NHL factory? Harvard, in Beanpot final, has an NCAA-leading 15 draft picks

BRIGHTON, Mass. — In one way, the Harvard where Ted Donato works today is not that different from the Harvard the Catholic Memorial graduate attended as a freshman in 1987. A university that was founded in 1636 does not diminish in 36 years.

“Harvard, in some ways, sells itself,” said Donato, the Crimson head coach since 2004. “It’s one of the best educational opportunities in the world.”

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In another way, Harvard has evolved under Donato’s watch. Colin Blackwell, Ryan Donato, Adam Fox, Alex Kerfoot, Alex Killorn, John Marino and Jimmy Vesey have proven that for Harvard players, on-ice employment can be just as realistic as Wall Street careers. 

NHL teams have noticed.

On Monday, Harvard will face off against Northeastern in the Beanpot Tournament final at TD Garden. Fifteen of Harvard’s players are NHL draft picks. It is the most Donato has ever had on one roster. According to College Hockey Inc., no other NCAA program has more this season. 

It seems the university famous for pumping out global leaders and business titans may now be producing something new.

Academics matter

Assistant coach James Marcou, Harvard’s lead recruiter, has a type in mind when on the hunt for future Crimson. The most important trait is no surprise.

“We look for high-IQ players, whether they’re big or small, playing their game,” Marcou said on Sunday following Harvard’s final pre-Beanpot tuneup at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. “Whatever they do well is what we look for to translate to Harvard. The school requirements make it challenging at times. Finding the kids, then diving in to their work habits — can they do both things at a high level? — helps when we find out kids are committed to school as much as they are to hockey.”

This season, the program’s insistence on hockey sense has produced a 17-6-1 record. The Crimson beat Boston College in overtime in the Beanpot’s first round, 4-3. They are coming off a 6-3 win over Dartmouth. 

Junior Sean Farrell, Montreal’s fourth-round pick in 2020 and No. 2 in the Canadiens’ prospect rankings, leads the team with 14 goals and 27 assists in 24 games. The high-paced Crimson are averaging 3.73 goals per game, No. 8 in the NCAA.

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Off the ice, Marcou has no choice but to target strong students. According to the university, Harvard accepted 1,984 of 61,221 applicants for 2022-23. Its 3.2 percent acceptance rate would be lower if Harvard’s reputation did not discourage more prospective students from submitting applications.

In theory, this applies to hockey hopefuls as well. Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort, who is from Duluth, Minn., attended North Dakota for three seasons before turning pro with the Kings. Forbort, an alum of the U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP), was asked if Harvard was on his list of prospective colleges.

“Was Harvard?” Forbort repeated with a shocked look on his face. 

After a slight pause, the defenseman responded.

“No,” he said with a dismissive laugh. “I don’t think I had the grades to get into Harvard.”

On top of that, Harvard only offers need-based financial aid. The school’s high academic threshold and absence of athletic scholarships reduce the Crimson’s potential player pool.

“It’s nice to go watch some really talented players,” Marcou said. “But then we might have to cross out a good amount of them because of the academic criteria. That’s why it’s important to do the homework and figure out who’s taking school seriously. It’s challenging on that side of it, with academics and the financial aid piece, from a recruiting standpoint. Those are the biggest challenges. But the resources Harvard provides for them, it’s helping when they come here.”

On one hand, it leaves Harvard short-handed against competing programs from schools with lower academic requirements that offer athletic scholarships. 

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, formerly the coach at the University of Denver, recalled talking to several recruits who expressed interest in Harvard. Montgomery inferred their chances of becoming Pioneers were greater than that of matriculating at Harvard.

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“When we saw their transcript,” Montgomery recalled with a laugh, “‘You ain’t going to Harvard. You might want to come take a look at Denver.’”

But for the player who shows classroom commitment, Harvard does not have many equals.

“Having that idea of excellence, both on the ice and academics, was really appealing to me,” said senior Baker Shore, whose three hockey-playing brothers attended Denver.

Staying put

Seniors, especially those who are NHL picks, are not common in college hockey. Players and teams are usually eager to accelerate professional entry.

Consider that Matt Boldy (Boston College), Cole Caufield (Wisconsin), Cam York (Michigan) and Spencer Knight (BC), all 2001-born players who starred at the NTDP, turned pro after two years of college hockey. Trevor Zegras (Boston University) and Alex Turcotte (Wisconsin) were one-and-done collegians.

Meanwhile, Henry Thrun, a fellow 2001-born NTDP alum, is one of Harvard’s senior captains. The Southborough native, selected by Anaheim in the fourth round in 2019, is expected to play against Northeastern after missing the Dartmouth game because of an injury. Thrun is No. 5 in the Ducks’ prospect rankings.

In 2020-21, Thrun and his other Harvard teammates faced a choice. The Ivy League wiped out the entire season for Harvard and its other member schools because of COVID-19 concerns. Jack Drury (Carolina), Jack Rathbone (Vancouver) and Reilly Walsh (New Jersey) decided to turn pro. At the same time, Matty Beniers, from Hingham, Mass., who had originally committed to Harvard for 2020-21, went to Michigan instead.

The appeal of a Harvard diploma, among other things, can convince players to stay on campus who might otherwise depart early. Thrun is one of Harvard’s four NHL-selected seniors. John Farinacci (Arizona), Mitchell Gibson (Washington) and Austin Wong (Winnipeg) are the others.

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“You come to Harvard to graduate,” Marcou said. “That’s the biggest thing. The closer these guys can get to graduating, whether it’s taking a summer course or understanding the value of the degree, it plays into the culture. We have guys like Adam Fox who graduated while he was playing for the Rangers. Donato and Kerfoot came back, graduated, and help set the culture of ‘We graduate here.’ Whether it’s guys taking an extra year, they’re all pretty thankful they do as much progress toward their degree as possible while they’re here. It’s a little difficult to come back and finish your degree. But the culture of guys wanting to graduate helps move that along.”

Fox serves as a flagship example for Marcou’s point. The Rangers defenseman could be on his way to his second Norris Trophy in four NHL seasons. Will anyone from the current crop of Crimson players translate to the NHL like that? One of The Athletic’s prospects gurus, Corey Pronman gave his assessment of the top three:

Matthew Coronato (Calgary): “He is a forward with a lot of NHL traits: a strong skater with legit skill, offensive IQ and finishing ability. He also has an excellent motor and doesn’t shy away from going to the net. Size is his only issue, but everything else points to an NHL career.”

Sean Farrell (Montreal): “Farrell is also an intelligent two-way player whose skating is quite strong and who gives a strong effort consistently. He’s quite undersized, but he showed he can play well against men with Team USA. He’s a player who is trending up.”

Ian Moore (Anaheim): “He’s a strong skating defenseman with size. The rest of his game doesn’t stand out, but he projects to have first-pass offense with solid defense and has a real chance to play games because of his athletic toolkit.”

More NHL prospects are coming. According to College Hockey Inc., the 2023-24 Crimson will have three freshmen who have been drafted by NHL teams: Michael Callow (Anaheim), Ben MacDonald (Seattle) and Matthew Morden (Arizona). 

They will join a cohort that is trying to thread multiple challenging needles: making the NHL and graduating from Harvard. It can be overwhelming. Sophomore Alex Gaffney, for example, is a classics major. Gaffney’s classes include ancient Greek, modern Greek and ancient Rome. Gaffney explained that while ancient and modern Greek alphabets are the same, verbs and conjugations differ.

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“The overall message is that good people will make good Harvard hockey players,” coach Donato said. “How we perform in the classroom, how we act on campus, how we interact with people around the rink — all that kind of stuff is helpful, not only to us winning, but to the legacy of the program. That’s something our guys take a lot of pride in — the idea of leaving the jersey and the program in a better place than when they arrived.”

(Photo of, left to right, Jack Bar, Ian Moore, Alex Laferriere and Alex Gaffney: Richard T Gagnon / Getty Images)