last season.
Update:
It looks like nothing major happened after I left. College commits to be selected were: Jimmy McDowell-Michigan State-38th overall, Reid Boucher-Michigan State-52nd, and Kyle Sucher-Bowling Green-62nd.