Phantoms sign Codd to tender

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Phantoms have signed 2003-born forward Davis Codd to a USHL tender.

Codd, a native of Brighton, Mich., is Youngstown’s only tender signing prior to the USHL Phase I Draft. His signing means the Phantoms will forfeit their first round pick in the 2019 USHL Phase 1 Draft on Monday.

“We are very excited to add Davis to our team and talented group of forwards,” Phantoms head coach Brad Patterson said. “Davis has the ability to beat his opponents in a multitude of ways and that excites me.

“He thinks the game at a very high level and has a skill set that makes his teammates better every time he touches the ice.”

Codd is a high school sophomore and spent this season with one of the top U16 AAA teams in the country, the Detroit Little Caesars U16 club.

Codd produced a 20-goal, 50-assist season in 71 games. His team won the Michigan U16 state title and advanced to the U16 AAA National Championships where it advanced to the semifinals.

“I was humbled and really excited to receive Youngstown’s tender offer and I am blessed to have had so many options,” Codd said. “It was a very difficult decision because the USHL is such a great league with so many great organizations.”

“It was a family decision but it came down to my comfort with Coach Patterson and his staff and their style of play,” Codd said.

A five-foot-10-inch player, Codd has not committed to a NCAA program.

“Our staff has watched Davis beginning last July at the Select 15 Festival and we’ve been watching and tracking him this season with his Little Caesars club, said Jason Koehler, Phantoms’ general manager. “Davis was shown tremendous growth and improvement for us in our viewings and we see him developing into an elite scoring line forward for us once he transitions comfortably in our league. Codd is the ninth player to sign a USHL tender in Phantoms’ team history.

Forward Kyle Connor, now with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, became Youngstown’s first tender in 2012.

The others are defenseman JJ Piccinich (2014), defenseman Ty Farmer (2015), forward Jacob Tortora (2015), forward Curtis Hall (2016), forward Max Elllis (2016), forward Trevor Kuntar (2017) and forward Ben Schoen (2018).

USHL teams are allowed to tender up to two players that are eligible for Phase I of the upcoming USHL draft.