Phantoms select 15 hopefuls in USHL Draft
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Phantoms landed nine forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders during Monday’s five-hour USHL Entry Draft.
Forward Alex Dahl of Eau Claire, Wis., was the Phantoms’ first selection. He was taken in the second round with the 18th overall pick. Dahl played for Eau Claire Memorial High School and is the younger brother of former Phantoms forward Jefferson Dahl.
“We selected Alex because he was the best available center on the board,” said Jason Koehler, Phantoms Director of Player Personnel. “He is a good, solid, two-way center man, who has played for some top level programs like Team Wisconsin and Eau Claire Memorial, one of the top high school teams in Wisconsin.”
Koehler and Phantoms Head Coach Curtis Carr stressed that Dahl has proven he belongs on this level. “Besides being the best center, he can also play a couple different roles if we need him to,” Carr said. “He has proven he can produce and it is just an added bonus because of his brother.
“We want Alex to be Alex and from dealing with the family before, we know we are getting a quality character player for our locker room.”
The Phantoms selected two regional players: Pittsburgh’s Shane Shiring, a forward from the Pittsburgh Hornets; and Northfield’s Mathew Rudin, a Cleveland Barons forward.
Balancing between the selection of a top prospect or filling a need on the roster was the pivotal role for the Phantoms hockey operations staff.
“It starts with the evaluation of what pieces we have coming back,” Koehler said. “Once we establish what holes we need to fill, we then evaluate what pieces are on the draft board.
“If we feel that there is depth at a certain position, we will go after the best available player and vice-versa,” Koehler said. “During the course of our draft, I felt we gave ourselves a ton of depth and set the table for some great competition at our camp.”
The next step is the selection camp in June that combines returning Phantoms with these draftees.
“The selection camp offers players the opportunity to play with some of the best hockey players either in this league or coming into this league,” Carr said. “For some, camp will be an opportunity for a player to see what areas he needs to continue develop or for others, it can be a way to prove that the USHL is the ‘next step’ in the hockey career.”