Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Phantoms forward William Whitelaw prepares to step on the ice before Game 4 of the team’s Eastern Conference Finals matchup against Chicago on May 9 at the Covelli Centre. Whitelaw was the top overall selection of the Phase I Draft back in 2021.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first part of a two-part series recapping the Youngstown Phantoms’ draft. The second part will run in Wednesday’s edition of the Tribune Chronicle and Vindicator newspapers.

While in the midst of their Clark Cup playoffs run, the Youngstown Phantoms bolstered their prospect pool, adding talent in both phases of the USHL Draft.

With the goal of pursuing a championship this year, the Phantoms made a handful of win-now deals, opting to trade draft selections for plug-and-play talent. Also, the Phantoms forfeited their first two round selections when they agreed to tender agreements with Sascha Boumedienne and Zachary Morin.

Despite the lack of high selections in the Phase I Draft, the Phantoms added a total of 25 players to their prospect pool.

“Adding Andrew Strathmann and Andon Cerbone, you’re going to give up some assets, so in Phase I, we didn’t pick until the fourth round, but we’re super pleased with all of our additions,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said following the team’s draft.

Phase I of the draft is exclusively for players under 17. Some may hit the ice in a Phantoms sweater this upcoming season, but most require a little more seasoning before reaching the USHL level. On the other hand, Phase II of the draft is open for all players eligible age-wise for junior hockey as long as they aren’t on a USHL roster or affiliate list, and is used to round out a team’s 45-man roster.

For example, the Phantoms made 10 selections in last year’s Phase I Draft, but just two saw the ice this past season — first-round selection Tory Pitner and second-round selection Grant Young.

The first selection of Phase I, also known as the “Futures Draft,” came in the fourth round with Carter Murphy.

Murphy, a 5-foot-6 defenseman from the Dallas Stars Elite 16U AAA, is a speedster on the backend who recorded 24 points (2 goals, 22 assists) in 53 games with the Stars. Also in the fourth round came Dylan Lebret, a right-shot defender from Shattuck St. Mary’s 16U AAA.

Evan Jardine, a fifth-round selection, stuffed the net this past season as a part of the Little Caesars 15U AAA squad. Jardine scored 137 points (47 goals, 90 assists) in 81 games. He also spent last season with Morin.

Michael Munroe was the leading scorer this past season for the Neponset Valley River Rats U15 AAA, with 53 points (30 goals, 23 assists) in 36 games. The 5-foot-9, 15-year-old forward also suited up for Avon Old Farms School, a prep school in Connecticut.

Aiden Lawson is a high-scoring defenseman from Fox Motors 15U AAA near Grand Rapids, Mi. Lawson was the team’s fourth-highest scoring player as a defender, with 44 points (7 goals, 37 assists) in 60 games.

A name to watch from this crop is eighth-round selection Jan Chovan. Chovan is a Slovokian center with NHL size (6-foot-1), and put up 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) as a 15- and 16-year old in a Finnish 18-and-under league.

The Tappara U18 has produced a few NHL Draft selections like Patrik Laine (Winnipeg, 2016, now with Columbus) and Kasper Simontaival (Los Angeles, 2020), so Chovan will be an interesting name to keep an eye on if he makes the trek to North America.

Matheas Stark was Youngstown’s ninth-round selection. At 5-foot-11 out of Toronto, Stark is set to play for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League next season. He racked up 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 30 games with the Toronto Marlboros U16 AAA.

The last selection of the Phase I draft was forward Owen Boucher. Boucher scored 57 points (23 goals, 34 assists) in 62 games as a part of Fox Motors 15U AAA.

“We’re really high on those guys,” Ward said. “They play exactly how we want to play hockey. The forwards that we were able to add, they have a good mix of skill, and guys that have juice and bring it every game with Michael Munroe and Owen Boucher. I thought we had a great Phase I draft. We picked a certain type of player that we value and we really didn’t miss on any of those, so I feel really excited about the future.”

Training camp for the Phantoms is set to start June 12 at the Printscape Arena in Canonsburg, Pa.

FULL DRAFT RESULTS

PHASE I:

R4, P47: Carter Murphy (D, Dallas Stars Elite 16U AAA)

R4, P57: Dylan Lebret (D, Shattuck St. Mary’s 16U AAA)

R5, P72: Evan Jardine (F, Little Caesars 15U AAA)

R6, P87: Michael Munroe (F, NV River Rats 15U AAA)

R7, P102: Aiden Lawson (D, Fox Motors 15U AAA)

R8, P114: Jan Chovan (F, Tappara U18)

R9, P132: Matheas Stark (F, Toronto Marlboros U16 AAA)

R10, P147: Owen Boucher (F, Fox Motors 15U AAA)