The Waterloo Black Hawks selected four prospects during the first two rounds in Phase One of the 2016 United States Hockey League Draft.

Several choices throughout the evening were from programs which have produced memorable Hawks in recent years.

With two picks in the opening round, Waterloo claimed defenseman Ben Brinkman of Edina (MN) High School and forward Colin Schmidt of Omaha AAA and Wayzata (MN) High School. Brinkman was a 2015/16 teammate of Ben Copeland, who made several appearances as a Black Hawks affiliate during the winter after being chosen during the 2015 USHL Draft.

Current Hawks Ben Newhouse and Garrett Wait are also Edina natives. Although Schmidt has played in Nebraska, he originally hails from nearby Maple Grove, Minnesota.

The Brinkman and Schmidt picks were Waterloo’s first selections within the first round of Phase One since 2013. In the past two drafts, the Hawks exchanged their opening round choices to sign Sam Rossini (2014) and Mikey Anderson (2015) to tender agreements.

During round two, Waterloo added Ben Helgeson of Hill-Murray (MN) High School and John Drury of Chicago Mission AAA. The Black Hawks’ complete draft list Monday included:

 
Name
Rd/Pick
Position
2014/15 Team
Ben Brinkman
1/5
D
Edina (MN) High School
Colin Schmidt
1/10
F
Omaha AAA/Wayzata (MN) High School
Ben Helgeson
2/26
F
Hill-Murray (MN) High School
John Drury
2/28
F
Chicago Mission U-16
Ryan Drkulek
4/58
F
Shattuck-St. Mary’s (MN)
Michael Ferrandino
5/74
D
Chicago Young Americans U-16
Ian Mageau
6/90
F
Duluth East (MN) High School
Andy Stoneman
8/122
F
Shattuck-St. Mary’s (MN)
Tyler Borsch
9/138
D
Maple Grove (MN) High School
Evan MacKinnon
10/154
F
Dartmouth Major Midgets (NSMMHL)
 

The USHL Draft takes place in two stages. Phase One selections often continue to develop at other levels of hockey and appear in the USHL during later seasons removed from their draft year.

Phase Two of the USHL Draft begins on Tuesday, May 3rd at 8:00 a.m. Day Two is a multi-age group draft, and teams can select players born anywhere between 1996 and 2000 in an effort to fill their protected lists with skaters who will generally compete for roster spots for the 2016/17 season.

More From K92.3