Five NAPHL alumni selected in 2023 NHL Draft
Gavin Brindley played in the NAPHL during the 2019-20 season.
The North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) is proud to announce that five players with NAPHL ties were selected in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and hosted by the Nashville Predators.
The five NAPHL players taken in the 2023 draft follows a year when nine players were selected in the 2022 NHL Draft. Overall, 14 former NAPHL players have been selected in the last two NHL Drafts.
The NAPHL is entering its 15th season in 2023-24 with teams at the 18U, 16U, 15U, and 14U USA Hockey Tier I and Tier II youth levels. The success of teams on the National stage, as well as, the success of NAPHL players at the next levels of hockey, is further proof that the NAPHL is redefining exposure and has elevated itself to one of the premier training grounds for development and opportunity.
In addition to the 20 players who were drafted in the 2023 NAHL Draft back on June 15th, a record number of 75 players who played in the league during the 2022-23 season signed NAHL tenders for the upcoming 2023-24 season. In total, a total of 95 NAPHL T1ER players were either drafted or tendered by NAHL teams for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
The five NAPHL players selected in the 2023 NHL Draft were:
Gavin Brindley, F, Florida Alliance 16U (2019-20) Round 2, #34, Columbus Blue Jackets
Jacob Fowler, G, Florida Alliance 16U (2019-20) Round 3, #69, Montreal Canadiens
Zachary Nehring, F, Shattuck St. Mary’s 18U (2020-21) Round 3, #82, Winnipeg Jets
Sutter Muzzatti, F, Meijer AAA 15/16/18U (2018-20) Round 5, #143 Nashville Predators
Jack Harvey, F, Gentry Academy 15/16U (2018-20) Round 7, #193 Tampa Bay Lightning
Brindley, 18, spent one season playing in the NAPHL for the Florida Alliance 16U team during the 2019-20 season. He recorded 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 15 regular season games and had seven points in five Dixon Cup Playoff games. He was named to the 2019-20 All-NAPHL 16U 1st team and would later go onto play in the USHL and also the NTDP before attending the University of Michigan this past season.
Fowler, 18, was a teammate of Brindley’s in the NAPHL with the Florida Alliance 16U team during the 2019-20 season. He had a 7-0 record during the regular season with a 1.73 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. He was named to the All-NAPHL 2nd Team and also played in the 2019-20 NAPHL 16U All-Star Game. Fowler, who is committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for Boston College, was named the 2023 USA Hockey Dave Peterson Goaltender of the Year. Fowler, who was recently named the 2023 USHL Goaltender of the Year, backstopped the Youngstown Phantoms to the club’s first-ever Clark Cup championship, going undefeated in the finals to bring home the title.
Nehring, 18, played for the Shattuck-St. Mary’s 15U team during the 2020-21 season. However, when it came to playoff time, he jumped up a few levels to play in the 2021 Dixon Cup for the Shattuck-St. Mary’s 18U AAA team, where he recorded two goals in four playoff games. Following that, he played two more seasons at Shattuck for the 16U and 18U teams and committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at Western Michigan University.
Muzzatti, 20, who just completed his freshman season playing NCAA Division I hockey for RPI, is a great ladder of development story having played two seasons in the NAHL for the Austin Bruins and three seasons prior to that in the NAPHL. He led the Bruins in scoring during the 2021-22 season with 46 points (12 goals, 34 assists) in 50 games played. Overall in 80 career NAHL games, Muzzatti recorded 59 points. Prior to playing in the NAHL, Muzzatti spent three seasons playing in the NAPHL for Meijer AAA. He helped Meijer AAA to the 2020 18U Dixon Cup Championship in 2020. This past season he had 22 points in 35 games played for RPI.
Harvey, 20, played two seasons in the NAPHL for the Gentry Academy 15U and 16U teams. In 32 career NAPHHL games, he recorded 77 points and would help Gentry to the 2020 16U Dixon Cup title with six points in five playoff games. He was also named to the All-NAPHL 16U 2nd Team during the 2019-20 season and would later go onto play three seasons in the USHL. He is committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for Boston University next season.
