WCHA represented prominently in NHL Draft

June 30, 10:19 PMWCHA ExaminerBrian Pietrzak

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Minnesota Wild Draftee Nick Leddy / AP Photo

The NHL Draft took place in Montreal last weekend, and the WCHA was featured prominently. Twenty-five players with WCHA ties were picked in the draft, which is summarized below by member team:

• Alaska-Anchorage: LW Spencer Bennett (5th Round, #141 to Calgary)
• Colorado College: D John Moore (1st Round, #21 to Columbus)
• Denver: D William Wrenn (2nd Round, #43 to San Jose); C Drew Shore (2nd Round, #44 to Florida); D Paul Phillips (7th Round, #195 to Chicago)
• Minnesota: D Nick Leddy (1st Round, #16 to Minnesota); C Jordan Schroeder (1st Round, #22 to Vancouver); RW Zach Budish (2nd Round, #41 to Nashville); RW Josh Birkholz (3rd Round, #67 to Florida); D Seth Helgeson (4th Round, #114 to New Jersey); LW Erik Haula (7th Round, #182 to Minnesota)
• Minnesota-Duluth: D Dylan Olsen (1st Round, #28 to Chicago); C/LW Daniel Delisle (3rd Round, #89 to Chicago); C Maxwell Tardy (7th Round, #202 to St. Louis)
• North Dakota: C Corban Knight (5th Round, #135 to Florida); LW Derek Rodwell (5th Round, #144 to New Jersey); C Mike Cichy (7th Round, #199 to Montreal)
• St. Cloud State: RW Ben Hanowski (3rd Round, #63 to Pittsburgh); G Mike Lee (3rd Round, #91 to Phoenix); C/LW Nick Oliver (4th Round, #110 to Nashville); D Nick Jensen (5th Round, #150 to Detroit); D Oliver Lauridsen (7th Round, 196 to Philadelphia); C Nic Dowd (7th Round, #198 to Los Angeles)
• Wisconsin: D Troy Hesketh (3rd Round, #71 to Edmonton); C Craig Smith (4th Round, #98 to Nashville)

All and all, not a bad haul for the league. Seeing 25 players drafted is impressive, but it's also impressive to see the four first-round picks and three second-rounders as well. Also, the spread among teams is impressive. Of the ten member schools, only Minnesota State-Mankato and Michigan Tech did not have a player drafted last week. Finally, St. Cloud State's six draftees was impressive enough, but Oliver Lauridsen is the only returning player among that bunch, meaning coach Bob Motzko has a strong recruiting class coming in for 2009-10.

The vast majority of the 25 players drafted from the WCHA are incoming freshmen, which speaks volumes for the recruiting efforts of the league's coaches and how competitive it is for players on the recruiting trail. It will be interesting to see how many - if any - players will skip college for the NHL. Of the first rounders, Jordan Schroeder would seem to have been the biggest flight risk going into the draft, but he fell to #22 and it seems likely he will return to the University of Minnesota for his sophomore season. Colorado College defensive prospect John Moore also dropped somewhat from where he was initially projected to go, so it seems likely he will enter CC next fall as a freshman. Same for Minnesota prep defenseman Nick Leddy, who went a little higher than anticipated at #16 to the Minnesota Wild. The Wild loved Leddy all along, but defensemen are usually slower to develop, so it would seem likely Leddy will play at least one season for the Minnesota Gophers.

The 2009 NHL Entry Draft was further proof that the league is the premiere collection of talent in college hockey. Top to bottom, this league is very competitive, and the quality of players is impressive. 

In the coming weeks, we'll look at all ten teams and how they stack up for the upcoming season. It may seem a long time away, but it's only twelve short weeks until the first practices for WCHA teams.