BOSTON, MA - July 9, 2024 - The United States Premier Hockey League has had another fantastic summer, both in terms of success at the NHL Entry Draft and the traditional NHL Development Camps that are held in late June and early July each season. This year, with 56 alumni of the USPHL itself and alumni of its member organizations skating at NHL Development Camps, the league surpassed its total of 47 league and organizational alumni last year.
The United States Premier Hockey League’s profile among NHL and professional scouts continues to grow. There have been no less than 20 USPHL alumni that have made the NHL since the USPHL’s 2013-14 inaugural season, plus more than 58 NHL Draft selections of league and organizational alumni. This year, alone, there were eight players with USPHL ties selected in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The league’s top junior level, the National Collegiate Development Conference, has seen 18 NHL Draft selections since its 2017-18 inaugural season.
Points Of Interest About USPHL Alumni In 2024 NHL Development Camps
- Four teams featured four players with USPHL ties at each of their camps - the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers (currently in progress), the Nashville Predators, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the San Jose Sharks.
- A total of 25 NHL teams featured USPHL and its organizations’ alumni on their 2024 Development Camp rosters.
- Twenty-two of the 56 players named to Development Camp rosters were NHL Draft selections, including six of the eight players with USPHL ties selected this year.
- Twenty-one players listed at the 2024 NHL Development Camps were also selected for 2023 NHL Development Camps.
- Collin Graf hit the ice for the San Jose Sharks at Development Camp, following a seven-game string of NHL games with the Sharks to close the 2023-24 season. The former National Champion, All-American and ECAC Hockey Player Of The Year signed as a free agent with San Jose and made his NHL debut on April 6 and registered two assists in his first seven games in the world’s best hockey league. Watch for a special NCDC feature on Collin Graf on Wednesday, July 10!