The NAHL Draft has come and gone with the Maryland Black Bears looking to restock their roster after 11 overage players moved onto their college career. With their record, the Black Bears were slated to pick 33rd in every round, but some wheeling and dealing happened to change that.
Right before the draft, Maryland traded two fourth round picks to the New Hampshire Mountain Kings for the eighth overall pick. With that pick, Maryland selected defenseman Mason Stenger from Benilde/St. Margaret’s School in Minnesota. As the captain of the team, Stenger netted nine goals and 30 points in 27 games from the blue line. Also, Stenger played for TDS Transportation in the Minnesota Elite High School league putting up two goals and ten points in 20 games.
With their second pick of the first round, the Black Bears stayed on defense with Liam Doherty from the Mississauga Chargers of the OJHL. With Mississauga, Doherty had a goal and 13 assists in 54 games, with his game being defensive focused with the Chargers. Doherty, along with Stenger, should help fill the void left by the departures of Luke Amell, Trayce Johnson, and Keaton Lipsett.
Maryland shifted to the forward spot in the second round, with Kieran Litterick being picked at 68th overall. With the Pickering Panthers, Litterick potted 25 goals and 47 points in 56 games in his first year in juniors. Litterick’s goal scoring could help with the departures of Dimitry Kebreau, Sam Stitz, Riley Ruh, and Jeremi Tremblay.
Going back to defense in round three, Jackson Porco was selected 87th overall. The 2005-birth year defenseman had a goal and two assists in 13 games with Fox Motors 18U AAA. Listed at 6’2 and 175, Porco should help on the physical front for the Black Bears in front of the net and in the corners.
With another third round pick, Maryland went back to Fox Motors taking Owen Boucher at pick 103. Captain of the 16U AAA team, Boucher had 19 goals and 53 points in 54 games. The UMass-Amherst committed forward also spent a game up with the Youngstown Phantoms in 2023-24, the parent team to the Black Bears.
Moving to the fifth round, the Black Bears went to the crease, picking Ryan Denes from Little Caesars 16U AAA. A native of Saugus, California, Denes played in 36 games and posted a 2.06 GAA and .920 save percentage over that time. Denes also spent time with Mount St. Charles Academy in the 2021-22 season.
Another fifth round pick, the Black Bears went with a Swedish defenseman in Alexander Petersson. Petersson comes from the Oskarshamn IF junior program, where he captained the J20 team last season and put up three goals and 14 points in 48 games. In 2022-23, Petersson was part of the J20 Gold Medal winning squad in Rogle BK.
Going back between the pipes in round six, the Black Bears picked Ethan Ramonetti with pick 208. Ramonetti played 26 games with the Groton School and 18 games with the NV River Rats 18U AAA National team. With the River Rats, Ramonetti had a 13-3-2 record with six shutouts on the season.
With pick 243, the Black Bears went to the NCDC picking Jackson Delleo from the Boston Jr. Bruins. In his first full junior season, Delleo played in 51 games with nine goals and 22 points on the year. Delleo spent parts of three seasons with the Jr. Bruins after starting his hockey path with Mount St. Charles Academy.
Rounding out the draft, the Black Bears picked Anden Marceau of the Peoria Mustangs with the 278th pick. Marceau played in his first junior season last year with 12 goals and 30 points in 48 games. Before juniors, Marceau played at Alpena High School in Michigan, the same high school as Black Bears Alumni and Florida Panthers signee Cooper Black.
Training camps for 2024-25 is just around the corner. With a new stock of players to combined with the returning players, we will have to see how they all gel together and what will come from the season ahead.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 