The 2023 NHL Draft looks to be another example of how far hockey has come in the New York metro area, including Long Island and New Jersey.
While the region’s top prospect for June’s draft comes from a more longstanding market — the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg — the depth of the class hails more from Long Island and New Jersey.
That top prospect is Quentin Musty, who has taken a winding path to where he is now. From Hamburg, his hockey journey started with the Buffalo Junior Sabres before spending one season helping the North Jersey Avalanche win a USA Hockey 16-U National Championship in 2021.
Instead of choosing the college route as most Americans do, he spurned USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program to sign in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sudbury Wolves. Now in his second year playing north of the border, he’s the consensus top pick among draft-eligible prospects from New York and New Jersey.
There are five players in this year’s pool from the region who are locks to be drafted. After that, there are a few players who could hear their names called at the draft in Nashville. It just takes one team to value a certain player, even if the rest of the league feels differently.
