Three More Eagles Picked on Second Day of NHL Draft

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June 28, 2014 by conteconfidential

At the end of the 2014 NHL draft, five players with ties to Boston College had been selected.

The morning after incoming freshmen Sonny Milano and Alex Tuch became first rounders, rising sophomore Thatcher Demko and recruits Christopher Brown and JD Dudek heard their names called. BC and Boston University led all NCAA programs with five draft picks.

Demko was the second goaltender drafted, taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the second round, 36th overall. In the sixth round, Brown and Dudek went back-to-back as Brown was chosen by the Buffalo Sabres, 151st overall, while Dudek was taken by the New Jersey Devils 152nd overall.

Demko was the No. 1 ranked goalie by NHL Central Scouting. The 6-foot-3, 192-pound netminder started 24 games, including all of BC’s NCAA tournament contests, posting a 2.24 GAA and a .919 sv%. Demko wasn’t the first BC netminder to go to the Canucks; in 2004, Vancouver selected Cory Schneider in the first round, 26th overall.

(photo credit: Boston College Athletics)

Brown, the younger brother of 2013-14 captain Patrick Brown, totaled 84 points (26g-58a) in 28 games for Cranbrook-Kingswood. The 6-foot center will skate for the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers next season. His uncle, BC associate head coach Greg Brown, was selected by the Sabres in the second round of the 1986 draft. The last BC players taken by Buffalo were Nathan Gerbe and Andrew Orpik in 2005.

Dudek, a 5-foot-11 center, totaled 44 points (9g-35a) in 25 games for Kimball Union Academy, missing time with an upper-body injury in January and February. He will spend the 2014-15 season in the USHL with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, who groomed Mike Matheson, the 2014-15 captain and a 2012 Florida Panthers first rounder. Dudek joins Steven Santini, Miles Wood, Stephen Gionta, Peter Harrold and Joe Whitney in the Devils organization.

In 2014-15, BC will have 10 NHL draft picks on its roster, including three first-round selections. That list includes six forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender. Incoming freshman Noah Hanifin is considered a top prospect for the 2015 NHL draft.

Sonny Milano: 2014, Columbus, 1st round (16th overall)

Alex Tuch: 2014, Minnesota, 1st round (18th)

Mike Matheson: 2012, Florida, 1st round (23rd)

Ian McCoshen: 2013, Florida, 2nd round (31st)

Thatcher Demko: 2014, Vancouver, 2nd round (36th)

Steven Santini: 2013, New Jersey, 2nd round (42nd)

Zach Sanford: 2013, Washington, 2nd round (61st)

Chris Calnan: 2012, Chicago, 3rd round (79th)

Adam Gilmour: 2012, Minnesota, 4th round (98th)

Ryan Fitzgerald: 2013, Boston, 4th round (120th)

By Jen Dobias