Boston College Men’s Hockey Preview: The Freshmen

With the Boston College men’s hockey team kicking off their season on Friday night, it feels like the right time for a look at the roster. It’s been a while since we last saw the Eagles on the ice, but this year’s team is another exciting one and one that can hopefully pick up right where the 2019-2020 team left off.

First up, the freshmen class, and boy is it a big one.

STEPHEN DAVIS - Defenseman

Davis played with the Madison Capitols of the USHL in the 2019-2020 season, scoring 7 points in 45 games. As you can likely guess from those numbers, Davis is a stay at home defenseman. He excels in his own zone and while he may not put up any big point totals, he’ll be a reliable player who can kill penalties and log big minutes on the blue line.

TIM LOVELL - Defenseman

Lovell spent the 2019-2020 season primarily with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, where he put up 16 points in 27 games while being named to the USHL All Rookie Team. Lovell has some clear upside, but listed at just 5’7” and 140 pounds, he may need to bulk up a bit before facing off with Hockey East opponents.

EAMON POWELL - Defenseman

Eamon Powell was a fourth round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 NHL Draft and presumably figures into the immediate plans on the BC blue line. Powell spent the 2019-2020 season playing with the US National U18 team where he put up 25 points in 62 total games. Powell is an elite level skater with good stickhandling ability and passing skills. He will likely be playing big minutes for BC from opening night as the Eagles look to replace a number of blue liners from last year’s team.

JACK AGNEW - Defenseman

Agnew played the 2019-2020 season with the Chilliwack Chiefs in the BCHL, where he was teammates with another incoming freshman Nikita Nesterenko. Agnew put up 22 points in 52 games with Chilliwack, good for 10th on the team. Listed at 5’11” Agnew is considered a solid two way player with decent offensive upside. He makes good decisions with the puck and passes the puck very well and will be looking to win a spot on the blue line over some of his classmates.

NIKITA NESTERENKO - Forward

Nasterenko is a Minnesota Wild 2019 draft pick who played for Chilliwack in the BCHL last season. He lead his team in scoring with 56 points in 56 games and will now look to carry that strong season over to his freshman season with BC. There are a decent number of open spots at forward for the Eagles to fill, so Nesterenko will likely get a chance to prove that he belongs in the lineup on a nightly basis. If he can continue to flash the scoring touch he showed last season, he could be in good shape.

GENTRY SHAMBURGER - Forward

Gentry Shamburger played the last four seasons at Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut, where he was elected captain for his final two years. His scoring numbers were never incredible, but they did increase every season, ending with his eight goal, 17 point senior year in 2019-2020. He also comes from a very athletic family - his father played football for Georgia Tech, his mother was a gymnast at UNC, and his older brothers were all college athletes as well. As for this season, if we see Gentry it will likely be lower down in the lineup.

TREVOR KUNTAR - Forward

Kuntar was selected in the third round of the recent NHL draft by the Boston Bruins with the 89th pick. The highest drafted of the three Eagles taken in the draft, Kuntar will likely be in the opening night lineup and playing a big role from day one. He spent the past three seasons in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms, where he was named to the All-USHL Second Team in 2020. He lead his team last year with 28 goals and 53 points in 44 games and was also named an assistant captain. Barring something unforeseen, Kuntar will be in the lineup on Friday night and playing important minutes right off the bat.

DANNY WEIGHT - Forward

Danny Weight (son of former NHL player and coach Doug Weight) is coming off a 2019-2020 season where he was his team’s leading goal scorer. Playing in the BCHL for the Penticton Vees, Weight scored 25 goals and added 35 assists for a 60 point season (58 games). He went undrafted in the recent NHL draft, but is said to have good hands, good vision, and a plus shot. His skating is considered a concern, but Weight has offensive upside and works hard to create chances. If he can improve on his skating, he could be an important player in his time at BC.

HARRISON ROY - Forward

Roy has spent the past three seasons bouncing around the USHL, playing for four different teams since the 2017-2018 season. He hasn’t shown a ton of scoring upside (11 points in 29 games last season) but he does appear to be a well liked and respected part of his teams, as he was an assistant captain for two different USHL teams last season. If there is a spot for him on the active roster to start the season, it’s probably in the bottom six.

COLBY AMBROSIO - Forward

Ambrosio was a fourth round draft pick in the recent NHL Draft, and he joined his new teammates Alex Newhook and Drew Helleson as Colorado Avalanche prospects. Ambrosio spent the past two seasons with the Tri-City Storm in the USHL and lead the team in 2019-20 in both goals (26) and in points (50) in 48 games. Ambrosio is a smaller player - listed at just 5’9” - but is considered an excellent skater with good hands and a good shot. It’s hard to say exactly where he will wind up in the lineup, but given his offensive upside, it’s certainly possible that he can make an impact quickly at the college level.

HENRY WILDER - Goalie

It’s hard to see a path to Wilder getting much time in net this season outside without injuries, but that’s more of a testament to Spencer Knight’s abilities than it is a knock on Wilder. Wilder played in 20 games for Hotchkiss School in 2019-2020, putting up a save percentage of .942 (now the school record for single season save percentage) to go along with 4 shutouts. He was also named to the USHS First Team All-New England for his excellent play. Again, Wilder doesn’t really have a clear path to much playing time this season, but he looks like a solid goalie prospect who could maybe get a shot when Knight leaves for the USA juniors team for a few games.