2026 NAHL Draft Recap
Published on June 10, 2026 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release
by: Ken Oda, minotauroshockey.com
Minot, ND - The Minotauros participated in the NAHL Draft process this week starting with the inaugural NAHL Futures Draft on Tuesday and the NAHL Entry Draft on Wednesday. In total the Minotauros added 10 players to the organization including a few familiar names. In both drafts the Tauros held the fifth overall selection. Minotauros Head Coach and General Manager Cody Campbell was happy with the results of the draft saying,
"We are excited to have added some significant talent at all 3 positions today to build on a returning core and tendered players. We had a plan going into today and thought we did a very good job sticking to it throughout the draft. Our Assistant GM's Chris Lonke and Justin Schreiber as well as our scouts and assistant coach Mike Meredith all did a great job working through the player pool to identify players that fit what we needed.
We look forward to seeing what the returners, tenders, draftees, and recruited free agents look like at main camp here in a few weeks in Minot as we continue to assemble what the 2026-2027 Tauros will look like."
In the Futures Draft the Tauros started with a name man Tauro fans will recognize: Dylan Knox. Knox is the younger brother of Minotauros Alum and current Wisconsin Badger Weston Knox. Like his older brother the younger Knox is a defenseman out of Andover High School in Andover, MN. In his first season for Andover Dylan outpaced his brother's rookie performance posting 10 points (1g 9a) compared to Weston's eight points (2g 6a)
In the second round of the Futures Draft the Tauros continued to look at the defensive side taking left handed d-man Charles Kleinman. Kleinman posted 14 assists in 70 games for South Kent School's 15u AAA team.
Both Futures Draft picks are 2010 birthyear players and will be added to the Minotauros Affiliate List allowing them to play up to 10 games for the Minotauros this season. The Tauros will hold their rights through November 15, 2027, before having to make a final decision on their place in the organization.
As the league shifted to the NAHL Entry Draft on Wednesday the Tauros again turned to familiarity selecting Brad Zugec. Zugec started last season with the Minotauros posting 18 points (9g 9a) through 17 games before moving on to the Fargo Force of the USHL. Through 37 games in Fargo the '06 forward posted 2 goals and 6 assists.
Without a second round pick (traded to Corpus Christi) the Tauros had to wait until the third round to make their next selection. Once their turn came around the Tauros chose goaltender Ryan Bodnar from the St. Louis AAA Blues 18u program. The '08 goaltender posted strong numbers with a 1.79 GAA and .920 SV% in T1EHL play.
After taking a forward and a goaltender with his first two picks of the Entry Draft, Campbell turned to the blue line adding Thomas Lahtinen a big (6'3" 207 lbs.) defenseman from Finland with the 20th selection in the third round. Playing junior in Finland last season Lahtinen posted 4 goals and 6 assists through 25 games.
In the fourth round the Tauros went back to the USHL taking forward Thomas Spencer from Omaha. Through 56 games last season the '07 Ohio native posted 17 points (2g 15a)
The Tauros then had to wait until the sixth round when they took defenseman Nurislam Ziyash out of Kazakhstan. He posted five assists in 39 games in the MHL and one assist in five games for Kazakhstan at the World Junior Division 1A tournament where his +4 rating was tied for fifth among defenseman at the tournament helping Kazakhstan to a second place finish.
With the second pick in the seventh round the Tauros took Artom Zhukov from Belarus. The forward had 23 goals and 33 assists in 50 games for Dinamo-Olimpik Minsk in Belarus's second league the Vysshaya. He added 13 more points in 12 playoff games for Minsk.
In the eighth round the Tauros returned to the USHL to select Joseph Mense. The big defenseman has played 3 seasons in the USHL totalling 115 games and 31 points.
Finally in the ninth round the Tauros took Alex Brello from the NA3HL's Bozeman Ice Dogs. Brello posted 21 points in 45 games for Bozeman last season.
Next up for the offseason is the 2026-2027 NAHL Schedule release. Stay tuned to gotauros.com and Minotauros socials for updates all summer long.
North American Hockey League Stories from June 10, 2026
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
