Phantoms add 15 in draft

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

In their fourth United States Hockey League Entry Draft, the Youngstown Phantoms got both players they coveted.

Before making the ninth overall selection in Tuesday’s draft, the decided on center Frederik Gauthier over defenseman Kyle Mackey.

Fifteen picks later, Mackey became their second-round pick.

“To have Mackey sitting around in the second, we were shocked,” said Jason Koehler, Phantoms director of player personnel. “We even contemplated trading up to get him. We’re thrilled with how our first two picks worked out.”

The Phantoms selected 15 players: seven forwards, seven defensemen and one goaltender. Anthony Noreen, Phantoms head coach and general manager, said that he and his staff could not have scripted their draft any better.

“Overall we’re extremely happy and excited with our draft,” Noreen said. “We can’t wait to see what these guys can do when they get to Youngstown.

Gauthier, a 17-year-old native of St. Lin Laurentides, Quebec, played this past season with Coll ®ge Esther-Blondin Phenix of the Quebec Midget AAA league. The 6-foot-4, 214-pound pivot was named the QMAAA’s Most Valuable Player after putting up 26 goals, 25 assists and 51 points in 39 games.

Mackey, 17, was one of three players the Phantoms took out of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres program along with sixth-round pick forward David Seward and 20th-round selection defenseman Matthew Nuttle.

Mackey, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound blue liner from Derby, N.Y., put up 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points to go along with 58 penalty minutes in 61 games for the Jr. Sabres Under-18 AAA team last season.

In the ninth round, the Phantoms selected forward John Padulo from the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks.

The Phantoms also drafted a pair of Ohio-born players in forward Kiefer Sherwood (seventh-round, 99th overall) from the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets U16 team and defenseman Tommy Parran (21st round, 309th overall) from the Cleveland Barons U18 AAA team.