It was a busy Day 2 of the NHL Draft as six players with ties to the Youngstown Phantoms were selected.

While not the first Phantom-affiliated player to be chosen, forward Adam Ingram highlights the class, selected 82nd overall by the Nashville Predators.

Ingram recorded 55 points (26 goals, 29 assists) in 54 games with the Phantoms.

The Manitoba native was in Montreal for the draft and got the full draft experience.

“Kind of at a loss for words right now,” Ingram said in a post-selection press conference. “Feels special to have my family here with me as well.”

During the press conference, Ingram joked about the Predators being a division rival of his childhood team, the nearby Winnipeg Jets, and how he wasn’t a fan of the Preds success when he was younger, but things have changed now.

“I was always a Jets fan growing up, I knew (Nashville) beat us in the playoffs a couple times, as a fan I didn’t really enjoy that, but now I might enjoy that,” Ingram said.

So what is the Music City going to be getting in Ingram? A big forward who can slot in at center or at the wing, with great ice vision and a great shot. Scouting reports for Ingram list him as having middle-six upside.

“He’s a big forward that can skate, elite skill, high IQ, finds those breakaways and the thing he carries most is an NHL shot already,” Phantoms co-GM Ryan Kosecki said. “He can beat goalies clean, which is rare nowadays.”

Before the draft, Kosecki lofted comparisons to Mike Hoffman, who played for Montreal last season as well as Yegor Afanasyev, who Kosecki helped coach in Muskegon. Ironically, Afanasyev is also a Nashville draft selection, being taken in the second round in 2019.

Before Nashville however, Ingram will be going to St. Cloud State University. Upon going undrafted by the Western Hockey League, one of the three major junior leagues in Canada, Ingram opted to explore other choices. One of which was the college route.

“I was a late grower so I felt like it was right for me,” Ingram said about his decision to take the college route. “I wasn’t drafted in the Western (Hockey) League, so it gave me the opportunity to look for other options, especially with the pandemic it gave me more opportunities, so I made the move to Youngstown this year and I think it went really well for me.”

Swedish blueliner Filip Nordberg was the first off the board, selected 64th overall by the Ottawa Senators with the team’s first selection of the draft.

Nordberg was a third-round selection (44 overall) by the Phantoms in the USHL Entry Draft earlier this year. According to eliteprospects.com, he’s expected to spend this season with Södertälje Sportklubb J20 in the Swedish junior league. Should he choose to make the jump to North America, the Phantoms hold his USHL rights.

A project selection, Nordberg is going to need plenty of development before he’s ready to make an impact in the pro game. Listed at 6-foot-4, 207 pounds, his biggest weakness is listed as his skating, but has a good bit of offensive ability to pair with his size.

At 76th overall, the San Jose Sharks selected defenseman Michael Fisher, who spent the last four seasons at St. Mark’s School, a high school in Massachusetts. Set to attend Northeastern this year, it’s doubtful he plays a game in Youngstown, but like Nordberg, the Phantoms hold his USHL rights should he leave college.

Fisher tallied 50 points (13 goals, 37 assists) at the high school level this season and was ranked as high as 42nd by eliteprospects.com.

After Ingram’s selection at 82, things went quiet on the Youngstown front for a while, but picked back up in the seventh round, with three final selections with Phantom ties.

First of the seventh round trio was James Fisher — no listed relation to Michael — who was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

James, a 6-foot-2 right-shot forward out of Wilmington, Massachusetts, tallied 28 points (17 goals, 11 assists) in 27 games with Belmont Hill School this past season.

He’s set to attend Northeastern University in the 2023-24 season, so a stint in Youngstown is likely, where he’ll refine his game and prepare for the college game.

The Senators took another Phantoms-affiliated player in the seventh round, selecting forward Tyson Dyck, who scored 75 points (34 goals, 41 assists) in 54 games with the Cranbook Bucks of the British Columbia Hockey League.

Dyck is also expected to play in Youngstown this season before going to UMass the following year.

Reese Laubach, a San Jose native, was the ninth California-born player selected by a California team, being selected by his hometown Sharks 217th overall. It’s a special moment as Laubach came up through the San Jose Jr. Sharks system, playing from peewee to 16U AAA.

He played two games with the Phantoms this past season and Youngstown is an option for the forward this upcoming season as well. He’s set to start college at Minnesota State Mankato in the 2023-24 season.

Professional teams talk about the merits of drafting and development. Now that step one is complete, it’s onto the second step, which is where the Phantoms step in.

When Kosecki and co-GM Jason Deskins stepped into the dual-role of managing the Phantoms, they’ve taken steps to to turn Youngstown into a true destination for hockey development.

“I think the biggest thing for us is our day-to-day operations in terms of what we can offer them from a resource standpoint on the ice and then what we can offer them from a resource standpoint off the ice,” Deskins said. “We’re making a lot of changes to the organization. (Kosecki) has done an amazing job with the day-to-day operational standpoint, and making sure that the details are where they need to be for our players.

“Ryan Ward, our new head coach, is really big on structure. So our kids coming into this program are going to be structured on a day-to-day basis. They’re going to have individual skill pods, they’re going to have team practices, they’re going to have individual workouts where we’ve actually hired a strength and conditioning coach who is going to be on site with us every single day, and the video components that we’ve put in place for the players are going to be second to none.”

Phantoms summer camp starts July 11 and runs through the 17th at Printscape Arena in Pittsburgh, PA.