BU, BC, Michigan Lead NCAA Teams in NHL Draft

Three colleges from Massachusetts and Michigan gave the NCAA a strong showing in the NHL Draft, starting when the Buffalo Sabres selected Boston University’s National Player of the Year Jack Eichel with the second pick.

Which hockey teams produced the most talent for the NHL draft? See Breitbart Sports’ top 25 below, which includes 13 Canadian junior teams, seven US junior teams, two Swedish junior teams, the US-under 18 national team, and finally, two American colleges in one city: Boston University and Boston College. While Canadian Junior League Players dominate the draft, BU enjoyed the 10th best draft of any team.

The Breitbart Sports scoring system for the draft rewards each team with 250 points for the top pick, 249 for Eichel at second, etc. BU also received 212 points for Eichel’s LW Anthony-John Greer going 39th in the draft to give the Terriers 461 points for 10th place.

Eichel, a center, was the first freshman in 12 years to even make the final list as the top player, as his blinding speed, and ice sense that was compared in Boston to Larry Bird on a basketball court, and surprising strength helped him lead the nation with 61 points. Buffalo claimed him after Edmonton claimed Connor McDavid.

Crosstown Boston College was the next highest-rated college with the 22nd best draft of any team, starting with defenseman Noah Hanifin going 5th to Carolina. The University of Michigan (50th), Michigan Tech (93rd), Wisconsin (109th), Western Michigan (110th), and Harvard (113th) were the other colleges represented.

Providence College stunned Boston University for the National Title.

The NHL would love to grab just a little of the market the NBA won over when Yao Ming starred for the Houston Rockets. The New York Islanders generated international interest after selecting Beijing-born Andong Song. However, as a 6th rounder he is a long way from stepping on the NHL ice, much less from being a star.

The true winner of the day is the USA U-18 team, whose ability to put the youngsters up against D1 college teams has not only built the overall US program but landed 11 players in the draft for 1131 points, almost twice the production of the second best team, the Saint John Sea Dogs out of Quebec.

Tm Rnk	Team	Top Draft	Pos	Pick	Team Pts	Country
1	USA U-18	COLIN WHITE	C	21	1731	US
2	SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS	JAKUB ZBORIL	D	13	990	Canada
3	SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS	MATHEW BARZAL	C	16	754	US
4	ERIE OTTERS	CONNOR MCDAVID	C	1	715	US
5	SAULT STE. MARIE GREYHOUNDS	ZACHARY SENYSHYN	RW	15	624	Canada
6	BARRIE COLTS	MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD	G	42	579	Canada
7	PRINCE GEORGE	JANSEN HARKINS	C	47	505	Canada
8	BRANDON WHEAT KINGS	IVAN PROVOROV	D	7	494	Canada
9	LINKOPING	GABRIEL CARLSSON	D	29	480	Sweden
10	BOSTON UNIVERSITY	JACK EICHEL	C	2	461	College
11	OSHAWA GENERALS	ANTHONY CIRELLI	C	72	444	Canada
12	GREEN BAY GAMBLERS	VILI SAARIJARVI	D	73	416	US
13	SHAWNIGAN CATARACTES	ANTHONY BEAUVILLIER	LW	28	410	Canada
14	CHARLOTTETOWN	DANIEL SPRONG	RW	46	408	Canada
15	REGINA PATS	SERGEI ZBOROVSKY	D	79	402	Canada
16	LONDON KNIGHTS	MITCH MARNER	C	4	395	Canada
17	WATERLOO	BROCK BOESER	RW	23	394	US
18	NIAGARA ICEDOGS	GRAHAM KNOTT	LW	54	392	Canada
19	PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS	PAUL BITTNER	LW	38	388	US
20	AIK	OLIVER KYLINGTON	D	60	380	Sweden
21	ROUYN-NORANDA	JEREMY LAUZON	D	52	379	Canada
22	BOSTON COLLEGE	NOAH HANIFIN	D	5	376	College
23	SWIFT CURRENT BRONCOS	JAKE DEBRUSK	LW	14	372	Canada
24	MUSKEGON	CHRISTIAN WOLANIN	D	107	355	US
25	TRI-CITY AMERICANS	BRANDON CARLO	D	37	353	US
50	UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN	ZACH WERENSKI	D	8	243	College
93	MICHIGAN TECH	MATTHEW ROY	D	194	126	College
109	UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN	CAMERON HUGHES	C	165	86	College
110	WESTERN MICHIGAN	FREDERIK TIFFELS	LW	167	84	College
113	HARVARD	TYLER MOY	C	175	76	College