Eagles Daily notebook: A look at the historic hockey recruiting class

Boston College hockey looks to get back on track this year with the best recruiting class in college hockey coming to Chestnut Hill.

There are the obvious six draft picks incoming, three of which shared a line on the 18U U.S. National team together and all went in the first round -- Will Smith (F), Gabe Perreault (F), and Ryan Leonard (F), as well as their teammates in third-round pick Drew Fortescue (D) and fourth-rounder Aram Minnetian (D). The non-NTDP team draft pick was goalie Jacob Fowler, another third-round pick.

Smith, the No. 4 pick in the draft is the program's highest-ever selection, surpassing Cutter Gauthier last year at No. 5. The six picks is additionally the program's highest tally since 1989.

So, who are these names -- and who are some of the faces in the rest of the recruiting class that may not get as much attention?

INCOMING FRESHMEN

2005 F, Gabe Perreault: Picked 23rd overall in the draft by the Rangers, Leonard set the single-season NTDP point record with 132 points this past season, including 53 goals. The Canadian native played for the Chicago Mission in his youth days though headed to the National Team in 2021.

*Note that every name that was on the NTDP spent two seasons with the team -- their junior and senior year of high school.*

2005 F, Will Smith: As mentioned, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft to the Sharks, Smith put up 127 points at center for the NTDP team, which is second all-time right behind Leonard's new record. The Lexington, MA native played at the BC Jr. Eagles growing up while also attending St. Sebastian's for the first two years of high school.

2005 F, Ryan Leonard: Playing alongside the two names above with the NTDP, Perrault added 51 goals, identical to Smith, going eighth overall to Washington. His first two years of high school were at Pope Francis Prep while playing for the Springfield Rifles before heading to the NTDP.

2005 F, Will Vote: The Arlington, MA native, while not on the Leonard-Smith-Perreault line, did spend his past two years with the trio on the NTDP. The 5-foot-7 winger played alongside Smith for the Jr. Eagles in his youth days while going to Dexter Southfield for the first two years of high school and tallied 16 goals/45 points for the NTDP this past season.

2005 D, Aram Minnetian: Minnetian was a fourth-rounder in this year's draft after authoring 31 points for the NTDP this season. The New Jersey native attended Bergen High beforehand while also playing for the Mid Fairfield Jr. Rangers.

2005 D, Drew Fortescue: Another former Mid Fairfield product, the New York Native went to Don Bosco Prep for his freshman and sophomore years while authoring 26 points for the National Team this season.

2004 G, Jan Korec: One of the more interesting recruits for the Eagles, the 18-year-old Korec hails from Slovakia and was on this year's Slovak U20 World Juniors team. He spent some time in Norway before coming over to the US to attend the Northwood School in Lake Placid for his sophomore and junior year of high school, though spent this past year in the USHL playing for the Des Moines Buccaneers, making 24 appearances and

2004 G, Jacob Fowler: The Eagles get Fowler as an 18-year-old goaltender fresh off of a strong USHL season, where he played 40 games for the Youngstown Phantoms and posted a GAA of 2.28 as well as a 1.31 GAA in nine playoff games. Beforehand, the Florida native went to boarding school at South Kent in Connecticut.

2003 D, Nolan Joyce: Connor Joyce's brother, the defenseman was another Jr. Eagles product and St Sebastian's alum who spent this past season with the Chicago Steel in the USHL. The 19-year-old Dedham native put up 10 points for Chicago this past season.

2003 F, Timmy Delay: The 20-year-old winger out of Hingham played for the Jr. Eagles growing up and also attended St. Sebastian's for four years. Playing for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL in 21-22 and tallying just six points in 48 games, Delay went to the BCHL this past season after just two games for Sioux Falls in the USHL -- he authored seven goals/24 points in 42 appearances. He'll be out for a decent portion of the season however with an injury.

2003 G, Alex Musielak: The 20-year-old netminder spent this past season between the CCHL (Kemptville 73's) and the USHL (Utica Jr. Comets), posting roughly 3.6 GAA between the two. Beforehand, he went to the Nichols School, a prep school in Buffalo, NY. With three freshman goaltenders coming in and no other tender on the roster, it'll be an interesting battle for playing time between the three.

INCOMING TRANSFERS

2000 F, Jack Malone: Malone, a California native, comes to BC as a graduate transfer from Cornell. He played three seasons at Cornell, including a season in which he went back to the USHL after his freshman year. He had a solid career at Cornell, where last season he posted eight goals/17 points in 34 games.

1999 D, Jacob Bengtsson: Bengtsson comes to BC after three seasons at Lake Superior State. The 6-foot-3 Swedish defenseman put up just seven points his freshman year but totaled 50 points across his past two seasons. The 24-year-old came to the USHL in 2018 and has been in the United States ever since.

1998 F, Jamie Armstrong: The 25-year-old graduate transfer spent four years at BU, as the winger grabbed 26 points in 94 games while scoring five goals and eight assists in 29 appearances this past season. He didn't play all that much through the years at BU, though he brings an older presence to what will be a very young BC team.

Additional hockey notes

~ BC Hockey Blog reported earlier in the month that Matt Argentina will be heading back to the USHL to play for the Chicago Steele this season after pointing out that he wasn't on the initial roster release. It's the same route the transfer Malone took after his freshman year -- though whether those who take the route go to a different school varies. The center in Argentina notched just four goals/10 points across the past two seasons for BC (53 games).

~ Some more scoop that BC Hockey Blog recently picked up is that potential No. 1 pick in 2025, 2006 forward James Hagens, visited BC on August 18th.

Steele to miss time due to a "personal health issue"

Boston College football saw some disappointing news Tuesday, with AJ Black reporting that starting middle linebacker Bryce Steele will be away from the team as the byproduct of a "personal health issue." Black also noted that he could not deliver specifics, rather noting that more details should be out in the future.

The junior in Steele played in 12 games last season, a notable piece to the defense grabbing 51 tackles (24 solo) last season along with 5.5 tackles for loss.

Ashton-Langford inks deal overseas

Former Eagle Makai Ashton-Langford has inked a deal with KK Vrijednosnice Osijek in Croatia, BC announced Tuesday.

Ashton-Langford came to the Eagles in 2019 as a redshirt after two years at Providence College and played three years for BC alongside his brother DeMarr Langford Jr. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound guard put together a solid career with the Eagles, averaging 12+ points in each of the past two seasons while averaging 30+ minutes per game.