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USHL Announces All-Rookie Teams for 2023-24

May 8, 2024 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


The United States Hockey League (USHL) has announced its USHL All-Rookie Teams for the 2023-24 season.

League awards are voted on by each member club's General Manager after each club nominates their players for awards.

Selected All-USHL Rookie First Team are forwards John Mustard (Waterloo), Ben Kevan (Des Moines) and Ilya Protas (Des Moines), defensemen Xavier Veilleux (Muskegon) and Sascha Boumedienne (Youngstown) along with goaltender Louka Cloutier (Chicago).

John Mustard scored 29 goals and had 27 assists for 56 points in 60 games played during the course of the season for the Waterloo Black Hawks. The Providence commit led USHL rookies in goals, power play goals (7), shots on goal (205) and ranked second in points. Named USHL Forward of the Week twice during the season, the Oradell, N.J., native recorded a hat trick in an overtime loss to Waterloo Nov. 25. Mustard, who scored the game-winning goal in the 2024 Chipotle All-American Game Jan. 15, was rated #27 in the final NHLCS Draft rankings.

Ben Kevan registered 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points in 59 games for Des Moines in 2023-24. He led all USHL rookies in points and assists on the season. Kevan, a Fairfield, Calif., native, had 15 multi-point games this year. The Arizona State commit, who ranked second amongst USHL rookies with 188 shots on goal, scored the game-winning goal and had an assist in a 2-1 home win over Dubuque Dec. 1.

Ilya Protas ranked third in rookie scoring with 51 points on 14 goals and 37 assists in 61 games with the Des Moines Buccaneers. The Vitebsk, Belus native led all USHL rookies in assists and tied for second with six power play goals. He was rated #49 in the final NHLCS Draft rankings.

Xavier Veilleux had 32 points on three goals and 29 assists to lead all USHL rookie defensemen in scoring on the season. Committed to Harvard, the Muskegon blueliner had 29 assists, which led all rookie defensemen and ranked third amongst all rookies in the league this year. Veilleux led all rookies with a +21 rating and was rated #74 in the final NHLCS Draft rankings.

Sascha Boumedienne recorded 27 points on three goals and 24 assists in 49 regular-season games with the Youngstown Phantoms in 2023-34. His 27 points ranked second amongst rookie defenseman and his 24 assists was fifth. A native Stockholm, Sweden, Boumedienne is a Boston University commit.

Louka Cloutier posted a 14-14-2-3 record with a 3.68 goals against average and a .904 save percentage in 34 games with the Chicago Steel. The Sherbrook, QC, native recorded a 33-save shutout in a 3-0 road win at Des Moines Jan. 14. Committed to Nebraska-Omaha, Cloutier had career-high 44 saves in a game twice during the season (vs. Lincoln March 15 and vs. Dubuque March 24) and finished third in league with 1,141 saves. He was rated #15 amongst North American goaltenders in the final NHLCS Draft rankings.

Selected USHL All-Rookie Second Team are forwards John McNelis (Sioux Falls), Lev Katzin (Green Bay) and Michael Barron (Dubuque), defensemen Elliott Groenewold (Cedar Rapids) and Alex Bales (Tri-City) and goaltender Mikhail Yegorov (Omaha).

John McNelis ranked fourth in 2023-24 USHL rookie scoring with 38 points (18 goals and 20 assists) in 62 games played as a member of the Sioux Falls Stampede. McNelis, who ranked sixth on the Stampede in points, had the game-winning goal and assisted on two others in a 7-4 win over USA Hockey NTDP Jan. 11. The Potomac, Md., native is a Boston University commit.

Lev Katzin racked up 33 points on 10 goals and 23 assists in 57 games played with the Green Bay Gamblers this year. The Thornhill, Ont., native, who ranked seventh in USHL rookie scoring, is a Harvard University commit.

Michael Barron, a Canton, Mich., native, tied for fifth in USHL rookie scoring this year with 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 61 games with the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Barron, who committed to Arizona State, scored twice in a 6-1 win over Waterloo Feb. 10th.

Elliott Groenewold had five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 57 games played with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in 2023-24. The Bellows Falls, Vt., native who was rated #66 in the final NHLCS Draft rankings, ranked second amongst RoughRiders defensemen with 80 shots on goal.

Alex Bales had 3-14- 17 in 34 games played as a member of the Tri-City Storm in 2023-24. The East Amherst, N.Y., native is committed to Providence.

Mikhail Yegorov had 3.86 goals against average and a .892 save percentage to go along with an 8-25-3-0 record in 43 games played with the Omaha Lancers this winter. The Moscow, Russia native ranked fifth in the league with 1,126 saves and his 43 appearances tied for third. Committed to Boston University, he was rated #1 amongst North American goaltenders in the final NHLCS Draft rankings.

For more information on the United States Hockey League, please visit ushl.com.

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