The USHL held their entry draft last night. Unlike the Futures Draft which is confined to a single birth year, the entry draft is for all players with birthdates from 1992-1997. You can view the full results of the draft here.
After the jump, I'll give a few notes on some of the 200+ players drafted last night.
Round 1
Sioux Falls 1st overall-Tony Calderone-Victory Honda forward Tony Calderone was the first overall pick, and the first pick of the Cary Eades era in Sioux Falls. Calderone is a Princeton commit that led the Tier I Major Midget league in scoring with 65 points in 40 games played.
Muskegon 3rd overall-Connor Hurley-Hurley is a really exciting player, and if Muskegon can get him to report, it's a great pick. With Hurley's NHL Draft stock seemingly on the rise, I expect him to make the move to the next level for his draft year. The Lumberjacks also drafted his older brother Cullen later in the draft, which might help draw the younger Hurley.
Chicago 4th overall-MacKenzie MacEachern- MacEachern was the top Michigan high school player this year, and was expected to be one of the top players available here. After watching him a little this spring, I think MacEachern still has a long ways to go, and if he ends up getting drafted in the NHL Draft, it says more about how weak this year's class is than anything. Chicago also added MacEachern's Brother Rice linemate Thomas Ebbing in round 3 of the draft. Ebbing, who recently made a commitment to play for Bowling Green, might be the more complete player, though doesn't have as high a ceiling as MacEachern.
Green Bay 5th overall-Ben Gallacher-Gallacher was a fourth round pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2010 NHL Draft and had recently completed his freshman season at Ohio State where he scored 1 goal and 11 assists in 24 games. Gallacher was recruited to Ohio State by John Markell, and may be looking for a change of scenery.
Dubuque 11th overall-Mark Jankowski- Jankowski is the biggest wildcard in this summer's NHL Draft. Last week, TSN's Craig Button listed him as the 15th overall best player in the draft. The problem is that playing at Stanstead College, he's only played against pretty abysmal competition, making him difficult to get a read on. He's already signed a letter of intent to play for Providence, and presumably would go straight there if he's drafted highly. A year in the USHL might not be a bad thing to give him a transition year though. When it comes to talented, but raw prospects, I can't think of any that stayed in juniors too long, but many that went to college too soon.
Round 2
Muskegon 17th overall-Frederik Tiffels- I loved this pick. I saw Tiffels play with Team Germany at the Four Nations Cup last summer and he was pretty electric. That's a really exciting pick if Muskegon can get him over here to play.
Round 3
Sioux City 36th overall-Nikolas Olsson- Olsson graduated out of the NTDP program and hasn't made a college commitment yet. This is a really nice pick since he'll come in with a ton of USHL experience under his belt already.
Omaha 39th overall-Connor Chatham- All signs point to Connor Chatham leaving the NTDP rather than playing for the U18s next season, so this looks like a nice pick-up for Omaha.
Fargo 42nd-Matt Pohlkamp- I think that's a great pick-up for Fargo. I'm a little surprised Fargo, or anyone else for that matter, didn't pick up his linemate Mitch McLain, since I think both would make good USHL players, especially together.
Round 4
Green Bay 50th overall-Dawson Cook-Cook announced via Twitter last night that he was staying at the NTDP despite being drafted here.
Waterloo 55th overall-Jack Ramsey-Ramsey is the son of former Minnesota Wild assistant Mike Ramsey. I'm sure I'll get emails from people complaining about him being picked.
Round 5
Muskegon 62nd overall-Ben Storm-Storm signed a letter of intent to play football for Michigan Tech this fall, but when he signed, it was with the understanding that that was only if he chose to play football. Instead, Storm has chosen to try the junior hockey route with the hopes of someday playing hockey at the Division I level. He's definitely got size, and some decent athleticism. It will be interesting to see how he develops.
Round 6
Sioux Falls 76th overall-Reid Sturos-Sturos was the 14th overall pick in the 2010 USHL Entry Draft
Waterloo 85th overall-Alec Vanko-I would have had him a lot higher than 85th on my draft board, for whatever that is worth.
Indiana 89th overall-Cam Askew- Northeastern recruit Cam Askew was the first 1997 birthdate selected in the draft. I mentioned last night on Twitter that players that young have played in the USHL that young, but the long-term track record for players that like isn't particularly strong with players like Blake Clarke, Seth Ambroz, and Tristin Llewellyn.
Round 7
Youngstown 99th overall-Keifer Sherwood-Another kid I would have taken before a lot of the players drafted ahead of him.
Round 15 (Beginning of Phase 2 of the draft)
Chicago 214th overall-Brett Beauvais-I really liked this kid when I saw him play for Kalamazoo. I think he can step in and contribute right away for Chicago.
Lincoln 223rd overall-Lou Nanne- Like Ramsey, I'm sure this made somebody's head explode.
Round 16
Sioux Falls 232nd overall-Jake Zeleznikar- He was the third Hermantown defenseman selected--Jared Kolquist and Neil Pionk were the others--and I think he's poised to have a really great high school season next year.
Round 17
Sioux Falls 241st overall-Gage Ausmus-He's staying at the NTDP next year, but this gives him a place to play if he doesn't go straight to college. Ausmus would have grown up playing with Cary Eades in the East Grand Forks program, so there's some familiarity there.
Sioux City 246th overall-Meirs Moore-No surprise to see Moore go to Sioux City, given the Muskies connections to Duluth with Brett Larson. It will be interesting to see if Moore stays at Duluth East next year, or moves on to the USHL.