2020 USHL Futures Draft Recap
Future looks bright in the old USHL
The USHL’s two drafts have come and gone. Here are my thoughts on how the Futures draft shook out. I’ll have something out on phase two of the draft soon.
As far as who won the day, that’s difficult to know without the benefit of hindsight. Some of my favorite drafts — not factoring tenders — came from Madison, Youngstown, Dubuque, Lincoln, Omaha, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Des Moines and Waterloo. That’s primarily because I think those drafts did well with the hands they were dealt, especially factoring draft position and picks available.
As far as the intake of talent, including tenders, Chicago’s got a rookie of the year favorite coming in the form of tendered forward Adam Fantilli — Muskegon are right there with them after tendering forwards Ivan Miroschnichenko (also an early rookie of the year candidate) and Owen Mehlenbacher. Tri-City also got two terrific tenders in forward Gavin Brindley and defenseman Vinny Borgesi — and a big part of why I liked Lincoln’s draft is how they added two more players from that great Honeybaked 15 team to join already-tendered defenseman Chase Pietila.
I’ve done a summary of the first round and then included a look at each team’s draft in alphabetical order.
First Round Draft Picks Summary
Northeast Jr. Gamblers forward Quinn Finley went first overall to Madison which is a nice pick to set the tone for Tom Upton's regime. First overall picks have historically been hit or miss in this league but there's a good chance they've got a player in Finley who could help them win games for a few years. A talent with speed and scoring ability, Finley is from Suamico, Wisconsin — closer to Green Bay than Madison. Like last year's first overall pick (Carter Schade), I'd be surprised if Finley plays too many games the season after getting drafted, but it could happen — and playing his NHL draft year for them in 2021 seems realistic.
The second pick of the first round was Cade Littler, son of long-time junior hockey coach Bliss Littler, who had coached BCHL-Wenatchee from 2012 until last December, and also spent a decade as a head coach in the USHL. I didn't watch the Wenatchee team this year, so I can't say much about the pick except that Littler had 90 points in 55 games last year with the Wenatchee Wilderness and is listed at 6'2, 190.
Third overall, Des Moines picked Thayer forward Mikey Stenberg, a Penn State commit who had a great season in prep hockey as a late '04, scoring 41 points in 27 games. Stenberg was my top-rated forward going into the draft as he plays an engaged style that could translate to junior hockey really well. He's one of the players who was available that might actually make their team for next season and he won't be NHL draft-eligible until 2023, so there's a chance the Bucs get an extra year with him if he doesn't find himself in State College for his draft year.
For the fourth pick Youngstown snagged a high-octane scoring talent in Notre Dame recruit Jack Larrigan from Shattuck-St. Mary's 15 team in the first round. It was a good day for the Sabres 15s, as they had eight selections, but once Larrigan was off the board, all the other players from Shattuck were picked after the top sixty. Larrigan was one of my top-rated forwards for the draft and he could make the team next year.
The first defenseman of the day came at fifth overall in Boston Advantage product Ryan Healey to Sioux Falls. Healey is another player I didn't see this season. Healey and Littler make two skaters who played in the ECEL to go in the first five selections.
At ninth overall, Green Bay picked up Denver recruit Camron VanSickle from the country's top-ranked 15 team, Honeybaked. They had the best day of any AAA program in the futures draft, with six picks, five in the first fifty-two selections. VanSickle was another top-rated forward for the draft who has the frame and skillset to contribute as soon as next season.
Chicago had three first round picks, one of which was used to tender Jake Livanavage from the Jr. Coyotes AAA program. The other two, seventh and eighth overall, were used to pick smaller forwards who will help re-stock the warehouse of talent that Chicago Steel GM Ryan Hardy has been hoarding for the last few years. The first was one of my favorite prospects in the draft, Brunswick sophomore Andon Cerbone who exploded from two points in 2018-19 to lead his team with forty-seven this winter. He should be ready to be a good player in the league in a year. The other forward was Zam Plante, son of former UMD captain and assistant coach Derek Plante, who played for Hermantown's bantam team. He had a nice outing in the 2019 Bantam Elite League but could spend a few years in high school hockey before heading to junior.
The last selection of the first round was Dubuque, who picked Calgary Edge School forward Rieger Lorenz, who is committed to Denver. After Connor Bedard (who I wrote about in last month's column), Lorenz was the top-scoring 15 year old in the Canadian Sports School's prep circuit with 37 goals in 35 games, lighting teams up at a pace of over two points-per-game.
Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids had a solid draft. They didn't pick in the second round. A lot hinges on a few players I didn't see much or at all, like first rounder Cade Littler and third rounder Dominic Elliott. They also got a great scorer in Selects' Andrew Delladonna (Ohio State) and two solid blue line prospects from Minnesota high school in Eric Pohlkamp (Brainerd) and Carson Reed (Warroad). Their last pick was the brother of current Cedar Rapids forward Justin Hryckowian, Dylan, from Lac St. Louis. If he's anything like Justin, that's a great add late in the draft. This looks like a good draft, but again a lot depends on second overall pick Cade Littler proving out as a great player and a few of those middle-round picks turning into USHL regulars.
Chicago
Chicago tendered two players and still had back-to-back, late first round picks. On the whole they had five selections in the first 75, four of which they used on smaller forwards who can get the puck into the net. First rounder Andon Cerbone was one of my favorite prospects for the draft after a great year in prep school and Zam Plante (Hermantown) seems like a solid add as well as fellow Minnesota high schooler Casy Laylin (STMA). Both Plante and Laylin had good showings in Minnesota's Bantam Elite League last year. Ohio State commit Chris Able is a nice add for the blue line out of the Chicago Mission at pick #66. I'm not too familiar with most of the six players they picked after Able. This was a pretty good draft based on the early picks and if some later picks pan out it could become an excellent draft.
Des Moines
Des Moines had two picks in the top twenty and eight in the top hundred, six of which were between #49-94. At fourth overall they got one of the best players available in Thayer forward Mike Stenberg (Penn State) and at nineteen they added another from prep hockey in Cushing defenseman Jackson Dorrington, who could prove to be a great pick. They added a solid goalie at forty-nine in Lucas Szyszka from the Mission. After that it seems kind of hit or miss, two good defensemen from Minnesota high school in Nick Baer (Minnetonka) and South St. Paul's Reed Kluender (Wisconsin), plus one of Shattuck's top scorers in Braedon Ford. I don't know what to make of the second half of their draft where they picked a few Canadians.
Des Moines will do well to get more than three USHL regulars out of this draft, including Stenberg, though if they hit on one of those Canadians, then it swings things very positively. This draft is one of the most up-in-the-air for me because they got some very good players early on but I don't know about most of the rest, which is what it is as they mostly came after the fifth round.
Dubuque
Dubuque didn't use picks to tender, kept all of their original picks and had no additional picks, which meant they went second-to-last in every round. With that in mind, the Fighting Saints apparently came in with a clear strategy and executed pretty well. In the first round they added one of the top scorers from the CSSHL in Rieger Lorenz, a Denver recruit who looks like a great add on paper. After that, they picked a trio of players -- one at each position -- from the Dallas Stars Elite 16 team: forward Chase LaPinta (2nd rd), defenseman Colby Woogk (3rd rd) and goalie Paxton Giesel in the fourth. LaPinta and Woogk both look like really nice prospects for the league and were NTDP camp invites. Dubuque in their post-draft press release noted they felt Giesel was the top goaltender in the country.
They followed that with twin brothers Jake and Zach Sondreal from Cretin-Derham Hall in Minnesota and look to have added some more solid pieces in the later rounds. I didn't see the Sondreal twins (or some of their later picks) much this year but the Fighting Saints have had success icing a couple talented sets of twins in the past -- the Jackson brothers recently + Evan and Mitchell Smith earlier in the last decade. It is hard to judge a team's draft where you haven't seen much of half the players they picked, but assuming Lorenz does well in the league and the Dallas contingent pans out, Dubuque could end up with at least five or six really solid pieces — from a draft where they picked second-to-last in every round!
Fargo
Fargo's draft hit the bingo of players from teams I wish I saw more of. Three players from Fox Motors, two from the Thunderbirds (15/16), then one from CYA and the Jr. Coyotes, all programs I didn't see much or at all. I don't want to cop out but I can't give a grade to a draft that looks like a mystery to me. On paper, the players look good, but I don't have much of a clue. Cam Shasby and Cole Knuble are well-regarded by neutral observers. Fourth round right shot defenseman John Henry was a nice look out of Rochester.
Green Bay
Green Bay had a great draft, they picked a super solid Denver commit in Camron VanSickle (from Honeybaked) in the first round and followed that with one of prep hockey's top 04s in Cushing forward Cameron Lund in the second round. They held onto their draft picks so they came away with those two and added some more offensive potential in rounds three and four with Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 15 forward Matt DiMarsico and Albertan forward Bowden Singleton.
After that they took some chances on long-term upside. They came away with a nice haul, particularly for a team that didn't stockpile picks in the early rounds and picked relatively late — at the nine spot in each round. I loved the selection of VanSickle and if Lund reaches his potential he should be a nice player in the league too.
Lincoln
Lincoln tendered a big right-shot defenseman in Honeybaked 15's Chase Pietila and added his teammate, 100-point scorer Christian Kocsis with their second-rounder to secure a lot of talent with their first two draft picks. They picked twelve players and had six selections in the first four rounds, which they used to add another nice skater from that Honeybaked team in puck-moving defenseman Dylan Gordon. Other than goalie Ben Behrens from the St. Louis AAA Blues 16's in the third round, the rest of their draft was decent picks or players I hadn't seen much of like Calgary Edge School defenseman Jaren Brinson. Fourth round pick Keaton Peters had 84 points in 67 games for the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals 15s and Thunderbirds 16 right-shot defenseman Brett Baugh had a 10-29-39 line in 50 games this season.
The early part of the draft including their tender, giving them two of the best players from the best 15 team in the country (Honeybaked) makes this a good draft and with ten players coming into the pipeline in addition to that, it probably will pan out to produce four or five USHL regulars at the end of the day.
Madison
Madison's draft seemed to get them nice value at every position. Picking first in every round helps, but grabbing a great scorer at first overall in Quinn Finley, a good goalie in Selects' Arthur Smith in the second round and two great defensemen in Landon Fleming and Trey Ausmus (North Dakota) after that was an auspicious start.
Adding another forward who has serious potential in Fleming’s OJG teammate Nathan Lewis to start the fourth round sets them up for success in GM Tom Upton's first draft. He closed it out really well with two nice, D1-committed defenders — CC recruit Tristan Sarsland and UMass recruit Patrick Czarnecki — in the later rounds, while late-04 Maple Grove forward Landen Gunderson could be an absolute steal at pick #136.
Muskegon
Muskegon had a solid draft. They used both tenders, so they didn't start calling names until pick 41, but they quickly added two nice prospects from AAA hockey for their blue line in Nathan McBrayer (Ohio State) and Jeremiah Slavin.
After that they swung for the fences a bit with picks like Luke Devlin, Connor Levis and Matt Morden. Levis is a late-04 Michigan recruit who had a solid year in the CSSHL Midget Prep loop and was taken in the first round of the WHL draft last year. Matt Morden is described as a high-end defender and was taken in the second round of the OHL draft. He’s headed to St. Andrew's College in Ontario, as is Luke Devlin, a forward who was a 7th round pick in the OHL. The quality of this draft largely hinges on whether those three players ever come to play in the league. They also added a solid goaltending prospect in Cameron Korpi from Little Caesars.
Omaha
Omaha didn't have a first round pick and only had four picks in the top hundred. Considering that, they did well getting Florida Alliance defenseman Aiden Dubinsky late in the second round before adding one of the CSSHL Elite-15's top scorers in Daimon Gardner at pick #56. As the draft wore on they consistently found value in the AAA ranks with the selection of Ben Robertson (Mount), Andrew Centrella (Valley Forge), Mike Mesic (Compuware), Nick Del Gaizo (NJ Rockets) and Kaleb Smith (Sabres). What I liked most was the flyers on two talented European forwards late in the draft: Belarussian Timofei Timoshkov and Tomas Trunda from the Czech Republic.
Their draft was a bit less risky than Muskegon's and if one of those later picks turns into a nice player for them, this looks like a really nice draft — especially when you consider how few high picks they were working with.
Sioux City
Though Sioux City had no first round pick due to tendering Nick Pierre (Wisconsin), they had two picks in the second and a high pick in the third, fifth and seventh rounds making six picks in the top hundred — four in the top sixty-two. I liked their high school hockey looks, of which there were many, starting with Edina stand-out freshman Jimmy Clark, Brunswick's Connor Welsh, Hill-Murray's Dylan Godbout and Andover's Will Hughes at forward.
They added Blaine high school defenseman Finn Loftus before rounding out their draft with a goaltender from Shattuck's 15s in Michael D'Orazio. They also added a Finn in Roope Tuomioksa plus two San Jose Jr. Sharks in Garrett Brown (third rounder) and Tyler Dysart. The latter names are unknown commodities for me, but they secured value in those early picks and the odds indicate they got a few pretty good future players this week.
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls draft was pretty good, especially early on. They had a first round pick that I can't speak to in Ryan Healey, but assuming he becomes a regular USHL player, they also added two nice prospects at forward in Jaksen Panzer and Justin Varner plus another great prospect for their blue line in Kazimier Sobieski before the draft started to thin out. Picking Tristan Luneau (Wisconsin) at #77 could be brilliant — they got a top Q prospect to look off major junior and play for them last season in ‘03 Evan Nause — but every player is different and I have a feeling the pick was wasted. They'll be lucky to get more than three or four good USHL regulars from this draft — if they do it looks like a great draft.
Tri-City
Tri-City used two tenders and still had six picks in the top hundred. They picked a lot of players I'm not familiar with, but they only had two picks in the top forty and they got solid prospects there in forward Jonah Aegeerter (Oakland Jr. Grizzlies) and defenseman Shaun McEwen (Selects). They took a chance on OHL fourth-rounder Isaiah George, a 6'1 defender from the Marlies. If he were to come that probably pushes this draft into the 'great' territory, but even if they end up missing on him and a bunch of their other picks, they’ve already secured some top talent with their tenders. This draft looks decent, a lot depends on if those two early picks pan out.
Waterloo
Waterloo tendered a prolific scorer in Shattuck's Mike Lastarza and drafted two of his teammates from the Faribault, Minnesota-based prep school that has been very good to them over the years: defenseman Will Jones (6th round) and forward Anthony Yu (8th round). They also added some great offensive talent from Honeybaked in Owen Baker and in third-round pick James Hong, who had a great season in 16 hockey for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks as a late-04 forward. Two very solid defenseman from AAA hockey joined the pipeline in Patrick Geary (Sabres) and Tucker Shedd (Compuware) and two forwards who did well in Minnesota high school were picked up in Wayzata's Gavin O'Connell and Prior Lake's Will Schumacher. Waterloo picked close to the bottom in every round and found nice picks every time, including their last pick, Selects Academy forward Jake Rozzi, who lit it up this year. A Lac St-Louis product, he may be headed back to Quebec depending on where he gets picked in the Q draft next month. Liked this draft a lot.
Youngstown
Youngstown held onto all of their early round picks and had an additional third-rounder — plus they picked sixth, so they were well-positioned to get a good pull each time they were at bat. That was what they did, picking up a great offensive piece in Shattuck 15's Jack Larrigan (Notre Dame) in the first and another good forward in St. Louis AAA Blues 16’s Tyler Catalano at 21st overall. They followed that up with two great defenders in the third round, Jake Furlong and Tyler Klemm. They added a Japanese prospect after that with Kenta Isogai from Okanagan Hockey Club Europe, which is exciting after the nice rookie outing that countryman Yusaku Ando had for the Phantoms in 2019-20. They did a great job in the early part of their draft and if any of the later picks turn into USHL players, that pushes it over the top.
Other notes
The Colorado Thunderbirds program had a great week with six picks in the futures draft between the 15 and 16 teams, plus 16U captain Kieran Cebrian (Denver) was picked in the first round of the entry draft (Tri-City).
Shattuck-St. Mary’s led the way on pure quantity, with eight players picked from their 15 team in the Futures draft.
Brunswick led all prep programs with three picks, two of which came in the first two rounds: Andon Cerbone (Chicago) and Connor Welsh (Sioux City). Cushing Academy had two picks in the second round, Jackson Dorrington (Des Moines) and Cam Lund (Green Bay).
Thayer Academy forward Mike Stenberg (Penn State) went third overall to Des Moines and teammate CJ Foley went in the ninth to Green Bay. Minnesota's East Grand Forks, right on the border with North Dakota, also had a great day. Two EGF skaters, both UND commits, went in the second and third rounds: forward Jaksen Panzer (Sioux Falls) and Trey Ausmus (Madison). Fellow Minnesotans Zam Plante (Chicago) from Hermantown and Jimmy Clark (Sioux City), from Edina were also picked early.
It was a good day for the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies program who had four picks taken between rounds two and five: Jonah Aegeerter (Tri-City), Landon Fleming (Madison), Nathan Lewis (Madison) and John Emmons (Cedar Rapids).
Other teams with strong showings: Dubuque picked up three prospects (one at each position) from the Dallas Stars Elite program in succession between rounds two and four: forward Chase LaPinta, defenseman Colby Woogk and goaltender Paxton Giesel. Fox Motors 15s had four players picked, three of which went between the second and fourth round: Camden Shasby (Fargo), Dominic Elliott (Cedar Rapids), and Cole Knuble (Fargo).
Mount St. Charles saw two of their top defensemen get selected in captain Jake Furlong and Ben Robertson, to Youngstown and Omaha respectively.
Thanks for reading.