MONTREAL – Minnesota Duluth incoming freshman forward Isaac Howard was selected with the penultimate pick in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. Howard was drafted 31st overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning, as the lone National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) player to hear his named called on night one of the draft.
Howard becomes the fifth UMD Bulldog ever selected in the first round of the NHL Draft and first since 2016 (Riley Tufte by Dallas). He is the 11th NHL first-round draft pick in NCHC history, but first since 2020 and only the second in the last four drafts.
Howard (Hudson, Wis.) was a two-year member of the U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP). This past season (2021-22), the winger racked up 82 points in 60 games on the U.S. U-18 Team, scoring 33 goals and adding 49 assists. Howard twice represented Team USA at the IIHF U-18 World Championship, leading the U.S. to a silver medal in Germany this past May. He led Team USA in scoring during the 2022 U-18 World Championship with 11 points (6g/5a).
Howard will participate in USA Hockey’s upcoming National Junior Evaluation Camp from July 24-Aug. 3 in Plymouth, Mich. He is one of 60 skaters invited to the Evaluation Camp, where he will compete for a spot on the U.S. National Junior Teams for the 2022 and 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships in August and December, respectively.
Howard is one of six U.S. NTDP players selected in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft Thursday and one of only seven college-bound players drafted.
The 2022 NHL Draft continues and concludes on Friday with rounds 2-7, when several other incoming and current NCHC players are expected to be drafted. Day 2 of the NHL Draft begins at 11 a.m. ET with the Draft televised on NHL Network (U.S.) and Sportsnet (Canada) and streamed on ESPN+. Fans can also follow through the NHL Draft tracker.
NCHC PLAYERS SELECTED IN FIRST ROUND OF NHL DRAFT
| YEAR |
PICK |
PLAYER |
NHL TEAM |
NCHC TEAM |
| 2014 |
20 |
Nick Schmaltz |
Chicago |
North Dakota |
| 2015 |
23 |
Brock Boeser |
Vancouver |
North Dakota |
| 2015 |
25 |
Jack Roslovic |
Winnipeg |
Miami |
| 2016 |
10 |
Tyson Jost |
Colorado |
North Dakota |
| 2016 |
20 |
Dennis Cholowski |
Detroit |
St. Cloud State |
| 2016 |
23 |
Henrik Borgstrom |
Florida |
Denver |
| 2016 |
25 |
Riley Tufte |
Dallas |
Minnesota Duluth |
| 2017 |
25 |
Ryan Poehling |
Montreal |
St. Cloud State |
| 2018 |
26 |
Jacob Bernard-Docker |
Ottawa |
North Dakota |
| 2020 |
5 |
Jake Sanderson |
Ottawa |
North Dakota |
| 2022 |
31 |
Isaac Howard |
Tampa Bay |
Minnesota Duluth |
--#NCHChockey--