Five Badgers go in first five rounds of NHL Draft for first time in school history

Baggot: Buzz around NHL draft for Wisconsin hockey

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin's leading goal-scorer as a freshman, Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Missouri) was chosen by the Minnesota Wild with the 15th overall pick, and incoming freshman forward Trent Frederic (St. Louis) was taken 29th overall by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft on Friday.

Then Saturday, defenseman JD Greenway (Potsdam, New York) went to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round with the 72nd pick overall, Max Zimmer (Medina, Minnesota) was picked by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fourth round with the 104th overall pick and Philip Nyberg went to the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round with the 129th overall selection.

The two-day event took place at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.

Luke Kunin, First Round, 15th overall, Minnesota Wild
Kunin produced a standout freshman campaign as a Badger, scoring 19 goals and 32 points in 34 games to earn Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. He finished the season with nine goals over his last 10 games and 10 goals over the last 12 contests of the season. He also finished with points in seven consecutive outings, posting six goals and nine points during the streak.

UW's first freshman since Dany Heatley in 1999-2000 to lead the Badgers in goals, Kunin was the first Badger rookie to record 30 points in a season since Nic Kerdiles did so in the 2012-13 season. He was also one point shy of sharing the team lead in points as a freshman, which was last accomplished by Kyle Turris in 2007-08.

Kunin's 32 points ranked second among Big Ten freshmen and his 0.94 points-per-game scoring mark ranked seventh in the nation among rookies.

The former U.S. National Team Development Program captain, Kunin was at his best in key moments, leading the country last year with nine goals and 14 points in the first and last minute of periods.

UW's leader with 13 goals and 21 points in Big Ten play, his goal total ranked fourth among all conference skaters in 2015-16, while his point total shared 21st. Both were second among league freshmen.

Kunin becomes the highest pick for Wisconsin since 2007 when Kyle Turris (third overall) and Ryan McDonagh (12th overall), as well as Brendan Smith (27th) overall, were all chosen in the first round.

Trent Frederic, First Round, 29th overall, Boston Bruins
Frederic played the last two seasons for the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) and recorded 20 goals and 20 assists in 61 games for the Under-18 team this past season.

Included in those numbers are four goals and seven points in seven games at the 2016 World Under-18 Championships that helped Team USA win the bronze medal. Frederic recorded a hat trick and four points in a U.S. victory over Latvia during the tournament.

In 55 games for the U.S. Under-17 team in 2014-15, Frederic put up 14 points on five goals and nine assists.

Frederic, a left-handed shot, also has international experience for Team USA outside of this year's International Ice Hockey Federation U18 World Championship. He played four games for Team USA at the 2015 U-18 Five Nations Tournament in November, scoring the game-winner against Sweden in the second game of the tournament on the way to a gold medal for Team USA.

Frederic also played for the United States at the 2014 U-17 World Hockey Challenge, scoring one goal in six games.

Prior to his time with the USNTDP, Frederic skated for the St. Louis Jr. Blues U16 Team, leading the squad in scoring with 11 goals and 30 points.

JD Greenway, Third Round, 72nd overall, Toronto Maple Leafs
Greenway played the past two season with the U.S. National Team Development Program. With the Under-18 team, Greenway saw time in 64 games, tallying five goals and 23 assists from the blue line in 2015-16. The previous year, he notched six points in 53 games for the U-17 team.

Greenway played with fellow draft pick Trent Frederic at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation U-18 Men's World Championships in April, assisting the United States to a bronze medal with one goal and six assists. Greenway also competed at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge with Team USA, in addition to two 5 Nations Cups (2015, 2016) and two Four Nations Cups (2014, 2015).

Max Zimmer, Fourth Round, 104th overall, Carolina Hurricanes
Zimmer, a 6-0, 170-pound forward, skated for the Chicago Steel of the USHL in 2015-16. He posted 16 goals and 37 points in 55 games, which ranked seventh among USHL rookies and fourth on the Steel.

Playing for the U.S. Junior Select Team, Zimmer scored two goals and an assist to help Team USA defeat Canada East in the bronze medal game of the 2015 World Junior A Challenge last December. He led the tournament with five goals and ranked second with eight points in five games.

Last summer, Zimmer excelled for the Chicago Steel in the 2015 Junior Club World Cup in Yekaterinburg, Russia, scoring five goals and helping the squad to a bronze medal.

Zimmer was a high school teammate of current Badger Matthew Freytag for two years at Wayzata High School in Minnesota, but the left-handed shot has spent the last three seasons in the USHL. He played briefly for the Sioux City Musketeers at the end of the 2013-14 season and has been with Chicago for the last two seasons. Zimmer played eight games for Chicago a year ago, tallying one goal.

Prior to his time in the USHL, Zimmer scored 10 goals and 23 assists as a sophomore at Wayzata.

Philip Nyberg, Fifth Round, 129th overall, Buffalo Sabres
Born in Karlskrona, Sweden, Nyberg spent last season skating for Linköping HC J20 in Sweden's SuperElit league. In 45 regular-season contests, the right-handed shot posted four goals and 18 points. He added a goal in four playoff games.

In the prior season of 2014-15, the 6-3 and 192-pound rear guard skated three games with the same Linköping HC J20 squad, but played the majority of the year with Linköping HC J18, serving as an assistant captain. He had three goals and 12 points in 20 games playing in the J18 Elit league, as well as two assists in nine games in the J18 Allsvenskan league.

Wisconsin 2016 NHL Draft Notes

Both from the St. Louis area, and both recent invitees to the 2016 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp, Kunin and Frederic become the 11th and 12th first-round picks in Wisconsin history and the first since Jake Gardiner was picked 17th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in 2008.
Kunin and Frederic join the 2007 UW first round draft class of Turris, McDonagh and Smith as the only other Badger draft class to include more than one first-round selection.
Kunin and Frederic were part of a record-setting NHL draft for the U.S. as 12 Americans were drafted in the first round.
Wisconsin's 2016 draft class extends the Badgers' streak to 19 consecutive years in which one of their incoming or current players were drafted. The five-member class is also the largest since the 2011 draft also saw five Badgers selected.
The Badgers had five players picked in the first five rounds of the NHL draft for the first time in school history. The 1982 Badgers' draft class had five players picked in the first 120 picks (Patrick Flatley - 1st round, 21st; Dave Maley - 2nd, 33rd; Marty Wiitala - 5th, 101st; Ernie Vargas - 6th, 117th; Tony Granato - 6th, 120th) and six in the top 130 picks (Jim Johannson - 7th, 130th) back when there were fewer NHL teams playing and picking.
155 Badgers have been taken in the NHL draft all-time, while three others were chosen in the old NHL supplemental draft.

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Five Badgers go in first five rounds of NHL Draft for first time in school history

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