USHL

The United States Hockey League (USHL) has 26 ties among the 85 players attending the 2022 NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y. this weekend ahead of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft in July. 

A trio of USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) forwards Logan Cooley, Cutter Gauthier and Isaac Howard, as well as former Dubuque Fighting Saints forward Matthew Savoie (2020-21) lead the way as a quartet of top-10 North American Skaters from NHL Central Scouting’s Final Rankings. Cooley, Gauthier and Savoie are ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively while Howard comes in at 9th. 

“The NHL Combine is an important building-block in hockey player development,” said USHL President and Commissioner Bill Robertson. “The NHL Combine has assisted our USHL players as they move forward with their hockey careers. We have had great success with the amount of our players drafted and competing on current NHL rosters as this NHL Combine is another step forward in that development.”

Cooley had 36 points in 24 games for the Under-18 squad in USHL action this season. The University of Minnesota commit also had 28 points (15-13-28) in 27 games with the Under-17 squad last season and finished his NTDP career with 64 points (28-36-64) in 51 USHL appearances. Gauthier picked up 28 points (19-9-28) in 22 games and the Boston College commit is looking to become the second member of his family to make the NHL after his father Sean Gauthier played one game with the San Jose Sharks. Howard, a University of Minnesota Duluth commit, collected 37 points (11-26-37) in 27 appearances after having produced 33 points (16-17-33) in 28 games with the Under-17 squad last season. Savoie picked up 38 points (21-17-38) in 34 regular season games with the Fighting Saints last season. 

Clark Cup Champion and reigning USHL Rookie of the Year Dylan James is one of the 85 attendees. As the 37th-ranked North American skater, James finished his rookie season with 61 points (28-33-61) after appearing in all 62 regular season games. The University of North Dakota commit added eight points (5-3-8) in 10 Clark Cup Playoffs games, including four points (3-1-4) in the Clark Cup Final. 

Quinn Finley, who was ranked 36 among North American skaters in the Final Rankings, was invited to the Combine after finishing the regular season with 29 points (12-17-29) in 39 appearances before adding 10 points (5-5-10) in 14 Playoff games. The University of Wisconsin commit made back-to-back Clark Cup Final appearances as he was part of the Clark Cup-winning Chicago Steel during the 2020-21 season. 

Lincoln Stars netminder Cameron Whitehead is the lone USHL netminder tie and represents one of just thee goaltenders invited to the Scouting Combine. Whitehead was named the seventh-best North American goaltender in the Final Rankings and the Northeastern University commit finished the USHL season with a 16-8-2-2 record, 3.19 goals against average and 0.892 save percentage in 31 appearances. 

Both the Chicago Steel and Green Bay Gamblers have a pair of skaters attending the Combine. 

Chicago forwards Nicholas Moldenhauer and Zam Plante will represent the Steel after being ranked 39th and 64th in the Final Rankings, respectively. Moldenhauer finished his first USHL campaign with 43 points (18-25-43) in 41 regular season games before adding a pair of points (1-1-2) in three Playoff games. Plante compiled 21 points (10-11-21) in 31 regular season games this season. The University of Minnesota Duluth commit is looking to follow in the footsteps of his father Derek Plante who was Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1989 (Round 6, #161 Overall) before playing 450 games over eight seasons with four teams. The elder Plante lifted the Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Dallas Stars and is currently an Associate Head Coach at Minnesota Duluth. 

Gamblers forwards Cameron Lund (2020-22) and Ryan Greene (2019-22) will represent Green Bay after being ranked 40th and 46th, respectively, in the Final Rankings. Lund, a Northeastern University commit, registered 50 points (25-25-50) in 62 regular season games while Greene notched 51 points (19-32-51) in 59 games. For his career, Greene has 88 points (34-54-88) in 128 regular season games. 

Waterloo Black Hawks defenseman Sam Rinzel (2021-22), Youngstown Phantoms forward Adam Ingram (2021-22) and Lincoln forward Brennan Ali (2021-22; NTDP, 2020-21) will head to the Combine after being ranked 19th, 27th and 83rd among North American Skaters in the Final Rankings. Rinzel, a University of Minnesota commit, collected 10 points (2-8-10) in 21 regular season appearances with the Black Hawks. Ingram was more than a point-per-game player with 55 (26-29-55) in 54 regular season appearances. The St. Cloud State University commit scored a goal in two Clark Cup Playoff games. Ali, a University of Notre Dame commit, had two assists in nine games with Lincoln this season. The forward previously played 11 games and had three points (1-2-3) with the NTDP during the 2020-21 season. 

The USHL ties are rounded out by an additional 10 members of the 2021-22 NTDP Under-18 squad as well as NTDP and USHL alumni Jack Devine (2019-21) who is currently a forward for the University of Denver and Jack Hughes (2019-21) who is currently a forward at Northeastern University. Forwards Jimmy Snuggerud (11th), Frank Nazar (21), Rutger McGroarty (22), Cruz Lucius (41), Devin Kaplan (61) and Marek Hejduk (159) will attend the Combine alongside defensemen Ryan Chesley (18), Lane Hutson (25), Seamus Casey (29) and Charles Leddy (117). ​​​​​​​