Team Blue completed a comeback against Team White in the BioSteel All-American Game with UNH recruit Damien Carfagna’s overtime strike to close out a 4-3 victory at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., on Monday.
The contest, which featured a mix of teams representing the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad and top American players from other USHL member clubs, is an annual indicator of who could be the top U.S. players selected in the summer NHL Draft. New England natives Brady Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Charlie Leddy (Fairfield, Conn.) represented the region from the NTDP on Team White. Former Rivers forward Phillip Tresca (Newton, Mass.), and Boston Advantage star Ryan Healey (Hull, Mass.) wore white jerseys and are playing with the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Sioux Falls Stampede, respectively.
Team Blue boasted Green Bay Gamblers forward Cam Lund (Bridgewater, Mass.), and defenseman Jackson Dorrington (North Reading, Mass.) with the Des Moines Buccaneers. Lund and Dorrington were standout teammates with Cushing Academy and the Boston Jr. Bruins of the USPHL NCDC before making the jump to the USHL this season.
Although not physically present to watch the game, this report reflects the broadcast viewing and observations from several NHL scouting sources on hand to watch the game live.
Lund headed in right direction
It wasn’t the greatest start in the USHL for Lund, a power forward who has the size, skating and skills/shot to be an impact performer at any level, but struggled to find his scoring touch early on. After Lund went scoreless in his first nine USHL games, he started shooting pucks more frequently and with greater authority. That turned into seven goals in his next 10 games, and he’s shown a better 200-foot effort across the board. His 11 goals and 20 points are good for fourth on the Gamblers in scoring.
“Lund did himself a lot of favors in this game,” a veteran NHL scout told New England Hockey Journal. “He’s showing that he’s willing to get inside, he’s showing that he’s got more compete than most of us thought he did. There’s offense to him, too. He can find teammates, make plays by himself off the rush, so I thought he did himself some favors there.”
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Lund has always possessed the talent that would get his foot in the door with NHL teams, but after some inconsistent play at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup in August, he’s taking the next steps to address some of the questions. Doing it in a building full of pro hockey talent evaluators was a major boon to his progression.
“Lund is trending up,” another Western Conference NHL scout said. “He’s skating harder and competing harder. He’s strong. His shot is elite. He’s been elevating his play lately, BioSteel game included.”
With his total package of size and talent, plus the improved overall play, Lund might be the biggest area wild card in the 2022 draft.
Berard raising stock with strong two-way effort, smarts
The younger brother of New York Rangers prospect and Providence College recruit Brett Berard, Brady is finding his own way, and this performance might serve as a springboard to a strong second half.
He scored a goal in the second period to give his team a two-goal lead by going right to the net, picking up a puck that bounced off the end boards and flicking it into the back of the net before goaltender Paxton Geisel could react.
“Love the compete level,” the Western Conference scout said. “He’s a mid-to-late (round) guy for me.”
While not having a lot of offensive production at the NTDP in his time there, Berard has always been a gritty worker. Now, there is an offensive element that might be blooming with him.
“Berard was a player I was pleasantly surprised with,” the veteran scout said. “I’m not a big Berard guy to tell you, but he did more than I thought he was capable of. So, he caught my attention to the point that I need to go back and pay attention again. I always questioned what’s his path, what’s his trait, what does he do, how is he going to get to the National Hockey League? I don’t mind the player, I just watch the player and think about the NHL, but he did some good things offensively in this one.”
Berard’s teammate Leddy, who played under John Gardner (South Windsor, Conn.) at Avon Old Farms before joining the program in 2020, is a tall (6-foot-1, 175), rangy skater. The Boston College recruit can get up and down the ice sheet quickly and puts good zip on his passes. While he flashes ability and potential on certain shifts, Leddy’s consistency and application of effort is something that he has room to address with the remaining games on the schedule leading into this spring’s World Under-18 championship.
“There are a couple of guys on that USA defense who are going to be drafted,” the scout said. “It’s a good group, but I don’t love it.”
Dorrington, Healey falling back from pack
A game like this one isn’t often kind to defensemen. For Dorrington and Healey, it didn’t exactly play to their strengths, though Healey’s skating continues to be his biggest asset and carry tool. When the Harvard recruit gets going, he can accelerate so quickly and smoothly, he often leaves would-be forecheckers in his wake. He can also close quickly on puck carriers and recover back against odd-man rushes. However, there are some other areas of his game that he’ll want to address before the draft.
“Healey’s feet are legit,” said the Western scout. “But he also makes risky mistakes and there isn’t enough offensive output.”
The good news for Healey is that it was just one game, and with an attention to detail on the little things to shore up his two-way game, he can put in the work to trend higher with the Stampede, before entering Harvard next fall.
Dorrington is more of a defense-first player whose best attributes aren’t captured on video. One NHL observer said that while Dorrington’s play had improved in recent USHL viewings as he gets more comfortable and takes advantage of the smaller home ice surface in Des Moines to play a smart, but physical brand of defense, the veteran scout finds himself asking more questions with each viewing.
“I’ve seen him quite a bit this year,” he said of Dorrington. “I keep asking myself, ‘what is he?’ and ‘what does he do?’ Again, it’s about looking at players from the National Hockey League perspective, and if you’re having to ask or look too hard, it’s a tougher projection. He’s one I think would benefit from another year in the USHL.”
Dorrington is a Northeastern recruit, and already a solid defensive presence even if his offensive dimension is not yet formed.
Checking in on players with New England ties
Beyond the winning goal scored by future Wildcat defenseman Carfagna, forwards Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) and Jack Harvey (Boston University) showed flashes of their potential to be productive and impactful in the Hockey East. Boston University recruit Lane Hutson is a mainstay on the NTDP blue line and one of the most skilled and electric defensemen in the entire draft class. He’s deadly with the man advantage and will be a player that makes quite an impression at Comm. Ave.
In net, both Team USA goaltenders are headed for New England: UNH’s Tyler Muszelik stopped all 13 shots he faced in the first half of the game for Team White. Dylan Silverstein, a Californian who played at Dexter Southfield and committed to Boston College earlier this season, stopped 17 or 19 shots in 32:20 of playing time.
Forwards Marek Hejduk, NTDP (Harvard), Kenny Connors, Dubuque (UMass), with defensemen Seamus Powell, NTDP (Boston College), Vinny Borgesi, Tri-City (Northeastern) and Lukas Gustafsson, Chicago (Boston College) rounded out those eventually headed to the area when they finish up in juniors.
