Badgers in the NHL: 2022 NHL Draft preview

The 2022 NHL Draft will get underway on Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT, live on ESPN and ESPN+, from the Bell Centre in Montreal. While our Wisconsin Badgers aren’t expected to have a first round selection, for the first time in four years, there are a handful of future Badgers that should hear their names called on Friday in rounds two through seven (airing on NHL Network and ESPN+ starting at 10 a.m. CT).

The Badgers have had at least one player selected in the NHL Draft in every year since 1997 and two incoming freshmen, forward Cruz Lucius (Grant, Minn.) and defenseman Tyson Jugnauth (Kelowna, British Columbia), are projected to go in the third and fourth round, respectively, by The Athletic ($). Lucius is ranked as the No. 41 prospect by NHL Central Scouting for North America and Jugnauth is No. 66.

Lucius spent the past two years as part of the U.S. National Team Develop Program and helped Team USA to silver at this spring’s 2022 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, where he scored a pair of goals and eight points. Junauth won the 2021-22 BCHL Top Defenceman after posting nine goals and 50 points (in 52 games!) from the blue line for the West Kelowna Warriors. He was also a 2022 BCHL First-Team All-Star.

Todd Milewski over at the Wisconsin State Journal has a trio of other players that are connected to the Badgers who may be drafted as well, including left wing Quinn Finley, who has one more year left playing with the Madison Capitols in the USHL before joining UW, who could go as early as the second round.

Current drafted Badgers

Corson Ceulemans (Columbus – 2021, 1st round, 25th pick)
Ty Smilanic, transfer from Quinnipiac (Florida – 2020, 3rd, 74th (Montreal owns his rights))
Sam Stange (Detroit – 2020, 4th, 97th)
Jack Gorniak (Montreal – 2018, 4th, 123rd)
Owen Lindmark (Florida – 2019, 5th, 137th)
Carson Bantle (Arizona – 2020, 5th, 142nd)
Jared Moe (Winnipeg – 2018, 6th, 184th)
Daniel Laatsch (Pittsburgh – 2021, 7th, 215th)

Wisconsin NHL Draft Fun Facts (courtesy UW Athletics)

• 171 Badgers have been chosen in what is now known as the NHL Entry Draft
• 17 of which have been in the first round
• Dany Heatley is the highest drafted Badger, taken second overall in 2000 by the Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets)
• 46.0 percent of drafted Badgers (Entry Draft and Supplemental Draft) have played at least one game in the NHL (80 of 174)

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

• 11 Badgers have played in the NHL after going undrafted
• 14 Badgers have been picked by the Chicago Blackhawks, the most by any franchise
• 30 teams have selected at least one Badger in the NHL draft. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Seattle Kraken have yet to pick one. GET IT TOGETHER, YOU TWO!