NHL Entry Draft waiting game has sweet payoff for USA Hockey NTDP alum Hain

Tim Smith | Hometown Life

Gavin Hain sat on the arena floor, staring up at the American Airlines Center ceiling as the 2018 National Hockey League Entry Draft proceeded June 22-23.

The young forward, who played for USA Hockey’s Plymouth-based National Team Development Program in 2017-18, didn’t expect to hear his name called on day one.

But then the second day started and Hain remained on the sidelines throughout rounds 2-5, when another 124 prospects heard their name and marched up to the podium.

With just two more rounds to go, Hain wondered if his trip to Dallas would all be for naught.

“You see guys ahead of you that you worked with all year long, you’re happy for them, excited for them but, obviously, you’re still waiting to hear your name,” Hain said, recalling what it was like to play the waiting game. “I knew I wasn’t going to go super high (in the draft). I knew after the year I had it was going to be in the latter few rounds.

“I wasn’t expecting to go as high as a lot of my teammates, but it was still nerve-wracking.”

#Flyers 2018 sixth-round pick Gavin Hain went top-shelf for this goal last season. pic.twitter.com/SnMhYS1ATz — Flyers Prospects (@futureofphilly) July 20, 2018

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Hain tried to keep calm, chatting with some family members and friends.

“Yeah, at times they had to try to anyways,” he said. “But it was good to have them with you through it and take your mind off it sometimes when it wasn’t going well.”

Moment of truth

But things suddenly turned great for Hain, when the Philadelphia Flyers selected him with the 174th pick of the draft, deep into the sixth of seven rounds.

He quickly exchanged hugs with his family and friends and walked on air up to the front of the arena. He donned an orange Flyers jersey and cap and posed for photos with team brass.

“Huge relief,” Hain said. “Waiting there, you don’t know when it’s going to happen and it finally does. I mean, with Philadelphia, there’s not a better place I could think of to go to.

“So it’s awesome being able to go down there and meet all the upstairs people and the scouts down on the floor. Being able to put the jersey on is a sigh of relief and there was a lot of excitement.”

Before he knew it, he was sitting behind a microphone with more cameras and digital recorders in front of him than he ever had seen before in his life.

“It was pretty neat,” he said, about the media scrum. “There’s a lot of excitement, tension between everyone. It was a cool experience just being able to experience something you watched on TV your whole life.”

Hain also received congratulary text messages from his billet family in Plymouth, Laurie and John Birchler.

“They texted me congrats. That’s pretty cool,” Hain said.

He also received a text from one of his NTDP teammates, Joel Farabee, a left wing who the Flyers drafted in the first round (14th overall).

“Right after it happened, he texted me ‘I’d like to see you in Philly’ because the next day we went to the development camp,” Hain said. “So we texted a little bit and the next day we saw each other, so it was pretty cool.”

Before too long, Hain (15 goals, 20 assists, plus-19 for the NTDP U-18 team) was on his way to fly from Dallas to Philadelphia for the week-long camp. Just as quickly, it was over. Soon, he was back in the airport, this time going back home to Minnesota for some rest and relaxation.

Next phase begins

Next on his busy summer agenda will be a trip to the University of North Dakota, his future college hockey home beginning in 2018-19.

According to the winger, who prides himself on playing a solid two-way game, the actual draft experience matched his dreams of what it might be to officially become an NHL prospect.

“I think it met them,” Hain said. “I mean, you’re always watching ... you dream about going higher. It didn’t disappoint me too much as far as that goes, but I think it met them, just the excitement and everything I felt.

“Whether you go first round or sixth round, the work starts the day after the draft.”

Meanwhile, he had words of advice for the NTDP players who were not drafted.

“They know what they have to do moving forward. They’ve done it their whole life, they’ve done it the last two years,” Hain said. “We’re not in too far a different situations, we still have to work to make it to the pros, make it to the NHL.

“We all just got to keep working and doing whatever it takes.”

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NTDP draftees

All told, 18 players with links to the NTDP were picked during the NHL draft.

In the first round: forward Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa, fourth overall); University of Michigan defenseman Quinn Hughes (Vancouver, seventh); forward Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders, 11th); Farabee; defenseman K’Andre Miller (New York Rangers, 22nd) and center Jay O’Brien (Philadelphia, 19th).

O’Brien played just seven games for the NTDP before going to Thayer Academy.

Ten players connected to the NTDP were selected June 23: defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (Buffalo, 32nd); defenseman and Birmingham native Bode Wilde (New York Islanders, 41st); center Jake Wise (Chicago, 69th); defenseman Ty Emberson (Phoenix, 73rd); forward Logan Hutsko (Florida, 89th); forward Jonathan Gruden of Rochester (Ottawa, 95th); defenseman Stanislav Demin (Vegas, 99th); forward Jake Pivonka (New York Islanders, 103rd); forward Tyler Weiss (Colorado, 109th); defenseman Spencer Stastney (Nashville, 131st); left wing Blade Jenkins (New York Islanders, 134th); and finally, Hain.

If you have a compelling story to tell, contact Tim Smith at tsmith@hometownlife.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimSmith_Sports.