GRAND FORKS — UND has seven NHL draft picks lined up at forward for next season.
Incoming freshman Jayden Perron will soon be No. 8 — and he could be among the highest on the team.
Perron was ranked as the No. 43 North American skater available for the 2023 NHL Draft by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau, leading all UND recruits.
UND defenseman commit Andrew Strathmann, who will come to campus in 2023 or 2024, is No. 44. Incoming freshman defenseman Jake Livanavage, who was passed over in last year's draft, is No. 181. Forward commit David Klee is at No. 188.
A pair of Warroad High players also made the list.
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Forward Jayson Shaugabay, who is committed to Minnesota Duluth, is at No. 55, while Hampton Slukynsky, a Northern Michigan commit, is the No. 16 North American goaltender.
Shaugabay won Minnesota's Mr. Hockey award as the top senior player in the state. Slukynsky won the Frank Brimsek Award as the top senior goalie.
The NHL Draft is scheduled for June 28-29 in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
Perron is expected to be the star of UND's 2023 recruiting class.
The 5-foot-9, 163-pound winger from Winnipeg has 24 goals and 71 points in 60 games for the United States Hockey League's Chicago Steel this season.
In the past 20 years, only three UND recruits have tallied more points in a USHL season — Jackson Blake (77), Mike Cichy (76) and Owen McLaughlin (72). Blake won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's rookie of the year award this spring.
Peron has two regular-season games left on Friday and Saturday.
The highest-drafted players on UND's 2023-24 roster at the moment are Dylan James (No. 40 overall, second round), Blake (No. 109 overall, fourth round), Jackson Kunz (No. 113 overall, fourth round) and incoming Omaha transfer Cameron Berg (No. 125 overall, fourth round).
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