It’s been since the 2014-15 season that a prep school team entered February undefeated. That year Exeter was 20-0-2 before suffering a loss to Proctor midway through the last month of the regular season.
This year’s Salisbury squad, 13-0-1 as of press time, could very well run the table. The Sarum Knights are a deep, experienced team that is loaded with talent.
Seven players are averaging a point per game or more, including seniors Brett Willits and Matt Holmes. Both are uncommitted 1999-born prospects who have found chemistry on a line together.
Eight of the next nine top scorers on the team are committed to play Division 1 college hockey. Sophomore Nick Capone, a Maine recruit, is a physical wing who can dominate games down low. He throws his weight around and can score. He’s a late ’01 who is already being projected as a potential high pick for the 2020 NHL Draft.
Forwards Kevin Wall (Merrimack), Jacques Bouquot (Boston College), Illya Usau (UConn), Arseni Smekhnov (UConn) and Alex DiPaolo (UMass) and defensemen Nick Hale (Holy Cross) and Peter Diliberatore (Quinnipiac) are the other committed players.
Diliberatore and Bouquot are ranked 111th and 194th, respectively, in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings.
The spotlight is nothing new to the program, led by Andrew Will. The Knights have won five prep school titles since 2005, including three straight from 2013 to 2015.
Salisbury seems well on its way to earning the top seed in the Elite 8 tournament, but could this be one of the best prep school teams in recent memory?
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Three rising prep school stars are expected to make USA Hockey’s NTDP for 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Matt Beniers, fr., C, Milton Academy
The late ’02 from Hingham, Mass., always has been considered one of the top forward prospects in this age group. Beniers is averaging over a point per game for the Mustangs. He has average size for his age, but his skating, hockey sense and compete level are all high end. While any school in college hockey would love to have his services, Harvard, Boston College and Boston University are considered the front-runners. Providence and Northeastern are also in the mix.
Drew Commesso, so., G, St. Sebastian’s
Crease standout Commesso originally committed to the University of New Hampshire but changed to Boston University. His goaltending coach, Brian Eklund of Mass Crease, is the volunteer goaltending coach at BU. A native of Norwell, Mass., the future Terrier has good size, moves well in the crease and has strong fundamentals. It’s rare for a younger player to have success at any position in prep hockey, but doing it at the goaltending position is quite a feat.
Jason Siedem, fr., C, Avon Old Farms
The Madison, N.J., native is committed to play college hockey at Boston College. Also a late ’02, if he makes the NTDP as expected, he’ll join his brother, fellow Eagle recruit Ryan, who is skating on this year’s U-17 team as a defenseman. The younger Siedem is a tall, lanky forward who was able to showcase his skill-set more easily against his own age group. He’s taken a while to adjust to the prep game, but he’s starting to figure it out.
THE LIST / LOFTY DRAFT GOALS
In addition to Salisbury’s Peter Diliberatore and Jacques Bouquot, 13 other prep players are ranked in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings. Thayer center Jay O’Brien headlines the list at 44th. He’s followed closely behind by Kimball Union defenseman Jordan Harris.
44 | Jay O’Brien, RC, Thayer Academy/Hingham, Mass. (Providence)
46 | Jordan Harris, LD, Kimball Union/Haverhill, Mass. (Northeastern)
55 | Michael Kesselring, RD, New Hampton/New Hampton, N.H. (Merrimack)
92 | Riley Hughes, RW, St. Sebastian’s/Westwood, Mass. (Northeastern)
106 | Christian Felton, RD, Kimball Union
109 | Logan Cash, LW, Kimball Union
111 | Peter Diliberatore, LD, Salisbury (Quinnipiac)
151 | Wyatt Schlaht, LW, St. Sebastian’s/Wellesley, Mass.
180 | Teddy Wooding, RC, Rivers/Wrentham, Mass. (Yale)
192 | Aidan McDonough, LW, Thayer Academy/Milton, Mass. (Northeastern)
194 | Jacques Bouquot, LW, Salisbury/South Windsor, Conn. (Boston College)
199 | Ryan Stevens, LW, Nobles/Duxbury, Mass. (Yale)
213 | Nolan McElhaney, RD, Cushing/Natick, Mass. (New Hampshire)
215 | Gabriel Blanchard, LD, Trinity-Pawling
217 | Connor Sweeney, LW, Lawrence Academy/North Andover, Mass. (New Hampshire)
Also ranked are prep school alums Oliver Wahlstrom (7), Tyler Madden (49), Michael Callahan (102), Cameron Boudreau (117) and Jack DeBoer (197).
