PC Hockey Incoming Freshman Drafted in 1st Round of NHL Draft
Robert McMahon, Sports Columnist
PC Hockey Incoming Freshman Drafted in 1st Round of NHL Draft
He becomes the fifth first-round pick of the program, joining Joe Hulbig (13th, 1992), Tom Fitzgerald (17th, 1986), Mark Jankowski (21st, 2012), and Jay O'Brien (19th, 2018).
Connelly is 18 years old from Tustin, California. He played in 52 games last year for Tri-City in the USHL, scoring 31 goals with 47 assists for a total of 78 points. He is considered one of the top offensive players in this year’s draft. He has exceptional speed, elite stick-handling ability, and natural scoring instincts.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTConnelly also comes to Providence with some controversy. He has a past track record of immaturity on and off the ice. At one point in his early teens, he played on seven different teams in three years. Because of his maturity issues, he was not drafted higher in the NHL draft. It is hoped that those issues were behind him when he committed to PC and to Coach Nate Leaman’s no-nonsense program.
"In 2022, Connelly posted a picture on social media of a teammate assembling children’s building blocks into the shape of a swastika. A year earlier, he was accused of using a racial slur during a game, but the suspension was lifted after an investigation by the California Amateur Hockey Association. He denied the allegation," reported the New York Times.
Connelly was initially listed as a PC commit for the 2025-26 season. That may be because of physical development reasons (he is 6’, but barely 160 lbs). It appears now, however, that both the Friars and Connelly are interested in re-classifying him to play in the upcoming 2024-25 season. Connelly has something to prove to his critics, and PC desperately needs a goal scorer who has Connelly’s talent.
A second PC hockey recruit, Jack Mustard, was drafted in this year’s NHL third round by the Chicago Blackhawks as the 67th overall pick. The 6’, 185 lb left winger/center is a two-way physical player, gifted defensively as well as offensively. He wasn’t even being considered for the NHL draft a year ago, but he made phenomenal improvement this past year. He was named rookie of the year for Waterloo in the USHL, scoring 56 points.
Mustard has an exceptionally strong work ethic and should continue to develop his skills under Leaman’s guidance. Like Connelly, Mustard is also a 2025-26 commit; it is unclear yet whether he will be re-classified to begin play with the Friars this fall. His rapid improvement this past year suggests that he will join the Friars this season.
If both Connelly and Mustard join the PC roster this year, the Friars will have nine NHL draftees on the squad, the most in program history.
Friars’ Slapshots…
Friars’ 2024-25 Early Season Schedule. After playing an exhibition game against Union (Coach Leaman’s former team) on October 5th, the Friars will jump into the deep end of the pool the week after with an away game against North Dakota on October 12th in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks were 26-11-2 this past season and play in the finest college hockey arena in the country. Ralph Englestad Arena was built 22 years ago at a cost of $104 million and its 11,500 seats for hockey are filled for every North Dakota game.
The Friars will entertain the Arizona State Sun Devils for the first time ever for two games at Schneider Arena in October and also entertain the revitalized Colorado College Tigers for two games in early December. The Friars roster this year features graduate transfer Ryan O’Reilly from Arizona State and Logan Will, a graduate transfer from Colorado College.
Almost an NHL Championship Ring for PC Hockey Grad. Several PC hockey alumni have NHL championship rings and there was almost one more this past week. Vinny Desharnais, a 2019 PC grad and a bruising 6’7” defenseman, played 78 games this season for the Edmonton Oilers on their third defense line. The Oilers recently lost in the NHL finals to the Florida Panthers in seven games. Unfortunately, Desharnais was benched by the Edmonton Coach for the Panthers series and replaced by a faster skater, Philip Broberg. Desharnais is likely to end up on another NHL team in the upcoming season.
PC Hockey Grad Jay Leach is the new Boston Bruins assistant coach.
Leach, a former PC hockey player from 1997 to 2001, has recently been named an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins. Leach, at 6’4” and 215 lbs, was a take-no-prisoner defenseman for the Friars. In his junior and senior years, he led the Friars in penalty minutes with over 100 minutes each of those years.
Over the course of his 13-year professional hockey career, he played for various NHL, AHL, and EHL teams, including the Providence Bruins. He coached the P-Bruins for five seasons from 2017-2021, compiling a 136-77-26 record. He most recently was an Assistant Coach for the Seattle Kraken. For the Bruins, Leach will focus on coaching the Bruins' defense and penalty kill.
Leach was formerly married to former Channel 10 sports reporter Kathryn Tappan, who currently works for NBC as a sports reporter and host.