Level Green native Brandon Svoboda is poised to be an NHL draft pick
Within the span of less than a week, Brandon Svoboda had two profound reasons to celebrate.
The most recent occasion came Thursday when he graduated from Penn-Trafford.
And six days earlier, he had something much larger over his head than a green mortarboard affixed with a yellow tassel.
On May 19, Svoboda helped the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League capture the first championship in the 20-year history of the junior franchise.
“One hundred percent, ever since the beginning of the season, we knew we had the group to do it,” said Svoboda, a right-handed center. “It’s definitely been our goal since the beginning of the season.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime event that I’ll cherish forever. When the fans started counting down to the end of the game, it was an unbelievable feeling.”
Another feeling Svoboda is expected to experience is being selected in the NHL Draft next month in Nashville, Tenn.
In its final rankings released in April, the NHL’s Central Scouting bureau ranked him 66th among North American skaters. Typically, such a designation translates to a selection in the fourth or fifth rounds.
For reference, defenseman Tyson Jugnauth, ranked No. 66 in the 2022 rankings, was a fourth-round selection — No. 100 overall — by the Seattle Kraken in last year’s draft.
“I’ve seen the rankings, but I’m not distracted by it,” Svoboda said. “I’m thankful to be on the list. I try to stay away from all that noise and focus on improving my game.”
Were Svoboda to be selected next month, it’s believed he would be only the second player with ties to Westmoreland County to be drafted by an NHL team.
Defenseman Andy Cesarski, a native of Monmouth, N.J., who played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Latrobe before moving on to Culver Military Academy in Indiana, was a 10th-round selection (No. 207) of the St. Louis Blues in 1987 but never reached the NHL.
Like most Western Pennsylvanians over the past decade-plus, Svoboda’s introduction to hockey was obvious.
“I think every kid who likes hockey who lives in Pittsburgh is a fan of Sidney Crosby and the Penguins,” Svoboda said. “I started out playing dek hockey. On the side, I wanted to play ice hockey. I went to the Sidney Crosby Little Penguins Learn to Play program. I didn’t learn to skate as a toddler like other kids so I had to catch up with that skill. Spent a lot of time taking skating lessons.”
A native of Level Green, Svoboda first played dek hockey in Murrysville before taking up skating in Delmont at the facility now known as Palmer Imaging Arena. From there, he joined the Allegheny Badgers program before joining the Penguins Elite organization.
In May 2021, he was drafted by the Phantoms in the third round (No. 31 overall) in the USHL draft. By September 2021, he committed to Boston University, a school that has produced several NHLers such as current Penguins forward Nick Bonino and coach Mike Sullivan.
That’s when Svoboda began to think there was a path to the NHL.
“The possibility of seeing myself as a potential player to be considered for the NHL Draft,” he said, “it started to seem more of a possibility when I committed to Boston University.”
Svoboda is slated to spend one more season with the Phantoms before joining Boston University — where he’ll pursue a business degree — in 2024.
As a rookie with Youngstown this past season, Svoboda’s numbers were fairly ordinary. In 59 games, he had 26 points (16 goals, 10 assists).
But there’s more context to Svoboda’s first junior season than just the base tabulations.
“When you look at a kid that scored 16 goals as a rookie in the USHL and played every night and played substantial minutes in your top-nine (forwards), that is not easy for a rookie to do,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “The league is really hard. Statistics are, honestly, not something that you should look at when projecting a player’s future, especially in the USHL. With Brandon being able to score 16 times this (season), usually Year 2 of their career in the USHL, guys like Brandon explode. That’s the expectation. If you’re an NHL team and you see a 6-foot-3 centerman that can skate like the wind and has very good skill and competes like he does, that’s a very, very exciting prospect.”
Ward has NHL experience on his resume having served as a video coach with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs. So he knows NHL potential when he sees it.
Svoboda, listed at a robust 6-foot-3, 212 pounds, has it.
“He’s obviously a really big and strong kid,” Ward said. “Skates extremely well for his size. He’s an effortless skater on his edges. Very powerful. Has a great shot. Really good skill. Just a well-rounded 200-foot centerman that can play both ends of the rink. As he continues to mature and get stronger, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
Svoboda is scheduled to participate in the NHL’s scouting combine, which will be staged in Buffalo between June 4 and 10. After that, he plans on attending the draft in Nashville, presumably, to hear his name called in person on the second day (June 29).
If things go as hoped, he’ll join a select fraternity of NHL draftees from the Pittsburgh area.
“I had always said I wanted to play in the NHL as I’m sure every kid does who plays hockey.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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