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Notre Dame Hockey: 3 players that will be drafted to the NHL

By Vincent Parise

MANCHESTER, NH - MARCH 30: Nick Sanford #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up before a game against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Northeast Regional Championship final at the SNHU Arena on March 30, 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Minutemen won 4-0 to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time in school history. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, NH - MARCH 30: Nick Sanford #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up before a game against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Northeast Regional Championship final at the SNHU Arena on March 30, 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Minutemen won 4-0 to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time in school history. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Hunter Strand has a lot of work to do at Notre Dame after he is drafted to the NHL.

Notre Dame is a great hockey program. They are going to be better with Hunter Strand in the lineup. He isn’t a game-breaking prospect or anything like that but he could develop into a really good NHL player if he works at it. Nothing is guaranteed when you start looking at the middle rounds of the draft but the NCAA is a great place to go and try.

Strand is a centerman that is on the smaller side at 5’11” and 183 lbs. Luckily for him, that doesn’t matter in today’s NHL. Yeah, being big has its advantages but being small doesn’t hurt anyone if they are really skilled players. Cole Caufield is currently dominating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a former NCAA player at Wisconsin. Now, Strand isn’t likely going to be Caufield but he also could be if he develops properly. You just never know.

Last season, Strand played for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL. There, he scored 20 goals and had 29 assists for 49 points in 51 games. It is a nice total but there is room for development.  It would be wise for Strand to get to work right after he is drafted. When you are a mid-round selection like he is going to be, you can’t really guess what kind of team is going to draft you. It could be a Stanley Cup contender or a bottom feeder but there will always be an opportunity if you earn it.

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Notre Dame having multiple players that could go within the first three rounds of the NHL Draft is an incredible accomplishment. Hopefully, some of these kids can come together and make a deep Frozen Four run in 2022.

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