The Kenai River Brown Bears made nine picks in the North American Hockey League Draft on Wednesday, with those nine picks coming in the first five rounds.
The number of picks a team makes is 28 minus the number of protected players on the current roster minus. The protected players on a roster include veterans and tenders, or players who have already agreed to play in the NAHL with a team.
Teams secure the NAHL rights of the drafted players, but the players are free to play in other leagues.
Players drafted by the Brown Bears will have to battle veterans, tenders and other invites for a spot on the team at the Brown Bears’ Main Camp from July 13 to 16 in Blaine, Minnesota.
The first pick for the Brown Bears was Conor Sullivan, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound goalie from Westborough, Massachusetts. He was taken 18th in the first round.
Sullivan, who will be in his last year of junior eligibility this year, appeared in 24 games for the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League, a junior league in Canada. Sullivan had a goals allowed average of 6.70 and a save percentage of .858.
Sullivan was 3-20-0 for Merritt, which was the second worst team in the league at 12-37-3-2.
The second pick for the Bears was Dawson Hettiarachchi, taken 31st overall in the first round.
Hettiarachchi is a 6-o, 181-pound right wing from Whitby, Ontario, with two years of junior eligibility remaining.
He played for the Caledon Admirals of the Ontario Junior Hockey League last season and had 18 goals and 34 assists in 53 games.
The third pick for the Bears was Tiziano Pauchard, taken 40th overall in the second round.
Pauchard is a 5-10, 157-pound defenseman in his last year of junior eligibility. He is from Switzerland and thus far has played in Swiss leagues.
The fourth pick was Ty Broad, a 5-8, 168-pound center from Buffalo, New York. Broad, taken 53rd overall in the second round, is in his last year of junior eligibility.
He had 20 goals and 21 assists in 48 games for the P.A.L. Junior Islanders in the National Collegiate Development Conference in the United States Premier Hockey League.
The fifth pick was Jackson Ebbott, taken with the 81st overall pick in the third round. Ebbott is a 6-2, 170-pound left wing from Encino, California, and has two years of junior eligibility left.
Ebbott had a goal and four assists for the Wenatchee Wild of the British Columbia Hockey League. The Wild were a division rival of the Brown Bears before moving to the BCHL.
The sixth pick was Kotaro Tsutsumi, a 5-8, 150-pound forward from Tokyo, Japan, taken 82nd overall in the third round. Tsutsumi had 10 goals and 14 assists for the Bears in 47 games last season. Tsutsumi is in his last year of junior eligibility.
The seventh pick was Jack Hewitt, a 5-10, 177-pound defenseman from Oyster Bay, New York, taken 85th overall in the third round. Hewitt is in his last year of junior eligibility.
Hewitt also played for the Junior Islanders in the NCDC last season and had 14 goals and 29 assists in 50 games.
The eighth pick was Andrew Reyelts, a 6-2, 185-pound goalie taken 125th overall in the fourth round. Reyelts, just 17, played high school hockey in his hometown of Proctor, Minnesota, last season.
The ninth pick was Finnigan Greeley, a 5-9, 160-pound defenseman from Hopkins, Minnesota, taken with the 149th overall pick in the fifth round. Greeley has two years of junior eligibility left.
He played for the Granite City Lumberjacks of the NA3HL last season, with five goals and 15 assists in 35 games.
