AUSTIN, MN – The Austin Bruins have completed the 2022 NAHL Draft and selected Forwards, Riley Fitzgerald and Jackson Luther, and Defensemen Matthew Desiderio and Per Waage.
With the first pick of the Draft (Round 1, Pick 27) the Bruins selected Riley Fitzgerald from Boston Hockey Academy. Fitzgerald, 19, appeared in 49 games and collected a stat line of 23G-30A-53P during the 2021-22 season. Fitzgerald also comes from a strong hockey background as his cousins are Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and Jimmy and Kevin Hayes, who have or are currently playing in the NHL.
Being selected with the 72nd overall pick, the Bruins selected Defensemen Matthew Desiderio. Desiderio will bring size to the Bruins’ blue line as the 2005 birth year is listed at 6’4″, 201lbs. Desiderio played in 75 games for the New Jersey Rockets 16U AAA program. In those 75 games, Desiderio had 15G-28A-43P and a +31 rating
With the 109th pick in the Draft, the Bruins took forward Jackson Luther. Luther, 19, appeared in 18 games this season with the Oakland Junior Grizzlies 18U AAA program. In those 18 games, Luther had 6G-4A-10G and a +4 rating. Luther will be joining current Bruin, Gavin Morrissey, as the newest Oakland Jr. Grizzliy to join the Bruins organization.
To conclude the 2022 NAHL Draft, the Bruins would select a familiar face, Per Waage. Waage, 19, played in 5 games for the Bruins last season as an affiliate player but spent a majority of the 2021-22 season with the Rochester Grizzlies of the NA3HL. Waage appeared in 51 games for the Grizzlies collecting 5G-18A-23P while patrolling the blue line to help the Grizzlies secure their first Fraser Cup Championship.
