The North American Hockey League held its Futures Draft this past Tuesday with each team possessing 2 selections in the draft based on the previous season’s standings. The Bobcats went into Tuesday’s draft with the 28th and 60th overall picks.
The NAHL Futures draft is in it’s 2nd year of existence. According to the league, “The Futures Draft is designed to give 16-year-old players early exposure to junior hockey and support their path to NCAA hockey through the NAHL’s proven development model. Each NAHL team will select two players born in 2010, one in each of the draft’s two rounds. It offers a unique opportunity for players to gain valuable junior hockey experience while continuing to play at the midget, high school, or prep school level while keeping all future options open. The selected players will be automatically added to their team’s USA Hockey Affiliate Player List for the 2025-26 season. This special status allows players to participate in up to ten NAHL games without being added to the team’s official USA Hockey Protected List.”
With the 28th overall pick in the North American Hockey League Draft, the Bismarck Bobcats selected Christian Connors from the Madison Capitols 15U AAA program. Connors is a 6 ‘1 170LBS Defenseman out of Mustang, Oklahoma. In 55 games this past season, Connors found the back of the net 12 times to go along with 21 assists for a total of 33 points. It was an impressive campaign for the 2010 birth year, which led to the Bobcats selecting him in the draft. Bismarck Bobcats Head Coach Garrett Roth had high praise for the young defenseman when asked about the selection. “Christian is a defenseman that has continued to develop at a high rate the past few years. He had a great year playing for Madison and proved he can produce against the best players in the country at his age group. His character, work ethic, and dedication to his development are attributes that stood out to us as a staff. We are excited to add Christian and his family to the Bobcat organization.
The Bobcats, along with the 28th overall pick, also had a selection in the 2nd round. They would go on to choose another defenseman, but this time a Bismarck native who played for Legacy High School this past season in Beau Raschke. Raschke is a 6 ‘2 201LBS Defenseman. The 2010 birth year nearly registered a point per game this past season with the Sabres. In 26 games, Raschke scored 6 goals and added on 19 helpers for a total of 24 points. Bismarck Bobcats General Manager and Director of Scouting Niko Kapetanovic commented on his excitement to select a hometown kid who has proven that he can play at a high level in Raschke. “We are thrilled to get a hometown kid today in the futures draft in Beau Raschke. Beau has great size, length, defends extremely well and is only going to get better. As Beau heads off to Northstar Christian Academy to play 16U next year, he will develop well in that program. I truly believe that Beau will develop into a very good hockey player that has the chance to play hockey for a very long time. Any time we can get a player of his capabilities through the draft, it is a must for us, the fact that he is a local kid, makes it even better.”
The NAHL Draft will commence tomorrow live on NATV at 1:00 P.M. as the Bobcats select the next wave of players for the upcoming season. Stay tuned to the Bismarck Bobcats social media pages for pick-by-pick results.