Phantoms Tender Defenseman Sascha Boumedienne Ahead of 2023 USHL Draft
November 25, 2022 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH - The Youngstown Phantoms are excited to announce that they have signed 2007 birth-year defenseman Sascha Boumedienne (BEAU-MID-ee-en) to a tender agreement ahead of next summer's USHL Phase I draft. Youngstown will forgo its first-round pick in the 2023 USHL Phase I draft by using their tender to sign Boumedienne.
"We are thrilled to have Sascha agree to tender ahead of next summer's draft," said Phantoms co-general manager Ryan Kosecki. "Sascha is an elite hockey player, who is the total package. He can skate, defend, make plays, and has a bomb of a shot. He currently leads his U16 team in scoring as an '07 (birth year) defenseman. His best quality however is that he is a great human being. We are beyond excited to have Sascha wear a Phantom jersey for the next two years."
Boumedienne, a Swedish national who was born in Oulu, Finland, currently plays for the Ohio Blue Jackets organization as a member of their 16U AAA team. Through 28 games this season, Boumedienne has put up seven goals and 18 assists from the blue line. His father Josef Boumedienne was a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1996 and played 342 professional games in North America between the AHL and NHL over six seasons, last playing professionally with the Toronto Marlies during the 2008-2009 season before finishing his playing career in Europe. Josef is currently a coach in the Ohio Blue Jackets organization and the Director of Professional Scouting for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sascha's younger brother Wilson is a 2010 birth-year forward who also plays in the Ohio Blue Jackets organization.
"I am really excited about playing for the Phantoms," said Boumedienne. "The USHL is a great league and I am honored to have Youngstown believe in me. I'm very excited to spend the next two seasons as a Phantom. I feel like Youngstown is the best fit for me because of how bright the future is for the team and the staff's vision on development. I look forward to the challenge of helping to grow our program to new heights."
Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward had this to add: We are thrilled to add Sascha to the program. Through this process it became extremely clear that Sascha is the perfect fit for our organization. On the ice, Sascha is driven by possessing the puck and playing a highly skilled game. He takes over every game he plays in. He is a fanatical competitor that leads his teammates and will do anything for his team. The most impressive thing about Sascha is his love for the game. Sascha comes to the rink every single day with a smile on his face, and he craves getting better. He is extremely coachable and fits exactly with what we want a Youngstown Phantoms hockey player to be. We are ecstatic to add the entire Boumedienne family to our program as we continue to strive to make Youngstown the premier place to play junior hockey in the entire world.
United States Hockey League teams are allowed to tender up to two players that are eligible for Phase I of the upcoming USHL draft prior to draft day. If a team decides to use a tender on a player, that team forfeits the earliest available pick(s) they have in the first two rounds.
Youngstown's Phase I Tender History (Draft Year)
2012: Kyle Connor, JJ Piccinich
2014: Ty Farmer
2015: Jacob Tortora
2016: Curtis Hall, Max Ellis
2017: Trevor Kuntar
2018: Ben Schoen
2019: Davis Codd
2023: Sascha Boumedienne
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