Re: North Dakota 2016 Off-Season Thread
BUFFALO, N.Y. – University of North Dakota sophomore Rhett Gardner and three future Fighting Hawks were selected on the second day of the 2016 National Hockey League Entry Draft on Saturday at First Niagara Center.
Gardner was taken by the Dallas Stars in the fourth round (116th overall), while National Letter of Intent signees Mitchell Mattson (Calgary, 5th round, 126th overall), Peter Thome (Columbus, 6th round, 155th overall) and Collin Adams (New York Islanders, 6th round, 170th overall) also had their names called.
Gardner became UND’s first player since Dillon Simpson in 2011 to be drafted following his freshman season. The 6-2, 215-pound forward from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, registered 11 goals and seven assists in 41 games last season and paced all National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) freshmen with 280 faceoff wins.
Mattson, a 6-4, 204-pound forward, had 17 goals and 29 assists in 25 games last season for Grand Rapids (Minn.) High School, then went on to play 21 games with the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Bloomington Thunder and scored two goals. His sister, Sidney Mattson, was a freshman setter with the UND volleyball team last year.
Thome (pronouncd TOE-mee) spent the 2015-16 season with the North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) Aberdeen Wings, appearing in 47 games and going 17-21-9 with a 2.43 goals against average and a league-leading .929 save percentage. The Minneapolis native also had four shutouts. Thome’s cousin, Andrew Thome, pitched for the UND baseball team from 2012-15 and is currently in his first professional season with the Houston Astros organization.
Adams, a 5-0, 179-pound forward from Brighton, Mich., spent last season with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. He had 27 goals and 34 assists in 59 games and tied for fifth in the USHL scoring race.
UND has now had 173 players taken in the NHL Entry Draft dating back to 1963 and has had multiple players taken every year since 2000.