USHL Draft to take place tonight, tomorrow morning

May 5, 2014May 5, 2014 MiHockey Staff

By Michael Caples –

The United States Hockey League is set to begin their 2014 draft today and tomorrow.

The league, which boasts the top Junior A teams in the country, annually holds a two-part draft, with Phase 1 beginning tonight at 6 p.m. ET.

Phase 1 of the draft consists of eight rounds, with each of the USHL clubs selecting players from the 1998 birth-year. It is viewed as more of a developmental draft, as only a small group of the players drafted will appear in the league next year – similar to that of the NHL Draft.

Some of the 1998 birth-year players MiHockey would be keeping an eye on tonight have already been claimed by USHL clubs with the league’s tender process. Mitch Eliot and Derek Daschke, two of the top ’98s from the state, have signed with Muskegon and Cedar Rapids, respectively. By using a tender, those teams sacrifice their first-round pick in tonight’s draft. A total of six teams have used tenders so far.

We recently highlighted the top 1998 birth-year players in preparation for the OHL Draft – see that list here.

Phase 2 of the draft begins tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. ET. In Phase 2, players from multiple birth-years are available for selection, as all the teams fill out their 45-player ‘initial protected list’. USHL clubs have had great success selecting Michigan natives in Phase 2 of late. Last year, the Indiana Ice chose Saline native Aidan Muir with the first overall pick in the Phase 2 draft, and he has recorded 41 points in 54 games for a squad still competing in the USHL playoffs (he’s also an Edmonton draft pick and a Western Michigan commit). The Sioux City Musketeers selected Macomb native Brandon Hawkins fourth overall in 2013, and he led the team with 26 goals this season.

Brownstown native Matt Iacopelli was a second-round pick of the Lumberjacks in the 2013 Phase 2 draft, and he set a franchise record while leading the USHL in scoring with 41 goals this season. Iacopelli is also a Western Michigan commit.

There will be a live broadcast of tonight’s draft on the USHL official website – for Michigan-specific tracking, tune in to our Twitter feed and follow along at MiHockeyNow.com.