After previously committing to the University of Notre Dame, top 2022 NHL Draft prospect Logan Cooley is changing Big 10 schools, as the USA Hockey National Development Team Program announced today that he’s committed to the University of Minnesota for his collegiate career.
Cooley is a consensus top-five selection for the upcoming draft, with Daily Faceoff’s Chris Peters even ranking him first in the class ahead of Shane Wright in his midseason rankings.
A product of Pittsburgh and the Penguins’ youth system, Cooley has been money in the bank since joining the U.S. National Team in 2020. During the 2021-22 campaign, Cooley is dominating with 20 goals and 36 assists for 56 points in 41 games. He was also a part of the USA’s World Juniors roster, netting an assist in a singular game prior to the tournament’s abrupt cancellation.
With him and Wright making noise as the likely two best centers in this draft class (although Matthew Savoie would like some words as well), Cooley is a giant get for a Minnesota program that already includes prominent NHL prospects such as Brock Faber, Matthew Knies, Chaz Lucius, and Ryan Johnson. It’s somewhat likely that Cooley’s stay only lasts a year, however, as the highly-touted prospect likely isn’t too far away from making an NHL impact.
He looks tiny in the photo.
TFW you start questioning your long held support for the draft and wonder if the Pens shouldn’t get to claim all Pittsburgh kids as theirs the way Montreal did for decades.
I’ve said for a long time, the single best investment the NHL can make in the game and to create their own future customers is building local rinks and supporting local hockey programs.
Nailed it Josh! Gotta start from the grassroots!
To fill out my point better…
When Mario came to PGH, there were a handful of dumpy little rinks and not many kids played hockey. A few Cups later, new rinks get built, kids start playing and now this area has produced…
Ryan Malone
John Gibson
JT Miller
Brandon Saad
Vincent Trocheck
Stephen Johns
Probably a few more that I missed and now Cooley.