UCONN MATT WOOD SELECTED IN NHL DRAFT 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – On the first day of the NHL draft, the Nashville Predators selected UConn’s Matt Wood at number 15.

Wood slipped down a bit further than he was expected to be selected partly because Anaheim, picking at number two, and the Arizona Coyotes at number six, made surprise choices that gave some other teams an opening to select differently than they had wanted or planned to.

Speaking to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan right afterward, Wood was very complimentary of his UCONN coaches led by Mike Cavanaugh. “(I was) really happy to be there and play for my coaches and they helped me to get ready for this.”

Wood was the fifth UCONN player since joining Hockey East to be drafted. He wore #71 for his idol Evgeni Malkin.

In speaking to Kaplan, incoming Nashville GM Barry Trotz, who’s replacing the retiring David Poile, was succinct in his initial evaluation, “Short term, we’ll let him develop (back at UCONN). We look at the profile; he’s a big body that can score. He’s got a long way to go. If you wanna go far in the playoffs, you gotta score. We hope he’ll exhibit (his scoring) and he checks all the boxes.”

Nashville has two former Huskies under their umbrella, Czechs Jachym Kondelik, the Huskies all time-assist leader, and goalie Tomas Vomacka, who they both drafted and played in the minors with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) and the Florida Everblades (ECHL), respectively.

Wood played very solidly as a 17-year-old freshman. He led the Huskies in scoring with 34 points in 35 games. Wood was superb in the IIHF U-18 bronze medal game for Canada with the game-tying goal in the last minute with the goalie pulled and made a beautiful feathered short pass to Macklin Celebrini for the game-winner in OT 4-3 win over Slovakia.

Wood had a three-point performance, garnering a plus-12 and 13 points in just seven games in the tournament.

He will return to Storrs next season, be among the top players in Hockey East, and is WJC eligible for Canada.

He turned down an offer from the WHL Regina Pats, who drafted him and ex-Pack championship head coach, the current Regina head coach and VP of Hockey Operations John Paddock, to play there and with the first overall selection, Connor Bedard.

Instead, Wood chose to come to UCONN and chart his course. At 6’4, he surpassed Tage Thompson as the highest-drafted Husky ever.

A total of 10 Huskies have been drafted in the short Hockey East history of the program.

RANGERS SELECTIONS

The Rangers drafted 23rd overall and selected were able to have a strong player fall to them in Gabriel (Gabe) Perreault. He has lots of offensive upside potential and is heading to Boston College (HE) with linemates Will Smith (San Jose) and Ryan Leonard (Washington). They were together on the USNDTP (USHL) last fall.

All three will face Wood at the XL Center when BC comes to play UConn at the XL Center in a marquee matchup.

Perreault broke the team record for scoring held by Auston Matthews with 159 points.

“It’s cool because he’s one of the guys I look up to and one of those guys to look up above you,” said Perreault to ESPN.

Hockey is a big part of the Perreault family. His sister Liliane just completed her collegiate career at Mercyhurst (Erie, PA) (AHA), and his brother Jacon plays with San Diego.

His father, Yanic Perreault, is the skills development coach in Chicago and, for eight consecutive seasons, held the NHL’s best faceoff percentage at an average of 62.89%. He played 859 games with three tours in Toronto, LA, Nashville, and his hometown Montreal.

NOTES:

UCONN got another commit for next season in New Hampshire native LW Ben Muthersbaugh, who played for the NJ Titans (NAHL) last year after spending time previously at Tilton School (NHPREP).

Ex-Sound Tiger Paul Flache takes a second stab as an assistant coach with the Flint Firebirds (OHL) after being with Atlanta (USPHL Premier) for the last three years. Joining him is a former Ranger from the early-to-mid 1980s and two-time Stanley Cup winner in Edmonton making his North American return is Reijo Ruotsalainen. The 63-year-old Ruotsalainen had been coaching in Europe, though not over the last three years. His previous coaching assignment was with, Kiekko-Vantaa (Finland-Mestis) as an assistant coach.

While he had a successful NHL career of 443 games and 344 points and was voted the best defenseman in the 1980 WJC (his third) tourney, had he been playing hockey today, he would rival Erik Carlsson of the San Jose Sharks in the skill game from the blueline in this more free-wheeling era of hockey.

After leaving the NHL, he played in three World Championships, one Olympic tournament for Finland, and another 402 games in Europe (Switzerland, Sweden, and Finland).

He hasn’t been to North America since 2001 as an assistant coach with the long-defunct New Orleans Brass (ECHL), featured one-time Rangers head coach Ted Sator at the helm, and had former New Haven Senator Jeff Lazaro as a player.

Ross Colton (Taft Prep), who scored the game-winning Cup-clinching goal three years ago for the Tampa Bay Lightning, was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

Connor Doherty (Sacred Heart University) re-signs with the Maine Mariners (ECHL).

After four years in Denmark and nine in Europe, Mike Little of Enfield, the SonderyskE team captain last season, has left the team. Is this the end of the road for the 35-year-old, or is he likely to play a few more years in a new destination?

Derek Barach (Salisbury School) heads from Ässät Pori (Finland-FEL) and takes the risky proposition and signs with Vityaz Moscow (Russia-KHL) to continue his European-only career.

The newest college hockey program was announced at the Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee, the site of the NHL Draft. It will be the first at a historically black college and university (HBCU). The club will be Tennessee State and play at the ACHA club hockey division level. The coaching staff is yet to be determined. The project was an all-in process as the NHL, NHLPLA, and College Hockey Inc. were all involved.

The program will start in the 2024-25 season with a look toward going varsity Division-1 level down the road, and it will be the first hockey at an HCBU, hopefully leading to more significant participation of Blacks, Latinos, and other ethnic groups in the sport of hockey in the US and around the world.

The college hockey season is over by nearly three months activity continues as Quinnipiac University stands at the mountaintop.

UCONN HOCKEY

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