Four hundred and thirty eight NCAA players have been invited to National Hockey League evaluation camps this year, including one current and 49 BCHL graduates.
Of the 30 NHL teams, only eight didn’t offer an invite to a BCHL player. Of the 22 that did, 12 had more than one attending.
Luke Esposito was the one Chilliwack Chief alum getting an NHL look as he joined the Edmonton Oilers. Esposito is heading into his third season of NCAA hockey with the Harvard Crimson.
In his one BCHL season (2012-13) Esposito had 17 goals and 71 points in 55 games.
Last season with Harvard he collected five goals and 17 points in 32 games.
The Vancouver Canucks extended an invite to ex-Victoria Grizzly Matt Ginn, a goalie who just finished his fourth campaign with the Holy Cross Crusaders.
Ginn also had a seven game stint with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.
The biggest BCHL lovers are the Winnipeg Jets, who had seven at their evaluation camp:
Ohio State’s Craig Dalrymple (Powell River Kings), Dartmouth’s James Kruger (Langley Rivermen), Alaska’s Tyler Morley (Surrey Eagles), Michigan Tech’s Jamie Phillips (Powell River), Quinnipiac’s Landon Smith (Salmon Arm Silverbacks), North Dakota’s Troy Stecher (Penticton Vees) and Wisconsin’s Matt Ustaski (Langley).
On the coaching side, Vees bench boss Fred Harbinson was a guest coach at the Toronto Maple Leafs camp.