Thursday, June 29, 2023

NCAA players figure prominently during final day of NHL Draft

Nearly 70 current or incoming collegians selected over two days

NCAA players figure prominently during final day of NHL Draft
Minnesota Duluth incoming freshman Adam Gajan (35th overall) was the first goalie taken in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

NASHVILLE – Sixty-nine current or committed NCAA Division I players were selected during the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, which concluded Thursday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. Sixty of those picks came Thursday during rounds two through seven after nine players had been chosen during Wednesday’s opening round.

Thirty different schools had at least one player or recruit selected, led by Boston College with six. Boston University and Wisconsin were next with five selections, while four other schools (Massachusetts, Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota) boasted four picks.

Also of note:

  • The 2023 NCAA selections included 41 forwards, 21 defensemen and seven goalies.
  • Nine or more NCAA players were chosen in six of the seven rounds, including five rounds of 10 or more.
  • Forty-two of the 67 NCAA players selected were Americans. The remaining 26 players came from Canada (19), Sweden (3), Slovakia (2), Czechia (1), Finland (1) and Russia (1).
  • Most of the NCAA-affiliated players drafted in 2023 will be incoming freshmen in 2023-24. However, nine returning collegians were selected: Michigan’s Adam Fantilli (CBJ) and Gavin Brindley (CBJ), Connecticut’s Matthew Wood (NSH), Wisconsin’s Charlie Stramel (MIN), Omaha’s Ty Mueller (VAN), Quinnipiac’s Charles-Alexis Legault (CAR), Rensselaer’s Sutter Muzzatti (NSH), Minnesota’s Luke Mittelstadt (MTL) and Merrimack’s Matt Copponi (EDM).
  • Twenty-seven of the NHL’s 32 franchises drafted at least one current or committed NCAA player. Detroit had the most with five, followed by Arizona, Boston, Carolina, Columbus and Vancouver, which had four each.
  • Boston College and Michigan had at least one player selected for the 28th year in a row, the longest such streak in college hockey history.
  • There have been 61 first-round picks from the NCAA over the last eight NHL Drafts (2016-23) compared to 35 first-rounders over the previous eight drafts (2008-15).

For a complete list of NCAA players selected in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, visit CollegeHockeyInc.com.