Twenty-nine players from New York and New Jersey will take part in the 2022 USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp that starts Thursday at the Northtown Center in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst.
It’s a big event for the 2005 birth year as it begins the draft eligibility season for all but those born after September 15. The field of players at Select 17s was chosen from district festivals, including New York (NYSAHA) and Atlantic (AAHA).
Players on the USA Hockey NTDP are precluded from the national camps with the reason being that they’re already been given an abundance of exposure in international competition and USHL play during their two seasons with the program in Plymouth, Mich. For that reason, a quartet of top players, forwards Ryan Fine (Center Moriches, N.Y.) and Salvatore Guzzo (Staten Island, N.Y.) and defensemen Drew Fortescue (Nyack, N.Y.) and Aram Minnetian (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.), will be missing from the activities in Amherst.
Not only is this a significant few days for 2023 NHL draft consideration, USA Hockey uses this event to choose the participants on the national team that will compete in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup this July and August. Thirteen of the 29 players from New York and New Jersey are committed, but the rest are looking to have impressive showings in a showcase setting that brings together multiple coaches from every college hockey program in the country.
Outside of the 29 local players in attendance, there are six skaters present who play for a midget program in New York or New Jersey. Two of those players, Long Island Gulls U16 forward Griffin Erdman (Dartmouth) and North Jersey Avalanche U16 defenseman Luke Baker (Michigan State) are committed.
Here is the full list of locals.
