Weekly Notes: NHL Debuts, Signings & Playoff Hockey

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General | 4/17/2025 12:11:55 PM

The United States Hockey League (USHL) is into the second round of the postseason with eight teams vying for the Clark Cup, while many alumni have signed NHL entry-level deals and are making their NHL debuts before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 19. 
  • The second round of the Clark Cup Playoffs is set featuring matchups between the Madison Capitols and Dubuque Fighting Saints, the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Youngstown Phantoms, the Sioux City Musketeers and Lincoln Stars, and the Waterloo Black Hawks and Sioux Falls Stampede.
  • In the best-of-three first round playoff series, the Capitols swept the Green Bay Gamblers, the Black Hawks swept the Tri-City Storm, and the Musketeers swept the Fargo Force. The Lumberjacks won a decisive third game to advance past the Cedar Rapids Roughriders. Recaps.
  • The NHL, United States Hockey League (USHL) and USA Hockey recently partnered to launch a Declaration of Excellence, which will build upon USA Hockey’s American Development Model by aligning resources, standards and support systems across the USHL, the nation’s only Tier I junior hockey league. The Declaration supports an athlete-centric environment, building on the USHL’s strong foundation by implementing a set of consistent, high-performance standards across all member teams.
  • The USHL placed more than 85 players on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2025 NHL Draft. Of those, 54 played a full season in the league this season, representing all 16 teams and giving the USHL an average of 3.4 players per team, which is more than any other junior hockey league in North America.
  • More than 40 USHL alumni have signed NHL entry-level deals and more than 30 alumni have made their NHL debut this season.
  • Sioux Falls Stampede forward Ethan Wyttenbach became the first winner of The Gaudreau Award on Saturday, April 12. Jane and Guy Gaudreau and the Wyttenbach family were present for the announcement. Wyttenbach received the award for embodying the characteristics of Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau, both on and off the ice.
  • Twenty USHL alumni were named NCAA DI All-Americans, Isaac Howard (Michigan State, NTDP) became the sixth straight USHL alum to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and Cam Fowler (Boston College, Youngstown Phantoms) was named the recipient of the Mike Richter Award as the most outstanding goalie. Eight of the last 10 winners of college’s hockey’s highest honor came from the USHL. Fowler becomes the seventh USHL alum to win the Mike Richter award since it was established in 2014.
  • The USHL had more than 70 alumni in the Frozen Four where the Western Michigan Broncos won their first national championship in program history. Twenty-three 23 alumni, including the tournament MVP Owen Michaels (Dubuque Fighting Saints/Lincoln Stars) and past Clark Cup winners Grant Slukynsky (Sioux City Musketeers, 2022), Hampton Slukynsky (Fargo Force, 2024), Iiro Hakkarainen (Fargo Force, 2024), captured their first college title.
  • Johns Hopkins University has partnered with the USHL to create a computer-generated schedule optimized for player performance, rest and recovery.
  • USHL President & Commissioner Glenn Hefferan promoted Frank Butler to Sr. Director of Player Personnel. Butler is responsible for the supervision and execution of the USHL Development Series and events including the DICK’S Sporting Goods Fall Classic, Frosty Cup and American Cup powered by Wegman’s.
About the USHL

The United States Hockey League and its 16 member clubs are committed to being the leading 16–20-year-old junior hockey league in the world. More than half of Division I men’s hockey roster spots are held by USHL alumni and more than 195 alumni were listed on NHL rosters at the start of the 2024-25 season.

The league's player-first approach, including a 2:1 practice-to-game ratio and a schedule with 92% of games played on weekends, provides its players with the optimal environment for athletic and personal growth, creating pathways for the next generation of stars like Kyle Connor (Youngstown Phantoms), Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel), Cole Caufield (NTDP), Adam Fantilli (Chicago Steel) and Jeremy Swayman (Sioux Falls Stampede). More.