Kimball Union is getting used to celebrating big tournament victories. The defending NEPSIHA Elite 8 Tournament Champion went 3-0-1 over the weekend en route to capturing the trophy at the Flood Marr.
In an unusual circumstance, KUA and Salisbury were deadlocked even after every tiebreaker. A coin flip determined the Wildcats would play Westminster in the championship game. KUA jumped out to a 3-0 lead before holding on for a 4-2 win.
There’s little doubt KUA and Salisbury are the top two teams in prep school hockey. The two powerhouses are in a class by themselves this season. Both teams are talented, deep and well coached.
Westy should be credited for running through their side of the round robin undefeated. They hung tight in the championship game, despite losing their starting goaltender early in the proceedings.
2018 NHL Draft Prospects
As always, the Flood Marr is one of the most well attended events on the prep calendar. NHL scouts, college coaches, NHL agents, and junior scouts flocked to the tournament to view potential stars of tomorrow.
KUA and Salisbury combined for five players on NHL Central Scouting’s November Watch List. A few players not listed stood out as well.
Jordan Harris
#2 KUA, 7/7/00, Sr., D, Shoots Left, 5-11/185 (Northeastern)
Harris was on another level here. His skating ability allows him to retrieve pucks, break pucks out and be a possession king on the ice. He’s extremely smart when he has the puck on his stick. He doesn’t have to defend often, but when he does, his feet and mobility allow him to recover and be on the right side of the puck. The only weakness here was that he was knocked off the puck a few times, but he’s getting stronger and is more physically impressive than given credit for at times.
Peter Diliberatore
#6 Salisbury, 3/31/00, D, Shoots Left, 5-11/155 (Quinnipiac)
Diliberatore was a little inconsistent here, but he showed off his strengths. He joined the rush a lot and made good first passes out of the zone, including a few home runs to the far blue line to push the pace. He does a good job pinching to keep pucks in the attacking zone. His feet are good which allows him to walk the blue line to get shots on net. His weaknesses were on display, especially against KUA. He runs around in the defensive zone and needs to be a little tougher on the puck and learn to pick his spots more wisely.
Christian Felton
#24 KUA, 2/4/00, Jr., D, Shoots Right, 6-1/195
Felton is a very good athlete. He skates well and jumped into the rush on numerous occasions. He’s moved up to the first pairing on the power play. His hockey sense isn’t quite what it needs to be, but his physical tools are intriguing.
Alex DiPaolo
#28 Salisbury, 4/28/00, Sr., C, Shoots Left, 6-0/176 (UMass)
The Oakville, Ontario, native isn’t always known for his offensive touch, but he had two goals against KUA. He has solid hockey IQ and wins face-offs. He’s heavy on pucks. He goes into the dirty areas and fights for pucks. His hands aren’t the best, but a few NHL organizations like him for a bottom six role.
Logan Cash
#18 KUA, 3/1/00, Sr., LW, Shoots Left, 6-2/180
The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native is a good skater and looks the part. He needs to score more and use his explosive first step to get into the dirty areas and be more of a threat. There is potential.
Jerry Harding
#6 Nobles, 3/22/99, Sr., C, Shoots Right, 6-2/208 (Providence)
Harding has the size and skating ability to play with a physical edge. He protected the puck and drove the net to feed Stevens for a goal against Hotchkiss. He scored a nice goal, beating Salisbury’s goalie to the short side in the consolation game. His physical play and size are his strengths, but he should be able to score more at this level. His hockey IQ is his weakness.
Jacques Bouquot
#19 Salisbury, 2/10/00, Sr., C, Shoots Left, 6-1/171 (BC)
This wasn’t Bouquot’s best showing. He has the size and can get up and down the sheet, but he didn’t impact the offensive production. He’s at his best when he’s using his body to his advantage.
2019 NHL Draft Prospects
Malik Alishlalov
#4 Westminster, Soph., D, Shoots Left, 6-1/190 (UConn)
Alishlalov is a very good skater with good puck skills. He has pro size and likes to jump into the rush. He plays with a flare for the dramatic. He has good length and makes plays in transition. A weakness he has is he takes himself out of the play at times by looking for the big hit. He does close quickly in his own zone and when defending the rush.
Arlo Merritt
#20 Kimball Union, Jr., LW, Shoots Left, 6-3/190 (Ohio State)
The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native was really good, especially in the round robin games, lighting the lamp four times. He has good size, is filling out his frame and skates well. He has very good hands and has stepped up this season with more ice time. He has a lot of upside.
Luke Krys
#5 Salisbury, Jr., D, Shoots Right, 6-2/175
Krys is unfairly compared to his older brother, Blackhawks prospect and BU sophomore Chad Krys. The younger Krys is tall and lanky, but skates well. He grinds more defensively and has a good stick and body positioning in his own zone. He lacks the offensive touch and vision of his older brother, but he’s solid in his own zone and makes simple breakouts when retrieving pucks.
Arseni Smehknov
#23 Salisbury, Soph., LW, Shoots Left, 6-1/185 (UConn)
Smekhnov would stand out more on most prep teams, but he kind of blends in as he adjusts to the prep game as a younger forward. What is impossible to miss is his vision and playmaking skills. He was good in the attacking zone and on the rush in finding passing lanes to get pucks to linemates.
Ignat Belov
#91 Westminster, Jr., LW, Shoots Left, 6-2/195 (UConn)
The Belarus native has good size, but he was hit or miss here. With his size he can find time and space without being flashy. He has the potential to be a power forward who can impact the offense without the most skill.
2020 NHL Draft Prospect
Nick Capone
#17 Salisbury, 12/17/01, Soph., RW, Shoots Right, 6-2/210 (Maine)
The late ’01 isn’t eligible until 2020, but there’s a lot to like about his game. His physical presence in the offensive zone disrupts the breakout. He loves to throw his weight around. He made a huge hit on a KUA forward looking to break the puck out the blue line. He gets time and space because of his size and crashes the net. His hands aren’t great, but he has a hard shot.
Top 3 Uncommitted Prospects
Here are the top 3 uncommitted prospects from the Flood-Marr out of players not mentioned above as potential NHL draft prospects:
Matt Beniers
#10 Milton, 11/5/02, Fr., C, Shoots Left, 5-11/165
The Hingham, Mass., native was really good here. As usual, he does a good job of retrieving pucks and winning races to loose pucks. He makes plays from down low, along the walls. His superior skating ability and edge work allows him to make plays in small areas. He drove the net for a rebound goal on the game-winner in the fifth place game against Andover. He’s a virtual lock to make the U.S. NTDP.
Casey Severo
#19 Nobles, 2/1/01, Soph., C, Shoots Right, 5-11/175
The second line center has a good blend of skill and offensive hockey sense to produce. His hand-eye coordination and hands are both good. He was able to generate chances and buried a few of them.
Brett Willits
#14 Salisbury, 3/16/99, Sr., C, Shoots Left, 5-10/170
The London, Ontario, native is the leading goal scorer and point getter for the Crimson Knights. His 17 points this season are as many as he scored in his first two years at Salisbury. His stickhandling allows him to protect pucks from defenders and he can find seams. He’ll need to play a little tougher, go into the dirty areas and shore up his own zone if he wants to finalize a college commitment.
Kimball Union
The Wildcats are well coached and play a solid team game, led by Harris and Bryce Dolan. The third line, especially Sullivan Mack and Seth Stadheim, brought their usual energy and added offense in the final two games.
With KUA’s depth, it’s tough to recognize all the talent, but defenseman Devan Newhook and right wings Paul Dore and Drew Bennett have upside. It’s similar to last season when Arlo Merritt didn’t get a lot of ice time.
Forward Lines
#18 Logan Cash - #21 Andranik Armstrong - #13 Thomas Samuelsen (UConn)
#20 Arlo Merritt (Ohio State) - #17 Kyle Penney (Cornell) - #22 Drew Bennett
#8 Sullivan Mack - #19 Seth Stadheim - #19 Matt Egan
#15 Zach Whitehead - #14 Ben Tardiff - #26 Paul Dore/#11 Tomas Mazura
Defensive Pairings
#2 Jordan Harris (Northeastern) - #3 Bryce Dolan (Holy Cross)
#24 Christian Felton - #4 Devan Newhook
Starting Goaltender
#1 Sean Dynan
Westminster
The Martlets were fun to watch and played well throughout the tournament until they were outmatched against KUA. Alishlalov is obviously the most intriguing prospect, but senior right wing and Harvard commit Ryan Doolin has really come on strong. He has a lethal wrist shot.
The team has a lot of good younger players, including three smaller sophomores on the blueline: Ryan Pineault, Will Gilson and Ned Blanchard. Sophomore forward Jacob Monroe and junior forwards Jordie McKenna and Sean Clarke also stood out as solid D3 prospects down the road.
Forward Lines
#91 Ignat Belov (UConn) - #22 Cam Scott - #17 Ryan Doolin (Harvard)
#16 Tasso Housakos - #10 Max Torrez - #19 Jacob Monroe
#11 Nate Pane - #15 Jordie McKenna - #13 Sean Clarke
#21 Noah Kaplan - #18 Jagger LeClair - #20 Charlie Flam
Defensive Pairings
#3 Patrick Dawson (Sacred Heart) - #4 Malik Alishlalov (UConn)
#9 Michael Fiorini - #7 Ryan Pineault
#5 Ned Blanchard - #8 Will Gilson
Goaltenders
#30 Ian Shane - #1 Alex Gadowski
Salisbury
There’s not much more to be said about Salisbury than what’s already been written. The Crimson Knights are talented, big and deep. Few teams in prep hockey can roll out a fourth line that can even come close to that of Salisbury’s fourth line.
Not mentioned above, but senior left wing Matt Holmes is off to a good start. He’s always been a player with good size who could be a late bloomer if he puts it all together.
Forward Lines
#23 Arsenii Smekhnov (UConn) - #28 Alex DiPaolo (UMass) - #12 Chris Brown
#16 Matt Holmes - #14 Brett Willits - #17 Nick Capone (Maine)
#20 Ilya Usau (UConn) - #19 Jacques Bouquot (BC) - #24 Kevin Wall (Merrimack)
#11 Michael Fairfax - #18 Nicholas Lachaine - #9 Matthew DeBoer
Defensive Pairings
#3 Nick Hale (Holy Cross) - #5 Luke Krys
#6 Peter Diliberatore (Quinnipiac) - #4 Noah Lee
#2 Clay Korpi - #27 Brendan Reynolds
Goaltenders
#30 Bryan McGrath - #1 Jared Levine
Nobles
In addition to Harding and Severo mentioned above, left wing and Yale commit Ryan Stevens was solid and skated with more authority. ’00 senior defenseman Trevor Spence would be a great get for many Division III programs.
Forward Lines
#25 Ryan Stevens (Yale) - #6 Jerry Harding (Providence) - #4 Sean Wrenn
#11 Will Zink - #19 Casey Severo - #9 Jack Cronin
#16 Christian DiPietrantonio - #15 Owen O’Connor - #7 Robert Lapsley
Defensive Pairings
#10 Trevor Spence - #23 Pierce Kenney
#3 John Murray - #27 Colby Bailey
Goaltenders
#30 Matt Lane - #1 Marc Smith
Milton
The Mustangs had the unenviable task of going up against KUA and Salisbury, but they won their other two contests against Andover and Deerfield. Beniers is the team’s top prospect, and only sure thing at Division I. However, ’99 defensemen Ryan Wilson and Velan Nandhakumaran are both fringe players who could make good Division III players. The same goes for ’99 Canadian forwards Tiger Zhang and Tyler Campbell.
Forward Lines
#20 Tiger Zhang - #16 Tyler Campbell - #8 Emmott Powell
#23 Quinton Fox - #10 Matt Beniers - #24 Nathan Katzaroff
#12 Nate Garrett - #14 Conor Greene - #22 Tyler Crist
Defensive Pairings
#3 Velan Nandhakumaran - #15 Tim Casilli
#7 Ryan Wilson - #5 Max Cassella
Starting Goaltender
#1 Erik Voloshin
Andover
Outside of a 4-1 win against Hotchkiss, the Big Blue were overmatched here. Center Christian Powers is a small, speedy forward who will be highly sought after by NESCAC schools in a year’s time. Senior left wing Quinn Doyle is another player who should get quality Division III looks. One younger player worth keeping an eye on is ’01 center Dawson Arkell from St. Louis.
Forward Lines
#11 Quinn Doyle - #13 Christian Powers - #15 Kevin Ouellette
#16 Thomas Manty - #17 Dawson Arkell - #19 Dante Maribito
Defensive Pairings
#7 Mark Meinecke - #2 Carter Giampietro
#27 Mike Gallagher - #8 Christian Kukas
Goaltenders #41 Charlie Archer - #35 Alexandre Daccord
Deerfield
Late ’99 junior forward Michael Holland should be a target for NESCAC schools looking for a two-way, physical presence up front for the 2019-20 season. ’01 sophomore defenseman Eamon Doheny is a name to remember as well.
Hotchkiss
The Bearcats were only able to muster one goal in the entire tournament. The lone bright spot for Mike Traggio’s club was ’01 sophomore goaltender Henry Wilder.
