Eight Players With NCDC, USPHL Junior Ties Selected In USHL Entry Draft Phase II

The National Collegiate Development Conference and United States Premier Hockey League congratulate eight players who have played in the NCDC and USPHL and were selected in the 2025 United States Hockey League Entry Draft Phase II on Tuesday, May 6. Phase II included players born between 2005 and 2008, after Monday’s Phase I was exclusively for 2009-born players. 

Below are short bios on each player.

Niko Tournas / Rockets Hockey Club (2022-23) 

Selected by Sioux Falls Stampede, Round 1, 12th Overall 

Tournas (‘06/Redding, Conn.) played briefly for the Rockets’ USPHL Premier team during a season that saw him playing regularly with the Rockets’ 16U AAA team in the Tier 1 Hockey Federation. Tournas is committed to the University of New Hampshire. 

 

Justin Thibault / Mercer Chiefs (2024-25) 

Selected by Sioux Falls Stampede, Round 6, 92nd Overall 

Thibault (‘08/Levis, Que.) just completed a huge rookie season with the NCDC Chiefs in which he posted a 22-27-49 line in 44 regular season games, and helped the Chiefs to the Atlantic Division Championship as he added eight points in 12 postseason games. 

 

Kirby Perler / Jersey Hitmen (2023-24) 

Selected by Sioux City Musketeers, Round 7, 116th Overall

A Yale University commit, Perler (‘07/Woodbridge, Conn.) played briefly for the NCDC’s Jersey Hitmen during the 2023-24 NCDC season. He was a 2023 NCDC Entry Draft selection by the Hitmen. 

 

Adam Timm / Rockets Hockey Club (2022-23) 

Selected by Green Bay Gamblers, Round 7, 121st Overall 

Timm (‘05/Chetek, Wis.) played in 31 games with the NCDC’s Rockets Hockey Club during the 2022-23 season, earning a spot in the NCDC Young Guns All-Star Game in 2023. He joined the Rockets November 2022 after starting the season with the Team Wisconsin AAA team. He was a 2022 NCDC draft selection by the Rockets. 

 

Cooper Faughnan / Boston Advantage (2022-23) 

Selected By Waterloo Black Hawks, Round 10, 166th Overall 

Faughnan (‘06/Whitesboro, N.Y.) played briefly with the former Advantage in the NCDC during a season where he largely played with the Lovell Hockey 18U AAA team. He had earlier played in the former USPHL 16U Division (now THF 16U) with the New England Knights, playing a combined six regular season and playoff games in 2021-22. 

 

Easton Rooney / P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (2024-25) 

Selected by Des Moines Buccaneers, Round 12, 190th Overall 

Rooney (‘06/Ham Lake, Minn.) played in 12 NCDC games with the Jr. Islanders between September and November 2024, after originally being selected by the Islanders in the third round of the 2024 NCDC Entry Draft Phase II selections. 

 

Filip Kacmarsky / Mercer Chiefs (2024-25) 

Selected By Youngstown Phantoms, Round 17, 276th Overall  

Kacmarsky (‘08/Hamilton, N.J.) was an Affiliate player for the Chiefs’ NCDC team, coming up for three games from their THF 16U squad. He also played games with the Chiefs’ 18U team this year and Princeton Day School in a busy 2024-25 season for Kacmarsky. 

 

Ryan Franks / P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (2023-25) 

Selected by Youngstown Phantoms, Round 20, 321st Overall 

A homegrown product for the Jr. Islanders NCDC team, Franks (‘05/Roslyn, N.Y.) played with P.A.L. going back to his 15U season. He was a member of the former USPHL 15U and 16U (now THF 15U and 16U) Jr. Islanders teams, before playing with the THF 18U team in 2022-23. The next year, he made the jump to the NCDC team and he never looked back, becoming one of the Jr. Islanders’ top forwards in their NCDC history. His 93 points in 106 regular season games is good for seventh in franchise history, and his 61 points in 54 games this year is the third best single season mark for the Jr. Islanders. He owns the franchise career records in career postseason scoring with 29 points in 19 games, and the single season mark with 16 points in 11 games in 2023-24. 

 

– Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com