The 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held June 28-29 at Sphere in Las Vegas. The first round will be June 28 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and Rounds 2-7 are June 29 (11:30 a.m. ET; ESPN+, NHLN, SN, SN1). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Today, an inside look at Muskegon of the United States Hockey League. NHL.com's full draft coverage can be found here.
The Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League might be a household name by the conclusion of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft.
For starters, never has a player been chosen in the first round after playing for Muskegon in the same season. That's expected to change June 28 at Sphere in Las Vegas when the team could have as many as two players selected.
Additionally, the highest number of draft picks for Muskegon in a single year is seven, which occurred in 2022 (George Fegaras, No. 83, Dallas Stars; Matthew Morden, No. 131, Arizona Coyotes; Michael Callow, No. 154, Anaheim Ducks; Jake Richard, No. 170, Buffalo Sabres; Jack Sparkes, No. 180, Los Angeles Kings; Owen Mehlenbacher, No. 201, Detroit Red Wings; Ben Strinden, No. 210, Nashville Predators). Richard, Mehlenbacher and Strinden were the only skaters playing for Muskegon at the time they were drafted; the others were incoming players.
Muskegon (38-22-2), which lost to Fargo in four games in the best-of-5 Clark Cup Final, could have as many as five players taken this year: forwards Sacha Boisvert, Matvei Gridin and Joe Connor, and defensemen Xavier Veilleux and Bauer Berry.
"It's obviously rewarding for the players, the coaches and the organization," Muskegon coach Parker Burgess said. "Our president (Steve Lowe), general manager (Jim McGroarty) and assistant GM (Tom Walsh) and all our scouts have done a terrific job finding these players, drafting and recruiting them to come to Muskegon. Obviously, guys like Boisvert and Veilleux (each from Quebec) and Gridin (Russia) have major-junior options or professional options over in Europe, so for them to choose Muskegon in the USHL speaks a lot about where the league is and where our organization is getting to."