Three Eagles Selected at NHL Draft

Two incoming freshmen and one rising sophomore were selected at the NHL Draft in Buffalo, New York this weekend. The first Eagle off the board was highly touted recruit Joseph Woll, who went to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round. With Toronto being down the road from Oshawa, concerns were raised about whether or not Woll will show up because we all know what happened to the last Eagle to be drafted by Toronto. Lou Lamoriello and the Maple Leafs staff are devoted proponents of the NCAA route and after talking with some people at BC, it seems as if everyone is extremely confident that the St. Louis native will show up in September.

24 picks later, sophomore Casey Fitzgerald was selected by the Buffalo Sabres, capping off an incredible 2016 season where he was certainly one of the best rookie defensemen in the country. Of course, playing alongside someone like Ian McCoshen didn't hurt Casey's prospects but I thought he was perhaps BC's most consistent freshman last season. The staff will undoubtedly be expecting him to lead what will be a young Eagle blue line this winter.

Lastly, Graham McPhee was selected in the fifth round by the Edmonton Oilers. The son of former Washington GM George McPhee had an up and down season with the NTDP, but from those that have seen him play, there is a lot of potential that has yet to be unleashed. I'm hoping McPhee's situation works out a bit like Fitzgerald's because in both cases, there were a handful of players from their fellow NTDP squads that got more accolades and I feel like these guys have flown under the radar. I don't expect McPhee to come in here and be one of the top forwards right off the bat, however, if he can produce somewhere around 25 points, it would be a step in the right direction.

All in all, nothing out of the ordinary happened. I thought there was an outside chance Luke McInnis would get drafted but unfortunately for him, that did not happen. Assuming nothing crazy takes place between now and October (a bold assumption), the Eagles will have 10 NHL draft picks on their roster next season.