Tauros Add 13 Players in NAHL Entry Draft
June 11, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release
Minot, ND - The annual NAHL Entry Draft marks the unofficial start of the new league season. Despite that Minotauros Head Coach/G.M. Cody Campbell and his staff already had started reloading for next season adding two players (Lucca Ori and Brady Zugec) and a second Assistant Coach in Mike Meredith.
The process of forming the roster continued today with the Tauros making 13 selections in the NAHL Entry Draft, which ties the 2014 Draft for the most selections made by the Tauros. That draft saw the Tauros add several key players not just for the 2014-15 season but for seasons to come. Mitch Snyder was a USHL pick who joined the Tauros midway through the season and helped with the Tauros playoff push including the franchise's first ever playoff series win. John Snodgrass and Quinn Fuchs both had good 2014-15 seasons for the club. While Luke Davison and Jacob Dittel both had long Tauros careers, each playing three seasons in Minot; Davison's 138 games in cream and cardinal rank 12th all-time and Dittel's 168 rank third.
As for this years draft the Tauros started by going young. In the first round the Tauros added Mario Fate with the 29th overall pick. Fate, despite being an '07 birth-year, already has a year of junior experience with the Omaha Lancers in the USHL. Fate had just one goal and one assist for the Lancers last season but the year before posted 110 points in 71 games for Omaha Mastery 15u.
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Without a second round pick the Tauros had to wait for the third round and 97th overall selection to add another player. With the pick the Tauros chose Artyom Prima, a Russian forward out of the Black Bear Academy in suburban Philadelphia. Prima who is 16 years old posted 67 points in 46 games for Black Bear's 16u team last season. The year before as a 15 year old Prima posted 43 points in 26 games of 16u and 26 points in 26 games of 17u hockey in his native Russia.
Campbell and the Tauros had another long wait with no fourth round pick their next selection would be the 164th overall in the fifth round. With that pick the Tauros went overseas again nabbing Philip Wiklund from Katrineholm, Sweden. Last season the 6'0" 172 lb. forward posted 32 points in 33 games playing 18u in his homeland.
In the sixth round the Tauros addressed the blue line adding '07 defenseman Alexander Schwarz from the Chicago Fury 18u program. The big defenseman (6'2" 179 lbs.) posted 12 points in 71 games last season for the Fury.
The Tauros went back to adding to the forward group with Bravery Esplin in the seventh round. The '06 forward posted 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 47 games in the NCDC last season with the Rock Springs Grizzlies and Idaho Falls Spud Kings. At 6'4" and 205 lbs. Esplin continues the trend of adding size in the mid-rounds of the draft.
In the eighth round the Tauros made sure to secure the rights of a familiar name in Mackley Morelli. Morelli had one goal for the Tauros in five games last season, but played the rest of the year for Minot High posting 74 points in 27 games.
The Tauros added a goalie in the ninth round in Luke Quinn from Austin, TX. Quinn moved from the Lone Star State to New England to play prep hockey most recently with The Loomis Chaffee School where he posted a .911 SV% last season.
The Tauros went back to the blueline in the 10th round taking William Bisset from Northstar Christian Academy. Bisset posted 27 points each of the last two seasons for their 18u program. The Tauros have had good luck with players from Northstar in the past getting both Joe Westlund and Owen Hanson from Northstar.
In the 11th round the Tauros added an NCAA DI commit in Cade Sherman who is committed to Augustana for the 2027-28 season. Sherman has played for Rosemount High School in Minnesota for the last three seasons. He posted 50 points last year on 23 goals and 27 assists.
Campbell and the Tauros stayed in Minnesota High School for the next round to take Caden Lindsay from Minnetonka. Lindsay posted 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 26 games last season.
The Tauros then added another goalie in the 13th round taking Devin Rustlie from the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Rustlie started last season with the Austin Bruins where he went 4-1-1 and posted a 1.64 GAA and .937 SV% in six starts including a shutout of Watertown before being picked up by Cedar Rapids. In the USHL the '06 goalie went 5-6-1 with a 3.10 GAA and .876 SV% while finishing his first season of junior hockey.
The Tauros went back to Russia in the 14th round selecting Ivan Sidorov. Sidorov posted 35 points in 30 games playing u20 hockey in Austria last season. The '06 forward continued the Tauros emphasis on size standing 6'2" and 207 lbs.
With their final pick in the 15th round Campbell and Co. chose Cameron Grande from the NA3HL Frasier Cup Champion Louisiana Drillers. At 6'5" 194 lbs. Grande lives up to his last name while also fitting the theme of the Tauros 2025 NAHL Entry Draft. Grande was +37 for the Drillers and added 15 points in 46 games.
In total the Tauros added eight forwards, three defensemen, and two goaltenders. The players came from as nearby as two miles from the Maysa Arena to as far as 5,102 miles away. Of note, not a single player taken was an '05 birth-year meaning they all have at least two seasons of junior eligibility remaining.
After making his 13 selections Campbell summed up the draft:
We were happy with our process as we went through the draft today. Our staff did a great job throughout the year identifying players that could fill holes for us this upcoming year. We felt like we added a little bit of everything today from speed and skill to size and grit. We are excited to get to Main Camp here in a few weeks and see what our returners, tenders, draft picks as well as the free agents, look like as we continue to work towards assembling our roster.
As Campbell alluded to the next step in the offseason is Main Camp in Minot later this month. Camp starts on June 26th and culminates with an all-star game on June 29th and will be open to fans with no admission charge. A full schedule for Main Camp will be posted the week of June 23rd. For news and updates all summer long make sure to follow the Tauros on social media and download the Tauros Hockey Mobile App.
North American Hockey League Stories from June 11, 2025
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- Tauros Add 13 Players in NAHL Entry Draft - Minot Minotauros
- Forward and Goaltender Brought in Through Futures Draft - Minnesota Wilderness
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