Italian ice hockey and the NHL draft

The idea behind it: to distribute talent as fairly as possible among the teams to maintain sporting parity. This year, the spectacle will take place in Buffalo on June 26th and 27th for the first time since the 2016 NHL Draft. Back then, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Auston Matthews as the number one overall pick. The 28-year-old American has made a name for himself in the world's best league over the past ten years and, with more than one point per game, is among the top players. Here in Milan, he leads the reigning world champions, the USA, onto the ice as captain. Back to the NHL Draft. It's no guarantee that you'll ever play in the NHL. But it's usually the first step and something special.

Especially for players from the host country of the 25th Winter Olympics. So far, only five Italian-born players have been drafted by an NHL club. Of these, three have made it to the top league, but only one has actually donned the Italian jersey. That's Damian Clara, currently the Italian goalie. The 21-year-old from Reischach was selected in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft as the 60th overall pick by the Anaheim Ducks and subsequently placed on loan by the Swedish NHL club. With his outstanding performance against Sweden on Wednesday, Clara made a strong case for himself and moved a significant step closer to the NHL.

From Di Pauli & Co. Thomas Di Pauli is another South Tyrolean to have been drafted: in 2012, the Washington Capitals secured the rights to the Kaltern native, who was selected in the fourth round as the 100th player. The former forward won the Italian U14 championship with HC Bolzano before emigrating to the USA, his mother's homeland. There, he made his NHL debut on January 4, 2020, wearing the Pittsburgh Penguins jersey. At the time, a possible return to Italy was being discussed in anticipation of the Olympic Games. However, a serious, unspecified injury forced Di Pauli, who was a U18 World Champion with the USA in 2012, to end his career in June 2020 at the age of just 26.

Thomas Di Pauli is, besides Clara, the only South Tyrolean to have been drafted.

Victor Posa and Luca Sbisa are also no longer active. Posa is probably only known to die-hard fans. The former defenseman was born on November 5, 1966, in Bari and was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the seventh round, 137th overall, in 1985. That same year, the American, who worked as a scout in the world's best league until 2019, also played his only two NHL games. Posa's older son, Saverio, played defense for Cortina in Serie A ten years ago.

Sbisa, on the other hand, is still fresh in many people's minds. The former defenseman was born on January 30, 1990, in Ozieri, Sardinia, and was drafted in the first round, 19th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008. Sbisa played nearly 600 NHL games for the Flyers, Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, and Nashville Predators. The now 36-year-old holds both Italian and Swiss passports and represented Switzerland at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and two World Championships.

The most recent Italian-born player to be drafted into the NHL is one whose surname gives absolutely no indication of Italian roots. His full name is Matous Jan Kucharcik, who is of Czech descent. Records from the Sterzing registry office show that Matous Jan Kucharcik was born on February 3, 2007, in the city hospital. This is because his father, Tomas Kucharcik, played for Sterzing in the then-Serie B during the 2006-07 season.

Two years later, Kucharcik Sr., who won the World Championship with the Czech Republic in 1999, returned to South Tyrol and played for SV Kaltern. Kucharcik Jr. grew up in the youth academy of Slavia Prague, has so far made it into the Czech junior national teams, and played in the U18 World Championship with his country a year ago. The tall center was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round, 103rd overall, in the NHL Entry Draft last June.

Larkin was also drafted. Besides Clara, another drafted player, Thomas Larkin, is currently on Italy's roster. The Azzurri captain grew up in Varese, but was born in London on December 31, 1990, and was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fifth round, 137th overall, in 2009. As a side note: Of the ten North American-born players on the host team, only two made it to the NHL draft. One is Matt Bradley, selected 131st overall in the fifth round by the Montreal Canadiens in 2015, and the other is Cristiano DiGiacinto, who was selected 170th overall in the sixth round by the Tampa Bay Lightning a year earlier.

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Italian ice hockey and the NHL draft

The NHL Entry Draft is the National Hockey League's primary system for selecting young talent. Every year, the 32 franchises secure the rights to young players from North America, Europe, and around the world in seven rounds.

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