Charlie Hunst 
2024-2025 Team: Lakeville South
Selected: Round 7, Pick 93
USHL Team: Des Moines 

Hunst certainly fits a mold for Des Moines. The Bucs have 11 rostered defensemen, and eight are listed as six feet or taller. At 6-foot-3 and 174 pounds, Hunst has the size coveted by a significant portion of player development departments at the higher levels of hockey. The Las Vegas Golden Knights have made the big defender “cool” again. 

Hunst had three goals and 15 points in his second high school season for Lakeville South last year, leading the Cougars to a 19-11 record an an appearance in the Class AA State Tournament consolation final. Still just a sophomore, he’s logged 57 career games for the Cougars. 

“(Charlie) has so much upside with his size,” said Lakeville South assistant coach Brett Franz. “He skates really well for a kid his size, and I expect his point totals will go way up the next couple years. The big body and length is definitely his strong point.”

Rylan Hanson 
2024-2025 Team: Elk River 
Selected: Round 8, Pick 114
USHL Team: Sioux Falls

Hanson continues the theme of big blueliners after Hunst, with Hanson clocking in at 6-foot-2 and 174 pounds, according to Elite Prospects. He’s a right-shot defenseman who spent time on the Elks’ power play last year and totaled two goals and 10 points as part of a loaded sophomore class in Elk River. 

Local scouts like Hanson’s obvious size, plus his ability to make simple plays and control his gaps. Pairing size with self-awareness on the ice, as Hanson does, could make him an immediate contributor to a contending USHL squad whenever he makes the jump. 

Brooks "Boomer" Demars
2024-2025 Team: Long Island Gulls 15-Only 
Selected: Round 11, Pick 165
USHL Team: Lincoln 

Demars “dropping” to the 11th round has more to do with the hockey management industry’s assumption that he’s a likely Western Hockey League candidate, but if you’re gonna go for the fences, Demars is the exact type of player to swing on. Penticton owns Demars’ WHL rights due to a trade with Swift Current. 

Initially attending Hill-Murray, Demars moved on to the Gulls this season and was named a team captain for the 15-Only squad. In 50 games with the 15O Gulls, Demars totaled 32 goals and 69 points, and he scored five times and added 10 helpers in a 15-game stint with Long Island’s 16U team. Demars finished third among all skaters at this spring’s USA Hockey 15-Only Nationals with six goals and 13 points. 

Brody Lockman
2024-2025 Team: Blaine 
Selected: Round 13, Pick 186
USHL Team: Tri-City

Quick plug for the Northwest Suburban Conference - like Rylan Hanson, Lockman is part of a highly talented group of underclassmen in Blaine. Be forewarned, opponents. 

Last year, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Lockman finished third in scoring among all Bengal skaters, tallying 10 goals and totaling 21 points in 27 games. He’s a quality skater with good hands and a solid base for physical play. Scouts like his heavy game and ability to absorb contact without giving up possession. 

Prior to joining the Blaine High School program, Lockman had nine goals and 14 points in 13 games with the Bengals’ Bantam AA team.

Owen Konrad 
2024-2025 Team: Eden Prairie Bantam AA
Selected: Round 15, Pick 233 
USHL Team: Fargo 

With the last pick in the Phase I Draft, Fargo scooped up Konrad, the scoring leader and emotional lynchpin of Eden Prairie’s Bantam AA team. 

In addition to being a good skater with soft hands and the obligatory nose for the net, Konrad’s an intense competitor who rarely - if ever - appears intimated by the opposition or the stakes of the game he’s playing in. He is the perfect type of player to select and watch develop over the next couple of years at the high school level. 

Konrad led the Eagles to the Bantam AA State Tournament this spring, and totaled seven goals and 10 points in six Region and State games.