2016 NWHL Junior Draft Recap

There were very different approaches from each of the Founding Four teams in the 2016 NWHL draft. The joy of the draft is that the picks the General Managers made Saturday, could be on their roster for the 2017-2018 season, they could be on another team (with the exchange of the draft tax), or they may not even join the league. All GM’s were asked the same questions in the post draft conference call regarding their strategy in the draft and how they plan to scout their picks this season. It was evident from their answers that each has a vision for how to put their team in position to win multiple Isobel Cups.

New York and the #1 Overall Pick

GM Chad Wiseman had the entire draft board at his disposal, but to Wiseman, the choice was simple, Kelsey Koelzer would be the #1 pick. “There were 3 or 4 girls that could have gone #1… Koelzer is the most offensive defensemen in the draft, moves the puck well, can score from the blue line, great natural ability.” Koelzer, a defensemen from Princeton scored 33 points in 33 games including 4 game winning goals that led to her being named a first team All-American for the 2015-2016 season.

Kelsey Koelzer led Princeton to a NCAA Appearance in 2016

Wiseman was cognizant of players who may or may not join the NWHL and made a point of sending emails to most of the Riveters potential draft class asking whether their plan after college was to join the NWHL or not.

Wiseman and the Riveters got their steal of the draft with the #5 pick in Sydney Daniels. Wiseman called Daniels, the Forward from Harvard, a “big aggressive player who can score, easy choice… great reviews as a person and her character.” Daniels had 31 points for Crimson in her Junior year.

Buffalo Focuses Draft on the Offense

Buffalo GM Ric Seiling is excited for what the future holds for the Beauts. It seemed throughout the draft as if Seiling was looking for local players that may stay in Buffalo and he did admit “Having local talent is a big plus.” However, he also made mention that the 2015-2016 All-Star game, that was held in Buffalo, also opened many players eyes. “We had numerous players that were in awe of our facilities at the All-Star Game and they saw that it’s a great place to play.” Last year’s run to the Isobel Cup showed Seiling that his Beauts were a strong team, but needed to add more offense to keep up with the Champion Pride. That is exactly where he focused his efforts in the draft, selecting 4 Forwards, all 4 in the top 60 in the NCAA in scoring last year as Juniors.

Lee Stecklein has gained experience with team USA

The one pick that wasn’t a forward was the Beauts #1 pick in Lee Stecklein. Stecklein is a 6 foot, top line defender. She was included on the 2014 US Olympic roster and in 2015-2016 helped the Minnesota Golden Gophers win the NCAA National Title. Together with the Beauts goaltending corps, Megan Bozek, the addition of Stecklein could make the Beauts the toughest team to score on in the future. Seiling noted that the offense was where his focus was, saying “the blue line is solid.”

The steal of the draft for Buffalo was grabbing Haley Scamurra from Northeastern in the 3rd round. Scamurra notched 43 points last year and was an incredible +43 on the ice in the tough Hockey East.

Connecticut Wins the Draft

The Connecticut Whale started last year as the hottest team in the NWHL… until the calendar hit 2016, and the Whale looked beached. Unfortunately, Whale GM Lisa Giovanelli was unable to join the post-draft conference call, luckily Head Coach Heather Linstad filled in for Giovanelli. The free agency period this Spring has not been kind to the Whale, with 4 of 5 of the 2015 Draft Picks signing with other teams. When asked if that changed the strategy of this draft at all, Linstad said “Our strategy was to find the top players at each position.”

The Whale certainly did just that. With the top 2 defensemen off the board in the top 2 picks, Connecticut drafted Minnesota Golden Gopher Dani Cameranesi with the 3rd pick. Cameranesi on most draft boards was the presumptive #1 pick, even more so with the defensive signings that the Riveters have made during the free agency period. Cameranesi has scored 65 and 68 points in her Sophomore and Junior years at Minnesota and was also a part of the 2015 US National Team that won gold at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.

Sydney Rossman will be a fan favorite in Connecticut

The steal of the draft for Connecticut was Goaltender Sydney Rossman from Quinnipiac. Rossman got her opportunity to shine this year with Chelsea Laden graduating, Rossman took the opportunity and shined. In her first full season, Rossman was named the ECAC Goaltender of the Year and a Finalist for ECAC Player of the Year. Rossman is another example of the strong connection between the Whale and Quinnipiac. Two of the first three players signed by the Whale in 2015 were QU grads Chelsea Laden and Shiann Darkangelo and this year, the Whale have added Free Agents Cydney Roesler, Nicole Connery and Nicole Kosta.

Boston Goes International

GM Hayley Moore of the Boston Pride took the completely opposite strategy as Wiseman. Moore said her approach to the draft was not to worry “if a player is from another country and if they are going to sign with us, but at the end of the day, the best strategy is just take the best players available.” Pressed on the issue, Moore was asked about the similarity in her first pick and last year’s selection of Emerance Maschmeyer who has declared for the CWHL this year, she was very straight forward in saying “I am aware of it, we want the NWHL to be a league with the best players in the world, in one league.” It’s clear that Moore is looking at the NWHL long term and is working to make it the premier league in the world, not just the Northeast United States.

With that first round selection, the Pride took Ann-Renee Desbiens, statistically the best goaltender in college hockey last year, from Wisconsin. Desbiens led the nation in Save Percentage, Shutouts, and led her Wisconsin Badgers to the Frozen Four last year. She allowed just 29 goals in 38 games and made over 700 saves in each of the last two years. The predicament is that Desbiens is a highly touted Canadian National team Goaltender. History has shown that those players head north of the border, but maybe Moore will be the one that breaks that streak. The Pride could be on to something and this could be a great draft class, or this may be a bust if the international players don’t stay in the US, but we won’t know until at least 2016-2017.

Ann-Renee Desbiens shattered records at Wisconsin

The steal of the draft for the Pride was Ashleigh Brykaliuk, a great forward from Minnesota-Duluth. Brykaliuk was on the board with the 12th pick and the Pride jumped at the opportunity to pick her. Brykaliuk had 47 points last year and came up big against the top teams in the WCHA with 7 points in 9 games against Minnesota and Wisconsin last year. With all of her picks coming from the WCHA, Moore was asked if she was focusing on that league and she said “They’re all incredibly high end players, all top 10 in scoring in the WCHA.”

We won’t know for another full year how many of these draft picks will sign with their respective teams. It may be many more years later that we will know if the NWHL is the premier women’s hockey league. As the NWHL heads into the second season, it’s clear the Founding Four GM’s have different views of how to make their team successful and only Isobel will determine who’s vision for the team is the best.

Picks by Round