Steel Select Four Players in USHL Disperasal Draft
September 21, 2020 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release
GENEVA, ILLINOIS - The Chicago Steel announced today their selection of four players in the USHL dispersal draft for players that were on the rosters and affiliate lists of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Madison Capitols for the 2019-2020 season.
Chicago selected forwards Quinn Finley (MAD) and Grant Ahcan (CR) as well as defenseman Ben Meehan (CR) and netminder Simon Latkoczy (MAD). Players will return to their original teams following the 2020-2021 season.
Finley, a native of Suamico, Wis., was selected first overall in the 2020 USHL Futures Draft by the Madison Capitols.
"We weighed a multitude of options in this draft," said Chicago Steel General Manager Ryan Hardy. "Be it trading down, adding a veteran to our roster or selecting a player with the intention of flipping him for assets. Ultimately, we felt it was in the best interest of our current players, as well as any player we'd potentially draft and trade, to select Quinn Finley, one of the premier 2004's in the United States.
"We're so thrilled to have Quinn as a member of the Steel," continued Hardy. "As always, we try and make decisions in the best interest of our players. In that spirit, we have created a hybrid development model for Quinn which will allow him to train with us full-time, play USHL games as an affiliate player, and augment his schedule with 16U/18U games. We welcome the Finley's to our Steel family and look forward to Quinn joining the team in the coming days."
Ahcan, a St. Cloud St. University commit, tallied 24 points (8G, 16A) through 18 games with Burnsville High School in Minnesota during the 2019-2020 season as well as 15 points (4G, 11A) in 17 contests with Team TDS Transportation in Minnesota.
"When it became apparent that Grant Ahcan, a player we had a 1st round grade on, might be available to us, we decided to make the pick," said Hardy. "Grant is a highly competitive, skilled forward whom we had high on our draft list in 2019 when he was selected in the 4th round by Cedar Rapids."
Latkoczy and Meehan both played in the USHL during the 2019-2020 season. Latkoczy, a goaltender from Trancing, Slovakia, registered a 4.59 goals-against average and an .876 save percentage in 20 games for the Madison Capitols. Meehan, a 6-foot tall, 190-pound blueliner, appeared in 25 games with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, recording 18 points (8G, 10A).
"Meehan is currently at UMass-Lowell where we expect he will play this season, but we will add him to our college defection list," said Hardy. "Latkoczky had some nice performances against us last season so it made sense to add him to our list."
The USHL announced on September 18 that both the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Madison Capitols would be suspending operations for the 2020-2021 season and will return to play in 2021-2022.
Chicago Steel games may be heard on Mixlr at http://mixlr.com/chicago-steel/ (AUDIO) and video may be streamed on available devices through HockeyTV at www.hockeytv.com (VIDEO).
For more information call 855-51-STEEL or visit ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.
United States Hockey League Stories from September 21, 2020
- Steel Select Four Players in USHL Disperasal Draft - Chicago Steel
- Muskegon Lumberjacks Select Five Players in USHL Dispersal Draft - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Lancers Add Four Players in Dispersal Draft - Omaha Lancers
- Storm Acquire Multiple Players Through USHL Dispersal Draft - Tri-City Storm
- USHL Completes Cedar Rapids & Madison Dispersal Draft - USHL
- Additions for 2020/21 Made in Dispersal Draft - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Capitols Suspend Operations for 2020-2021 Campaign - Madison Capitols
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