BAAG: Seventeen members of the Under-18 Team skated in the 2022 BioSteel All-American Game Monday evening at USA Hockey Arena. The annual game features the top American-born prospects eligible for the upcoming NHL Draft.

With split rosters for this year's game, the NTDP was represented on both Team White and Team Blue and saw four skaters score throughout the night in Michigan.

Cole Spicer (Grand Forks, N.D.) and Brady Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) found the back of the net for Team White while Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska, Minn.) put Team Blue on the board near the halfway mark of the game and Rutger McGroarty (Lincoln, Neb.) tied the contest late in the third to force the game's first-ever overtime session. 

After the game, McGroarty was named MVP, the fifth straight game that an NTDPer received the honor after Sasha Pastujov (2021), Jake Sanderson (2020), Matthew Boldy (2019) and Brady Tkachuk (2020) won over the past five years.

BOUNCE BACK: The Under-18 hasn't suffered many losses this year, but on those occasions, they have done a good job of refocusing for the next game. Off of any loss this year, the U18s have posted a 5-3-1 record in their following game.

After their previous loss against the University of Minnesota, the U18s responded with a 4-2 win in Dubuque the following Friday.

On the one prior, a 3-2 overtime loss to Youngstown on December 18, the team took the Christmas break to regroup and came back with a dominating 6-1 win over Augsburg University on December 29 at USA Hockey Arena. 

RETURN OF THE RIG: U18 forward Charlie Stramel (Rosemount, Minn.) made his season debut Friday night after recovering from a lower-body injury for the first half of the season.

Stramel, one of the top 2023 NHL Draft prospects, was one of the leading scorers on last year's U17 team and was one of six underagers to play with Team USA at the 2021 Under-18 Men's World Championship last April in Texas.

A University of Wisconsin commit, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound center adds not only speed and skill to the U18 lineup, but a physical presence as well.

CENTRAL SCOUTING MIDSEASON UPDATE: The NTDP saw tremendous representation throughout the NHL Central Scouting midseason rankings as 19 current skaters were ranked, including nine in the top-32 North American skaters, possible first-round selections at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal.

Logan Cooley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led the way at number two overall, while Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska, Minn.), two of the biggest risers on the list, ascended to sixth and eighth, respectively. Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) followed at 12th and Frank Nazar (Mount Clemens, Mich.) and Rutger McGroarty (Lincoln, Neb.) were back-to-back at 17th and 18th. Defensemen Ryan Chesley (Mahtomedi, Minn.), Lane Hutson (North Barrington, Ill.) and Seamus Casey (Fort Myers, Fla.) rounded out the first-round candidates for the NTDP. 

Dylan Silverstein (Calabasas, Calif.) and Tyler Muszelik (Long Valley, N.J.) were ranked third and fifth among North American goaltenders, respectively.