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Busy Day for Ohio in NCDC Draft

By Scott Harrington, 05/13/21, 10:45AM EDT

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Six players will get a shot at tuition-free Junior league

The 2021 National Collegiate Development Conference Entry Draft was held on Wednesday and six players with Ohio ties were selected. The NCDC is a tuition-free Junior hockey league with 13 teams in the Northeastern United States.

Boston Advantage picked up Dayton native Sam Carper (2001) who came up in the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets organization through 2019 when he left to play Junior A hockey in Canada with the Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Carper collected five points and 77 penalty minutes with the Bobcats in 2019-20 but was only able to skate in one game with the club during the most recent, COVID-impacted season.

Another Dayton native and product of the AAA Blue Jackets, defenseman Ethan Perrault, went to the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (Hooksett, NH). Perreault (2003) was a part of the Blue Jackets 18U team that won the USA Hockey MidAm Tournament and went to St. Louis for Tier I 18U Nationals last month. He recently signed a tender with a Tier III Junior team, the Chippewa Steel.

That team’s goaltender, Michael Sochan, was drafted by the NCDC’s Philadelphia Hockey Club. Sochan (2002/Redwood City, CA) posted a stellar 2.03 goals-against average and .920 save percentage for the AAA Blue Jackets to backstop the club to the National tournament.

The Connecticut Jr. Rangers selected Sylvania native Jase Sofo, a 2002-born defenseman who played Tier III Junior hockey last year with the North Iowa Bulls of the North American 3 Hockey League. Sofo also impressed in a four-game callup to Tier II with the Amarillo Bulls of the North American Hockey League, collecting three assists.

Cleveland Barons 18U forward Joey Trobenter (2002/Euclid), a former Saint Ignatius Wildcat, was picked by the Northern Cyclones – a team that has a history of drafting and signing Cleveland-area talent. The Cyclones are located in Hudson, NH.

Finally, the P. A. L. Jr. Islanders (Syosset, NY) nabbed Gilmour Academy forward Logan Cuvo (2004/Bristol, PA). Cuvio buried 28 goals in 54 games with Gilmour’s 16U squad and scored three more in 11 games with the GA Prep team.

Players from Junior, Midget and Prep leagues all over the world were drafted into the league, which did not release the order of the selections – just the final lists of players by NCDC team. 2001-through 2004-born players were eligible for the Entry Draft, results of which can be found at USPHL.com/Draft

In addition to Wednesday’s six draftees, a pair of players were selected in January’s NCDC Futures Draft (for 2005 and 2006 birth years).

Defenseman Matthew Mania (2005/New Jersey Avalanche U16), an Olmsted Falls native, and forward Nicholas Arrington (2006/Gilmour Academy) were chosen in the Futures Draft by the Rockets Hockey Club and Utica Jr. Comets, respectively.

More than 2,000 players have made college commitments since the 2013 inception of the USPHL. More than 60 NCDC players who skated in the 2020-21 season will play NCAA Division I hockey. The NCDC, formed in 2017, has also already begun to see its players moving on to the NHL, with former Junior Bruin Drew O'Connor becoming the first former NCDC player to skate at the game's highest level, appearing in 10 games already.

There were 12 players from the 2020-21 NCDC season listed on the NHL Central Scouting Players to Watch list in January 2021. 

 

--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest