By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com
The Potomac Patriots’ 2007-born defenseman Kirill Golubev, who was the USPHL Elite Conference’s only representative in the 2024 NCDC All-Star Young Guns Game, was selected in the first round, eighth overall, by the Pueblo Bulls in the 2024 NCDC Draft on May 13.
The Russian-born blueliner Golubev led all USPHL Elite defensemen in scoring this year with 56 points in 34 games. He was the Elite’s only representative at the NCDC Young Guns prospects game at Boston University on Jan. 15, and started the scoring in that highly-scouted event. During the season, he was also a +27 for the Patriots.
Golubev was the first of all the players who competed in the USPHL Premier or Elite in the 2023-24 season that were selected in Monday’s two-phase NCDC Draft. Others taken included:
Phase I
Justin Ouellet, ’07 F, San Diego Sabers (Premier) – 2nd round, 29th overall by Mercer Chiefs
Ouellet, out of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., had an amazing season of scoring 35 goals and 76 points in 41 games. That was the best offensive performance for a player born in 2007 (or 2006 for that matter) in the USPHL Premier this season.
Alec James, 07 F, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (Elite) – 3rd round, 39th overall by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights NCDC
James, an Alburtis, Pa., resident, played most of the season with the Valley Forge Minutemen 16U AAA team, but also got into five games with the Knights Elite squad, registering two assists.
Logan Curry, ’07 D, Columbia Infantry (Premier) – 3rd round, 48th overall by Casper NCDC
The Savannah, Ga., native split the season almost evenly between the Islanders Hockey Club 16U AAA team in the THF and the Infantry’s USPHL Premier team, where he played 13 games and registered four assists.
Tristin McAuliffe, ’08 D, Charlotte Rush (Elite) – 6th round, 102nd overall by Casper NCDC
McAuliffe, a native of Raleigh, N.C., played the majority of the season with the Carolina Premier Hockey AAA team, but also saw three games with the Rush’s Elite squad during the regular season and two more games in the postseason.
Owen Stewart, ’07 D, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (Elite) – 7th round, 116th overall by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights NCDC
Stewart, a native of Claresholm, Alb., was a regular with the Knights blue line corps all year, playing in 34 games, and adding six goals and seven assists for 13 points. He helped the Knights return to the USPHL Nationals, and played in five postseason games.
Matthew Barbacane, ’07 D, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (Elite) – 8th round, 130th overall by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights NCDC
An ’07 from Garnet Valley, Pa., Barbacane was a teammate of Alec James on both the Valley Forge Minutemen AAA squad as well as the Knights’ Elite team. Barbacane played in 18 Elite games and registered six points. He was also with the Knights throughout their deep postseason run including Nationals, playing in five games scoring two points.
Charlie Wahren, ’07 F, Hudson Havoc (Premier) – 10th round, 164th overall by Twin City Thunder
Wahren, out of Toms River, N.J., played in 13 games for the Havoc this year, and registered three goals along the way. He also played in five THF games with the Rockets Hockey Club 16U AAA team.
Aydin Canbek, ’07 F, Palm Beach Typhoon (Elite – 14th round, 237th overall by Northern Cyclones
A local product who also played for the Spanish River-West Boca high school hockey team, Canbek played in all 44 regular season games for the Typhoon Elite team and registered nine assists.
Phase II
Felix-Antoine Pomerleau, ’06 D, Potomac Patriots (Premier) – 3rd round, 48th overall by Casper NCDC
Pomerleau played in a pair of games for the USPHL Premier Potomac Patriots, while spending most of this past season with the NCDC’s Pueblo Bulls. In 31 games for the Bulls, he put up six points.
