Wednesday, May 2, 2012

USHL Teams Draft 78 Players

USHL Teams Draft 78 Players
Omaha took Shane Gersich with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2012 USHL Futures Draft.

The USHL held its 2012 Futures Draft Tuesday night, with the Omaha Lancers selecting forward Shane Gersich first overall. In all, 78 of the top 1996-born players were selected in the six-round draft.

Nine of the players selected last night have already committed to colleges. More than two dozen have attended one of College Hockey, Inc.’s Reebok Collegiate Hockey Summits.

Fifteen USHL clubs took part in the draft, with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program conducting a separate player selection process.

Each USHL Member Club had six selections in the Futures Draft, unless the Club had used one of two available tenders available to all teams under the League’s new tender system. The tender offer option, available for the first time this year, gives each Member Club the opportunity to sign as many as two 1996 birth year players in advance of the Futures Draft. Teams using one tender surrendered their second-round selection in the 2012 Futures Draft; teams using their second tender also surrendered their third-round pick. A total of 12 players have been tendered by USHL Member Clubs.

Every one of the 78 players that will be selected in the 2012 Futures Draft is automatically placed on the Affiliate List of the USHL team that selected him. The Club retains the draftee’s rights for three years and can add the player to its active roster at any point during the season. In general, players selected in the USHL Futures Draft have not reached the level to play in the USHL for the next season, but USHL Member Clubs will regularly monitor their players’ progress. This season, 42 players selected in 2011 USHL Futures Draft took the ice for at least one USHL game during the 2011-12 campaign.